Hyperion Airship - Representations

Representations

The Hyperion was planned to be part of a major attraction called Discovery Bay, which was planned for Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The film did poorly at the box office. This attraction was never built, but some Disneyland planning models and sketches depict a large wooden hangar with the nose of a life-size replica of the Hyperion protruding from the hangar’s open doors. The hangar was to house a ride that was described as having the park visitors enter the hangar and climb aboard the Hyperion. They would then be taken on an aerial adventure over the Arctic based on the film. The ride was planned to use real film and a moving platform to simulate the ride, at least two decades before virtual reality rides began to be installed in theme parks. The Hyperion was prominently featured in a limited edition artist representation of Discovery Bay. The artwork features the airship's nose protruding from a large wooden hanger that is perched on the edge of a lagoon where the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea is seen parked. Postcards of the artist concept were also sold inside the Disneyland theme parks. However, the dismal box-office sales of The Island At The Top Of The World caused Disney to scrap the ride completely.

The Hyperion lives on today in Disneyland Park, Paris. A life-size Hyperion airship is incorporated into the high ceiling of the Videopolis Theatre and café complex in Discoveryland, the Paris amusement park's analog of Tomorrowland at other Disney theme parks around the world. One of three entrances to the Hyperion Café, which on opening in 1992 was Europe’s largest fast food restaurant, features the front of the airship protruding from the building, whilst the back is enclosed within the café. When built in 1992, this gigantic 2,200 m² silicon-coated glass fabric Hyperion airship was the largest prop ever built for a theme park. The Hyperion's appearance was slightly updated and stylized from the ship in the film. Structural changes in design on Disneyland Paris' Hyperion are: the disappearance of French markings, the balloon being red instead of crimson, and the gondola totally re-designed in structure. Additionally, Imagineers provided an expanded back-story, the dirigible being constructed in Holland in 1892; she has been moored since her one and only captain disappeared on the morning of her 50th scheduled flight. However, the essence of the original design remains. Also in Disneyland Paris, an image of the Hyperion appears on a mural outside the Constellations store, also found in Discoveryland. The Hyperion built for Disneyland was manufactured in separate countries: the gondola was made by Kimpton Walker Co. in London while the balloon came from Koit in Germany.

A model of the Hyperion is also featured in Discovery Arcade, Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland Park, Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France, one of the two covered walkways that are unique to the French park.