Production Notes

Modle shop supervisor Steve Gawley and Denis Muren attend to last-minuate detailing of a shuttle station set for the film, designed as an uninterupted jouney with no apparent cuts.

In 1987, Industrial Light and Magic partnered with Walt Disney Imagineering in the making of Star Tours, an animatronic and simulator film ride - rooted in the Star Wars saga - in which vacationing passengers board a StarSpeeder shuttle and are taken on a hair-raising test flight piloted by a rookie robot. Effects art director Dave Carson and effects supervisor Dennis Muren orchestrated four and a half minutes of continuous effects footage simulating an uninterrupted view from the StarSpeeder passenger bay. The film was first developed in a full-length videomatic that employed cardboard cutouts and simple, wire-frame computer graphics. The videomatic served as both a reference in the model photography and a basis for early programming of the motion base. Motion control photography of miniature sets, such as the launch station, an ice tunnel, and the Death Star followed. Sudden banking turns helped to mask cuts and make the film appear seamless.

From Cinefex-March 1996

In this scene, as we fly into the Death Star Trench, the film seamlessly cuts from a wide matte painting to a matching model. The tower that is firing in the matte painting on the left hits the screen twice, filling the screen completely with white. On the second hit, the white is used to mask a cut to a model that closely matches the matte painting. After the cut, the camera changes its angle and dives down into the trench. Once you know to watch for this, you can see the cut while watching the film at normal speed. Test your perception skills by looking at the very beginning of this Quicktime Video Clip (1.3 MB) off of Disneyland's web page and see the cut for yourself.

• The work crews shown in the docking bays and control rooms of the film are actually members of the ILM model shop staff.
• The sequence in the film where your ship enters a giant ice crystal was changed from the original storyboard. The original idea was that as the ship reached the end of the ice tunnel, it would be blocked by a smooth ice wall in which the audience could see the reflection of the StarSpeeder as it got closer. The sequence was shot, but when the rough cut was viewed, it was decided that things happened too fast to understand what was going on. The tunnel was then simply made to end with no reflection of the StarSpeeder.
• The fuel tanker that yourship almost runs into at the end has on its side a hazardous materials sign and registration number. The registration number is Lucasfilm's phone number. The tanker also has the initials of the modelmaker who made the model.

• Rex's voice belongs to Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Ruebens.
• There's a little red tag hanging off of Rex's base that says "Warning! Remove before Flight!"
• Ever wonder who the guy is at the end of the ride who ducks in terror as you nearly crash into him? That's George Lucas.

Have any additions?

Maik Me

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