The Script

Discover the fascinating history of special effects and then get ready to put yourself in the picture, as you step onto the intricate film set of an orbiting space station, to film a thrilling new effects scene. As the asteroid makes impact, the space station begins to fall apart all around you - the ceiling collapses, the floor creaks, a broken door pulls a vacuum on the room and a series of intense fiery blasts take you closer to Armageddon than you’d ever thought possible.

Production Guide

From the gritty Backlot square you enter a pre-show area based on a storage studio and workshop for the special effects shooting stage, where an assistant special effects director arrives and welcomes you. First, you discover the history of special effects and the European roots of this exciting art form. A video pays tribute to Georges Méliès, the inventor of special effects. In 1902, this young French magician filmed the world’s first special effects spectacle: Le Voyage à Travers l'Impossible. This film astonished the public at that time with its clever use of superimposed images and stop-motion animation. A century has passed since Méliès invented this special kind of "movie magic", and the art of special effects has made a truly amazing journey during that time.

The lights go down again, and you discover a powerful montage of great special effect moments from the 100-year history of cinema. The sequence ends with a series of pyrotechnic explosions, building to a great crescendo. Out of the smoke of the last explosion steps the imposing silhouette of Michael Clarke Duncan, one of the stars of the movie Armageddon, who explains how the movie’s signature special effects scenes were created and reminds us of the bravery and strength you need as an actor to fully take part in a true special effects spectacle. And with that, he invites you to experience the thrill of shooting Armageddon for yourself, as the doors open and you step through to Studio 7.

You walk along through the wooden backings of the film sets, with signs all around warning of “live fire effects”, “explosions” and even “vacuums”. At the end of the hallway, you step on-set and discover a hugely detailed recreation of a Russian space station, filled with computers, instruments and impressive details. The crowd gathers inside the circular film stage, enclosed on all sides. Here, the director calls everyone together for a few safety tips, before “Action!” is shouted and the film set comes to life. The floodlights dim and the electrical equipment around the room buzzes to life. Buttons flicker, progress screens flash and computer systems whir. The loud speakers broadcast operational “comchat” between Lev, the Russian cosmonaut on board, and the main computer. The latter initiates gravitational spin that creates an artificial gravity, closes the air lock door behind the guests and opens two large view ports placed in front. Suddenly, Lev signals the imminent arrival of some meteor particles. As they come further in, the guests hear a series of alarming impacts on the hull of the station. Then, through a series of well-orchestrated special effects, the guests witness the worst accident possible in space: a flaming meteor shower!

Increasingly stronger impacts shake the station, as the walls shudder and the floor vibrates. One of the walls is breached and gusts of smoke pour out on all sides. A water pipe bursts amid a shower of sparks from the electronics and vital systems are shutdown into darkness. The roof drops down, shaking with the impacts and becoming lower and lower, as pipes break loose and hang from above. A meteorite pierces the hull and crosses the room, making holes in the ducts and hoses in its way! The corridor fills with smoke and sparks, which are sucked out through the holes into deep space! The creaking of metal echoes in the station as the corridor threatens to break away, and the safety hatches are locked shut. Everything goes quiet and darkness permeates the room. The suspense and action reach their climax when, with a sonic boom, the central shaft which guests gathered around is lit with a giant fireball explosion!

As the lights come up, everyone breaths a sigh of relief and looks around at the broken space station film set. The exit doors open and you pass by countless props and equipment used to create special effects like the ones you just witnessed. As you step outside, back into the bright daylight, you look at the world in a different way. For a few brief moments you were truly at the heart of Armageddon... an experience like nothing else on Earth and an experience made possible only through the magic of movie-making.

Production footnotes

For the most intense special effects, you should stand around the central shaft or at one of the two safety hatches. The first is on your right just as you step into the room and features the intense fire effects. The second is located to the left of the exit door (which is located directly opposite the entrance door), and features the vacuum effect. If you’re visiting with children, however, you should therefore avoid these areas.

The “vacuum” effect is created by actually pulling a vacuum on the entire room! This effect sucks sparks, liquid nitrogen and steam through one of the corridor scenes to create the effect of a breach in the space station’s hull. If you’re stood in Backlot near Studio 7 and see smoke rising from the building, don’t worry – this is (hopefully) just from the ventilation shaft of the vacuum. Paul Baily, special effects designer on the attraction, described this effect on the Travel Channel special “Inside Walt Disney Studios Paris”.

Propane gas is used for the fire effects in the attraction (similar to the Catastrophe Canyon and Reign of Fire sets on the Studio Tram Tour), and is sourced from two large containers behind Studio 7 to the two key fire effects within the attraction. Armageddon: Special Effects is not only unique as a concept to this Disney theme park, but also has guests getting closer than ever before to the effects on show. Don’t worry, though – the Imagineers want to frighten you, not fry you.

The pre-show features a video introduction by Michael Clark Duncan, who played the role of Jayotis 'Bear' Kurleenbear in the film. This video (and the promotional interview with the actor filmed at the same time) was likely produced by Disney whilst Michael Clark Duncan was recording the voice of Tug for Brother Bear (2003) in 2001/2002, as shown by the voice recording studio behind the actor in the promotional interview.

The Russian Space Station was recreated by Disney Imagineers for the attraction using not only images from the Armageddon movie, but also documentation retrieved from the American Space Agency's web-site. As with the real Russian space station, the attraction’s film set recreation features bilingual signage in English and Russian.

The props on display in the pre-show area feature were featured in the Armageddon movie, including a space shuttle module and a small space capsule. Outside the attraction, the real Armadillo drilling machine can be seen. The machine was built as a large scale model for effective filming of the special effects sequences.

History

The pre-show of Armageddon: Special Effects has been updated and tightened up a number of times in the attraction’s brief history. Originally using a silver screen (a modern green-screen/blue-screen) to show selected audience members in wild locations, the pre-show was later changed to make the attraction’s story clearer, with guests being invited to test their screams and acting skills before they step onto the special effects stage. A new storyboard of the space station scene was added in place of the old green screen, which was moved across to Walt Disney Television Studios as part of the Art Attack post-show.

The attraction features two pre-show rooms (Studios 7A and 7B), but only 7B is currently used. It was discovered shortly after opening that a second pre-show room did nothing to improve the guest experience and infact led to Cast Members having to keep guests in these two studios for an excessively long time, due to there being only one main special effects room.

The designers of the attraction obviously didn’t expect such large queues, since after just a few weeks of operation special wooden, yellow “Hot Set” barriers were added under the “Armageddon” sign to expand the queue area. These were later changed to permanent metal barriers in early 2004. In original designs for the park, the queue was placed on the other side of the attraction, opposite Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular. Even earlier plans called for the attraction to be placed on the current location of Backlot Express Restaurant.

This attraction was consistently rumoured to be a part of Hollywood Pictures Backlot at Disney’s California Adventure Park (opened 2001), but eventually didn’t make the final attraction line-up nor the expansion plans.

© WDS Fans 2006