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Promoting Spaceship Earth, 1982

Making the rounds on Twitter last weekend was this remarkable video, made by the Bell System in 1982 to promote their sponsorship of Spaceship Earth at the newly-opened EPCOT Center. The “Chronicle News Update” contains a chat with AT&T president William Ellinghaus, who presided over the pavilion’s opening ceremony, as well as Disney CEO Card […]

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"Buddy Baker, Director of Music at WED & MAPO, conducting the National Philharmonic Orchestra inside the EMI/Abbey Road Studio in London"

In 1982 Buddy Baker was a busy man, jetting around the world to record the scores for a slew of new attractions and films for EPCOT Center. For the French pavilion’s Impressions […]

Some Sketchy Ideas About Italy

Courtesy of John Donaldson come these sketches by Herb Ryman; they are preliminary studies for EPCOT’s Italy pavilion. While they are merely sketches, they do convey a Rymanesque sense of atmosphere and – of course – hint at a cast of interesting characters in the foreground.

The landmarks depicted do differ somewhat from the […]

Squatting In Monsanto’s House Of The Future, 1957

Disneyland’s long history is full of oddities that might amaze those of us who missed the park’s first few decades, or who were never able to visit until later years. A lot of those “lost” mid-century novelties were located in Tomorrowland, which underwent several major overhauls in its early years and was home to many […]

At The Nexus Of Time, Space, And Mickey Mouse

When I was a kid, there was nothing cooler than the crossover. Characters from different fictional universes appearing together was always ratings gold as far as I was concerned. GI Joe meeting up with Transformers? Proto-geek paradise. Daffy Duck playing piano alongside Donald? Exquisite. Any fellow nerd who has ever salivated over the idea of […]