| Every Imagineering creation begins life as an
idea or a simple sketch, but then, before it becomes a reality, the new
attraction is drawn, painted and designed down to the smallest detail. Crush’s Coaster already has a long and
interesting history of concepts, ideas and abandoned designs. From Sea
Turtle Spin to Turtle Twister, the attraction has become a unique example of
modern Disney Imagineering, created entirely for the Parisian resort. Here, we celebrate the art, creation and design of
Crush’s Coaster, through
concepts and plans spanning several years… Concept Art This is the full collection of Crush’s
Coaster concept art, annotated with its release date and additional
notes about each concept. The pieces have been listed in as close
to chronological order as possible, with early ideas first and final designs
last. General concept art for the land is included throughout. Click images to expand. |
 | General Toon Studio Concept 1 Released: 17th January 2005, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts presentation The first modest concept art for the new Toon Studio area already features a
Crush roller coaster fairly similar to the final design. However, the
entrance is via the coral in front of the backdrop and there is no outside
track element. | |
 | General Toon Studio Concept 2 Released: 11th February 2005, Walt Disney Company Annual General Meeting The second Toon Studio concept is far grander, showing a huge
industrial-style showbuilding with track curving out of three holes in the
top of the undersea backdrop. Coral and other undersea themeing is
featured around the area. | |
 | Early Crush’s Turtle Twister attraction poster Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening An early concept for a Crush’s Turtle Twister attraction poster, showing
guests seated facing each other in a fully turtle-themed vehicle, swimming
past undersea life. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 1 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening The attraction from outside, showing vehicles exiting and re-entering like a
classic ghost train, whilst guests point towards the entrance in the pink
rockwork. Lighting illuminates the area on a metal lighting rig. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 2 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening An earlier entrance concept, with guests entering between the coral towards
the large EAC backdrop. At this point in the attraction’s creation,
the Sydney Fishing Harbour theme had yet to be decided for the queue and
loading area. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 3 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening Entering into the tunnels in the coral and rockwork at the front of the
attraction. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 4 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening Watching a turtle glide past on the current from the queue line, somewhat
like the original design of Space Mountain at Disneyland Park. It is
unknown whether this feature has been preserved in the final design. | |
 | Early vehicle concept Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening A very early vehicle concept, showing four guests seated in two rows, facing
the same direction. Several different vehicle designs can be seen
throughout this series of concepts. | |
 | Early back-to-back vehicle design Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening A later concept, showing the final chosen back-to-back seating arrangement,
yet with the head and flippers of the turtle which were later discarded. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 5 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening The original loading area concept, with a sea-bed theme. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 6 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening Beginning the ride under the sea, with fish swimming around and several
lighting effects. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 7 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening Early undersea scenes. The outside drop does not appear to be featured
on this series of concept art. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 8 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening Inside the “dark ride” section of the attraction, Nemo and Squirt arrive,
interacting with guests via digital projections. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 9 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening A closer look at the proposed digital projections, before the turtles goes
off-course into darker regions of the sea bed… | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 10 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening The scenes get darker as a strange and foreboding atmosphere builds. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 11 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening Suddenly, the bright light of the angler fish bursts out of the darkness
towards guests! | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 12 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening The darkness continues, with strange white specks beginning to circle around
the guests. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 13 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening In an instant, the guests are surrounded by the bright pink glow of floating
jellyfish, hovering all around their turtle. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 14 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening There’s no way out but through the sunken submarine, surrounded by “party
balloons”! | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 15 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening The creaking submarine is grim and rusty, filled with sediment and undersea
dust. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 16 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening And then, when the guests least expect it, Bruce, Anchor and Chum burst out
of several holes in the body of the submarine, slamming into it to try to
reach their new prey. In the final design, it is likely only Bruce
will be featured. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 17 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening At the top of the lift hill, we manage to find Squirt again! He
describes the wonders of the EAC current… | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 18 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening …before being joined by Nemo. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 19 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening Then, it’s time to “grab shell, dude!”, as the coaster ride begins with a
swooping downward curve. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 20 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening Guests flying past on the deep blue ocean current. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 21 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening After a few more curves, the guests’ turtle joins the EAC itself, with
turtles coasting along on all sides of the blue vortex. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 22 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening The turtle takes a dive deeper towards the ocean floor, through rays of
lights coming from the surface. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 23 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening Guests enjoying the thrills of the ocean currents. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 24 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening Back on the seabed, Nemo and Squirt reappear. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 25 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening …waving goodbye to guests and guiding them back to the load/unload
station. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister Concept 26 Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening Guests unload in an undersea environment. | |
 | Entrance signage Released: 23rd November 2005, Leaked document Sketch of the entrance signage to be located along the entrance path, just
before the canopy of the outside queue begins. Lighting will be hidden
amongst the algae base, whilst Crush’s head moves from side to side.
Despite the name change the design is reported to have been preserved,
albeit with an altered logo. | |
 | Outdoor covered queue concept Released: 23rd November 2005, Leaked document A pencil sketch showing what appears to be the final concept for the outside
queue, themed to a dried-up harbour floor with the (un-themed, since it is
“out of shot”) roof acting as a “pier” above. | |
 | General Toon Studio Concept 3 Released: 30th September 2006, Toon Studio construction walls The key final concept art for Toon Studio. Studio 5 is still depicted
slightly incorrect, with the arched facade further forward than on the final
design, whilst the rockwork and paths around the attraction aren’t entirely
accurate. | |
 | General Toon Studio Concept 3 (Close-Up) Released: 30th September 2006, Toon Studio construction walls A close-up of Crush’s Coaster on the final Toon Studio concept art.
Notice the rusty metal roof of the queue area, the wooden decking-styled
flooring and the tunnel through the rockwork for the attraction’s exit. | Concept Models Concept art can give the feel and
atmosphere of an Imagineering project, but when the time comes to test the
blue sky idea in reality, the Concept Model allows the designers to see the
attraction in full 3D. Through detailed modelling and button-hole
cameras, they can see exactly what the guest will see, months or even years
before the project is complete. Click images to expand. |
 | Final Concept Model – Image 1 Released: 5th January 2007, Disney Filmparade TV special The first bend in the ride’s track, leading towards the first lift hill and
the outside drop. In the middle is the main control room of the
attraction (blue), with animatronic seagulls dotted about its roof. | |
 | Final Concept Model – Image 2 Released: 5th January 2007, Disney Filmparade TV special The entire load/unload area. Steps lead across the track from the
queue to the boarding platform, through turnstiles. The blue control
desk is visible, with a backstage entrance hidden through the purple door.
The seagulls and blue control room can also be seen. | |
 | Final Concept Model – Image 3 Released: 5th January 2007, Disney Filmparade TV special Guests-eye-view of the unloading side of the platform, from the angle of the
attraction’s exit. The blue control kiosk and its seagull inhabitants is
visible directly ahead. | |
 | Final Concept Model – Image 4 Released: 5th January 2007, Disney Filmparade TV special After the first bend in the dark ride section of the attraction, the first
of two identical digital projections in this area can be seen ahead.
Another is featured at the location of the camera, so all guests can see the
show scenes perfectly. | |
 | Final Concept Model – Image 5 Released: 5th January 2007, Disney Filmparade TV special The first bend in the dark ride section in full, complete with colourful
coral and rocks. The scenes are much thinner than normal dark ride
scenes, with lighting and project effects used instead to give a sense of
depth to the undersea world. | |
 | Final Concept Model – Image 6 Released: 5th January 2007, Disney Filmparade TV special The camera moves out of the dark ride section and boarding area (where the
red fa�ade is visible at the front) to show the full layout of the
dark-ride/coaster ensemble and how it all fits into the two distinct
building sections. | |
 | Final Concept Model – Images 7, 8, 9 Released: 5th January 2007, Disney Filmparade TV special Inside the “coaster” section of the attraction, the track is fully marked
out. The areas surrounded by horizontal white lines show where the
track will be enclosed by tunnels or, for example, the submarine around the
lift hill. | Layout Plans Layout plans, diagrams and blueprints are,
of course, the foundation of the final attraction design to be built in the
park. They also give a sense of how the attraction will fit into its
surroundings and the exact layout of the exterior, waiting line and ride
area. Click images to expand. |
 | Early Toon Studio attractions plan Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening This early layout plan was shown at the fan event in September 2005, showing
the location of the two major new Toon Studio attractions. The exterior
design of Crush’s Coaster later changed greatly, with an odd triangular
section of the building shown on this early diagram. | |
 | Crush’s Turtle Twister layout guide Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening A full-colour early layout guide to the various scenes and elements of the
attraction, such as the jellyfish, EAC and submarine with Bruce the shark.
Bruce has since shrunk and moved to the right of the lift hill, whilst this
plan also shows an underwater-themed loading station rather than the final
Sydney Fishing Harbour design. | |
 | Basic Maurer S�hne Spinning Coaster layout Released by: Maurer S�hne GmbH & Co. KG The basic track design of Maurer S�hne’s Xtended SC-2000 spinning coaster
chosen for the attraction, before being given its extra track and Disney’s
unrivalled thematic touch. | Our own full, detailed layout plan of
Crush’s Coaster will be added shortly. Logos Both for advertising outside the park and
recognisable signage around the attraction, the art design of logos has long
been an important step in the Imagineering process. Going through
several name changes, Crush’s Coaster already has a large back-catalogue of
different designs. Click images to expand. |
 | Crush’s
Turtle Twister logo Released: 10th September 2005, Disney Celebration Evening An early attraction poster reveals the most well-known early project name,
though the “Turtle Twister” text hasn’t been distorted with a wave in the
same way as “Nemo” in the film logo. The poster also shows an old
concept for the vehicles, with guests facing each other in a basin style
seat. | |
 | Crush’s
Turtle Twister entrance signage Released: 23rd November 2005, Leaked document Part of the entrance signage to be installed above the first section of the
queue line, showing the proposed Crush’s Turtle Twister logo. The
design is reported to have been conserved despite the name change, with
“Crush’s Coaster” replacing the old title. | |
 | Crush’s
Coaster preliminary logo Released: 10th July 2006, Disneyland Resort Paris marketing release The first logo released for Crush’s Coaster shows all of the spaces in the
words of “Coaster” filled with silhouettes, first with Crush and Squirt and
then by a generic fish design. The letters also have more blue filling
between them, with a much brighter yellow than the final design. | |
 | Crush’s
Coaster final logo Released: 10th September 2006, Disneyland Resort Paris marketing release The final logo design features the addition of Nemo and Crush themselves, as
seen in the key visuals (below). Only the “o” of “Coaster” now
features a silhouette, a birds-eye view of a swimming turtle. The
colours all have a strong yellow tint, and the legal tagline “Inspired by
Disney-Pixar’s Finding Nemo” has been added above. | Advertising
Visuals Disney always looks to make its new
attractions look more interesting and marketable than before, and so concept
art has now largely become disused in the mainstream advertising of new
additions. Instead, the marketing teams create key visuals and
supporting visuals to give a strong sense of what the new attraction
entails, whilst including as many characters and as much visual interest as
possible, following all the design conventions of a movie poster, for
example. Click images to expand. |
 | Crush’s
Coaster Key Visual (Vertical) Released: 12th September 2006, Disneyland Resort Paris marketing release The Crush’s Coaster marketing key visual, used for brochures and print
advertising of the new attraction. Notice the incorrect Vekoma coaster
track, used to highlight to the public this is clearly a roller coaster,
plus Sleeping Beauty Castle rather than the Earffel Tower. Dory and
Marlin are noticeable in their absence, too. | |
 | Crush’s
Coaster Key Visual (Horizontal) Released: 30th September 2006, Toon Studio construction walls A landscape version of the Crush’s Coaster marketing key visual, found on
the construction walls around the Toon Studio area. | |
 | Beth Clapperton with a Crush’s Coaster ride vehicle Released: 28th January 2007, Disneyland Resort Paris press visual Beth Clapperton, who poses next to one the turtle shell ride vehicles,
holding plans to the entire track layout. The photo appears to have been
taken on the break-run of the attraction’s “coaster” section, likely
sometime in mid-2006 since the building does not appear to be fully
enclosed. It also seems restraints and seat backs had yet to be fitted to
the first vehicle at this point. | |
