✨A Passage to the Stars🌟
- Part II: Journeys Continued -
Phonograph Listing
(a recording of the ext. background sounds. Does not include in-vehicle narration.)
(Begin at 5:00 for Part II)
Passage to the Stars Audio Track.mp3
07 | Ext. Metropolis - Day (1927)
The tunnel opens to a sprawling miniature cityscape made famous by the 1927 Fritz Land German expressionist film, Metropolis. Curiously, forced perspective allows the city to feel large, but in a way, it is minature-esque at the same time. Disguised conveyor belts move what looks like black and white toy cars to move across the highways. As the 'cameras' make their way through the city landscape, narration proceeds regarding the film's history and filmmaking impact as you progress through this chromatic ambiance. The coolest part of the scene though, is that it's actually made up of two floors, from the ground level to the ceiling, truly giving the buildings a parochial sense of grandeur. The scene ends as guests peer off at the new Tower of Babel from the film.
Narrator: Inspired by the novel written by Thea von Harbou, Metropolis advanced the special effects of prior science fiction films, utilizing a method known as the Schüfftan process, consisting of covering part of the camera's view with a mirror, allowing filmmakers such as Land to assemble an image from multiple parts. The process is similar to a stage technique known as the "Pepper's Ghost" effect, something you all may find again along your journey through storytelling.
08 | Ext. Kansas Fields - Day (1939)
Our grayscale journey continues into the mundane world of Kansas, USA. Detailed matte paintings elude guests of the room true size, crafting an expansive, never-ending plain. To our left is a farm, where Dorothy, Toto, & Uncle Henry and Aunt Em sit tiredly.
Dorothy sings, "Somewhere over the Rainbow" as we navigate the cornfield. As the chorus picks up, so too does wind rustling in the background - and then it grows, before we enter a mighty tornado! The ride vehicle seem to pick up from the wind, before suddenly entering a new scene...
Light... and color!!
We (alongside Dorothy and Toto) have entered the Wonderful World of Oz... and Technicolor!
"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore..."
Narrator: The most watched film in history, The Wizard of Oz is world-renown for its inclusion of Technicolor on the big screen. While not the first iteration of the technology, the film showed Hollywood executives the power of color in film and opened a new renaissance of filmmaking. After this film, filmmaking certainly was not in Kansas anymore...
As we take in such colors for the first time, the surrounding munchkins of munchkin-land sing along to "We're off to see the Wizard" as Dorothy prepares for her journey. Passing briefly into the forest, animatronics of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Tin-Man, and Cowardly Lion prance along in shared dance along the yellow-brick road.
We pass by a matte painting of the iconic Emerald City, as Dorothy and friends travel in pursuit of a wizard.
Follow the Yellow-Brick Road! (1939)
09 | Ext. London Park - Day (1960s)
"Why do you always complicate things that are really quite simple... give me your hand, one, two, --"
And from a brief stop in a London bedroom, we are whisked away with the music out the window and flying into Imagination. Within the animated London Park, Mary Poppins and Bert dance excitedly with cartoon animals. This short scene "rotates" along a prolonged arc, showing brief vingettes throughout the extended park sequence. Mary & Bert glide across the pond, have supper with some rather distinquished penguins, and watch a derby between galloping horses (a call-back to the beginning of our cinematic journey).
Walt Disney's Mary Poppins, 1964
Instrumental beats from the set piece play in the background.
Animation exists side-by-side the filmed camera, one of the next great evolutions of filmmaking alongside light, sound, and technicolor. What will come next? Only time shall tell.
Narrator: Mary Poppins brings the levity of life to the grand stage. Established as a film that helped restore the live-action Walt Disney films to their former glory, Mary Poppins seamlessly blended live-action actors with animation in a way never before captured. The technological marvel of Technicolor is on full display, echoing us into the future of filmmaking...but where will that future be? Perhaps you hold the keys in your creative minds...
10 | Ext. Void of Imagination (Past and Beyond)
Darkness, again. But this time, that darkness isn't a limit - its the canvas of opportunity. From the Lumière Brothers, to Méliès, to Chaplin & Dorothy & Disney, filmmaking has always been about pushing the limits. Transforming what we believe cannot be - "a magician's trick!" - into reality.
Flashes of magic before - and innovations skipped, for sake of time, cast onto the black box of creativity. The orchestra rises in triumph. All around the room are magic tricks at work.
Until the voice of Walt Disney speaks overhead, concluding...
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible"
The orchestral music blissfully ends at the environment fades into pure darkness. As the lights come back on, we are in the unloading station. Guests can choose to journey through a corridor right into the queue for Runaway Railway or walk into the post-ride exhibit featuring a plethora of artifacts from the films and people presented in the ride.