A big POTC update to end the week, and a great news as i can confirm that Jack Sparrow Audio-Animatronics will be installed at DLP Pirates of Caribbean for the 20th Anniversary! More about this below but before let's begin by the big news that was announced by WDI Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald today (and also revealed by Jim Hill earlier this week): "Captain Blackbeard will make his appearance on the ghostly waterfall in the grotto scenes of the park attractions beginning May 20, coinciding with the release of the new film, “Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides,” in which Ian McShane plays a starring role."
In two words, it means that this new Blackbeard projection effect will replace the Davy Jones projection effect BUT as Tom also says in his Disney Parks article; Davy Jones (will come back) later this year. Does it mean that they will regularly change the two characters on the ghostly waterfall - or will they install another "waterfall"? We'll see this later this year but for now, Disneyland fans will be happy to learn that something new is coming in the POTC ride in less than two weeks from now. More about this in Tom Fitzgerald article HERE.
Tomorrow is the day of the big POTC 4 Premiere at Disneyland and they've built a fantastic stage and a "90-foot-wide, six-story-tall motion picture screen on an island created especially for this event"...
...as well as "a state-of-the-art outdoor amphitheater – fully carpeted with stadium seating – is being built right on the Rivers of America just outside of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction".
For sure it's going to be a memorable evening and as soon as videos of the event will be uploaded on Youtube i will embed the best of them on Disney and more, so be sure to come back this week-end to watch this!
Talking about POTC, the movie, you may have read that screenwriter Terry Rossio has just turned in his script this past weekend to Disney for a planned fifth POTC movie. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Johnny Depp said "It boils down to story, script and filmmaker,"..but the actor isn't clamoring to jump back into the puffy shirt until a little time has passed after Pirates 4. He didn't relish the brutal schedule that saw him making Pirates 2 and Pirates 3 back-to-back in order to meet studio-mandated release dates in summer 2006 and 2007, respectively. "It's not something where I would say, 'Let's shoot it next month to get it out by Christmas 2012,'" he says. "We should hold off for a bit. They should be special, just like they are special to me."
And if you want my opinion, i think that Johnny is right. There is no good reasons to rush for a POTC 5, the most important thing is to take all the needed time to make sure it will be a good movie.
Let's come now to the other big news of this POTC update: Jack Sparrow audio-Animatronics will be installed next year at DLP Pirates of Caribbean, and this will include the Barbossa AA in the Pirate ship AND the "ghostly waterfall" projection effect, just like at DL and WDW.
I told you before that new effects were envisioned inside Phantom Manor and Big Thunder Mountain but for now - and unfortunately - these are on hold. In terms of enhancements on classic attractions, only POTC is sure for the 20th. No decision has been taken yet on Star Tours 2 for DLP - which doesn't mean that it won't happen as they still have time to change their mind.
So, where will they put the Jack Sparrow AA inside DLP POTC? According to my good sources Tom Fitzgerald apparently decided that the AAs will be placed at the same scenes that you can see them at DL or WDW. Which means that in 12 months from now Disneyland Paris fans will be able to salute Captain Jack Sparrow near the "mayor in the well" scene, hiding behind the clothes...
...and also a bit later in the ride, popping out of the barrel...
...and of course near the end of the ride for his final appearance. As the big treasure scene in DLP POTC is not the perfect place to put Jack's AA it seems that his Audio-Animatronic will be placed just in front of the treasure scene, on the left side, where you can see now the two skeletons drinking wine. They have more room to put this last scene with Jack AA there and it's quite logical.
Barbossa Audio-Animatronic will also appear on the pirate ship, except if in the meantime WDI Imagineers decide to replace him by a Blackbeard AA, which would make sense - and, by the way, why not having both of them?
But where DLP Imagineers will put the "ghostly waterfall" either with Blackbeard or Davy Jones projection effect? At Disneyland, the projection effect is inside the caves. But at DL the caves scenes are at the beginning of the ride, at DLP they are at the end. As it is better for the storyline to have it at the beginning of the ride and not at the end DLP Imagineers have decided to put the ghostly waterfall effect during the first lift, i.e right after the blue lagoon scenes, when we climb up inside the sunken fortress. Whether they will put it at the beginning, in the middle or at the top of the lift i can't tell you, but from what i know this is where the ghostly waterfall effect will appear next year inside DLP POTC.
My only regret is that Tom Fitzgerald didn't decided to put one Sparrow AA in the duelist pirates scene. That scene is unique and only exist at DLP POTC and it would have been great to see Captain Jack swashbuckling in that scene. Technically speaking it is pretty easy to do as they only have to change the head, hands and clothes, but apparently the reason why they will not do it is because these two AAs can have technical problems and when it's the case they usually put a curtain in front of them which means that in this case we will not see the Jack Sparrow AA. It's a good reason i admit, but, still, i think they should do it.
I'm sure this 20th Anniversary news will delight DLP fans - although i'm also sure some will think it's a sacrilege to the original ride - but whether you like it or not Captain Jack is coming at DLP POTC next year. AND, as Johnny Depp is living in France when he's not on a set i won't be surprised to see him at the Jack Sparrow AAs inauguration when it will happen next year, just like he did at Disneyland in 2006 on the video below!
All pictures and video: copyright Disney
9 comments:
You were the first blog to break this news, so well done. But the question is, what's your source? How can we be sure this isn't just another rumour?
Hello, here is my answer: i never, never, NEVER, reveal my sources, it's the rule number one and this is why i always have the most reliable infos. Also, this is why i don't post updates every month about the future as i only post when things are sure, at least at 90%.
Number two, i never post rumor. Or if i do, i clearly write it is a rumor. As usual, the infos i post are absolutely right at the time i write it, i.e that, if for instance, something happen this year that put DLP in financial trouble - or if the banks finally refused to give them all the money they need - changes may happen in DLP plans, but this is something that no one can anticipate.
But for the POTC changes, except if some big trouble was happening, i'm confident there shouldn't be any changes in DLP plans and that the new AAs will be there next year.
Ok, I´m biased, because I never really liked the PotC movies, and I´m very much against tampering with a rude that is perfect as it is, to "keep it fresh for today´s audiences" or whatever the company speak is... but in the case of DLP, it´s just more than annoying. I mean, look at the state the park is in (as somebody who saw it back in April of 1992 (yes, there are people who are that old, boys and girls...) - it just breaks my heart to look at, for example, the pirate ship... So what I mean to say is: there are a million places where the money could change sth for the better, so why spent for sth nobody needs...
Listen, DLP is not so much in bad condition. They keep repainting all time and as i've explained previously they have a big plan of refurbishment - who already began - for the 20th Anniversary, and, yes, this includes the Pirate ship in Adventureland. So you will have a brand new Pirate ship soon as well as many others refurbs and also new AAs figures in POTC. What can you ask more? New rides? They will come too, if you're a bit patient.
Well done for the information, but I have a interrogation, what about the music ?
Is the original music will remain or are they putting music movies, whether in the queue or the attraction itself ?
No, the music will NOT change, whether it will be in the attraction or in the queue areas.
@Alain: Even if I listen, what I *see* does not change... IMO, the park is in a really bad condition. I have just re-read your book a few days ago, and I just miss that - well, let´s call it magic, why not, that springs from every page of your book on DLP, because the real park has changed so much for the worse. Others have found much harsher words, e.g. Parkeology´s Tevtee; quote: "the general shocking and even appalling condition of much of the park"... Disney and DLP should be happy they have so many customers who are angry about what they see, since after all, they do care about the park, and regardless of their complaints, they keep visiting...
This is good news! Jack Sparrow AA is the most realistic AA I've ever seen!
About the movies, I really liked the first one, the other two I didn't like that much, they were, in my opinion, too confusing. I also did not like Davy Jones and the crew of the Flying Dutchman, I liked much more the rotting pirates from the first movie, so I'm glad they're changing Davy Jones for blackbeard, a real historical pirate.
The only thing I can say against is that I liked the original girl in the barrel, and the pirate looking for the girl, but I guess that it is too politically incorrect for today's public.
And I agree with Alain that, even tough it could be better, DLP is not in such a bad condition as people in this blog say (I also saw the park in 1992, I was 8, but I was allready a big Disney fan and I made my father take me there!).
While I am glad there are some fans who might enjoy the new additions to the attraction, part of me wishes that a version of the attraction somewhere would remain in its original form (even though each one is slightly different anyway).
When they updated Walt Disney World, it did not really enhance the ride for me. I love the ride and the movies, but it mostly seemed like a way to just plaster some of the movie icons into the ride without trying to improve the story of the ride.
As for the ghostly waterfall, this was probably the least necessary addition. At Disney World you aren't really exposed to it for that long, kind of like when you pass an electronic road work sign while driving and are left wondering what it said and if it was important.
These are just my opinions, anyway. Now, do I hear six, who makes it six?
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