A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Muppet*Vision 3-D
By Dave Shute
Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.
THE CREATION OF MUPPET*VISION 3D AT DISNEY’S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
By Jim Korkis
Mark Eades is a former Imagineer who worked on Muppet*Vision 3-D. He shared these stories with me in 2010.
“Bill Prady, a Henson writer, was tasked with organizing the ideas into a story and after several meetings the first storyline came out. It was essentially an introduction to Bean Bunny and all the other Muppets had cameos.
(NOTE: Bean Bunny first appeared in 1986 as the star of the TV special The Tale of the Bunny Picnic. In 1989, Bean joined the cast of The Jim Henson Hour.)
“We all pointed out how theme park attractions based on existing characters usually worked better where there was some familiarity with their universe. Star Tours worked because it still had all those familiar Star Wars universe items in it.
“We suggested that the same thing was needed for this attraction, in particular because it had a stage and a proscenium just like in the Muppet Show—as Henson became more intrigued with breaking down that fourth wall, the ideas of having characters in the theater evolved and the story evolved.
(c) Disney
“Jim Henson was very involved with the project. He was genuinely interested in doing theme park attractions. His natural curiosity and openness and receptiveness to new ideas made him a perfect fit to work with at Imagineering. It was a two year process from concept to finished production.
“The entire project was done in California, except for the actual installation. The film was shot almost entirely on Stage 3 at the Disney Studios, the same stage that 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) was filmed on. We needed the water tank for Miss Piggy’s musical number.
“The Miss Piggy number was the first sequence filmed. It took several days. Then we moved over to the other side of the stage for the Muppet Labs sequences, both the hallway and the Honeydew set. Then we went outside to the old Town Square from Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) for the brick wall blowing up shot and the last shot when Kermit comes in on the fire truck ladder.
“Then we moved back to the other side of stage 3 where the Miss Piggy set was which was now black for the entire patriotic finale which was done against a black backdrop.
“The film had been completed way under budget, and after a test showing with everyone we knew we needed to tweak a few things. The middle of the film kind of fell flat. So the plan was that everyone would come back after a few weeks off and we would get together to figure it out.
“I was on vacation as a tourist in Washington D.C. with my family when the word came that Jim had died.
“We came home the next day. About a month later we got together to figure things out with the Henson creative team including Frank Oz, Bill Prady and others. We storyboarded some new scenes, including a slightly different bit about Bean Bunny running away, and scheduled a re-shoot.
“Frank Oz directed the new scenes and we did a temporary mix up at Skywalker Ranch. Another test showing and the film was signed off. Then, the Henson family asked that everyone involved from their side walk away and we had to finish the film, including all the Waldo CGI, much of which was added as a result of the new stuff, without them, including all the performers.
“It was an example of the kinds of attractions Disney could and should be doing. We at Imagineering and Theme Park Productions were extremely proud of it.”
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Thanks, Jim. The location of Muppet*Vision 3D in the park makes me wonder if the Star Wars plans for Hollywood Studios mean it will be going away…
Come back next Friday for even more from Jim Korkis!
In the meantime, check out his books, including Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew
, which reprints much material first written for this site, and The Vault of Walt: Volume 4, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.
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