I for one have had projects that have become too large, and the only way to get it done is to take drastic matters. Over at DeScope Magazine (the Journal of Themed Entertainment), there is a great article called: Muntzing the Creative Gordian Knot. It talks about how when a project has become tangled, the only way might be to cut it down till you have just what will work. It is well written by it’s author Bubbles LaMar.

(note: could not link directly to it due to the use of frames on the site. Its in the current issue (#14) )

A Gordian Knot:

According to the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary (everyone’s favorite edition, I know), a Gordian Knot is defined as “an intricate knot tied by Gordius in the thong that connected the pole of the chariot with the yoke. An oracle having declared that he who should untie it should be master of Asia, Alexander the Great averted the ill omen of his inability to loosen it by cutting it with his sword. Hence, a Gordian knot is an inextricable difficulty; to cut the Gordian Knot is to remove a seemingly irremovable difficulty by bold and energetic measures.”

and Muntzing:

Earl “Madman” Muntz: to Southern Californians, his company logo was a familiar sight, a funky, angular little figure, his right hand stuck in the breast of his coat, his eyes insanely wide, and his mouth a frozen, deranged-yet-knowing rictus of a smile. And on his feet, dear God! Are those flayed-topped, proto-Brit Mod Explosion Winklepicker boots? Completing this now all-but defunct image of a happy lunatic is a big Napoleon hat on which, rather than the stereotypical “N” is emblazoned a big “M” for Muntz.

Muntz would make his own brand of TV’s and Cars, and they would be the bare bone cheapest thing possible. He would get this by ripping out everything that was not needed, i.e. Muntzing it.

The article is a really good explanation of dealing with problems when all there is to do is something drastic.

As an artist, I love to imagine designing my own darkride. Riders get in a small car that travel on a track, into the darkness. In the darkness there might be ghost that jump out at you, or a scene from a favorite animated movie. It’s a way to tell a story or a series of gags in a short few minuets. They can even be boats that sail past Pirates and even high-tech rollercoaster.

BUT another thing that excites me artistically is the idea of taking a ride and temporarily redressing it to tell a new story: new images, figure, scenes and music.

I found a site for this Haunted House ride, The Dungeon, in Bricktown Okalahoma City. They created their own ride for Halloween, and then re-themed it to be Christmas as well. (scroll down to see images of the different versions)

Of course the best example I can think of is the yearly transformation of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion into the Hanted Mansion Holiday. The ride closes for two weeks as Imaginers change figures and re-dress the ride to give it a Nightmare Before Christmas feel. The ride goes from “Grim Grinning Ghost” to “The Nightmare before Christmas”. The folks even went as so far to get a sound-a-like of the original Ghost Host to give the ride an authentic feeling.

Now the folks at Disney are not the only ones who have done this. At Knott’s Berry farms they gave a holiday makeover to there flume ride, Elf Mountain. Here are some photos by Darkbeer.

Now sometime a ride is changes permantily, due to lack of popularity or technology. Sally Corp. in Florida offers there services to those who would like to update or change a current ride. Here are some they have re-developed.

A couple of examples of rides that have been changed are:

-The Phantoms Theater to Scooby Doo’s Haunted Castle at Kings Island (and before that is was the Funtastic World of Hanna Barbara)
- Spee-lunker Cave to Yosemite Sam’s Gold River adventure to Scooby-Doo in the spooky swamp.

But what inspired this whole post was finding out that Warner Bros Movie World in Germany (and here)was sold and is now just Movie Park Germany (photo link). That meant that all references to the Warner Brothers owned characters (Loony Toons, DC Comics, etc.) had to be removed.

-So now Bugs Bunny’s boat adventure features characters from the CGI film Ice Age (1 / 2).
-The Batman simulator ride is now Time Raiders (same outside, different film)
-Bugs Bunny Movie Village is now Wonderland studios, and the characters have all be replaced -with cartoon characters I have never seen before.
-The Marvine the Martian 3D film is now Spounge Bob Square Pants in 4D
-The Never Ending Story Boat Ride is Mystery River. (yes that snail used to be falcore the dragon, scary)

You get the idea.