 The story
within Walt Disney's Carousel of
Progress is one of the American family, and how it
changes with the advancements of new technology. There are five
different stages to the performance - in both the G.E. sponsored
presentation and the newer, unsponsored show. The theme, however,
remains the same in both.
Here is a description from the
Official Guidebook of the 1964-65 World's
Fair:
In the first part of the program, separate
auditoriums, each holding 250 people, circle into position and are carried
past stages on which life-sized, three-dimensional, animated human figures
move, talk, laugh and act out the story of electricity in the home from
the gay 1890s to the present:
-
A late 19th Century home is shown.
Its inhabitants struggle with all the latest luxuries: telephone, gas
lamps, gramophone, kitchen pump, a hand-cranked clothes washer and a
hand-pumped, air-suction vacuum cleaner.
-
A home of the '20s comes next,
with coffeemakers and sewing machines, "monitor"-topped refrigerators
and a homemade cooling device for hot weather: an electric fan that
circulates air over a cake of ice.
-
The '40s are recalled with the
little, round television screen, plus some odd applications of
electricity: e.g., house-wives mixing wallpaper paste with cake mixers.
-
The glories of today glitter in a
living room at Christmastime, a glass- enclosed, electrically heated
patio, a kitchen that all but runs itself.
Although this description is from the G.E. version
of the 60's, it fits almost exactly with today's performance (minus the
patio from the last scene.)
The music is a vital part of the Carousel of
Progress, since it's been said that nobody leaves an attraction "whistling
the architecture." The original song "Great Big, Beautiful
Tomorrow," returned to the show during the refurbishment of 92-93.
It replaced it's interim counterpart, "Now is the Time," which was
said to have fit G.E.'s marketing scheme of the 70's and 80's more
appropriately.
| Audio- Animatronics® characters |
Current Cast |
| Father |
Jean Shepherd * |
| Mother |
B.J. Ward |
| Daughter |
Debbi Deryberry |
| Young son |
Peter Nelson |
| Teenage son |
Paul Osterhout |
| Grandfather |
Rex Allen * |
| Grandmother |
Mary Cervantes |
| Grandmother (Act IV) |
Janet Waldo * |
| Cousin Orville |
Mel Blanc * |
| Radio Personalities |
Noel Blanc * |
* NOTE:
- Jean Shepherd, Father’s current voice, is a contemporary American
humorist. Guests may recognize him as the narrator from "A
Christmas Story." Shepherd also provides the opening and closing
remarks of the current attraction.
- Rex Allen, the current voice of Grandpa, was the original voice of
Father in the 1964 World’s Fair version.
- Janet Waldo, Grandma in Act IV, previously served as the voice of
Judy Jetson on the popular 1960s television cartoon, “The Jetsons.”
- Mel Blanc is also known as the voice of Warner Brothers' cartoon
character Bugs Bunny.
- Noel Blanc is the son of Mel Blanc
These "individuals" take us on an historical
journey through the century, while entertaining and delighting
us. |
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Capacity: 3,600 per hour, 226
per theater
Show Time: 20:45 minutes
Speed: 2 fps
Ride
System: Sit-down revolving
theater | |
