Tokyo Disneyland on Wednesday started up a new 100-million-dollar ride based on Walt Disney Pictures’ computer animation blockbuster Monsters, Inc. produced by Pixar Animation Studios.
Hundreds of visitors queued to catch a four-minute ride at the opening of the attraction called “Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek!”, the first new ride to open in five years at the popular Tokyo Bay area theme park.
A tram takes visitors through the world of the monsters who in the plot of the 2001 movie generate power in their city, Monstropolis, from the screams of scared children, but later harness their laughter instead. “Tokyo Disney Resort... is the perfect place for our friends at Monsters Incorporated to collect laughter,” Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said at the opening ceremony.
Park operator Oriental Land Co. spent 10 billion yen (100 million dollars) on building the attraction sponsored by electronics giant Panasonic.
Fumio Ohtsubo, president of Panasonic, said: “Monsters, Inc. is an attraction fully reflecting Disney’s ample imagination. We surely hope that this will be the number one attraction.”
The attraction, located in the park’s Tomorrow Land, is the park’s first to open since it introduced “Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters” in 2004 based on another Disney-Pixar animated movie, “Toy Story.”
Despite the economic slump, the number of visitors to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea entertainment resorts in the year to March 31 reached a record 27,221,000, up 7.1 percent from the previous year, the company said.
{{/usCountry}}Despite the economic slump, the number of visitors to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea entertainment resorts in the year to March 31 reached a record 27,221,000, up 7.1 percent from the previous year, the company said.
{{/usCountry}}