Disnerd2003
Well-Known Member
Why was that lighted window put there? I remember when it wasnt illuminated and then when it was. It made her look like a black shadow as you couldnt see her face that well.
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Spaceship in Spaceship Earth
- Thread starter mayoki
- Start date
Dragonman
Well-Known Member
Probably to make her more visible although from videos you can’t really tell how effective it was. I’m assuming she originally only had the smaller orange light on her right that was pointed out earlier.
That also begs an important question: do any blueprints/schematics/BTS photos exist of her setup or even the space station/astronauts? I know about the preproduction art.
Expo_Seeker40
Well-Known Member
I love seeing this thread every time it pops up. I truly hope SSE gets a proper refurb and new descent in its next refurb.
Disnerd2003
Well-Known Member
I remember both versions. When the small orange light was there you saw her face really well. When they added the giant light behind she looked like a black silhouette. Not sure why. Would also like to see a nice refurb. #Bringbackthechariotprojection. Also, I know it was talked about before but I dont wanna go 84 pages back, what of the Tomorrow's child effects and sets are left behind the black curtains and above you during the "Your future today" thing? Are there any other abandoned animatronics or sets in the ride? I'd imagine they'd be really dusty like the rest of SSE (it's like theres not even a cleaning crew for this ride). Something @marni1971 can probably answer. Also I'd love a pic of our beloved window girl today, it's be cool seen as they took her skin off. I know it'd be hard to get up there but anything is possible.
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Left from 82 and 86? Only the space station ceiling structure. And that’s had bits removed.
A lot of the 94 diorama scenes and mannequins are still in place though.
Dragonman
Well-Known Member
Thanks for confirming my theory about the two lights shining on window girl.
I’ve always wondered what happened to the scaffolding Egyptian. It really made no sense to remove him since they never reused him like they did with the Gutenberg press boy and the network ops lady. It would be nice to see him added back.
I’ve always wondered what happened to the scaffolding Egyptian. It really made no sense to remove him since they never reused him like they did with the Gutenberg press boy and the network ops lady. It would be nice to see him added back.
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Disnerd2003
Well-Known Member
As for the 94 effects are there pictures? They're just gathering dust in the dark? I know somebody said the city was already moved but I wonder how many mannequins for the peppers ghost are still above you and how many physical set and Limited Motion AA's are left behind the curtains. Maybe they could just restore these things, repaint the spacestation and reskin the girl, add new spacemen, and other new effects.
Most if not all mannequins, props and peppers effects are still in place. Or they were last year. The city diorama went in 2007. If there’s publicly posted photos I don’t know.
Disnerd2003
Well-Known Member
We need like a Janitor to sneak around for us!That's so creepy. Do we know if Window Girl's face mold was used somewhere else? I wanna see what she looked like up close again. It's been a long time haha.
Dragonman
Well-Known Member
There were theories that she shares the same face as Keiko the ‘94 video chat girl but we’re not entirely sure as we don’t have any hi-res photos of window girl yet. These are the only good pictures we have of her so far:
I don’t blame you for being interested in her (I’ve been kinda obsessed ever since I discovered she was up there). As for getting pics of her nowadays I’d love to see her but at the same time she isn’t easily accessible at all (probably involves a high ladder and a hatch or something like that), so I don’t know if it’ll ever happen unfortunately unless they realize she’s up there and reuse her somehow. @marni1971 can tell you more about her and the dates of the photos if you’re curious.
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Bender123
Well-Known Member
On its most basic level, the entire 180top is, and always has been, a screen...The space station was, for lack of a better term, remnants of a failed effect.
Disnerd2003
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't say "failed" as it was simply breathtaking in person. Still tell my kids about it and tell them to turn around to see it today and stuff. I'm pretty sure in '94 when the Irons refurb came in it was too costly to redo. The humidity and conditions are definately different in 180 top (it leaks on riders when it rains, as of yesterday). The figures were most likely damaged to some degree and Disney was worried about putting money into the Dioramma pieces during the descent. The moon pieces would've been the closest to "failed", but instead it was simply scrapped.
Bender123
Well-Known Member
Breathtaking, yes, but also very scaled back from its original plan, due to being a failed effect. It was meant to be a much larger station and the effect was supposed to be the riders on the moon looking at the Earth. TBH, I always found the station and AAs to be cool, but really corny. Personal opinion is the view of Earth was epic enough without the distraction...I get why people liked having them, though.
Dragonman
Well-Known Member
Window Girl was the only AA in the scene though. The astronauts were static figures but the smaller satellite moved a bit to simulate floating.
Btw anyone think it might be possible that her skin and clothes are lying around backstage in storage somewhere ?.
Btw anyone think it might be possible that her skin and clothes are lying around backstage in storage somewhere ?.
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Disnerd2003
Well-Known Member
But I'll say it again I don't think it was "failed" it was just never seen through. One of the Imagineers who was borrowed from Horizons was brought in to oversee the completion of the moon part and he called it off at the last minute (hence the awkward moon cut outs). The spacestation effect wasn't failed and was very well recieved. It was scaled back after it was called off, as there were more props to add. So not "failed", but more like "cancelled". The Blue Lights are more of a distraction nowadays than the astronauts were.
Fsunolekrw
Active Member
Does anyone have a complete list of the scenes and each of their individual animatronics/effects in the original incarnation of SE?
Bender123
Well-Known Member
God...I hate that I remember all these...The satellite would have made a lot more sense with a ship. As it stands, it was just drifting around millions of miles from Earth. The lack of moon and space ship just made them feel out of place to me. Different strokes...I recall seeing the original mural design, somewhere, or I may have had seven too many beers last night. Sort of beside the point, but shows that the original top was drastically different from how it was planned.
If I may
Claudio Mazzoli painted the mural for SSE; Bob McCall painted the Prologue and the Promise that stood in Horizons until 1986. In the SSE mural, details can be found all the original 1982 ride. Interestingly, the original design was slightly different and featured the planned spaceship in 180top which the ride vehicles were to have exited out of.
Dragonman
Well-Known Member
If anyone does it would be the all knowing, all seeing @marni1971
I can however list at least the most appropriate one for this thread.
180 top:
1 space station with lighted red engine lights and fibre optics in windows above
1 AA woman with orange spotlight and lighted transparent window behind her (possibly added in ‘86) inside cylindrical portion of space station
2 static astronaut figures
1 earth projection
1 large satellite with solar panels connected to cylindrical portion of space station with large mechanical arm
1 small satellite suspended from roof of the building, has minimal movement
Several portions of unfinished moon surface
Star projections in room
Btw here’s some good shots of the abandoned elements nowadays. You can see the moon surface a lot better here showing it’s not all flat cut outs.
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Disnerd2003
Well-Known Member
Love this @Dragonman! I usually wait to ride SSE until right before park close when I'm generally alone and use the light on my cell phone to see this stuff (to the annoyance of my kids). Would give the world to see it come back as a blend of the Cronkite 180 top and Irons descent. Wish we could get out of the ride vehicles and run around like kids going where we aren't supposed to haha.