Turtle Talk With Crush is a unique Disney attraction that is unlike any other, involving a level of audience participation that made it a different show every time you saw it, and that you could even impact the outcome of.
Opening first in 2004 as the first in a series of Finding Nemo additions to The Living Seas Pavilion in Epcot, it was created as a relatively simple exhibit style addition that replaced the original exhibits in the 1C section of the building. But it ended up being more popular than anyone anticipated becoming an attraction of its own that boosted the profile of the entire pavilion.
The theme of the show is that you are going to be able to talk to Crush through the use of a special microphone while watching him through a window into the sea.
The show utilized a computerized form of puppetry, with the digital image of Crush being utilized as in the same manner as a puppet, with an actor providing the voice, allowing him to react in real-time to questions and events happening in the audience.
While every show was different it featured similar elements, including teaching everyone how to speak turtle, and asking children in the audience questions.
A second version of the attraction would open in the animation building of Disney California Adventure in 2005. The show itself would be largely identical even if the setting was different. It would be used to help announce the much more elaborate Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage attraction at the neighboring Disneyland.
Shortly after this, the Epcot version of the show would move into a larger theater following the reimagining of The Living Seas into The Seas With Nemo and Friends. It would reuse an old preshow from the original main attraction of the pavilion, where it continues to operate to this day.
Additional versions of this attraction would open in two other Disney Parks. A temporary version would come to Hong Kong Disneyland throughout 2008, and a permanent version would open in Tokyo DisneySea in 2009. These would once again feature the exact same show, only being presented in various languages.
Significantly, a version of this show would open outside of a Disney Park as part of the Children's Hospital of Orange County in 2013. This allowed children receiving treatment to experience a Disney attraction without needing to leave the hospital, giving them some much-needed fun.
This show's format remained largely unchanged until 2016. Then various versions of the show saw an upgrade to begin featuring characters from Finding Dory.
As a part of the upgrade, the show would begin featuring an additional character or characters from Finding Dory near the end of the show, interacting with Crush in a more scripted element of the show.
This became the permanent version of the show until the COVID19 pandemic closed every version of the attraction worldwide. While the Tokyo version of the attraction was able to reopen with the park, the Walt Disney World version remains closed due to social distancing concerns, and the Disneyland Resort as a whole remains closed.
Hopefully when the pandemic subsides all versions of this attraction will return to their former glory.
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