Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures
The Jackie Chan Adventures
The
Happiest Place On Earth - DisneyLand
PART 3
At the same moment inside the
cabin mumbling sounds can be heard coming from Raphael who just woke up and
Tohru who also awakened from his slumber, both appear to be talking about the
upcoming NBA FINALS of 2002.
TOHRU
Ok, I'm betting on the
Lakers to capture another title a 3-peat to add to the 2 trophies they already
won in 2000 and 2001.
RAPHAEL
Oh yeah, just like Michael
Jordan and the Bulls did back in the 90s. That would be something I'd like
to see. But they first have to survive the Playoffs including the Western
Conference Finals before making it back to the World
Championship.
TOHRU
I know they can do it.
On the other hand who knows what opponents they will face from the East if L.A.
does make it all the way?
RAPHAEL
Whoa, man. We'll just
have to wait and see.
Then Venus happens to
wake up upon hearing this conversation of betting and it worries her so she is
quick to respond.
VENUS
You shouldn't bet.
That sets a bad example for the viewers at home.
RAPHAEL <Surprised>
What? Someone's
watching us? I didn't know I was famous.
TOHRU
Huh??? <Puzzled> You
are a movie star.
RAPHAEL
Of course I am. First
in cartoons and then in live action movies and finally live action television
series.
VENUS
Uh-huh,
<Smirks>
TOHRU
Wow! So you, Don, Mike
& Leo starred in live action film based on the comicbook series and cartoon
show.
RAPHAEL
You got that right.
Hey, <Says to De Milo> I wasn't betting on sports like you said I was...we
were predicting who was going to win the 2002 NBA FINALS.
VENUS
Oh, correct me if I'm wrong.
<Glowers> But it sounded like you were waging high bets on money between
each other or maybe you were not.
TOHRU
Oops, heh-heh. <Grins
weakly> It's wrong to gamble or bet.
RAPHAEL
Nuts, bummer. So we
have a deal?
TOHRU
Deal. <They shake on
it> All we do now is wait and predict who will win.
VENUS
Good grief! <Throws up
hands, rolls eyes> I give up. <Turns back in her seat and goes back to
sleep>
TOHRU & RAPHAEL
NOT! <Flip bird sign
& stick out tongues>
However De Milo did not
hear them insult her. Back in the cockpit Chan, Donatello & Ninjara
continue to watch the audio-video tour of DisneyLand and the magic behind the
scenes.
JACKIE CHAN
Here comes more of how the
attractions were built and audio animatronics that were used to create
illusions.
NINJARA
What's audio animatronics
anyway?
DONATELLO
Is that some kind of
magic?
JACKIE CHAN
In a way of
speaking...yes. Watch and learn. <Hits the PLAY
button>
Again the show plays
on-screen with music & narration...
NARRATOR
Even when Walt realized his
guests didn't want thrill rides he made them look like toys. The
Matterhorn ride ran through a scaled simulation of a mountain. The cars
were designed as bobsleds.
Guests riding in sleds
race around sharp turns, drop down hills, enter ice tunnels & caverns while
avoiding the Yeti who roars and reaches out to grab the passing sleds.
Then splashing down in a small lagoon at the bottom of the mountain before the
auto-brakes engage to slow the cars down at the load-unload dock.
NARRATOR
This would create a new
generation of rides. Almost anything in the park was brought to life by a
new form of Disney technology called audio animatronics.
At this point another
voice is replaced by the latter explaining how this new special effect was used
during construction of a dark ride called Pirates Of The Caribbean which was an
idea Walt came up with in the first place.
NARRATOR #2
As its name implies audio
animatronics begins with sound. Recorded on tape the sound can be played
back almost anytime always on cue. The coined word to audio animatronics
represents a special kind of 3D animation. Here's a rehearsal scene where
the town mayor is dunked in well every 24 hours.
Image shows a humanoid
robot pulling on a rope tied to a helpless robot sitting in a chair being lifted
out of the well into the air.
NARRATOR #2
The third key to audio
animatronics is the electronics of the space age. Using complex
electronics & equipment these specialists are programming every move of
every pirate and also the more subtle movements of their
prisoners.
Disney employees can be
seen checking-double checking the computer systems making sure all robotics work
perfectly as other designers make last minute inspections on the machines to be
sure no malfunctions occur.
NARRATOR #2
When all 3 elements...sound,
animation & electronics were finally brought together and synchronized the
pirates began to come to life.
TALKING SKULL
Ye come seeking adventure in
salty old pirates, aye? Sure ye come to the proper place. But keep a
weather eye open mates and hold on tight with both hands if you please,
heheheheeh...
Suddenly the guests in
the boat scream in pretend terror as they plunge down waterfalls into the dark
underground caverns below. Now a ghostly evil voice echoes a familiar
phrase over and over, saying...
GHOSTLY VOICE
DEAD MEN TELL NO
TALES!!!
NARRATOR <The original
one>
The Pirates Of The Caribbean
was a new kind of entertainment. Here people glided through a series of
tableaus and just needed to sit back and relax. This was Disney technology
as only a motion picture studio could accomplish.
PIRATE CAPTAIN <Threatens fort defenders
from his ship>
Strike yer colors ya
blooming cockroachers! By thunder we'll see ya to Davey
Jones.
DONATELLO
Wow, cool. Pirates
that look and sound like the real thing but are not real.
JACKIE CHAN
That's the whole idea, to
trick people into believing they are witnessing real events happening before
them.
NINJARA
Incredible, I never would
have guessed.
Now another image
appears on the vid-screen resembling an old man with bald head and partial hair
talking about this dark ride attraction. This is Marc Davis the one who
helped create the attraction Walt personally supervised before his
death.
MARC DAVIS
Walt came into my office one
day and he said, I like to do an attraction on Pirates, uh, maybe Pirates Of The
Caribbean. And he described this as a real swashbuckling kind of
adventure. So, um, this was the very beginning.
NARRATOR
The designing team was
recruited from Disney Studios. Marc Davis was one of Disney's so-called "9
Old Men Of Animation" the studio's leading animator. Originally Davis
specialized in female characters, including Tinkerbell who had tangled with one
or two pirates in her days.
MARC DAVIS
So I thought this is
great. So I got books from the library on pirates and all that kind of
stuff. And I remember when I was a kid seeing a Lawrence Chainey film and
he had something in his eye something I'll never forget. And I have one
pirate that has a white eye.
NARRATOR
Disney loved to entertain
people but sometimes he worried about the costs.
The next scene reveals
the dunking scene in the town plaza as the captain threatens the mayor to tell
him where the treasures be hidden while his wife opens the shutters of their
apartment upstairs and shouts down to her husband not to give into their
demands. One pirate shoots at her with his rifle causing the woman to
scream and slam the shutters closed while simultaneously another pirate releases
his grip on the rope sending the poor mayor falling back into the well below the
surface resulting in splashing sounds.
MARC DAVIS
The inscription here was
changed because, <He points to a sketch drawing of the dunking scene> I
had a hook on the captain's left or right hand and Walt said no, why don't you
get rid of that and put his hand on the well so we don't have to animate so
much. So, ah, economically he lost his hook. <Turns the next page> And
these are closeups of the mayor. <Turns next page> And this here is a
closeup of the man pulling him up.
Scene shows pirate
tugging-lifting on rope and the mayor is raised into the open again, spitting
water from his mouth while it runs down his head & face. Again his
wife flings open the shutters and yells down to him.
MAYOR's WIFE
Don't tell him, don't be
chicken! <Gunshots fired her way> Aaaaaaaah! <Screams and shuts window
closed>
MARC DAVIS
We celebrated the 25th
Anniversary of this attraction and I was amazed to find out at that time that
290-million people had gone through that attraction. And you know to work
so hard on it that makes you feel real good about it. And it still is the
#1 attraction in DisneyLand.
Then the audio-video
story ends and the screen blanks out. Chan ejects the CD from the player
and clips it back into its box and returns it to his pocket.
JACKIE CHAN
And that's the story of
DisneyLand, for now that is.
NINJARA
Is there anymore secrets
behind the scenes coming?
DONATELLO
Yeah, what's
next?
JACKIE CHAN
Maybe, I think I may have
some more CDs available. I'll go look. <And he disappears into the
cabin>
NINJARA
Cool, now we know everything
we need to know about DL.
DONATELLO
Awesome lady. So when
we arrive we'll be able to find out ourselves how the attractions
work.
NINJARA
But, <Warns him> we
must not tell everybody or else it would spoil-ruin the illusion or magic of
DisneyLand. Keep it to ourselves.
DONATELLO
Agreed. <Shakes on
it>
END OF PART III
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