"America the Beautiful" 1958??

[Gurgitoy2]

I have a question about the CircleVision film "America the Beautiful". I was reading something recently that stated the film actually premiered at the 1958 International Exposition in Brussels, Belgium. Is this true? I mean, is it the same film that later found it's way into the 1967 New Tomorrowland? I guess I just assumed that the film was created for Disneyland, and was from 1967, but it's interesting that it may be from 1958 almost ten years earlier.

Can anybody shed some light on this?

Thanks,
Ben C.

 

[makeminemusic]

Ben,
All I can add is what I read on the inside cover of WDL 4020 "Walt Disney present A Musical Mural- America the Beautiful" (1959);

"At the American Exhibition in Moscow and in Disneyland Park in Anahiem, California there are identical round structures housing a new multiple screen motion picture exhibition form called Circarama. The subject matter of the films being screened in these widely separated locations is the same; a twenty minute pictorial paean to America.. Fittingly enough, the song America the Beautiful is heard at the beginning and the ending of the show. The sights and sounds of America depicted in this new motion picture form are truly overwhelming, but the beauties of our land conjured up by our heritage of songs about our country have a special eloquence of their own."

I wonder how many people in Moscow actually got inside to see the film considering our state of affairs with Russia back then

Ken

 

[Gurgitoy2]

Thanks for that info from the LP. I want to ask a question about that too. Does the LP contain the full show, or is it just "inspired by" the attraction? I've never heard the LP, but I'm curious about it.

 

[atomobile]

Hello Ben,
First, the LP does not contain the actual soundtrack. Second, the 1967 America the Beautiful was a brand new production. The soundtrack included in the box set is the 1967 version. This same version was edited down in the 70's and this is what we see on TV. The version on the box set is the complete version. Any circle-vision film pre-67 was a different format with a different number of screens. There was circle-vision films since the 50's including the one you mentioned called America the Beautiful. That is a different America the Beautiful. Hope this helps,
Your friend,
Louis

 

[Scott]

Any circle-vision film pre-67 was a different format with a different number of screens.

Circarama vs. CircleVision 360, correct?

 

[makeminemusic]

Here is info from another site: Norcalmovies.com/AmericaTheBeautiful

"This was the 360-degree film shown in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, Orange County, CA. The theater system first appeared as Circarama when Disneyland opened on 17 July 1955, but later became known as Circle-Vision.

In June 1960 the original film A Tour of the West was replaced with the first version of America the Beautiful (which had debuted previously at the Brussels World's Fair in 1958). When Tomorrowland was redesigned in 1967, a new version of America the Beautiful appeared, this time in 35-millimeter format. The movie was reshot again in 1975 to include scenes for the Bicentennial.

The film was not shown from 1984-1996 when other 360-degree movie were shown in its place. It came back for a year from July 1996 to 1997, but disappeared again when the Circle-Vision theater became part of the queue for the RocketRods ride in the 1998 Tomorrowland upgrade."

And no, the LP is not the soundtrack but does include songs performed (Disneyland Chorus and various artist)in the original film.

Ken

 

[Gurgitoy2]

Interesting information, guys, thanks. So, even though the 1967 version was reshot for the 9 screen Circlevision format, it was still the same content, wasn't it? They revisited the same locations and shot newer footage? I'm even more curious now about the 1958 version. What did the soundtrack to the 1958 Circarama version sound like?

 

[AlxVision360]

Could someone please clarify what is included on the 50th CD track of "America the Beautiful"? I've read it does not contain the voice-over narration. Is this right? Also, does it have all the musical cues from the entire Circle-Vision show, or is it only the "America" song from the beginning and end of the show?

 

[Gurgitoy2]

Hi, AlxVision360, I can answer that. The track on the 50th CD set is the full show without narration. All musica cues are intact from beginning to end. It is the 1967 version that is presented. There are vocals at the beginning and end during the singing of "America the Beautiful", and there are a couple other vocals in the middle of the track that are present as well.

At first I was disappointed that the narration was not included, but I've grown to really appreciate the score and it's probably my favorite track on the CD set (at the moment).

 

[AlxVision360]

Thanks for clearing that up, Ben.

Also wanted to add a little to what Louis posted above. I have a copy of the TV version of the show and also a live recording of the 67 attraction. As far as i can tell, of the 9 screens, the TV version displays only the "front"-facing screen. The narration is also very different from the attraction both in text and voice-over talent (I prefer the DL version of course!). Also, for some odd reason, the TV show excludes the entire Florida sequence (Cape Canaveral, hotels on Miami Beach). Other than that, the musical cues are identical to the attraction as are the original visuals from that one screen. (Anybody know why they deleted the Florida scenes from the TV show?)

Hope I didn't rehash stuff that everybody already knows.

 

[Gurgitoy2]

>>Also wanted to add a little to what Louis posted above. I have a copy of the TV version of the show and also a live recording of the 67 attraction. As far as i can tell, of the 9 screens, the TV version displays only the "front"-facing screen. The narration is also very different from the attraction both in text and voice-over talent (I prefer the DL version of course!). Also, for some odd reason, the TV show excludes the entire Florida sequence (Cape Canaveral, hotels on Miami Beach). Other than that, the musical cues are identical to the attraction as are the original visuals from that one screen. (Anybody know why they deleted the Florida scenes from the TV show?)

 

[schnebs]

Thanks for the info about the '75 edit - I was wondering why the single-screen version they showed on the Disney Channel had different narration from the version I was used to. Personally, I prefer the '75 version's narration, but maybe that's just me...

Actually, it appears that there was one thing cut from the "America the Beautiful" soundtrack that made it to the album. There was a couple of minutes' worth of a fife and drum corps playing during the Colonial Williamsburg sequence and a some music during the Independence Hall sequence. They can be heard in the single-screen film and I remember the music from the original attraction, but it didn't make the CD. Maybe some sort of rights issue?