Rolly Crump Takes You on a Virtual Journey to Walt Disney’s Tower of the Four Winds

“Meet me under the Tower of the Four Winds!”

Designed as an eye-catching visual marquee for the original version of It’s a Small World at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, the Tower of the Four Winds was a whimsical icon for the attraction. It was designed by Imagineer Rolly Crump, known now for his pivotal role in the early years of Disneyland.

 

In this lovingly modeled recreation of the Tower of the Four Winds, Disney History Institute and Crankysomething have put together a fantastic animated 3D recreation of the kinetic sculpture. The utilization of Virtual Reality (VR) is excellent in displaying the true depth and movement of the tower. Then, to top it off, there are pedestals in a semi-circle around the sculpture, each of which contains part of an interview with Rolly Crump himself. 

It’s a surreal experience standing at perfect viewing distance, looking down at the photos of the development of the sculpture, and looking up to see it fully realized. All the while, Rolly Crump is narrating the whole story. In true Rolly fashion, he doesn’t sugar coat it and explains why the Tower of the Four Winds never made it back to Disneyland with the rest of It’s a Small World. 

As with DHI’s previous recreation of Adventures Through Inner Space, the real-time rendering of the image makes a strikingly clear and crisp picture. That’s especially true with the new Oculus Quest 2, which has a sharper screen. This is a big sculpture too, so being able to walk (or teleport) around it to see all the angles is much more unique than just watching a video on it. Of course, this is also another recreation of something I’m too young to have ever seen myself, so that adds a little extra magic to it.

Visit the World’s Fair

If you want to take a stroll around the Tower of the Four Winds for yourself, DHI has made it available for Oculus Quest and Quest 2 on Oculus App Lab. With the Quest 2 being such a huge seller this holiday season, hopefully, more of our readers now have a headset to try this out. Otherwise, for those wanting to try it out on PC, the developers have said they’ll be adding it to the Itch.io page very soon.

If you don’t have a VR headset, I highly recommend giving it a try. It’s a medium that is rapidly expanding, and it’s a great replacement for theme parks while they remain closed. For instance, I wrote about the game Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge and the 5 things that Disneyland could adopt from it. The new Quest 2 sold out before Christmas (a sad circumstance for one MiceChat author’s family member who wanted one), but I’m personally impressed with it considering the great visuals, relatively cheap price of $300, and the fact it requires no extra PC. I just checked and the Quest 2 is now widely available again following the holiday shortages.

After talking with Jeremy Marx at Disney History Institute and seeing a few posts about Rocket to the Moon, Monsanto’s House of the Future, and Ken Anderson’s Haunted House it looks like there are a few more exciting recreations coming soon. The latter we’ve been excited about since Jeremy’s presentation on Ken Anderson at D23.

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Let’s Hear From You

Are you ready to transport yourself back into Disney history via VR? Let us know your thoughts on Rolly Crump, The Tower of the Four Winds, and VR. Our thanks to Disney History Institute and Crankysomething for their creativity and dedication to bringing Disney’s past back to life. 

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