Finding Nemo octopus swims into Disneyland submarine lagoon
A seven-armed octopus from the Pixar film, “Finding Dory,” is about to become visible to thousands of Disneyland visitors in the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage lagoon.
Hank, the septopus, will join the cast of amphibious creatures when Disneyland reopens the submarine attraction on July 25 for the first time since the pandemic began, according to Disney Parks blog.
“Anytime we take an attraction down for a longer period of time — and this has been a long one for Nemo — it's always great to bring it back with new magic, especially for a franchise like Finding Nemo,” Imagineering Art Director Michael Dobrzycki said during an online video interview.
Imagineering “plussed up” the venerable attraction by extending some rockwork above the water line to give the Hank figure a place to hang out. The “Finding Dory” octopus will be visible from Matterhorn Way between the bobsled roller coaster and the submarine lagoon.
“When we were brainstorming the project with the Pixar team, there was a real interest in saying, `Hey, what can we do to bring a `Finding Dory' character into the story?'” Dobrzycki said.
The Pixar, Imagineering and Disneyland teams settled on the bright orange-red octopus who lost his sense of humor along with one of his tentacles.
In “Finding Dory,” Hank is an escape artist with camouflaging abilities and a penchant for solitude. The septopus — or sevententacled octopus — is voiced by “Modern Family” actor Ed O'Neill.
“Hank is a bit of a curmudgeon,” Dobrzycki said. “He's not always necessarily pleased with what's going on in the world around him. He's got strong opinions.”
Hank's rock outcropping will be a stone's throw from the Finding Nemo seagulls that endlessly squawk “Mine, Mine, Mine” from atop a red buoy to the delight of Disneyland visitors.
“Hank is just there to enjoy the day and get a little sun on the rock,” Dobrzycki said. “But those seagulls aren't going to let that happen. So Hank is casting some pretty harsh side-eye in that direction.”
The original Submarine Voyage attraction opened in 1959 along with Matterhorn Bobsleds and the Disneyland Monorail.
The Disneyland ride beneath the ocean depths closed in 1998 amid an uncertain future for the undersea attraction. Several replacement thematic ideas were considered for the ride based on Disney's 1989 “Little Mermaid,” 2001 “Atlantis” and 2002 “Treasure Planet,” but none of them made the leap from silver screen to theme park.
Then in 2007, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage opened at Disneyland after nearly a decade of inactivity in the lagoon. A 2014 refurbishment of the popular Nemo attraction drained the 6.3 million gallon sub lagoon for months.
After the last refurbishment, Pixar released the “Finding Dory” sequel in 2016 that continued the aquatic story of the original 2003 “Finding Nemo.”