20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage was an attraction at the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World from 1971 through 1994. Based on the characters and settings of the 1954 Disney film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, it was a re-theming of the Submarine Voyage attraction at Disneyland. The ride involved a 20-minute submarine ride through a lagoon filled with sea life and mermaids.[1]
In 1959, an ambitious expansion of Tomorrowland in Disneyland was completed, which included the addition of new attractions, including the Matterhorn Bobsleds, Monorail, and Submarine Voyage. "Commissioned" on June 6, 1959, in front of Richard Nixon, Walt Disney and his wife Lillian, and officers of the US Navy, the attraction made use of early animatronics to create underwater life, and the use of forced perspective to increase the feeling of realism. Eight submarines painted in grey took guests through the attraction, which took place in a lagoon visible from Tomorrowland and a large show building hidden behind two waterfalls. It became extremely popular with guests, and Walt Disney Imagineering consequently planned for more elaborate version for the forthcoming Florida Project concept, which would become Walt Disney World.
Vehicles
"Submarines" of the 20,000 Leagues ride, in 1979.
One of the signature pieces of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea was the fleet of passenger vehicles, adapted for theme park use from Harper Goff's Nautilus design for the 1954 Disney live-action version by Disney Imagineer George McGinnis. The basic hulls were constructed by Morgan Yachts in Clearwater, Florida, with the final building work being transferred to Tampa Ship midway through. Another veteran Imagineer, Bob Gurr, oversaw the project. Upon delivery at Walt Disney World in August 1971, the vehicles weighed some forty tons, and were installed into a concrete guide (track), mounted on top of a mechanism that limited "bumping" accidents.
The attraction vehicles were not actual submarines, but instead boats in which the guests sat below water level. The interiors were a mix of metal paneling, rivets, and bolts, as well as Victorian-esque fittings in the form of passenger seats that could flip outwards, and armrests beneath the portholes, in keeping with the Goff concept. Each "guest" aboard the Nautilus had their own seat, as well as a round porthole to look out into the attraction. A small button located in the porthole recess was intended for defogging the window if needed, though this rarely worked. Located at the top of the window recess was a small speaker through which Captain Nemo's voice (veteran voice actor Peter Renaday,[2] doing an impression of James Mason[3]) guides his guests through their underwater adventure.
Above the seating area was the "sail" (as it was known to the employees) where the "helmsman" stood and controlled the vehicle's operation. The "diving" effect was produced by bubble machines located throughout the attraction, as well as using the waterfalls at the entrance to the show building.
Each of the twelve vehicles accommodated a total of forty riders. Vehicles normally cycled through the attraction in packs of three.
Ride experience
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at Disney World
Despite the extensive 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea overhaul the attraction was given, essentially it was still the same as its Californian counterpart Submarine Voyage, in both its underwater show scenes and narration, except for a few occasional differences.
The adventure began as the guests made their way down into the back of the submarine, bending to miss the low-level raised rear hatch, and finding a place on board. Throughout the voyage, an eerie organ version of the Disney film's main theme would play on a never-ending loop, allowing for a narration backing as well as a piece of stall music if required. Following the standard Disney-style introduction and safety notes from the helmsman, the narration, in the voice of Captain Nemo, would begin.
With the submarine clear of the dock, the diving sequence would begin, with hundreds of air bubbles filling the porthole view, creating the illusion of descent. Once clear, the Captain introduced himself to his passengers, and then introduced them to the underwater plains around Vulcania. In the lagoon, guests could see moray eels, crabs, lobsters, sea bass, clams and turtles as well as a host of smaller tropical fish.
Minutes later, in another tribute to the Disney film, an "underwater party" of divers would come into view, as animatronics wearing replicas of the Harper Goff-designed deep sea diving equipment worked kelp beds and wrangled with rebellious turtles.
With the bubbles from the waterfall at the cavern entrance simulating a surface storm, the Captain would order the submarine down into the depths as a precaution, and the guests enter the show building section of the attraction. Within minutes, the devastation such natural phenomenon can create was made clear with the ominous Graveyard Of Lost Ships, with shipwrecks from various centuries littering the sea bed, guarded by the silent, gliding figures of sharks.
Leaving the destruction behind, the Nautilus would reach the North Pole, circumnavigating the Polar Ice Cap from below the surface, and narrowly avoiding large icebergs stabbing through the water. Venturing deeper, the Nautilus entered the eerie world of the Abyss, where guests viewed examples the many weird and strange species of deepwater fish that thrive in such an environment.[4]
Rising slightly, one of the final discoveries made is the ruins of Atlantis, along with a typical Disney-fied two-armed sea serpent, accompanying mermaids that can apparently tame it, and a treasury bursting with jewels and gold. With the ruins of the ancient civilization soon left behind, the Nautilus would enter the final phase of its journey, with a tribute to the most iconic and memorable part of the 1954 Disney film: the attack of the giant squid. After seeing a much smaller sister Nautilus trapped in the clutches of one such creature (curiously marked XIII on the tailfin), the passenger submarine would be attacked itself by long, thrashing tentacles.
With a final push to the surface, the Nautilus would clear the caverns of the dangerous squid, and enter the safety of the tropical lagoon, on its way towards the dock.
Closure
Though the attraction was a guest favorite and remained popular throughout its existence, it was expensive to maintain, as well as having a low hourly loading capacity for an attraction of its size and expense. It was closed on September 5, 1994, without advance notice, for what was outwardly termed a temporary maintenance period. The ride was set to reopen in the summer of 1996, but in April of the same year, the closure was officially made permanent.[5] Despite the closure, the attraction had a narrated slideshow topic in the 1996 application The Walt Disney World Explorer and its 1998 Second Edition release; it was the only closed attraction to be a full topic in the application and thus was referred to in the past tense in narration.[6]
Post-closure, several vehicles were left stationary in the lagoon and by the dock, before the entire fleet was eventually pulled from the attraction in 1996. The submarines were regularly moved around to different locations in Walt Disney World backstage for several years, until eventually being stripped and buried in a landfill in 2004. Two of the vehicles were saved from the fleet's demise. They were shipped to be sunk in the snorkeling lagoon at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. Here, the submarines were placed in and around the snorkeling lagoon and covered with cargo netting to help sea life cling to them. Today, only one of those two submarines still exist, one of which was destroyed by hurricane weather. A third submarine was a shell made from the original subs and it was found in the special effects water tank of the backlot tour at Disney's Hollywood Studios from 1991 until c.2000 when the tank was rethemed to Pearl Harbor. The sub was removed and moved to an empty lot backstage. Today, it is in storage but is taken out and displayed at various Disney events, still in good condition.[citation needed]
The lagoon remained as a scenic viewpoint (and was renamed "Ariel's Grotto", complete with a King Triton spouting statue) until 2004, when the water was drained and the sets and infrastructure were demolished. Pooh's Playful Spot was built where the attraction formerly stood and operated between 2005 and 2010[7] before making way for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as part of the Fantasyland Expansion. However, the exterior to The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure contains a silhouette of the Nautilus in a rock wall[8] and the tiki barTrader Sam's Grog Grotto at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort serves a cocktail called the "Nautilus"[9] which is itself served in a stylized drinking vessel resembling the submarine.[10]
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne.
Captain Nemo is a character created by the French novelist Jules Verne (1828–1905). Nemo appears in two of Verne's science-fiction books, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870) and The Mysterious Island (1875). He also makes a brief appearance in a play written by Verne with the collaboration of Adolphe d'Ennery, Journey Through the Impossible (1882).
Harper Goff, born Ralph Harper Goff, was an American artist, musician, and actor. For many years, he was associated with The Walt Disney Company, in the process of which he contributed to various major films, as well as to the planning of the Disney theme parks. During World War II, he was also an advisor to the U.S. Army on camouflage.
Disney's Castaway Cay, or simply Castaway Cay, is a private island in the Bahamas which serves as an exclusive port for the Disney Cruise Line ships. It is located near Great Abaco Island and was formerly known as Gorda Cay. In 1997, The Walt Disney Company purchased a 99-year land lease for the cay from the Bahamian government, giving the company substantial control over the island.
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is an attraction in the Tomorrowland area of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. It opened on June 11, 2007. Based on the characters and settings of the 2003 Disney·Pixar film Finding Nemo, it is a re-theming of the classic Submarine Voyage attraction that operated from 1959 to 1998.
The Submarine Voyage was an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The attraction features vehicles designed to resemble submarines. It first opened on June 14, 1959, as one of the first rides to require an E ticket. It was part of a major expansion of Tomorrowland, which included the Matterhorn Bobsleds roller coaster, an expanded version of Autopia, the Disneyland Monorail, and the Motor Boat Cruise. The Submarine Voyage closed on September 8, 1998; at that time, it was reported that the attraction would reopen with a new theme by 2003, but that did not occur. The attraction ultimately reopened in June 2007 themed to Disney and Pixar's Finding Nemo, and now operates as Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.
Turtle Talk with Crush is an interactive talk show type attraction that has appeared at several of the Disney theme parks. It first opened on November 16, 2004 at The Living Seas pavilion at Epcot and later at Disney California Adventure in July 2005. The attraction opened in Hong Kong Disneyland from May 24 to August 10, 2008 as part of the "Nonstop Summer Fun" celebration. The attraction also opened in Tokyo DisneySea on October 1, 2009.
Les Mystères du Nautilus is a walkthrough attraction at Disneyland Paris in France. It is an updated version of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea walkthrough attraction that was at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA in the early 1950s, based upon the film of the same name. This attraction takes guests throughout the various rooms of Captain Nemo's submarine, especially those seen in the film. It opened on 4 July 1994.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1954 American science fiction adventure film directed by Richard Fleischer, from a screenplay by Earl Felton. Adapted from Jules Verne's 1870 novel of the same name, the film was personally produced by Walt Disney through Walt Disney Productions. It stars Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas, and Peter Lorre. Photographed in Technicolor, the film was one of the first feature-length motion pictures to be filmed in CinemaScope. It was also the first feature-length Disney film to be distributed by Buena Vista Distribution.
Ariel's Grotto is a meet-and-greet area at several Disney parks, as well as a former restaurant in Disney California Adventure based on Disney's 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid.
Crush's Coaster is a spinning roller coaster at Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris. The attraction officially opened on June 9, 2007 as part of an expansion project in Toon Studio, an area within Walt Disney Studios Park formerly known as Animation Courtyard. The ride is themed to Disney-Pixar's Finding Nemo film, and named after Crush, a green sea turtle voiced by Andrew Stanton from the movie. Most of the roller coaster is enclosed and features dark ride special effects.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1985 Australian made-for-television animated film from Burbank Films Australia. The film is based on Jules Verne's classic 1870 novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and was adapted by Stephen MacLean. It was produced by Tim Brooke-Hunt and featured original music by John Stuart. The copyright in this film is now owned by Pulse Distribution and Entertainment and administered by digital rights management firm NuTech Digital.
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure is a dark ride attraction based on the 1989 Disney animated film The Little Mermaid, located in Paradise Gardens Park at Disney California Adventure and in Fantasyland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom Park, where it is titled Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid. The ride opened on June 3, 2011 at Disney California Adventure, and on December 6, 2012 at Magic Kingdom.
Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just next to Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park, and licenses intellectual property from The Walt Disney Company. In 2022, Tokyo DisneySea hosted 10.1 million visitors, making it the eighth-most visited theme park in the world and the third-most visited in Japan.
Atlantis is a media franchise owned by The Walt Disney Company. The franchise began in 2001 with the release of the film Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
Jules Verne's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea has been adapted and referenced in popular culture on numerous occasions.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (海底2万マイル) is an attraction at Tokyo DisneySea, based on Jules Verne's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Disney's 1954 film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
↑ Mindsai Productions (1996). The Walt Disney World Explorer. Disney Interactive. Level/area: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea topic. Corey Burton: Although currently not in operation, for many years, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea explored underwater worlds aboard a replica of Captain Nemo's Nautilus.
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