Glendale, California-based Galaxy Digimation has created a thirty-minuteanimated newscast for Universal Studios' The Amazing Adventures ofSpider-Man ride in Orlando, Florida. The Spider-Man ride integratesroller-coaster thrills, realistic motion simulation, and stereographic 3Dcomputer-generated effects while immersing riders in a story thattransforms them into active photojournalists. Galaxy Digimation's newscastplays on monitors while riders wait in line inside the newsroom of TheDaily Bugle, the publication where Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, works as areporter. The newscast reports a fast-breaking story: New York City is in adire state since the evil Doctor Octopus and his gang of villains, known asthe Sinister Syndicate, have stolen the Statue of Liberty. Riders arebriefed about the experimental news-gathering vehicles known as Scoops thatthey must board in order to take photos for The Daily Bugle. They will beon the scene to capture the action as Spider-Man fights the SinisterSyndicate for control of the city. This introductory segment requiredseamless integration of 2D and 3D animation. Galaxy Digimation usedCambridge System's Animo software for the entire project, from line teststo compositing scenes involving 3D elements integrated with 2D animation.Galaxy Digimation is a full-service 2D and 3D animation company that usesdigital and traditional ink-and-paint methods. The company's experienceincludes TV animation, direct-to-video, feature films, interactive CD-ROMs,commercials and promotional sequences. Galaxy Digimation has studios inGlendale, California; Seoul, Korea; and Manila, Philippines.
Joe Szadkowski wrote about the Spider-Man ride in "Watch Out Disney!Spider-Man is Coming to Orlando" in the May 1999 issue of Animation WorldMagazine.
