WaltzingMatilda
Member
We got stuck in the Tarzan scene once...I was ready to throw myself under the ride vehicle. Except it wasn't moving.
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Great Movie Ride change
- Thread starter Valawen9
- Start date
We got stuck in the Tarzan scene once...I was ready to throw myself under the ride vehicle. Except it wasn't moving.
Indeed, but to drift off topic it`s a flawed park with the current plans. It is a much larger discussion than this, but to squeeze ToT in it`s current (original) location in the middle of the park and not take the opportunity to expand the physical on-stage areas is madness. This could make a good side thread.
Back on topic, the GMR was planned for Paris in the much larger and Orlando-influenced Disney-MGM Europe. The Great Movie Palace. Seeing how Disneyland Parcs signature attractions leave their American counterparts standing it`s painful to imagine what GMP would have been like.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
didn't take too long to fix...guess they Fed Exed it overnight from California...
Rob562
Well-Known Member
The easiest way to (almost) ensure getting the Western/Cowboy hiijack scene is going at a time when they're using BOTH sides of the queue. When the line splits (which can happen in a couple different palces depending on how they set the queue up), Western is to the right, Gangster is to the left. This is also the order that the two lines approach the podium and entrance doors.
The one time you might get messed up with this is if they're trying to fill in empty spots on the trams, and are pulling small groups out of either line. You might find yourself seated in the opposite scene. So it's still a good idea to ask at the podium if the Western scene is available.
-Rob
ghostlyguitar
New Member
The scene was a lot more elaborate; the ladies were always static mannequins, and there weren't any additional figures, but there were bubble machines as well as some fountains. Apparently that's where they got into trouble, as they didn't maintain the set properly, and it began to get heavy water damage. Eventually, they decided to save costs and shut the fountains and bubble machines off completely, and a little further down the line, they shut off the rotating mechanism as well. They added a scrim to the front of the set to hide it so you wouldn't notice the missing pieces so much. They discussed these changes at length a couple months ago in the Re-Imagineering Blog. Good stuff!
I haven't been on the GMR in a few years, but the last time I went it seemed that it wasn't in the best of shape...The gangsters in their big 'ol car looked pretty stiff, and the the bullet hits were spewing a weird foam (I think the water they used to create the burst of dust clogged the nozzle and wound up bubbling over). The Old West scene looked tired, the building was scorched. It was still a very cool experience, though. I just think it needs some TLC.
-Adam-
PS: I found out they added the scrim after the actual show stuff broke, so I edited accordingly. The article shows up on August 16th, 2006 of the Re-Imagineering blog; I probably got somethin' else wrong too
Stupid faulty memory.
Slipknot
Well-Known Member
Just to set the record straight about what is used for the bullet hits and gunshot smoke in Gangster Alley and Western and some of the smoke effects in Alien.. It is CO2. :wave:
Bratstarman
New Member
The scene was a lot more elaborate; the ladies were always static mannequins, and there weren't any additional figures, but there were bubble machines as well as some fountains. Apparently that's where they got into trouble, as they didn't maintain the set properly, and it began to get heavy water damage. Eventually, they decided to save costs and shut the fountains and bubble machines off completely, and a little further down the line, they shut off the rotating mechanism as well. They added a scrim to the front of the set to hide it so you wouldn't notice the missing pieces so much. They discussed these changes at length a couple months ago in the Re-Imagineering Blog. Good stuff!
I haven't been on the GMR in a few years, but the last time I went it seemed that it wasn't in the best of shape...The gangsters in their big 'ol car looked pretty stiff, and the the bullet hits were spewing a weird foam (I think the water they used to create the burst of dust clogged the nozzle and wound up bubbling over). The Old West scene looked tired, the building was scorched. It was still a very cool experience, though. I just think it needs some TLC.
-Adam-
PS: I found out they added the scrim after the actual show stuff broke, so I edited accordingly. The article shows up on August 16th, 2006 of the Re-Imagineering blog; I probably got somethin' else wrong too
Actually, it was not as glorious as it was painted in Re-Imagineering. The original scene looked very cheap, with creepy mannequins turning on a layer cake. Had they been animatronics, it might have looked better. Neither water nor bubbles helped - it looked like a creepy scene out of Twightlight Zone rather than a 20's musical.
So the scrim and projections were added to hide what was there, and the water and rotation were turned off.
Believe me, it is far better now than it was back then.
disneygrl89
Member
*Slightly off topic Alert*
In WD Studios in Paris, there is a show called Cinemagique. Guests enter and are seated in a theater to watch a movie about the history of the silver screen. At the start of the movie, a guest (actually a CM) gets up and starts talking on his cell phone.
While the man is talking on his cell right in front of the silver screen, a magician from an old black-and-white movie does a little hocus pocus and the cell-phone talking man disappears...only to become part of the movie. (Here the CM is played by Martin Short). For the rest of the show Martin Short trys to get back to the real world.
Cinemagique could be the European incarnation of GMR that marni1971 was talking about. And if Cinemagique is indeed the GRM of Paris, I felt that the Imagineers did a really good job.
Okay, now back to the forum already in progress.:animwink:
Skippy_
Member
Wikipedia does a great job of explaining the changes implemented to the Footlight Parade opening scene! It even has comparison pics so check out the link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Movie_Ride
If you really want to see what it used to be like, got to YouTube or Google Video, and watch the on-ride video taken in 1990.
Footlight Parade is one of my all-time favorite movies, and from what I've seen and heard, it looks to me like the scene used to perfectly capture the classic Bubsy Berkeley number, By a Waterfall! In the exact portion of the scene that the ride replicates, the girls don't move, so making them animatronics would just be an added expense and weight to the turntable.
No other movie better represents a 1930's musical than this Warner Bros. gem. The movie contains some of the best Pre-Code one liners from Cagney EVER and ends with a trio of Bubsy Berkeley masterpeices: Honeymoon Hotel, By a Waterfall, and Shanghai Lil. Like Singin' in the Rain, this musical lives up to the hype with a great story, great humor, and great numbers, and they perfectly represent their eras (WB 30's and MGM 50's).
If any movie doesn't belong and feels out of place on The Great Movie Ride it's Alien. It's the one movie I just don't feel is a classic yet. The only problem is I can't think of a movie that would replace that great atmosphere that you get from the Alien scene.
I feels this attraction needs a refurbishment and the following changes/additions should be implemented: the Footlight Parade scene should be upgraded to it's former glory, all the animatronics should be replaced with one's as great as the Jack Sparrows on Pirates of the Caribbean, the Underworld scene should have the billboard Rico "Little Casaer" was shot behind placed somewhere in the scene so to represent more than just The Public Enemy with Cagny and Paddy Ryan's bar, in the scene inbetween Indy and Tarzan, representing horror movies of the 1930's, should be overhauled to include the Universal Monsters, new audio/lighting and special effects should be added all throughout (especially Fantasmic scene, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which could include some amazing 3D effects), and the end montage should take out all the crappy 80/90's movies (Narnia and Nemo just because they feel out of place) and replace them with classic Spielberg/Universal collaborations (yes, it would make a difference, so buy some rights Disney)!
On a side note, The Great Movie Ride poster on Wikipedia has given me the urge to take my camera next time, get a hi-quality pic of it and professionally print out a poster for my room !!!
PS: Move the stupid hat to a better location Disney (around Fantasmic to better locate it or something), but just out from infront of my Chinese Theater!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Movie_Ride
If you really want to see what it used to be like, got to YouTube or Google Video, and watch the on-ride video taken in 1990.
Footlight Parade is one of my all-time favorite movies, and from what I've seen and heard, it looks to me like the scene used to perfectly capture the classic Bubsy Berkeley number, By a Waterfall! In the exact portion of the scene that the ride replicates, the girls don't move, so making them animatronics would just be an added expense and weight to the turntable.
No other movie better represents a 1930's musical than this Warner Bros. gem. The movie contains some of the best Pre-Code one liners from Cagney EVER and ends with a trio of Bubsy Berkeley masterpeices: Honeymoon Hotel, By a Waterfall, and Shanghai Lil. Like Singin' in the Rain, this musical lives up to the hype with a great story, great humor, and great numbers, and they perfectly represent their eras (WB 30's and MGM 50's).
If any movie doesn't belong and feels out of place on The Great Movie Ride it's Alien. It's the one movie I just don't feel is a classic yet. The only problem is I can't think of a movie that would replace that great atmosphere that you get from the Alien scene.
I feels this attraction needs a refurbishment and the following changes/additions should be implemented: the Footlight Parade scene should be upgraded to it's former glory, all the animatronics should be replaced with one's as great as the Jack Sparrows on Pirates of the Caribbean, the Underworld scene should have the billboard Rico "Little Casaer" was shot behind placed somewhere in the scene so to represent more than just The Public Enemy with Cagny and Paddy Ryan's bar, in the scene inbetween Indy and Tarzan, representing horror movies of the 1930's, should be overhauled to include the Universal Monsters, new audio/lighting and special effects should be added all throughout (especially Fantasmic scene, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which could include some amazing 3D effects), and the end montage should take out all the crappy 80/90's movies (Narnia and Nemo just because they feel out of place) and replace them with classic Spielberg/Universal collaborations (yes, it would make a difference, so buy some rights Disney)!
On a side note, The Great Movie Ride poster on Wikipedia has given me the urge to take my camera next time, get a hi-quality pic of it and professionally print out a poster for my room !!!
PS: Move the stupid hat to a better location Disney (around Fantasmic to better locate it or something), but just out from infront of my Chinese Theater!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
joanna71985
Well-Known Member
Me too! It was horrible. We were half in the Casablanca scene, half in the Tarzan scene (enough to hear his annoying yodeling). I was ready to shoot myself.:brick:
You may have misunderstood me. The Grand Movie Palace was to be a bigger and better version of TGMR. Same style attraction but better. When D-MGM Europe was shrunk into WDSP it was scrapped.
I agree though; Cinemagique is superb. Shame the copyright rules won`t allow it to be cloned in the US - instead you got LMA.
disneygrl89
Member
I think I did misunderstand you marni1971. (My thinking was Cinemagique did the same type of thing as GMR w/out the riding part). I googled "Grand Movie Palace" and found the following website http://www.photosmagiques.com/wdsfans/articles/guided_tours/disney_mgm_europe.php
which really shows some of the lost jewels of the Paris WDStudios.
Had the GMPalace had happened it probably would have been amazing yet Cinemagique is one of a kind and does kinda the small job.
Bratstarman
New Member
Just for the record, I participated in a board like this back then (before the internet on a service called GEnie - because it was run by GE) and everyone was up in arms about how horrible and creepy the static manequins looked. Without the scrim, they did not look human or anything like the girls in the movie. Think inflatable plastic dolls and you are pretty close to the look they achieved. Fountains made no difference. The fact is there never were "good old days" for that one scene - it was pretty lame.
But then again if Wikipedia says otherwise, I must be wrong :lol:
jcowens2000
New Member
Hi,
I think that when Disney set out to recreate the By A Waterfall sequence, they tried to remain accurate as possible (with creative license and within budget) to the "cake" scene in the original movie.
If you watch the By A Waterfall song from the movie, you'll notice that Ruby Keeler and ________ Powell are the only two that sing during the 10 minute song. The swimmers/chorusgirls leading up to and during the "cake" part never sing. They just smile.
The Disney "mannequins" for this sequence do not sing either. They just stand there...smiling. There was never an intention for them appearing to sing the “By A Waterfall” loop you hear during the ride.
So this in a way was kept true to the movie. However, in the original movie, the swimmers/chorusgirls on the cake *never* raised their arms. Their hands are resting on their hips. I would think that Disney found that by having their arms in the air made the “cake” look fuller. Although the cake is 5 tiers, there are fewer “dancers” standing on it than what you would find in the movie version. Arms down=anemic cake. Arms up=bigger looking illusion.
What I think people find odd about the "mannequins" are a couple of things:
1. They appear to be exact clones of one another. There are no variations of the faces or body types.
2. The bodies are too slender and plastic looking. A variation in body type and posture would have made it appear more “natural”.
It probably wouldn’t have hurt to make them blink. Also, whenever an AA’s skin becomes shiny, it ruins the effect. I am sure many of you notice this on older AA’s throughout attractions.
I think that when Disney set out to recreate the By A Waterfall sequence, they tried to remain accurate as possible (with creative license and within budget) to the "cake" scene in the original movie.
If you watch the By A Waterfall song from the movie, you'll notice that Ruby Keeler and ________ Powell are the only two that sing during the 10 minute song. The swimmers/chorusgirls leading up to and during the "cake" part never sing. They just smile.
The Disney "mannequins" for this sequence do not sing either. They just stand there...smiling. There was never an intention for them appearing to sing the “By A Waterfall” loop you hear during the ride.
So this in a way was kept true to the movie. However, in the original movie, the swimmers/chorusgirls on the cake *never* raised their arms. Their hands are resting on their hips. I would think that Disney found that by having their arms in the air made the “cake” look fuller. Although the cake is 5 tiers, there are fewer “dancers” standing on it than what you would find in the movie version. Arms down=anemic cake. Arms up=bigger looking illusion.
What I think people find odd about the "mannequins" are a couple of things:
1. They appear to be exact clones of one another. There are no variations of the faces or body types.
2. The bodies are too slender and plastic looking. A variation in body type and posture would have made it appear more “natural”.
It probably wouldn’t have hurt to make them blink. Also, whenever an AA’s skin becomes shiny, it ruins the effect. I am sure many of you notice this on older AA’s throughout attractions.
Miss Bell
New Member
If we ride it more than once on one trip, we always ask to be put on the one we haven't done for that particular trip (usually cowboy.) If you are going to do this, ask as you go in to ride room--I think at the back of the theatre those intertwining lines are hard for CM's to figure out which line is which (not that I blame them.)
I like the cowboy version better, because of the fire, and probably because I don't get to see it as often.
This is one of my all-time favorite rides. I'm glad they updated the film--I like seeing some newer stuff intertwined with the orginal montage.
I like the cowboy version better, because of the fire, and probably because I don't get to see it as often.
This is one of my all-time favorite rides. I'm glad they updated the film--I like seeing some newer stuff intertwined with the orginal montage.
Skippy_
Member
^^Exactly, I don't think it is as much of them being inanimate mannequins as it is them looking like mannequins. Don't count the imagineers out yet, they're so incredibly talented that with the right budget, I'm sure they could easily remove that shiny-plastic mannequin look and replace it with a photo realistic wax figure look!
Now if they would just fix this scene up so the turntable and fountains are going again to give it some life, becuase as of now, it's the deadest scene on the entire attraction.
Now if they would just fix this scene up so the turntable and fountains are going again to give it some life, becuase as of now, it's the deadest scene on the entire attraction.
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
I agree, and it's a shame that it has to be the first scene Guests encounter as it does not set a very exciting tone to start off.
Slipknot
Well-Known Member
Not at all. Now a new CP/CM who is out on their own for the first time after training thinking they know it... :brick: :hammer:
Having both lines open only means that there are at least two A Vehicles (Bandit scene) on the track.