Originally Posted By ChiMike I know I am in the minority. The song obviously has many fans. Actually I didn't care for Tomorrow's Child or Listen to the Land either. Just because I am in the minority doesn't mean I can be apathetic on whether the song is changed or not. So many substantial gems have been removed from the park, I'm not about to get into a tizzy over O'Canada, WoL, or the balloons in the Land. There is an apparent disdain, that to a degree still remains, within WDP&R for things that were designed prior to, say, 1990. Sherman Brother accompaniments included.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 I'm so glad to hear that the song is staying, though I cringe when I think what the "updated" song will sound like. Hopefully not some horrible pop version. But hey, any song is better than no song. EPCOT has already lost enough songs as it is. You know, I was thinking the other day - they should really bring back the song on The Land boat ride. Now that they have all automated-spiels, it should be easy for them to work the song back into the attraction - and would really help make the ride more enjoyable and memorable. It would be nice if we could get some people in charge at WDI who recognize the value of a good theme song in an attraction again.
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>I always forget that The Sherman Brothers wrote all the music for the 'Imagination' pavilion. 'Makin' Memories' -- the old pre-show song for the 3-D 'Magic Journeys' -- which they also wrote - and then 'One Little Spark' which was the big song in the 'Journey Into Imagination' attraction.<< Yep. That and the computer show at Communicore. Also, when GBBT was not being played at COP it was at least present in Horizons. And they also have a presence in the park whenever one of the movies they were involved with shows up. Pooh is the obvious example. Great list Jim, and I agree the one of the things great about the original EPCOT Center music was that it came from a collaboration
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <You know, I was thinking the other day - they should really bring back the song on The Land boat ride.> Cool idea. Maybe it's because the original song was 'Listen to the Land' -- now, the attraction is called 'Living with the Land.' <--- what a nerd I am.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 "There is an apparent disdain, that to a degree still remains, within WDP&R for things that were designed prior to, say, 1990. Sherman Brother accompaniments included." If true, then that really proves to me what has been so wrong with WDI lately. If they can't understand the quality of those classic attractions, and why the public loves them so, then how can they hope to ever top them??
Originally Posted By plpeters70 "Maybe it's because the original song was 'Listen to the Land' -- now, the attraction is called 'Living with the Land.'" I always thought that "Listen to the Land" was a much better title than "Living with the Land". I've never understood why they took the song out. All they really did was change the first few minutes of the ride and the ending -- was that really worth losing a great song for???
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>If they can't understand the quality of those classic attractions, and why the public loves them so, then how can they hope to ever top them??<< From my perspective, they think they can easily 'top them' by their own sheer talent. No need to understand that they are employed for no other fact than that the public still holds dear and appreciates what their predecessors had brought to the parks and resorts. They can top any of the old fuddy-duddy Nixonian World's Fair stuff by their own "su-perior" (said in a deep, grave, authoratative voice) ability to design and understand why the public spends thousands of dollars to vacation with Disney. I remember being insulted for a Disney guest who recommened an idea to a current imagineer and was told something along the lines of, "If you've dreamed it, we've already proposed it, and we've already thought of something far better" Well, not only was it arrogant, and for that matter not Courteous, but it was patently untrue. Pooh Playground is not something far better. Monster's Laugh Floor is not something far better.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Tinkering with 'Journey Into Imagination' is a perfect example that 'disdain' -- It was an attraction that could have easily been upgraded and updated. Not gutted and ruined. Instead, the thought was to toss out all the 'old' stuff, like the corny Sherman Brothers theme song, and add more glip, smart-alecky junk that 'people like.' I knew they were in trouble when, in the first scene of that original 'upgrade' there was a lamp sitting on the desk of the 'Imagination Institute' -- it was in the shape of a giant lightbulb. It was a lamp that I had purchased at my local OSH for $20.00. Yeah guys, real cutting edge.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I think the mockery of 'It's a small world' and 'The Tiki Room' song both point to a certain disdain too. Don't like the songs? Write a better one!
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Has Canada shrunk? << Well, if you count wind, and water erosion my answer would be "Maybe". >> Is Pat Sajak also available for a cameo ? Although he's not Canadian ( he grew up 3 blocks from my childhood home ) << I know Pat from the days before he became so well known. He is definetly one of the nicest, funniest men you would ever want to meet. It would be great if he did something with Disney.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 where did you know Pat from ? My older cousins went to high school with Pat @ Farragut HS in Chicago. They tell me he was a fairly good ballplayer in his day. They liked him also as a person.
Originally Posted By MPierce I was in the same classes as he was at the National Academy of Broadcasting in Washington D.C.. He was polishing back up on his broadcasting skills before he went back into the civilian market. I think when he left there he went back to Chicago, and became a weather reporter. The thing I remember most about Pat is how everybody liked him. You could definetly tell he was loaded with talent also.
Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy <Actually I didn't care for Tomorrow's Child or Listen to the Land either.> Two of the best EPCOT songs, IMO. I love so many of the Disney park songs.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Growing up in SoCal, I remember Pat Sajak as the weatherman on KNBC-TV. That was back in the days with Kelly Lange, the late John Schubeck, and Stu Nahan with sports.
Originally Posted By ChiMike I do too TALL Disney Guy, very much so. Those two, specifically Tomorrow's Child, were on the lower end of my list. Actually, I much prefer the score and narration of the Irons version. Especially on the descent.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 It's so great to ChiMike back at the LP because he isn't shy with his opinions and he's so damn right most of the time. (I happen to love Listen to the Land, corny as it may be ... Tomorrow's Child not so much.) But the disdain for their predecessors is what bothers me so much about many of the current crop of Imagineers and execs. They simply have no vision and for whatever reasons (talent being way down on the list) think that because they have been given a certain position with TWDC that they somehow actually earned it ... or that it equates to talent. Say what you want about the Sherman Brothers and their music, and having the pleasure of knowing Richard and his wife socially I may be a bit biased but not much, but they're real Disney Legends. Their music will be around for generations to come ... and will put untold $$$ in Disney's coffers ... who currently can you say the same about? Can anyone here who isn't a Disney 'insider' name a musician, Imagineer, exec who will be regarded that way a decade or two from now? Think about it.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA That's why I dislike the new 'Tiki Room: Under New Management' at WDW. I'm not fond of taking the original song and then making fun of it. Same with 'it's a small world' getting slammed. It got ribbed in 'The Lion King' animated movie -- Zazu sings 'small world' and Scar says 'No, anything but that!'
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<That's why I dislike the new 'Tiki Room: Under New Management' at WDW. I'm not fond of taking the original song and then making fun of it.>> You also can't forget at the end (actually after the show has ended) when Iago says 'I'm tired. Maybe I'll head over to the Hall of Presidents for a good nap.' On the face, it's funny. It made me LOL the first time I heard it. But underneath there's a 'tude of 'those are stodgy old attractions for a slower, simpler era ... we're hip and we know what the audience wants.' This is what scares me from the Tom Fitzgerald/Eric Jacobson/Kevin Rafferty wing of WDI. No one from Bob Iger to Roy Disney to Marty Sklar has sat them down and said 'Guys it's you who don't get whf folks come to Disney parks and what they expect when they get here and you better get hip or your jobs are going to disappear.' <<Same with 'it's a small world' getting slammed. It got ribbed in 'The Lion King' animated movie -- Zazu sings 'small world' and Scar says 'No, anything but that!'>> Yeah. I forgot about that until I saw the Lion King on stage here in SoFla a month ago. Since that's a new Disney Classic I'll let it go! But the Spirit really detests the smugness, the arrogance that permeates so much of what Disney produces nowadays and what's behind it. I doubt that putting a wand on SSE is going to ever make anyone a Disney Legend.
