"Hey, I've Never Heard THAT Before!"


The Trout

Member
Have you ever been listening to a different release of a familiar Disney recording, only to get knocked on your butt upon hearing something you'd never heard before? It's pretty much one of the best feelings in the world. I just got the 1977 Main Street Electrical Parade picture disc in the mail and instantly had to give it a spin. It didn't take long to utter the phrase, "Whoa!" The opening introduction does NOT include the Jack Wagner narration, thus allowing me to hear the underscore there for the first time ever. Then later, during the "A Bit Bubbly" section, there's there's freaky part at the end of each loop that I'd never heard before. I mean, I'd heard the bubbles before, but not this little bit that plays AFTER the bubbles. I just started on side two now and - dude! I can finally hear the It's A Small World / Mickey Mouse Club March / Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah section that was teased on the official album but faded out!

Maybe I'm just easily floored. It's true that I slightly obsess over the MSEP, it holding a great deal of nostalgic value for me. But to hear all these little bits that I've never heard before is just wonderful! Have you ever had this sensation when popping in an alternate release to a familiar recording before?
 

jerm

Member
If you want to hear anything and everything about MSEP you should go and find a few of the Window to the Magic podcast that Patrick Hurd does. Every few months he has MSEP stuff and like every version you could ever think of. If you are intrested I will see if I can find the show numbers.
 

The Trout

Member
I've heard everything up until a few months ago. When my iPod got shot, I stopped listening. But yeah, this disc had stuff I don't recall Patrick ever playing, which is partly why I was so surprised.
 

The Trout

Member
Nah, I've got the early Official Album too. The extra bits on the picture disc actually go on for quite a bit longer than on the (later replaced) official album.
 

Gurgitoy2

Active Member
Yes, the 1977 WDW picture disc has a MUCH longer version of the "Disney Neon Finale" section. The 1980 Official Album version edits it down to just "Mickey Mouse March" and "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah". The longer version has more songs woven in.

I love both this recording, and the original DL 1973 picture disc that was the same soundtrack as the Electrical Water Pageant. It's interesting to hear how the parade evolved over that period.

Now, if I could only find photos of that early version of the MSEP. For some reason, it seems Disney buries any publicity about that one. They just want us to think it's always been 3-D.
 

Gurgitoy2

Active Member
Well, well, well, it's amazing what you can find on Youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ex_FeBKk4

I finally get to see how primitive the MSEP looked in it's early days! There were more 3-D floats that I though based on past descriptions! It looks like some of it is missing in the footage (like the dragon), but it's a good overview. The flat floats look a little homely by today's standards, and at points in the footage you can see them wobble around as they are pulled down the street. I do like the lighted flowers & butterflies in the Alice in Wonderland unit though, and it's too bad those were'nt updated and used later (with the exception of using Spectromagic's dragonflies in the recent WDW version).
 

BLM07

Member
I'm thinking that Youtube video was taken from a torrent that has been removed from Rodentsections.
 

Gurgitoy2

Active Member
Ben, you can find images of the 2D electrical parade in the souvenir books from 1972-1973 and there are also postcards of it.

Well, I didn't/don't have access to any of those, but it makes sense. It's just since the 1977 debut, Disney hasn't really published anything about the previous version.
 

Gurgitoy2

Active Member
"I love the backwards "D" and the backwards American flag...that HALF of the audience saw the parade backwards!

Also..I've always wondered why King Leonidas is in the electrical parade. Now it makes perfect sense. The parade opened in 1972...Bedknobs and Broomsticks was released in Oct 1971. I guess they just kept him on after the parade was resurrected in 1977. It always seemed very random to me...with a lot of people thinking he was Prince John...and now...Simba?"

Was the "D" backwards for the other side? I didn't notice, I thought it might have been correct on the other side of the flag.

King Leonidas does make sense when you put it that way. Especially since the 1977 version introduced Elliot, who's still in the parade too.
 

Top