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Rocket Racers


Olivus Prime
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Ah, despite only getting to race on this attraction twice, I did love it. It's a shame that, from what you say, the Star Wars replacement isn't as good.

 

On a brighter note, a new comment on this video has revealed that the music playing outside the Rocket Racers building was "Soul on Desert" from SEGA Rally 2. With this, my collection of Rocket Racers music is now complete (bar a full version of the main theme/exit music), so PM me if you would like to hear some of it!

 

Looking through that video... The track is completely different to anything in the actual game. When I raced it was always on Magma Moon Marathon. What's the deal with that?

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Olivus Prime

When I raced it was always on Magma Moon Marathon. What's the deal with that?

 

No offense, but you probably remember incorrectly - two exclusive tracks were made for the ride, based upon Magma Moon Marathon and Desert Adventure Dragway, so the similarities are there, but they are different tracks.

 

Did you ride when it was first open between 2000 and 2004, and/or did you ride when it was reopened between 2009 and 2011?

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When I raced it was always on Magma Moon Marathon. What's the deal with that?

 

No offense, but you probably remember incorrectly - two exclusive tracks were made for the ride, based upon Magma Moon Marathon and Desert Adventure Dragway, so the similarities are there, but they are different tracks.

 

Did you ride when it was first open between 2000 and 2004, and/or did you ride when it was reopened between 2009 and 2011?

 

Actually, thinking back, I don't recall the ride's track having some of the key features of the PC game's one...

 

I've ridden both in the original release and the reopened one.

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Too bad it was taken down. I would've loved to have a go in it... I once had an idea for the rocket racers and would've said about it until I found that rocket racers was taken down, Shame.

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Olivus Prime

I was also thinking about the queueline video today, so I think I'll share some precious info about that. The video was a computer animated film that was apparently 30 minutes long, and was played in its entirety in the queueline until mid-2010. At this point they butchered it by cutting it up into small segments, playing LEGO Racers 4D music over most of it, and adding out-of-date TT Games adverts in :( However, while it did exist in its entirety, it really generated a quirky and fun atmosphere when queueing for the ride.

 

Anyway, the following racers took place in the video, with new vehicles:

  • Rocket Racer - Did you expect them to go on without him? Rocket drives Brad Speedo's car from Stunt Rally, only in a LR1 Rocket Racer-style colour scheme. Somehow it looked even more awesome than his regular car. He was mostly seen thrashing the competition, though there was a humourous clip where his car broke down.
  • Captain Redbeard - The captain could be seen causing chaos every now and again, but wasn't too prominent. He drove a pirate ship on wheels, with a sail that seemed to have Sid Vacant's skull insignia from Stunt Rally on it.
  • King Kahuka - He featured fairly prominently in the video, strange considering his theme had been discontinued for about 6 years. He rode a custom red trike with a throne mounted on the back, which seemed similar to the Chess King's throne.
  • Basil the Batlord - Again, it's odd that Basil got so much screentime when he was, by this point, an older character. He drove the Knights' Kingdom Catapult Crusher, the head of which seemed to be alive.
  • Johnny Thunder - Oddly, Johnny didn't appear much at all - I never remember seeing him outside of a brief appearance on the start line. He drove Snake's jeep from Stunt Rally.
  • Baron von Barron - Despite his name change to Sam Sanister, the Baron retained his original name for the ride. His car, however, is the one he drives in LR2 - the Island Racer. He is mostly seen getting angry over his incompetent car.
  • Ann Droid - Don't get too excited, Explorien fans, they simply named Gypsy Moth incorrectly! I've always wondered why this is, perhaps due to the "Gypsy" name, but I have no idea. She retains her high level of skill from the game and drives in Barney's Speed Dragster.
  • Freddy Sherbet - Yup, a new racing champion. He seemed to hail from the City Race theme, with a yellow version of Brad Speedo's car which I think had this "Turbo" decal on the front, only with green instead of blue. From what I remember, he had a black racing helmet with a black visor, this head, a yellow version of this chest, and black hips with yellow legs. He always seemed to be screwing up, as a rookie does when racing the greatest champions of all time.
  • Timmy and Superstationmaster - This is getting weirder and weirder isn't it? I can't confirm that these were the characters competing, but the railcar was definitely one of the vehicles on the track. In a lot of the clips involving all of the racers, they were usually seen trailing behind.
  • Radium's Truck - I can't confirm who drove the truck because I never saw them onscreen, but I'm pretty sure Radium's truck could be seen on the track on several occasions. Whether it had the LEGO logo or Radium's own insignia on its roof, I can't remember.

As you can see, Stunt Rally was a big influence, possibly due to the game being the latest in LEGO's racing series, or due to the models being available Stunt Rally's opening was made. As some of you may know, the commentator was the newsman from Football/Soccer Mania's intro, and was voiced by Dave Lamb.

 

The video isn't a flowing story - instead, small clips of the racers are shown, almost always with comedic scripting or slapstick-style humour, with the camera zooming out to show the track as a whole every now and then. The track itself was very simple, literally being a small road in the middle of a black void, with no scenery except for the starting line banner, some palm trees by the track kerb, and some advertisement boards by the start line.

 

Now for some of the scenes that take place!

  • A starting line scene, where the commentator walks across the starting line, explaining that the racers are competing to become the next LEGO Racers champion. In the style of the LR1 opening, the racers speed off while the commentator is still on the track, resulting in him spinning around and getting wound up in his microphone cable. This was the only scene I remember seeing Johnny Thunder in.
  • A scene where King Kahuka pulls into the pitstop, only for several Islanders to come out and start bowing before him.
  • A scene where King Kahuka approaches the finish line, only for his trike to slowly lose speed and have its wheels fall off one-by-one.
  • Captain Redbeard is seen making his way down the track, with the pirate sat on the stern of his ship, swishing his sword around. He passes the other racers, and when he's about to crash into one ahead of him, he uses the sail to glide over the competitor and land back on the ships wheels, which were on the ground all along.
  • Basil the Batlord is similarly seen driving down the track without interruption. The horse head on the front of his car moves similarly to a real horse, looking around and shaking itself whilst the car is moving.
  • Baron von Barron is seen in two very similar scenes in the pitstop - both of which he is seen smashing his car with a hammer. The first time, the car slowly falls apart brick-by-brick, and the second time, it turns green and starts hopping around like a frog (no doubt to a joke from the commentator about the Baron being "hopping mad").
  • A closeup of Ann Droid racing is shown. She looks very determined and seems to be flying ahead of the competition.
  • Another Ann Droid scene - the commentator claims that she may break the lap record for the track. We see her whiz around the corner towards the finish line, only to stop a few inches short. After a bit of wheelspin, she crosses the line and breaks the record.
  • The commentator approaches Rocket Racer in the pit stop and asks him what it takes to be a racing champion. Rocket replies something along the lines of "I don't stop", before rocketing off in the blink of an eye, blowing the commentator off of his feet.
  • Two almost identical scenes including Rocket Racer and Freddy Sherbet are seen, since they share the same body and car construction. In the Freddy Sherbet one, the commentator is seen by the side of the track, saying to look out for who he thinks may be the next racing champion, Freddy Sherbet. Freddy is then seen pushing his car down the track behind the commentator, who blushes and smiles at the camera. The Rocket Racer one is identical, only the commentator either says something about the skill level needed to enter the races, or about Rocket Racer being the champion.
  • A first-person view inside Freddy Sherbets car, where we see him hurtling down the track at top speed, only to spin out on a corner.
  • The commentator points out the irony when a safety car is seen teetering on the edge of the track. I believe the car was a white and blue version of Sid Vacant's car.
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lol username
Charlie Perks had a good chunk of that video uploaded to YouTube at one point, he somehow got the original video file for it. He didn't upload the whole thing, though, and he later removed it (along with the Rocket Racers music he had uploaded) as he was worried about copyright issues. I tried asking him if he could share it privately, but again, copyright issues, and the video file is also pretty massive... I imagine he still might have it, though, maybe if some other people try pestering him... :P

Freddy Sherbet - Yup, a new racing champion. He seemed to hail from the City Race theme, with a yellow version of Brad Speedo's car which I think had this "Turbo" decal on the front, only with green instead of blue. From what I remember, he had a black racing helmet with a black visor, this head, a yellow version of this chest, and black hips with yellow legs. He always seemed to be screwing up, as a rookie does when racing the greatest champions of all time.

From what I remember of Charlie's upload, his name was Freddy Sherbert (with an R), and he had a light grey helmet and this head. I actually tried re-creating him as a player character in LR1 after seeing the video, I wonder if I still have the save file...

As some of you may know, the commentator was the newsman from Football/Soccer Mania's intro, and was voiced by Dave Lamb.

Pretty sure he introduced himself as "Barry Baloney" in the first scene of the video... Can't remember if he was given a name anywhere in Soccer Mania, but he wasn't just in the intro of that game, he was a consistent character throughout the whole thing, with him and Freddy Fit narrating the events of the story through news report cutscenes.

The commentator approaches Rocket Racer in the pit stop and asks him what it takes to be a racing champion. Rocket replies something along the lines of "I don't stop", before rocketing off in the blink of an eye, blowing the commentator off of his feet.

Dang, that scene wasn't in the bit Charlie uploaded... Rocket hasn't really had any other speaking roles as far as I know, aside from the little voice clips in LR1.
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Olivus Prime

maybe if some other people try pestering him... :P

 

I'll see what I can do :)

 

his name was Freddy Sherbert (with an R), and he had a light grey helmet and this head.

 

When I was writing that last post, it suddenly occurred to me that I couldn't exactly remember Freddy's appearance. For some reason I've always connected that other head with him, although when I was writing I questioned whether he had the normal moustache head. When you mention the grey helmet, that rings a bell too. I would have spelt it Sherbert, but spellchecker won me over...

 

Pretty sure he introduced himself as "Barry Baloney" in the first scene of the video... Can't remember if he was given a name anywhere in Soccer Mania, but he wasn't just in the intro of that game, he was a consistent character throughout the whole thing, with him and Freddy Fit narrating the events of the story through news report cutscenes.

 

Now that you say the name, that rings a bell too. Perhaps I heard it once and never took it into account - I've always just called him the commentator. Shows just how much I took the ride for granted in its final years - I thought it was going to stay a lot longer, hence why I never made any extensive records, besides a few photos and things from memory. I was devastated when I learnt I had had my final ride without knowing it :(

 

That quote also shows how little I remember Football Mania!

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  • 3 years later...
MinifigRenderer

What has recently surfaced on YouTube is the ride queueline video for both 2000 and 2010. I'll share a link in a second.

 

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lol username

There's more info in the video descriptions. We have a LEGOLAND Windsor employee and Olivus Prime to thank for the two queue line videos, and an animator put the first clip there on his website.

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lol username

Not if I beat 'em to it. ;P (as said in the descriptions, that's why I put them on an old channel - previous uploads from other people have been removed)

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MinifigRenderer

Legoland found them last weekend on Saturday. They've asked YouTube to remove them

What I've actually done cos I'm sad is made some of the cars from the video with their racers. I'll upload some pictures soon

Just checked them now they're now private

I actually loved rocket racers it was my favourite ride in the park. I used to do it about six times a trip.

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Fluffy Cupcake

The fact that your post contains the videos even though they are private gives them reference links to grab for removal. Not that they probably don't have it already if they knew it existed.

Also, if you still need references and haven't downloaded the videos, I'm sure someone can still give it to you.

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lol username

I'm not worried about it, for the reasons already said by me + you. If they're adamant about it they'll be properly removed regardless (and as said I was expecting a decent chance of it happening, hence putting them on an old channel and such).

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MinifigRenderer

I know. That's why I already downloaded them. I actually loved rocket racers it was my favourite ride in the park. I used to do it about six times a trip.

Sorry bout the last bit it keeps repeating itself now and then

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Mr. Skeltal
10 hours ago, Terrev said:

I'm not worried about it, for the reasons already said by me + you. If they're adamant about it they'll be properly removed regardless (and as said I was expecting a decent chance of it happening, hence putting them on an old channel and such).

Hey man, do have download link's for the video's? Or are the video's long gone?

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Fluffy Cupcake

I don't think public download links will ever be posted, but it does exist. Try PMing Terrev for it.

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MinifigRenderer

Do we know if the employee can send out the software for the ride or would that asking too much?

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lol username

Given LEGOLAND doesn't even want the queue videos online... I think it's safe to say that's asking too much. ;P 

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