America Sings opened at Disneyland on June 29, 1974, replacing the General Electric-sponsored Tomorrowland attraction Carousel of Progress, which had moved to the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in 1973. America Sings used the same Carousel Theater as its predecessor. The building had an outer ring of six theaters, connected by divider walls, that revolved mechanically about every four minutes around the six fixed stages in the center of the building.
Unlike Carousel of Progress, which rotated clockwise, America Sings rotated in a counterclockwise direction. Also, unlike Carousel of Progress, America Sings only used the lower level of the Carousel Theater. The upper level was eventually used to house the SuperSpeed Tunnel in 1977 (which later became themed to the Game Grid from the 1982 film Tron) that the PeopleMover transportation attraction passed through.
Like the Carousel of Progress, the first and the last scenes of America Sings involved the loading and unloading of guests, while the other four scenes, or "acts," depicted a particular era. However, the identical load and unload theaters each featured a small curtained gazebo with a backdrop showing a park. The curtains would open to reveal Sam and Ollie standing on a two-level podium, with Sam standing on the higher level, introducing or closing the show.
Between each act, as the theater rotated, the lights blacked out, and the theater illuminated with flashing stars; during the rotations, Sam sang about the next era the audience was about to enter, reprising the chorus of "Yankee Doodle".[3]
Also, at some point in each act, the Weasel would suddenly appear on the scene, spouting the title line, "Pop, Goes the Weasel!" for a total of five times. At the very end of the show, he changed the line to, "Goodbye, Goes the Weasel!"
The characters in America Sings were patterned after characters from the concept art for an animated movie called Chanticleer that Walt Disney cancelled in the 1960s.[citation needed]
On July 8, 1974, nine days after the attraction opened, an 18-year-old hostess named Deborah Gail Stone was accidentally crushed to death between two walls of the building at 10:37p.m. A narrow channel that provided the show's movement between an inside stage stationary wall and the rotating wall was open and Stone either fell, stepped backwards, got down there, or attempted to jump from one stage to the other as the rotating wall began to move (it moved every 2 to 4 minutes, which was how long each act was). Her death was pronounced at 11:00p.m., when the carousel was being reset for a new cycle. One of the audience members heard Stone's screams and notified park staff. Others thought it was a part of the show. By the time the audience member and the staff got to her, the teenager had already died from her injuries. Stone's parents sued Disneyland for the death of their daughter, which resulted in a small settlement.[4][5]
Following Stone's death, the attraction was closed down, remaining closed while Disney installed warning lights and had the area where the incident occurred cleaned. Later, the walls in the theater were remodeled so that they would break away in case a similar accident happened. The attraction reopened on July 11, three days after the incident.
Closure
America Sings was born out of the company's desire to celebrate the United States Bicentennial. It did not quite fit the theme of Tomorrowland, but its relevance to that period in the United States made it appropriate. However, once the Bicentennial was over, the attraction became more misplaced. Disney's Imagineering team began developing new ideas for Tomorrowland, that included a new show in the carousel theater more fitting for the land of the future. Separately, in the summer of 1983, the idea for a log flume attraction for Disneyland that would become Splash Mountain was conceived by Imagineer and Disney LegendTony Baxter.[6] Knowing America Sings was eventually to close, the idea developed to move most of America Sings' Audio-Animatronics figures into Splash Mountain.
Some Audio-Animatronics geese were taken out of the attraction. Their outer "skin" was removed, leaving only the robotic skeletons. Their heads were then replaced, and they were used as two G2 droids in the queue to Star Tours, which would open in early 1987.[7] One of them (named G2-9T) still sings a modified "I've Been Working on the Railroad" (retitled "I've Been Looking at the Same Bag") in Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. As a result, the geese quartets in Acts 1 and 2 became trios until America Sings closed on April 10, 1988.
Within days of the closure of America Sings, crews began to move most of the Audio-Animatronics figures to Splash Mountain, which opened in the summer of 1989. The rock and roll stork in the finale is now used by Imagineers for training new animatronics programmers.[citation needed]
The Carousel Theater was used as office space for ten years. During this time, the carousel theater's external appearance was unchanged, and the upper level continued to house the Tron tunnel for the PeopleMover until that attraction ceased to operate in 1995. A large sign in front of the building showed Sorcerer Mickey alongside text reading, "Sorry, we're closed to imagineer a brand new attraction." However, the building was not touched for nearly a decade. For a few years, during the planned "Disney Decade" started by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner, a new Audio-Animatronic show called Plectu's Fantastic Intergalactic Revue was planned to open. It was to have been an outer space-themed musical-variety revue featuring a troupe of Audio-Animatronics itinerant alien musicians whose spaceship had landed in Tomorrowland. The idea was part of the original "Tomorrowland 2055" plan and was planned to open around 1994. However, Disneyland Paris was a financial failure when it opened in 1992, so "Tomorrowland 2055" was canceled due to budget considerations.
From its closure until 1996, the inside of the lower level of the Carousel Theater was used for storage and office space, leaving remnants of sets and backdrops as well as the theater seats. America Sings was replaced in 1998 by Innoventions, a version of the Epcot attraction of the same name, as part of the Tomorrowland update of that year. The building was then redesigned and reopened in 2015 as the Tomorrowland Expo Center, hosting the Star Wars Launch Bay.[8]
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room is an attraction located in Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort and in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and previously in Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort. First opened on June 23, 1963 at the Disneyland Resort, the attraction is a pseudo-Polynesian musical Audio-Animatronic show drawing from American tiki culture.
Audio-Animatronics is the registered trademark for a form of robotics animation created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequently expanded on and used by other companies. The robots move and often synchronise with audio by the assistance of an external sound system on the stage.
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin is an interactive shooting dark ride attraction located in the Tomorrowland area of the Disney theme parks. Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, this attraction combines a carnival game and a third-generation Omnimover system. It is inspired by Disney/Pixar's Toy Story franchise, and contains several elements loosely based on the cartoon series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress is a rotating theater audio-animatronic stage show attraction in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida just outside of Orlando, Florida. Created by Walt Disney and WED Enterprises as the prime feature of the General Electric (GE) Pavilion for the 1964 New York World's Fair, the attraction was moved to Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California as Carousel of Progress, and remained there from 1967 until 1973. It was replaced in Disneyland by America Sings in 1974, and reopened in its present home in the Magic Kingdom in 1975.
Rocket Rods was a high-speed thrill attraction located in Tomorrowland at Disneyland, Anaheim, California. The ride was themed around a hypothetical “drag race” of the future, as well as a futuristic rapid transit system. The ride opened in May 1998, utilizing the existing PeopleMover track and infrastructure as part of the New Tomorrowland refurbishment project. Plagued from its inception with technical problems and mechanical repairs, Rocket Rods was shut down indefinitely for renovations in September 2000; ultimately, the ride would be fully shut down, as confirmed via an official press release in April 2001, after two years of sporadic operations. While Rocket Rods' queue was replaced with the Toy Story-themed dark ride Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters in 2005, the majority of the track infrastructure utilized by both the attraction and its predecessor still sit, visibly derelict, throughout Tomorrowland as of 2024.
Splash Mountain is a log flume ride at Tokyo Disneyland. It was formerly located at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom. The attraction is based on the animated sequences of Disney's 1946 film Song of the South. The ride experience begins with a peaceful outdoor float-through that leads to indoor dark ride segments, with a climactic steep drop into a "briar patch" followed by an indoor finale. The drop is 52.5 feet.
Tomorrowland is one of the many "themed lands" featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions that depict views of the future. Disneyland Park in Paris includes a similar area called Discoveryland, which shares some elements with other Tomorrowlands but emphasizes visions of the future inspired by Jules Verne.
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln is a stage show featuring an Audio-Animatronic representation of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, best known for being presented at Disneyland since 1965. It was originally showcased as the prime feature of the State of Illinois Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair. One year after its debut at the World's Fair, the show opened at Disneyland, where it has undergone several changes and periods of hiatus over the years. Today Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln is an element of the Disneyland attraction The Disneyland Story presenting Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, which opened in 2009.
The Extraterrorestrial Alien Encounter was a "theater-in-the-round" attraction located in the Tomorrowland section of the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World Resort. A co-production between Walt Disney Imagineering and Lucasfilm, the attraction was a darkly humorous science fiction experience that used binaural sound to achieve many of its effects.
Meet the World was an attraction at Tomorrowland in Tokyo Disneyland that operated from 1983 until 2002. It was a show that explored the history of Japan over the course of 19 minutes, focusing specifically on the history of Japan's engagement with the outside world. The show featured an animated crane explaining Japanese history to a young boy and girl from Yokohama. The show featured dialogue between a number of audio-animatronic figures and a movie screen in the background. Park guides and maps said "explore Japan's heritage in an incredible time-travel adventure!"
The Hall of Presidents is an attraction located in Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. The attraction is a multi-media presentation featuring Audio-Animatronic figures of all 45 individuals who have served as President of the United States. It opened on October 1, 1971, along with the rest of the Magic Kingdom, housed in a building resembling Philadelphia's Independence Hall. A short film is presented for the first portion of the show, with Abraham Lincoln reciting the Gettysburg Address. A stage presentation of all the presidents in Audio-Animatronic form follows the short film, with George Washington reciting a speech, before the incumbent president of the United States recites the oath of office. It was also the final project Disney Legend Ub Iwerks worked on.
Mission to Mars was an attraction located in Tomorrowland at Disneyland and at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. It originally opened as Rocket to the Moon at Disneyland in 1955, and as Flight to the Moon in Walt Disney World on Christmas Eve 1971, before it was retooled to the Mars version in 1975. It then closed down in 1992 and 1993, respectively. The attraction simulated taking guests on a space trip to the Moon or Mars.
The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management) was an attraction located in the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. It was an updated version of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, which was previously known in the Florida park as Tropical Serenade, that featured the bird characters Iago and Zazu from the respective Walt Disney Animation Studios franchises Aladdin and The Lion King. The attraction ran for almost thirteen years from April 1998 until January 2011, when a small fire damaged it, leading Disney to restore the original Enchanted Tiki Room to Florida.
"There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" is the theme song to two Disney attractions, Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress at the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World and Innoventions at Disneyland. It was also used in one scene of the Epcot attraction Horizons.
The Mickey Mouse Revue was an indoor audio-animatronic stage show at the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland theme parks. It was one of the three original opening day attractions in Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland in 1971. After closing at Magic Kingdom in 1980, it was moved to Tokyo Disneyland for that park's opening in 1983 where it remained for 26 years before closing permanently in 2009.
"The Best Time of Your Life" is a song written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman in 1974 as a new theme song for Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. The attraction was being moved from Disneyland to Walt Disney World, and a replacement was sought for the original song, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow".
Innoventions was a two-story exhibit in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Opening on July 3, 1998 as part of the New Tomorrowland, it featured rotating exhibits focusing on near-futuristic technologies. The attraction operated for nearly 17 years, closing on March 31, 2015. It occupied the Carousel Theater, a round two-story building in which the outer half of the first floor rotates. A similar attraction of the same name existed in Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort until 2019.
Joyce Carlson was an American artist and designer credited with creating the idyllic universe of singing children at "It's a Small World" rides at Walt Disney theme parks around the world. Carlson also worked as an ink artist in the Walt Disney Animation Studios, on such films as Cinderella, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty. She was the lead ink artist for the 1955 Disney film Lady and the Tramp. She spent 56 years working on Disney's animated films and theme park attractions.
References
↑ Strodder, Chris (2017). The Disneyland Encyclopedia (3rded.). Santa Monica Press. p.51. ISBN978-1595800909.
↑ Gennawey, Sam (2014). The Disneyland Story: The Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney's Dream. Keen Communications. pp.264–265. ISBN978-1-62809-012-3.
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