Nothing like a giant, upsetting eye to impress the kiddies!This is what happens when you encourage me. Since my last question was so quickly and satisfactorily answered, I have another poser for you fine people. The above picture comes from a small article describing an open house at WED/MAPO in early 1982. The other pictures that accompany the article clearly depict people looking at artwork from upcoming EPCOT pavilions, so this is possibly from an abandoned project for that park.
The picture, as you can see, shows a small silhouette of a family cowering in front of a giant eye. To the left, you can see a hemisphere of the moon. The small caption on the exhibit says, “Eye Exterior – 1 1/2″ Scale.”
Now, most Disney fans, when confronted with a giant eye, will think of Disneyland’s late and lamented Adventures Thru Inner Space. But this giant eye is much different than that giant eye, and also there’s the moon over there to add to the confusion. Is this Life & Health? The Space pavilion? The Bausch & Lomb Cornea Spectacular?
The world may never know…
I don’t remember seeing that specific exhibit. The only thing I can think of is ‘The Incredible Journey Within’ – the attraction for the ‘Life and Health’ Pavilion. The attraction itself was a ride through tour of the human body. Disney was so sure it was going to become sponsored that construction of some sets pieces actually began (like giant blood vessels and part that were supposed to become a giant, 20 foot long beating heart).
A big problem for the show – and one that I don’t think was ever really resolved – was how to tastefully enter and exit the human body. Much like ‘Adventures Thru Inner Space’, guests would be “miniaturized” and glide past the various sights of the human body. There is one rendering, it’s been published somewhere, that shows a track and ride vehicles head through the iris of a giant eyeball. I think there was some idea that the eye is the window through which the human body receives information from the outside world…yada, yada, yada.
There was a large “ick factor” for this show. It seemed like there was a constant struggle over everything and one person’s brilliant artist vision was viewed as disgusting by the next. Exiting the human body was obviously a real problem, as was reproduction. If I remember correctly, it almost seemed as if there were two camps: those that wanted a lyrical, mystical view of the body and those that wanted really biology and honesty.
Thanks for the info! I thought it might be for that attraction; maybe the moon on the left was part of a Space pavilion display. It’s amazing that they began construction on parts of the ride – I guess I had never considered the problems that you mention. Entering through the eye would be an obvious choice, and I guess the sci-fi approach in Body Wars helped skirt the issue. While I think many of the issues could be avoided with a more abstract approach, I’m sure that the gross factor would always be an issue. Still, I love those omnimovers…