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The Carousel of Progress is a Disney theme park attraction that follows the journey of a typical American family through a century of technological progress. The attraction was created by Walt Disney himself. It has been performed at the 1964 New York World's Fair and Disneyland Park. It is currently being performed at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort . HISTORY Edison Square In the late 1950s, after Disneyland Park's initial success, Walt Disney had plans to expand the and Edison Square . In Edison Square, guests would be treated to a show hosted by an "electro-mechanical" man named "Wilbur K. Watt". The show itself would chronicle the evolution of electricity in the home, from the late 1800s to the present and beyond. Unlike the final incarnation, after each "act" was over, the audience got up and walked to the next one. Unfortunately, the Main Street expansion idea fell by the wayside. One of the reasons for this was that the technology necessary to put on the show just was not up to par with what Walt Disney wanted. The idea, however, stayed in Walt's mind for the next few years. He just needed an outlet for it. The World's Fair General Electric approached Walt Disney to produce a show for the company's pavillion at the 1964 New York World's Fair. Disney lept at the chance to work with a corporate sponsor and develop new technology (Mainly because the huge corporation would provide funding for it). Walt pitched the idea of the progress show to the GE executives and they loved it. During the planning phase, Disney's Imagineers perfected the Audio-Animatronics technology necessary to operate the "performers" in the show. It wasn't the most advanced, but it was enough to get the show rolling. The technology used in both Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and fellow Fair pavillion Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln made the show possible. Disney songwriters Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman were asked by Walt Disney to create a song that could be used as a bridge between the "acts" in the show. Walt explained to the brothers what the show was about and they wrote the song with his enthusiasm in mind. They came up with "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow". The Shermans later stated that they believe that the song was Walt's "theme song" because his was so optimistic and excited about the future and technology. The show opened as Progressland at the World's Fair. It was one of the most-visited pavillions at the Fair. One of the unique features was that the audience "rides" around four stationary stages. The popularity of the show convinced GE to continue to sponsor (and more importantly, help fund moving) the Progressland show to Disneyland after the Fair was over. Disneyland As GE agreed, at the conclusion of the fair, the Progressland Audio-Animatronics and sets were moved to Disneyland . They found a home at the newly-built Carousel Theater in a brand-new Tomorrowland . The show opened as the General Electric Carousel of Progress in July of 1967. A new addition was a second-floor post-show featuring a scale model of "Progress City". Father and Mother from the show talked about every aspect of this city that, as they said, was possible today through technology and ingenuity. The model was actually based on Walt Disney's plans for his "Florida Project", known as the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow - EPCOT . By 1973 , the Carousel had had its audience dwindle. It was difficult to fill an entire theater for a show. Disneyland management conceded that the attraction had to be replaced. There was a whole new audience in the new Walt Disney World Resort in Florida . So, the show packed up and was moved back to the East Coast. Walt Disney World GE continued its sponsorship of the attraction in Florida. The GE Carousel of Progress opened in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom Park in 1975 . The show remained relatively the same from Disneyland, with a few changes. "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" was replaced by another Sherman brothers song, "The Best Time of Your Life", to better reflect GE's then-current marketing campaign. The post-show with "Progress City" was also not included in the move. But, most of the model can still be seen on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority route today. In 1985, GE decided to end its sponsorship of the attraction. The show dropped all references to GE and was slightly revised to keep it up to date and closed in 1993 for a more substantial revision. It reopened in 1994 as Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, a tribute to the man who created it. Included the restoration was the return of "There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" as the theme song, and a new narration track featuring Jean Shepherd . With its continuous showings from 1964 to today, the Carousel of Progress has become the most performed show in the history of American theater, as well as the most-seen stage show in America. The show itself has been threatened by closing for a few years now, having been on seasonal operation for a few years, though as of now, is back on regular operation. It is rumored that the show would be gutted and replaced with a reworked version of the Flying Saucers attraction that used to be at Disneyland in the '60's. Disney fans object to this and there have been a few petitions online in an attempt to save it. Interestingly, Walt Disney himself said this was his absolute favorite attraction and always wanted it in the park (Disneyland, presumably) for the rest of its operation. THE SHOW The Carousel of Progress show is divided into five scenes, each seen via the revolution of the theater's seating section around the circular stage area in the center. The purpose is to show the technological progression of the average family over the last 100 years. Each scene takes place in the family's kitchen/living room.
Both the Disneyland and World's Fair versions of the show had five stages. But since the Magic Kingdom version both loads and unloads at ground level, there are six stages. All "sections" are synchronized and timed to the second. As the viewers travel between sections, the playing of the theme song is synchronized, and you hear the transition from the section you are in, into the section you are traveling into. At any one time, all five show sections can be running simultaneously. This also implies that there is limited time to load/unload the theater. PRECURSORS The show did not spring into being as from a blank slate. It is an elaboration and trivialization of some industrial films that American appliance manufacturers funded to show how their products would change the pattern of domestic chores and improve life. The desire to sell during the Great Depression and the rural electrification projects of the New Deal were two of the motivating forces behind these films. Also, there are the remnants of an exhibition from the 1933 Century Of Progress exposition in the Chicago Museum of Science that feature four typical rooms of Chicago houses in various decades prior to the exhibition. ATTRACTION FACTS Disneyland
Magic Kingdom
SPIN-OFFS AND RELATED RIDES In 1983 , Horizons opened at Epcot . It continued the story of the Mother and Father looking at future life on earth and space. But it was an interactive Dark Ride rather than a show. Horizons was also sponsored by General Electric . Also in 1983 , Meet The World , at Tokyo Disneyland , housed in a rotating-theater opened. It featured both audio-animatronics and Video , looking at thousands of years of Japanese history. It closed in 2002 . While "Now Is The Best Time of Your Life" can no longer be heard in the attraction, a synthesized version of it is a segment of the Tomorrowland background area music, which is mostly comprised of synthesized themes of old Tomorrowland attractions, at the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. |
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