More than three years in the making, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage opened its hatches on this day in 2007. The gee-whiz ride through liquid space used the latest imaging, audio, and power technologies, all new Pixar animation and updated versions of the eight original subs from the original E-ticket Submarine Voyage to take submariners on an amazing trip down under—and directly into—Nemo’s underwater world. “We knew we had to deliver the same quality of animation guests expect from Pixar movies,” Rick Rothschild, then a senior vice president and executive show director at Walt Disney Imagineering, said at the time. “With our new imaging technology, we give guests a unique opportunity to eavesdrop on their friends from Nemo in their natural environment.” After a “whale” of a conclusion and nearly 12 minutes after leaving terra firma, submarines splash their ways through the second of two waterfalls and glide elegantly into the loading bay. “[Our hope] is for every guest to feel like a character in the movie,” Rick adds. Even years later, we still do.
