Superstar Limo
Disney California Adventure
AreaHollywood Pictures Backlot
StatusRemoved
Opening dateFebruary 8, 2001
Closing dateJanuary 11, 2002
Replaced byMonsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
Ride statistics
Attraction typeDark ride
ManufacturerRide & Show Engineering, Inc.
DesignerWalt Disney Imagineering
ThemeHollywood
MusicGeorge Wilkins
Duration3:30

Superstar Limo was a dark ride that opened in February 2001 in Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.[1] The ride received a negative reception from park guests, and was closed in January 2002. It was replaced by an attraction based on Disney·Pixar's 2001 film Monsters, Inc. called Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, which opened in January 2006.

History

The original concept for the attraction was to make riders into celebrities attempting to evade paparazzi on a wild high-speed ride through Hollywood. Reportedly, video clips of Michael Eisner (in his official role at the time as Disney chairman and chief executive officer) would have book-ended the ride. At the start, he would greet riders as they arrived at Los Angeles International Airport, remind them they had not yet signed their big contract with Disney, and promise he would be waiting at Grauman's Chinese Theatre with the contract after they escaped the paparazzi. At the end, he would appear again to politely explain the riders had been caught by paparazzi cameras and therefore the contract was void. Riders would then exit into the attached gift shop, where tabloid newspapers featuring their photographs (as taken during the chase) would be available for purchase.[2]

The unexpected death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997 forced Walt Disney Imagineering to radically redesign the ride. Since paparazzi had been following Diana at the time of her crash, a ride built around the tendency of paparazzi to chase celebrities at high speed was now considered inappropriate.[2] Eisner was replaced with a fictional Hollywood agent, and the ride was dramatically slowed down. Visual gags intended to be absorbed at high speed no longer made sense, so the ride was filled with celebrity figures to compensate for the change in pacing.[2] Comedian Chuck LaFille (of Beat the Clock fame) was initially set to appear as one of the figures in the ride, but was replaced by his long-time friend Drew Carey.[3] Construction of Superstar Limo would officially begin in the spring of 1999.[4]

Superstar Limo was situated in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area and was one of the original attractions featured on the park's opening day on February 8, 2001.[1][2] It was the park's single dark ride at the time of its opening.[5] The celebrity figures were stylized and caricatured. Though most of them had moving arms and heads, Disney's life-like Audio-Animatronics technologies were not used in the attraction.

The attraction closed in January 2002, due to negative reception from guests, making it the park's first ride to permanently close.[1] One idea that was reportedly considered was to re-theme the attraction as Goofy's Superstar Limo. However, the plan never came to fruition. Another reported idea was to change the attraction into Miss Piggy's Superstar Limo, featuring The Muppets, but these plans were once again dropped.[6] The building remained unused until it was surrounded by construction walls in March 2005.[7] It has since been replaced by an attraction based on Disney·Pixar's Monsters, Inc. entitled Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, which opened on January 23, 2006.[1] The Monsters, Inc. ride uses the same track and vehicles as Superstar Limo, with the limos repainted and redressed as taxicabs.[8]

In the 2019 documentary series The Imagineering Story, Bruce Vaughn, Chief Creative Executive (2007–2016, 2023–present)[9] of Walt Disney Imagineering, described the creation of Superstar Limo:

[w]e're building California Adventure, and you end up with things like Superstar Limo, and you can't point to the people of Imagineers actually working on it. The culture wasn't really listening to each other. They would just go into these little pods of, 'this is my land', or 'this is my attraction, and I'm not... and I've lost touch with my peers,' and there's no sense of, 'hey, wait a minute, is this good enough?' Each step of the way, you sort of buy in further of, like, 'okay, there's no turning back, we just have to keep going.' The original conceit was probably too self-referential about Hollywood, it was a paparazzi ride and you're catching celebrities. Then you end up with Princess Diana dying right midway while the project is being installed, and suddenly paparazzi are, like, 'that's a really bad theme.' Well, you're, hey... You're almost done, what are you gonna do? So now it turns into, 'you're gonna be a star.' And then now it's an agent, but all the figures are these grotesque, kind of, like... It just didn't work.[10]

Synopsis

The attraction's purple "stretch limo" ride vehicles took riders through a cartoony rendition of Hollywood. Riders were introduced to animated figures modeled in the likeness of celebrities. The celebrities in the attraction were Joan Rivers (portrayed by a puppet and appearing on TV screens in the attraction's queue), Regis Philbin, Melanie Griffith, Antonio Banderas, Cindy Crawford, Tim Allen, Jackie Chan, Drew Carey, Cher, and Whoopi Goldberg. A Hollywood talent agent named Swifty La Rue (portrayed by a puppet) appeared infrequently on small in-seat video screens, reminding the riders not to be late to their movie premiere.[1]

The story of the attraction placed the guest (rider) as Hollywood's newest celebrity, starting out at Los Angeles International Airport and then boarding a limousine taking them through a variety of locations and situations on the way to the premiere of their new movie at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Locations included the greater Los Angeles and Hollywood areas including Rodeo Drive, the Sunset Strip, Bel Air, Malibu, the interior of a soundstage, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and a billboard that displayed an image captured of the guests. The ride ends with the talent agent declaring to the riders that their movie was a success and they are a superstar.[1]

Reception

Superstar Limo was criticized as lacking and poor in concept.[11]

In an early review of California Adventure in The Boston Globe, Anne Chalfant stated: "Kids will also like Superstar Limo, in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area. Here you play the star, riding in your purple limo past a few audio-animatronic Hollywood celebrities. Adults will notice, however, that other painted plywood characters and sets are about on a par with college theater constructions."[12] Similarly, James Sterngold of The New York Times called it "probably the shlockiest attraction in the new park."[13]

An article by David Rorden in the Longview Daily News said: "I think they should change the name of this ride from Superstar Limo to 'It's a Shill World.' The space would be better devoted to something more entertaining, such as an Audioanimatronic dentist doing root canals on all Imagineers who came up with the idea for Superstar Limo."[14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Defunctland: The History of Disney's Worst Attraction Ever, Superstar Limo (YouTube). April 19, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Dowd, Katie (8 August 2020). "'Burn this ride to the ground': The worst, most hated attraction in Disney history". SFGATE. Hearst Newspapers. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  3. ↑ Barczewski, Stephanie (7 July 2016). Magic Kingdoms: A History of the Disney Theme Parks (1 ed.). Theme Park Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-1683900139.
  4. ↑ "DCA Construction: The Hollywood Pictures Backlot 3/99-10/99".
  5. ↑ "Superstar Limo - Yesterland".
  6. ↑ "'Burn this ride to the ground': The worst, most hated attraction in Disney history". 8 August 2020.
  7. ↑ "Superstar Limo Exterior - Yesterland".
  8. ↑ Owen, Rob (March 26, 2006). "DisneyWhirl". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  9. ↑ Huston, Caitlin (March 7, 2023). "Bruce Vaughn Returns to Disney as Co-Lead of Imagineering Division". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  10. ↑ The Imagineering Story, Disney+ (2019). Episode 4: "Hit Or Miss"
  11. ↑ Macdonald, Brady (29 November 2019). "Disney+ show recalls the chilling reception for Disney California Adventure: 'I liked it better as a parking lot'". Orange County Register. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  12. ↑ Chalfant, Anne (March 25, 2001). "Thrills mix with California cool at Disney's new park". Boston Globe. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  13. ↑ Sterngold, James (February 11, 2001). "A Park Adults Can Love". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  14. ↑ Rorden, David (February 25, 2001). "Disney Whirled: The new California Adventure theme park brings Mousekafun to a hip, fun 'PG-13' audience". The Longview Daily News (Longview, Washington). Retrieved 14 February 2020.

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