16 July 2013

Bee Movie



We talk a lot around the Gazette about finding the courage to step on to the stage and take part in the various shows that include audience participation. American Idol Experience, Flights of Wonder, and the many streetmosphere performances that happen throughout World Showcase are great examples, but do you remember a time when you could, as a child, take part in the refilming of a classic scene from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids?

In the early days of Disney-MGM Studios guests could not only take part in the tram tour that featured the boneyard of vehicles and the Catastrophe Canyon special effects tank portion of the Backstage Studio Tour, but they could also walk through the various soundstages that housed some live television production and segments that looked at how some movie magic is created. While most of this can be seen on any movie bonus feature these days, actually living these experiences is something all-together different.

Along this walking section of the tour younger guests could get harnessed onto the 8 foot tall bumblebee from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and recreate the scene where the Thompson and Szalinski kids buzz around the backyard on the wings of the bee. Once the juking and shaking of the blue screen bumblebee finished, after a short wait, the backyard background was dropped onto the scene and the final product was shown to the tour group.

Did you, or your children, ever take that giant leap into great big world that was the Szalinskis’ backyard?

1 comment:

Rich T. said...

This was one of our favorite tour moments back in '93! None of my family took part, but it was a blast to watch.