STAR TOURS: The Ride That Changed Disney Forever

A trip through the history of Disney's Star Tours ride and how this unconventional addition to the Star Wars mythos led to Disney's eventual purchase of Lucas' franchise, including a behind the scenes look at the making of the ride, its Adventures Continue update, and a discussion of how both Star Wars and Disney have evolved over the years.
#starwars
#disney
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[@MattDraper]

What’s your favorite non-movie piece of Star Wars media?

[@superbogopop]

The Jar Jar lollipop where you have to make out with him is top 3 at least

[@RedDragonM1]

Doesn't matter what I say. This fandom is so toxic, no matter WHAT I say, I'm WRONG. There's too much drama, bulling, anger, sexism, racism, and even flat out hate. I don't like everything about star wars, but I don't go on youtube and make a two hour video about how Kathleen Kennedy should get fired or how Rey is a "mary sue" when they missed plot points that explain things. Live and let live, and act like ADULTS. So, I'm going to say this: my favorite color is blue.

[@stainedclassv0114]

Hard choice, but either the original Thrawn Trilogy, KOTOR, or the Legacy comic book series.

[@jeenkzk5919]

I’d say Shadows of the Empire! It felt the most like it fit in the original Star Wars trilogy!

[@MagdaVillafuerte-bw7dq]

@@RedDragonM1 you seem to have a bias and you are part of the reason the fanbase is so divided. You get angry at any criticism of the sequel trilogy and you generalize accusing everyone who disagrees with you of being a horrible person while others also accuse you and others that think like you of being a horrible person. A true fan has a critical eye, they don't accept everything they are given, the fans have a right to criticize something if they think it's bad or insulting. Simple as.

[@armandotorres8962]

The evolution of Matt Draper is complete. All the comics, shows, movies and video games led up to this. Theme park attractions videos!

[@camm5981]

he’s entering his defunctland arc

[@MCastleberry1980]

I love Disneyland. My most bittersweet moment was riding the original Star Tours for the last time in 2010 when it was about to close for the new version. Took lots of pictures that day.

[@SAPProd]

My daughter and I rode on Galaxy’s Edge the first year it was open. It took 3 hours to ride it, but we loved it. Immediately afterwards, we rode Star Tours 3 times in a row with no wait whatsoever and loved that too. Great experiences.

[@MrocnyZbik]

I took the Star Tour when I was around 7, early 90' in Paris. The believability of crashing into metal, spaceships and space ice for 7 years old was very, very real. I screamed, cried, and remember it even now almost 30 years later. 7 years old that only heard about Star Wars, in space flight with weird robot and his dad. Good times.

[@graefx]

That redfly Darth Maul and maybe Talon video game lives in my brain rent free. I'm glad Rex got another gig

[@CinemaSeven]

Lucas without a beard at 7:11 is something I never expected to see.

[@catalyst6313]

Rode it 10 times in a row one rainy day at Dland to see the different versions. One of the funniest things I ever done there. Riding it when it opened in 87 to today I still love it. Now if they can get Smugglers Run to have more versions that would be epic!

[@kaiwilliams4173]

My family actually did Star Tours in '87 or '88. I was 5 years old, and had only seen Return of the Jedi, but I knew it was Star Wars. It was fun. Doing the trench run on the ride was really cool.

[@peacexlove]

I’m really not a big Star Wars fan anymore but I definitely get nostalgic over the early 80s presentation of Star Wars. I came of age during the late 80s and early 90s so I love the look and feel of that stuff.

[@LoganWood121]

"Epic Stunt Spectacular Exclamation Point!" 😅 This is what Draper gives that others can't.

[@jonathansalazar4630]

Looking at star tours it makes you realize how simple things used to be when star wars wasn't the mega behemoth of a franchise it is today and was just a great film trilogy the future from there on out it went through the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to the handling of the series and the reactions of the fanbase.

[@Peppers19781978]

SW was still massive back then and lets not forget that with the OT we also got the Holiday Special, two Ewoks movies, the Ewoks cartoon and Droids cartoon. Lucas was very much into milking SW back then. Many close to him including his producer, Harrison Ford, pal Francis Ford Coppola said that by the time they were making ROTJ, Lucas cared more about toy sales because he made more money there than with the actual movie. You can read how drastic the changes were to the scripts. Han was going to die but Lucas wouldnt allow it. As Ford said....dead Han doesnt sell toys. The ending was also darker.

[@mandalorianhunter1]

This was great Matt, I have yet to be to Disney despite being almost 30. When I went to my comic book store it was interesting to see Marvel helped Star Wars publish comics back in the 70s and 80s and now they are back at it now due to both being under Disney. This is a great seeing how everything comes together

[@stephenvelez9710]

Star wars still brings me joy. Is the Disney stuff perfect? No, but a lot of it is pretty good!

[@Charlemagne_III]

It's all trash.

[@ZillMob]

Condor freak here! I would absolutly have gone on a condorman ride. I used to rent that thing all the time as a kid. Loved it

[@stanley5745]

Star Tours is one aspect of Star Wars I knew very little about, so this was very enlightening. I'd love to see more Star Wars videos like this.

[@jasonmaclean719]

This had the memories flooding back Matt. When we went it was always Star Tours, Capt. Eo, and Space Mountain in that exact order. Every time.

[@BryanW.]

The sequels and galaxies edge is a thumb in the eye of those Star Wars fans who grew up with the OT. That being said, this was a fantastic video! 😁

[@ryanomiller]

Star Tours will always be one of my favorite rides. I could ride it on repeat…especially compared to smugglers run

[@Chrisdrumz]

Went on Star Tours back in 87 when it was pretty much brand new. It was a LOT of fun.

[@bluespaceman7937]

I remember buying a Star Wars Empire Sourcebook at the gift shop either after or before going on the ride. Those were the days!

[@robertdochter277]

I miss the old safety videos before the ride. Yes, they were niche and 80's, but they were also whimsical and fun.

[@FuzzyGlowCar]

7:00 That picture of Lucas without a beard is surreal. Like something from another dimension.

[@gordtep]

Learned a lot about the history of Star Tours on here -- great video!

[@johnpittsii7524]

Thanks for the amazing video Matt. Big Star Wars fan ❤

[@FredFredrickson-bip-bang]

I remember riding it back in the day in Orlando and thinking "that sounds like Pee-Wee". Then realizing "That IS Pee-Wee"! Haha! Thanks for mentioning Paul Rubens. I watched specifically looking for his mention.

[@michaelangelioliebers7601]

I also liked the ride and was on the ride myself on Star Tours since January 29 1987 came out with Artoo De too and c3po and being strapped on the ride and going thru the space station being lost and last time I was there on my birthday June 28 2008 I turned 38 years old ❤.

[@maxr7616]

always glad to see your videos :)

[@Nono-hk3is]

Thanks Matt!

[@SprocketGames]

I think it would have been cool if you mentioned Halex at some point in your video, even if just a nod. Halex was another attempt of Disney to ride the Star Wars wave of popularity. Someone made a pretty neat KZbin documentary about Halex you can watch. May the force be with you! 👍

[@jasonblalock4429]

13:30 My favorite detail in the original version was Rex shouting "I've always wanted to do this!" as he starts the trench run. Have Death Stars become commonplace?? Haha.

[@ginofrancejr555]

Excellent video Matt as a star wars fan I did not know that star tours was a star wars ride thank you for this knowledge. P.s. you should cover Disney's EPCOT Center and DISNEY CHANNEL IN THE 00'S NEXT

[@vaderfett3229]

Hi Matt! Great video as always! I visited STAR TOURS in Orlando waaaaay back in 2000 and I loved it! (Matt - will you ever get round to doing a video on THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY a.k.a. The Greatest Film Ever Made?)

[@jonathanfeldheim6554]

I like Star Tours more than any of the Star Wars movies, especially Star Wars. Feels weird watching without my seat moving.

[@sir_fabulou571]

Loved it!

[@seanodeli7031]

Lucas was slow to push into new deals cuz George was getting divorced it had nothing to do w holiday special which did solid ratings. You always forgot the rpg deal which impressed Lucas so much it he told Timothy zahn to use it as a bible for the first trilogy of expanded novels. Lucas later had to reopen licensing deals pre prequel trilogy and used shadows of the empire as a marketing licensing balloon to set up phantom of the menace deals

[@Zombie_Trooper]

I miss loving Star Wars... The fandom just became too toxic and killed it for me, now I just avoid talking about how I love the entire franchise because its just inviting the vampire in. But I do love stopping into Galaxy's Edge every year and getting that feeling back for a day.

[@MARCSEIDis]

Thought this was a Defunctland episode for a second lmfao

[@Johnmrobinson-vb5vd]

I went on the one at Hollywood studios at walt Disney world and its a real fun experience

[@rolfathan]

SYK: Star Wars didn't have a toy licenses from one company to the other, Kenner and Hasbro turned into the same company, any licenses Kenner had just transferred over, most of the staff sculpting the figures stayed the same, the line, dimensions, articulation basically went on uninterrupted because of this. This is also why Jurassic Park figures by Kenner also eventually were done by Hasbro. They didn't lose that license until they did a terrible job on the Jurassic World figures to the point the license was then given to Mattel.

[@OptimusNero]

2:48 It's pretty curious to think that the "Splinter of Mind's Eye" book, was written as a script to make a less expensive sequel without Harrison Ford in case the first movie didn't make enough money to produce "The Empire Strikes Back". With that said, I'm sure this dialog occurred: George Lucas: "We've written a second script for the sequel in case we don't get enough money to rehire you. I'm sorry to tell you that I'm sure we'll be forced to use it. I'm afraid no one will watch the stupid movie I made." Harrison: "Meh. Don't worry about that, George. Not that I've grown too fond of this job or anything. In fact, some guy named Scott wants to hire me for another sci-fi movie that sure will have a better box office than your movie..."

[@spitt0110]

man, i've watched so many videos about star tours and pov cam rides, I almost forgot I had seen the original tours before they started changing it up. it was looking pretty rough at that point.

[@petereyp]

What about captain EO ? First collab between disney and Lucas! ;)

[@stonekidman2306]

Great video. Nice restraint on not using disco Star Wars.

[@thedon-e6514]

Defunctland would like it’s KZbin channel back thanks Matt 😛 Of course comparing you to Defunctland is a compliment 👍

[@MattDraper]

I love Defunctland!

[@johnwhitney5840]

​@@MattDraperwhat's up Matt how are you doing I love defunctland and I love star wars and I love star tours and I remember seeing revenge of the sith when I was 5 years old I've been a star wars fan ever since and I went to Disney world back in 2016 I ride star tours 6 times and I enjoyed

[@Nono-hk3is]

You kind of make it sound like Lucasfilm was desperate but unable to make any money on star wars during the 80s. I won't say they weren't interested in that, but it's important to have some context. First, there weren't many precedents for the absurd profitability of intellectual property franchises back then. While it's true star wars created the phenomenon of tie-in merchandising, the market potential was not as huge (precisely because the people willing to spend so widely on that stuff today were kids without incomes back then--lucas did raise the first generation of franchise consumers, and taught Disney how to do it.) Second, Lucasfilm was never a publicly trade company. So lucas never had the "responsibility" to always do everything possible to try to maximize profits on behalf of some shareholder. Obviously, his company eventually followed that model (probably because of the high demand to get a merchandise license), but at least through the 80s, Lucasfilm was primarily focused on whatever George was interested in, creatively or otherwise. Finally, sequels were relatively rare, and remakes rarer still. When they did happen, it was usually due to some creative need, either to complete an obviously unfinished epic story, or to retell an old story to a new generation. So audiences/consumers were not conditioned to expect another chapter of their favorite story, well, ever, much less every couple of years. But again, the market demand grew, so the supply rose to meet the demand.

[@MABMGuitar]

Brought to you by Monsanto!

[@Marcus51090]

They also canonised that pilot droid in the tv shows etc

[@DiegoReviews]

EA 🤢 Jedi Survivor slaps tho! Excellent video, Mateo.

[@MattDraper]

My man!

[@MutantsInDisguise]

This is a must to every hateful Disney SW hater.

[@guilherme5094]

Disney's Star Wars is an inferior product. And nothing can change that.

[@MagdaVillafuerte-bw7dq]

Just because Disney helped there doesn't mean the management of the saga is good, in fact it's obviusly flawed.

[@MutantsInDisguise]

@@MagdaVillafuerte-bw7dq who is denying Disney's flaws? I just wanted to piss a SW fan who thinks Legends is sacred.

[@SalivatingSteve]

10:44 RIP Paul Rubens. Was that the catalyst for you to make this video?

[@matthewbolitho-jones]

I like Star Tours

[@trooper326]

In canon that's the 3rd death star that the rebels/new republic discovered shortly after the battle of endor. I guess the second death star was just a decoy.

[@BoyNamedSue4]

As someone who’s spent a grand total of one day at the Disney parks I don’t have nostalgia a lot of other people have. It’s a fun ride but it feels weird with its location considering there’s a whole land for Star Wars

[@Busto]

Why does Daisy look like one of their spurned lovers @ 4:30? 🤣

[@adidas4275]

Love Star Tours …. Also love Star Wars post Disney purchase. The new content is fantastic & while Lucas does a great job & was a genius…. I really like the new content Love the old star tours & the new star tours

[@AdamYJ]

Don’t know if you mention this later, but Star Tours isn’t the first push into new media. It’s predated by the Droids and Ewoks cartoons and the Ewoks TV movies.

[@AT-AT-AT-AT]

disney vengeance is now complete

[@lizciampa]

We still love Star Tours. It’s far superior to Smuggler’s Run, in my opinion. I do wish they would have one specific ride “theater” that mixed only original trilogy scenes.

[@ihavequestions8914]

Star Tours was fun, especially because knowledge of the "canon" was not necessary. Leave it to fans and the money-pennys to run it into the mud.

[@AngelPerez-tu1nk]

A big part of me always regrets not being able to enjoy things like Star Tours.

[@dodgerthedudeoriginal]

Ever gonna make a video on Star Trek?

[@MattDraper]

I’ve made 1 Trek video but definitely want to make more someday

[@86wellacre]

It’s sad Disney didn’t use some of Lucas treatments for the sequel trilogy

[@Nono-hk3is]

RIP Peewee

[@MattyStoked]

"They're friends" lol

[@eljefemaximo5420]

Think they'll replace 3po with Grogu?

[@shampoovta]

I loved Star Tours but I could hit the pipe in Inner Space. 😆 We had that script down pat timed to know how long to load it then hit the blind spot in the ride and leave a trail of smoke behind. 😉 That script has a deeper meaning to some of us. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXKWpnmhe5Z0b9E I still giggle listening to it. Ah kids.

[@dutchrednas]

There is no sound 😅

[@dawwe8869]

Eyy

[@JoeyArmstrong2800]

Star Wars was already heading into the tank long before Disney got involved.

[@isaac_alexander_v]

The new star tours looks like a damn cartoon

[@briandavis6898]

Galaxy's Edge is a disaster. They needed to move or recreate star tours and Jedi academy. Waste of space

[@80sKidfromthe90s]

Of course back then, Disney was very different. A time where they didn’t care about money so much.

[@robertoso8796]

i was so bummed out when they replaced the original star tours where it was always his first flight. seeing the original on youtube sends chills down my spine because it's surreal how i feel like i've actually been there leaving the transport bay and taking the wrong turn because i started riding it since i was 6-7 before i even knew what star wars was. even the ride queue was mesmerizing with the ads for trips to endor and the mon calamaris in the control booth. i actually saw spaceballs on hbo way before star wars so i thought the whole thi g was like a spaceballs ripoff.