As a tribute to the late Blue Sky Studios, I thought to myself; “the best ride they could get should be an ode to their complete library of films.” So I decided to do this. Blue Sky Studio Tour has a story; the fictionalized Blue Sky is seeking funds to re-open, so they’re now offering guided tours of the studio to the public. Given many of the films in their library, it’s easier said than done...
The exterior looks like a fairly respectable film studio from the 50s, a statue of Scrat up top, balancing a spinning globe in his hands (think of the studio at the start of “The Muppet Movie”), with a sign reading “est. 1987”.
As you enter, posters for Blue Sky’s films plaster the walls, as well as concept art, and monitors displaying information about Blue Sky’s history and fun facts. Keep going, through an area stylized to look like an old 90s PC monitor (as if you’re going inside the computer), and you’ll see Rodney Copperbottom at the reception desk, and he’s an AA who will give you info on the tours, including the safety spiel. “After all, we don’t want to end up like Madame Gasket, do we...”
Tour vehicles are EMVs that resemble trams, with sloped roofs and orange color schemes, with blue seats for contrast. Speakers are provided to the sides of each of the four rows of four seats, as well as the extra pair in the front, to provide narration. Seats themselves are padded, and given mechanisms to move independently of the vehicle. You are in for a solid experience. Rodney, being who he is, decides that the first area to take a tour of is his hometown. You see Rodney’s parents waving at you, but then Ratchet shows up, wanting to sue Rodney for damages. Keep going, and we drive past them, and into the big city, where Bigweld appears alongside Rodney’s friends, and we zoom down the chutes, looking into the dark depths of the factory. We even see the remains of Madame Gasket, reaching out to try and grab us one last time. Suddenly, we exit into the world of Epic.
M.K., Epic’s protagonist, is trying to record more data about the world of Leafmen, when she sees us and wonders if she should report on the tour buses coming along. Anyways, we observe the Leafmen village from afar, before we pass through a tree and shrink down for a closer view. We’re attacked by Mandrake’s forces, who begin to chase us across a branch, armed with their fierce bags and arrows, causing the vehicle to shake. As we escape, we get a view of the rainforest from Rio. Linda is in her macaw costume, and we see the birds of the forest agleam with dance, but we can’t understand them yet. A HUGE (to us) Blu then pecks us, causing us to understand him, and he lifts our vehicle, giving us a bird’s eye view of the place. He then drops us off, as we roll towards Rio De Janiero. Marmosets then appear, bouncing towards us as we see the parade vehicles in motion, and we see Linda again, waving to us.
We then make another turn, sending us into the world of Spies in Disguise! We look over the top of the skyscraper alongside Lance, and catch wind of a nefarious plot! Lance keeps watching, before changing into human form and charging gracefully into the danger, stealing the evil device. We meet Lance’s kid sidekick as we escape the place. However, a chase then breaks out, causing our EMV to make many twists and turns. We eventually end up in a shop selling fine porcelain... and so begins the Ferdinand sequence, where we see the titular Bos taurus among the china (including a statue of the 1938 WDAS Ferdinand), hoping not to be noticed. He shyly backs off from riders, as we exit into a meadow.
In the Meadow, we see that soon this meadow is actually found on a tropical island, where Scrat has found a home.
To be continued.
The exterior looks like a fairly respectable film studio from the 50s, a statue of Scrat up top, balancing a spinning globe in his hands (think of the studio at the start of “The Muppet Movie”), with a sign reading “est. 1987”.
As you enter, posters for Blue Sky’s films plaster the walls, as well as concept art, and monitors displaying information about Blue Sky’s history and fun facts. Keep going, through an area stylized to look like an old 90s PC monitor (as if you’re going inside the computer), and you’ll see Rodney Copperbottom at the reception desk, and he’s an AA who will give you info on the tours, including the safety spiel. “After all, we don’t want to end up like Madame Gasket, do we...”
Tour vehicles are EMVs that resemble trams, with sloped roofs and orange color schemes, with blue seats for contrast. Speakers are provided to the sides of each of the four rows of four seats, as well as the extra pair in the front, to provide narration. Seats themselves are padded, and given mechanisms to move independently of the vehicle. You are in for a solid experience. Rodney, being who he is, decides that the first area to take a tour of is his hometown. You see Rodney’s parents waving at you, but then Ratchet shows up, wanting to sue Rodney for damages. Keep going, and we drive past them, and into the big city, where Bigweld appears alongside Rodney’s friends, and we zoom down the chutes, looking into the dark depths of the factory. We even see the remains of Madame Gasket, reaching out to try and grab us one last time. Suddenly, we exit into the world of Epic.
M.K., Epic’s protagonist, is trying to record more data about the world of Leafmen, when she sees us and wonders if she should report on the tour buses coming along. Anyways, we observe the Leafmen village from afar, before we pass through a tree and shrink down for a closer view. We’re attacked by Mandrake’s forces, who begin to chase us across a branch, armed with their fierce bags and arrows, causing the vehicle to shake. As we escape, we get a view of the rainforest from Rio. Linda is in her macaw costume, and we see the birds of the forest agleam with dance, but we can’t understand them yet. A HUGE (to us) Blu then pecks us, causing us to understand him, and he lifts our vehicle, giving us a bird’s eye view of the place. He then drops us off, as we roll towards Rio De Janiero. Marmosets then appear, bouncing towards us as we see the parade vehicles in motion, and we see Linda again, waving to us.
We then make another turn, sending us into the world of Spies in Disguise! We look over the top of the skyscraper alongside Lance, and catch wind of a nefarious plot! Lance keeps watching, before changing into human form and charging gracefully into the danger, stealing the evil device. We meet Lance’s kid sidekick as we escape the place. However, a chase then breaks out, causing our EMV to make many twists and turns. We eventually end up in a shop selling fine porcelain... and so begins the Ferdinand sequence, where we see the titular Bos taurus among the china (including a statue of the 1938 WDAS Ferdinand), hoping not to be noticed. He shyly backs off from riders, as we exit into a meadow.
In the Meadow, we see that soon this meadow is actually found on a tropical island, where Scrat has found a home.
To be continued.
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