Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Richard Hoag, who was the writer and director for Laboratory.

Rich was kind enough to “pull back the curtain” on several of the show’s effects, as well as share stories from his creative involvement in the show early on, and his experience training the first handful of Northrups.

Rich also remembers what a leap of faith the show was for Joe Peczi, then Vice President of Entertainment for Busch Gardens:

“The Enchanted Lab was a huge risk for him [Peczi] and the company. The corporate offices weren’t too sure if the show was a good investment. It was going to cost a lot of money at the time … To his credit, it was very successful.”

I’ll be adding plenty of quotes and corrections to the site as a result of our conversation.  Big thanks to Rich for making the time!