Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast
Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast was a simulator ride at Universal Studios Florida that replaced The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. The story line revolved around Ooblar, (brother to King Goobot who is an enemy of Jimmy's) from the Yolkian planet that has stolen Jimmy's newest rocket creation, the Mark IV. Jimmy, along with his best friend Carl and robotic canine, Goddard, invite the audience to give chase in other rockets through the worlds and sound stages of the Nicktoons.
| Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast | |
|---|---|
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| Universal Studios Florida | |
| Area | Production Central |
| Status | Closed |
| Soft opening date | April 4, 2003 |
| Opening date | April 11, 2003 |
| Closing date | August 18, 2011 |
| Replaced | The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (1990–2002) |
| Replaced by | Despicable Me Minion Mayhem |
| General statistics | |
| Attraction type | Simulator ride |
| Manufacturer | Intamin |
| Designer | Universal Creative Nickelodeon Animation Studio Totally Fun Company |
| Theme | Nicktoons |
| Duration | 8 minutes |
| Height restriction | 40 in (102 cm) |
| Safety Restraints | Lap Bars |
| Pre-Show Host | Jimmy Neutron |
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On March 14, 2011, Universal announced that the attraction would begin operating on a seasonal schedule starting on April 1, 2011, and would operate for limited amounts of time throughout the spring and summer seasons before it closed completely on August 18, 2011.[1] Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast was replaced by Despicable Me Minion Mayhem on July 2, 2012. [2]
Attraction
Synopsis
In spring 2003, Universal Studios Florida released this official synopsis:
The evil Ooblar from the planet Yokian has stolen Jimmy's newest rocket creation ... The Mark IV. Board your own rocket and follow Jimmy on a wild goose chase through your favorite Nicktoons worlds.
Queue
While in the queue line, there were TV screens that played various videos that the guests could watch. These included the rules of the attraction (given by a Nicktoons character), clips from various Nicktoon shows, Nickelodeon ID's, and a sneak peek preview of the ride via clips from the original Jimmy Neutron movie. For the final months of the ride’s operation, some of the Nicktoons clips would be swapped out with music videos for currently airing Nickelodeon shows such as Victorious and Big Time Rush.
Pre-Show
After a Universal Studios crew member directs riders into a briefing room, Jimmy Neutron welcomes the riders and, with help from Carl, unveils his newest invention: the Mark IV rocket. Shortly afterwards, Ooblar breaks into the lab so he can return Carl's teddy bear. Then, he claims the Mark IV for his own, flying off through Nicktoons Studios. Quickly, Jimmy announces that he and Carl will follow Ooblar in their Mark II rocket, while the riders will follow in the original (and slightly unpredictable) Mark I rockets. He assures everyone that he will safely pilot the riders by remote, right before it shorts circuits and causes a black-out, ending the pre-show with the lab doors opening and a crew member ushering the riders into the rockets and delivering safety instructions.
Ride
Carl nervously counts down from 10 for the launch, but Jimmy interrupts him by starting the rockets and leaving the lab. They make chase for Ooblar through the sound stages, who leads them first through the Rugrats home, with the Mark I rockets almost running into Angelica by accident. However, Goddard pulls her out of the way just in time using his robo-claw. They leave the soundstage and make way for Fairy World, where Cosmo offers Carl his wand as assistance. The dumbstruck Carl accidentally poofs the rockets (and their passengers) to the Yolkian planet, sending the rockets crashing through the planet's capital city. The chase ends with Jimmy, Carl, and the riders trapped in King Goobot's throne room, where they are confronted by Poultra. They barely escape after Poultra's breath fries Ooblar and destroys the Mark IV, when the engines on the Mark II and Mark I rockets fail, so Carl, using Cosmo's wand, poofs everyone (Yolkians excluded) back to Earth, where they plummet into Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob, mistaking the Mark II for a jellyfish, ensnares Jimmy in his jellyfishing net, blinding the pilot and sending everyone crashing through downtown, ending with the Mark II and Mark I rockets going through a drain pipe leading back to Jimmy's lab. Just when everyone thinks they're safe, King Goobot barges in, trapping Jimmy and using the pilot remote to make the ride vehicles do the chicken dance. Carl, realizing that he still has Cosmo's wand, sends out a laser blast that flies over the riders and cracks the king. The ride ends with Carl poofing up a bunch of llamas and Jimmy wishing everyone farewell. The door with the large letter "N" closes, ending the ride and the attendants congratulate the riders on a job well done.
Post-Show
After the ride, the guests went into a play area/store known as Nickstuff. There, the guests played interactive games and saw exhibits from Nickelodeon Studios' history as well as shop for Nickelodeon merchandise. There was also a character meet and greet with Spongebob and an interactive television camera that guests played with. In the attraction's earlier days, Jimmy Neutron made character appearances with Spongebob. Music from different Nickelodeon shows and Nickelodeon IDs were played while the guests played or shopped.
In June 2008, the signs from old Nickelodeon shows were taken away and were replaced with signs from then-newer Nickelodeon shows such as The Naked Brothers Band and iCarly, with the fact that Nickelodeon Studios closed in 2005 and no longer existed.
Summary
The facility which used to house The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera is used for the same purpose as its predecessor. Enough changes were made to re-invent the ride as Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast, such as paint and a new movie, but it is essentially the same.
History
The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera was one of Universal Studios Florida's original attractions, opening with the park on June 7, 1990. In 1998, Universal officials noticed that the ride had lost a large percentage of its operating capacity, most likely because everybody, including children, were not interested in Hanna-Barbera cartoons anymore, and they secretly began work on a new attraction to replace it with which would be based on modern cartoons rather than older animation. Universal then brought up the idea of opening a Nickelodeon themed simulator ride.
In the early 2000s, a contract was granted with Viacom and Nickelodeon to replace "Hanna-Barbera" with a simulator ride titled "The Nicktoon Blast". In 2001, it was decided the newest Nicktoon character Jimmy Neutron would host the ride, and it was secretly greenlit as "Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast". Production on the ride film and conceptual art of the new look for the ride was done in 2001 through very early 2003.
In July 2002, Universal officially confirmed that they would not renew their contract for the Hanna-Barbera ride and that it would be replaced by "Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast" in 2003. They had also announced the replacement of Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies with Shrek 4-D on the same day.
Production
Unlike the ride film of "The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera" which Universal had co-produced with Hanna-Barbera Productions, the ride film of Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast was created solely by Nickelodeon Animation Studios with Viacom Productions as the distributor, and the only involvement which Universal Studios had in production of the ride film was an appearance of the Universal logo on the character Ooblar's hat during the pre-show portion. However, Mario Kamberg, Allen Battino and Totally Fun Company's Trey Stokes, who designed the ride film for "Hanna-Barbera", also signed on to take part in the animation of the Nicktoon Blast ride film. The reason for which "Hanna-Barbera" needed a contract as well despite Universal still in ownership of the ride film was due to the fact that Universal did not own the characters and needed a license to use them at their theme parks. By the end of the run of Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast on August 18, 2011, Kamberg, Battino and Stokes will have had both their films playing in the same theater for over 20 years.
Ride
The rebuilding of "Hanna-Barbera" into "Jimmy Neutron" lasted 5 months and two weeks, currently the second shortest ride turn around in Universal Orlando Resort's history behind the change from Earthquake: The Big One to Disaster!.
Construction and opening
"The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera" closed on October 20, 2002 and construction began almost immediately afterwards. The attraction started previews in late March 2003 known as "Technical Reheasals". The ride was officially opened by Universal Orlando on April 11.
Halloween Horror Nights
The attraction has frequently been run at the Halloween Horror Nights event at Universal Orlando Resort. It was run during Horror Nights the following years.
- HHN (2004)
- HHN: Sweet 16 (2006)
- HHN: Carnival of Carnage (2007)
Closing
On March 14, 2011, Universal Orlando released this statement via their Facebook page:
On April 1, we will close Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast and immediately begin work on an all-new experience based on an amazing concept. The new attraction is just one of many exciting things planned for the next couple of years. Meanwhile, Boy Genius fans will be excited to know that the attraction will re-open for limited periods during the spring and summer before closing permanently on August 18.
— Universal Orlando Facebook page
The attraction began operating only during peak seasons on April 1, 2011. It remained operating in the seasonal schedule until closing on August 18. On May 19, 2011, Universal Orlando officially announced that the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem would be based on the movie franchise Despicable Me and was opened in July 2012.[2] As of 2020, while there are no Nickelodeon attractions currently operating at the Universal Studios theme parks, their locations in Florida and California still sell merchandise and offer meet and greets with characters from Nickelodeon franchises such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer and Diego.
Reception
The website Orlando Rocks gave a positive review stating "Move over Hanna! This ride is wonderful".[3]
The ride received a 7 out of 10 rating on the website Theme Park Insider.[4] On IMDB, it received a 6 out of 10 star rating. Comparingly, the Hanna-Barbera ride received an 8 out of 10 rating.
References
- "Universal to replace Jimmy Neutron ride with new attraction – Orlando Sentinel". Articles.orlandosentinel.com. March 14, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved May 21, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Jimmy Neutron's Blast Archived April 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast at Universal Studios Florida
External links
- Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast at Universal Orlando Resort
- Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast at Orlando Rocks
- Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast on IMDb
- Universalignited.com
