Difference between revisions of "The Seas with Nemo & Friends (Attraction)"

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The creation of The Seas with Nemo & Friends attraction came about as part of a larger overhaul of The Living Seas Pavilion. Since the late 1990s, the pavilion had seen a sharp decrease in popularity, and the lost of sponsor United Technologies. In order to boost the popularity of the pavilion, in December 2003, Disney began to tie characters from the 2003 Disney-Pixar movie "Finding Nemo" into The Living Seas. While this integration originally took place mostly in the pavilion's gift shop, exterior and in some of the SeaBase Alpha exhibits, a larger change was coming <ref name= "Martin2"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj6VD1bJEYs </ref>. In 2004, Module 1C and Module 1D in Sea Base alpha closed. When the modules reopened on November 16, 2004 they featured two new Finding Nemo based exhibits- "Bruce's Shark World" (in Module 1D) and a new attraction [[Turtle Talk with Crush]] (in Module IC) <ref name="book">Pedersen, R. A. The EPCOT Explorer's Encyclopedia:. United States: Epcyclopedia, 2011. Print. </ref>.  While Bruce's Shark World was a playground for younger guests, Turtle Talk With Crush was an interactive show that featured Disney's newest technology, "digital puppetry". Looking through an arcylric window, on Turtle Talk with Crush, guests could talk and interact with Crush the Turtle from Finding Nemo. The new show proved to be so popular that Disney decided to integrate Nemo into the entire Living Seas pavilion. In order to do this, on August 21, 2005 the  whole pavilion closed to the public<ref name= "Martin2"/>.
 
The creation of The Seas with Nemo & Friends attraction came about as part of a larger overhaul of The Living Seas Pavilion. Since the late 1990s, the pavilion had seen a sharp decrease in popularity, and the lost of sponsor United Technologies. In order to boost the popularity of the pavilion, in December 2003, Disney began to tie characters from the 2003 Disney-Pixar movie "Finding Nemo" into The Living Seas. While this integration originally took place mostly in the pavilion's gift shop, exterior and in some of the SeaBase Alpha exhibits, a larger change was coming <ref name= "Martin2"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj6VD1bJEYs </ref>. In 2004, Module 1C and Module 1D in Sea Base alpha closed. When the modules reopened on November 16, 2004 they featured two new Finding Nemo based exhibits- "Bruce's Shark World" (in Module 1D) and a new attraction [[Turtle Talk with Crush]] (in Module IC) <ref name="book">Pedersen, R. A. The EPCOT Explorer's Encyclopedia:. United States: Epcyclopedia, 2011. Print. </ref>.  While Bruce's Shark World was a playground for younger guests, Turtle Talk With Crush was an interactive show that featured Disney's newest technology, "digital puppetry". Looking through an arcylric window, on Turtle Talk with Crush, guests could talk and interact with Crush the Turtle from Finding Nemo. The new show proved to be so popular that Disney decided to integrate Nemo into the entire Living Seas pavilion. In order to do this, on August 21, 2005 the  whole pavilion closed to the public<ref name= "Martin2"/>.
  
When creating a new attraction for the pavilion, Imagineers decided to reuse the track from the closed Caribbean Coral Reef Ride (also known as the SeaCabs). This onmnimover attraction had originally transported guest's from the pavilion's preshow area, through the 5.8 million gallon Caribbean Coral Reef Aquarium, and to SeaBase Alpha. In order to create the new attraction however, Imagineers needed more track. To do this, they extended the original Caribbean Coral Reef Ride track 280 feet. The Seas with Nemo & Friends (as the attraction would be called) now took up the area that previously housed The Living Seas' first preshow theater, holding area, Hydrolators and queue for the Caribbean Coral Reef Ride. Finally, the old SeaCab ride vehicles were repurposed and turned into the "Clamobiles" that take guests through The Seas with Nemo & Friends.
+
When creating a new attraction for the pavilion, Imagineers decided to reuse the track from the closed Caribbean Coral Reef Ride (also known as the SeaCabs) <ref name= "ears"/>. This onmnimover attraction had originally transported guest's from the pavilion's preshow area, through the 5.8 million gallon Caribbean Coral Reef Aquarium, and to SeaBase Alpha. In order to create the new attraction however, Imagineers needed more track. To do this, they extended the original Caribbean Coral Reef Ride track 280 feet <ref name= "ears"/>. The Seas with Nemo & Friends (as the attraction would be called) now took up the area that previously housed The Living Seas' first preshow theater, holding area, Hydrolators and queue for the Caribbean Coral Reef Ride <ref name= "Martin2"/>. Finally, the old SeaCab ride vehicles were repurposed and turned into the "Clamobiles" that take guests through The Seas with Nemo & Friends <ref name= "Martin2"/>.
 
   
 
   
 
Overseen by Imagineer Jerre Kirk, The Seas with Nemo & Friends featured cutting edge technology to tell a story. In order to create the attraction's first three scenes (which are set in a coral reef), Imagineers used "very thin castings of fiberglass", which had never been done before <ref name= "ears">“Imagineers Bring Nemo's World to Life.” Eyes and Ears, 28 Sept. 2005. </ref>. Perhaps most impressively however, the final scene in The Seas with Nemo & Friends features the attraction's animated characters swimming with real marine life in the pavilion's Coral Reef Aquarium. In order to create this effect, Disney needed another piece of breakthrough technology. Research and Development Designer Alfredo Ayala came up with the new projection technology that allowed Disney to  insert the characters into the tank using special effect glass <ref name= "ears"/>. According to WDI Vice President Kathy Mangum:
 
Overseen by Imagineer Jerre Kirk, The Seas with Nemo & Friends featured cutting edge technology to tell a story. In order to create the attraction's first three scenes (which are set in a coral reef), Imagineers used "very thin castings of fiberglass", which had never been done before <ref name= "ears">“Imagineers Bring Nemo's World to Life.” Eyes and Ears, 28 Sept. 2005. </ref>. Perhaps most impressively however, the final scene in The Seas with Nemo & Friends features the attraction's animated characters swimming with real marine life in the pavilion's Coral Reef Aquarium. In order to create this effect, Disney needed another piece of breakthrough technology. Research and Development Designer Alfredo Ayala came up with the new projection technology that allowed Disney to  insert the characters into the tank using special effect glass <ref name= "ears"/>. According to WDI Vice President Kathy Mangum:

Revision as of 15:33, 21 July 2018

The Seas with Nemo & Friends (Attraction)
Theseasattractionpromo.jpg
Promotional artwork for The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Epcot
Land Future World
Attraction type Dark Ride
Opening date January 24, 2007
Vehicle capacity 2-3
Ride duration 5:00 minutes
Based on Finding Nemo
FastPass + Yes (Group A)

The Seas With Nemo & Friends is an attraction located in Epcot. If you are looking for the pavilion which houses the attraction see: The Seas with Nemo & Friends.

Attraction History

The creation of The Seas with Nemo & Friends attraction came about as part of a larger overhaul of The Living Seas Pavilion. Since the late 1990s, the pavilion had seen a sharp decrease in popularity, and the lost of sponsor United Technologies. In order to boost the popularity of the pavilion, in December 2003, Disney began to tie characters from the 2003 Disney-Pixar movie "Finding Nemo" into The Living Seas. While this integration originally took place mostly in the pavilion's gift shop, exterior and in some of the SeaBase Alpha exhibits, a larger change was coming [1]. In 2004, Module 1C and Module 1D in Sea Base alpha closed. When the modules reopened on November 16, 2004 they featured two new Finding Nemo based exhibits- "Bruce's Shark World" (in Module 1D) and a new attraction Turtle Talk with Crush (in Module IC) [2]. While Bruce's Shark World was a playground for younger guests, Turtle Talk With Crush was an interactive show that featured Disney's newest technology, "digital puppetry". Looking through an arcylric window, on Turtle Talk with Crush, guests could talk and interact with Crush the Turtle from Finding Nemo. The new show proved to be so popular that Disney decided to integrate Nemo into the entire Living Seas pavilion. In order to do this, on August 21, 2005 the whole pavilion closed to the public[1].

When creating a new attraction for the pavilion, Imagineers decided to reuse the track from the closed Caribbean Coral Reef Ride (also known as the SeaCabs) [3]. This onmnimover attraction had originally transported guest's from the pavilion's preshow area, through the 5.8 million gallon Caribbean Coral Reef Aquarium, and to SeaBase Alpha. In order to create the new attraction however, Imagineers needed more track. To do this, they extended the original Caribbean Coral Reef Ride track 280 feet [3]. The Seas with Nemo & Friends (as the attraction would be called) now took up the area that previously housed The Living Seas' first preshow theater, holding area, Hydrolators and queue for the Caribbean Coral Reef Ride [1]. Finally, the old SeaCab ride vehicles were repurposed and turned into the "Clamobiles" that take guests through The Seas with Nemo & Friends [1].

Overseen by Imagineer Jerre Kirk, The Seas with Nemo & Friends featured cutting edge technology to tell a story. In order to create the attraction's first three scenes (which are set in a coral reef), Imagineers used "very thin castings of fiberglass", which had never been done before [3]. Perhaps most impressively however, the final scene in The Seas with Nemo & Friends features the attraction's animated characters swimming with real marine life in the pavilion's Coral Reef Aquarium. In order to create this effect, Disney needed another piece of breakthrough technology. Research and Development Designer Alfredo Ayala came up with the new projection technology that allowed Disney to insert the characters into the tank using special effect glass [3]. According to WDI Vice President Kathy Mangum:

“He [Alfredo] played with it, developed it, and set up a demonstration. That demonstration really opened up the opportunity for us to create the finale. The technology really drove what the creative application could be.” [3]

After much trial and error with the new projectors, Imagineers were able to create the environment that they wanted [3]. In order to make sure the animation in the attraction was in line with the film, representatives from Pixar were on hand to help with the new attraction [3]. Finally, on January 24, 2007 The Seas with Nemo & Friends officially opened to the public [1].

Attraction Plot

The Seas with Nemo & Friends is a dark ride attraction set after the events in the movie Finding Nemo.

Queue

The Seas with Nemo & Friends begins when guests enter the pavilion. The first room that they encounter is themed to look like a beach with a pier. Sand, high grass, beach signs, and wooden fence posts can all be found here. Oceanic sounds such as waves and birds cawing echo around guests as they make there way through the room. After exiting the beach room, guests enter a room that is "underwater". The room is dimly lit and on the walls guests can see schools of fish swim by. After exiting the underwater room, guests enter the loading area, where they board their Clamobiles.

Main Ride

Bruce on The Seas with Nemo & Friends.

The first scene that guests enter in The Seas with Nemo & Friends takes place in a coral reef. Here, Nemo playfully hides from his father Marlin, who is panicked that he has lost his son again. In fact, Marlin shouts "not again!" before guests enter the next scene. In this area, Nemo can be seen swimming away from Mr. Ray and his classmates. As the entire class calls out for Nemo, one exclaims "(he's) swimming off to sea!" Mr. Ray however does not seem overly concerned, as he continues singing and calmly talking to his class.

After passing by a school of fish, guests see that Marlin has met up with Dory who predictably does not remember who Nemo is. Marlin, stunned by her lack of memory, reminds her that "We went on a huge adventure together!" Despite the clownfish's refresher, his pleas do little to spark Dory's memory. As guests continue on, they see dozens of jellyfish hanging overhead. Although Marlin is alarmed by their presence, Dory does not seem to be worried. Instead she treats the situation like a game. At this point the Clamobiles come across a frightening anglerfish, who is trying to eat Dory and Marlin despite the fact that he is stuck. While Marlin is predictably panicked by the situation, Dory taunts the fish.

As guests move further down into the ocean, they come upon a shipwreck in a mine field. Here, Bruce the Great White Shark and Chum the Mako Shark are trying to find Nemo themselves. Bruce menacingly says, "Fish are friends, not food", but luckily Nemo swims by unnoticed and guests move on. The next scene takes place in the Eastern Atlantic Current where Nemo has met up with Crush and Squirt. The three of them (as well as other turtles and the Clamobiles) quickly swim by after being propelled by the current. The East Atlantic Current deposits guests into the large aquarium, where the animated characters swim alongside real fish. Here Nemo is reunited with his friends and family, and Nemo, Marlin, Dory, Crush, Squirt, and Mr. Ray and his class sing the song "In the Big Blue World". As guests return to the surface (the unloading area), they pass by a starfish who makes humorous quips as the Clamobiles move by.

Cast

Nemo- Alexander Gould [4]

Marlin- Albert Brooks (Unconfirmed)

Dory- Ellen DeGeneres [5]

Bruce- Barry Humphries (Unconfirmed)

Squirt- Nicholas Bird (Unconfirmed)

Mr. Ray- Bob Peterson (Unconfirmed)

Peach'- Allison Janney [4] [6]

Imagineers

Imagineers who worked on the The Seas with Nemo & Friends include:

Project Manager-Jerre Kirk

Principal Engineer- Jerold Kaplan

Principal Production Designer- Ed Hanna

Senior Production Designer- Eric Miller

Production Designer- Gary Graham

Art Directors- Allen Jones and Julie Bilski

See the Attraction!

To see The Seas With Nemo & Friends click play below:

Fun Facts and Trivia

  • In recent years guests have noticed that their are less fish in the main aquarium then there used to be [7].
  • The attraction's climatic scene features Nemo and the rest of the characters singing "In the Big Blue World" which was taken from the Finding Nemo - The Musical attraction [8].

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj6VD1bJEYs
  2. Pedersen, R. A. The EPCOT Explorer's Encyclopedia:. United States: Epcyclopedia, 2011. Print.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 “Imagineers Bring Nemo's World to Life.” Eyes and Ears, 28 Sept. 2005.
  4. 4.0 4.1 https://d23.com/lights-camera-attraction/
  5. http://themeparks.about.com/od/disneyridereviews/fr/NemoRideEpcot.htm
  6. http://www.doctordisney.com/2014/05/30/voices-behind-droids-star-tours/
  7. http://lostepcot.com/livingseas.html
  8. http://themeparks.about.com/od/disneyridereviews/fr/NemoRideEpcot.htm