How Disney transformed Test Track for a new generation | Imagineer interview
Test Track is now officially reopened at Epcot in Walt Disney World, and we interviewed Imagineer Dan Brookwell, senior production designer, on his involvement of the makeover.
“It really is about this notion that we’ve always been dreaming about a bright future, a future where transportation and mobility bring us into new opportunities and lifestyles.”
Artwork courtesy of Disney
With the 2.0 version having a slightly shorter lifespan (2012-2024) than its predecessor (1999-2012), we inquired on if the decision to overhaul Test Track came from the attraction’s sponsor, General Motors, or from Disney themselves.
“General Motors has been a sponsor of the pavilion since opening day, even going back to World of Motion in 1982,” Brookwell stated. “The last version was a Chevrolet sponsorship and that was the vision of Chevrolet. Tt was not much of a change, just going back to the parent company.”
Artwork courtesy of Disney
You might wonder how much say an attraction’s sponsor has when it comes to collaborating on a new project with Walt Disney Imagineering. When asked, Dan replied, “It was a really big collaboration with General Motors and Disney. We worked really hand in hand. Especially when we think what’s the future of transportation, General Motors is pioneering it, so it’s working along with them to figure out how we bring that to our guests.”
Photo courtesy of Disney
The new iteration has callbacks to the original World of Motion attraction that predates Test Track.
“We went back into the legacy of Epcot and the pavilion for some inspiration,” Brookwell explained. “One of the things that previous versions of Test Track did was tell a very behind-the-scenes story. It was either a car-safety story or a car-design story. We wanted to bring that humanity sense to the project. World of Motion had a great spirit of optimism about it — an excitement of the future and showing how transportation is taking us into new opportunities. We looked back to World of Motion for inspiration on how to represent that optimistic spirit, and I think what we ended up with is so uniquely Epcot.”
Photo courtesy of Disney
Not wanting to give away all the attraction’s secrets so guests can find them for themselves, Brookwell hinted at some Easter eggs to World of Motion.
“In our garage scene, some of the décor and propping we really looked into old scenes of the attraction. And not just World of Motion. We have nods to Epcot and previous versions of Test Track. We knew going into it this that the fans love these rides. We’re fans, too, and we want to represent that best we can.”
Photo by Matt Roseboom
Technology is quickly moving along. One can’t help but wonder how long an attraction’s vision of the future will be relevant before becoming outdated. When questioned with this idea, Dan was optimistic about the future, stating, “It was important to us that we wanted the future to feel obtainable, that we wanted these scenes that we’re representing what’s next to feel like they were just on the horizon. In our finale scene, we represent far-out visions of the future. It’s all about celebrating that legacy and innovation curve we’re on.”
Photo by Matt Roseboom
Watch the video version of our interview with Brookwell below:
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