Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
| Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! | |
|---|---|
| Park | Disney California Adventure |
| Land / area | Hollywood Land |
| Type | Dark ride |
| Opened | January 23, 2006 |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering
|
| Status | Operating |
Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! is a dark ride at Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Located in Hollywood Land, the attraction is based on the 2001 Pixar film Monsters, Inc. and follows Mike Wazowski and James P. "Sulley" Sullivan as they race through Monstropolis to return the human child Boo to her bedroom. Guests ride in vehicles styled as Monstropolis taxi cabs, retracing the plot of the film through a series of indoor scenes populated by figures of the film's monster characters.[1]
History
The attraction occupies a show building that first housed Superstar Limo, one of the park's opening-day attractions in 2001. Superstar Limo cast guests as celebrities arriving in Hollywood, riding in limousine-style vehicles past caricatures of famous performers. The concept was poorly received, and the ride closed in January 2002 after less than a year of operation, leaving the building empty for several years.[2]
Rather than demolish the facility, Walt Disney Imagineering reused its track layout and ride vehicles for a new story. The limousines were repainted and redressed as yellow Monstropolis taxis, and the interior scenes were rebuilt as locations from Monstropolis. The building's exterior was reworked with a collage of closet doors, a reference to the door-based travel system at the heart of the film. After a soft opening on December 20, 2005, Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! officially opened on January 23, 2006.[3] At opening, the surrounding district was known as the Hollywood Pictures Backlot; it was later renamed Hollywood Land.
Several members of the film's cast returned to voice their characters for the attraction, including Billy Crystal as Mike and John Goodman as Sulley, helping the ride track the film's dialogue and comic timing closely.
Experience
Guests board a taxi in a Monstropolis cab station, where a news report announces that a human child is loose in the city and the Child Detection Agency is searching for her. The taxi then follows Mike and Sulley as they try to keep Boo hidden and get her back to the Monsters, Inc. factory.
The ride passes through a series of vignettes drawn from the film. Guests visit Harryhausen's, the sushi restaurant where Mike takes his girlfriend Celia, and smell ginger in the air as an octopus-like chef works behind the counter. Other scenes show the villain Randall Boggs pursuing Boo, the factory locker room, and the vast door vault, where rows of closet doors stretch overhead. Randall's camouflage changes as Boo hits him, a gag carried over from the film's climax. Guests also encounter the snow monster known as the Abominable Snowman, who offers snow cones, and a recreation of Boo's bedroom for the finale.
The final scene belongs to Roz, the paperwork-obsessed slug-like administrator of the Child Detection Agency. Positioned beside the unload area, Roz speaks to passing riders, commenting on individual guests by describing their clothing. The lines are delivered live with the help of a cast member who can see the taxis, making the exchange different on each ride and giving the attraction a personal sign-off rather than a recorded farewell.
Because it retells a complete story at a gentle pace, the ride has remained one of the park's principal family attractions in Hollywood Land, contrasting with the thrill rides added elsewhere in Disney California Adventure in later years, including those in Cars Land and Pixar Pier.