Ellen's voice is back in the ride... but her animatronic is probably gone for good.

WondersOfLife

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
yensidtlaw1969 said:
That was the thing with EPCOT Center, it was in no way geared towards kids. Designed with them in mind, but aimed squarely at the niche market of "everyone from 1 to 100". Much of the park was wrought heavily in dramatic tones, and was largely uncompromising in its efforts to elevate the Theme Park experience to something beyond cartoon involvement -- much in the same way that Walt made a herculean effort with Fantasia to put forth the idea that animation had potential as a serious art form, and that it could be more than just fun for kids.

If Energy looked boring to you as a kid, I suppose you're not alone. It was certainly more "documentary" than "animated feature film", and we know which one most kids would prefer. Sadly, what we've ended up with now is more like an old sitcom, only it's overly long, lost its magic through re-runs, and the TV we're watching it on badly needs to be repaired. I'd rather watch the Documentary, you'd rather watch the Animated Feature, but I think we all agree it's time to change the channel.
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I suppose since I didn't exist within the era as an adult (or child for that matter) I just don't understand the full appreciation you guys have for original Epcot. I prefer to steer clear of these arguments simply because of that fact, though. I honestly barely even got to experience even Wonders of Life! I loved it! But, cartoons did exist in there! With Body Wars being an exception cx I respect everyones opinion on this subject.
 
Fox&Hound

Fox&Hound

Well-Known Member
ChrisFL said:
I somewhat disagree...after the 1994 Tomorrowland refurb, it was clearly designed to be retro-future, and it's entirely supposed to be fictional.

Yes, I think the original intent of Tomorrowland as a concept was the same as Future World, but it's been changed to more sci-fi future, whereas Future World was more like the "future that can/will be"
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Valid point! I agree, it just seems like Disney struggles with maintaining both...
 
Rob562

Rob562

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
It's not Imagineering's fault that Energy looks like it does. It's the fault of the people who work in this building...

Team Disney Orlando - Hi George! (Not attached to a theme park, but plenty of parking)
dsc08408_0.jpg


How often do you think the execs in this building actually schedule time to get in their company cars, drive over to a WDW theme park, schlep through the heat and humidity and crowds, and go on an old ride like Universe of Energy??? I would bet that very, very rarely ever happens.
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As a side note (since this thread seems to have veered quite a ways away from the original topic already)...unless it's changed again, the Team Disney building is now mostly IT and other support offices along those lines. The people who you think of as being "TDO" are actually located in the old Animation office building at the Studios.

-Rob
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Rob562 said:
As a side note (since this thread seems to have veered quite a ways away from the original topic already)...unless it's changed again, the Team Disney building is now mostly IT and other support offices along those lines. The people who you think of as being "TDO" are actually located in the old Animation office building at the Studios.

-Rob
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Very interesting. Is that where George K.'s office is, at the Studios?
 
Cosmic Commando

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
RSoxNo1 said:
Am I the only one that has been sick of the "Keep Calm" shirts since they first came out?
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It's not a subject that's ripe for parody, IMO. It does soften it a bit because the posters were never really used during WWII, but to turn something that basically meant "There's a pretty good chance you're going to die tonight" into "KEEP CALM AND VOTE TOM FOR CLASS PRESIDENT" never sat right with me.
 
montyz81

montyz81

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
They'd have to go to Amazon now. The BBC own only the name. And trust me you don't want Chris Evans in Epcot. Idle was bad enough.
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I don't think Clarkson,May, Hammond and or the show they are about to start in 2016 have enough financing behind them or brand recognition to sponsor a ride. I know they are worth a lot, and the show will likely have high viewership in the beginning, they just don't have the brand recognition like GM, HP, Siemens... It just wouldn't be worth it to sponsor an entire ride like that.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
montyz81 said:
I don't think Clarkson,May, Hammond and or the show they are about to start in 2016 have enough financing behind them or brand recognition to sponsor a ride. I know they are worth a lot, and the show will likely have high viewership in the beginning, they just don't have the brand recognition like GM, HP, Siemens... It just wouldn't be worth it to sponsor an entire ride like that.
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Even though the hypothetical is ridiculous (but AWESOME) anyway, I think the notion was that Clarkson, Hammond, and the other one would be paid to host the ride.

Ellen Degeneres doesn't pay to sponsor the Universe of Energy. They pay her.
Although it would be kind of hilarious if it were the other way around.
 
montyz81

montyz81

Well-Known Member
Bairstow said:
Even though the hypothetical is ridiculous (but AWESOME) anyway, I think the notion was that Clarkson, Hammond, and the other one would be paid to host the ride.

Ellen Degeneres doesn't pay to sponsor the Universe of Energy. They pay her.
Although it would be kind of hilarious if it were the other way around.
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So you are saying that GM should pay the former TG hosts to have their likeness in an audio animatronic (or is it auto animatronic) inside of World of Motion err Test Track? I am sure GM would go for that, not sure Disney would. (I believe GM is responsible for paying for the ride story development in addition to the sponsorship)
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
montyz81 said:
So you are saying that GM should pay the former TG hosts to have their likeness in an audio animatronic (or is it auto animatronic) inside of World of Motion err Test Track? I am sure GM would go for that, not sure Disney would. (I believe GM is responsible for paying for the ride story development in addition to the sponsorship)
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I don't think anyone was saying that Disney or GM should do.
People were just speculating that it would be fun if the Top Gear presenters were hired to do the preshow or on-ride narration or something.

At any rate, with Clarkson's mouth I don't think any major corporation is going to be lining up to make him an official spokesperson any time soon.
 
montyz81

montyz81

Well-Known Member
Bairstow said:
I don't think anyone was saying that Disney or GM should do.
People were just speculating that it would be fun if the Top Gear presenters were hired to do the preshow or on-ride narration or something.

At any rate, with Clarkson's mouth I don't think any major corporation is going to be lining up to make him an official spokesperson any time soon.
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Sorry, I didn't mean that to sound like I was doubting your suggestion. I was sort of being sarcastic. I actually think it could be a good idea. How funny would it be to have them in a preshow (albeit obviously edited for younger riders)? I do think it would be a good addition for those fans of Top Gear and a good way of introducing new fans to the Amazon show
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
montyz81 said:
Sorry, I didn't mean that to sound like I was doubting your suggestion. I was sort of being sarcastic. I actually think it could be a good idea. How funny would it be to have them in a preshow (albeit obviously edited for younger riders)? I do think it would be a good addition for those fans of Top Gear and a good way of introducing new fans to the Amazon show
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It would certainly be more family-friendly than hiring Mr. Regular to do it.
 
KeithVH

KeithVH

Well-Known Member
I'm still thinking TG-theming would be a killer idea for TT. Just think, they could hand out foldable paper hats in the shape of a white helmet to put on for the ride and you, the rider, could he the Stig!
 
Phineas

Phineas

Well-Known Member
I was turned off this ride the last time I rode, and we went past these particularly hideous dinosaurs-that looked like a dinosaur had mated with a duck. (I can't find a picture, hopefully someone knows which ones I mean.) Anyway, someone decided to fit these abominations with water jets in their mouths, to spray/wake up passersby.

I was lucky to get sprayed in the ear.
And I do mean in. the. ear.
With the pressure of a mall fountain.
Take that, waxy buildup!

And with the overall state of things in that attraction, it occurred to me that the likelihood of them changing/cleaning/filtering this water, on one of their least popular/maintained attractions, was quite slim. I felt dirty/abused that day.
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
Phineas said:
I was turned off this ride the last time I rode, and we went past these particularly hideous dinosaurs-that looked like a dinosaur had mated with a duck. (I can't find a picture, hopefully someone knows which ones I mean.) Anyway, someone decided to fit these abominations with water jets in their mouths, to spray/wake up passersby.

I was lucky to get sprayed in the ear.
And I do mean in. the. ear.
With the pressure of a mall fountain.
Take that, waxy buildup!

And with the overall state of things in that attraction, it occurred to me that the likelihood of them changing/cleaning/filtering this water, on one of their least popular/maintained attractions, was quite slim. I felt dirty/abused that day.
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Trachodons
Energy06a.jpg
 

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