Originally Posted By MikeTV It's been sometime but finally made another trip to our beloved WDW? Something struck me this time: Disney enlists familiar faces and voices for attractions: DINOSAUR(Mrs. Cosby) IMAGINATION(Eric Idol) SOARIN(Puddy) SPACESHIPEARTH(the Bond hag M) MISSIONSPACE(Lt. Dan) ROCKINROLLER(the girl playing the manager who years earlier in Cape Fear got handcuffed and savagely beaten in a motel room by Max Cady who even bit her cheek off) GREATMOVIERIDE(Robert Osbourne) So how do you feel about these known faces and voices on the attractions?
Originally Posted By MikeTV Really? You never seen the Cosby Show? Seinfeld series? Recent James Bond movies? Cape Fear with Robert Dinero? Movie Forest Gump?
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Nope. Well, I did watch some Seinfeld, and I saw Forrest Gump, once. But generally speaking, I know very, very few celebrities.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip For the most part the celebrity voices are neutral or a plus. A HUGE plus was when Walter Cronkite narrated Spaceship Earth. The guy was a god when it came to things like that. Eric Idle irritates me, but Journey into Whatever kind of irritates me anyway, so it doesn't make much difference.
Originally Posted By MikeTV They detract and I find it stupid that their presence costs money(I assume they get paid) that could have made the rides better. Nothing wrong with that unknown "Dr. Seeker" ....get more of those types who will work for peanuts and less Seinfeld personnel who mess with the budgets and ruin the stories. They are type casted and they distract from the ride's storyline.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros For me, most of them are either nice little bonuses or completely neutral. I don't really follow celebrities closely so I don't know much about them, but it's always kind of fun to have that "Oh, it's Mrs Cosby!" moment. The only one that I don't like is Judy Dench in Spaceship Earth, but I think a lot of that is because of the horrible script that she had to work with There are also a handful of folks that have done Disney attractions who occasionally pop up in bit parts in other things (I've definitely seen Dr Seeker elsewhere, but can't think of where), so it's sort of fun to get that unexpected memory of your trip I also think it's funny that you mentioned the actress for Rock-n-Rollercoaster (who I didn't realize was even famous), but completely skipped over Aerosmith! There's also Ellen and Bill Nye over in the Energy pavilion
Originally Posted By MikeTV Of course I skipped over erosmith and Ellen for a very obvious reason. Notice that those 2 !ARE! the attraction. Hence: "Rockinroller starring arosmith" and "Ellen's universe of energy". They are the reason for the story. Same with mickeal Jackson captain EO. The ones I named earlier like puddy, Lt Dan, Agent M and Mrs Cosby are thrown in as if they add credence to the attraction when their presence merely distracts.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I do not agree. For me, the intro by Gary Sinise is really well done and helps the whole ride make sense. It is clear that you are in simulator training and not an actual flight. That is necessary because there is really no way to disguise the centrifuge, and he does it well.
Originally Posted By MikeTV Tom Riddle or Jason Gest could do that intro on Space. Even Josh Devitt would work. Sinise is thrown in because of his celebrity. He is not playing himself as gary sinise but a facelss guide ". It is clear that you are in simulator training and not an actual flight. That is necessary......" What does simulator vs actual flight have to do with this? Very illogical response to the argument before us. The type of ride is immaterial
Originally Posted By RoadTrip No it is not. The reason a lengthy intro is necessary is to explain the training premise. Especially when on prior Disney attractions like Mission to the Moon/Mars and Horizons you were supposed to feel like you were "really there". But this is rapidly descending to troll territory, so I'm out.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Perhaps the thinking is that using a well-known celebrity gives an attraction just a bit more, shall I say, credibility? Also, voiceover work is still acting, so maybe they want to be sure to get someone who knows a little bit about the craft. Granted, they could use actors who are less well known, but for me, it doesn't really make much difference. I will say though regarding the previous response about Walter Cronkite ... since I grew up watching him, he definitely added an air of authority to Spaceship Earth.
Originally Posted By MikeTV RT you need better logic. The point of the topic is "do celebrities help or hurt the attraction" not what kind of an attraction it is. Long or short back story can be explained by "nobody's" like in the older version of test track with the white dude and black girl or a "somebody" like Sinise. Just because a back story needs to be thoroughly explained has nothing to do with celebrity status.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros And just because there's a celebrity involved with the video and/or audio of an attraction has nothing to do with the quality of an attraction Good attractions are good with or without celebrities. Bad attractions are bad with or without celebrities. Soarin' would still be just as popular without Patrick Warburton; Captain EO would still be horribly out of date (though perhaps not quite as much) without Michael Jackson
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I really don't think I do For the most part, a celebrity does not make or break an attraction. There are plenty of instances where they make it better (whether in a minor way like Phylicia Rashad, or in a major way like Gary Sinise) and relatively few instances where they have a negative impact (Michael Jackson is the only one that I can think of, and even he is a positive for some people) From what I've gathered of your stance, you don't seem to think that most of them make any improvement to the attraction. I'm not sure I get that
Originally Posted By hopemax > Nothing wrong with that unknown "Dr. Seeker" < Unknown? He played a secondary character on CSI for the last 12 years. He is maybe more known to people today than Phylicia Rashad is.
Originally Posted By hopemax And pre-ride in AK, he was part of the main cast of the Larry Sanders Show for 6 years. Here's that "unknown's" filmography <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103466/?ref_=nm_knf_t2">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt01...m_knf_t2</a> So as to the topic, I don't think it matters much, as long as they act well. Some people will know who it is, and some people won't know who it is.
Originally Posted By 9oldmen >>Unknown? He played a secondary character on CSI for the last 12 years. He is maybe more known to people today than Phylicia Rashad is.<< His name is Wallace Langham. At the time that DAK opened he was probably best known for his appearances on "Veronica's Closet".
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>RT you need better logic.<< In this case, "logic" is irrelevant. Either the celebs work for you, they don't or they're neutral. It's that simple.
