My first video in three and a half years. Not exactly the most groundbreaking upload, but it's a video idea that I had for eons and I wanted to finally do it. I currently don't have any further plans as far as videos are concerned, so I really have no idea if I'll end up posting anything else on this channel.

Legitimately for all of 2022 I watched your videos of Okefenokee everytime I got sad @ college! It's a shame the ride is lost to time, but thank you for all your work!!

It’s a genuine miracle that this ride is as well documented as it is. Thanks so much to you and Tim for working to preserve this historic ride.

@okefenokee_rabbit

3 ай бұрын

When you consider not only the fact that we have the uncompromised source recordings of virtually every audio reel from the ride, but also the massive wealth of professionally filmed footage and Tim's own audio recordings, it's fairly safe to say that the timeline we ended up with is one in a million as far as the documentation of this obscure 1960s Six Flags attraction is concerned.

A new video after 3 years? I’m down, however it’s sad knowing there is most likely no footage of a ride through of the ride, it’s good knowing that the ride isn’t completely lost media

@okefenokee_rabbit

6 ай бұрын

The tragic thing is that the filmmakers who shot all the footage for the sample reel likely _did_ film an entire first-person ridethrough as evident by the three or so brief shots filmed from that angle, but of course almost all of it was omitted from the final cut.

@SlushysSecret

6 ай бұрын

@@okefenokee_rabbit also I did want to follow up on this, but was it true that someone did in fact have some of the figures from the ride but wished not to share it because of some events that happened, since I have read some threads from employees who say the removal of the ride that the figures were destroyed out of hatred

YOU'RE ALIVE!!! I'm so glad you uploaded again!

@okefenokee_rabbit

6 ай бұрын

Not sure if I'll upload anything else, but I'm definitely not officially retired.

the man is back!

Yayyy! Welcome back man!

OMG new video after 3 years! 🎉❤

Yoooo your back // I love your videos ^^

I remember watching your videos back in 2020 cause I was bored during quarantine. Can’t believe that was nearly 4 years now. Loved your videos and it’s kinda sad knowing that there probably isn’t going to be any new footage of the ride for you to share. But if there ever is I will gladly welcome you back

@okefenokee_rabbit

5 ай бұрын

I'm glad you've enjoyed my content, bruv. Always great to hear of people actually taking an interest in this obscure dark ride from the 1960s and keeping it alive in the collective consciousness.

It’s truly christmas now Now, it’s time for me to obsess over this ride once again 🙏🙏🙏

@okefenokee_rabbit

6 ай бұрын

A Very Wumba Christmas, as it were

A friend of mine actually purchased some Polaroids taken of this ride, He sent me photos of them, and immediately I knew what it was from, I really should ask him for scans of them and send them to you if you’d like

@SlushysSecret

6 ай бұрын

You should post them! While they might not be scans I would like to see them

@okefenokee_rabbit

6 ай бұрын

Please ask for scans of those photos if you can. I haven't seen a single photo turn up in over a year, so anything new would be great.

Hey, remember me? I was the guy who found the okefenokee footage back in 2019. How has everything been?

@okefenokee_rabbit

4 ай бұрын

Very uneventful regarding the Okefenokee, although I haven't actively been searching for anything new in quite some time. I believe the Okefenokee has pretty much run its course online, although something major coming up isn't outside the realm of possibility.

I have a few questions that I would like to know about for an upcoming documentary about the Okefenokee: 1. Do you have a specific month when the fire in 1980 happened and how long the ride had been closed for after the fire 2. How would the figures look like as in their skeletal frame such as if their faces were apart of the figures structure or how the fur was attached onto figures 3. Was there any point were the figures movements and structure were modified with new technology or new movements in the figures 4. Was the fabric used for the figures fur consistent or did every fur change have different fabric used for them 5. Would there be times when figures would not be present for refurbishment during operating hours and for refurbishments like the 1976 overhaul would the figures need to be removed off the set 6. Would there be times when the speakers completely burnt out and would not play reels leaving scenes quiet (not including when employees completely turned off the Christmas scenes reel) 7. Would parts of the figures come off because of deterioration when the ride operated such as eyebrows, possibly an ear falling off the rabbits, props the figures would hold, any other clothings 8. Did the number of riders per day decrease after the 1976 overhaul, and rapidly decreased after the 1980 fire 9. Was the ride still abused by riders going off the boats even after the 1976 overhaul 10. Did Sid and Marty Krofft take part in making the soundtrack in the ride or was it done by some other group of musicians 11. Was fur deterioration as in holes and rips showing up in the fur and the fur becoming rather scabby looking This one’s random and I might not include it in the video but if the fire never happened would another overhaul in the ride possibly happen keeping it open for another few years and possibly completely updating the figures skeletal frame with the technology used in the Monster animatronics?

@okefenokee_rabbit

4 ай бұрын

I apologize for not seeing your comment until now, but I'll do my best to give educated answers to all of your questions. A lot of this stuff is so specific, however, that you would be better off finding an actual former ride employee to ask about it. 1. The fire has never been attributed to an exact date as far as I'm aware. The Okefenokee closed in September 1980, and I don't think the fire could have happened more than just a few months prior to that, so if I had to guess I would say it was some time around June. 2. The Okefenokee figures were incredibly basic, so there likely wasn't much to see under their fur and feathers. If the Spee-Lunkers of Six Flags Over Texas are anything to go by, the Okee figures likely had fiberglass "shells" giving form to most of their body, flexible wire or hose structures for posable parts (such as the rabbits' ears and maybe certain characters' arms), and then all of the mechanical and pneumatic structures underneath those. The figures' faces certainly weren't built into their internal features, save for snouts like on Mr. Fox and Mr. Bear, which were most likely extensions of their fiberglass head molds. Eyes and whatnot were merely cosmetic features applied to the figures' exteriors. I'm not sure how fur was applied, though. 3. The figures remained structurally the same throughout the entire Krofft period from 1968 to 1980; None were ever given new internals. 4. I'm not quite sure how many types of fabric were used over the years, but it seems to me like there were only two: one prior to 1976 and one thereafter. The consistent deterioration of the fur before 1976 tells me that they were simply using the same fabric over and over again at first. Then, from 1976 onward, the characters' fur doesn't appear to have changed any, which leads me to believe that a single, less deteriorative alternative had been found. 5. It's possible that ride operation continued while some of the more minor figures were out for repairs, but I'm sure the ride had to be closed if any of the Mr. Rabbits, Mizz Rabbits, Foxes, or Bears weren't present. 6. I'm not sure if any the speakers ever quit working at any point. It's a possibility due to the humidity, but I really couldn't tell you. 7. The figures seem to have been pretty well made, so I can't imagine anything major like an entire ear falling off a rabbit. I don't think there was really any damage done to the figures other than the deterioration of fur and the theft of clothes. 8. The Okefenokee's popularity was in steady decline throughout the entire period from 1973 until its closure, when the already somewhat obscure dark ride was being increasingly overshadowed by big, high-profile thrill rides. I don't think Six Flags would have actually advertised the 1976 overhaul, nor did the average parkgoer know of the 1980 fire, so I doubt either of those things had any significant effect on the Okee's popularity. However, it _might_ have seen a slight spike toward the very end just from people who wanted to ride it one last time before it closed. 9. It's more than likely, although the overhaul did give nearly all of the characters much tighter-fitting clothes that were probably a lot more difficult to grab off. 10. The Krofft brothers were never directly responsible for the music in any of their productions to my knowledge, so I would assume the Okee music was entirely the work of other people. 11. Most of the fabric damage was likely in the form of mildew accumulation. 12. I don't think the fire was quite the "nail in the coffin" that it's made out to be. Even before the fire, the Okefenokee was already a dated, unpopular, troublesome burden on the park, and the decision to replace it had surely been made some time in the late 1970s, with the conceptual/preliminary work on Monster Plantation likely bordering on completion by the time the fire happened. The plans were already in place, and the Okefenokee definitely would have closed in 1980 regardless of the fire.

HAPPY HOILDAY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS ! 🎉IT'S ALMOST NEW YEAR🎉

I have a question what do you think the first scene of the 1967 okefenokee I have been trying to listen to some audio from back then but I still can’t figure it out if you know that would help me a lot

@okefenokee_rabbit

8 күн бұрын

I think the 1967 iteration of the opening scene was more or less the same thing as the 1968 version; just a simple vignette showing Mr. Rabbit living his good life before any conflict arises. The first verse of the queue song seems to suggest this, and it especially makes sense when you consider that the Krofft brothers were mostly just taking the existing scenes of the 1967 ride and making them more interesting. I can't say whether or not the original opening scene featured some version of the crow quartet, however. Its entirely possible, but we'll probably never know.

This audio is a lot less cluttered than the on-ride mix

Hey there I got some questions to ask you. 1. How does sid & marty krofft feels like after they saw tales of the okefenokee getting replaced by monster plantation in 1981? 2. When did the horror cave actually closed, since wikipedia said it closed in 1985 and some said it closed in 1982 3. Is monster plantation way more popular than tales of the okefenokee since I found more footages of monster plantation than tales of the okefenokee

@okefenokee_rabbit

2 ай бұрын

1. I don't remember if it was Sid or Marty who once made a post on Instagram featuring some footage of the Okefenokee and saying something to the effect of, "I can't believe Six Flags continued to let us work for them after we made this." Whoever it was, I would imagine that neither Krofft felt any ire upon learning that some of their cruder work from many years prior had been replaced by something that most would agree is demonstrably better. 2. Tim Hollis claims that the Horror Cave closed in 1985, and I'm inclined to take his word on that. 3. The reason there's infinitely more footage of Monster than there is of the Okefenokee is simply because of the technological limitations of the 1960s and 1970s. Digital means of capturing footage didn't exist back then, and because people only had so much physical film to spare, they only recorded things that were particularly valuable. If someone were filming anything at SFOG in the 1970s, it was almost always just shots of family and friends. The thought of capturing footage inside of a dark ride, which wasn't guaranteed to show up well on camera due its dim lighting and certainly wouldn't provide very good angles of people's faces, wasn't something that crossed most people's minds. Furthermore, because there was no internet back then, nobody had a means of sharing their footage with a mass audience. So even if there was a sizable number of people who actually did record bits and pieces of the Okefenokee, then the unfortunate reality would be that most of those films were forgotten about many decades ago and have been collecting dust in various attics and basements for the past 45 years, never to see the light of day. With all that said, I'm fairly certain that Monster Plantation is in fact more popular now than the Okefenokee was during its time. Compared to the Okefenokee, Monster was made under much higher production values, has a much more coherent narrative, is maintained better, and additionally has the status of being a very old, classic attraction that serves as something of a relic from a bygone era of the park. The Okefenokee, on the other hand, was novel during the first few years of the park's operation but soon started to become passé, unremarkable, and even somewhat unsightly due to its persistent maintenance issues. I might be wrong on this, but I don't think too many people were particularly attached to the Okefenokee by the time it closed. It was never quite the iconic, fan-favorite staple that Monster is.

@SammyTheCitipati

2 ай бұрын

Also I got some more questions to ask you. 4. Does Mr. Fox in the kidnapping scene blinks his eye since I found one of your image in jumpshare showing people smiling on the boat and at the back are the carrots and Mr. Fox opened his eyes which he never opened his eyes in this footage 5. Are the sets in the arsenal cave bassicly just cardboards? 6. Does the monster plantation/mansion have a bigger show building than the okefenokee since I compared the okefenokee's show building to monster's and okefenokee's show building looks much smaller than monster's show building 7. Did the magic bunny replaced the hula hooping bunny in 1972? 8. What characters in the okefenokee survived the demolition in 1980 or recycled in monster plantation/mansion?

@okefenokee_rabbit

2 ай бұрын

​@@SammyTheCitipati 4. None of the figures had a blinking animation save for a single owl in the opening scene. Mr. Fox in the kidnapping vignette had closed eyes originally, and they were replaced with open eyes likely in 1974 or 1975, hence what you see in that photograph. 5. The mounds of cannonballs in the arsenal were constructed of plywood and coated in ultraviolet paint that glowed in the dark. The scene was very similar to the 1950s-era Disneyland dark rides in that regard. 6. Monster Plantation uses the exact same show building as the Okefenokee; it's not any bigger. The boat trough and the lift hill mechanism, among other things, are still exactly the same as they were in 1967. 7. Yes, the magic rabbit replaced the hula-hooping rabbit in either 1971 or 1972. 8. None of the animated figures were recycled for Monster, but a handful of frogs survived, and you can find a video of them on my channel. There's also supposedly a former SFOG employee who has a handful of animated figures in storage (including a Mr. Fox), though this remains an unsubstantiated claim with no proof to back it up.

@SammyTheCitipati

Ай бұрын

​@@okefenokee_rabbit I have 1 more questions to ask you 9. Did the characters in the okefenokee got redesigned by 1975 or 1976?

@okefenokee_rabbit

Ай бұрын

@@SammyTheCitipati I don't know, actually. I've always just assumed the cosmetic overhaul was done in 1976 simply because I've never seen a photo of it dated prior to that year. It's definitely possible that it was as early as 1975, however.

2:28 Why did they did not have the actual footage of the shooting sence

@LuLzMrTom

6 ай бұрын

we don't have any, just this one photo is all we have of that scene

@SlushysSecret

6 ай бұрын

They omitted it from the final cut

It’s good to see this channel in my subscriptions. 🫡 Happy holidays to ya!

@okefenokee_rabbit

6 ай бұрын

You too, bruv

Do the okefenokee figures still exist?

@okefenokee_rabbit

5 ай бұрын

If you're referring to those figures that George Flanagan claimed to own in 2021, then I'm really not sure. Nobody has been able to say for certain whether that guy was telling the truth or just a troll, seeing as there's no content or personal information on his KZread channel and no obvious match on social media. However, it's worth noting that if George truly does own Okee figures, then it's quite strange that he's seemingly never brought them to any sort of public display (such as the SFOG fortieth anniversary exhibit in 2007), and that somehow not a single picture of them has surfaced online.

@aGoosenamedJordan

4 ай бұрын

​@okefenokee_rabbit who's george Flanagan?

@okefenokee_rabbit

4 ай бұрын

@@aGoosenamedJordan Some guy who commented on one of my videos several years ago. He claimed to be a former SFOG employee who had several still-functioning Okefenokee figures in storage. It was looking likely that he might actually send some pictures of the figures the next time he was at his storage locker, until a very annoying commenter continuously begged him to sell the figures in the most obnoxious manner possible. This put George off from interacting with anyone else in the comments, and that was it. No pictures of any surviving Okefenokee figures. We don't even know for sure if George was telling the truth or just a troll. It's a whole stupid can of worms.

@impaddyidontmakemisteaks

2 ай бұрын

@@okefenokee_rabbitGeorge Flanagan is very important in animatronic history, so I think it’s true.

@okefenokee_rabbit

2 ай бұрын

​@@impaddyidontmakemisteaks I believe you've provided me with the missing link I needed to finally solve this old thing. I was shocked to see that George Flanagan is in fact a real person upon finding his "Briar Patch Productions" channel, and the fact that he has a video in which he shows several old Looney Tunes animatronics in storage initially had me thoroughly convinced that those Okefenokee figures he spoke of are real. However, two things dawned on me that heavily suggest that the "George Flanagan" who posted on my source audio video is merely a troll. 1. The comment was not posted by the Briar Patch Productions channel, but rather a random throwaway account that has the name "George Flanagan" but no content or even a profile picture. If the real George Flanagan wanted to let me know that he still had several Okee figures in storage, why would he switch to some unrecognizable account to do so? And why does that channel not have a single thing on it to begin with? 2. The real damning evidence, however, lies in the fact that George Flanagan can't be anywhere past his twenties judging by his voice in the video with the Looney Tunes animatronics. The George Flanagan who worked at SFOG in 1974 would have to be no younger than 65 or so, and the voice I heard in that video was absolutely not the voice of somebody that age. So there you have it: The real-life George Flanagan cannot reasonably be the same person as the George Flanagan who posted on my video, and because it would be ridiculous to assume that there are two people named George Flanagan who both happen to own vintage animated figures from SFOG, I'm inclined to believe that the Flanagan who commented on my video was nothing more than a troll looking to ruffle a few feathers.