With Fourth of July just around the corner, it seemed so appropriate to honor a beloved attraction from Disneyland's past. Although misplaced in Tomorrowland, the musical journey brought guests to the park a lighthearted look at our country's musical heritage.
Some long time fans may have been dismayed when the classic Audio-Animatronics filled attraction Carousel of Progress was replaced. I know I was one of them! Yet, Marc Davis, Imagineer extraordinaire probably won them over with a show filled with memorable characters in this charming musical revue. The new show became one of my must sees on every visit.
Much to my disappointment, the show itself did not last, and the characters inside were recycled for Tony Baxter's new classic Splash Mountain. Thrilled to see the frogs I loved find a new home!
As for the old carousel building, well, Walt Disney Imagineering wanted to use it for another musical show, Plectu's Intergalactic Revue. This even newer show for the planned new Tomorrowland would have showcased aliens from other planets entertaining patrons from Earth. Wisely, cooler heads prevailed, and the plans were put aside. Unfortunately, this meant the west coast version of Alien Encounter never made it off the drawing boards either!
(Art copyright the Walt Disney Company.)
1 comment:
Hello.... I myself am (was?) an avowed fan of both Carousel of Progress as well as America Sings!, essentially at my core simply a freakish fanatic regarding that true, one-of-a-kind marvel of engineering which IS the Carousel Theater. Sad as hell to see it underused and misappropriated for the failed experiment which was Innoventions... I would have gladly accepted just about any new presentation utilizing the six stages and six circulating audiences that might have ever been installed as a new attraction, so long as the Carousel Theater be allowed to operate utilizing its intended functionality and not simply remain stagnantly immobile! But, as you probably already know, that never happened!! It is now almost July of 2018 and I've recently heard that there's seriously threatening talk of simply demolishing the Carousel Theater outright to make more room for other new attractions!!!! As I'm certain you will likely agree, I can think of no lesser horrendous alternative they could ever possibly do.... DEMOLISH THE HISTORICAL Carousel Theater??? Am I alone here in the recognition of everyday life now sincerely appearing to me to be the proof positive that our reality is now somehow based in an alternate universe or dimension from the familiar old one from which we initially originated??? It seems to me that this suggested absolutely illogical, misfired discreditation of such an engineering marvel and classic architectural anomaly might just be one of the most pertinent examples of how, not only the world and times have changed over the years (for the absolute worst, in my approximation) how much more overtly obvious must your everyday reality become in order to correctly perceive that the wool has indeed been mostly-successfully pulled over our eyes and that we have collectively been altered/transformed/relocated to some noticeably bastardized, poor-man's version of the planet/dimension/universe we originated in and and I find it one of the greatest injustices ever perpetrated upon humanity that this was all done without our knowledge, blessing nor approval. Sorry about breaching editorial continuity by embarking upon seemingly unrelated commentary and opinionation, but reading your blurb above and knowing all of which I've just described to you here made the truth unbearably apparent to me by merely tackling all of the combined attributes here in. Have a nice day and life, do hope they do not demolish the wonderful; Carousel Theater... truly would be a disgrace of magnificent proportions!
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