Nova Cite Backdrops

A shot from just the garden.

Chief navigates his way back after exploring the Nova Cite set.

Grove Shot 3

And yet another grove shot. You would think there was futuristic wacky weed growing in that plywood and plaster farmland seeing how much time Hoot and I spent there. Just wait until you see the footage of the two of us crawling around underneath it on our hands and knees just to get to the video monitor projections in the control tower. I would do it all again in a millisecond!! Enjoy!

Backdrop Fever

Here is a compilation of backdrop paintings from what I am calling 'Hoot Tape 2'. Enjoy!

Urban Habitat Backdrop

Here is a shot of the Urban Habitat backdrop painting. I really wish we had the cameras of today back then, so I could've taken a thousand pictures of this painting, zoomed in on every square inch. Oh well. :(

Grandma and Grandpa sure had a fine view of the city. Very peaceful looking, but I wonder why there are not any "flying cars" flying around? I understand in the context of the ride, it would've made the scene too static or fake if they were painted on, but they could've used the same type of projection like the flying harvester in the grove? Maybe they tried it and it didn't look good, or maybe it was a cost issue and they had to pick and choose where they wanted projections?

I know I have beat this horse to death, but I still just cannot imagine someone tearing thru this wall with a backhoe and then throwing this artwork in the dumpster. :(

New blog

http://tomorrowlounge.blogspot.com/

Check out this retro tomorrow eye candy by Mike Cozart! Beautiful scans of a happier time when even the Disneyland PARKING attendants were hot!

Research

Hey pals. I've mentioned this before but it's become very important to me lately so I'll spill it out again.

In the four or five years before this blog started I became increasingly interested in the "hows and whys" of the late Horizons pavilion. This lead me to collecting information from our local library and similar outlets nation wide. What I found, now that I'm reading over thousands of photocopies of news articles, is that Horizons was never very popular with the general public!!! What the good lord FUCK!

Opening day reviews from newspapers from here to Tulsa PAN the attraction on opening day with the general comment "we've seen this all before". WHAT!?

I'm a broken man right now because I can't believe what I'm reading. I want death hard and fast. GIVE ME THE SWINE FLU, LORD!!!!!!!!!!!

...........................

I just went outside for some fresh air and I think it might be important for us "cool people" to read over this horseshit, for what it's worth, and decide for ourselves.

I'm going to post these clippings little by little. Please try not to get upset like I have.

I'll drink bleach and end it all. I swear.



I DID find a cool opening day interview with Wathel Rogers about Audio-Animatronics. Light in this supreme darkness.

Grove Shot 2

Here is another grove shot, from a wider angle so you can see pretty much the entire grove. And in this shot you can see two flying harvester projections on the wall. Enjoy!

The latest news

Here's the latest news.

1. Our audio recordings are almost ready. You'll be able to download full tracks of live Horizons stuff. No studio horseshit but real "in ride" recordings. You'll also get the tape called "Horizons Confessions"! We recorded this several months after Horizons closed while we drank beer and watched videos. We wanted an audio record of our adventures so we'd have something to listen to when we got old (like now).

2. We have had Google Analytics installed for a few weeks now. THERE ARE HORIZONS FANS ALL OVER THE GLOBE! It's amazing to see who's looking at this blog and where they're from. Japan, Taiwan, Romania, Australia, Germany, etc. WONDERFUL!

3. We get tons of views from Emeryville CA every morning at about 11am. We love you Pixar!

4. Tons more from Glendale. Keep up the good fight WDI!!

5. Orlando, Los Angeles......... build Horizons 2.0, Disney! What are you waiting for? We promise not to leave our ride vehicles.

Birthday Background

The birthday scene actually had a background painting behind it. It was almost impossible to see because of the Holograms and show lighting inside of the room but it was there. Another fine example of the detail in Horizons. In order to see it you would have had to climb on top of the Birthday set, as we did. You can see the window frames of the room as they come up and simply end.

Another shot. You can see a little bit of the Birthday room in the lower right corner.

Sweet detail....sweet sweet detail! Look at the little houses! The farm! The red thingys! I'm starting to change my opinion on where in Horizons I would live. This Space Colony painting looks very inviting.

Imagineering Disney Blog

I hope these guys get an itch to do some Horizons based projects. (hint hint)

I'm fascinated by this blog Well done, Imagineering Disney!

"Hoot and Chief Foundation" Achievement Award

This year's "Hoot and Chief Foundation" Achievement Award goes to none other than long time MVT fan Kyle!
In a daring act of Horizons passion, Kyle and his lovely partner Jenn of Tomorrow, were able to sweet talk the nice people at Mouse Surplus into making this incredible shot happen.
Kyle, who has displayed an unfailing love for Horizons through such ventures as "Hadley's Hope", is seen here "looking toward tomorrow" atop the famous $14,000 ride vehicle.

If Kyle can dream it, he can do it.

Hey!

It's too early to announce it but it looks like an independant film will soon be made about our adventures! We've been thinking about this for a couple months and it looks like everything is coming together. Several film makers have contacted us about such a project and we think we've found the right person to pull it off.

Mesa Verde Times won't change a bit except for an update or two about the film. In fact we see this blog going on forever because we have a SHIT LOAD of material!

Thank you for the kind words Horizons fans! We'll be here to entertain you for the rest of your lives.

We say it again and again

This blog is for YOU. If you found it you are welcomed to enjoy it because you found it for a reason. You love Horizons and you miss it!

Chief and I aren't the "masters" of this attraction like many disney fan sites claim (or want) to be. We just did what we had to do for our own memories and now we want to share it all with you. All of it.

Comment if you have the time. We like it and we want to hear from you.

Video Clip Explained

^

When we shot this clip we were under the empty Harvester seen here in the lower center. It was a hollow fiberglass prop with most of the back end missing. Of course, one could go under the groves if one were so inclined to walk like an ape through the metal supports and plywood. Chief and I, being two and not one, did it anyway and we liked it under there. The Harvester on the right is one in the video clip.

Here's a shot looking up at the Harvester. There was just enough room to place a camera as you see in the video posted by Chief. This happened totally by chance because I was peeking out through the hole and saw how fucking cool it looked.

This was one of those random times when we happened upon something that was too good for words. It had to be filmed right then and there.

I can't tell you how many times I watched this footage and I even made a six hour VHS loop of it that played over and over again.