Picking up where we left out yesterday :
So — in October of 1984 — George Lucas comes down from Skywalker Ranch to tour WED Headquarters with Michael Eisner. And — in preparation for Lucas’s walk-through of the building — then-WED executive V.P. Marty Sklar orders the Imagineers to haul out everything. All the models, all the concept paintings, etc. With the hope that something — anything — might catch the “Star Wars” creator’s eye. That some proposed ride, show or attraction might tickle George’s fancy.
So — recognizing that this might be their one big chance — the Imagineers who had been independently working on their “Jedi Training Academy” indoor roller coaster prominently display all of their models & concept art. With the hope that this “Star Wars”-themed project might then please Mr. Lucas.
And — predictably — George was really knocked out when he saw the “Jedi Training Academy.” He particularly liked the idea that this was a “Star Wars”-themed coaster where the riders were the ones who ultimately decided which way they were going. Whether they should follow the Force or give in to the temptation of the Dark Side.
But — that said — Lucas also found himself drawn to that Rediffusion Motion Platform that Ron Miller had once talked to him about over a glass of Silverado chardonnay. George immediately saw that this technology — if properly used — could also tell one hell of a “Star Wars” -based story.
So Lucas turned to Eisner and supposedly said: “If it was up to you, which would you chose?”
And Michael reportedly replied: “Well, me personally, I’d go with the coaster.”
Now what Lucas didn’t know is that — back in the mid-1970s — Paramount Pictures, working in tandem with special effects whiz Douglas Trumbull and his Future General Corporation, had already worked up a theme park ride that made use of the Rediffusion Motion Platform. And this attraction — which was called “Tour of the Universe” — featured a concept that was actually very similar to “Star Tours.” In that this space shuttle-type vessel supposedly took a group of tourists out to see the moons of Jupiter. And — en route to the gas giant — all sorts of exciting things happened.
Now Paramount Pictures had invested an awful lot of money into “Tour of the Universe.” With the hope that this bold new ride system would then revolutionize the theme park industry. But what Paramount and Trumbull hadn’t counted on was how conservative (read that as “cheap”) the owners of amusement parks could be. These folks took one look at “TOTU” ‘s price tag and — while admitting that this attraction was one of the most amazing things that they’d ever ridden — still wouldn’t buy one for their own theme parks.
So “Tour of the Universe” wound up costing Paramount a bundle. And — given that Eisner was in charge of that studio while Trumbull was continually trying to drum up additional support (I.E. funding) for this Rediffusion-based project — you have to assume that Michael wasn’t all that thrilled to learn that the Mouse also wanted to build a motion platform-based attraction. So I guess you can understand why Disney’s new CEO (in an effort to save his company some money as well as some needless aggravation) initially tried to steer Lucas more in the direction of a “Star Wars”-based roller coaster.
So Michael seriously supposedly tried to talk George into greenlighting construction of the “Jedi Training Academy” attraction … Until — of course — Eisner found out how long it was going to take the Imagineers to actually get this proposed Tomorrowland thrill ride up out of the ground.
According to what the wizards of WED were telling their new CEO, what with all the R & D involved with this project, the years of engineering that were going to be necessary in order to create the world’s first roller coaster that could be controlled by the people who were actually riding it … The Imagineers estimated that it would take approximately five years and an investment of $50- $60 million before that first Disneyland guest would actually be able to experience the “Jedi Training Academy.”
To a guy like Eisner — who was used to motion pictures being written, shot, cut, scored and then released to theaters all in less than a year — the very idea that it would take the Imagineers five years to get a new theme park attraction designed & built was completely unacceptable. In order to please Wall Street (Not to mention the Bass Brothers), Michael had to make some quick improvements to the Magic Kingdom.
Which is why Eisner then allegedly asked the Imagineers: “Well, how long would it take to build an attraction for the parks that would be based on this Rediffusion technology? And how much do you think that it might cost?”
The guys at WED quickly put their heads together, crunched some numbers, then said to their new CEO: “We could have a motion platform-based ride open in less than two years. Plus we could probably bring the whole thing in for around $25 million.”
What was Eisner’s response: “Good. Let’s go with that. I’ll call George now.”
And that — according to Imagineering insiders that I’ve spoken with over the years — is really how the “Star Tours” simulator attraction supposedly came into being. Not because it was actually what Lucas wanted (I’m told that Michael really had to work on George in order to get the “Star Wars” creator to finally let go of the “Jedi Training Academy” coaster idea and go with a motion platform-based attraction instead). But — rather — because “Star Tours” was the more affordable alternative.
Mind you, Lucas may have finally agreed to go along with Eisner’s suggestion and drop the whole “Jedi Training Academy” idea. But that doesn’t mean that George was a total cream puff when his dealing with Disney.
The way I hear it, Lucas really took advantage of Eisner’s desperation to make good of his earlier promise to the Bass Brothers to get the “Star Wars” characters into the Disney theme parks. Which is why the Mouse House’s new Big Cheese agreed to some pretty outrageous terms.
“What sort of terms?,” you ask. Well how about this: Every time a “Star Tours” -related toy, t-shirt, whatever gets sold, Lucas gets a rather healthy cut of that sale. Plus — before George and/or the Imagineers even knew what this new “Star Wars”-based attraction would actually be about — Michael had agreed to pay Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic division (I.E. The arm of Lucas’s company that created all those snazzy effects for the “Stars Wars” and Indiana Jones movies) $6 million to make the movie that then would be shown inside of the theater which would then be mounted on top of one of Rediffusion’s motion platforms.
Okay. So now the deal was finally in place. Now came the fun/tough part. As in: What was this new “Star Wars” simulator-based ride for the Disney theme parks actually going to be about? What kind of story was this ambitious new attraction going to tell?
Well, the “Star Tours” story has a few more “Crazy” turns in it before when we finally send Rex off to Endor. So why don’t you come back on Friday and I’ll tell you all about those then?