OPENED: March 27, 1997
COST: $7.6 million
SHOWING IN 2009: Under the Sea 3D and Wild Safari 3D. Please call (402) 330-IMAX or click here for current show times.
The BIG screen
The IMAX screen measures 61 feet tall by 83 feet wide. That's as tall as four giraffes and as wide as seven rhinos! The screen was painted with a special reflective paint, which provides a sharp picture no matter where the viewer sits. Millions of tiny holes in the screen make it "transparent" to sound waves from the speakers behind the screen. However, the holes are not visible to the human eye.
The HUGE projector
The projector weighs more than one elephant, or 7,310 pounds! It uses two 15,000 watt bulbs, where an ordinary 35mm projector uses one 2,000 watt bulb.
The GIGANTIC film
An IMAX film uses the largest film frame in motion picture history. It is 10 times the size of a conventional 35mm frame. The larger the film frame, the better the quality. A typical IMAX movie contains over two miles of film and lasts about 45 minutes.
The SURROUND sound
A six-channel high fidelity sound system is heard through six speakers, each weighing 500 pounds, or as much as a Siberian tiger. Four clusters behind the screen and two in the rear of the theater produce a surround-sound experience 100 times more powerful than a home stereo. The speakers are powered by a 12,000 watt digital sound system with 16 amplifiers. The size of the screen and superior sound system create "the IMAX experience" or the feeling of being part of the actual place or event on screen.
The BEST SEAT in the house
The seating area accommodates 358 viewers for 2D films and 324 for 3D. A person's view is never blocked by a person sitting in front of them because of the sloped seating deck.
3D IMAX
This facility was designed to be able to show three-dimensional (3D) movies. Using special glasses, the images are seen as a single picture and appear to have depth.
World PREMIERE and special effects
The Lozier IMAX Theater world premiered the IMAX film Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West in April 2002. This giant screen film from National Geographic was supported by a grant from the Suzanne & Walter Scott Foundation; Walter Scott is the chairman of the Omaha Zoo Society. Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo also provided major funding for the IMAX film Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa. The film's director and producer, David Breashears (creator of Everest), co-producer Arabella Cecil and trekker, Roger Bilham, attended the Omaha opening of this film at Omaha’s Zoo in June 2002.