An Oral History of Back to the Future: The Ride [Video]

“You are sitting in the DeLorean (from) Marty McFly’s point-of-view,” explained Steven  Spielberg in a promotional video that described the experience of Back to the Future: The Ride. “Doc Brown is guiding you right through the experience, and you are really in Back to the Future. It’s almost like Back to the Future Part IV.”

Debuting at Universal Studios Florida in 1991, Back to the Future: The Ride was a groundbreaking attraction that involved some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Along with Spielberg, who birthed the idea and oversaw the ride’s development as a consultant for Universal Studios, visionary filmmaker Douglas Trumbull was hired to direct the footage that accompanied the ride. Trumbull had made a name for himself creating the visual effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner, and his Back to the Futureadventure took riders to Future Hill Valley, the ice age and Cretaceous period — all from an enormous, domed OMNIMAX screen while a …