Audiences think animated characters only exist on television, but theme parks are where they can come to life.
So when Universal Studios approached “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening for the concept of a ride, he had a more-than-animated reaction.
“I jumped up and down.” Groening said.
The Simpsons Ride, which opened May 19 at Universal Studios Hollywood, immerses its audience into the experience and puts attendees alongside Bart and Homer. “It’s like seeing a lost episode of the show,” Groening said.
With the anticipation high for the movie version in the months ahead of its summer release last year, the time seemed right to take the quirky mustard-skinned family to a more visual and physical frontier.
“The movie exceeded expectations,” said Chuck Sheetz, who helped plan the animation for the ride. Sheetz, a professor of animation in the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, has worked as an animator and director for the show for 17 years.
The idea for the ride started in early 2007 with many of the show’s original writers, animators and voice-over actors aiding in its creation.
“It’s a natural fit. The animation (for the ride) had been done by people who animate the show. It has a very authentic feel to it,” Sheetz said.
Danny Chun, a writer for the show and the ride, said the creative process involved teams of writers and animators working together, dividing tasks and testing ideas. Chun wrote the story for the ride at home and then tested the concept by riding the ride after-hours.
“Step-by-step we worked on each part. We would do rough versions of what we had written and based on that figure what was or wasn’t working. It was six months of doing that,” Chun said.
Planning for the ride involved constant communication between the show’s staff and Universal Studios to fine-tune the details.
“We had a lot of meetings initially with Universal just to sort of figure out what was possible,” Chun said. “They knew a lot about what we could do and what we couldn’t do based on the physical constraints and censorship.”
Chun said that when he was writing for the ride he was told to keep the jokes short. Unlike the show, the ride could not have a lot of story.
“Universal told us it would be hard to hear, and it would be very chaotic. People aren’t going to pay attention to begin with,” Chun said.
The Simpsons Ride parodies many memorable theme park attractions, including the Back to the Future Ride, which it replaced. Remnants of the former ride can still be seen in the DeLorean-style vehicles that the riders boards. However, the real essence of the ride stays true to its television counterpart: the ability to parody reality.
In its conceptual framework, the producers, writers and animators wanted to poke fun and bring the whole theme park experience, including waiting in line, into the story line.
“We tried to deliver the goods that a wild theme park ride is supposed to bring,” Groening said. “At the same time, we made fun of the whole degrading experience of waiting in line and being manipulated and sold.”
From the moment the rider enters into the snake-shaped line, television screens play snippets of past episodes as well as new material written specifically for the ride.
Several visual posters were created and placed throughout the line, such as a closed fortune teller explaining, “Sorry!! Didn’t know you were coming.”
Planning for the animation involved use of CGI and 3-D animation projected onto two giant, domed screens.
Riders are placed in a motion-simulated vehicle as they travel on a wild roller-coaster experience through Krustyland, a crazy satire of familiar theme park attractions mixed with Krusty the clown’s shady production quality.
A key experience of waiting in line involves a setup of four carnival-style booths, with one belonging to the Moleman doing a sympathetic impersonation of a tour guide.
“”˜The Simpsons’ is very character-driven,” Sheetz said,
He worked on the scene with the Moleman and helped to fine-tune the animation for the voice performers.
Throughout the ride, one can see many of Springfield’s favorite characters acting within the theme park context.
“When something runs this long, keeping the characters in front of people and in the public’s consciousness and trying to come up with avenues where characters haven’t appeared yet is a big milestone,” Sheetz said.
Classic television characters have always helped to create the magic of Southern California’s theme park scene.
“It all started with Walt Disney’s concept of Disneyland. It seemed the only place they live on was in the park,” Sheetz said.
With The Simpsons Ride, there’s a reversal of presentation. Instead of the characters coming to life in true reality, the rider is taken out of reality and placed into the Simpsons’ world. “I thought there was no way I’m going to get overwhelmed by being in a cartoon world. It’s not real, but it’s a very convincing experience.” Groening said.
Currently, “The Simpsons” is the longest-running half-hour sitcom on air, with its 20th season starting this fall. The next frontier for the show?
“I would love to do an entire theme park,” Groening said.