The Timekeeper
The Timekeeper | |
---|---|
Disneyland Park (Paris) | |
Name | Le Visionarium Un Voyage à Travers le Temps |
Area | Discoveryland |
Status | Removed |
Opening date | April 12, 1992 |
Closing date | September 5, 2004 |
Replaced by | Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast |
Tokyo Disneyland | |
Name | Visionarium |
Area | Tomorrowland |
Status | Removed |
Opening date | April 15, 1993 |
Closing date | September 1, 2002 |
Replaced | American Journeys |
Replaced by | Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters |
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor | |
Ride statistics | |
Attraction type | Circle-Vision Theater |
Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering |
Theme | Time Travel |
Music | Bruce Broughton |
Host | Timekeeper (Robin Williams) and Nine-Eye (Rhea Perlman) |
Audio-animatronics | 2 |
Wheelchair accessible |
The Timekeeper (also known as From Time to Time and Un Voyage à Travers le Temps) was a
The Timekeeper and its original European counterpart Le Visionarium marked the first time that the Circle-Vision film process was used to deliver a narrative story line. This required a concept to explain the unusual visual characteristics of the Theater, hence the character Nine-Eye. Nine-Eye was sent through Time by The Timekeeper, so that she could send back the surrounding images as she recorded them in whichever era she found herself in.[2]
The European attraction was also known by its film name as Un Voyage à Travers le Temps, while the Japanese version was simply named "Visionarium", with the caption From Time to Time on the poster. The American Film Theater was known as "Transportarium" for a period of six months after it debuted, but the name was later dropped in lieu of "Tomorrowland Metropolis Science Center", or formally "The Timekeeper".
History
Le Visionarium (the original title) was the first Circle-Vision 360° film in which Imagineers wanted to tell an immersive story and attempt a light-hearted dialogue, without just switching between scenes of landscapes, as had been done in all of the previous Circle-Vision films.
The original concept for the film had included Jules Verne and the culture of past and present European history and events, and new inventions. Along with the previous elements, the story had to do with the idea of Time Travel with one concept including a child that explored the story of the great European scientists of the past on an intelligent computer. However, to keep the audience focused and use imagination to depict situations and places that do not cater to the average person, the number of visions of the past and extreme situations of the plot kept increasing all the time for the project.[3]
The film first premiered in
The attraction had long been on the Discoveryland USA proposal for the
However, the film was named From Time to Time and opened in the Magic Kingdom's Circle-Vision Theater, rechristened "Transportarium" on November 21, 1994 as part of the New Tomorrowland expansion. Six months later, the attraction underwent some name changes. The Theater was renamed "Tomorrowland Metropolis Science Center", and the film was formally known as The Timekeeper.
In 2001, the attraction was moved to the seasonal list of attractions along with Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress due to the September 11 attacks. In February 2006, the Walt Disney World Resort reported that The Timekeeper was to be closed on February 26, 2006. Walt Disney World's version was the last version of the attraction to be closed. Both the Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris Visionarium films had closed in 2002 and 2004, respectively.
Pre-show synopsis
European pre-show
Guests were ushered into a dimly-lit library-like chamber, complete with several artifacts, such as models of Jules Verne's Nautilus from
Japanese pre-show
This pre-show scene was similar to the European version, however with some differences. Instead of the dark circular enclave as in the Paris location, a bright open area was present. The wall that separated the building from the Tomorrowland corridor was a large stained-glass mural featuring 22 famous inventors and visionaries. Also featured was the Timekeeper's study, library, and laboratory. The pre-show area also featured a 20-foot model of Da Vinci's Heliocentric Solar System, the Nautilus from Verne's
American pre-show
Before the actual show, guests were introduced to the invention of the show, "Circumvisual PhotoDroid", more frequently referred to as "Nine-Eye". The nine eyes she had represented the nine cameras used in filming the show in the round, thus showing the view from one of her "eyes" on each of the nine movie screens. She was the latest development by The Timekeeper, the inventor of the Time Machine. Guests were invited to be witnesses of the first use ever of the newly invented Machine. Guests also watched Nine-Eye's training videos, which included a plunge over Niagara Falls, a flight into a barn full of dynamite in Topeka, Kansas, and lastly, hitching a ride on a Space Shuttle.
Attraction synopsis
The film
After guests entered the Theatre, Timekeeper (voiced by Robin Williams) came to life and had Nine-Eye prepared for the journey through Time. Timekeeper then turned on the Machine for its first use, then watched from his control panel as Nine-Eye was thrust back to the Jurassic age period in Earth's history. She narrowly escaped a hungry Allosaurus as Timekeeper sent her to the last great ice age about 12,000 years ago. As she started freezing up, Timekeeper sent her to 1450, for what should have been a demonstration of Johannes Gutenberg's Printing Press.
However, Timekeeper messed up and sent her to a Scottish battlefield in which one warrior came after her. Finally once the kinks of the Time Machine got worked out, Timekeeper sent Nine-Eye to the year 1503, at the height of the Renaissance. The Machine was placed right in the middle of Leonardo da Vinci's workshop, where he was painting the Mona Lisa and working on a model of his Flying Machine. Nine-Eye, being curious, picked up an item close to her, and was quickly noticed by Leonardo, who became fascinated by the strange machine, and started drawing it on paper.
However, the meeting between Nine-Eye and Da Vinci was cut short. Her next stop in Time was 1763 in a French castle, where a child named
Timekeeper announced that guests were just in time for a meeting between
Timekeeper and Nine-Eye, realizing their mistake, tried to send him back, but he refused after discovering he had finally arrived in the future he had always dreamed of. He begged for them to show him the world of the present in 10 minutes or less, so he could return to 1900 and deliver his speech at the Exhibition (which made Timekeeper ironically reply that he did it in 80 days). They agreed, and Timekeeper set the Machine for the present date. He sent Verne and Nine-Eye to a dark tunnel, which Verne believed to be a "dark future". They were unaware they were standing in a railroad tunnel. The next thing to happen was a collision between Jules Verne and a French TGV train, with Verne becoming a new hood ornament.
From the train, Jules Verne and Nine-Eye explored the modern streets of Paris (with Verne walking among the traffic, nearly causing an accident), which led Verne, curious, to try driving. As such, Timekeeper put him in the front seat of a
The scene then changed, going from being underwater to flying. Jules Verne now stood in a balloon soaring over
The screen then showed a flight through the air above various European countrysides featuring castles and mountains. Verne was shown in a
Time began to run out, so Timekeeper and Nine-Eye returned Verne to the site of the Grand Palais of the 1900 Exposition Universelle. However, Timekeeper made one mistake in the wrong year; Verne being in the right place, but at the wrong time, in the 1990s (the present day when the attraction opened). When they finally returned Verne to 1900, H.G. Wells happened to go back to the site of his discussion with Verne, and therefore saw all that went on with the Timekeeper. Wells was flabbergasted, and Verne and Nine-Eye exchanged goodbyes as Wells struggled to understand what just happened. Nine-Eye returned to the present time, and now that guests had witnessed a "flawless" demonstration of his Time Machine, Timekeeper decided to send Nine-Eye into the future along with a few guests that volunteered to travel with her.
Timekeeper then sent Nine-Eye and selected guests to 2189, 300 years after the Exposition Universelle of 1889 and the completion of the Eiffel Tower (both evidenced by the Timekeeper's clock and by the appearance of the number "300" on the Eiffel Tower). As they explored a futuristic Paris aboard a flying car named Reinastella, they saw Jules Verne and H.G. Wells appearing in what looked like Wells' Time Machine from 1900. A stunned Nine-Eye questioned how they got there, to which Verne replied, "In the future, anything is possible!". The show ended as they jetted off, and Timekeeper wished everyone well. As guests left, Timekeeper made plans to see other important events in history and in the future with his Machine and Nine-Eye.
Voice cast
Character | Voice actor (American) | Voice actor (French) | Voice actor (Japanese) |
---|---|---|---|
Timekeeper | Robin Williams | Michel Leeb | George Tokoro |
Nine-Eye | Rhea Perlman | Myriam Boyer | Yuki Saito |
Film cast
Character | Actor |
---|---|
Jules Verne | Michel Piccoli |
H.G. Wells | Jeremy Irons |
Leonardo da Vinci | Franco Nero |
Mona Lisa | Anna Pernicci |
Louis XV | Jean Rochefort |
Madame de Pompadour | Nathalie Baye |
Roissy Employee | Gérard Depardieu |
Mr. Verne's Translator | Patrick Bauchau |
Filming locations
- Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom
- Site of Scottish Battle scene
- Castello Orsini-Odescalchi, Bracciano, Italy
- Set of Leonardo da Vinci's workshop
- Château de Chantilly, Chantilly, Oise, France
- Site of Mozart's performance before Louis XV
- Palm Pavilion, Schloss Schönbrunn, Hietzing, Vienna, Austria
- Site for exterior shots for the Exposition Universelle of 1900
- Rouffach, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France
- Location of the scene featuring the TGV
- Paris, Île-de-France, Val-d'Oise, France
- Site for the location of Parisian traffic jam scene
- Steiermark, Austria
- The Renault Grand Prix Scene took place at the Österreichring
- Tyrol, Austria
- Site for shots for the Bobsleigh Run
- Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, Commonwealth of the Bahamas, West Indies
- Site of deep-sea dive scene
- Soviet Union
- Location of hot air balloon from the European and Japanese versions
- Île-de-France, Val-d'Oise, France
- Location of Charles de Gaulle Airport scene from the European and Japanese versions
- , France
- Fly over Mont Saint-Michel
- Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany
- Fly over Neuschwanstein Castle
- Calais, Pas-de-Calais, France
- Fly over the European coastline
- New York City, New York, United States of America
- Fly over New York City from the American version
Film variations
The original European version of the film was different from the American version. A certain number of scenes were cut including the hot air balloon scene, some European coastline scenes, and a dialogue between Jules Verne and an employee of Paris'
European and Japanese scene order | American scene order |
---|---|
Jurassic Period | Same |
Ice Age | Same |
The Anglo-Scottish Wars | Same |
Da Vinci's Workshop | Same |
Mozart's Concert in 1763 | Same |
The Construction of the Eiffel Tower | Same |
Exposition Universelle of 1900 | Same |
Jules Verne in the present day | Same |
Verne's Collision with TGV | Same |
Traffic scene near Arc de Triumph |
Same |
Bobsled Run | Same |
Deep-sea exploration scene | Same |
Up in the air from Red Square | Omitted |
Charles De Gaulle Airport | Omitted |
Flying over European countrysides | Same, although the Walt Disney World version goes from underwater to flying |
Omitted | New York city skyline |
Outer Space | Same |
Return to Paris, today | Same |
Return to Paris in 1900 | Same |
Paris in 2189 | Same |
End | Same |
Aftermath and the Effects of September 11, 2001
After being placed on a seasonal schedule in April 2001, The Timekeeper at Walt Disney World was open on a sporadic schedule during the busy seasons. Some attribute it to the following criticisms, which the overseas versions of the attraction had not been faced with:
- Guests may have found it hard to stand or strainful on the eyes
- The lack of familiar Disney characters
- The building's entrance was very inconspicuous and did not feature a large rotating globe icon or full title.
After the events of September 11, 2001 in the United States, the attraction faced even harder times, due in part to a general decline in tourism due to the terrorist acts. The fact the film featured a scene of New York that still included the now-destroyed World Trade Center prompted a change that saw the Timekeeper's clock in this segment register the "current year" as 2000, removing any mentions of the towers from the attraction.[8]
However, the attraction lasted five more years. During the time when construction was occurring on Stitch's Great Escape!, it was open more frequently along with Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. On days when the show was not opened, the queue was a meet-and-greet for Disney characters such as Stitch and Pixar characters Buzz Lightyear, and Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and Frozone from The Incredibles.
Until February 2006, The Timekeeper in Walt Disney World Resort was the last Timekeeper still operating, as the Tokyo Disneyland version closed in 2002 and was replaced with Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters in 2004, and the Disneyland Paris version closed in 2004 and was replaced by Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast in 2006, although the Disneyland Paris version closed mainly because it lost its sponsor, Renault.[citation needed]
In early 2007, the former location of The Timekeeper became home to
Failed proposal for the Disneyland Resort
During the early 1990s, then Disney-Executive, Michael Eisner released ambitious plans for changes to the parks. "Tomorrowland 2055" was planned for a remake of Tomorrowland and the Disneyland Resort in California. The Timekeeper was to be a showcase attraction, along with ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter and Plectu's Fantastic Intergalactic Revue. One promotional brochure had Delta Air Lines[9] sponsoring the film. These plans were later scrapped due to financial difficulties within the Parks & Resorts division, most stemming from the billion dollar losses incurred with the EuroDisney project. However, some clips of The Timekeeper could be seen in the queue for Rocket Rods, which utilized the Circle-Vision 360° Theater.
Other information placed Visionarium as an opening-day attraction at the unbuilt park next to Disneyland, WestCOT. The show would have been housed in a European Renaissance building in a European section of the WestCOT version of World Showcase. However, like the "Tomorrowland 2055" plan, this did not occur either.[10][11]
Technical aspects
- Film negative format (mm/video inches)
- 9 x 35 mm
- Cinematographic process
- Circle-Vision 360
- Printed film format
- 9 x 35 mm
- Aspect ratio
- 12.00 : 1
Soundtrack notes
Audio dialogue
The three versions of the attraction featured a soundtrack of dialogue in each park's country's native tongue (French, Japanese, and English).
Both the Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris versions featured guest-selectable translations on headset, which included :
- For Paris :
- English
- German
- Spanish
- Italian
- Dutch
- For Tokyo :
- English
- Mandarin Chinese
Since both the European and Japanese versions opened before Orlando's version was created, the voicecast and dialogue are completely different. The American-style dialogue was not present in these versions, and it was a close translation of the French dialog.
Featured music
- While the American version received a different soundtrack from the other versions, they were both scored by Bruce Broughton.[12]
- During the scene of the conversation between Verne and Wells at the Exposition Universelle, the song heard in the background is called Estudiantina, or Band of Students Waltz. It was composed in 1883 by Émile Waldteufel.
- When Verne returns to the Exhibition building in the 1990s, "Motownphilly" by Boyz II Men can be heard in the background. It was meant to represent popular music at the time of filming. The song can be found on their 1991 debut album Cooleyhighharmony.
Foreign language titles
- French: Le Visionarium
- Japanese: ビジョナリアム - Visionarium
Renault's involvement with the film
The French automobile company Renault is heavily featured throughout the attraction, since it sponsored it in Europe between 1992 and 2002.
- In the film :
- In the scene where Jules Verne steps off the curb into a busy street in front of the Arc de Triomphe, the car that almost hits him is a five-door hatchback, Renault Clio, at the time of filming the newest model in Renault's fleet of cars.
- In the Formula 1 scene, where Jules Verne drives a race car, he is seated and drives the Renault F1 vehicle.
- The flying car carrying a family in the scene of Paris in the future was imagined by Renault and is called a "Reinastella".
- In front of the building in Paris :
- A Reinastella model was displayed near the entrance, but it was removed in 2002, when Renault dropped sponsorship. However it remained in the final scene of the film. The prototype car was then seen around Europe in auto shows, most recently on display at Renault's showroom on the Champs-Élysées.
- When the prop sat outside the theater, a plaque beneath it read :
Blast into the Future by checking out the Renault Reinastella! The Reinastella's futuristic design features a vocal command system that makes steering wheels and accelerators a thing of the past. With a cruising height that ranges from 15 centimetres (5.9 in) to 150 metres (490 ft) above surfaces, the Reinastella flies up to 300 kilometres per hour (190 mph). The next time you're traveling through time, stop into the 24th century and test drive a Renault Reinastella!
References
- ^ Geryak, Cole (November 10, 2016). "Disney Extinct Attractions: The Timekeeper". The Laughing Place. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
- ISBN 0-7868-5553-3.
- ^ Jean de Lutèce. "Hidden Views of Le Visionarium". Archived from the original on March 18, 2006. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
- ^ Richard Corliss (April 20, 1992). "Voila! Disney Invades Europe. Will the French Resist?". Time. Archived from the original on May 2, 2007. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
- ^ a b JT Cent. "Visionarium - Tomorrowland - Tokyo Disneyland". Archived from the original on April 16, 2004. Retrieved December 26, 2006.
- ^ Jim Hill. "Discoveryland U.S.A. -- Part 1". Retrieved December 18, 2006.
- ^ Jim Hill. "Discoveryland U.S.A. -- Part 2". Retrieved December 18, 2006.
- ^ "THE TIMEKEEPER: Disney's Sci-Fi Double Feature From Iwerks to Imagineering".
- ^ Jim Hill. "A Special Weekend Edition of Why For?". Retrieved December 18, 2006.
- ^ Tony Baxter. "Tony Baxter...on WestCOT". Retrieved December 18, 2006.
- ^ Shaun Finnie. "California Dreaming Part 1 – Westcot's World Showcase". Archived from the original on December 17, 2006. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
- ^ "Timekeeper (USA) – Disney Theme Parks / Circle-vision" & "From Time to Time (Euro Disney / Japan) – Disney Theme Parks / Circle-Vision" http://www.brucebroughton.com/filmography/filmography.html Archived 2010-08-19 at the Wayback Machine
External links
English information
- The Timekeeper at IMDb
Attraction history
- PatMagic - Le Visionarium History
- AllEars - The Timekeeper History
- Archive.org - Tokyo Disneyland Visionarium Informations
Editorials
Photos
- Disneyland Paris
Media
- Making of Le Visionarium - Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
- Tribute to Michel Piccoli's passing. [1]
French information
Note: All of the following links are in French.