I can vividly recall sitting inside the Nautilus during my first visit to Walt Disney World in July 1983. I remember hearing the echoes of Captain Nemo’s voice yelling, “Dive, dive!” as I embarked upon my journey through liquid space. The attraction quickly became one of my favorites; I even drew a picture for a book my mom and I made after that first trip. I’m happy to share that new Vinylmation and Disney pins celebrating this classic attraction are coming soon to Disney Parks. I spoke with Disney Design Group artist Caley Hicks about her work on the new Vinylmation figure set pictured above. During our conversation, I discovered she also had fond childhood memories of the attraction.
“When I was younger, I visited the Magic Kingdom each month with my dad,” explained Caley. “I loved the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction, particularly the mermaids. I was eager to design something for Vinylmation to pay tribute to the attraction.”
Caley, whom you may recall from Vinylmation – Flags fame, chose the iconic squid attack for the nine-inch figure. She explained the difficulty in capturing the details of the squid on the Vinylmation form.
“I learned that getting the squid to wrap around the Mickey Mouse shaped form was more difficult than I first thought,” continued Caley. “I used countless sheets of tracing paper to get the image correct. The finished figure looks wonderful, so it was worth the effort.”
Caley shared the artwork for the deconstructed nine-inch figure. Wow! I wouldn’t even know where to begin as I can’t draw a straight line. This limited edition 1,000 set also has a 3-inch figure designed by Disney Artist Jason Zucker that resembles a diver. Look for it to be released via the Disney Parks Online Store only on Aug. 12, 2011 August 19, 2011.
Since the introduction of Disney Pin Trading in 1999, the Disney Pin Team has featured 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on a variety of pins. One of my favorites was released in January 2005, and featured a piece of an actual porthole from the attraction ride vehicle. It was the first in a long line of the “Piece of Disney History” pins, and is still one of the most sought-after pins today.
There are new pins on the horizon including two pins that will be released at The Florida Project in September. I think my favorite from the upcoming event is the cast member costume replica pin designed by Chris Chapman. It will be part of a boxed set of icon pins inspired by Fantasyland. The Classic “D” pin featuring the squid attack scene will be released on Oct. 27, at the Walt Disney World Resort.
By the way, I took the photograph above of the submarines as seen from the Skyway in 1983! I never imagined back then I’d be sharing it with you today. I would love to hear your memories from that great undersea voyage.
Comments
I’m looking forward to seeing all the new 20K merchandise in person. It almost makes up for Disneyland’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea walk-through attraction poster ending up on the WDW 40th Anniversary Collage merchandise that was released this year!
The only time I ever went to Disney World as a child was when I was three, and literally the only thing I can remember from the entire trip is seeing the squid outside the port holes.
I meant, less than $60.
When I First went to Walt Diseny World in 1978, I remember going on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. On my first Cruise on The Wonder, there was the Ship[Nautilaus]tied up at the Dock on Castaway Cay. That is one ride they should bring back to WDW.
I have an update regarding the release of the Vinylmation set. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the release of this set has been delayed until August 19, 2011. I apologize for any challenges this change may cause.
I served as a cast member on Captain Nemo’s crew for most of my four years in the Magic Kingdom. I many fond memories of my time with the guests and the crew at 20,000 Leagues. Thanks for bringing back the memories of that time I still have my metal hat insignia as a treasured keepsake of my time there. I can’t wait for the new pins and such to come out this fall.
@Jana – LOL! I remember that too!
@Larry – Thank you for sharing your story. You made a lot of people happy while serving as a member of his crew. And I’m jealous that you actually got to pilot the Nautilus (that would have been a dream come true!).
My oldest son was born in ’96, so my kids never got to experience this ride. It was always one of my favorites. The best part was the bubbles making it look like you were diving (but don’t look up or it spoils the illusion). So what if all of the undersea wonder was clearly man-made? It was awesome!
I have been fascinated with the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea film and ride since I was a kid, however my first visit to Disney World was in 1995. I’m in love with this merchandise and I can’t wait to get my hands on some! Thank you!
This is one of the attractions that I wanted to ride before it retired/ended. Now it is replaced by the ever so growing fantasy land and storybook circus.
Once again—Steven another fantastic article 😀 , I truly admire what your bringing to the company and its an honor to have you on board as part of the Disney Parks Blog team.
Honestly, I had no clue how memorable the film was too some disney fanatics. However, there are some I came across that truly enjoyed both the attraction and the film itself.
Was that your son’s drawing, probably not, how clever and creative!!!
I also enjoyed the products you have offered for the upcoming events including the Classic D for Walt Disney World with the hinged element its amazing. You also gave a nod to pins in the past, which was great.
I really hope there is more Indiana Jones products including pins and perhaps a vinyl in the future, he only is noticed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the last time I was there I was disappointed at the product they had at the shop. Hopefully, fans would get to see exclusive t-shirts, pins, hats, and vinyl products in the future.
The team is doing great 😀
@Kevin – Thank you for the kind words! I actually drew the picture after my first trip in July 1983. It is part of a 15 page book I made that recaps my trip to Florida. Unfortunately, I don’t know of any other Indiana Jones merchandise that is in development. Cody Hampton from the toy team said the first painted sample of the Mickey as Indiana Jones bank recently arrived. Yet this doesn’t mean there won’t be more items in the future. If I hear of other things, I will write about them 🙂
I loved this ride when I was a kid! I was so sad when it closed. I was hoping the new Little Mermaid ride would somehow incorporate the subs, like the Nemo ride does at Disneyland. I hope it reopens someday!
I loved the ride. I was about 12 the first time I rode it with my brother and he was claustrophobic and needed to get out. But I loved it and miss it! Before it got built over and the water was still there, I used to tell my kids all about it. I wish it was still around for them to experience it.
I rode this ride as a kid and loved it to pieces. My Mom couldn’t go on because she is claustrophobic, but I’ve been nicked named the fish because of my love of the water. Of course my two favorite rides have always been Pirates of the Caribbean and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I was hoping there were going to bring it back… at least to Disney World, and maybe a little more updated. I found this site last year, the first video on the page shows what the ride was like looking out the port hole from start to finish. It was a pretty long ride. Complete with crabs, fish, clams, eels, sharks, dolphins, sea turtles, sea serpents, mermaids, and of course a giant squid.
Steven, great Leagues merchandise! Love the piece of history pin in your collrction. I was lucky enough to purchase a porthole at Sid’s at Studio years ago. Any chance of having out a poster repro of the original ride? Any pieces of history pins in the near future as in DL?
Hey where did the the “you where here” vinylmation at D-Strret go to? Hope you have it in your office and not devoured by the squid!!!
@Benigno – I’d have to check on the repro of the attraction poster. I can’t remember if the Art on Demand kiosks have them as an option (see: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/04/picture-perfect-at-disney-parks/)
As for Piece of Disney History, the collection will continue next year at Disneyland Resort. We have collected a variety of pieces from attractions and things mostly from Disney California Adventure. There will also be a Piece of D23 Expo history being released at the upcoming D23 Expo in August (http://d23.disney.go.com/expo/)
We actually have a variety of the “I Was There” figures in the Vinylmation Showroom at our office complex. The display cases at D-Street at Downtown Disney West Side change often. My favorite items currently on display there are these figures: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/04/disney-vinylmation-in-space-vinylmation-figures-take-a-long-journey-aboard-space-shuttle-atlantis/
Unfortunately I never got to ride this version of the ride (I have ridden the old and new versions at Disneyland). I do have a porthole window from one of the subs that I purchased from the gallery in EPCOT. They apparently sold some of them after the ride was removed.
I’ll certainly have to keep an eye on the pins. Right now, just about the entire substance of my Disney pin collection is character pins from Jules Verne-based attractions… Mysterious Island pins with Mickey and Minnie, Space Mounatin: Mission 2 with Donald… I’ve been on every extant Verne ride but still need a pin for the one I wasn’t able to go on, being WDW’s.
Whoah hold up! New pins? WHOO HOO!!! Even though I never rode the attraction (which shut down in ’94) I’ve found various sites that gave me a glimpse at the sheer wonder of this underwater ride. It is probably one of the rides I would bring back if I could. Thanks for the info! 😀
Really? Vinyl and pins count as merchandise?
How ’bout some t-shirts or figurines of some sort?
This is one the rides I miss the most. As a kid it was always my favorite and a must no matter how long the line was at Disney World. I’m really excited about this vinyl and hope to be able to add it to my collection.
The new generation will never know what they missed.
@Jud – Thanks for sharing your memory (and thank you for your service!). I’ll have to think about offering it as a download … not something we have done before. 🙂
@Pam – The event pins will be released at The Florida Project being held at Epcot in September. The Classic “D” pin will most likely also be offered at the Disney Parks On-Line Store – http://www.DisneyParks.com/Store – after it is released at Walt Disney World.
@Barbara – Thanks for your memory! I took my children on the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland in 2009. They loved it (about as close as they will get to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea I guess). And I’ve been on the attraction at Tokyo Disney Sea …. Incredible!!
The vinylmation is fabulous! Are these pins going to be available at Disneyland as well?
Where can we DL the full size file on the cut out?
I also have shots of the subs from the Skyway, Jan, 1973… first visit, and they were the first thing we did! Day of leave from Navy boot camp (RTC) in Orlando- another thing that no longer exists. Company 379, in case anyone from there ever reads this. 🙂
i LOVE this 9″. so many memories of that ride. It’ll be my first 9″. love it.
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