EPCOT 30TH ANNIVERSARY - a special celebration - HORIZONS tribute - photos , artwork and video

Here is a grand tribute to Horizons one of the most beloved of Epcot extinct attractions! And this one is going to be a really big tribute to this amazing attraction, one of my favorite. Lot of pictures, for the first time in big size, plenty of artwork, and great video of the whole ride at the end of the article, with the links to the previous Epcot original attractions artwork articles.



Horizons, designed by imagineer George Mc Ginnis and Collin Campbell opened on October 1, 1983 and was about the future!...and more specifically, Horizons was dedicated to "humanity's future" with this principle "If we can dream it, we can do it!".
Not only the building was huge, but the 14.45 minutes ride was one of the longest one ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering. Lot of audio-animatronics - 54, exactly , and 770 props all along the ride, not to mention the 12 film projectors, the two Omnisphere screenshow, and a huge capacity of 2784 guests per hour.Everything was great: the story line, the theming, the music, everything!



During 10 years - from 1983 to 1993 - the attraction sponsor was General Electric, as we can see on this picture of the entrance.



Right after the entrance, the Futureport announced the "destinations"



It's time to board in one of the Horizons vehicles



First, we had a look back to some of the great visionaries like Jules Verne, then to how the future was dreamed in the 30's.
Here is a picture of the model of that scene.



And here are pictures of the real thing.






The next scene was a vision of the future from the 50's.




After these opening scenes the Horizons vehicle moved to the Omnimax film sequence with images of the DNA chain, or the space shuttle lift off. The next scene was the 21st century Habitat sequence , also called the Nova City living room.



A huge backdrop painting was done for that scene, here is three close shots of this artwork.





The next scene brings the guests at Mesa Verde, a desert farm of the future...




And then to a submarine habitat...




But also inside a space colony and the "crystal lab"...







The Holographic "happy bithday" party line was the next scene, and the special effects were at that time really impressive.




The guests had then the possibility to "choose their tomorrow" with a choice of three destinations: Space , Desert, and Undersea. A screen came in front of the vehicle and a short movie was played. A good idea, but the image definition was not as good as it would be today.

Before we arrive to the videos below, i have more rare pictures for you. First, a model of the building.



Then some artwork for the "Main Shuttle port"






Here is a fantastic painting showing a city of the future.



But one of the biggest backdrop painting was the "Looking back at tomorrow". Here are some very rare photos showing the painter at work - Robert McCall, a famous artist who worked mostly for NASA - and details of the painting.







And now it's time for you to board inside a Horizon vehicle and enjoy this fantastic ride, thanks to this two part youtube video from black562 i thank a lot, and congratulate for the high quality of the filming.

Just like everybody who did the ride at Epcot, you will love Horizons instantly, it was Imagineering at its best! And don't forget: If we can dream it, we can do it!






You can know more about Horizons, read the original script and listen the great music theme on the excellent Horizons web site HERE

I remember you that you can find the previous articles about Epcot's original attractions artwork: for Spaceship Earth HERE, for The Living Seas HERE, for Communicore HERE
, for The Land HERE, and for Journey into Imagination HERE. More coming next week about Universe of Energy!


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


Photos and artwork: copyright Disney Enterprises Inc

Youtube videos: many thanks to black562 !

Epcot Horizons Resurrected

Thanks to Screamscape i've discovered last week the amazing Horizons: Resurrected web site. And let me tell you that the project and the work of Chris Wallace is truly amazing as he is literally recreating Epcot beloved attraction - no kidding!

You saw last week the amazing work of the CGI Star Tours which was great, but here you can actually move inside Horizons building, enter, go back if you wish, and with a move of your mouse look at the ceiling or the floor, turn at 360 degrees, etc... In two words it's exactly like if you were back in this attraction which should have never became an extinct attraction - but that's another problem.



You have to know that it is a work in progress, i.e that Horizons recreation is not finished yet. Chris has already done the Horizons building, all the entrance, the pre-show room and the boarding room - and you can actually board inside one of Horizons vehicle which will begin to move like in the real ride - and also the very first scenes with Jules Verne and the vision of the future from the 50's.



Which means that Chris has still a lot of work and it will probably take him some months or years to finish this Horizons resurrection. That said, you have all the audio file till the end, even if the scenes are not recreated yet. The program is using a small software called Unity which you 'll be ask to install and it'll take just five minutes and it's free. Once it's done you'll be able to live this amazing experience to re-discover and move inside an attraction which would be gone forever if someone like Chris didn't had the brilliant idea to bring it back to life!

Horizons Resurrected web site is HERE and for those who have missed it i remind you my former tribute to Horizons with plenty of pictures of the ride as well as a video that you can see HERE.

Pictures: copyright Horizons: Resurrected

A Grand Tribute to Epcot's HORIZONS

Here is a grand tribute to Epcot beloved extinct attraction and one of my favorite: Horizons. And this one is going to be a really big tribute with lot of pictures, plenty of artwork, and a great video of the whole ride at the end of the article including the links to the previous Epcot original attractions artwork articles.





Horizons, designed by imagineer George Mc Ginnis and Collin Campbell opened on October 1, 1983 and was about the future!...and more specifically, Horizons was dedicated to "humanity's future" with this principle "If we can dream it, we can do it!".
Not only the building was huge, but the 14.45 minutes ride was one of the longest one ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering. Lot of audio-animatronics - 54, exactly , and 770 props all along the ride, not to mention the 12 film projectors, the two Omnisphere screenshow, and a huge capacity of 2784 guests per hour.Everything was great: the story line, the theming, the music, everything!



During 10 years - from 1983 to 1993 - the attraction sponsor was General Electric, as we can see on this picture of the entrance.



Right after the entrance, the Futureport announced the "destinations"



It's time to board in one of the Horizons vehicles



First, we had a look back to some of the great visionaries like Jules Verne, then to how the future was dreamed in the 30's.
Here is a picture of the model of that scene.



And here are pictures of the real thing.






The next scene was a vision of the future from the 50's.




After these opening scenes the Horizons vehicle moved to the Omnimax film sequence with images of the DNA chain, or the space shuttle lift off. The next scene was the 21st century Habitat sequence , also called the Nova City living room.



A huge backdrop painting was done for that scene, here is three close shots of this artwork.





The next scene brings the guests at Mesa Verde, a desert farm of the future...




And then to a submarine habitat...




But also inside a space colony and the "crystal lab"...







The Holographic "happy bithday" party line was the next scene, and the special effects were at that time really impressive.




The guests had then the possibility to "choose their tomorrow" with a choice of three destinations: Space , Desert, and Undersea. A screen came in front of the vehicle and a short movie was played. A good idea, but the image definition was not as good as it would be today.

Before we arrive to the videos below, i have more rare pictures for you. First, a model of the building.



Then some artwork for the "Main Shuttle port"






Here is a fantastic painting showing a city of the future.



But one of the biggest backdrop painting was the "Looking back at tomorrow". Here are some very rare photos showing the painter at work - Robert McCall, a famous artist who worked mostly for NASA - and details of the painting.







And now it's time for you to board inside a Horizon vehicle and enjoy this fantastic ride, thanks to this awesome ultimate Horizons tribute edited by MartinsVidsDotNet whom i thanks a lot, and congratulate for the high quality of the video.

Just like everybody who did the ride at Epcot, you will love Horizons instantly, it was Imagineering at its best! And don't forget: If we can dream it, we can do it!





You can know more about Horizons, read the original script and listen the great music theme on the excellent Horizons web site HERE

I remember you that you can find the previous articles about Epcot's original attractions artwork: for Spaceship Earth HERE, for The Living Seas HERE, for Communicore HERE
, for The Land HERE, and for Journey into Imagination HERE. More coming next week about Universe of Energy!


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


Photos and artwork: copyright Disney Enterprises Inc

Youtube videos: many thanks to black562 !