title: Millennium Falcon

text: The ship, a YT-1300 Corellian light freighter, is primarily commanded by smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford and Alden Ehrenreich) and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo), and was previously owned by gambler/con-artist Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams and Donald Glover). "Solo: A Star Wars Story" depicts the ship as being co-piloted by, and later integrated with, Calrissian's droid L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). Described as being one of the fastest vessels in the "Star Wars" canon, the "Falcon" looks worn-out but despite its humble origins and shabby exterior, the "Millennium Falcon" has played a critical role in some of the greatest victories of the Rebel Alliance and the New Republic.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: The ship originally had a more elongated appearance, but this design's similarity to the Eagle Transporters in "" prompted Lucas to change the "Falcon"s design. The original model was modified, re-scaled, and used as Princess Leia's ship, "Tantive IV". Modelmaker Joe Johnston had about four weeks to redesign the "Falcon", and Lucas' only suggestion to Johnston was to "think of a flying saucer". Johnston did not want to produce a "basic flying saucer", so he created the offset cockpit, forward cargo mandibles, and rear slot for the engines. It was also said that the shape of the ship was roughly based on a hamburger with an olive-on-the-side cockpit. The design was simple enough to create in the four-week window. Johnston called production of the new "Falcon" design one of his most intense projects.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: The sound of the ship traveling through hyperspace comes from two tracks of the engine noise of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, with one track slightly out of synchronization with the other to introduce a phasing effect. To this, sound designer Ben Burtt added the hum of the cooling fans on the motion-control rig at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).


title: Millennium Falcon

text: It has been noted that the cockpit with its greenhouse-style window was likely inspired by the cockpit of the American B-29 Superfortress.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: Visually, the "Millennium Falcon" was represented by several models and external and internal sets. For "Star Wars", a partial exterior set was constructed and the set dressed as Mos Eisley's Docking Bay 94 and the Death Star hangar. Besides the functional landing gear, an additional support held up the structure and was disguised as a fuel line. The interior set included the starboard ring corridor, the boarding ramp, cockpit access tunnel, gun turret ladder, secret compartments, and the forward hold. The cockpit was constructed as a separate set that could be rocked when the ship was supposed to shake. Several inconsistencies exist between the internal set and the external set, the cockpit access tunnel angle being the most noticeable.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: The effects models for "Star Wars" matched the design of the exterior set. The primary model was five feet long and detailed with various kit parts. The ship was represented by a matte painting when Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) sees it for the first time, showing the full upper surface. For the 1997 "Special Edition", a digital model replaces the effects model in several shots, and is used in a new shot of the "Falcon" lifting off from Docking Bay 94.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: For "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980), a new external set was constructed. In spring 1979, Marcon Fabrications, a heavy engineering firm that served the UK's petrochemical and oil industries, was hired to build a movable full-scale external model capable of "moving as if it were about to take off." Built in secrecy under the project code name "Magic Roundabout", the company leased the 1930s Western Sunderland Flying Boat hangar in Pembroke Dock, West Wales. The model, which took three months to construct, weighed over , measured in diameter and high, and used compressed air hover pads for up to of hover-height movement around the set. It was then disassembled and shipped to Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire, for filming. Today, the Pembroke Dock museum has an exhibit about the project.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: Along with the full-size mock-up of the "Falcon", a new miniature model was created for "The Empire Strikes Back" to allow ILM to film more intricate in-flight rolls and pitches that were not possible with the five-foot model. This model was able to be mounted on a gimbal that allowed ILM to simulate very difficult maneuvers as the ship attempted to outrun Imperial TIE fighters during the asteroid-field-escape scene from the film. The new model, which measured at approximately 32 inches in length, had several surface features that differed from the five-foot model including updated landing gear and different surface greebles. The 32" model was the version of the "Millennium Falcon" most depicted in toys, model kits, and promotional materials for the "Star Wars" universe prior to the release of the sequel trilogy. The model was reused for "Return of the Jedi" (1983). At the end of this production, the model was destroyed.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: As in "Star Wars", the location set was changed around the ship set. The only major design change was to add landing gear where the disguised fuel line had been in "Star Wars". As this set included the port side, that gave the set seven landing gears. The internal set was slightly refitted from "A New Hope" and featured a sliding cockpit door, a larger cargo hold, an additional corridor to port, and an equipment room. The cockpit was rebuilt slightly larger to allow more actors to fit comfortably; shots were apparently slightly cropped in later releases of the film to hide this alteration. Two new interior sets were created that are not shown to connect to the rest of the set: a top hatch that Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) uses to rescue Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), and the compartment where Luke rests on a bunk.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: The effects model from "Star Wars" was modified to reflect the additional landing gear, and several new models were built, including one roughly the size of a U.S. quarter dollar. For the 1997 Special Edition, a CGI model replaced the effects model during the approach and landing on Cloud City.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: No new models or sets were created for "Return of the Jedi". A portion of the full-scale ship was used for a scene cut from the film in which several characters board the "Falcon" in a sandstorm on Tatooine. In the scene when Han exacts a promise from Lando not to damage the "Falcon", the "Falcon" is represented by a backdrop painting. It is also in a matte painting of the entire hangar bay.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: The internal and external sets were scrapped after filming on "Return of the Jedi" ended. The effects models were kept by Lucasfilm and some have been on display from time to time.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: A digital version of the "Falcon" appears briefly on Coruscant in "Revenge of the Sith" (2005). Lucas has confirmed that the ship is the "Falcon" and not another ship of similar design. A CGI version of the vessel also appears in the Disney attraction "".


title: Millennium Falcon

text: On June 3, 2014, TMZ confirmed that the "Falcon" would return for "" when it leaked a photo from the set of the film, showing a full-scale version of the "Falcon" being built. An effects shot of the "Falcon" appears in the teaser trailer for "The Force Awakens", released on November 28, 2014. This version of the ship is a digital recreation of the original 1977 five-foot model, with additional detailing reflecting the passage of time. The most noticeable change is the rectangular sensor array above the top hull, which replaces the circular dish from the first three films.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: On April 16, 2021, concept artist Phil Saunders shared some abandoned concept art, and explained that the actress Judi Dench could have been the original designer of "Millennium Falcon" in "".


title: Millennium Falcon

text: Han Solo won the "Millennium Falcon" from Lando Calrissian in the card game 'sabacc' several years before the events of the original "Star Wars" film. In that movie, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) and Luke Skywalker


title: Millennium Falcon

text: (Mark Hamill) charter the ship in the Mos Eisley cantina to deliver them, C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), and the stolen Death Star plans to Alderaan. When the "Falcon" is captured by the Death Star, the group conceal themselves in smuggling compartments built into the floor to avoid detection during a search of the ship. Solo later collects his fee for delivering them to the hidden Rebel base and departs under bitter circumstances, but returns to assist Luke in destroying the Death Star.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: Solo pilots the "Falcon", with Chewbacca, Leia, and C-3PO aboard, to elude the Imperial fleet in "The Empire Strikes Back", wherein they take refuge at Cloud City, where Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones) captures Solo. Lando Calrissian helps the others escape and, at the film's end, he departs in the "Falcon" to track down Solo and his captor, Jabba the Hutt. Calrissian again captains the "Falcon" during the climax of "Return of the Jedi", with Nien Nunb as co-pilot, to destroy the second Death Star. Before the second Death Star is destroyed, Lando accidentally damages the ship by hitting the circular sensor rectenna dish on a random pipe or circuit in the second Death Star. Lando and the others still have success in destroying the Galactic Empire.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: In "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", set some 30 years after "Return of the Jedi", the "Falcon" is in the possession of a scrap dealer named Unkar Plutt on the desert planet Jakku, having been stolen from Solo and Chewbacca some years prior. Scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley) and former stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) steal the "Falcon" in order to escape from an attack by the First Order, having been targeted for having the droid BB-8 in their possession. They are captured by a smuggling freighter, which turns out to be piloted by Solo and Chewbacca, who reclaim the "Falcon". Forced to escape in the "Falcon" from an ambush by parties to whom Solo is heavily in debt, Solo reluctantly agrees to help Rey and Finn return BB-8 to the Resistance. After Rey is captured by the First Order, Solo agrees to take Finn in the "Falcon" to the First Order's new Starkiller Base—a planet that has been converted into the next generation of 'Death Star'—by attempting a risky maneuver of bypassing the planet's defences by exiting hyperspace in its atmosphere. When Solo is killed by his son, the rebels escape the destructing Starkiller Base. Later, Rey uses a newly-assembled map to travel to Ahch-To, the site of the first Jedi temple, to make contact with the long-lost Luke Skywalker, travelling in the "Falcon" in the company of Chewbacca and R2-D2.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: The "Falcon" appears again in "", still on Ahch-To with Rey and Chewbacca. Later in the film, Chewbacca and Rey take the "Falcon" to the planet Crait, where the Resistance is under attack by the First Order. The "Falcon" loses its sensor dish for the third time on Crait, after it is shot off by a TIE fighter, but still manages to single-handedly take out most of the First Order's fighters on the planet while Luke distracts Kylo Ren. After the battle, surviving Resistance personnel leave Crait aboard the "Falcon".


title: Millennium Falcon

text: In "The Last Jedi", Rey uses the "Falcon"s escape pod to board Supreme Leader Snoke's flagship, the "Mega"-class Star Dreadnought "Supremacy". Director Rian Johnson noted that he wanted its design to resemble a coffin, inspired by C.S. Lewis' "Perelandra". The escape pod was monogrammed to say "Property of Han Solo". In the film "", it is revealed that Lando modified the "Falcon" by putting an escape pod between the frontal 'mandibles', which Han jettisons to escape a gravity well.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: In "The Rise of Skywalker" the "Falcon" is piloted by Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca and Wedge Antilles in the final battle of Exegol, leading the entire fleet of free worlds against the Sith Eternal forces.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: In the initial film, Solo brags that the "Falcon" "made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs". As the parsec is a unit of distance, not time, different explanations have been provided. In the fourth draft of the script, Kenobi "reacts to Solo's stupid attempt to impress them with obvious misinformation." Lucas acknowledged the misnomer in 1977, saying that Han modified "the navigational system to get through hyperspace in the shortest possible distance". On the film's DVD audio commentary, Lucas further explained that in the "Star Wars" universe, traveling through hyperspace requires careful navigation to avoid stars, planets, asteroids, and other obstacles, and that is because no long-distance journey can be made in a straight line, the "fastest" ship is the one that can plot the "most direct course", thereby traveling the least distance.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: In "The Force Awakens", Rey references the Kessel Run but describes it as being completed in fourteen parsecs, after which Solo corrects her.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: In "Solo: A Star Wars Story", Solo's Kessel Run is depicted in detail, providing an explanation for the "twelve parsec" boast. Solo has to make many calculated jumps to avoid killing the crew. After integrating the memory module of Lando's damaged L3 droid into the ship's navigation, Solo is able to take a "shortcut" (which is dangerously close to a black hole). Chewbacca indicates the real distance was closer to 13 parsecs, but Solo insists, "Not if you round down," implying that the claim of "less than twelve parsecs" is slightly exaggerated.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: The "Falcon" has been depicted many times in the franchise, and its ownership and command have changed several times.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: Joss Whedon credits the "Millennium Falcon" as one of his two primary inspirations for his "Firefly" television show. The "Falcon" and the "Falcon"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s distinct shape appear in "," "Blade Runner", "Spaceballs", and "Starship Troopers". The manga series "Berserk" includes a "Millennium Falcon" arc.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: Kenner, Hasbro, Steel Tec, Master Replicas, Code 3 Collectibles and Micro Machines have all released "Millennium Falcon" toys and puzzles, including a Transformers version of the ship.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: Hot Wheels has made a model of the ship for their "Star Wars" starship line and a version of it as a car. It is also available as a Hot Wheels playset.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: Lego has released multiple versions of the "Millennium Falcon" in varying sizes. The 5,195-piece Lego model (part of the "Star Wars" "Ultimate Collectors Series") was physically the largest Lego set sold by the company, until it was topped in 2008 by the Lego Taj Mahal. In September 2017, Lego released an updated "Millennium Falcon" set in the "Star Wars" "Ultimate Collectors Series". With the new interior and more details compared to the 2007 model, the 7,541-piece model is the most expensive commercially available Lego set. Lego has also made a version of the Falcon to tie in with "Solo: A" "Star Wars Story". It is called the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: On May 31, 2019, a full sized replica of the "Falcon" was opened to the public along with the rest of "" at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, along with a flight simulator attraction, , in which riders take control of the "Falcon" from inside its cockpit. An identical version of the attraction opened on August 29, 2019, at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.


title: Millennium Falcon

text: A third incarnation of the attraction has been announced for Walt Disney Studios Park at the Disneyland Paris Resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France.


title: Crinoid

text: Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, which are members of the largest crinoid order, Comatulida. Crinoids are echinoderms in the phylum Echinodermata, which also includes the starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as .


title: Crinoid

text: Adult crinoids are characterised by having the mouth located on the upper surface. This is surrounded by feeding arms, and is linked to a U-shaped gut, with the anus being located on the oral disc near the mouth. Although the basic echinoderm pattern of fivefold symmetry can be recognised, in most crinoids the five arms are subdivided into ten or more. These have feathery pinnules and are spread wide to gather planktonic particles from the water. At some stage in their lives, most crinoids have a stem used to attach themselves to the substrate, but many live attached only as juveniles and become free-swimming as adults.


title: Crinoid

text: There are only about 700 living species of crinoid, but the class was much more abundant and diverse in the past. Some thick limestone beds dating to the mid-Paleozoic to Jurassic eras are almost entirely made up of disarticulated crinoid fragments.


title: Crinoid

text: The name "Crinoidea" comes from the Ancient Greek word "κρίνον" ("krínon"), "a lily", with the suffix "–oid" meaning "like". Those crinoids which in their adult form are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, being members of the largest crinoid order, Comatulida.


title: Crinoid

text: The basic body form of a crinoid is a stem (not present in adult feather stars) and a crown consisting of a cup-like central body known as the theca, and a set of five rays or arms, usually branched and feathery. The mouth and anus are both located on the upper side of the theca, making the dorsal (upper) surface the oral surface, unlike in the other echinoderm groups such as the sea urchins, starfish and brittle stars where the mouth is on the underside. The numerous calcareous plates make up the bulk of the crinoid, with only a small percentage of soft tissue. These ossicles fossilise well and there are beds of limestone dating from the Lower Carboniferous around Clitheroe, England, formed almost exclusively from a diverse fauna of crinoid fossils.


title: Crinoid

text: The stem of sea lilies is composed of a column of highly porous ossicles which are connected by ligamentary tissue. It attaches to the substrate with a flattened holdfast or with whorls of jointed, root-like structures known as cirri. Further cirri may occur higher up the stem. In crinoids that attach to hard surfaces, the cirri may be robust and curved, resembling birds' feet, but when crinoids live on soft sediment, the cirri may be slender and rod-like. Juvenile feather stars have a stem, but this is later lost, with many species retaining a few cirri at the base of the crown. The majority of living crinoids are free-swimming and have only a vestigial stalk. In those deep-sea species that still retain a stalk, it may reach up to in length (although usually much smaller), and fossil species are known with stems, the largest recorded crinoid having a stem in length.


title: Crinoid

text: The theca is pentamerous (has five-part symmetry) and is homologous with the body or disc of other echinoderms. The base of the theca is formed from a cup-shaped set of ossicles (bony plates), the calyx, while the upper surface is formed by the weakly-calcified tegmen, a membranous disc. The tegmen is divided into five "ambulacral areas", including a deep groove from which the tube feet project, and five "interambulacral areas" between them. The mouth is near the centre or on the margin of the tegmen, and ambulacral grooves lead from the base of the arms to the mouth. The anus is also located on the tegmen, often on a small elevated cone, in an interambulacral area. The theca is relatively small and contains the crinoid's digestive organs.


title: Crinoid

text: The arms are supported by a series of articulating ossicles similar to those in the stalk. Primitively, crinoids had only five arms, but in most modern forms these are divided into two at ossicle II, giving ten arms in total. In most living species, especially the free-swimming feather stars, the arms branch several more times, producing up to two hundred branches in total. Being jointed, the arms can curl up. They are lined, on either side alternately, by smaller jointed appendages known as "pinnules" which give them their feather-like appearance. Both arms and pinnules have tube feet along the margins of the ambulacral grooves. The tube feet come in groups of three of different size; they have no suction pads and are used to hold and manipulate food particles. The grooves are equipped with cilia which facilitate feeding by moving the organic particles along the arm and into the mouth.


title: Crinoid

text: Crinoids are passive suspension feeders, filtering plankton and small particles of detritus from the sea water flowing past them with their feather-like arms. The arms are raised to form a fan-shape which is held perpendicular to the current. Mobile crinoids move to perch on rocks, coral heads or other eminences to maximise their feeding opportunities. The food particles are caught by the primary (longest) tube feet, which are fully extended and held erect from the pinnules, forming a food-trapping mesh, while the secondary and tertiary tube feet are involved in manipulating anything encountered.


title: Crinoid

text: The tube feet are covered with sticky mucus that traps any particles which come in contact. Once they have caught a particle of food, the tube feet flick it into the ambulacral groove, where the cilia propel the mucus and food particles towards the mouth. Lappets at the side of the groove help keep the mucus stream in place. The total length of the food-trapping surface may be very large; the 56 arms of a Japanese sea lily with arms, have a total length of including the pinnules. Generally speaking, crinoids living in environments with relatively little plankton have longer and more highly branched arms than those living in food-rich environments.


title: Crinoid

text: The mouth descends into a short oesophagus. There is no true stomach, so the oesophagus connects directly to the intestine, which runs in a single loop right around the inside of the calyx. The intestine often includes numerous diverticulae, some of which may be long or branched. The end of the intestine opens into a short muscular rectum. This ascends towards the anus, which projects from a small conical protuberance at the edge of the tegmen. Faecal matter is formed into large, mucous-cemented pellets which fall onto the tegmen and thence the substrate.


title: Crinoid

text: Specimens of the sea urchin "Calocidaris micans" found in the vicinity of the crinoid "Endoxocrinus parrae", have been shown to contain large quantities of stem portions in their guts. These consist of articulated ossicles with soft tissue, whereas the local sediment contained only disarticulated ossicles without soft tissue. This makes it highly likely that these sea urchins are predators of the crinoids, and that the crinoids flee, offering part of their stem in the process.


title: Crinoid

text: Various crinoid fossils hint at possible prehistoric predators. Coprolites of both fish and cephalopods have been found containing ossicles of various crinoids, such as the pelagic crinoid "Saccocoma", from the Jurassic lagerstatten Solnhofen, while damaged crinoid stems with bite marks matching the toothplates of coccosteid placoderms have been found in Late Devonian Poland. The calyxes of several Devonian to Carboniferous-aged crinoids have the shells of a snail, "Platyceras", intimately associated with them. Some have the snail situated over the anus, suggesting that "Platyceras" was a coprophagous commensal, while others have the animal directly situated over a borehole, suggesting a more pernicious relationship.


title: Crinoid

text: Like other echinoderms, crinoids possess a water vascular system that maintains hydraulic pressure in the tube feet. This is not connected to external sea water via a madreporite, as in other echinoderms, but only connected through a large number of pores to the coelom (body cavity). The main fluid reservoir is the muscular-walled ring canal which is connected to the coelom by stone canals lined with calcareous material. The coelom is divided into a number of interconnecting spaces by mesenteries. It surrounds the viscera in the disc and has branches within the stalk and arms, with smaller branches extending into the pinnules. It is the contraction of the ring canal that extends the tube feet. Three narrow branches of the coelom enter each arm, two on the oral side and one aborally, and pinnules. The action of cilia cause there to be a slow flow of fluid (1mm per second) in these canals, outward in the oral branches and inward in the aboral ones, and this is the main means of transport of nutrients and waste products. There is no heart and separate circulatory system but at the base of the disc there is a large blood vessel known as the axial organ, containing some slender blind-ended tubes of unknown function, which extends into the stalk.


title: Crinoid

text: These various fluid-filled spaces, in addition to transporting nutrients around the body, also function as both a respiratory and an excretory system. Oxygen is absorbed primarily through the tube feet, which are the most thin-walled parts of the body, with further gas exchange taking place over the large surface area of the arms. There are no specialised organs for excretion while waste is collected by phagocytic coelomocytes.


title: Crinoid

text: The crinoid nervous system is divided into three parts, with numerous connections between them. The oral or uppermost portion is the only one homologous with the nervous systems of other echinoderms. It consists of a central nerve ring surrounding the mouth, and radial nerves branching into the arms and is sensory in function. Below this lies an intermediate nerve ring, giving off radial nerves supplying the arms and pinnules. These nerves are motor in nature, and control the musculature of the tube feet. The third portion of the nervous system lies aborally, and is responsible for the flexing and movement actions of the arms, pinnules and cirri. This is centred on a mass of neural tissue near the base of the calyx, and provides a single nerve to each arm and a number of nerves to the stalk.


title: Crinoid

text: Crinoids are not capable of clonal reproduction as are some starfish and brittle stars, but are capable of regenerating lost body parts. Arms torn off by predators or damaged by adverse environmental conditions can regrow, and even the visceral mass can regenerate over the course of a few weeks. This regeneration may be vital in surviving attacks by predatory fish.


title: Crinoid

text: Crinoids are dioecious, with individuals being either male or female. In most species, the gonads are located in the pinnules but in a few, they are located in the arms. Not all the pinnules are reproductive, just those closest to the crown. The gametes are produced in genital canals enclosed in genital coeloms. The pinnules eventually rupture to release the sperm and eggs into the surrounding sea water. In certain genera, such as "Antedon", the fertilised eggs are cemented to the arms with secretions from epidermal glands; in others, especially cold water species from Antarctica, the eggs are brooded in specialised sacs on the arms or pinnules.


title: Crinoid

text: The fertilised eggs hatch to release free-swimming vitellaria larvae. The bilaterally symmetrical larva is barrel-shaped with rings of cilia running round the body, and a tuft of sensory hairs at the upper pole. While both feeding (planktotrophic) and non-feeding (lecithotrophic) larvae exist among the four other extant echinoderm classes, all present day crinoids appear to be descendants from a surviving clade that went through a bottleneck after the Permian extinction, at that time losing the feeding larval stage. The larva's free-swimming period lasts for only a few days before it settles on the bottom and attaches itself to the underlying surface using an adhesive gland on its underside. The larva then undergoes an extended period of metamorphoses into a stalked juvenile, becoming radially symmetric in the process. Even the free-swimming feather stars go through this stage, with the adult eventually breaking away from the stalk.


title: Crinoid

text: Most modern crinoids, i.e., the feather stars, are free-moving and lack a stem as adults. Examples of fossil crinoids that have been interpreted as free-swimming include "Marsupites", "Saccocoma" and "Uintacrinus". In general, crinoids move to new locations by crawling, using the cirri as legs. Such a movement may be induced in relation to a change in current direction, the need to climb to an elevated perch to feed, or because of an agonistic behaviour by an encountered individual. Crinoids can also swim. They do this by co-ordinated, repeated sequential movements of the arms in three groups. At first the direction of travel is upwards but soon becomes horizontal, travelling at about per second with the oral surface in front. Swimming usually takes place as short bursts of activity lasting up to half a minute, and in the comatulid "Florometra serratissima" at least, only takes place after mechanical stimulation or as an escape response evoked by a predator.


title: Crinoid

text: In 2005, a stalked crinoid was recorded pulling itself along the sea floor off the Grand Bahama Island. While it has been known that stalked crinoids could move, before this recording the fastest motion known for a stalked crinoid was per hour. The 2005 recording showed one of these moving across the seabed at the much faster rate of per second, or per hour.


title: Crinoid

text: If one ignores the enigmatic "Echmatocrinus" of the Burgess Shale, the earliest known unequivocal crinoid groups date back to the Ordovician, 480 million years ago. There are two competing hypotheses pertaining to the origin of the group: the traditional viewpoint holds that crinoids evolved from within the blastozoans (the eocrinoids and their derived descendants, the blastoids and the cystoids), whereas the most popular alternative suggests that the crinoids split early from among the edrioasteroids. The debate is difficult to settle, in part because all three candidate ancestors share many characteristics, including radial symmetry, calcareous plates, and stalked or direct attachment to the substrate.


title: Crinoid

text: Echinoderms with mineralized skeletons entered the fossil record in the early Cambrian (540 mya), and during the next 100 million years, the crinoids and blastoids (also stalked filter-feeders) were dominant. At that time, the Echinodermata included twenty taxa of class rank, only five of which survived the mass extinction events that followed. The long and varied geological history of the crinoids demonstrates how well the echinoderms had adapted to filter-feeding.


title: Crinoid

text: The crinoids underwent two periods of abrupt adaptive radiation, the first during the Ordovician (485 to 444 mya), and the other during the early Triassic (around 230 mya). This Triassic radiation resulted in forms possessing flexible arms becoming widespread; motility, predominantly a response to predation pressure, also became far more prevalent than sessility. This radiation occurred somewhat earlier than the Mesozoic marine revolution, possibly because it was mainly prompted by increases in benthic predation, specifically of echinoids. There then followed a selective mass extinction at the end of the Permian period, during which all blastoids and most crinoids became extinct. After the end-Permian extinction, crinoids never regained the morphological diversity and dominant position they enjoyed in the Paleozoic; they employed a different suite of ecological strategies open to them from those that had proven so successful in the Paleozoic.


title: Crinoid

text: Some fossil crinoids, such as "Pentacrinites", seem to have lived attached to floating driftwood and complete colonies are often found. Sometimes this driftwood would become waterlogged and sink to the bottom, taking the attached crinoids with it. The stem of "Pentacrinites" can be several metres long. Modern relatives of "Pentacrinites" live in gentle currents attached to rocks by the end of their stem. The largest fossil crinoid on record had a stem in length.


title: Crinoid

text: In 2012, three geologists reported they had isolated complex organic molecules from 340-million-year-old (Mississippian) fossils of multiple species of crinoids. Identified as "resembl[ing ...] aromatic or polyaromatic quinones", these are the oldest molecules to be definitively associated with particular individual fossils, as they are believed to have been sealed inside ossicle pores by precipitated calcite during the fossilization process.


title: Crinoid

text: Crinoid fossils, and in particular disarticulated crinoid columnals, can be so abundant that they at times serve as the primary supporting clasts in sedimentary rocks. Rocks of this nature are called encrinites.


title: Crinoid

text: Crinoidea has been accepted as a distinct clade of echinoderms since the definition of the group by Miller in 1821. It includes many extinct orders as well as four closely-related living orders (Comatulida, Cyrtocrinida, Hyocrinida, and Isocrinida), which are part of the subgroup Articulata. Living articulates comrpise around 540 species.


title: Crinoid

text: The phylogeny, geologic history, and classification of the Crinoidea was discussed by Wright et al. (2017). These authors presented new phylogeny-based and rank-based classifications based on results of recent phylogenetic analyses. Their rank-based classification of crinoid higher taxa (down to Order), not fully resolved and with numerous groups "incertae sedis" (of uncertain placement), is illustrated in the cladogram.


title: Crinoid

text: Fossilised crinoid columnal segments extracted from limestone quarried on Lindisfarne, or found washed up along the foreshore, were threaded into necklaces or rosaries, and became known as St. Cuthbert's beads in the Middle Ages. Similarly, in the Midwestern United States, fossilized segments of the columns of crinoids are sometimes known as Indian beads. Crinoids are the state fossil of Missouri.


title: Tex Ritter

text: Woodward Maurice Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John, grandsons Jason and Tyler, and granddaughter Carly). He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.


title: Tex Ritter

text: Woodward Maurice Ritter was born on January 12, 1905, in Murvaul, Texas, to Martha Elizabeth ("née" Matthews) and James Everett Ritter. He grew up on his family's farm in Panola County, Texas, and attended grade school in Carthage, Texas. He attended South Park High School in Beaumont, Texas. After graduating with honors, he entered the University of Texas at Austin in 1922 to study pre-law and major in government, political science, and economics. After traveling to Chicago with a musical troupe, he entered Northwestern Law School.


title: Tex Ritter

text: An early pioneer of country music, Ritter soon became interested in show business. In 1928, he sang on KPRC-AM in Houston, Texas, a 30-minute program of mostly cowboy songs. That same year, he moved to New York City and landed a job in the men's chorus of the Broadway show "The New Moon" (1928). He appeared as cowboy Cord Elam in the Broadway production "Green Grow the Lilacs" (1931), the basis for the musical "Oklahoma!" He also played the part of Sagebrush Charlie in "The Round Up" (1932) and "Mother Lode" (1934).


title: Tex Ritter

text: In 1932, he starred in New York City's first broadcast Western, "The Lone Star Rangers" on WOR-AM, where he sang and told tales of the Old West. Ritter wrote and starred in "Cowboy Tom's Roundup" on WINS-AM in 1933, a daily children's cowboy program aired over two other East Coast stations for three years. He also performed on the radio show "WHN Barndance" and sang on NBC Radio shows; and appeared in several radio dramas, including CBS's "Bobby Benson's Adventures".


title: Tex Ritter

text: In 1936, Ritter moved to Los Angeles. His motion picture debut was in "Song of the Gringo" (1936) for Grand National Pictures. He went on to appear in 70 movies as an actor, and 76 on movie soundtracks. He attracted special attention in 1952 for his rendition of "The Ballad of High Noon" over the opening credits of the celebrated film "High Noon", and later sang it at that year's Academy Awards ceremony, where it won Best Original Song.


title: Tex Ritter

text: Ritter's recording career was his most successful period. He was the first artist signed with the newly formed Capitol Records.


title: Tex Ritter

text: In 1944, he scored a hit with "I'm Wastin' My Tears on You", which hit number one on the country chart and number 11 on the pop chart. An article in the trade publication "Billboard" noted 14 years later that with that song, he "reached the style of rhythmic tune that would assure his musical stature".


title: Tex Ritter

text: In 1952 Ritter recorded "The Ballad of High Noon" for the film "High Noon". He performed the track at the first televised Academy Awards ceremony in 1953, and it received an Oscar for Best Song that year.


title: Tex Ritter

text: When television began to compete with movies for American audiences, Ritter began to make appearances on the new medium following 71 straight movie appearances. In 1953, he began performing on "Town Hall Party" on radio and television in Los Angeles. In 1957, he co-hosted "Ranch Party", a syndicated version of the show. He made his national TV debut in 1955 on ABC-TV's "Ozark Jubilee" and was one of five rotating hosts for its 1961 NBC-TV spin-off, "Five Star Jubilee".


title: Tex Ritter

text: Ritter became one of the founding members of the Country Music Association in Nashville, Tennessee, and spearheaded the effort to build the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum into which he was inducted in 1964.


title: Tex Ritter

text: He moved to Nashville in 1965 and began working for WSM Radio and the Grand Ole Opry, earning a lifetime membership in the latter in 1970.


title: Tex Ritter

text: In 1970, Ritter entered Tennessee's Republican primary election for United States Senate. Despite high name recognition, he lost the nomination to United States Representative Bill Brock, who then defeated the incumbent Senator Albert Gore, Sr. in the general election.


title: Tex Ritter

text: Ritter had a heart attack and died in Nashville in 1974, ten days before his 69th birthday. He was survived by his wife and two sons, one a popular actor John. Following the death of his son John at the age of 54 from an aortic dissection in 2003, the family now believes that Tex died of it as well, as the condition appears to run in the family.


title: Tex Ritter

text: For his contribution to the recording industry, Ritter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6631 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1980, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was a member of the charter group of inductees into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage, in 1998.


title: Tex Ritter

text: Ritter can still be heard as the voice of Big Al, an audio-animatronic bear, at Disney theme park attraction Country Bear Jamboree at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, and formerly at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: The M1128 Mobile Gun System (MGS) is an eight-wheeled armored car of the Stryker armored fighting vehicle family, mounting a 105 mm tank gun, based on the Canadian LAV III light-armored vehicle manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems for the U.S. Army.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: The MGS program emerged after the 1996 cancelation of the Army's M8 Armored Gun System, the service's planned replacement for the M551 Sheridan light tank.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: Following the end of the Cold War some theorists believed that the existing suite of U.S. armored vehicles, designed largely to fight Soviet mechanized forces in Europe, were not well suited to the lower-intensity missions U.S. armed forces would be tasked with. This led to the development of a new armored fighting vehicle designed for lower-intensity combat, rather than large-scale battle.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: By 1992, the Armored Gun System emerged as a top priority procurement program for the Army. The Army requested proposals for a 20-ton air-droppable light tank to replace the M551 Sheridan. The Army sought 300 AGS systems to go to the 82nd Airborne Division and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Four competitive bids emerged, and in June 1992, the Army selected the FMC Close Combat Vehicle, Light proposal. This was later type-classified as the M8 Armored Gun System. In 1996, the Army canceled the AGS due to the service's budgetary constraints.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: In 1999, General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS)–Canada completed a prototype of a Low Profile Turret (LPT) Assault Gun based on the LAV III.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: In October 1999, Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki laid out his vision for a lighter, more transportable force. He called for mid-weight brigades that would strike a balance between heavy armor and infantry. The Army subsequently launched the Interim Armored Vehicle acquisition program. One of the required vehicles was the Mobile Gun System (MGS).


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: A team of GM Defense of Canada and GDLS submitted a variant of the LPT Assault Gun to meet the MGS requirement. United Defense LP proposed an M8 Armored Gun System (AGS) and two variants of the Mobile Tactical Vehicle Light (MTVL); one with the AGS turret and 105mm gun, and another with a 90mm gun. Two other competing contractors submitted bids for infantry carriers, but declined to submit offers for the MGS requirement.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: Unlike the infantry carrier variants, MGS prototypes were not evaluated on the Army's proving grounds. This resulted in protests from lawmakers and industry officials. The service maintained that vehicle trials would be unnecessary and complicate the competition.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: GM-GDLS won the contract for both the infantry carrier and MGS, which was later type classified as the M1128. GM-GDLS suspended work on the IAV while the Government Accounting Office evaluated UDLP's protest of the award. This protest was denied in April 2001.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: Soon after the contract was awarded, the MGS IOC date slipped two years from December 2001 to November 2003. The Army allowed GM-GDLS to substitute the Stryker ATGM variant for the MGS in the interim. In its protest, UDLP alleged that the Army had in fact known about the schedule slippage before awarding the contract, and unfairly disregarded this in their decision making.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: In 2000, the Army found its existing ammunition stockpile of 105mm rounds to be in poor condition, with more than half determined to be either unusable or obsolete. The Army solicited industry to produce new ammunition to replenish the stockpile.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: In March 2004, the Army approved the transfer of four AGS production vehicles to the 82nd Airborne Division to be used in Iraq. However, in June 2004, this plan was put on hold while the Army determined whether the MGS could meet the 82nd's requirements. In August, the Army conducted an air-drop test of a Stryker M1132 Engineer Squad Vehicle weighted to simulate the load of the MGS. Around the same time, the Army identified issues with the air-dropability of the MGS, among the heavier of the Stryker family. Still more pervasive problems persisted with the autoloader. In January 2005, the Army said it had ruled out fielding the AGS, saying the system lacked a spare parts inventory that would be required to maintain the vehicle for any significant length of time. The Army doubled down on its belief in the MGS, which it said it could begin fielding in summer 2006.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: After a Defense Acquisition Board review, the Pentagon, in October 2004, approved limited low-rate production of the MGS. During limited production, 14 vehicles would be produced. During this time, General Dynamics redesigned the ammunition handling system to be more reliable. In November 2004, the Pentagon approved an Army request to move the vehicle into low-rate production, to total 72 vehicles.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: After a Defense Acquisition Review, the Pentagon approved full-rate production of the MGS in February 2008. However, the Army chose to defer production of new vehicles while it waited to validate fixes made to the MGS.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: In late 2013, the U.S. Army began seeking to reintroduce an airdroppable mobile airborne protected firepower platform to provide fire support for air assault forces, a capability that had been absent since the retirement of the M551 Sheridan in 1997. General Dynamics initially considered modifying the wheeled Stryker MGS to meet the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) program requirement, but the company instead entered a variant of the Griffin light tank.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: In May 2021, the Army announced they would divest all Mobile Gun Systems by the end of 2022. The decision was made following an analysis that found its autoloader had become expensive to maintain and that the M1128 had not been upgraded with a Double V-Hull, and that it was more efficient to eliminate the platform and focus on firepower improvements such as equipping Strykers with 30 mm cannons and CROWS-J mounts, providing better distributed lethality capabilities that will not be lost from removing the MGS.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: Canada had liquidated about half of its fleet of Leopard 1 Main Battle Tanks in the early 2000s, with the intention of replacing them with the Mobile Gun System, but the decision was reversed.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: The MGS's low profile turret has a small silhouette, is stabilized and mounts a 105mm M68A1E4 rifled cannon with a fume extractor and an autoloader. The vehicle is primarily outfitted to support infantry combat operations; while it could take on some of the roles of a tank, it is not primarily intended nor designed to engage in combat with main battle tanks. The MGS can store 18 rounds of main gun ammunition, 8 in the autoloader's carousel and an additional 10 in a replenisher located at the rear of the vehicle. It has a rate of fire of ten rounds per minute.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: The reduced height required of the Stryker to meet the C-130 transportability requirement proved particularly challenging when applied to the MGS. The reduced distance between the muzzle brake and the hull caused blast overpressures to develop. A solution was found where the "pepper pot" could be covered by a sheet of metal.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: The MGS's 105 mm cannon can fire four types of ammunition: the M900 kinetic energy penetrator to destroy armored vehicles; the M456A2 high-explosive anti-tank round to destroy thin-skinned vehicles and provide anti-personnel fragmentation; the M393A3 high-explosive squash head plastic round to destroy bunkers, machine gun and sniper positions, and create openings in walls for infantry to access; and M1040 canister shot for use against dismounted infantry in the open.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: Because the vehicle was originally designed without air conditioning (A/C), crews were given cooling vests that circulate cooled water from outside the vehicle to the garment. Vehicle computers still overheated regularly. All MGS Stryker platforms have since been upgraded with A/C units. The large weapon station and relatively smaller hatch can make emergency exits difficult. The main cannon is separate from the crew compartment. Thus, a gun stoppage during combat can be cleared only by exiting the vehicle.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: The U.S. Army allocated nine Mobile Gun Systems to a battalion. There were 27 Mobile Gun Systems per "Stryker brigade" in 2013, but later the Army cut the number per brigade to 10. The Army bought 142 Mobile Gun Systems in total; 3 were lost in combat. A three-vehicle MGS platoon operates organic to a Stryker infantry company, with one MGS in support of a Stryker infantry platoon.


title: M1128 Mobile Gun System

text: As of May 2017, a Stryker brigade combat team is equipped with three platoons of MGS Strykers and three platoons of ATGM Strykers in its weapons troop.


title: SeaWorld

text: SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (one park will be owned and operated by Miral under a license). The parks feature orcas, sea lion, and dolphin shows and zoological displays featuring various other marine animals.


title: SeaWorld

text: The parks also feature thrill rides, including roller coasters like Kraken, Mako and Manta at SeaWorld Orlando, and Steel Eel and The Great White at SeaWorld San Antonio. Journey to Atlantis, a combination roller coaster and splashdown ride, can be found at all three parks.


title: SeaWorld

text: There are operations located within the United States in Orlando, Florida; San Diego, California; San Antonio, Texas; later outside the United States such as Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and previously Aurora, Ohio. On March 5, 2007, SeaWorld Orlando announced addition of the Aquatica water park to its adventure park, which already includes SeaWorld and Discovery Cove.


title: SeaWorld

text: The parks were bought in 1989 by Busch Entertainment Corp., the family entertainment division of Anheuser-Busch, which is best known for brewing beer. In 2009, Busch Entertainment was sold to the Blackstone Group and subsequently renamed SeaWorld Entertainment. In 2013, Blackstone sold 37% of SeaWorld Entertainment in an initial public offering and sold its remaining 21% holding to Zhonghong Zhuoye in 2017. It is a major theme park competitor to Six Flags, Cedar Fair, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products and Universal Parks & Resorts.


title: SeaWorld

text: The parks' marine mammal collections have been the subject of public debate and criticism over the years, with critics saying that the park's practices entail animal abuse. The 2013 documentary film "Blackfish", produced after a SeaWorld Orlando trainer was killed by one of the park's orcas, led to initial decreases in attendance, profits and the company's share price. In 2018, SeaWorld's attendance and revenue began to recover with the addition of new rides, shows, and animal exhibits at its parks, as well as increased marketing about the parks' conservation and rescue efforts.


title: SeaWorld

text: In 2016, SeaWorld announced that they would end their in-park orca breeding program and eventually phase out their theatrical orca shows altogether (due to state legislation in California that banned shows using orcas) starting in San Diego. It was announced later in the same year, that SeaWorld would build their first park without killer whales and outside of the United States in Abu Dhabi. However, in 2020, SeaWorld reversed course and started introducing new orca live shows to guests.


title: SeaWorld

text: SeaWorld was founded in 1964 by Milton C. Shedd, Ken Norris, David Demott and George Millay. The four graduates of UCLA originally set out to build an underwater restaurant and marine life show. When the underwater restaurant concept was deemed unfeasible, they scrapped those plans and decided to build a park instead, and SeaWorld San Diego was opened on March 21, 1964. With only a few dolphins, sea lions, 6 attractions and , the park proved to be a success and more than 400,000 guests visited in the first 12 months.


title: SeaWorld

text: After considering other locations in the midwest, including the Lake Milton/Newton Falls area west of Youngstown, Ohio, it was decided that Aurora, Ohio would be the new home of a SeaWorld. The Aurora site was approximately northwest of the Lake Milton site and southeast of Cleveland. By this time, the founders of the company had captured a few more species of animals, including a killer whale that was brought to the new facility. The harsh winter climate permitted the park to be open only from mid-May until mid-September.


title: SeaWorld

text: The Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida opened near the end of the second operating season of SeaWorld Ohio. The success of Disney in Orlando provided a location that was already popular with tourists. SeaWorld Orlando opened in 1973.


title: SeaWorld

text: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. (HBJ) purchased the company in 1976 and 12 years later they built a new park in Texas. In 1988, SeaWorld San Antonio opened just a few miles outside of San Antonio. Growth has pushed the city outwards and now SeaWorld San Antonio lies in the Westover Hills community in West San Antonio. The park was open year-round like its sister parks in California and Florida in 1988 and 1989, then went to a seasonal schedule.


title: SeaWorld

text: In May of 1987, Robert Maxwell's British Printing and Communication Corporation (BPCC) made an unsolicited bid to acquire HBJ. HBJ defended itself from the hostile takeover attempt by going deeply into debt to make large cash payments to shareholders. The strain of the debt from fighting off the takeover, as well as a strategic decision to re-focus on HBJ's core publishing and insurance businesses, were factors in HBJ's decision to sell its theme park holdings in 1989.


title: SeaWorld

text: The Anheuser-Busch Company made an offer to purchase the SeaWorld parks. HBJ also owned and operated two other parks, Cypress Gardens and Boardwalk and Baseball, and out of fear of not being able to find a buyer for the two other parks, HBJ refused to sell the parks individually. Despite a long negotiation, Anheuser-Busch bought all six parks in 1989: SeaWorld in San Diego, Aurora, Orlando and San Antonio as well as Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven and Boardwalk and Baseball in Haines City. Soon after the sale was final, Busch sold Cypress Gardens to the park's management and closed Boardwalk and Baseball. Anheuser-Busch put millions of dollars back into the parks to revive and prolong their longevity. SeaWorld is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).


title: SeaWorld

text: In July 2008, Anheuser-Busch was purchased by Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev. InBev had a reputation as a cost-cutting company that would not be interested in holding non-beverage businesses. In 2009, the combined AB InBev sold its Busch Entertainment division to the Blackstone Group. The company was renamed SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment in December 2009. In 2013, Blackstone sold 37% of SEAS in an initial public offering.


title: SeaWorld

text: In 2016, SeaWorld admitted that it had been sending its employees to pose as activists to spy on animal rights organization PETA. Following an investigation by an outside law firm, SeaWorld's Board of Directors directed management to end the practice.


title: SeaWorld

text: SeaWorld San Diego, the first SeaWorld park, opened on March 21, 1964. The park features shows such as "Sea Lions Live", a comedic show with sea lions and otters, "Dolphin Days", a dolphin show, and "Orca Encounter", an educational show about killer whales and their behavior in the wild. There are also many seasonal shows which are featured in the summer, notability "Cirque Electrique". Rides include Shipwreck Rapids, a water raft ride, Manta and Electric Eel, roller coasters, Journey to Atlantis, a splashdown ride that also has characteristics of a roller coaster, and a new B&M dive coaster, Emperor, opened in 2022. Electric Ocean is the park's nightly summer event featuring pop and electronic style music with lights and seasonal shows, Sea Lions Tonite (a nighttime Sea Lion show featuring spoofs of other SeaWorld shows and attractions), Atlantis Ignites (a tesla coil and projection show), and Cirque Electrique (a Cirque du Soleil-style show on the water that is an electric remaster of the original Cirque de la Mer show).


title: SeaWorld

text: SeaWorld Orlando opened on December 15, 1973. "One Ocean", a killer whale show that premiered April 22, 2011, was hosted here, before being replaced with "Orca Encounter", along with, "Dolphin Days", the park's dolphin show, and, a new show that made its debut on June 14, 2015, "Clyde and Seamore's Sea Lion High". This show was recently changed to "Sea Lion & Otter Spotlight" in mid 2021. The park contains 3 main roller coasters, with a fourth opening in 2022, joined by one junior coaster. They are Kraken, a floorless coaster based on the mythical sea creature, Manta, a coaster designed to simulate how manta rays move, and Mako, a hyper coaster themed to the fastest shark in the ocean. All 3 are built by the manufacturer B&M, while Super Grover's Box Car Derby, a coaster oriented to kids located in the Sesame Street themed area of the park, is built by Zierer. SeaWorld Orlando's recent coaster is Ice Breaker, which opened in 2022, containing the steepest drop of all main SeaWorld Orlando coasters, and being built by Premier Rides. The Orlando park is also home to the original Journey to Atlantis, a intricately themed water coaster by Mack Rides. SeaWorld's Electric Ocean is SeaWorld Orlando's night program, featuring the fireworks show "Ignite", a sea lion show "Sea Lions Tonite", a dolphin show "Touch The Sky" and killer whale show "Shamu's Celebration: Light Up the Night".


title: SeaWorld

text: SeaWorld San Antonio opened on May 27, 1988. Its formal opening over Memorial Day Weekend 1988 held about 75,000 people. 3.3 million people visited SeaWorld San Antonio during its first year, 10% more than what was originally projected. The park shows “Orca Encounter”, an educational killer whale show; Ocean Discovery an educational show featuring dolphins and beluga whales; and "Sea Lion & Otter Spotlight", a sea lion show following the sea lions Clyde and Seamore touring a marine conservation center. Parks rides include , a double launch roller coaster, The Great White, an inverted roller coaster, Steel Eel, a roller coaster reaching a height of 150 feet, and Journey to Atlantis, a water roller coaster into the mythical land of Atlantis and Texas Stingray a wooden steel hybrid Coaster.


title: SeaWorld

text: In 2008, Busch Entertainment had previously announced plans to open a fourth SeaWorld park in Dubai, UAE, but those plans were abandoned amidst the international financial crisis. In May 2014, SeaWorld announced renewed plans to build a park in the Middle East, but did not specify a timeline or specific location. On December 13, 2016, SeaWorld announced that it will open its first overseas theme park on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE in 2022. It will also be the first franchised SeaWorld park.


title: SeaWorld

text: In February 2001, Anheuser-Busch sold the SeaWorld Ohio park to Six Flags, Inc., operators of neighboring Six Flags Ohio (initially Geauga Lake until 2000). Upon completion of the sale, the two parks were combined in spring 2001 as the so-called "mega-park" "Six Flags Worlds of Adventure", which boasted its "three parks in one" uniqueness: a waterpark, an amusement park, and a wildlife animal park, all included in one price of admission. SeaWorld executives replied that their park was sold because of the short season of the animal park, Northeastern Ohio's cold winter months, and also because they were not able to get the necessary permits to build roller coasters like the other SeaWorld properties had been able to.


title: SeaWorld

text: In March 2004, Six Flags announced that it had sold Six Flags Worlds of Adventure to Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, operators of the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Cedar Fair took the park back to its original Geauga Lake name and stripped the park itself of all Looney Tunes and DC Comics branding, including walk around character costumes pertaining to either franchise, since the company did not have licensing rights. Since Six Flags retained ownership of the animals, the majority of the animal portion of the park, including all of the exhibits and animal stadiums, was either emptied or fenced off for the 2004 season.


title: SeaWorld

text: After a nearly season-long wait, the Cedar Fair company announced its plans for the non-operational side. That entire portion of the land would become an immense waterpark, Wildwater Kingdom, opening in two phases, with the first phase in 2005, followed by the second phase in 2006. This decision marked the end of the marine-life park permanently.


title: SeaWorld

text: All of the animal stadiums and buildings were next torn down or converted into other venues. Some of the SeaWorld property remained intact, albeit hidden or modified. What remained included the former seal and sea lion area, the Ski Stadium (to be used in a Lumberjack show in 2006), the aquarium (to be used for unknown purposes), and two movie theater houses/simulators, once housing 3D/4D movies. The Ski Stadium was removed in 2008 to make way for Coconut Cove, a refreshment station/observation area.


title: SeaWorld

text: All of these, except for Wildwater Kingdom, closed in 2007. In 2016, Wildwater Kingdom announced they would close after the 2016 season.


title: SeaWorld

text: SeaWorld's main attraction is its killer whales, several of which are housed in tanks (equivalent to nine Olympic sized swimming pools) that are each known as Shamu Stadium. Shamu was the name of the first killer whale brought to SeaWorld San Diego in the 1960s from the Seattle Marine Aquarium. 'Shamu' is now used as a stage name for killer whales in performances at SeaWorld parks. Currently, SeaWorld houses 19 killer whales in its three parks.


title: SeaWorld

text: Organizations such as World Animal Protection and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society campaign against the captivity of dolphins and killer whales; SeaWorld, which holds most of the world's captive killer whales, is cited for its role.


title: SeaWorld

text: Killer whale captivity is a widely debated topic. Regarding anatomy, captive killer whales can exhibit collapsed dorsal fins. However, this trait has been witnessed in the wild and a prominent theory proposes this phenomenon can occur when any orcas live in relatively warmer conditions. Though, since captive orcas are more likely to breach, rising up to warmer waters, captivity itself can increase the temperature in which these whales live. Some evidence has shown that the condition can manifest in individuals after a month in captivity. Some argue that aggression among captive killer whales is common, whilst others claim that this also occurs in the wild. In August 1989, a dominant female killer whale, Kandu V, attempted to rake a newcomer whale, Corky II, with her mouth during a live show and smashed her head into a wall. Kandu V broke her jaw, which severed an artery, and then bled to death. In November 2006, a dominant female killer whale, Kasatka, repeatedly dragged experienced trainer, Ken Peters, to the bottom of the stadium pool during a show after hearing her calf crying for her in the back pools. In February 2010, an experienced female trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, Dawn Brancheau, was killed by killer whale Tilikum shortly after a show in Shamu Stadium. The whale had been associated with the deaths of two people previously. In May 2012, administrative law judge Ken Welsch upheld two Occupational Safety and Health Administration citations after Dawn Brancheau's death, including one directly related to her death, and fined the company a total of $12,000. Trainers were banned from making close contact with the whales. In April 2014 the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied an appeal by SeaWorld. On December 22, 2015, an 18-year old SeaWorld orca, Unna, died from a fungal infection at the SeaWorld Park in San Antonio, Texas.


title: SeaWorld

text: In 2013, SeaWorld's treatment of killer whales in captivity was the basis of the film "Blackfish", which documents the history of Tilikum, a killer whale captured by SeaLand of the Pacific, later rescued by SeaWorld Orlando who has been involved in the deaths of three people. In the aftermath of the release of the film, Martina McBride, 38 Special, REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, Heart, Barenaked Ladies, Trisha Yearwood and Willie Nelson canceled scheduled concerts at SeaWorld parks. SeaWorld disputes the accuracy of the film, calling it “propaganda” and “emotionally manipulative”. It has spent $15 million on an advertising campaign countering the allegations and emphasizing its contributions to the study of whales and their conservation.


title: SeaWorld

text: In August 2014, SeaWorld announced it planned to build new killer whale tanks that would be almost double the size of the existing ones to provide more space for its whales, scheduled for completion in 2018. The company maintained the move was not in response to the release of the "Blackfish" documentary. Wild killer whales may travel up to 160 kilometres (100 mi) in a day and critics say the animals are too big and intelligent to be suitable for captivity. In 2016 it was announced by SeaWorld that they no longer had plans to complete the expansion project. PETA, which opposes whales being kept in captivity has proposed the theme park operator base its whales in seaside sanctuaries. The company also pledged $10 million in matching funds for killer whale research. The plans to increase the size of the tanks in San Diego were put on hold in October 2015 after the California Coastal Commission ruled that the work could only go ahead if they banned captive breeding, which would eventually lead to end of killer whale shows at the park. On March 17, 2016, SeaWorld announced the end of their breeding program, which signifies the last generation of orcas in captivity in their care, though Takara was still pregnant at the time. Theatrical orca shows ended at SeaWorld San Diego in 2017 and ended in Orlando and San Antonio in 2019.


title: SeaWorld

text: In November 2014, SeaWorld announced that attendance at the parks had dropped 5.2% from the previous year and profits had fallen 28% over that quarter. As of November 2014, the company's stock was down 50% from the previous year. From 2014 to 2015, net income in the second quarter fell 84% from $37.4 million to $5.8 million, while revenue fell from $405 million to $392 million.


title: SeaWorld

text: In February 2020, SeaWorld announced a $65 million settlement with investors who alleged that the company had deceived them about the documentary's effect on park attendance.


title: SeaWorld

text: SeaWorld operates its conservation program in cooperation with the Department of the Interior, National Marine Fisheries Service and state agencies; its rescue and rehabilitation program was developed to comply with the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Since its inception SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment has rescued or helped more than 33,000 animals, including ill, orphaned or abandoned and injured manatees, dolphins, pilot whales, sea turtles, and birds. As part of its animal rehabilitation program, SeaWorld has claimed the first birth of a killer whale in captivity, the first birth of a marine mammal via artificial insemination and the first hatching of captive green sea turtles. While acknowledging the value of these programs, critics and animal rights advocates have questioned SeaWorld's balance of conservation and education alongside the commercial activities of its theme parks. In 1998, SeaWorld, with the help of the US Coast Guard, released the gray whale J.J. after the whale was rehabilitated at SeaWorld San Diego for 14 months.


title: SeaWorld

text: Groups concerned for the health and safety of SeaWorld's captive killer whale population have asked for the animals to be released. SeaWorld has defended their decision to keep the animals by citing their inability to survive in the wild after years of captivity.


title: SeaWorld

text: In response to claims leveled at SeaWorld and other marine parks by the movie "The Cove" which accuses them of obtaining dolphins taken in drive hunts, SeaWorld spokesperson Fred Jacobs stated that, "We think we're being unfairly criticized for something we're opposed to." It is illegal to bring drive hunt animals into the United States. He adds that, "SeaWorld opposes the dolphin hunts documented in "The Cove". We do not purchase any animals from these hunts. More than 80 percent of the marine mammals in our care were born in our parks. We haven't collected a dolphin from the wild in decades." Since 1993, there have been no permits issued to facilities in the United States to import dolphins acquired through drive hunt methods. Marilee Menard, the executive director of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums, has also stated that she believes that "The Cove" filmmakers are "misrepresenting that the majority of zoos and aquariums with dolphins around the world are taking these animals.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: The Eagle Has Landed is a 1976 British war film directed by John Sturges and starring Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, and Robert Duvall.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: Based on the 1975 novel "The Eagle Has Landed" by Jack Higgins, the film is about a fictional German plot to kidnap Winston Churchill near the end of the Second World War. "The Eagle Has Landed" was Sturges's final film, and was successful upon its release.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: Admiral Canaris, head of the "Abwehr", is ordered by Adolf Hitler to make a feasibility study into capturing the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. Canaris considers it a meaningless exercise that will soon be forgotten by the Führer, but he knows this will not be the case with Heinrich Himmler. Canaris therefore orders staff officer Oberst Radl to begin the study, to avoid being discredited.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: Radl receives intelligence from an "Abwehr" sleeper agent in England, saying Churchill will stay in a Norfolk village near the coast. He begins to see potential in the operation, which he code-names 'Eagle'. Firstly, Radl recruits an agent, an IRA man named Liam Devlin, who lectures at a Berlin university. Secondly, he selects Kurt Steiner, a highly decorated and experienced "Fallschirmjäger" officer, to lead the mission. However, while the Luftwaffe parachute troops are returning from the Eastern Front, Steiner unsuccessfully attempts to save the life of a Jewish girl who is trying to escape from the SS in occupied Poland. Steiner and his loyal men are court-martialled, and sent to a penal unit on German-occupied Alderney, where their mission is to conduct near-suicidal human torpedo attacks against Allied shipping in the English Channel.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: Radl is summoned to a private meeting with Himmler, without Canaris' knowledge. Himmler reveals he knows all about the operation, and gives Radl a letter, apparently signed by Hitler, to commence the operation. Radl flies to Alderney, where he recruits Steiner and his surviving men. Operation Eagle involves the German commandos dressing as Polish paratroopers to infiltrate the village. They are to capture Churchill, with the help of Devlin, before making their escape by a captured motor torpedo boat. Once the operation is underway, Himmler retrieves the letter (signed by Hitler) that he had given to Radl, and destroys it.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: On arrival in the English village, the German paratroopers take up positions under the guise of conducting friendly military exercises. However, the ruse is discovered when one of Steiner's men rescues a young girl from certain death beneath the village waterwheel. The soldier dies, and the wheel brings up his mangled corpse. The villagers see he is wearing a German uniform underneath his Polish one (Steiner had not wanted them executed as spies). Steiner's men round up the villagers and hold them captive in the village church, but the vicar's sister escapes and alerts a unit of nearby United States Army Rangers.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: Colonel Pitts, the Rangers’ inexperienced and rash commander, launches a poorly planned assault on the church, that results in heavy American casualties. Pitts is later killed by the village's sleeper "Abwehr" agent. It's left to Pitts' deputy commander to launch a second attack, this time successful. To delay the Americans, Steiner's men sacrifice themselves to give Devlin, Steiner and his wounded second-in-command time to escape the church through a hidden passage. A local girl, who has fallen for the charming Devlin, helps in the escape. At the waiting S-boat, Steiner orders his wounded second-in-command on board, but says he is staying behind to kill Churchill.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: On Alderney, Radl receives news that the operation has failed. He realises that Himmler hadn't ever had Hitler's permission for the mission. Radl is arrested and summarily executed by an SS firing squad under the pretext that he "exceeded his orders to the point of treason".


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: Back in England, Steiner succeeds in killing Churchill moments before being shot dead himself. It is then revealed that the victim was actually a body double, and that the real Churchill was on his way to the Tehran Conference. The torpedo boat is aground, at dead low-tide, awaiting Steiner's return. Meanwhile Devlin, evading capture, leaves a love letter for the local girl, before slipping away.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: In October 1974, Paramount announced they had purchased the film rights to Jack Higgins' "The Eagle Has Landed" in partnership with Jack Wiener, formerly an executive at Paramount. The book came out in 1975 and was a bestseller, but the author had doubted whether anyone would be interested in making a film of the novel because its protagonists were German soldiers. He was amazed that the rights were not only sold within a fortnight but that the film was brought to production so swiftly.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: Michael Caine was originally offered the part of Devlin but did not want to play a member of the IRA, so asked if he could have the role of Steiner. Richard Harris was in line to play Devlin, but ongoing comments he had made in support of the IRA and attendance at an IRA fundraising event in America embroiled him in scandal and drew threats to the film's producers, so he was removed from the production and Donald Sutherland was given the role instead.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: In March 1976, "The New York Times" announced that David Bowie would play a German Nazi in the film if his schedule could be worked out. Jean Marsh's role was originally offered to Deborah Kerr, who turned it down.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: Filming took place in 1976 over sixteen weeks. Tom Mankiewicz thought the script was the best he had ever written but felt "John Sturges, for some reason, had given up" and did a poor job, and that editor Anne V. Coates was the one who saved the movie and made it watchable.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: Michael Caine had initially been excited at the prospect of working with Sturges. During shooting, Sturges told Caine that he only worked to earn enough money to go fishing. Caine wrote later in his autobiography: "The moment the picture finished he took the money and went. [Producer] Jack Wiener later told me [Sturges] never came back for the editing nor for any of the other good post-production sessions that are where a director does some of his most important work. The picture wasn't bad, but I still get angry when I think of what it could have been with the right director. We had committed the old European sin of being impressed by someone just because he came from Hollywood."


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: Cornwall was used to represent the Channel Islands, and Berkshire for East Anglia. The majority of the film, set in the fictional village of Studley Constable, was filmed at Mapledurham on the A4074 in Oxfordshire and features the village church, Mapledurham Watermill and Mapledurham House, which represented the manor house where Winston Churchill was taken. A fake water wheel was added to the 15th-century structure for the film. Mock buildings such as shops and a pub were constructed on site in Mapledurham while interiors were filmed at Twickenham Studios. The "Landsvoort Airfield" scenes were filmed at RAF St Mawgan, five miles (8 km) from Newquay.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: The sequence set in Alderney was filmed in Charlestown, near St Austell in Cornwall. Some of the filming took place at Rock in Cornwall. The railway station sequence where Steiner and his men make their first appearance was filmed in Rovaniemi, Finland. The parachuting scenes were carried out by members of the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) Parachute Display Team on Wednesday 28 April 1976. The exit shots were filmed from a DC-3 at Dunkeswell Airfield in Devon. The landings onto the beach were filmed on Holkham Beach in Norfolk.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: The film was a success, with Lew Grade saying "it made quite a lot of money". ITC made two more films with the same production team, "Escape to Athena" and "Green Ice". "The Eagle Has Landed" spent a week as the number one film in the United Kingdom (9 April 1977) and was the fifteenth-most successful film of 1977.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: In his review for "The New York Times", Vincent Canby called the film "a good old-fashioned adventure movie that is so stuffed with robust incidents and characters that you can relax and enjoy it without worrying whether it actually happened or even whether it's plausible." Canby singled out the writing and directing for praise:


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: When another ITC production, "March or Die", faltered in US theatres during initial engagements in the fall of 1977, Columbia Pictures repackaged it into a double-feature combo with "Eagle" for its remaining playdates.


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 64%, based on reviews from 11 critics. On Metacritic, it has a score of 61%, based on reviews from seven critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: US and UK VHS cassettes had the 123-minute US cut. Most DVDs and Blu-rays available worldwide feature the original UK theatrical cut, which in DVD region 2 and 4 countries runs 130 minutes at 25fps (PAL speed). There are two exceptions:


title: The Eagle Has Landed (film)

text: The extended version contains a number of scenes that were deleted even before the European cinema release:


title: The Pagemaster

text: The Pagemaster is a 1994 American live-action/animated fantasy adventure film starring Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy, Frank Welker, Ed Begley Jr., and Mel Harris. The film was produced by Turner Pictures and Hanna-Barbera and released by 20th Century Fox on November 23, 1994. Culkin stars as a timid boy who uses statistics as an excuse to avoid anything he finds uncomfortable in life. But after reluctantly undertaking an errand for his father, he gets caught in a storm, which forces him to seek refuge in a library. He then finds himself trapped inside the library, where he must battle his way through literary classics come to life if he is to find his way home.


title: The Pagemaster

text: The film was written for the screen by David Casci, based on a six-page pitch by writer Charles Pogue entitled "Library Days", presented to Casci by producer David Kirschner. The film was directed by Joe Johnston (live-action) and Pixote Hunt and Glenn Chaika (animation), and produced by David Kirschner and Paul Gertz. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and grossed $13.7 million from a budget of $34 million. The film's poor box office performance, along with the 1997 film "Cats Don't Dance" (which was in production at the time "The Pagemaster" was released), set back other animated films for the animation studio, Turner Feature Animation.


title: The Pagemaster

text: Pessimistic 10-year-old Richard Tyler lives life based on statistics and fears everything. His exasperated parents have tried multiple ways to build up his courage to little success. Richard is sent to buy a bag of nails for building a treehouse. However, Richard gets caught in a harsh thunderstorm and takes shelter in a library. He meets Mr. Dewey, an eccentric librarian/custodian who insists that he is in need of a special book and gives him a library card, despite Richard's protests. Searching for a phone, Richard finds a large rotunda painted with many famous literary characters. He slips on water dripping from his coat and falls over, knocking himself out. Richard awakens to find the rotunda art melting, which washes over him and the library, turning them into illustrations.


title: The Pagemaster

text: He is met by the Pagemaster, the mythical Keeper of Books and Guardian of the Written Word. Richard asks for directions to the exit, so the Pagemaster sends him through the fiction section toward the green neon exit sign. Along the way, Richard befriends three anthropomorphic books: Adventure, a swashbuckling pirate-like book; Fantasy, a sassy but caring fairy-tale book; and Horror, a fearful "Hunchbook" with a misshapen spine. The three agree to help Richard if he checks them out using his new library card. Together, the quartet encounters classic-fictional characters. They meet Dr. Jekyll who turns into Mr. Hyde, driving them to the open waters of the Land of Adventure. However, the group is separated after Moby-Dick attacks, following the whale's battle with Captain Ahab. Richard and Adventure are shipwrecked and picked up by the "Hispaniola", captained by Long John Silver. The pirates go to Treasure Island, but find no treasure except for one gold coin, nearly causing a mutiny between the captain and the crew. Fantasy and Horror return and defeat the pirates. Silver attempts to convince Richard to leave with him but surrenders when Richard threatens him with a sword.


title: The Pagemaster

text: In the fantasy section, Richard sees the exit sign on the top of a mountain. However, Adventure's bumbling awakens a dormant dragon. Richard tries to fight the dragon with a sword and shield, but the dragon swallows him. Richard finds books in the dragon's stomach and uses a beanstalk from "Jack and the Beanstalk" to escape through the dragon's mouth. He and the books climb the beanstalk to reach the exit. They enter a large dark room where the Pagemaster awaits them. Richard accuses the Pagemaster of causing the horrors that he suffered, but the Pagemaster reveals the journey was intended to make Richard face his fears. Dr. Jekyll, Captain Ahab, Long John Silver, and the dragon reappear in a magical twister and congratulate him. The Pagemaster swoops Richard and the books into the twister, sending them back to the real world.


title: The Pagemaster

text: Richard awakens, finding Adventure, Fantasy, and Horror lying next to him as real books. Mr. Dewey finds him, and, even though the library policy only allows a person to check out two books at a time, lets him check out all three books "just this once".


title: The Pagemaster

text: The Pirates of the "Hispaniola" are voiced by Richard Erdman, Fernando Escandon, Dorian Harewood, and Robert Picardo.


title: The Pagemaster

text: The animation in the film was produced by Turner Feature Animation, headed by David Kirschner and supervising animator Bruce W. Smith and recently spun off from Hanna-Barbera. The crew included animators who were veterans of productions such as "An American Tail" (1986) (also produced by David Kirschner and composed by James Horner), "The Land Before Time" (1988). This was one of the first films to feature live-action, traditional animation, and CGI animation all together. One scene involving a computer-generated dragon made from paint was used, a challenge for the filmmakers. All of the fictional works featured in the film were created and first published before January 1, 1923, making them a part of the public domain in most countries. The theme songs to the movie are "Dream Away", sung by Babyface and Lisa Stansfield, and "Whatever You Imagine", sung by Wendy Moten.


title: The Pagemaster

text: According to the film's animation crew, the film went overbudget during animation production due to mismanagement and changes to the narrative. Joe Johnston went on to express his dissatisfaction over the production, claiming that the film was re-edited without his consent. He has since crossed "The Pagemaster" off his résumé.


title: The Pagemaster

text: This was also the third film in which Leonard Nimoy and Frank Welker co-starred; the first two were "" and "". The two later co-starred again, 17 years later, in "". Nimoy, along with David Kirschner, were also involved in Hanna-Barbera's 1993 feature-length animated television film adaptation of Ray Bradbury's 1972 fantasy novel, "The Halloween Tree", in which Nimoy was the voice of Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud.


title: The Pagemaster

text: The screenwriting credits for this film were the subject of a protracted legal arbitration with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) when its producer, David Kirschner, attempted to claim sole authorship of the screenplay and original story, with no credit for its original screenwriter, David Casci. Typically, proposed credits are submitted to the WGA for approval well in advance of the release of a film or the publishing of posters or novelizations on which writing credits appear. In the case of "The Pagemaster", the producers attempted to claim that, as the film was now largely animated, the WGA did not have jurisdiction to determine credits. Casci had written the screenplay under a WGA contract, as well as previous live-action versions for Disney Television dating back to 1985, also written under WGA contract. These facts positioned the WGA to get involved, testing their tenuous authority over a feature film with animated elements.


title: The Pagemaster

text: After a lengthy investigation and interviews with those intimately familiar with the genesis of the "Pagemaster" project, including three persons within Kirschner's own office, the WGA credit arbitration process determined that David Casci was, in fact, the primary writer, and that Kirschner did not provide a sufficient creative contribution to the writing process to warrant any screenwriting credit. Upon receiving this determination by the WGA, Fox threatened to pull out of arbitration and release the film without WGA-approved credits, positioning the WGA to be forced to file an injunction blocking the film's heavily promoted Christmas season release.


title: The Pagemaster

text: Ultimately, a settlement was reached, and Fox released the film with both Kirschner and Casci receiving story and screenplay credit, with a third writer, Ernie Contreras, also receiving screenplay credit.


title: The Pagemaster

text: At the time, this case was the most expensive and extensive investigation of its type undertaken by the WGA on behalf of one of its members.


title: The Pagemaster

text: "The Pagemaster" is presented in an extended cut version. During the production, some original scenes were removed, both live-action and animation. The deleted scenes and characters can be still seen during the making of the film, trailers and TV spots, SkyBox International trading cards, books and other related products. They can be also seen during the sneak peek on the 1993 VHS release of "Once Upon a Forest", the 1994 VHS release of "Rookie of the Year", and in the promotional trailer of the VHS release of the film on the promotional demo/screener VHS copy in 1995.


title: The Pagemaster

text: The film was a production by Turner Pictures. 20th Century Fox handled U.S. distribution, while Turner Pictures Worldwide handled international distribution.


title: The Pagemaster

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 21% based on 19 reviews and an average rating of 4.4/10. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on scale of A to F.


title: The Pagemaster

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" criticized the way the film's message came across, calling it a "sad and dreary film", adding that its message seemed to be that "books can be almost as much fun as TV cartoons and video arcade games." Brian Lowry of "Variety" said that the film's principal appeal for adults would be its abbreviated running time, and that it did not do enough with its famous fictional characters, noting "A more inspired moment has Richard using a book, "Jack and the Beanstalk", to escape from the belly of a dragon. Unfortunately, such moments are few and far between." Rita Kempley of "The Washington Post" gave the film a positive review, calling it a "splendidly original children's fantasy about the world of books." James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave another positive review, calling it a "clever, often engaging, and always fast-paced motion picture" that "uses the visual medium to encourage its viewers to reach out with their imagination."


title: The Pagemaster

text: "The Pagemaster" earned a Razzie Award nomination for Macaulay Culkin as Worst Actor for his performance in the film (also for "Getting Even with Dad" and "Richie Rich"). He lost the award to Kevin Costner for "Wyatt Earp".


title: The Pagemaster

text: "The Pagemaster" was first released on VHS and LaserDisc on April 4, 1995 by Fox Video. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the film on DVD on May 28, 2002 and Blu-ray on August 6, 2013 on Region 1.


title: The Pagemaster

text: The score was also composed by the-late and famous well-known score composer James Horner who was very well-known for his career as a score composer for the films "Casper", "Titanic", "An American Tail", "Avatar", "The Land Before Time" and so much more countless films. The soundtrack not only had the movie's score on it, but it also had two songs and one of which was heard during the film's end credits and they were performed by successful and well-known recording artists. The songs were titled "Whatever You Imagine" by Wendy Moten which was heard during the film when all four characters finally enter into the fantasy section and "Dream Away" by Babyface and Lisa Stansfield is heard during the end credits. The soundtrack album was released only on Compact Disc and Cassette Tape format on October 30, 1994 and it's also available in the iTunes Store. The release date that's displayed in the iTunes Store for the soundtrack album, however is completely incorrect.


title: The Pagemaster

text: Contrary to any claims, the screenplay and film are not based on any book. David Casci's screenplay preceded all novelizations and illustrated books by several years.


title: The Pagemaster

text: A number of books based on the film exist, including an illustrated book attributed to David Kirschner and Ernie Contreras, illustrated by Jerry Tiritilli, which contained large passages from the Casci screenplay without giving Casci writing credit. The film was well into production by the time this book was introduced in the 1993 F. A. O. Schwarz Christmas Catalog. Other properties based on the film include a novelization of the film, children's story books, pop-up books and other film ancillaries such as toys and games.


title: The Pagemaster

text: Video game adaptations of the film were released the same year as the film. They were developed by Probe Software Ltd. and published by Fox Interactive. The PC and non-PC versions of the game are almost entirely different games; the PC game is an interactive game and is developed by Mammoth Micro Productions, published by Turner Interactive and distributed by Turner Home Entertainment, and the non-PC versions are platformers.


title: English Springer Spaniel

text: The English Springer is a breed of gun dog in the Spaniel group traditionally used for flushing and retrieving game. It is an affectionate, excitable breed with a typical lifespan of twelve to fourteen years. They are very similar to the Welsh Springer Spaniel and are descended from the Norfolk or Shropshire Spaniels of the mid-19th century; the breed has diverged into separate show and working lines. The breed suffers from average health complaints. The show-bred version of the breed has been linked to "rage syndrome", although the disorder is very rare. It is closely related to the Welsh Springer Spaniel and very closely to the English Cocker Spaniel; less than a century ago, springers and cockers would come from the same litter. The smaller "cockers" hunted woodcock while the larger littermates were used to flush, or "spring", game. In 1902, The Kennel Club recognized the English Springer Spaniel as a distinct breed. They are used as sniffer dogs on a widespread basis. The term "Springer" comes from the historic hunting role, where the dog would flush (spring) birds into the air.


title: English Springer Spaniel

text: The English Springer Spaniel is a medium-sized compact dog. Its coat is moderately long with feathering on the legs and tail. It is a well proportioned, balanced dog with a gentle expression and a friendly wagging tail. This breed represents perhaps the greatest divergence between working and show lines of any breed of dog. A field-bred dog and a show-bred dog appear to be different breeds but are registered together. The gene pools are almost completely segregated and have been for at least 70 years. A field-bred dog would not be competitive in a modern dog show, while a show dog would not have the speed or stamina to succeed in a field trial.


title: English Springer Spaniel

text: The English Springer Spaniel field-bred dogs tend to have shorter, coarser coats than show-bred dogs. The ears are less pendulous. Field-bred dogs are wiry and have more of a feral look than those bred for showing. The tail of the field-bred dog may be docked a few inches in comparison to the show dog. Field-bred dogs are selected for their sense of smell, hunting ability, and response to training rather than appearance.


title: English Springer Spaniel

text: Show dogs have longer fur and more pendant ears, dewlaps and dangling flews. The tail is docked to a short stub in those countries that permit docking. They are generally more thickly boned and heavier than field-bred springers.


title: English Springer Spaniel

text: The English Springer Spaniel is similar to the English Cocker Spaniel and at first glance, the only major difference is the latter's smaller size. However English Springers also tend to have shorter, and higher-set ears than English Cockers. Springers also tend to have a longer muzzle; their eyes are not as prominent, and the coat is less abundant. The major differences between the Welsh Springer and the English Springer are that the Welsh have more limited colors and tend to be slightly smaller.


title: English Springer Spaniel

text: Field-bred dogs tend to have shorter, coarser coats than the longer furred show-bred dogs. They normally only shed in summer and spring months but shed occasionally in the autumn. The coat comes in black or liver (dark brown) with white markings or predominantly white with black or liver markings; Tricolour: black and white or liver and white with tan markings, usually found on eyebrows, cheeks, inside of ears and under the tail. Any white portion of the coat may be flecked with ticking.


title: English Springer Spaniel

text: Males in the show dog line are typically approximately at the withers and weigh . According to the UK Breed Standard, the English Springer Spaniel should be at the withers. The females should be and usually . Working types can be lighter in weight and finer in bone.


title: English Springer Spaniel

text: The typical Spaniel is friendly, eager to please, quick to learn and willing to obey. In the right circumstances, it can be an affectionate and easy-going family dog. Its alertness and attentiveness make it a good hunting companion. A typical Springer Spaniel will often choose one person in the family to be most loyal to and stick with that person as much as possible; they are often referred to as a "velcro dog". The English Springer Spaniel ranks 13th in Stanley Coren's "The Intelligence of Dogs" and is considered an excellent working dog. It has exceptional stamina and needs moderate amounts of activity, to focus its mind and to provide exercise, although this is different for each dog. Its long-legged build makes it among the fastest of the spaniels.


title: English Springer Spaniel

text: It is a sociable breed that enjoys the company of children and handles the company of other pets well. The hunting breed may not get along well with cats, however. If left alone for too long, they can become destructive and mischievous through boredom.