News: The Simpsons Ride Fact Sheet

Posted at 11:26 AM EDT (1526 GMT)

May. 14th, 2008 -- “THE SIMPSONS RIDE” – FACT SHEET

WHO IS KRUSTY THE CLOWN?


“Legend”…. “Comic Genius”…“America’s Most Beloved Entertainer.” Krusty The Clown has been called none of these things. But that hasn’t stopped him from desperately clinging to a career that, by any reasonable standards, should have ended decades ago. And now he’s created his very own theme park -- Krustyland! A visit to Krustyland serves as the foundation for the “The Simpsons Ride” at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando. It’s a “theme-park-within-a-theme-park” motion simulation comedy thrill ride that hurls guests on a wild adventure through Krustyland, immersing them in a quintessentially “Simpsons” satire of one creative amusement park experience.


WHAT IS KRUSTYLAND?


Krustyland is the whimsical, magical, family-friendly theme park that Krusty has dreamed of creating ever since he saw how much money other theme parks rake in. In Krusty’s words: “Twice the cost, same cheap fun!” Visitors to Krustyland can choose among such bargain-basement attractions as: Krusty’s Wet & Smokey Stunt Show, Happy Little Elves in Panda Land, and Captain Dinosaur’s Pirate Rip Off.


THE SIMPSONS RIDE


Who better to introduce “The Simpsons Ride” than Krusty himself? According to him, “The Simpsons Ride”:

“…is a fun-tastic, upsy-downsy, spins-aroundsy, thrill ride for kids of all ages! (PAUSE) That oughta bring in the chumps. What? The tape is still rolling?!! Then turn it off! That’s it, you’re fired! But before you go, cut that last part so I don’t look like a total jerk. Think you can do that, idiot?”

A unique component to “The Simpsons Ride” that adds an astonishing level of realism to the on-screen adventure is the precision choreography used in its creation. The ride vehicle, which elevates nine feet on a scissor-lift motion based platform, was painstakingly programmed to synchronize with the action on the screen and capture every nuance of movement: forwards, backwards, up and down, and tilting in all directions. The outcome results in a completely seamless virtual adventure producing visceral effects never before imagined in a theme park ride.


A LARGER THAN LIFE KRUSTY


Even before guests enter “The Simpsons Ride,” they will be awed by the enormity of a towering 28-foot tall, 36-foot wide Krusty head, mouth wide open, and a fully outstretched 35-foot long tongue beckoning like a “red carpet” walkway to the thousands of daily Krustyland guests. According to Krusty:

“That’s the most people I’ve ever had walk on my tongue!

As guests move inside the attraction, their one-hour wait for the ride will seem like a mere fifty-five minutes as they are entertained with classic clips from The Simpsons television series and all-new vignettes featuring classic Springfield characters and The Simpsons family as they wait in line for their Krustyland adventure.


THE RIDE


Once they pass through Krusty’s mouth, guests will find themselves in an exterior Carny queue, festooned with posters of Krustyland Rides such as “The Tooth Chipper,” “The Screamatorium Of Dr. Frightmarestein,” and “The Sea Captain’s Queasy Time Lagoon Adventure.” From there, guests will move to the internal Carnival Midway queue, lined on either side with games and booths, each featuring original Simpsons videos: The Milk Bottle Toss featuring Groundskeeper Willie, Apu’s Snack Stand, an Information Booth manned by the clueless Hans Moleman, and the Lost & Found featuring Patty and Selma, who never have what you are looking for.

A live satellite feed from a boisterous Krusty located somewhere within Krustyland is transmitted to awaiting guests. Krusty throws a spotlight on The Simpsons, the first family randomly selected to experience Krustyland’s new “thrill-tacular” ride.

Finally, guests will be ushered to the Funhouse “pre-show” holding room just prior to boarding Krusty’s Roller Coaster-Themed Ride Vehicles.” Through closed circuit video monitors located within each Funhouse room, guests will be with The Simpsons as Krusty leads them on a private, behind-the-scenes tour of Krustyland. A ride safety video hosted by Itchy & Scratchy follows on the monitor and ends with The Simpsons boarding the ride vehicle in tandem with guests. And then, before you can say “Super Special Guest Star Who played Dr. Frasier Crane”, the ride is hi-jacked by a certain sinister someone… and the adventure begins.


SIMPSONS STAR TRACKER

24 instantly recognizable Springfield characters - all voiced by the original actors – will appear in “The Simpsons Ride.” These include:

Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Grampa Abe Simpson, Patty and Selma Bouvier, Itchy, Sideshow Bob, Squeaky Voiced Teen, Groundskeeper Willie, Hans Moleman, Barney Gumble, Ralph Wiggum, Chief Wiggum, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Professor Frink, Lou, Moe Szyslak, Cletus, Snake, and Kodos.

As played by the original voice talent:


Dan Castellaneta
Homer Simpson
Grampa Abraham Simpson
Krusty the Clown
Itchy
Squeaky Voiced Teen
Groundskeeper Willie
Hans Moleman
Barney Gumble
Kodos


Julie Kavner
Marge Simpson
Selma Bouvier
Patty Bouvier


Nancy Cartwright
Bart Simpson
Ralph Wiggum


Yeardley Smith
Lisa Simpson


Hank Azaria
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Chief Wiggum
Professor Frink
Lou
Moe Szyslak
Cletus
Snake


Kelsey Grammer
Sideshow Bob




THE DOME

From the small screen to the big screen, The Simpsons now leap onto two behemoth Dome screens, measuring an expansive 80-ft in diameter which make up “The Simpsons Ride." Each screen is comprised of 416 individual 2’ x 4’ virtually seamless screen panels, which have each been tediously installed by hand.



A GROUND-BREAKING VIDEO PROJECTION SYSTEM

The ground-breaking digital video projection system used in the creation of “The Simpsons Ride” breaks new ground! The innovative system, which has been in development for more than a year, results in a revolutionary achievement in digital video projection. It marks the first time ever that an IMAX film projection system has been replaced with digital technology for the purpose of making Homer Simpson’s rear end appear sixty-feet tall.

This first-of-its-kind technological achievement allows for a superior viewing experience that is four-times the High Definition resolution observed in most home theatres and two-times the HD resolution experienced in digital movie theatres.

The highly sophisticated digital video projectors cast images onto two massive 80-foot in diameter dome screens using a custom-designed semi-circular fisheye lens projecting undistorted imagery at 180-degrees.

This state-of-the-art projection system plays back at 60 frames per second, the equivalent of approx. 18 gigabytes per second, as compared to a feature film which projects at 24 frames per second and HD which projects at 30 frames per second.

To achieve the spectacular brightness seen on screen, “The Simpsons Ride” uses an image warping software to perfectly align an overlay of four 10,000 lumen projectors, delivering a superior viewing experience. To quote Homer: “Mmm… lumens.”


VIDEO MONITORS: 140



THE AUDIO SYSTEM


Guests sitting within each of the roller coaster themed ride vehicles will be surrounded by 12 speakers and completely engulfed in a high quality 6.1 surround sound system that even Grampa Simpson could hear.

An additional 90 speakers, including subwoofers that contribute to the overall immersive audio experience, are located within the Domes.



SPEAKERS:

400 custom-designed speakers.



A “GREEN” RIDE


The town of Springfield may be located near a nuclear power plant, posing a variety of potential safety hazards, energy waste, and unexplained fish mutations, but “The Simpsons Ride” takes energy conservation seriously and has been constructed to be ecologically friendly.

In a feat of energy conservation that would make Mr. Burns cry if he still had tear ducts, “The Simpsons Ride” “green” conversion includes the largest lighting installation of LED lamps in theme park ride history. The attraction will be illuminated with 2,582 LED lights, expending just 27,675 watts per hour as compared to 82,909 watts consumed per hour by standard incandescent lighting. “The Simpsons Ride” will achieve a power savings of over 55,233 watts per hour and cumulative power savings of 662,796 watts a day during the busy summer months of operation.

Energy conservation also extends to the Variable Frequency Drives installed within the attraction to efficiently control the electrical power supplied to the ride’s many motor-driven components. This system will ultimately reap a power saving in excess 50 percent by incrementally increasing the necessary motor speeds used in managing the ride’s countless behind-the-scenes technical controls.



THE RIDE VEHICLES


There are a total of 24 Krustified ride vehicles modeled after classic roller coaster cars. Each extra roomy ride vehicle seats 8 people -- or 3 “Comic Book Guys”. The ride can seat up to 192 guests at a time.



LENGTH OF RIDE


Guests will enjoy the romp through Krustyland on “The Simpsons Ride” for 6 minutes.



MUSICAL SCORE


Prolific composer James Dooley created an original score for “The Simpsons Ride.” Mr. Dooley, who boasts an impressive résumé, also composed the musical score for The Simpsons Game and contributed to the score for The Simpsons Movie.



KWIK-E-MART


The ultimate Springfield convenience store, owned and operated by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, conveniently opens in conjunction with “The Simpsons Ride”; and, even more conveniently, it’s located right next to the ride exit! The store is the world’s first permanent Kwik-E-Mart and will feature Simpsons memorabilia reminiscent of the show, including Krusty-Os cereal, giant pink donuts, Flaming Moes and Duff Beer (energy drinks). A Squishees cart located near the store also sells authentic Simpsons Squishees in Blue Raspberry Confusion, Red Cherry Explosion and Coca-Cola flavors.



WHEN IT OPENS


May 2008 at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort.



CULTURAL IMPACT OF THE SIMPSONS


As the longest running sitcom in television history, the impact of The Simpsons on popular culture cannot be underestimated. Toronto’s Lennox Contemporary Gallery recently hosted an art show featuring more than a dozen paintings based on works created by Marge in an episode of the series. Siena Heights University has a philosophy class based on The Simpsons; a political theory professor at the University of Virginia examines the politics of the show in one of his classes. In definitive evidence of the show’s cultural impact, Homer Simpson’s signature exclamation “D’oh!” was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2002.

Finally, Americans know the stars of The Simpsons better than their First Amendment Freedoms. Collectively, more than one in five (22%) Americans can name all five Simpsons family members, compared to only one in a thousand (0.1%) who can name all five First Amendment freedoms. As Homer might say: “Way to go, Americans!”



MORE INFORMATION

More information about “The Simpsons Ride” can be found at www.SimpsonsRide.com, at www.UniversalStudiosHollywood.com or www.UniversalOrlando.com
 

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