Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Making of WDS Ratatouille Attraction , by WDI Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald


If you came this morning on D&M you may have follow our LIVE report of DLP Annual Stockolder Meeting but we kept the best for this exclusive article thanks to a great video filmed at the meeting by Max Fan, D&M contributor and screen captures of it that you will see below.


WDI Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald was there to do a great presentation on the making of the highly awaited Ratatouille ride which will open at the WDS probably in the last 10 days of June with an official grand opening apparently scheduled for July 14, the national day in France.

Tom Fitzgerald was introduced to the audience by DLP CEO Philippe Gas...


...who welcomed Tom on the Cinémagique stage...


After an introduction in french Tom told the audience that he will continue in english...


Then Tom Fitzgerald started his presentation of how DLPI Imagineers built the ride.


Tom explained that it started with talks with Pixar animators who worked on the animated feature, including director Brad Bird, to make sure they will create a unique story for the attraction which will pay tribute to the film...


...and from there, the next thing they did was to build a scale model of the attraction  ( the model shown below is just a part of the whole ride model ).


They actually built the model with ride vehicles so they could actually ride through and see the point of view that guests will have during the ride.


Once finished, they started to build the full scale - giant size show elements. I remind you that guests will be "reduced" at the size of a rat during the ride...


They did 2000 over scale leaves for Remi's restaurant which were all hand painted!


...and including set tables also over scaled.


The animated movies that you will see in the ride were created by their colleagues at Pixar, in 3D, in the larger scale they've ever created...


Here is a WDI rendering showing the ride vehicle passing near a giant show element...


Tom also talked about the unique ride system which will be used to move the "Ratmobiles", as Imagineers call the ride vehicles in which six passengers will be allowed to travel.



Meanwhile, the architectural team was busy to create the exterior of the ride, the great decor that you all know.


They created too elaborate color boards that allowed Imagineers to paint in colors any details that you will see...


Tom also talked about "Chez Rémi" and how they're bringing to life Rémi's restaurant where  guests will be able to have a delicious meal...


...in a super over scale fantasy environment!


And it was the end of Tom Fitzgerald presentation. Right after, a great ballet with cook dancers happened in the theatre...


...soon joined by Mickey, Minnie and Rémi for a grand finale!





And now, here is the full video of Tom Fitzgerald presentation that i'm sure you will all enjoy a lot!




Pictures and video: copyright Max Fan


For your info, i remind you that the great Valentine's day special offer on the Disneyland Paris book at 60€ ( + 15€ for shipping worldwide ) will end in six days from now. It's a great offer - valid for both the ENGLISH or FRENCH editions - thanks to which you can save $50 on the normal price, and if you don't own the book yet i'm sure you don't want to miss it! Paypal and credit card payment are accepted, so make sure you don't miss it! 

You can use the Paypal button below for the english edition, and for the french edition or for credit card payment please send me an email at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com



Don't know yet the Disneyland Paris book. Have a look at the video below or on the book website HERE.


Disneyland Paris From Sketch to Reality - Include shipping

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would love to see this at Epcot

Marco Antonio Garcia said...

This attraction is probably going to be a great E Ticket, but I'm disappointed by the restaurant; I thought that they would build a nice French restaurant.

Anyway it's nice that they make a good presentation for the shareholders to compensate for the bad results.