James Gunn Teases Possible Animatronic Groot For Guardians Of The Galaxy Ride

Forum 3 years ago

James Gunn Teases Possible Animatronic Groot For Guardians Of The Galaxy Ride

James Gunn just teased an animatronic Groot that might be featured in the Guardians Of The Galaxy ride coming to Epcot in Walt Disney World. Guardians of the Galaxy have become one of Marvel's biggest franchises, winning the world over with their quippy antics and fun space adventure movies. Out of the group, one character has stood out the most, becoming an instant fan favorite. That character would be none other than the lovable talking tree, Groot. Audiences have seen several iterations of the character now as an adult, teen, and baby. He's been in two Avengers films and has plenty more Marvel movies still to go.

Due to the overwhelming popularity of the Guardians of the Galaxy characters, Disney has decided to build them their own ride attraction at Walt Disney World in Orlando. At D23 Expo in 2019, the company announced that they would be replacing the old ride, Ellen's Universe of Energy, with a new indoor space rollercoaster based on the Marvel series. The ride will be called Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and will feature a story about the Nova Corps arriving on Earth who then teaches guests more about Xandar. Released concept art shows a planetarium-like exhibition that explores the formation of Earth’s galaxy and Xandar.

Disney Imagineering is known for pushing the envelope of creativity and technology to bring their theme parks to life and the Guardians attraction looks to be no different. Gunn recently tweeted a look at a realistic, life-like robot replica of Baby Groot walking across the floor and balancing on one foot. It is so well done that it looks like the CGI character has actually come to life. Where this animatronic fits into the ride is unknown, but the technology is still mighty impressive.

This new ride is actually the second Guardians of the Galaxy-themed attraction that Disney has built. They previously rethemed the Tower of Terror ride in Disneyland's California Adventure Park to that of Guardians of the Galaxy. This, combined with the new Avengers Campus opening up this year, shows how committed Disney is to bring more Marvel content to its theme parks. Anyone who has been to Disneyland or Disney World knows that there are plenty of Star Wars and Pixar attractions but little to do with Marvel. However, in the coming years, it looks like the company is aiming to change that.

Audiences will see more of Groot in Guardians to the Galaxy: Volume 3 and the spin-off Christmas movie coming to Disney+ next year. One can soon watch the movies and then experience the world for themselves by visiting these new Marvel attractions. Park attendees will get to see Groot in real life via Disney magic in 2022 when Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind finally opens.