Inside EPCOT: Part Four

A note from Jen Funderburk: I came across an old copy of ORLANDO-LAND magazine from 1980 in a pile of severely water damaged memorabilia that was in no condition to keep or sell. As I was tearing out pages from the moldy, wrinkled magazine to start a morning fire, I came across this almost 30 page article on the planning of EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I cannot believe it was almost burnt, especially after finding it was not available online. I have excitedly scanned all photos and text to share with you. This is part four of a multi part series. Read the entire series.

Inside EPCOT

By Edward L. Prizer

Originally published in the June 1980 issue of ORLANDO-LAND Magazine

Inside EPCOT

In the following article, an ORLANDO-LAND reporter describes a rare visit to the realm of the Imagineers and the marvels of ingenuity that are going on there. It is perhaps the most detailed account of the wonders of EPCOT Center ever published.

Around the world in 3 hours

AN YOU IMAGINE a trip around the world compressed into one long lunch period? This was my

one opportunity to get the World Showcase story before I wound up my WED tour. I was fortunate to have two guys like Dave Baron and Harper Goff for my guides.

Again, the setting was a long conference room, this one on the second floor of the WED building. Around the walls were color renderings of each of the Showcase pavilions. And on the table was another of those overwhelming luncheon buffets that would certainly play havoc with my waistline.

Let me introduce my hosts:

Dave Baron is a young, easygoing executive who came from Orlando-where he directed the WED branch office to direct World Showcase development.

Harper Goff, art director for the project, was a filmmaker whom Walt Disney hired to work on designs for Disneyland. He had been “trying to retire” when they interested him in tackling the Showcase 342 years ago. With his white goatee, you mark him immediately as an artist. All that's missing is the beret.

Mr. Goff won wide acclaim for the squid scene in the movie “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” which he art directed. It came out in 1954.

With Showcase, Dave and Harper have had the trying job of working with assorted committees of foreign nationals and representatives of governments and corporations overseas, sometimes changing in mid-project, and coming up with an assortment of shows and exhibits that have popular appeal in the Disney tradition.

“It's been an education process,” Dave said as I savored a delicious helping of shrimp salad. “We have to listen to capture the essence of a country. They have to understand why people visit Disney-th at magic.

“At first some of the countries wanted to show high tech things. In one five-man committee there were as many ideas as members. The businessman in the group was proud of the Tommy guns they were making. He wanted to show that.”

Harper Goff points out a new idea for the Italy Pavilion to graphic designer Bruce McCurdy. Mr. Goff, working in complete secrecy, created many of the original concepts for Disneyland, was called back to serve as World Showcase project director. (Copyright Walt Disney Productions)

Harper Goff commented that Morocco wanted to depict the royal dynasties in its history. Disney suggested this might not have great popular appeal.

Lengthy conferences were necessary to work scenarios that (1) told the story each nation wanted to tell, and at the same time (2) provided an entertaining show.

“We have tried to inject as much variety as possible," Dave said. “All pavilions have the same dimensions along the front. We have to orchestrate architectural aspects so that each one complements its neighbors, yet each one must be completely different.

"We're after complete authenticity. Everything-buildings, landscaping, food in the restaurants, shops-must be completely authentic.”

HARPER: "When the Japanese looked at the design for their pavilion, they criticized us for using Chinese-style buildings. We had to change them to buildings that were distinctly Japanese, like the seventh-century Horyuji pagoda and the Shishinden Palace in Kyoto.”

Each of the pavilions allows guests to experience several regions of a country.

HARPER: “We start with the lagoon. The front has to be a water element. The pub in the British Pavilion has two aspects. On the lagoon side, it is a replica of a waterside pub on the Thames used by the boating population. On the street side it resembles a pub in Soho."

You can dine in the pub and then wander back into a London park like Grosvenor Square. One building has the feel of St. James Palace. The replica of Hampton Court houses a toy shop. The pavilion will also have a Royal Doulton china shop, a gift shop and a biscuit and confectionery store. Farther back, you'll be able to stroll into an area like the Cotswold Hills.

DAVE: "Soon after opening we'll have a British music hall. A live show will be presented with dinner.”

“We may also have a British historical facility,” Jack Lindquist put in. "We're looking for anything we might add to embellish. We're looking to the cultural side.”

It was mentioned that, to staff this and other pavilions, young people will be brought over from their native country on a combination work and education program. Courses with college credit will be conducted at Walt Disney World University.

Harper Goff was particularly proud of the design of the Moroccan Pavilion. Judging from the color rendering, it will exude all the Mideastern mystery and magic we associate with the movie “Casablanca” (although that city is not part of the design).

HARPER: “We have placed a seaside pavilion in front. Behind it there is an enclosed pavilion. The interior is carved stucco, carved wood and exquisite tile work. We are bringing craftsmen and items from Morocco to create it.

“Guests will walk around Djemaa El Fna Square in Marrakesh. There's a gate modeled after one in Fez, and a replica of the Kautoubia Tower. We're using Marrakesh colors - warm earth tones and green tile roofs. Farther back you'll enter the medina, the ancient city. Here will be artisans making clothing, jewelry and items of brass and shops that sell native products.”

Fast food will be served in the pavilion restaurant in the daytime. At night it will be transformed into a setting for elegant dining and entertainment.

The Mexican Pavilion will be immediately recognizable by a tall Mayan pyramid in front. By the lagoon, a cantina serving fast food will be located. From here, guests walk through the pyramid where Indian artifacts and other cultural exhibits will be shown. Beyond, you enter a typical Mexican town square. There's a volcano ready to erupt in the background. The main attraction in this pavilion will be a boat ride that takes you through Mexican history, showing Mayan and Aztec cultures and continuing on up to Mexico today.

It's interesting to note that Schweizer and Associates of Orlando is doing architectural work on the Mexican Pavilion. (Another Orlando architectural firm, Helman Hurley Charvat Peacock, is working on The American Adventure.)

The Italian Pavilion, at the front, is a little bit of Venice. There's a canal off the lagoon. You go up the Adriatic and land at St. Mark's Square. Before you is the Doge's palace, with a fine art gallery inside. You quickly spot the famous bell tower. The restaurant on the second floor of the palace will be operated by Alfredo's The Original of Rome.

As you go farther back in the pavilion, the scene becomes progressively more classical-Florence, Sienna, Rome. There will be parts of ruins and then a traditional Italian garden.

DAVE: “We expect to have live entertainment outdoors. Maybe including a Punch and Judy show. You know, that started in Italy as a way of criticizing the government."

German Pavilion. Working sketches used in developing concepts for Showcase pavilions seem to capture flavor of each nation in a small space. Numerous changes usually occur between original rendering and final architectural design. (Copyright Walt Disney Productions)

A beer garden will be the centerpiece of the German Pavilion. Here you'll find a continuous Oktoberfest going on, oompah band and all. Although the boat ride for the pavilion will not be ready for opening day, when it does start you'll have a chance to take a voyage down the rivers of Germany by night. You'll pass the great cities along the Rhine and other famous landmarks. It will go through the wine district and Heidelberg. At the end you'll step out at the beer hall.

A tourist area at the pavilion will contain shops selling clocks, wines, cameras, china and such while a glockenspiel tinkles in the background.

French Pavilion. Working sketches used in developing concepts for Showcase pavilions seem to capture flavor of each nation in a small space. Numerous changes usually occur between original rendering and final architectural design. (Copyright Walt Disney Productions)

HARPER: “The French Pavilion has a Parisian interpre tation. We found that most cities in France are like Paris. A sidewalk cafe faces the lagoon. Behind it is a typical Parisian building which will house a restaurant operated by three of the top French chefs. You can walk from the bistro along a typical provincial street with an art/book store, bakery, Limoges china shop and other places to browse. A leading perfume maker will have an outlet here."

A theater will present a cinematic tour of France on a 200-degree screen.

"It's more than a tourism show,” Harper said. “There will be a separate tourism section with changing exhibits."

Of course, behind it all will be the Eiffel tower, with a beacon on top.

Japanese Pavilion. Working sketches used in developing concepts for Showcase pavilions seem to capture flavor of each nation in a small space. Numerous changes usually occur between original rendering and final architectural design. (Copyright Walt Disney Productions)

The Japanese Pavilion is totally supported by industrial firms and merchants, with no government participation. Upon landing on the shore, you cross a themed bridge and pass a tori gate. Inside, you discover a large department store on the ground floor of the palace. It's operated by Japan's leading merchant, Mitsukoshi. There'll be a restaurant in the store. (Moving on, you walk through a beautiful Japanese garden and on to a huge castle with moat. Here you'll find a museum in the gatehouse displaying armor, cannons and other cultural items. An art gallery will serve as a holding area for the theater in the castle. Once seated, you'll be treated to a show covering the evolution of Japan that will. take you to historic places and into areas like the ginza. An industrial-commercial show will deal with products like Seiko watches, Panasonic stereos and cultured pearls.

It seems improbable that the vast expanse and diversity of Canada could be squeezed into one pavilion, but the designers have done a remarkable job of injecting the flavor of this nation into the space available.

As you enter the pavilion you look ahead at the massive rocks and waterfalls of the Canadian west. There's a log trading post presenting cultural exhibits. Nearby, you come upon a street in a French Canadian town, a replica of the rue St. Louis. The shops here reflect the traditional French Canadian architecture.

In a structure modeled after the famous Chateau Laurier hotel will be presented an 18-minute show. You can also see a display featuring the Mounties. Food will be served at a buffeteria designed like a country inn.

DAVE: “You'll exit through formal gardens patterned after the Butchart Gardens. Some parts of this pavilion are still going through approvals. Some names may be changed.”

Smallest of all the pavilions is the Costa Rican.

Pavilion renderings cover walls of conference room at WED headquarters, where Dave Barron, director of World Showcase Development (left) discusses placement of foliage in the Costa Rican Pavilion with draftsman John Penketh and designer Bob Mackichen. (Copyright Walt Disney Productions)

DAVE: “We feel it's a jewel. The architecture is Spanish colonial. We've taken the liberty of creating a crystal palace containing tropical gardens of Costa Rica. There's an orchid show at the entrance. The conservatory covers a third of an acre. It has waterfalls, tropical birds-a very relaxing atmosphere. You'll exit through a tourism area. There'll be a snack bar serving seafoods and melons. Leather items, carved wood and that sort of thing will be sold in the craft and merchandise area.”

Two pavilions in the early design stage-the Danish and Equatorial African-will come along sometime after the opening.

But from the wealth of detail I'd gleaned from Dave and Harper by the time we'd finished our coffee, it was apparent that there'd be more than enough in the Showcase to keep guests entertained and occupied when EPCOT opens.

This artist's concept gives an idea of what the busy waterfront at World Showcase pavilions may look like. Glass-roofed boats similar to those used on the canals of Amsterdam will shuttle guests back and forth across the lagoon. (Copyright Walt Disney Productions)

An American Adventure

I gather that the American Adventure proved to be more of a headache at WED than any of the other pavilions. Randy Bright told me they'd reworked the concept at least six times before they finally got it right. The present version was sufficiently strong to attract Coca Cola and American Express as sponsors.

My tour of WED was almost over when I sat down with Randy and a couple of his assistants in a crowded workroom where they'd set up a kind of presentation model for the show. Although it will be housed in a colonial building at the center of World Showcase, it is not related to the pavilions that lie on either side. Nor is it organically a part of Future World. That's why it had originally been located in a transitional area by the lagoon.

Movement to the back was decided upon because, said Randy, “We wanted a major attraction to draw people around.” And it opened up an unobstructed view across the lagoon.

The show as now constituted is entitled “We the People.” It is the whole history of America in review, using techniques somewhat similar to although more advanced than the Hall of Presidents.

“We have divided the story into three parts,” Randy said. “Dreaming and doing. Pioneering. Meeting the challenge of the American adventure.”

The stage setup is very formal. There is a red curtain, and on a ramp curving out on either side are statues of archetypal American thinkers and dreamers.

The action begins with a three-dimensional scene featuring Ben Franklin in his office chatting with Mark Twain. They talk about their visions of America.

Then the curtain rises. Images of ancient sailing vessels are seen on the 72-by-32-foot screen. You recognize the Mayflower.

"We try to maintain the art techniques of the day,” Randy said.

He went on to recount the unfolding story.

"There are pilgrim scenes and then we go to a long Colonial street. The scene that rises up focuses on the Declaration of Independence. Franklin walks up some steps to Jefferson's office. Jefferson is working on the Declaration.”

Artist Clem Hall positions tiny figure of Mark Twain atop a stylized representation of the Statue of Liberty as he reworks his designs for the American Adventure Pavilion. Model in background shows exquisite detail that will go into this pavilion. (Copyright Walt Disney Productions)

Randy uttered the dialogue between them, mimicking the irate voice of a Jefferson bothered by the interruption.

One fascinating feature in the technique for this show is the combination of three-dimensional action on stage with action on the screen. Figures seem to walk right off the stage into the scene on the screen. I was not always sure, as Randy talked, whether the actors were on screen or stage.

For instance, at Valley Forge two soldiers are huddled in the snow grumbling over their lot. George Washington on horseback looms behind them on the screen, against a snowy landscape. It all melds into one visual impression.

“Next comes a river scene," Randy said. “The river is shot as if we're floating down it. Mark Twain comes out on stage on a raft. He talks with figures on the screen. People like Fredrick Douglas and Harriet Beecher Stowe.

“Then you hear the sounds of a family fighting. They are posing in a photo salon. Matt Brady is taking the picture. One brother is in uniform to fight for the North. The other one is getting ready to fight for the South.

“The picture of them develops on the screen. A Civil War ballad plays— 'Two Brothers.' We see the Civil War through the eyes of Brady. -

"Then Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe delivers a soliloquy on native Americans passing the torch."

Mark Twain appears on the tower of the Philadelphia Exposition Hall to herald the new era of invention. You see Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison and others. Susan B. Anthony appears to proclaim women's suffrage.

Blaine Gibson's patience is endless as he meticulously develops the posture and facial characteristics of figures for the shows. Here he adds detail to a bust of Mark Twain, from which the head for the American Adventure character will be cast. (Copyright Walt Disney Productions)

Now it's the 20th Century. In a wilderness scene at Yosemite, John Muir meets Teddy Roosevelt.

"That was the most important meeting on conservation ever held,” Randy said. "It occurred in 1903 and it led to the establishment of the national park system.”

Years later the nation is plunged into Depression. You are gazing at a rural general store with gas pump in front, the kind I recall in the North Carolina backwoods in those days. There are characters in overalls lounging on the slumping porch, one playing a banjo under a huge Coca Cola sign.

“Franklin D. Roosevelt comes on and gives a speech," Randy said. “That one about there is nothing to fear but fear itself."

He is followed by Will Rogers, who delivers his comments in the style that was once so familiar to every American.

It is World War II, the time women entered the job market en masse. You see workers repairing a submarine in a shipyard. One says, “Sure am glad we don't have women working around here.” With that, the person on his left raises her welder's helmet and, sure enough, it's a girl. The background music is “Rosie the Riveter.”

At this point the film changes to a series of montages of great images of America from 1945 to today.

Randy paused to start up the tape on a nearby stereo set.

I heard the song, “Golden Dream,” that would accompany the images.

"We go to a dream sequence,” Randy said. “We're floating through clouds. An American bald eagle floats by us. The narrator says, 'Dream with me what images might be.' Listen to the music.”

Again he flicked on the tape player. The music now was in mellow rock style: “Spirit free, soaring through the clouds."

John F. Kennedy will appear at this point to utter his famous words: "Ask not what your country can do for

you ..."

And then Martin Luther King,

On screen the astronaut team is seen floating down onto the moon. Their return to earth is shown.

"Now we swing into a big production of ‘America the Beautiful,'” Randy said. “You see two figures on the Statue of Liberty. New York Harbor is behind them. It's Franklin and Mark Twain on the statue. The statue is dramatically backlighted. They talk about the challenges America has met and will meet in the future.”

The show is over.

Even amid the clutter where we sat, with only the scanty props that were available in the model, I gained from Randy Bright's sincerely impassioned narration some degree of the emotion that will be so strongly conveyed by this new achievement in the audio-visual arts.

It was almost as if they'd planned this big scene as the climax for my EPCOT experience. And perhaps Joel Halberstadt actually had.

Continue reading the final part of Inside EPCOT by Edward L. Prizer