A Tribute to Tom Thordarson - a.k.a " THOR " - Artwork - Part Two : Dinosaurs Ride Concepts

Here is the awaited part two article of my Tom "Thor" Thordarson artwork tribute.

At the end of the 90's, Tom also worked for Landmark Entertainment on an incredible ride project. I think the best way to describe it is like a "Jungle Cruise with Dinosaurs" project. The attraction , very unfortunately, was never built, but i have Tom's great renderings to show you! Tom was asked by Landmark to take a shot at key scenes that would depict a boat ride similar to Disney's Jungle Cruise but crossed with Dinosaurs as in "Dinotopia".



There was not really an order in the scenes you will see below, but Tom's concepts are incredibly exciting. Who wouldn't love to ride a "Jungle Cruise" like this? A ride where you can see giant Brachiosaurus (picture above)...

Or fighting Velociraptors...



A ride where you can have a dreadful encounter not with one but THREE life-size T-Rex...



A ride where your boat would be attacked by a bunch of Pterodactyls...



Let's Tom tell us more about it: "I created situations where there was a lot of natural overhead coverings like fallen trees and large dinosaur rib masses overgrown with foliage. This gave areas to create interesting effects with mist and lighting and all the streams of light that would patch areas of activity..."



"It's part of creating mystery and drama in a ride. A show designer is always thinking of changing the feel and atmosphere as much as possible as a ride moves through. Things like creating a tight, close tunnel like area just before opening to a larger, epic scene makes that epic scene seem all the more amazing and grand in contrast. A classic example of this is in Disneyland. In Pirates of the Caribbean, we enter the big ship and fortress battle scene right after the close quartered cavern scenes. It makes that room seem all that higher and grander! Kind of like taking a swig of lemonade just before eating a candy cane. It makes that old candy cane EXPLODE with sweetness in contrast!!! The psyche in ride show design is like that too."



"I also describe some of the animation like in the frame with the Brachiosaurus descending into the lagoon near the boat and spraying the riders. Fun stuff..a little scary too! Add scary to fun and you get thrill!"



"All in all, these frames gave a feel for the attraction in VERY early concept. I really didn't follow where it all went from here. I was on other projects also at the time and like many concepts I touched, I would offer my ideas and move on to the next very rapidly."

Tom was also very involved working with MCA Universal on the early development of the Jurassic park ride in Hollywood. He did an overall birds eye view and a lot of story boards like this one below.



But there is another dinosaur attraction project on which Tom worked and helped to design. And just like the "Jungle Cruise Dinosaurs" ride, it's an attraction that never was. It was a roller coaster ride called "The Excavator" and it would have been located near the boneyard of Dinoland U.S.A at Disney's Animal Kingdom! The train would have gone through a dinosaur excavation site, with dinosaurs audio-animatronics along the ride!



WDI imagineers envisioned to add a roller coaster in this AK land, and because they had all these dinosaurs sculpture molds done for the "Countdown to Extinction" attraction, they thought it could be a good idea to use them and have audio-animatronics in an outdoor roller coaster. It sure was a great idea! Of course, there is always the weather problem when you put Audio-animatronics outside, but it's always possible to find a themed solution to shelter them...



As you can see the Carnosaurus - the star of "Countdown to Extinction" was back in this coaster concept. And i wonder if this is not one of the reason why the concept was never build. After all, in "Countdown to Extinction" we are supposed to meet the Carnosaurus when we are sent back in time, so why would we meet him again in our era? Although it could have been possible to imagine (in the attraction story line) that "we" brought him back inadvertently instead of the other dinosaur that we're supposed to save from the "extinction".

Mind you, Tom didn't do only dinosaurs design for Animal Kingdom, he also did some great concepts for the now famous Beastly Kingdom, like this mythical creature below when WDI asked him to come up with some ideas for this land that never was.



Before i leave you, i'd like to comeback one minute on the great Landmark "Jungle Cruise Dinosaurs" renderings as you can find some of them on sale on ebay - and yes, it's the originals, not prints and at very affordable price. They're part of the Landmark Selection sale i told you before, and if you're interested to have a look, just go HERE. I want to add that the Landmark sale prices on ebay are NOT the normal prices for Tom's paintings.

I would like also to remember you that Tom Thordarson have his own web site and a gallery in Hawaii - more precisely on the Island of Oahu - where you'll be able to find his beautiful Tiki and Hawaian artwork, including the Tiki idols series. Some of them are on sale, and whether it is the originals or very affordable prints, any Tiki lover will find his happiness! Also, if you're a fan of Tom's artwork and want to contact him, feel free to do it through his MySpace page.
Please have a look to the previous article to discover Tom Thordarson Tiki and Pirates artwork.

I would like to thanks once again Tom Thordarson for his great help in the making of this article, and his beautiful artwork!


Thanks to leave a comment or discuss this article on D&M english forum on Mice Chat

Artwork: copyright Landmark, Universal, and Disney & WED Enterprises for the last three pictures.

Disney's Animal Kingdom Original Artwork - Part Two

Here is the awaited part two of the Disney's Animal Kingdom original artwork article , and if you've missed the part one you can find it HERE. Above, a great artwork showing different elements of the park!

We're back in Asia and we begin by Expedition Everest artwork! Below, a beautiful Dan Goozee concept-art.



Next, another early concept by Chris Turner showing the Tibetan temple where the train goes through on the first lift.



The most famous of all Expedition Everest artwork, as it was the one chosen when the announcement was officially released.



Below, a Ray Spencer rendering showing the village of Serka Zong.



A rare rendering showing the beginning of the Expedition Everest ride.



This next one, an early concept by Chris Turner shows a never-realised scene, and all i can say is that i regret it as it looks really great!



Below, a beautiful painting by Joe Rhode of the yeti.



This Chris Turner concept shows a giant yeti. There is still a first encounter with the yeti and projection effect, but the size is smaller.



There is one more early concept for this ride scene with this Joe Rhode painting.



Just like in the part one, you will also find some pictures of the imagineers at work. Here a WDI imagineer is working on the tea train locomotive model.



A close shot on the locomotive itself.



It's time to move inside Dinoland, U.S.A and this first rendering is a Joe Rhode early concept for the Boneyard.



Here is another one by James Wong, closer to the final result. Note the coaster in the back. It was never build and should have been called "The Excavator"...



But i've found for you a rare rendering of it!



Next is an early concept by Chuck Ballew for Dino-Rama!



A "Triceratops Spin" concept by Victor Post...



...and another one by Jenna Goodman.



Below, a Dinoland entrance concept-art by Tom Gilleon.



Here is a rendering showing the entrance of the "Dinosaurs" ride - formerly known as "Countdown to Extinction".



This next painting was released as a postcard at the park's opening.



A rare rendering showing the ride vehicle and the dinosaur to be rescued.



The Carnotaurus attack is the climax scene of the ride.



These next three renderings are particularly interesting as they are showing scenes that were NOT realised. This first picture by Joe rhode seems to indicate that at one point the attraction was envisioned as a walk-through, or at least a part of the attraction.



And this velociraptor attack never happened too.



This next one shows a gorgeous scene that we can regret, and i have a story about it: In 1997 or so i was at WDI for a series of interviews and in the office of a an imagineer friend i saw this painting. I asked him if it was in relation with Animal Kingdom - not open yet at that time. He answered me that it was indeed for the "Countdown to extinction" attraction and that "we would be lucky if it looks like that at the end...". He was unfortunately right, and this leads me to the biggest problem with "Countdown to extinction" - now "Dinosaur": the cuts in the budget. Personally, i still like the attraction, and i quite liked it the first time i've ride it, but when you see this kind of concept and know how great it could have been, you really not in the mood to thanks the suits who were Disney executives at that time. One more Michael Eisner "mistake" - and i'm kind - that we still regret today.



The next picture shows a WDI imagineer at work on one of the dinosaurs that we can see in the first scene - it's the one "eating" a smaller dinosaur.



The two next one are showing imagineers at work on the Carnotaurus or programming the Audio-Animatronic.




Theater in the Wild is also in the area, and the next rendering was done for "Nemo, the Musical" show.



Now, there is a land that we all regret that it was never built: Beastly KIngdom. When Animal Kingdom opened, even the Beastly Kingdom land logo was at the entrance of the park and renderings of it were printed in the AK making of book. And then, we know what happened: this Beastly Kingdom project disappeared and chances to see it built one day are more than low. Thanks god, the artwork still exist, and here are some of them just to dream and see how good it could have been.

First, a bird-eye view of the whole land.



The castle, supposedly inhabited by a dragon...



The next artwork shows the labyrinth - the maze...



..and this is one of the mythical animals - a Griffin - that guests would have encounter.



The goal would have been to find the Unicorn, in a grotto at the end of the maze.




And a Fantasia flume ride wold have delight young children.



Let's not forget the dragon firing at the river cruise boats.



This Animal Kingdom article won't be perfect without some renderings of the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Here are two of them showing the entrance and the lobby.




While we're here, i join two other renderings of the Disney Vacation Club Animal Kingdom Villas.




That's the end of this Animal Kingdom artwork article!


All artwork: copyright Disney - WED Enterprises.

Many thanks to Mark Taft for some of the renderings. I strongly suggest you to have a look on Mark's site Insights and Sounds, it's always interesting with rare pictures or renderings and Mark is posting new articles almost every day!

Some of the renderings are coming from the great "Imagineering Field Guide to Disney's Animal Kingdom" where you will learn all the WDI secrets in the making of the park. It's a "must" and you can find it on Amazon.com from only $3.87!



Some other pictures are coming from Jason Surrell's fantastic book "The Disney Mountains", full of WDI artwork. You can find it on Amazon.com from only $8.90 and it's also a "must"!