The attraction "Cranium Command" is located in the Wonders of Life pavilion in Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, USA. The show features a funny pre-show movie setting up the actual attraction itself. Epcot guests sit on a series of benches in a semi-circular room with the "Cranium Command" set in front of them. A series of screens display the various cast members, each assuming the role of an organ in the body of a twelve-year-old boy. The characters work together well, though their respective segments were not filmed simultaneously. Charles Grodin portrays the left brain in his straight-forward manner, while Jon Lovitz portrays the fun-loving right brain. Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon (as SNL's Hans & Frans) are the ventricles of the heart, Bobcat Goldthwait is the adrenal glands (nice casting!) and George Wendt is stuck with the role of the stomach. Great attraction...funny story, and you learn a little something too.
3 Reviews
One-of-a-kind journey
AllisonLVenezio25 September 2002
The actions of the human body is portrayed in a fun and educational manner in this fun amusement park attraction.
Located in the Wonders of Life Pavilion at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World, this 17-minute attraction takes a look at how the human body responds to certain events. Opened in 1989, it boasts celebrities, educational values, and a unique perspective of it all--the eyes of a 12-year-old.
As you enter the briefing room, General Knowledge (voice of Corey Burton) screams commands at the audience about becoming a recruit for the human body. The most unlikely candidate is Buzzy, a cute little creature with big circle-framed glasses, willing to operate the body. The film shows that brains vary from person to person, with a hillarious comparison between "Genius" [shot of Albert Einstein] to "Stupid" [shot of "Ernest P. Worrell (the late Jim Varney)]. General Knowledge informs the visitors that Buzzy has been recruited for the mind of a 12-year old boy, one of the most precious minds of all. As the audience enters the main room, one realizes that they are walking into a human head. You can see the two large circles are the eyes, the large divided monitor is the brain, the oval shaped monitor at the bottom on the left is the heart, the central oval at the bottom is the stomach, the monitor near the brain is the adrenal gland, and the bladder's screen is right near the stomach. We are introduced immediately to the "operators": There's the studious and sophisticated "Left Brain" (Charles Grodin), the ultra-silly right brain (Jon Lovitz), the right ventricle (Dana Carvey) and left ventricle (Kevin Nealon) of the heart, the crazy adrenal gland (Bobcat Glodthwait), the bladder (Jeff Doucette), and the stomach (George Wendt). All systems are go!
The short film follows Bobby, a twelve-year old, during a typical school day. Of course, EVERYTHING that could possibly go wrong does go wrong, and we get to see how the body parts react. We see everything through his eyes, as Buzzy controls the body's every move. Whenever something bad happens, as it does when Bobby has to go to the principle's office, everything goes haywire!
This attraction, when seen at an early age, usually is hard to keep up with. The jokes fly right over younger viewer's heads, and is usually loud during the haywire scenes. I first saw "Cranium Command" when I was almost 8 years old in August 1990, and once again when I was 16 in April 1999. I caught the inside jokes and LOVED the atmosphere of the attraction, especially the celebrities! Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz, and Kevin Nealon, all of "Saturday Night Live," where excellent. Bob Goldthwait was CLASSIC when he was all excited, because the sirens would go off and all the lights would flash! It was too much fun.
I highly recommend this to everyone, because it is so much fun. See it twice, because it will be easier to pick up certain jokes. This is light-hearted, typical Disney family fun! Get it in YOUR head to see this attraction!
Located in the Wonders of Life Pavilion at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World, this 17-minute attraction takes a look at how the human body responds to certain events. Opened in 1989, it boasts celebrities, educational values, and a unique perspective of it all--the eyes of a 12-year-old.
As you enter the briefing room, General Knowledge (voice of Corey Burton) screams commands at the audience about becoming a recruit for the human body. The most unlikely candidate is Buzzy, a cute little creature with big circle-framed glasses, willing to operate the body. The film shows that brains vary from person to person, with a hillarious comparison between "Genius" [shot of Albert Einstein] to "Stupid" [shot of "Ernest P. Worrell (the late Jim Varney)]. General Knowledge informs the visitors that Buzzy has been recruited for the mind of a 12-year old boy, one of the most precious minds of all. As the audience enters the main room, one realizes that they are walking into a human head. You can see the two large circles are the eyes, the large divided monitor is the brain, the oval shaped monitor at the bottom on the left is the heart, the central oval at the bottom is the stomach, the monitor near the brain is the adrenal gland, and the bladder's screen is right near the stomach. We are introduced immediately to the "operators": There's the studious and sophisticated "Left Brain" (Charles Grodin), the ultra-silly right brain (Jon Lovitz), the right ventricle (Dana Carvey) and left ventricle (Kevin Nealon) of the heart, the crazy adrenal gland (Bobcat Glodthwait), the bladder (Jeff Doucette), and the stomach (George Wendt). All systems are go!
The short film follows Bobby, a twelve-year old, during a typical school day. Of course, EVERYTHING that could possibly go wrong does go wrong, and we get to see how the body parts react. We see everything through his eyes, as Buzzy controls the body's every move. Whenever something bad happens, as it does when Bobby has to go to the principle's office, everything goes haywire!
This attraction, when seen at an early age, usually is hard to keep up with. The jokes fly right over younger viewer's heads, and is usually loud during the haywire scenes. I first saw "Cranium Command" when I was almost 8 years old in August 1990, and once again when I was 16 in April 1999. I caught the inside jokes and LOVED the atmosphere of the attraction, especially the celebrities! Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz, and Kevin Nealon, all of "Saturday Night Live," where excellent. Bob Goldthwait was CLASSIC when he was all excited, because the sirens would go off and all the lights would flash! It was too much fun.
I highly recommend this to everyone, because it is so much fun. See it twice, because it will be easier to pick up certain jokes. This is light-hearted, typical Disney family fun! Get it in YOUR head to see this attraction!
Really hasn't aged well
Horst_In_Translation15 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Two years after The Brave Little Toaster, Jerry Rees, an early collaborator of Tim Burton, developed this Disney theme park attraction for the Floria Studios. While, as a whole, I'd say it was a decent achievement for 1989, almost 25 years later the attraction looks antiquated. With the age of the internet we get access to short films from the 1930 and 1940s who offer equally good animation, here and there even better and the whole teaching aspect of the biological basics on how the human brain functions is not really anything today's children will be motivated to watch. The army commander just doesn't have any charm at all.
This film is surely nothing for adults and if you want to teach your children any aspect of biology, I'd recommend to go for "Il était une fois... la vie", which was released almost at the same time, even slightly before Cranium Command, if you can grab a copy of it, that is.
This film is surely nothing for adults and if you want to teach your children any aspect of biology, I'd recommend to go for "Il était une fois... la vie", which was released almost at the same time, even slightly before Cranium Command, if you can grab a copy of it, that is.
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