Jim Hill
Page 2 of 7
Part Two: An appeal to a higher authority ...
OUR STORY SO FAR: 1984 was a dark time for the Disney empire.
Teens reportedly felt that all the rides and shows found at the Mouse's theme parks were lame, preferring the edgier entertainment to be found at Universal Studios and Six Flags Magic Mountain. That's why newly arrived CEO Michael Eisner ordered the Imagineers to come with concepts for attractions that would quickly broaden Disney's appeal to the younger generation.
Buoyed by the success of "Star Tours," WDI decided to design a ride around another highly successful 20th Century Fox science fiction film series. This time around, however, the Imagineers hoped to build an interactive attraction that featured the vicious, acid drooling monsters from the "Alien" movies.
Naturally, several senior members of Imagineering management freaked out when they learned about this proposed Tomorrowland attraction. Arguing that an attraction this scary and intense really didn't belong in a Disney theme park, they successfully got the project shut down. Or so they thought.
Little did these older Imagineers realize that several young turks at WDI were secretly scheming to bring the "Alien" based show idea back from the dead. In fact, the version of the show that these guys wanted to go forward with made the first incarnation of the "Alien" attraction look tame by comparison ...
The Imagineers had decided to go for broke.
This being WDI's first real attempt at a horror-based attraction, the "Alien Encounter" project team didn't want to just frighten their audience. They wanted to break through the fourth wall and really assault the guest's senses. That's why they decided to push the envelope when it came to the proposed show's use of in-theater effects.
Picture this: The audience sit in the
darkened "Mission to Mars" theater. They've told that the monster from the
"Alien" movies is loose in the building. They can hear the creature creeping up
behind them. They can feel its drool dribbling onto their clothes. And -- as the monster's
tongue begins flicking through the hair on the back on their
head … AIEEE!
Disneyland's Mission to Mars building now houses Redd
Rocket's Pizza Port
All these atmospheric elements that WDI wanted to use to make "Alien Encounter" a sensory break-through show may sound cutting edge and expensive. In truth, they were all low-tech effects that were incredibly easy to do. The sensation that the monster is right behind the audience member, breathing down their neck? Simple. That’s just warm, moist air being blown through a hole in the guest’s headrest synchronized to raspy breathing sounds on the show’s soundtrack. That dribble of monster drool? That’s less that a teaspoon of warm water dripped from a precisely positioned pipe, hidden high in the ceiling of the theater. The monster’s tongue flicking through the guest’s hair? That’s a single strand of plastic coated wire, that quickly pokes out of the headrest and lightly brushes the guest’s hair. All ingenious illusions, it’s true. But -- more to the point -- they were in-theater effects that could be produced on a bargain basement budget.
Keeping the installation costs down of their proposed new Tomorrowland show was one of the "Alien Encounter" team’s main goals. With the hopes of impressing Eisner with their ingenuity, these Imagineers deliberately designed "Alien Encounter" so that it could be staged in the pre-existing "Mission to Mars" theaters with minimal structural changes to the show building. If all went according to plan, Disney could get a brand new cutting edge attraction at cut-rate prices. Best of all, WDI would finally give Eisner what he'd been begging for all these years: a Disney theme park attraction that had some real teen appeal.
On paper, it looked like this idea couldn't miss. By combining all these in-theater effects and the Alien movie series mythology, Imagineering wouldn’t just be creating a thrilling new show for the "Mission to Mars" theater. They would be moving the Disney theme park experience to a whole new level. This time around guests wouldn't just passively sit, watching a show. They'd feel like they were right in the middle of the action.
When Eisner heard the pitch for "Alien Encounter," he loved the idea. He immediately saw the show as a franchise -- an attraction that the Disney Company could install at each of its theme parks worldwide. He quickly okayed development of the project, with the hope that "Alien Encounter" would be ready in time to serve as the centerpiece of Disneyland and WDW's long overdue Tomorrowland overhauls -- which were tentatively scheduled to get underway in the early 1990s.
The young Imagineers immediately threw themselves into their work. They quickly created a prototype chair for the "Alien Encounter" attraction that featured hidden speakers in its headrest. VIPs touring WDI during this period were often treated to a demonstration of Disney's 3D sound system. They vividly recall being strapped into the chair -- with the "Alien Encounter" test soundtrack playing through the speakers -- squirming helplessly as a monster snuck up behind them.
The demo version of "Alien Encounter" proved to be a hit with WDI visitors. Even so, those same senior Imagineers who had earlier shut down the "Nostromo" project began whispering in Eisner's ear about their concerns for the new Alien project. They still worried that a show built around a creature as frightening as 20th Century Fox's Alien monster didn't belong in a Disney theme park.
In response, the "Alien Encounter" team insisted that their proposed attraction *HAD TO* be built around 20th Century Fox’s monster. Their argument was simple: By using a character that most theme park visitors were already familiar with, the Imagineers didn’t have to waste precious showtime on needless exposition. In-park surveys showed that the average Disneyland guest already knew who the Alien" onster was. Upwards of 80% of those polled had seen one or more of the films in the series.
This -- the Imagineers argued -- was the added bonus of using the monster from the Alien film series for their proposed attraction. Guests who’d seen the Alien movies and liked them would rush to see an attraction based on the series. Those Disney theme park visitors who hadn’t cared for the movies would just steer clear of the new show. It was a win-win situation.
Having listened to both arguments, Eisner sided with the "Alien Encounter" team. Recalling the boffo business Disneyland did when "Star Tours" opened, he reasoned that another attraction based on a popular sci-fi film series could have a similar impact on attendance. Besides, having a direct tie-in to 20th Century Fox’s movies would make "Alien Encounter" that much easier to promote. It seemed like the logical choice to Eisner.
This news appalled the senior Imagineering staff. They were horrified at the thought of the "Alien" movie monster starring in a Disney theme park attraction. Since Eisner hadn’t heeded their counsel, these Imagineers decided to appeal to a higher authority: George Lucas.
At the time, Lucas was working closely with Walt Disney Imagineering. He was helping WDI finalize plans for the "Indiana Jones Adventure," a ground-breaking new attraction that the Imagineers hoped to install at Disneyland’s Adventureland in the mid-1990s. Given Lucas’s extensive experience with special effects and sound effects, he and his staff at ILM were also doing some consulting on the "Alien Encounter" project.
Who actually spoke with George and what was said ... No one today is willing to say. Why for? Well, relations between Lucasfilm and Disney are at an all-time low right now (that's why "Star Tours" still hasn't gotten its new ride film -- the one inspired by the pod race sequence from Phantom Menace -- yet) and no one at WDI wants to be the guy that says something that makes George even madder.