Movie Thoughts: Dromen met Open Ogen (1992)

• Released: June 17, 1992
  
• Directed by: Nathalie Toisuta
• Running time: 26 min
• Rating 3.5/5

Synopsis

A documentary dedicated to the making of the Droomvlucht darkride at the theme park the Efteling in the Netherlands.

My Thoughts

Droomvlucht is an Efteling ride I do feel I haven't really appreciated enough for most my life. Sure, I liked going on it whenever I'd visit the park, but I just never really gave it much thought when it definitely is one of the better ones in the park, come to think of it. Recently it got a large makeover, and I can't wait to see it in this new state.

But at the same time, I recently have also been looking into the Efteling's past by reading a large book on the park's history, and that got me thinking about the Efteling-centric documentaries they released back in the day. Heck, a few are even still being made for newer rides. So I checked out this shorter documentary that was made around Droomvlucht's development.

This documentary, while short, does a neat walk-through of the ride's development. We start at the conception, with concept art by Ton van de Ven, one of the Efteling's main designers at the time, and then later to the process of building the ride, to the eventual realization and opening. The ride of course would also be updated in later years (such as recently), but this is a good documentary covering the basics about the ride's development.

Honestly, if there was one thing, I just wish this one was a little longer? It's not bad by any means, but it feels a tad rushed. Droomvlucht is a large ride, with tons of different scenes, locations and many different creatures inhabiting these worlds. Wouldn't it have been cool to get a more thorough look at how each of these were developed, from concept to final product? Because right now it's more a quick rundown of how the ride was designed, built and opened. Which is fine and all, but it just feels a bit rushed and like it doesn't fully scratch the surface since the actual ride itself is very large, diverse in creatures and locations, and expansive. Not that this is a bad documentary, not at all, but it would've been neat if there'd been a bit more content, running time and depth, at least to me.

Overall still a joy to watch if you're a theme park fan, especially an Efteling fan like me.