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Kilimanjaro Safaris question
- Thread starter glendroid
- Start date
Phonedave
Well-Known Member
Not showing, just describing.
Little Red's mother used to die and now Little Red was an orphan.
Not really a dark ending, and in my opinion, a better one. It describes what often happens with poaching, and drives the point home better.
I guess it was not enough sunshine and rainbows, so now she lives.
Edit: There was a "dead" Big Red to see, but it was removed before the park opened to the public. The story line was kept as I described it, describing the death of the mother, and then - trying to remember here - 2 years ago or so maybe, it was changed again to have her live.
-dave
Empress Room
Active Member
Yes and no. As I understand it, the original script called for the death of one of the elephants (I believe it was Little Red, but may have been the mother, Big Red). However, during the test phase of the ride, test audiences overwhelmingly disapproved of this plot/ending and it was never used when AK opened to the public. Of course, after it opened, Little Red and Big Red were saved and the script followed that theme. Now, the backstory of Little Red and Big Red has been eliminated with only a generic story of catching poachers in its place.
Thats the one. It wasn't really describing it either, more just mentioning. I never thought of it as dark because you see little red looking pretty happy at the end.
IMO the new story just doesn't hold the attraction together as well as the old one. The story just seems less involving and more like just background activity.
Captain Hank
Well-Known Member
Would anyone happen to have any pictures/footage of the pre-opening version of Kilimanjaro Safaris?
Chape19714
Well-Known Member
The death of Big red never occured when the park offically opened, only during Cast Preview week and other pre-opening events/tests. There have been 3 versions of the Safari Story
1-Poachers Kill Big Red, Little Red orphan. (they may have played around with killing little red as well during the very early days, but that I'm unsure about)
2-You save both Elephants by trapping the poachers
3-Current Version..general poacher story line, and you save the day, no specifics on Big Red/Little Red.
1-Poachers Kill Big Red, Little Red orphan. (they may have played around with killing little red as well during the very early days, but that I'm unsure about)
2-You save both Elephants by trapping the poachers
3-Current Version..general poacher story line, and you save the day, no specifics on Big Red/Little Red.
Phonedave
Well-Known Member
I was on it September 29th and there were the machine gun effects, and the raido calls from Simba 1
Maybe audio was 101 on your vehicle ?
-dave
Phonedave
Well-Known Member
Now you are going to make me look though my stuff for video - if I have any.
I would swear that there was an audio only of Big Red getting killed. A single line, such as "the poachers got the mother, but were were able to save the baby" and I did not attend any pre-openings.
-dave
Captain Hank
Well-Known Member
I think I remember a line like that, too.
Edit: Nope--I just watched a Youtube video of the ride circa 2000. The two lines concerning the fate of Big Red in that version are:
Reserve Official: "Calling Warden Matua, over. [Warden here.] There are ivory poachers in the reserve. They shot Big Red, she is wounded."
and
Miss Jobson: "The wardens have Big Red, she'll be fine."
Jerm
Well-Known Member
If you can find any, that would be one of the biggest shocks I have ever seen, I have been looking for that for 10 years.
Since the park "opened" the audio was that Big Red was wounded but would be fine. Last May they took out the second audio track, the first one being the "dead Big Red" track, and replaced it with the less storyline based audio which you can find a few million threads about that. But the carcus of Big Red was seen in very early cast previews but was removed very quickly, because according to more then a few people, the park got a lot of complaints about it. Big Red along with the kinghts armor on the lances near the dragons cave along the river are two of the most "was it there" things about AK, the Dino AA along the river never really is talked about but also there and now long gone. Yes they were all there at one point but the carcus and lances were gone very early on with the Dino AA hanging out till about 2000 or so.
I agree...there is absolutely no reason for the poaching storyline.
mitchk
Well-Known Member
I do miss the jeep that used to go speeding by, shooting at you, it gave the scene a little more excitement. I can't really say I miss the plane, because I always thought the wardens thumbs up looked so fake, but it did add a little more depth to the last scene. I would love to find some pictures of the dead Big Red, it would be very interesting. As far as the Dinosaur on the boat ride, I've seen pictures, and a tiny clip of him on a special that was made for the opening of AK. BTW, anyone else here that some of the old Dinosaur parts were used for the Yeti? :wave:
mitchk
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't go that far, I think it gives people a little bit of education on poaching, and why it must be stopped :wave:
MythBuster
Active Member
A lot things changed on the Safari after the Eisner visit, he thought some things looked too violent.
They removed the half eaten Zebra in front of the Lions pool.
Originally, in the finale of the Safari, when you go by the poachers tents on the right, right across from there on the left, where the campfire is, that is where the carcass of Big Red was.
When you came upon the airplane, it was there by itself. and the poachers jeep was across the road on the left hand side overturned, where you can see the wheels still spinning and the steering wheel moving back and forth.
And when you went to unload, the truck with Little Red, was right across from unload on the left, where the safari driver office/breakroom is now.
They removed the half eaten Zebra in front of the Lions pool.
Originally, in the finale of the Safari, when you go by the poachers tents on the right, right across from there on the left, where the campfire is, that is where the carcass of Big Red was.
When you came upon the airplane, it was there by itself. and the poachers jeep was across the road on the left hand side overturned, where you can see the wheels still spinning and the steering wheel moving back and forth.
And when you went to unload, the truck with Little Red, was right across from unload on the left, where the safari driver office/breakroom is now.
Actually there is a very good reason for the poaching storyline. AK's message was about conservation and protecting animals. In essence it was an environmentalist's Epcot. Poaching is a real problem that most people are ignorant of. This attraction attempted to remove said ignorance and make people aware of what was and is happening.
burninup4nick
New Member
I liked the old ending better personally....
wolf359
Well-Known Member
Overall, I prefer the less involved storyline they are currently running. I didn't mind the "save Little Red" story the first couple times, but I would much rather have more opportunity for the driver to talk about what we're seeing on the safari instead of wasting their time playing along with a clumsy and melodramatic story.
MKCP 1985
Well-Known Member
Hey, no offense to the vision or the message, but I'm on vacation and I just want to enjoy seeing the animals. And not all of DAK is about conservation and protection - some of it is just about celebrating the animals and enjoying being around them, or what's left of them. I think a guy gets chastised for trying to protect and preserve a dinosaur on another ride. :lookaroun
If given the option of bypassing the "poaching is a problem" message and going with a driver who drives slow and tells me what type of animals I'm seeing and points out the hiding cheetahs, I'll take that second tour every time.
See, I'm not going to solve the poaching problem in Africa. And when I go home from vacation, I'm going to return to the real problems I have in the world I live in, which doesn't include hippos in the lake or giraffes in the park. So running that "poachers are after Little Red" storyline every single time I ride Kilimanjaro Safaris is, pardon the expression, overkill. :shrug: I don't MIND that the Little Red storyline is there, but if given a choice, I'd skip it.