Okay. Picking up where we left off yesterday …
The early 1980s were a particularly tough time for Walt Disney Productions. After all, it had been almost 15 years since the studio had had its last real hit (I.E. 1969’s “The Love Bug”). And — given that the only movies that the Mouse seemed capable of making during this period was bland family fare like “Unidentified Flying Oddball” and “The Cat from Outer Space” — the word around Hollywood was “Disney has lost it.”
As in: Walt Disney Productions had lost its ability to connect with its core audience. Which is why George Lucas and Steve Spielberg had taken over so much of Mickey’s turf with films like the “Star Wars” trilogy, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “E.T.”
And — to be honest — no one knew this better than the Imagineers. Who’d regularly grouse about how none of the modern movies that Walt Disney Productions was making (EX: Gems like “The North Avenue Irregulars,” “The Devil and Max Devlin” and “Condorman”) were providing the proper inspiration for new Disney theme park attractions.
As the late David Mumford once said:
“Back then, audiences weren’t all that inspired by the stories that Disney was trying to tell. They preferred the modern movie mythologies that Lucas and Spielberg were spinning out. And — to be honest — we (I.E. The Imagineers) preferred them too.“
Which is why — quietly, on their own — a few Imagineers (as sort of a side project) began to toy with an idea. As in: What would they do if Walt Disney Productions were to suddenly acquire the theme park rights to the “Star Wars” films.
Now keep in mind that the guys at WDI were doing this all on their own. That they had no idea that Ron Miller had already reached on George Lucas. With the hope that Disney’s then-CEO might be able to persuade the “Star Wars” creator to come work with the Imagineers on a project that would make use of Rediffusion’s simulator technology.
But — as I explained yesterday — George and his wife, Marcia, were going through a divorce at this time. So Lucas didn’t really have the time or the energy to devote to a project like this. Whereas the Imagineers … They had nothing but time on their hands.
So almost as a creative exercise, the guys at WED began to put together plans for a “Star Wars” -based attraction for the Disney theme parks. After several different concepts had been kicked around, the strongest idea to emerge was one for a new type of indoor roller coaster.
Which — given that Disney’s direct competition (I.E. Magic Mountain and Knotts Berry Farm) had all added exciting new steel rides to their attraction line-up during this same time period — I guess that it only made sense that the Imagineers might try to respond to this direct challenge. Reassert Disney’s theme park supremacy by coming up with a coaster that would blow the doors off of all of these other thrill rides. As in: A roller coaster that — midway through the attraction — would actually allow its riders to chose which track the coaster would take next.
The idea that the guys at WED dummied out went something like this. The next time guests went to the Magic Kingdom, they’d find this imposing new structure rising up out of the middle of Tomorrowland. The sign on the outside of the building would read: “The Jedi Training Academy.”
As these Disney theme park visitors made their way through the building’s queue, overhead monitors would explain that Luke Skywalker wanted to rebuild the Jedi Order. Which was why Luke was looking for certain individuals (I.E. People who were strong, brave & true) that he could then train in the ways of the Force. So, in an effort to seek out the most qualified candidates, Skywalker — with the help of his trusty droids, R2D2 and C3PO — had invented “The Device.”
“The Device” (Which was eventually supposed to have some sort of truly colorful sounding, “Star Wars”-isian type name like the Millennium Falcon or Lando Clarissian) was your basic indoor roller coaster. Except that — as your train chugged up the load hill — a huge hologram of Obi-Wan Kenobi would suddenly appear the air over your car. “Follow the ways of the Force,” the enormous Obi-Wan would intone, “Do not give in to the Dark Side.”
And — as Kenobi would say this — inside each car on this roller coaster train, a panel would suddenly light up in front of each rider. And on this panel would be two buttons. One read “The Force,” while the other read “The Dark Side.”
You get where this is going yet? The Imagineers were out to create the world’s first truly interactive roller coaster. As in: If the majority of the passengers on your train hammered on “The Force” button, once it reached the top of the load hill, your train would suddenly take a turn to the right. Where it would then take guests zooming along a track where they’d have brief encounters with all the heroes of the “Star Wars” saga: Luke, Yoda, Obi-Wan, Hans Solo, Chewbacca, etc.
On the other hand, if a majority of the riders on your train pressed “The Dark Side” button, your coaster — once it reached the top of the load hill — would take a sudden sharp turn to the left. Where it would then plummet along a dark twisty path that would the train’s passengers past all the villains from the “Star Wars” trilogy: Darth Vader, the Emperor, Bobba Fett, Jabba the Hutt, the Rancor, etc.
Mind you, no matter which path the passengers chose, the train would eventually return to the same off-load area. Where these Disney theme park guests would then climb out of their coaster and then exit through the inevitable gift shop. Where they could have stocked up on “Jedi Training Academy” t-shirts, baseball caps, key chains and coffee mugs.
Sounds like a pretty fun idea for a “Star Wars” themed attraction, don’t you think? So why didn’t Disney actually this thing? Well — for starters — you’re talking about a very complex roller coaster. Particularly for the early 1980s.
The Imagineers working on this “Blue Sky” project estimated that it would take Walt Disney Productions at least five years to come up with a workable ride system. One that would do exactly what the guys from WED wanted it to do. Which was actually give the guests control over which path their train would take once the ride got underway. While — at the same time — this coaster still had to be able to operate safely for 18 hours a day, 365 days a year. As well as carry enough passengers each hour to meet the theme park’s capacity needs.
So — as you can see — there would have been quite a lot of engineering (Not to mention years and years of R & D) involved in moving this proposed “Jedi Training Academy” attraction off of the drawing board and out into the real world. Which (all by itself) was a pretty big obstacle.
But then there was the George Lucas factor. And — given how lame all the movies that the Mouse Factory was making at this time — the Imagineers almost fell into despair. I mean, given how unhip Walt Disney Productions was back in those days, how likely was it that the great George Lucas would ever give the Imagineers access to his “Star Wars” characters?
Okay, sure. About this same time, Disneyland Records was releasing Storyteller versions of “A New Hope,” “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” But the way the guys at WED saw that, that merchandising deal wasn’t really an opportunity to network with Lucas. It was actually just a cruel joke.
By that I mean: That was the closest that the Imagineers were ever going to get to building a “Star Wars” -based attraction for the Disney theme parks. Having the words “Disneyland” and “Star Wars” appear on the same album cover.
But little did the guys from WED realize that Ron Miller had already reached out to George Lucas. Or — more importantly — the role that George would eventually play in Ron’s ouster. Or — even more bizarrely — that before Michael Eisner became Disney’s new CEO, Lucas would actually be offered Miller’s old job.
Come back on Monday … and I promise to tell that part of the tale too, okay?