The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera was a simulator ride at Universal Studios Florida, and one of the park's original attractions. The story line was that Dick Dastardly and Muttley have kidnapped Elroy Jetson, Yogi and Boo-Boo give chase and the audience is in for the ride of their lives.
It was created, executive produced by Peter N. Alexander, directed by Mario Kamberg and David J. Steinberg with Hanna-Barbera founder William Hanna as creative consultant and animated by Sullivan Bluth Studios. It was the first ride film to predominantly use computer-generated imagery, with the characters created using traditional cel animation techniques and optically composited.
This was the first of three simulator ride attractions to be built inside Soundstage 42 in Universal Studios Florida, followed by Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast and the current Despicable Me Minion Mayhem.
Attraction[]
Queue[]
The facility which housed the ride featured several areas in which the guests were moved throughout. The outside queue area, where people waited in line, featured several televisions that showed Hanna-Barbera cartoons on a loop. When the ride first opened, the queue videos consisted of whole short episodes of Hanna-Barbera's "three-shorts" shows such as The Huckleberry Hound Show and The Yogi Bear Show as well as extended clips from Hanna-Barbera's well-known full-length story shows (The Flintstones, The Jetsons, etc.).
In the years after, clips and commercials from Hanna-Barbera's modern cartoons such as SWAT Kats, were played on the monitors interspersed with the classic shows. The guests were then taken into a pre-show area where the storyline for the ride was revealed.
Pre-show[]
Inside the pre-show, there were 3 projection screens. Two oval shaped screens and a regular square screen. On one of the oval screens, Yogi appeared pestering guests for food and Boo-Boo showed up to inform him that the guests were here for an animation demonstration by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
The two (live-action) appeared on the square screen and began talking about animation, leading to drawing Elroy Jetson, who magically came to life and jumped out of the paper three dimensionally. Hanna went on to talk about computer animation using Dick Dastardly's airplane (in this case, a spaceship).
Dastardly and Muttley soon showed up from inside the spaceship's depths, requesting that they be a part of Hanna-Barbera's next project. However, Hanna and Barbera informed him that the Jetsons were next (coincidentally, at the time of the ride's opening, the release of Jetsons: The Movie was only several weeks away) followed by The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo. In a fit of rage, Dastardly kidnapped Elroy by forcefully pulling him into the computer using the suction of a toilet plunger gun, claiming "If I'm not the star of the next project, then no one will be! I'm taking Elroy where you'll never find him!" The computer began to self-destruct and the two ran away. Yogi and Boo-Boo, feeling they should do something, got (with the ride guests) into a rocket ship (the main theater) to go save Elroy from the evil plans Dastardly and Muttley had in store for him.
Ride[]
When the riders entered the main theater, the riders were seated in a rocket ship with Yogi as the captain. The power source was a large rubber band that fired the rocket via a giant slingshot.
The force was so strong everyone ended up going back in time to Bedrock. The riders flew off a cliff and through Mr. Slate's construction site before flying into the main city. Yogi and the riders chased after Dastardly through the streets, dodging cars, residents of Bedrock (including Wilma, Betty, Pebbles, and Bamm-Bamm), and Yogi ended up chasing Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble (who were driving the Flintmobile) down a street by accident.
The riders flew up after Dastardly into the skies, and through a vortex. The riders ended up chasing Dastardly through a cemetery in the middle of the night, and the riders were on a near-collision near the Mystery Machine that Scooby-Doo and Shaggy were driving, leading them into a castle where they encountered ghosts. The riders flew around the haunted house looking for Dastardly down hallways and corridors, dodging Scooby and Shaggy who were left hanging on a chandelier when the riders chased after Dastardly into another vortex.
This time, the riders ended up in the future into Orbit City, dodging flying cars and buildings. It's not long before Elroy's family (except Judy Jetson and Astro who were absent from the ride) appeared and saw Elroy captured, (after which he jumped from Dastardly's ship in a bold move aiming to get caught by one of his parents standing nearby, just to be pulled back in Dastardly's ship by the suction of a toilet plunger) and chased after Dastardly with the riders, going into a futuristic amusement park.
The riders flew on a roller-coaster track after the villain and ended up going down a steep drop when Rosie (flying with the Jetsons) extended her arm and lifted Dastardly and Muttley from their rocket, allowing George to save Elroy. Dastardly and Muttley then got surrounded by thousands of flying cop cars, and both were arrested and dropped in a flying jail cell. The Jetsons thanked them, and the riders flew back home through a vortex and crash landed back at the station on a giant inflated bumper reading "END". Yogi gave them a farewell message. "So folks, thanks for joining in the ride, I'll see you on the outside!" A lamp comes down from the top, from which Yogi pulled the light switch. The screen went black, and the ride ended.
Post-show[]
After the show, guests were escorted into an interactive area where they could interact with various technologies geared towards children.
Hanna-Barbera's Store[]
Following this area, was a gift shop where Hanna-Barbera merchandise could be purchased.
History[]
Production[]
The character animation was by Sullivan Bluth Studios and directed by David J. Steinberg, who replaced Kurtz & Friends and director Bob Kurtz who were the original vendors. Universal wanted the ride film to have a classical animation look, with full feature-quality using the Hanna-Barbera characters. Kurtz & Friends had already been hired by Hanna-Barbera to contribute sequences for Jetsons: The Movie. Midway through production Bob Kurtz and his company resigned from the project citing creative differences, so Universal contacted Bluth's company, who worked with Universal in the past, to do animation for the ride.
Some of the animators went to the Burbank facility with several other freelance animators while Bluth's team in Dublin went on with Rock-a-Doodle and A Troll in Central Park, both projects at Bluth's company at the time. The director, Mario Kamberg, and art director, Allen Battino, were also the principal creative forces behind its replacement ride Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast. Rhythm & Hues created the CG Jetsons sequence for the ride film. deGraf/Wahrman created the CG Flintstones and Scooby-Doo portion of the film.
Unlike most traditional simulator rides (such as Star Tours or Body Wars) the entire ride took place inside an auditorium, with the audience in chairs that moved. Non-moving chairs were also available for those who only wanted to watch the film. The ride vehicles for Universal Studios Florida were created by Ride Trade. The vehicles had 4 degrees of freedom and had 8 seats, the motion was programmed by Trey Stokes and Dave Philipsen, with software designed by Dave Philipsen. Yogi and Boo-Boo's Hanna-Barbera rocket which guests would ride in was previously featured on Yogi's Treasure Hunt and Joe Barbera and Bill Hanna's computer from the pre-show would later make an appearance on Wake, Rattle , and Roll.
Closure[]
The ride closed on October 20, 2002, and was replaced by Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast, featuring Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron alongside characters from Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, The Fairly OddParents, SpongeBob SquarePants, and other Nickelodeon cartoons, in spring 2003 and also Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem in 2012.
Cast[]
- Greg Burson as Yogi Bear
- Patric Zimmerman as Elroy Jetson
- Michael Bell as Dick Dastardly
- Don Messick as Boo-Boo Bear, Muttley, and Scooby-Doo
- Joseph Barbera as Himself (live-action pre-show)
- Henry Corden as Fred Flintstone
- Frank Welker as Barney Rubble, Bedrock Dinosaur, Robot
- Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma Flintstone and Rosie
- B.J. Ward as Betty Rubble
- Casey Kasem as Shaggy Rogers
- Jeff Bergman as George Jetson, Ghosts, Police Chief
- Penny Singleton as Jane Jetson
- William Hanna as Himself (live-action pre-show)
Gallery[]
