Fab History: Round and Round With Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress

Walt Disney loved miniatures. You could see it in his park at Storybook Land and in his home collection, which featured among other things Granny’s Cabin, based on the 1949 film So Dear to My Heart (my favorite Disney film). He toyed with the idea of a set of miniatures that turned on a lazy Susan showing the progress of the American family through the years, but the miniatures never reached the finishing point.

Walt had the idea to create Liberty Street and Edison Square at Disneyland with the miniatures now telling the story of electricity through the years. General Electric showed interest in the project, but it fell through. The entrance to what would have been the new attractions is now the parade entry route into Main Street, USA.

Along came the 1964 World’s Fair in Queens, New York. While not an officially sanctioned exposition, it was wildly popular. Disney presented four shows for the fair: Magic Skyways, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, ‘it’s a small world’ and The Carousel of Progress, where finally we see the family of Walt’s vision traveling through the years with the help of their General Electric – or GE – appliances. Yes, GE had heard about Walt’s involvement with the World’s Fair and wanted to give the show another shot – this time on a full scale.

The original attraction would have been hosted by talking mechanical man named Wilbur k. Watt, but they decided it would be better to show a typical American family going through the years. The show featured a father, a mother, a teenage daughter and a precocious young son as well as grandparents and “Cousin Orville”. They also had a dog, Rover or Queenie or Sport, who would in the earliest versions single out a member of the audience to growl at. 

At first, it was designed as a walk-through, but the Imagineers came up with something even better: the Carousel Theater. The stages would stay in place in the middle of the building while the audience portion revolved around it, clockwise. This would change to counter-clockwise when the attraction moved to Florida. In this way, Disney could move a lot of people and keep the long lines a little lower.

Audiences loaded into a 200+ seat theater which featured a colorful “Kaleidophonic Screen” that changed colors to the music, a little ditty called “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” that you may have heard of. In today’s queue, you can see a clip of Walt with the Sherman Brothers, singing the song that the brothers came to know as “Walt’s theme song” because it matched so perfectly with his optimism about the future. 

In the original show and the Disneyland version, which were pretty much identical, the father (sometimes known as “John”) was voiced by Rex Allen, of the singing cowboy group Rex Allen and the Sons of the Pioneers. He introduced the era, the turn of the 20th century, and marveled about the electrical wonders of the time. Next followed the 1920’s, 1940’s and finally modern day in the 1960’s, complete with GE Christmas tree with multicolor lights (still sold today) and siamese cat (which was my favorite part of the show as it looked nearly identical to our sealpoint siamese cat at home). 

Other members of the family were the wife, the daughter (usually called “Jane”) and a mischievous son, as well as grandparents and Cousin Orville, voiced by Mel Blanc in all versions of the show. The show proved so popular, they had to build a shade structure next to the Progressland building for the crowds waiting an hour or more. 

The costumes were created by Imagineer Alice Davis. She tells the story of being on her knees in front of “Father”, tying and adjusting his clothing (Audio-Animatronics don’t put on their clothes the same way we do) when suddenly the lights came on and he sprang to life. “Hottest summer we’ve had in years!” she turned around to find two GE executives and one Walt Disney, who smiled at her bemusedly. She finished what she was doing and walked off the set without a word. 

After the Fair, Disney moved the Carousel show to Disneyland, where it opened with New Tomorrowland in 1967. at the Fair, there was an after-show that showcased a “real” thermonuclear event. It didn’t make it to Disneyland, but the after-show “Progress City” (E.P.C.O.T.) did. After the show, guests walked up the ramp to look at the model city, which had animated parts, then exited down another ramp. I could have stared at that model for days!

When Walt Disney World opened, their Tomorrowland had the Speedway and Skyway, and that was it. The decision was made to move the attraction to Florida, where it for some reason changed from clockwise to counter-clockwise. The Carousel of Progress, Walt Disney World version opened with Space Mountain in January of 1974, but with a new theme song, “The Best Time of Your Life”, as GE wanted people to buy their appliances today, not tomorrow. Rex Allen no longer voiced “Father”. 

The new show that replaced Carousel in Disneyland, America Sings, also reversed direction from clockwise to counter-clockwise, with deadly results. But that is for another story.

Gone was the 1960’s finale, replaced by a hip new 1970’s set. Then it was the hip new 1980’s set, which was the 1970’s set with some minor changes. The Carousel of Progress kept turning throughout the years, until a major makeover in 1994, when it became Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress. “Father” was now humorist Jean Shepherd (A Christmas Story), and he had a hand in the script as well. I got to unpack the Red Ryder BB Gun. I did not shoot my eye out. It’s against the wall in the Fall scene.

The story changed so that not only did guests progress through decades, but also through the course of the year. The 1900’s were spring and Valentine’s Day, 1920’s the Fourth of July, 1940s Halloween, and present day Christmas. The original song, “Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” returned both inside and outside, playing in an informational video in the queue telling the attraction’s history. It holds the Guiness World Record for longest-running stage show. 

Before the pandemic, the Carousel of Progress had been moved to seasonal operation and fans feared for its demise. Personally, I’d like to see them restore the 1960’s version to the end. I miss that siamese cat. 

When EPCOT Center was being developed, Disney turned to GE to sponsor their future living pavilion, Horizons, saying that it expanded upon the same family as in the Carousel of Progress. The rest, as they say, is history. 

Now, let’s hear Walt Disney himself talk about this attraction that he was obviously so very proud of: 

Let’s Hear From You

Are you a Carousel of Progress fan? Do you have a favorite version of this ever-changing attraction? Let’s hear from you!