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What’s up with that big orange rocket in Santa Ana, and why was it staring at me?
The Discovery Cube rocket was rewrapped on June 26.
(
Courtesy The Discovery Cube
)
Driving down the 5 freeway in Santa Ana recently, you may have noticed that the iconic white and blue rocket outside the Orange County Discovery Cube looks a bit different.
About a week ago, drivers on their daily commute discovered the rocket’s drastic new appearance: wrapped in bright orange with a big, angry cartoon eyeball glaring out at drivers. Some thought it was graffiti. Others thought that Discovery Cube was simply giving the spacecraft a facelift.
Then came the online chatter. The strange eye was identical to that of the original Anaheim Ducks hockey team logo from more than 30 years ago — a cartoon duckbill-shaped goalie mask atop two crossed hockey sticks — reminiscent of the days that the Walt Disney Company owned the team. “That’s it, we are winning the cup this year,” one fan proclaimed on Reddit.
Keen sports fans from Orange County correctly guessed that the mysterious orange rocket was all part of a rebranding campaign by the Anaheim Ducks hockey team, ahead of a much-anticipated uniform redesign for the upcoming NHL season.
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The mystery is over: The team announced Wednesday that the ducks are finally returning to their original logo.
The new Anaheim Ducks logo.
(
Alex Gilchrist
/
Courtesy The Anaheim Ducks
)
Visit Discovery Cube Orange County
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Discovery Cube has campuses in Orange County and in Los Angeles. But only the former has a large duckbill-covered rocket.
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Location and hours:
- 2500 N Main Street, Santa Ana, CA
- Every day from 10 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Website
For those who don’t know, back in the early 1990s, a classic Disney film inspired a real-life NHL franchise — originally named the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, after the film — until the media giant sold the team in 2005. The sale was followed quickly by a complete overhaul of the Ducks’ brand. The duckbill mask was replaced by the current “D” logo, and soon after, the team won its first and only Stanley Cup in 2007. Despite the Ducks’ competitive success, fans have been buzzing for a return to the original logo, which has only appeared for special events and alternate jerseys, for 20 years.
The new uniform for the 2024-2025 Anaheim Ducks keeps the team’s bright orange color and black accents, and brings back the duckbill-shaped hockey mask logo that sports fans and Disney aficionados adore.
The rocket is being re-wrapped again as of Thursday morning, presumably to reveal the entirety of the new logo. The team will have updated jerseys to give to new players at the NHL draft Friday and Saturday.
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Corrected June 27, 2024 at 7:53 PM PDT
A previous version of the story misidentified where the rocket is located in Santa Ana. We regret the errors.
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