Spaceship Earth: The old and new

KBLovedDisney

KBLovedDisney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It took me listening to the Walter Cronkite version to realize that guy was the same person who voiced Professor New Eyes in "We're Back, A Dinosaur's Story".
 
HauntedPirate

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
"... the first world wide web...", "... the world's first backup system...". Dench's narration is fine. The script is atrocious. It is absolutely dumbed down for today's audiences (which is a social commentary that we don't need to get into here). You learned about important pieces of history in previous iterations, like "east to west, north and south, all roads led to Rome". Now everything has to be somehow related to current events, technology, etc. It's ridiculous.
 
ShoalFox

ShoalFox

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
MerlinTheGoat said:
The ride was and still is fairly light on "future technology". The original theme (which is one of the elements that was dropped in the current version) was the history of communication. What little future prediction it had wasn't really outdated either, and easily updated with minor alterations if needed. The "Jetsons" cartoon is immensely more outdated and absurd than anything in the prior version of the ride.

The previous versions of the ride had a more mature feel, the narration in particular opted to treat guests more like sophisticated thinking adults (sentences were constructed with more elaborate and complex language, which interestingly helped to further complement and enhance the pacing of the ride). I'm also a big fan of the even older Walter Cronkite version, though my personal preference from a narrative/audio perspective is the Jeremy Irons version.

I liken the Jeremy Irons version in particular to a Cosmos episode from a narration perspective. Like Carl Sagan, Irons' voice (combined with the flowing script) contained both a deeply meditative yet simultaneously captivating quality. In stark contrast with Judi Dench's sharp voice (i'm ordinarily a big fan of her but not as a narrator for this ride) alongside the dumbed down language used in the script.

The descent was also beautiful and inspirational, including both the visual design as well as the gorgeous and uplifting musical score. The walls and scenery were all decked out in a stunning web colorful sparkling light, brilliantly executed with fiber optic effects. And the soundtrack used was also absolutely wonderful (based on a remix of a classical piece also used in a Cosmos episode IIRC). It always gave me chills and put me in a hopeful mood to witness this scene's visuals combined with the music-
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The score in the Irons version gives me chills every time I listen to it. Especially this track.

The current score is okay, but it doesn't really have the same power that the older ones had.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
ArchieAndrews said:
I imagine that a large reason they chose this is it'd be a lot easier to update the "future" aspects of the ride with something like an interactive animation. For that reason I find it fairly ironic that instead of the content/material aging bad it'll probably be the presentation style that will feel out-dated first.
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...and yet it's been updated exactly zero times since 2008.

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cheezbat

cheezbat

Well-Known Member
I think the ride needs a refurb...redo the audio with Patrick Stewart and update the ending. Maybe an interactive ending where things you pick on your screen illuminate or cause objects to move surrounding the vehicle during decent.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Bairstow said:
...and yet it's been updated exactly zero times since 2008.

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How does one go about updating history? The only thing new about it are the ride vehicle screens. Those could use a new graphic update. Except for a few minor changes in the script, the scenes are basically from 1982, but, like I said... how do you update history.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
Goofyernmost said:
How does one go about updating history? The only thing new about it are the ride vehicle screens. Those could use a new graphic update. Except for a few minor changes in the script, the scenes are basically from 1982, but, like I said... how do you update history.
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By sucking up to your corporate partners?

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But seriously, I was referring only to the dumb animation shown during the descent.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
Otterhead said:
No logo or company is shown or mentioned in any way in that set.
However, it was indeed modeled on Steve Wozniak, who did engineer the Apple in a garage and legitimately started the personal computer revolution, so I see no issue.
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Didn't say there was. It's just an amusing love letter to someone who had very recently become their largest individual shareholder.
 
Otterhead

Otterhead

Well-Known Member
Bairstow said:
It's just an amusing love letter to their (at the time) largest individual shareholder.
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Very true. To be totally honest, I've always been surprised that Apple didn't sponsor Spaceship Earth rather than Siemens. They can certainly afford it and would be a much better fit, subject-wise.
 
copcarguyp71

copcarguyp71

Well-Known Member
I agree with the OP...for me everything leading up to Jeremy Irons was working the kinks out and everything after was reheated leftovers out of the microwave. It was the tops for me in terms of show quality, narration and pretty much the rest of the park as well. Judy Dench is not to blame for my malaise as much as failed effects, lack of true updates and a descent that got phoned in from the last refurb instead of being finished.
 
Maerj

Maerj

Well-Known Member
I like the Jeremy Irons version more because it did something that current attractions don't seem to be able to do: be inspirational. I kind of felt the same way a lot of you do about the animated screen ending. Then I rode it with my daughter, who thought that it was the funniest thing ever. Her laughter was priceless and made me see why they added it. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be working correctly on our last trip.
 
GVentola

GVentola

Well-Known Member
I'm okay with any version of the ride, but I prefer the original, with the "Tomorrow's Child" descent. Also, in today's version, I can't see very well when I look backwards during the descent. I used to like to look down, down, down, as I descended the big hill so very slowly. It was cool. Another thing I miss with today's version is the animated chariot and horse in the Rome scene that races down the road and then turns left. I don't know why I liked it so much, I just do. Also, I miss in the Renaissance scene how the audio-animatronics looked like The Monkees. (I'm a big Monkees fan.) I don't like the Judi Dench narration as much as I do the male narrators. I'm a female and I recognize the need to have a token female narrator, but it just doesn't work as well. The same goes for The Hall of Presidents which had a female narrator for a while (I think it was Maya Angelou.). But the Judi Dench version at least gave us the line "Thank the Phoenicians." The interactive part at the end is fun--I agree it looks like Jib Jab crossed with The Jetsons--the first time, I entered what was true for me, but in subsequent visits, I've tried to pick different options just to see what alternate scenarios they have.
 

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