Transformers Ride opens!

Writer: Peter Chai

Michael Bay, the director and executive producer of "Transformers" arrives in style, in the 2010 limited edition of the Chevrolet Camaro.

5 Dec – Recently, Universal Studios Singapore held a grand opening of "Transformers The Ride", the world's first theme park attraction based on Hasbro's popular franchise to the public.

The immersive theme park entertainment will be Asia's most technologically advanced motion thrill ride. "Transformers" film director and executive producer, Michael Bay, who also served as the ride's creative consultant, was invited on-stage to power up a 2010 edition of the Chevrolet Camaro with the Allspark shard.

Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, Chairman of the Genting Group and Resorts World Sentosa, home to Universal Studios Singapore, said, "We set out with the vision of transforming Asia's tourism landscape when we built Resorts World Sentosa. And less than two years since its opening, Resorts World Sentosa has fulfilled this vision by becoming the region's number one destination resort.

(left to right) Tom Williams, Michael Bay and Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay standing in front of Evac.

Tan Sri Lim added, "The premiere of the world's first "Transformers" theme park attraction in Asia is iconic not only because it is another milestone for the franchise, it also highlights our unwavering commitment in delivering world-class attractions for the whole family."

Universal Studios Singapore will also be launching its Hollywood Dreams parade on 31 December. In addition, the public will see new developments for the integrated resort progressively in 2012.

Universal Studios Singapore's new ride took nearly four years in the making. "Transformers The Ride" will transport guests into the "Transformers" universe as new recruits of Nest, protecting the Allspark shard from the evil Decepticons alongside the Autobots.

The area where the guests, as new recruits of Nest, will be orientated.

Guests will board Evac, a new Autobot created especially for the attraction and unveiled for the first time. The four-minute epic motion thrill ride will be a race against the Decepticons.

Evac, ready to roll!

Mr Tom Williams, Chairman and CEO of Universal Parks and Resorts, said, ""Transformers The Ride" continues our proud tradition. I am confident that this ride will set a new standard for theme park attractions and become a beloved crown jewel not only here at Universal Studios Singapore, but also at Universal Studios Hollywood when it opens there next spring."

"For all TRANSFORMERS fans, the hyper-realism of this ride will make it the ultimate one-of-a-kind immersive experience. Included in this ride are many of their favourite larger-than-life characters, including OPTIMUS PRIME and BUMBLEBEE, and this brings the brand to life in a whole new way," said Mr John Frascotti, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Hasbro, Inc.

Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a division of Lucasfilm Ltd is mainly responsible for creating the ground-breaking visual effects exclusively for this attraction. Some of the work involved developing all of the ride's pre-show media as well as the hyper-realistic 3D scenes within the attraction.

One of the hyper-realistic 3D scenes mentioned, which is of Optimus Prime battling Megatron.

""Transformers The Ride" is one of the most complex and technically challenging projects we have ever worked on. Creating a seamless and imperceptible blend between the incredible physical sets and our computer generated imagery was a real challenge," said Mr. Jeff White, visual effects supervisor at ILM.

He added, "It pushed the state-of-the-art in ride technology and computer graphics with the results being something that we are very proud of. The project was worked on simultaneously with "Transformers: Dark of the Moon", the most recent "Transformers" feature film, released during the summer of 2011 which provided much synergy in the process and also provided the ride with unmatched authenticity in the sets, action scenes and characters while telling its own unique story."

Michael Bay, the creative consultant for the new "Transformers The Ride" theme park posing with Bumblebee.

"Transformers The Ride" is located within Sci-Fi City, which is one of the seven zones of Universal Studios Singapore. Other attractions nearby include a "Transformers" retail store, the "Transformers Supply Vault", and a new food/beverage venue, the Starbot Café. In Further, theme park guests will have photo opportunities with a walking Optimus Prime character who measures a whopping 2.9 meters in height, and a 2.3 meter tall walking Bumblebee character.