Indiana Jones tribute part one - The making of Raiders of the lost ark

Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull will be released in three months, and, even if we all would love to watch it right now, i'm afraid we have to wait.

So, in the meantime, i thought we could have a look back at the making of the previous Indiana Jones movies, beginning by the first one, Raiders of the lost ark.

Let's begin with some concept-art by Jim Steranko, wonderful comic book artist, and magician, too. And if Indiana Jones don't look like Harrison Ford on them, it's normal, as these production artwork was probably done before the final casting.
The first one above shows a scene which don't really exist in the final movie.

The one below shows the snake sequence, but if you look well, the temple is not an egyptian temple like in the movie.



This next one shows the famous battle between Indy and the pilot of the flying wing.



And this last rendering is about the truck chase scene.



Let's have a look now to some production shots. Here is Spielberg filming in Hawai's jungle.



This picture show the filming of the opening sequence, with the indians.



Here is Georges Lucas and the crew, always in Hawai.



This next picture shows one of the huge studio set.



Harrison Ford and Spielberg, probably talking about the opening sequence.



I mean, this sequence.



Spielberg and Karen Allen during the "streets of Cairo" filming. Note that this sequence was filmed in Morocco, and not in Cairo.



Here is the sea plane which appears in the movie.



Spielberg and Ford near the cargo ship.



The making of a mask for the final sequence of the opening of the ark of the covenant.



And here is another one, probably for the same sequence.



In the part two, coming soon, we will have a look at the making of Indiana Jones and the temple of doom!

All pictures and artwork: copyright Lucas Film Ltd.

Pictures coming from the Indiana Jones official web site.

Disneyland famous celebrities - Part Three

Since 50 years many celebrities from around the world came to visit Disneyland, Anaheim. Here is a third series of historical pictures of some of them, this time about famous political figures.

Above with Walt Disney, India legendary prime minister Nehru, both aboard a Jungle Cruise boat at the end of the 1950's.

Emperor of Japan Hiro-Hito entering - peacefully - Disneyland - yes, the same one who launched the attack on Pearl Harbor !



President Harry Truman - yes, the man who dropped the "Bomb" on the japanese!



President Ike Eisenhower with his wife enjoying one of Main Street vehicles.



John Kennedy with Ahmed Sékou Touré, President of Guinea near the Disneyland Railroad. This picture is incredible. Look not only at Kennedy and Sékou Touré's faces, but also to all the other persons around them, beginning by Sékou Touré's body guard on the right who don't looks cool at all...



Richard Nixon came many times at Disneyland, first in 1959 as Eisenhower vice-president for the Monorail inauguration ceremony, here with his wife Patricia and his two daughters - and Walt, of course...



A close shot on the scissors and the ribbon - there was a funny moment as the scissors didn't succeed to cut the ribbon!



Same day, same family, in front of the Matterhorn!



And finally, he went inside the submarine - where he should have stayed forever!



Some years later, always with his two daughters, sitting on the Main Street fire vehicle...my god, this guy really liked Disneyland!



Another U.S president who came twice was of course Ronald Reagan, first as an anchor man for the tv show of Disneyland grand opening in 1955...



And then in 1980's as the president of United States, and Grand Marshall of Disneyland parade!



Let's end this series of political figures at Disneyland - and have some fun - with our former and ineffable french president Jacques Chirac with his wife Bernadette ( not an italian model ) and Mickey at Disneyland's guest relations office.



All photos: copyright Disney

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EPCOT 25TH ANNIVERSARY - a special celebration - HORIZONS tribute - photos , artwork and video

Here it is at last, the grand tribute to Horizons that i've promised to you four months ago ! And this one is going to be a really big tribute to this Epcot beloved attraction, one of my favorite. Lot of pictures, for the first time in big size, plenty of artwork, and great video of the whole ride at the end of the article, with the links to the previous Epcot original attractions artwork articles.



Horizons, designed by imagineer George Mc Ginnis and Collin Campbell opened on October 1, 1983 and was about the future!...and more specifically, Horizons was dedicated to "humanity's future" with this principle "If we can dream it, we can do it!".
Not only the building was huge, but the 14.45 minutes ride was one of the longest one ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering. Lot of audio-animatronics - 54, exactly , and 770 props all along the ride, not to mention the 12 film projectors, the two Omnisphere screenshow, and a huge capacity of 2784 guests per hour.Everything was great: the story line, the theming, the music, everything!



During 10 years - from 1983 to 1993 - the attraction sponsor was General Electric, as we can see on this picture of the entrance.



Right after the entrance, the Futureport announced the "destinations"



It's time to board in one of the Horizons vehicles



First, we had a look back to some of the great visionaries like Jules Verne, then to how the future was dreamed in the 30's.
Here is a picture of the model of that scene.



And here are pictures of the real thing.






The next scene was a vision of the future from the 50's.




After these opening scenes the Horizons vehicle moved to the Omnimax film sequence with images of the DNA chain, or the space shuttle lift off. The next scene was the 21st century Habitat sequence , also called the Nova City living room.



A huge backdrop painting was done for that scene, here is three close shots of this artwork.





The next scene brings the guests at Mesa Verde, a desert farm of the future...




And then to a submarine habitat...




But also inside a space colony and the "crystal lab"...







The Holographic "happy bithday" party line was the next scene, and the special effects were at that time really impressive.




The guests had then the possibility to "choose their tomorrow" with a choice of three destinations: Space , Desert, and Undersea. A screen came in front of the vehicle and a short movie was played. A good idea, but the image definition was not as good as it would be today.

Before we arrive to the videos below, i have more rare pictures for you. First, a model of the building.



Then some artwork for the "Main Shuttle port"






Here is a fantastic painting showing a city of the future.



But one of the biggest backdrop painting was the "Looking back at tomorrow". Here are some very rare photos showing the painter at work - Robert McCall, a famous artist who worked mostly for NASA - and details of the painting.







And now it's time for you to board inside a Horizon vehicle and enjoy this fantastic ride, thanks to this 3-part youtube videos from Century3Horizons, that i thank a lot, and congratulate for the high quality of the filming.

Just like everybody who did the ride at Epcot, you will love Horizons instantly, it was Imagineering at its best! And don't forget: If we can dream it, we can do it!










You can know more about Horizons, read the original script and listen the great music theme on the excellent Horizons web site HERE

I remember you that you can find the previous articles about Epcot's original attractions artwork: for Spaceship Earth HERE, for The Living Seas HERE, for Communicore HERE
, for The Land HERE, and for Journey into Imagination HERE. More coming next week about Universe of Energy!

Photos and artwork: copyright Disney Enterprises Inc

Youtube videos thanks to Century3Horizons