Phantom rides in the age of virtual reality: Technology and early cinema in hales menagerie (2023)

Abstract

This article examines a curated continuum of virtual and immersive travel rides, ranging from pre-cinema rolling dioramas/panoramas, to phantom rides, Hales Tours, Star Tours, and more recently Hales Menagerie (2023). As a virtual museum exhibit, which combines phantom ride films with photogrammetry and 3D modeling, Hale’s Menagerie is used as an example of how travel films (and their virtual spinoffs) merged early filmic practices with the technologies of attractions, showcasing the enduring significance of virtuality and immersion in the evolution of cinematic experience. More to the point, this article explores how contemporary practices in immersive experience design owe a great deal to these virtual cinematic innovators, including George Hale, Douglas Trumbull and Walt Disney (among others), and gestures toward a reconsideration of the role that early cinema plays in our contemporary world.