Never let it be said that a search is hopeless. For several years, our own Brian Curran has been hoping to find an elusive piece of original Star Tours audio… the ‘breakdown spiel’ by Captain Rex. We’d known about the existence of this typical Disney every-contingency-covered recording for a long time, as it is mentioned in various sources (like the employee operations manual) and had been corroborated by Park employees, but we were never sure exactly what the line said. We all wanted to hear it, but Brian in particular has been scouring the internet and diligently asking every Disney person he contacts if they could get us a recording.
Well, that search has ended, and fittingly enough it was Brian’s own dedication that paid off. This morning he stumbled onto a video on YouTube titled “Star Wars Ride Malfunction”, and at about the three-and-a-half-minute mark, there was the breakdown spiel in Paul Reubens’ own chirpily happy voice!
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Captain Rex! We’re experiencing some minor technical difficulties. We’ll be returning immediately to the Spaceport. Please remain seated. We’ll resume our tour in just a few minutes. Thank you!”
Alex Newborn
Alex is a lifelong fan of the Star Wars movies and everything Disney, so his obsession with Star Tours comes as no surprise. Born in 1970, Alex visited Walt Disney World for the first time in 1975, and saw the original Star Wars film in its first theatrical run in 1977. He returned to Disney in the 80’s and the 90’s… riding STAR TOURS (twice!) on one fateful day in 1991. He has yet to visit Disney in the new millennium, waiting for both his children to be the required 40″ tall to ride STAR TOURS.
“What I’d really like to see is a Tour chartered for the planet New Bornalex,” says Alex with a smile. The planet, mentioned first in Cloak of Deception, is a Tuckerization of Alex’s name, an honor bestowed on him in print by author Jim Luceno.
Alex is currently at work on a partial realisation of his childhood Disney-in-miniature wish– he is constructing a hyper-accurate 1:18 scale Star Tours diorama to showcase his collection of park-exclusive action figures.
In the meantime, Alex is always on the lookout for more STAR TOURS video or audio files, and other STAR TOURS memoribilia. Alex also is our site’s researcher, and comes with never seen before goodies, for your entertainment. Give him a round of applause guys.
Kris Van de Sande 