Autobots and Decepticons are huge robots, so it was only appropriate that the kick off event for the grand opening of Transformers: The Ride - 3D at Universal Studios Florida this week also be huge. The opening ceremony was truly a memorable one, with Glenn Morshower in character as “General Morshower” from the films introducing Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, who drove up in their vehicular forms – only for the Decepticons to attack!
What followed was a very cool simulated battle. It included soldiers running around, military vehicles, fireworks exploding behind the building housing the ride (to represent explosions) and, most impressively of all, five jet airplanes speeding by overhead, first in formation and then splitting off on their own, passing by several times.
Some actual jets are part of the #tfgrandopening https://t.co/YWGHSWqEAJ
— Eric Goldman (@EricIGN) June 20, 2013
It was a hugely crowd-pleasing event, that had the crowd cheering many times - including for the introduction of none other than Steven Spielberg, who executive produces the Transformers films.
Steven Spielberg at the opening of Transformers: The Ride.
Transformers: The Ride first opened at Universal Studios Singapore, and was followed soon after, as originally announced, at Universal Studios Hollywood. The Orlando location was not part of the initial plan, yet is opening a year after the Hollywood version. When it came to that quick turn around, Chairman and CEO of Universal Parks and Resorts, Tom Williams, declared, “This falls into the category of where there’s a will, there’s a way, because it’s unheard of in our industry to introduce an attraction of this scope, of this scale and of this overall important in exactly one year, from the beginning to the very end - in the middle, by the way, of an operating park."
The assembled crowd at the opening showed how beloved the Transformers have become, applauding and even screaming loudly when they saw Optimus Prime and Bumblebee walk the red carpet or when legendary voice actors Peter Cullen (Optimus) and Frank Welker (Megatron) were introduced. Williams noted that fandom, as he explained they built the ride so quickly, "Because we know this franchise is just evergreen. It’s going to be popular forever. The fanbase is enormous, dedicated, knowledgeable and committed to come and see this ride. So we know this is going to be a big, big hit.”
Bumblebee and Optimus Prime walk the red carpet.
While Transformers fans will be more than familiar with the characters, Mike West, an executive producer for Universal Creative Studio, noted the ride also had to appeal to an even wider audience that passes through the park each day. “It was important to us that it was an experience that maybe even if you weren’t a Transformers fan and you’d lived on Pluto for the last 20 yeas and you’d never heard of them, you would still have a good time. And that’s really what we always try to do. We have to meet the expectations of the fanatical fan, which I think we’ve done, and we have to make sure that it’s something that’s enjoyed by people who maybe don’t know who they are. It’s just a good time!”
A life size Optimus Prime on top of Transformers: The Ride 3D at Universal Studios Florida.
In the very exciting, very entertaining Transformers: The Ride, you travel inside the Autobot Evac, encountering Autobots and Decepticons -- including Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee and Starscream -- on an attraction that integrates a moving vehicle with film footage projected on massive screens that are big enough to make the Transformers life size. When it came to designing the ride, West explained, “Michael Bay was very much involved as we were developing and doing the concept and doing the production at ILM , developing media for it. It was very much a collaborative effort with Michael Bay and his creative group and a lot of guys who worked on the films – including Optimus and Megatron!”
Megatron takes a beak from fighting Optimus to fire on those on the ride.
Mark Woodbury, president of Universal Creative, also said Bay had an influence on the cinematic style of the ride, remarking, “This is the first time anyone’s done a slow motion, cinematic scene in a moving attraction like this. That’s a classic Michael Bay move, as you know from the pictures. We wanted to bring that to the attraction so two times during the attraction, you’ll see these really wonderful slow motion moves where the frenetic pace of the action all of the sudden really comes to a really slow stop and then goes into slow motion. So you’ll see that a couple of times and it’s pretty cool.”
The entrance to Transformers: The Ride - 3D.
West discussed one major component of the ride most who pass through won’t realize, noting, “It’s a two story attraction and one of the things I love is you don’t know when that’s happening. You don’t know when you’re going up to the second floor and when you’re coming back down to the first floor. And I think that’s a huge accomplishment, because that was a real challenge. We knew the length of track that we needed to tell that story in a four minute plus time frame, but if we had it on a single level, we’d be stretching it half way across the park, so we had to do it in two stories, but we didn’t want guests to know about that, because that would interrupt it. So we made sure that it was seamless and I think it is seamless. People ride it the first time, second time, third time and they don’t know where that’s happening.”
Spielberg and his buddy walk the red carpet.
This is a time of huge growth for Universal Studios Florida, with Transformers: The Ride 3D and The Simpsons/Springfield area both opening this summer, and the expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opening next year. When I asked if this was part of a big initiative, West replied, with a laugh, “It just kind of fell into place and I’m going on vacation very soon to get away from it! No, it was an opportunity at different times when we were laying out what areas needed a new attraction, what would be the right one to put in here and what was the story that we wanted to bring in. The Simpsons was a natural. Springfield was a natural expansion of the Simpsons ride, because that was a big hit since 2008. Obviously, Harry Potter is an enormous hit, so it seemed natural to add to that. And Transformers being one that we’d done twice before very successfully just seemed to be something we wanted to bring here too.”
As a huge Harry Potter fan, I couldn’t resist asking a question about what fans could expect from the expansion. Exclaimed Williams, “It’s going to be over the top, incredibly, beyond your imagination fantastic!"
Transformers: The Ride 3D is now open at Universal Studios Florida at the Universal Orlando Resort.
Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricIGN, IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman.
Source : ign[dot]com
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