This past Friday, one of Disneyland Resort’s
most iconic attractions — Pirates of the Caribbean — reopened following a refurbishment
that took nearly two months to complete.
The most notable
new upgrade to the classic dark ride can be found in what Imagineers refer to
as Scene 11, which, for 59 years, was a stationary tableau of a greedy pirate
skeleton sitting atop his hoarded piles of ill-gotten treasure, clutching a
fistful of gold and pearls.
Now, the character
has been reimagined using next-gen audio-animatronic technology, developed and
patented by Walt Disney Imagineering, KTLA
reported.
By applying a new
technique that Imagineers call Hybrid Front Projection technology, which combines
advanced projection mapping with moving animatronic components, designers were
able to expand upon the existing narrative. The character has been recast as a
living, breathing buccaneer who, in picking up a piece of hexed gold, succumbs
to a curse that turns him into a skeleton.
“When he lifts and
picks it up and looks at it, it casts a spell over him that freezes him in
time,” Imagineer Alfredo Ayala says in an official video released on
June 26. “And then, the weight of his arm after he turns into a skeleton drops
the coin, releasing him from the cursed treasure.”
Of course, because
of the swashbuckler’s unalterably greedy nature, the cycle continues forever,
with the character alternating between flesh-and-blood pirate and skeletal
remains as park guests float by in their boats.
But, with Pirates
of the Caribbean being one of the Happiest Place on Earth’s most beloved rides
— and having a special place in guests’ hearts as the last attraction Walt Disney
personally oversaw prior to his passing in 1966 — there was bound to be some
backlash from fans.
According to the New
York Post, die-hard Disneyphiles almost immediately began slamming the new
update on social media, with one poster calling the change “the opposite of
magic” in reaction to Disney Parks’ official reveal on Instagram.
“This is one of
the worst things I have ever seen, and completely ruins the classic ride’s
look, pacing, tone, story, and timeline,” one user wrote. “Please change it
back immediately.”
“Thanks for
ruining the most iconic scene in the ride, Disney,” another top commenter said.
However, to the
creators’ minds, “Animatronic figures are foundational to the Disney brand and
how we tell our stories,” as one executive R&D Imagineer said in a
recent Instagram reel. He
describes the new technology as the “next level of our animatronic figures,”
saying that it “makes for these incredibly characterful faces.” He also asserts,
“It opens up an entirely new creative toolbox to be able to tell our stories.”
It remains to be seen whether or not the Disney fandom will ultimately accept the state-of-the-art alteration to one of the park's most treasured attractions. What is evident is that Imagineers will never stop looking for ways to tweak attractions using the latest technologies, as they have always done.
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