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View Full Version : ‘Finding Nemo,’ ‘Monsters, Inc.’ Inspire Coming Attractions At WDW, Disneyland Resort



AVP
01-26-2007, 06:55 AM
The stories and stars of the blockbuster Disney•Pixar motion pictures "Finding Nemo" and "Monsters, Inc." are the inspiration for four new attractions and shows coming to Disney parks at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort during "The Year of a Million Dreams."

In addition, Mickey Mouse and some of his Disney character pals are starring in a new Magic Kingdom stage show at Walt Disney World Resort, and two popular Disneyland Resort attractions are undergoing rockin' transformations.

The debuts began October 2006 and continue into summer 2007 as part of a first-of-its-kind event celebrating the dreams of Disney guests and the role that Disney cast members play in making Disney parks places where dreams come true. Here's a closer look at what's in store.


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At Walt Disney World Resort in Florida:


"The Seas with Nemo & Friends," a whimsical and visually stunning attraction for guests of all ages, bowed at Walt Disney World Resort in fall 2006, anchoring the newly renamed and re-launched The Seas with Nemo & Friends pavilion in Epcot. Picking up where the motion picture "Finding Nemo" left off, the ride-through attraction in a colorful coral reef setting features technology that magically enables the stars of the motion picture to swim amid the marine life in a 5.7-million-gallon saltwater environment -- one of the largest such aquariums in the world.

Guests aboard "clamobiles" first meet Mr. Ray and his class on a field trip and soon learn that Nemo has wandered off. The journey in search of Nemo includes familiar characters such as Dory, Bruce, Marlin, Squirt and Crush. These deep-sea friends inhabit a variety of vibrant vignettes, including the actual aquarium containing more than 65 species of marine life. In the musical finale, Nemo is happily reunited with his father and friends.

The Future World pavilion The Seas with Nemo & Friends is an imaginative mix of fantasy with real sea life and interactive experiences such as the breakthrough "Turtle Talk With Crush."


"Finding Nemo-The Musical," premiering at Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in January 2007, brings the undersea world of the film "Finding Nemo" to life in a whole new way: as an all-new Broadway-caliber musical stage show featuring original songs by Tony Award-winning "Avenue Q" co-composer-creator Robert Lopez and a cappella musical "Along the Way" co-creator Kristen Anderson-Lopez.

The show will immerse guests of all ages in the story of Marlin and Nemo, an overprotective clownfish father and his curious son, through a dazzling production that combines puppets, dancers, aerialists and animated backdrops.

The theme park's newly enclosed Theater in the Wild will become a magical undersea environment through innovative lighting, sound, special effects and the theatrical puppetry of Michael Curry, who co-designed the richly detailed character puppets seen in the Broadway version of Disney's "The Lion King." Principal characters such as Marlin, Nemo and Dory will be represented by live performers operating larger-than-life puppets. Peripheral characters will be realized by a diverse array of puppetry styles, including rod, Bunraku and shadow.

Produced by Disney Creative Entertainment, the 30-minute show represents the first time Disney has taken a non-musical animated feature and transformed it into an original musical production. "Finding Nemo-The Musical" will be staged several times daily.


"Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club," opening in spring 2007 in Magic Kingdom, is an immersive and interactive attraction in which guests can laugh, joke, match wits and laugh some more with comedian wannabes recruited by Mike Wazowski, the one-eyed hero from Disney•Pixar's "Monsters, Inc." Guests can even text-message jokes on their cell phones for possible use in the show.

Mike, realizing laughter is many times more powerful than screams as a power source, has opened the comedy club to collect laughs that will generate power for the future. The fun reigns at a 400-seat theater in Tomorrowland.


"Dream Along with Mickey," which premiered fall 2006 in Magic Kingdom, is a live stage show about a dream-inspired party to which Mickey Mouse and the gang have invited almost everyone. Theme park guests are invited to gather near the Cinderella Castle stage and join in the fun that takes place several times daily. And many favorite Disney character friends join the party as the dreams of "happily ever after" and "adventurous exploits" come alive on stage amid music and dancing.

But there's a party-crasher -- Maleficent, the evil fairy from Sleeping Beauty. She drops by with the intention of turning all the dreams into nightmares. Collectively, however, all the party guests prove that believing in your dreams is stronger than Maleficent's sorcery ... and the 20-minute show has a dream-fulfilling, happy ending.


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At Disneyland in California:


Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is a major new underwater adventure coming to Tomorrowland at Disneyland Park in summer 2007. As members of a submarine crew, guests embark on an expedition to observe an active undersea volcano. Soon after “diving,” they discover Nemo and his friends swimming right alongside their sub – thanks to an amazing new imaging technology developed by Walt Disney Imagineering that enables the characters from the film “Finding Nemo” to appear in a three-dimensional underwater setting. In this incredible world beneath the waves, guests are able to watch and listen (through sonar hydrophones) to Dory, Marlin, Crush, Bruce and the rest of the Disney•Pixar stars – as they search the sea to find Nemo.


Rockin' Both Parks summarizes the fun that will be rollin' out at Disneyland Resort when Space Mountain at Disneyland and California Screamin' at Disney's California Adventure get exciting new twists for early 2007. Thanks to new soundtracks and technology, both attractions will be transformed into unique rock 'n' roll experiences. Space Mountain will launch its guests through the greatest rock concert in the universe, while California Screamin' will rock to the beat of a whole new sound. The rockin' rocks on for 16 weeks (Jan. 3-April 26, 2007).