Saturday, May 21, 2011

Universal Orlando Announces New 'Despicable Me' Ride, 'Spider-Man' Reanimation

Both will be ready by 2012, preceding the releases of sequels to their namesake films.By Terri Schwartz





The new 4K HD digital animation featured in the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride

Photo: Universal Studios




ORLANDO, Florida — With the Wizarding World of Harry Potter still less than a year old, Universal Orlando is ready to announce two new movie-themed ride experiences for fans visiting the Orlando theme park.
The first is a "Despicable Me" ride that will replace the Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast park in the Universal Studios Florida area. Like the film, it will be a 3-D experience and will combine visceral and virtual motion with animation and real-life elements.
"When we got our hands on ['Despicable Me'], we knew instantly it was a perfect fit for Universal Orlando," said Mark Woodbury, president of Universal Creative. "It's wonderful for us to bring to life the first Universal animated picture."
Working alongside Woodbury is Thierry Coup, senior vice president of Universal Creative, and Chris Meledandri, producer of "Despicable Me" and founder of Illumination Entertainment. They promise that the ride will take 3-D to "a whole new level" thanks to the next-generation projection technology that will be shown on a new immersive screen.
The ride will be feature a new story that follows friendly mad scientist Gru and his daughters during a trip to Universal Orlando. Gru says he has a new experiment he wants to try out and ends up transforming the entire audience into minions. Ride guests will be given 3-D glasses that look like the minions' goggles to complete the transformation, and will enter the eight-person vehicles to start the ride. The experience will end with a post-show dance party.
The "Despicable Me" ride will be opened in 2012, and with a "Despicable Me" sequel hitting theaters in 2013, Meledandri said there's a chance for some crossover between the ride and the new film.
"I personally love little discoveries inside movies meant for people who are being particularly astute," he said, referencing the "Lorax" shirt Margo wears in the first film, which is a shout-out to Illumination Entertainment's next feature.
Woodbury, Coup and Meledandri could not say whether the actors from the original film — including Steve Carell, Jason Segel and Miranda Cosgrove — would participate in the voice acting for the ride.
The second bit of news came from Coup, who announced a complete reanimation of the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. The ride, which was opened in 1999, will be redone in 4K digital high definition and will also add some new details to the original story. The ride will be reopened in 2012 at the same time as the "Despicable Me" ride, but Coup said there would not be any overt references to the July 3, 2012, release of "The Amazing Spider-Man."
"We continually want to raise the bar," Woodbury said. "Spider-Man has been at the top of its game for so long, we just want to make sure it stays there."
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