MYCUN World Showcase Adventure

***MYCUN World Showcase Adventure*** is a interactive game/scavenger hunt experience at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood. Designed by Universal Creative, it is based on the *MYCUN* franchise and employs the use of 3-D HD digital animation.

Guests were recruited to become part of the MYCUNs to save the world from villains and characters that Gabriel hates. Customized cellphones acted as MYCUNicators to receive clues and directions of where to go in the World Showcase pavilions and to control top-secret equipment hidden inside the pavilions. The World Showcase Adventure was included in park admission.
The Florida version opened officially on January 28, 2009, while the Hollywood version officially opened on March 4, 2011.

## Voice cast

* Elijah Wood as Gabriel Garza, an 18-year-old brave man and the leader of the MYCUN residents.
* Toby Kebbell as Koba, a bonobo who tries to kill Gabriel and take over the MYCUN universe.
* Andy Serkis as Caesar, a common chimpanzee and leader of the apes.
* Anne Hathaway as Red Puckett-Garza, an 18-year-old red hooded woman and Gabriel's wife, mother of Carn.
* Kodi Smit-McPhee as Norman Babcock, an 11-year-old boy and Gabriel's best friend and advisor.
* Steve Carell as Felonious Gru, a former villain and Gabriel's friend and advisor.
* Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud as the Minions, Gru's small, yellow, cylindrical henchmen.
* Evan Sabara as Hiro Hamada, a 14-year-old robotics prodigy.
* Scott Adsit as Baymax, an inflatable robot built by Tadashi as a medical assistant.
* Sachi Matsumoto as Toon Link, a cartoon version of Link from *The Legend of Zelda* series and a legendary hero and swordsman.
* C. Elbourn as Ico, a horned boy.
* Lauren Tom as Yorda.
* Dakota Fanning as Coraline Jones, an 11-year-old girl with dark blue hair.
* Kristin Chenoweth as Carrie Underwood
* Tim Whintall as Bernard, a curious polar bear who doesn't speak, but he does communicate through guttural sounds.
* Johnny Depp as Victor Van Dort, a shy and gawky young man who is engaged to Victoria Everglot for social and financial reasons. He is a very good pianist.
* Helena Bonham Carter as Emily, the Corpse Bride, a beautiful and charismatic young woman with a passion for music and dance.
* Emily Watson as Victoria Everglot, Victor Van Dort's pretty, sweet-natured, yet timid fiancee. She is kind and shy, yet determined when she puts her mind to it.
* Aaron Lohr as Jak, a silent 15-year-old boy and Daxter's best friend.
* Max Casella as Daxter, Jak's best friend who was accidentally transformed into an ottsel (half otter, half weasel).
* Ariel Winter as Dora Marquez
* Taylor Grodin as Boots the Monkey
* Tara Strong as Caillou
* James Arnold Taylor as Johnny Test
* Justin Chapman as Barney the Dinosaur
* Nick Thurston as Blue Eyes, a common chimpanzee, Caesar and Cornelia's first son.
* Karin Konoval as Maurice, a Bornean orangutanand Caesar's friend and advisor.
* Terry Notary as Rocket, a common chimpanzee and Caesar's friend and Ash's father.
* Judy Greer as Cornelia, a common chimpanzee and Caesar's wife, mother of Blue Eyes and a newborn son named Milo.
* Jodelle Ferland as Agatha "Aggie" Prenderghast, a Puritan girl who lived in the 1700s.
* Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, one of the main characters from the Fox animated series *The Simpsons*.

## History

Created as part of the Living Character Initiative at Imagineering, testing for an early version of the game took place during the summer of 2006 and included visits to the United Kingdom Pavilion and the France Pavilion with a final encounter with Carrie Underwood and Koba taking place in the upstairs ImageWorks over at the Imagination Pavilion, the first time the space was open to the public outside tours since 1998.

On February 27, 2007, Universal Studios Florida announced plans for a theme park attraction based on the *MYCUN* franchise. Construction for the *MYCUN* attraction, titled *MYCUN World Showcase Adventure*, began in mid-March 2008. The final version, omitting the ImageWorks stop and having individual missions for multiple pavilions to take on different villains, would soft open to the public on January 15, 2009. On January 28, 2009, *MYCUN World Showcase Adventure* officially opened to the public. The ride's gift shop, MYCUN Shop, had opened prior to the ride in December 2008.

On March 18, 2009, Universal Studios Hollywood announced that they would open *MYCUN World Showcase Adventure* in 2011. *MYCUN World Showcase Adventure* at Universal Studios Hollywood had its soft opening on February 21, 2011, and officially opened on March 15, 2011. In 2012, the attraction opened with Universal Studios Singapore in the *Computeropolis*-themed area. On May 16, 2012, Universal Studios Japan announced that they will open the *MYCUN World Showcase Adventure* attraction in 2013. It opened in Japan on March 4, 2013.

## Missions

Missions in the final version of the attraction took place in Mexico, Norway, China, Japan, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom pavilions, with a different villain for each country.

### Villains

* Mexico: Koba and Carrie Underwood
* Norway: Mother Goose Club
* China: Dora and Boots the Monkey
* Germany: Barney
* Japan: Caillou
* France: Johnny Test
* United Kingdom: Chae Cook

## Overview

Universal Orlando Resort announced that the attraction is being designed by their Universal Creative company.

The ride is a combination of a steel roller coaster with a track length of approximately 9,000 feet (2743.2 m) and a motion simulator. It employs and encompasses the use of motion-based vehicles, detailed sets, physical effects, and 3D projection screens with high-definition 3-D Infitec projection systems similar to those found on *Transformers: The Ride* and *The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man*, and it also features multiple characters from the franchise, including Gabriel Garza.

### Experience

#### Queue

To enter the ride's queue area, visitors must walk through MYCUN Village, which leads inside to the hallway. While the riders are in the queue, various HD television monitors display clips from *MYCUN: The Movie* and *Legend of MYCUN* billed as moments from Gabriel's past, as well as live animated footage from MYCUN Village. Just before entering the pre-show area, they pass an unmanned kiosk where customized cell phones are walkie talkies for use during the main ride. The queue area ends with a sign instructing guests to wait for a short time before entering the fun room, where the MYCUNs can spend some time having fun.

### Pre-show cutscene 1

While in the fun room, riders line-up into rows to wait for a confirmation from Gabriel on a TV screen facing the riders. As Gabriel appears in the TV screen, he says that the riders will be ready to go on a World Showcase Adventure around the world in just 5 minutes or so. But Red appears whispering to Gabriel that Koba, Carrie Underwood, and the other characters that Gabriel hates had escaped prison. Norman was then dismissed as Gabriel tells the riders that Koba, Carrie Underwood, and other characters that Gabriel hates had escaped prison, so it is up to the MYCUNs to stop their enemies once and for all, before it is too late. Gabriel's TV signal was then interrupted by Carrie Underwood, as he said to the riders that she, and Koba will rule MYCUN Village, but Koba tells Carrie Underwood that they will take over the whole world, not just MYCUN Village. Carrie Underwood then continues talking to the riders. She said to them that if the Gabriel and the MYCUNs spoiled their plans, Koba and Carrie Underwood will end up in jail. So, Koba and Carrie Underwood let the passengers go back to the message from Gabriel as the TV signal dissolves back into Gabriel. He wants to know where was he before he got interrupted, but soon Gabriel realized and tells Norman to lead the passengers into his workshop's meeting room, where the MYCUNs create plans to stop Koba once and for all.

### Pre-show cutscene 2

Riders are then ushered into the pre-flight "meeting" room by a MYCUN member. Here, Gabriel leads the MYCUNs into a backstage area where Abraham Simpson, Maggie Simpson, Jorge the Minion, Phil the Minion, Bob the Minion, and all of Gru's shortest minions were told not to ride due to certain safety restrictions including heart conditions, motion sickness, fear of not having escape, fear of being in closed or small spaces or rooms, fear of heights, or any other similar conditions, that were not recommended to ride. Grampa falls asleep while Bob and some of Gru's shortest minions took Maggie outside of the ride. While Phil waits in the backstage area, he then sneaks into a nuclear reactor room, causing him to grow larger and taller. Meanwhile, Gabriel leads the MYCUNs into a ride room where he tells them to enjoy the ride, before Koba and Carrie Underwood appeared. Carrie Underwood knocks Gabriel out and tells the MYCUNs to enter the ride vehicle. Gru enters, followed by the rest of the gang (except Grampa, Maggie, and other Gru's shortest minions). Gabriel, after being knocked out, enters the ride as well. Koba and Carrie Underwood then tells the MYCUNs and the riders, that they must watch a safety video from the MYCUNs. The screen then displays a recap of the safety reminders while riders are ushered into the main ride room.

### Ride

After the riders enter the ride vehicle, which was stylized as a plane, Gabriel appears on a TV screen in the ride cabin and tells the guests that they are with him. He then tells the riders to be quiet so he can study for a math test, because if he gets a C or higher, he will come back to the his workshop after the ride, but if he gets a D or an F, he will get kicked out of Gabriel's property, move into a different city, and start a fresh, new life.

*More coming soon!*