“Most Everyone’s Mad Here…”
Greetings Disney fans!
Did you know Lenoard Nimoy from Star Trek directed a short film for Disney? In this week’s article, we travel to the Epcot of yesteryear to learn more about Mr. Spock’s role in bringing the Epcot attraction, Body Wars (1989-2007) to life. Keep reading to learn the true story behind Disney’s predecessor to the Star Tours attraction, and a brief history of the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot.
But first, have any of you ever fallen down a research rabbit hole?
Before getting to the meat of this week’s article, I offer up a cautionary tale extoling the virtues (and dangers) of being curious.
“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).”
-Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
When I first started writing articles for Beautiful Tomorrow, my main goal was to unearth little known stories pertaining to Disney history, especially stories about Walt Disney, the early studio films and any project Walt may have touched.
I am blessed to have young children and a loving spouse. With them come a busy life, a full-time job and all the trappings that come with them. However, with life’s gifts also comes the weight of responsibility and I found myself looking for a creative outlet.
Honestly, I was becoming disconnected from my younger self, and I wanted to rediscover the joy I felt when I was writing. I’m sure many of you can relate.
When I sat down to write my first article for Substack, it had been several years since I had written anything of substance. I felt rusty, and easily distracted. There were so many stories I wanted to tell, and, in my eagerness, I didn’t know where to start. I had a difficult time picking topics and editing myself for clarity.
Well... I went along my merry way, and I never stopped to reason. I should've known there'd be a price to pay, someday... Someday... I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it!
-Alice, Alice in Wonderland (1951)
I would begin by researching a broad topic and then dig for little-known facts related to whatever I was researching. I would disappear into books and the internet — freefalling through my rabbit hole — into the early hours of the morning, trying to figure out if I had enough supported subject matter to tell a compelling story.
I felt the need to write down everything and leave no stone unturned, without regard to article length, sentence structure or punctuation.
“Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, “What Road do I take?”
The cat asked, “Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know,” Alice answered.
“Then,” said the cat, “it really doesn’t matter, does it?”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
I would begin with a well-intentioned outline, and then slowly detour from what I planned to write to more fertile creative soil.
Sometimes after a writing session, I would come up for air and marvel at what I had accomplished. Other times, I would read over what I had written, not quite pleased with how my article was firming up and file the paragraphs away for another day.
The process was both fascinating and maddening, not to mention time consuming. It was easy to get lost in the subject matter, and again, when I would come up for air — hours later — I discovered I had outlined a completely different article than the one I set out to write.
I would then begin the arduous process of proofreading my work for content, structure, coherency and (sigh…) grammatical errors. I consider myself quite fortunate because I have a terrific editor (my husband) who volunteers to read and re-read my articles for clarity. He will have tried to edit or add half the commas in this article before it’s published.
Falling into a research-rabbit-hole is both fascinating and maddening…this is the backstory behind today’s article.
When I get home, I shall write a book about this place... If I ever do get home.
Alice, from Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Star Trek, not Star Wars…
Today’s article comes from an archive of my earlier work on Disney Parks’ history. The article was originally published in October of 2021, and I have since edited the article again for clarity and added a few more interesting tidbits I discovered along the way. I hope you enjoy reading it, as much as I enjoyed researching it.
I began researching this story with the intention of writing a few paragraphs for another article about the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot. Until I discovered Leonard Nimoy, from the Star Trek (1966-69) series and movies, was responsible for directing the short film used in the Body Wars attraction. I had found something interesting!
I spent the next few days researching and writing a piece on Nimoy’s involvement with the Body Wars attraction at Epcot, and the time he spent at the Walt Disney World Resort, in Orlando, Florida. This article was a deep rabbit hole to fall in, and I had a great time researching it.
One of Four, or Two of Four
A few of my coworkers are big fans of Star Trek and occasionally refer to each other using names, such as 3 of 4, or 4 of 8 (you all know who you are). Admittedly, I’m a bigger fan of Star Wars and was confused by what the numbers meant. Apparently, it refers to the number of siblings or family members you have, and where you fall in the pecking order.
If this is the case, then I am also known as, “1 of 4” or “2 of 4” depending on how you look at it. If I am incorrect, you have my permission to correct me in the comments below.
I then remembered the article I had researched about Star Trek’s Lenoard Nimoy, also known affectionately as Mr. Spock. I have since dusted it off and edited it for some clarity.
Live long and prosper, Disney fans!
I am currently working on new projects and appreciate everyone who has subscribed or recommended Beautiful Tomorrow to a friend. Thank you for supporting my work and have a great week!
The Wonders of Life Pavillion, EPCOT
On January 22, 1988, Epcot Center announced that they would be building a new pavilion in Epcot’s Future World East region of the park. The pavilion would be called Wonders of Life and it would be themed around health care. The pavilion was sponsored by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. from 1989 to 2000, and featured the following attractions:
Body Wars, a simulator attraction through the human body.
Cranium Command, a theater attraction which takes guests through a day in the life of a 12-year-old boy named Bobby, and Knowledge-rookie, Buzzy, who was in charge of Bobby’s brain.
Goofy over Health, educational film
The Making of Me (1989), actor Martin Short narrates the story of "his own" birth to explain the subjects of sex, conception, pregnancy and childbirth in an entertaining and educational way.
For those who haven’t visited Epcot, the park is split into two areas, featuring a World’s Fair style layout.
The front of the park is currently in a state of transition, but when the Wonders of Life pavilion opened for guests in 1989, the front of the park featured different pavilions and attractions themed around science, technology and human innovation. The back of the park features 11 different countries represented by cultural pavilions.
Beam Us Up, Spock!
From its early beginnings, The Walt Disney Company has had an extensive history partnering with talented artists and big corporations to build epic attractions.
The bench of the creative team behind Body Wars was made up of an impressive list of talented writers, Imagineers, actors and a surprising choice of director, Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy directed the short film used in the Body Wars attraction and brought along some of the cast and crew from Star Trek to assist in the production of the film.
In the starring role of Dr. Cynthia Lair, was the Oscar-nominated actress Elisabeth Shue. Shue was then known for her breakout role in The Adventures in Babysitting (1987). A month later in November of 1989, Elisabeth Shue would go on to star in the summer blockbuster Back to the Future II, making her one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood.
Captain Braddock was played by Tim Matheson, who, in his youth, was a voiceover performer for Hanna Barbera cartoons. Tim Matheson would go on to enjoy a prolific career in television, starring in several popular shows, including The West Wing, Hart of Dixie, The Good Fight and Virgin River.
The Mission Control officer in Body Wars was played by veteran actor Dakin Matthews, who would later play Admiral Patterson on Star Trek: Voyager.
Live Long and Prosper
At the time of filming Body Wars, Leonard Nimoy was well established in his career. Nimoy had just wrapped production on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier which was directed by William Shatner and was prepping to star in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Leonard Nimoy was already a seasoned director, having previously directed two full length feature films, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Nimoy used some influences from Star Trek in Body Wars, which can be seen in the camera style, the sets, the costumes, the design of the LGS 250 vehicle and the references to ‘beaming technology” in the film.
Star for a Day
On April 30th, 1989, Nimoy took time off from directing Body Wars to attend the pre-opening day celebration of Disney-MGM Studios. The event was an all-day affair at the park and well-attended by media, as well as countless stars of television, music and the movies.
Nimoy made several appearances during the pre-opening day events. He received an honorary award for his contributions to television and left a permanent impression with his handprints and autograph in the cement outside of The Chinese Theatre. Later that evening, he appeared in a star-studded parade and attended the filming of the grand opening ceremonies for Disney-MGM Studios, which would later be televised on ABC.
Below is a video of Leonard Nimoy attending the opening weekend festivities for Disney-MGM Studios, now Disney’s Hollywood Studios, in Orlando, Florida. Around the 3:40-6:00 minute mark, you can see Nimoy signing his signature and placing his hands in cement.
Please Beam Us Up
In the original 1977 Epcot Center concept designs for the "Life and Health Pavilion", the main attraction was to be an Omnimover attraction called The Incredible Journey Within. The attraction would take guests on a journey through the circulatory system aboard "Blood cell" vehicles. Featuring a 35-foot-tall heart, the concept proved difficult in attracting a sponsor and there were maintenance cost concerns, as well.
Body Wars was arguably influenced by the 1987 Joe Dante film InnerSpace, which was in turn influenced by the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage.
After the success of Star Tours in 1987 at Disneyland, plans changed to apply the new ATLAS technology to update the concept of the attraction to a thrill ride, soon to be called Body Wars.
ATLAS: Advanced Technology Leisure Application Simulator
Body Wars and her sister attraction Star Tours — which opened at Disneyland on January 9, 1987, and then later at Disney-MGM Studios on December 15, 1989— were the first Disney attractions to utilize ATLAS simulator technology.
ATLAS — Advanced Technology Leisure Application Simulator— was derived from military flight simulation technology and used six hydraulic actuators to provide a broad range of simulated movement.
In the 1980’s Walt Disney Imagineering purchased rights to utilize the technology and set themselves to work refining the technology so it could be used in theme park attractions.
The efforts of the Imagineers resulted in the iconic heart pounding, synapse firing, stomach lurching attraction, which inspired a generation of 1990’s Disney kids to want to go to medical school.
Experiencing the Body Wars Attraction
Here is a video of the Wonders of Life Pavilion, which includes the Body Wars attraction.
Below are further attraction details, and a written ‘walk through’ of the attraction.
Greetings, Intrepid Explorers
Recruits, you have completed both your level one and level two dermatopic purification screenings. The reduction sequence has begun, and you are now approaching the Miniaturization Room where the technicians will focus a particle beam on your ship. Hold on everybody, as we climb aboard the ultra-comfortable LGS 250 body probe.
Please join Captain Braddock, Dr. Lair and Dr. Fletcher with Mission Control, as we embark on a journey through inner space and boldly go where no guest has gone since 2007…on a high-speed thrill ride to the heart of adventure! Body Wars…
Another Journey Through Inner Space…
Over three decades ago, the Body Wars attraction at the Wonders of Life pavilion started taking guests on a wild ride through the human heart, lungs and brain. Featuring Epcot’s first ever thrill ride, the Wonders of Life pavilion opened seven years after Epcot Center first opened on October 1, 1982.
While Body Wars still has a strong fan following, most fans of the ride don’t realize the attraction featured a number of surprising references to Star Trek. This makes sense as one of the key contributors to the production of Body Wars is none other than Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy.
Inner space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the LGS 250. Its seven-minute mission to explore the far corners of the human body in the name of discovery; to seek out invasive foreign bodies and white blood cells. To boldly go where no Disney guest has gone before…
Inner Space, the Final Frontier
Guests would arrive at a fictional facility hosted by the MET Corporation, the Miniaturized Exploration Technologies corporation (stylized as MET), to study the effects of the white blood cells on a splinter inside the left index finger of a volunteer. While the ride is no longer in operation, the attraction remains a cult favorite among Disney fans.
Welcome to MET
When the attraction opened in 1989, Body Wars offered an immersive experience to its guests. The storyline for the attraction was as follows:
Guests were cast as an observation team recruited by MET. Different announcements were heard over the PA system as guests waited for the ride and walked through the halls of MET. Different pre-boarding screenings were ‘processed’ before guests were allowed to enter the vehicle.
Female Controller: “Attention all observation team members. Before entering a body probe vehicle, you must pass through a level one and level two dermatopic purification screen. Thank you.”
Female Controller #2: “Body probe Zulu One Seven Four is ready for boarding in bay number one. Will the scheduled spinal dura mater observation team please report to the boarding area?”
Male Controller: “Body probe Sierra Six Five Seven is online for miniaturization in bay three. Condition: code green.”
Female Controller: “Will a molecular compression specialist please report to bay two? Repeat, will a molecular compression specialist please report to bay number two?”
-Queue Script from Body Wars
The Mission
The doors would open to the loading bay, and guests would board the ship Bravo 229. The ship would then be moved from the loading bay to the miniaturization chamber, where technicians focused a particle reducer on the ship.
The ship is then miniaturized and sent under the patient's skin. When inside the patient, the ship followed white blood cells on their way to fight an infection caused by a splinter.
Mission Control: (continued) “Ten minutes ago, she (Dr. Lair) was miniaturized and beamed to the site of a splinter in the right index finger of a volunteer. Her objective is to conduct tests on the immune system’s response to that splinter. You will be onboard body probe Bravo Two-Two Niner. Your mission will take you to the location of that splinter. Once there, your probe will rendezvous with Dr. Lair, and bring her out. I’m attempting to contact Dr. Lair right now; we’ll see if we can get a report on how her experiment is proceeding. Dr. Lair, this is Mission Control, your recovery team is with me. Can you tell us how your experiment has been going?”
When the guests arrived at the splinter, they would meet up with Dr. Lair as she began to take a cell count, when she was accidentally pulled into a capillary.
Braddock followed her into the vein, entering an unauthorized area. Braddock steered the ship past the heart and into the right ventricle. The guests entered the lungs where Dr. Lair was being attacked by a white blood cell.
Braddock used his lasers to free her and have her come aboard.
Dr. Lair: “Turn! To the right! Oh! Okay, we’re in the cerebral artery. It’s taking us to the brain. We’re just above the brain, in the spinal fluid.” [sound effect]
Mission Control: “Your power is down to two percent. If you can get power, I can beam you out of there.”
Captain Braddock: “We’re gonna need some electricity, fast.”
By now, the ship was very low on power. Dr. Lair suggested that they use the brain's energy to recharge it. Passing the heart's left atrium, the ship went through the artery to get to the brain. A neuron contacted the ship, allowing it to regain power and de-miniaturize outside of the patient's body. Everyone is congratulated for a successful rescue, and guests exited the ship.
The ‘giant breathing’ sound effect (when the ship passes through the heart and lungs) was voiced by actor Frank Welker, who coincidentally did the ‘Spock screams’ for 1984’s Nimoy-directed Star Trek III: the Search for Spock.
Guests would then exit the attraction, and take a corridor which lead back into the Wonders of Life pavilion to enjoy another exhibit such as Cranium Command or The Making of Me.
Both of these attractions have a cult classic following among Florida-based Disney fans and are worth watching on YouTube.
As I was doing some additional research to round out this article, I found a newspaper article from the Sarasota Harold Tribune, titled, “Epcot Film on Birth May Prove Controversial”, dated October 30, 1989, about the new Wonders of Life pavilion opening at Epcot.
Here are some excerpts from the article. Please note, I copied portions of the article for clarity.
Thank you for joining us today as we discussed the exciting backstory behind Body Wars and the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot.
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Stay optimistic and see you real soon!
Live Long and Prosper,
Harper
Fanatic article.
You asked about the Star Trek reference, and it pertains to the Borg, villains introduced in The Next Generation. One of the characters on the Voyager show who has now showed up again in Picard is a former Borg called 7 of 9, the name referencing her role in a small group and having that cold, impersonal feel because they're mind-wiped cyborgs.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeri_Ryan
Excellent article! I feel you with the creative desire being older and less in touch with my youth. There’s so much adulthood gives and takes.
Loved the research (and video! What’s up camcorders!) into Body Wars. I had no idea that existed. In true Disney fashion, entertainment and education.