"Star Tours evolved from the first presentation we gave to George of a possible ride that was a little more complicated than our average attraction -- you could go every which way and choose the direction," Baxter recalls. "George said, 'Well that's great, but what can we do to get something going right now?' So we looked around and found this fantastic device that was being used at the Air Force and the government to simulate excursions into space. We thought it was a natural fit. We combined the space of fantasy that George had created with real world technology, and we ended up with an attraction that would give the general public a brand new experience."
Making sure that the excitement of Star Wars more than just a visual and aural experience also proved appealing to Lucas. Star Tours would provide the first opportunity for Star Wars fans to actually experience such thrilling physical sensations as rocketing into hyperspace and blasting into a battle between Imperial TIE fighters and Rebel X-wings.
Star Tours was conceived as the first motion-based application where guests were put into a simulator in a theme park. Up until that time, simulators had been used solely by the airline industry to train pilots, and by the government to train Air Force pilots. (WDI explored the use of flight simulators as early as the 1970s, when it initially researched various technologies for Epcot in Florida.
In 1985, Baxter and WDI show producer Tom Fitzgerald joined Lucas and a small group of Industrial Light & Magic designers at a story session at ILM's Northern California headquarters.
"George had an interesting idea," says Baxter. "There's a public preconception that a Disney attraction is completely safe -- because it's true. But George thought it might be a nice twist to interject an element of 'danger.' He came up with the idea for the opening fiasco -- the hitches are contrary to what one expects from a Disney attraction. You think you're going to Endor, but the real tour turns out to be something quite different!
"Tony and I spent the following night holed up in our Sausalito hotel room pinning file cards on the wall to indicate story elements, special effects, and simulator motions," Fitzgerald adds. "We were envisioning Star Tours not just as a film experience, but as a fantasy-adventure synchronized film, with simulated motion and terrific special effects." By the next morning, they had the first draft of a concept for Star Tours.
"We were determined to combine a strong story line with a thrill ride, a hard thing to pull off," Fitzgerald continues. "We also wanted to introduce at least one new character."
Lucas came up with the idea of a pilot, who turned out to be Rex, the rookie pilot. Rex began as a "cosmic bus driver," a counterpart, perhaps, to the wisecracking Jungle Cruise guides at Disneyland.
"We had to be selective when it came to deciding what fast curves to throw people," Baxter says. "The attraction's speed makes it a showcase of impressions rather than details. You don't fly by the ice crystal in Star Tours; you go through it. You don't have a nice smooth landing; you crash. As it turns out, you enjoy a story and a thrill ride, all contrary to the usual Disney experience."
