It’s taken forever, but we’re finally doing it! Let’s complete the loop with a look at the Epcot opening television special.
After a whirlwind couple of months recapping my Dopey Challenge and Fairytale Challenge runDisney weekends, we’re settling back into our regularly scheduled blog programming. And you know I can’t resist starting with another installment of my Thoughts While Watching series.
Now I haven’t given anything the TWW treatment since December(!), so let’s start with a refresher on the Thoughts While Watching ethos. Thoughts While Watching is all about ferreting out vintage Disney media and assessing it with modern eyes, with a mind both to appreciation and critique. I jot down my thoughts as I go, and you’re invited to add yours!
Having done this for the Magic Kingdom’s grand opening television special, then the same for Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, let’s complete the quadfecta with a look at Epcot’s opening celebration TV show.
So grab a snack and a drink and press play as we travel back to 1982 to get a better handle on what was considered experimental, prototypical, communal, and tomorrow…y – with the help of a great entertainer of the past. I hope you like old school musical style patter songs!
22 Thoughts I Had While Watching Epcot Center: The Opening Celebration (1982)
1. Danny Kaye?! Wait, is he standing on TOP of the American Gardens Theater?
2. Okay, well, it’s not EXACTLY a realization of Walt Disney’s Epcot dream…
3. I wasn’t entirely sold on this musical break, but I do like that they named dropped Figment…
4. Oh my God, those doll characters from the old parade are indeed TERRIFYING. I’d say we’re overdue for a comeback.
5. Did Danny Kaye just emerge from a hole at the top of Spaceship Earth? I couldn’t tell if that was in fact him.
6. Hello Spaceship Earth! You are truly an icon!
7. Surely there’s a runDisney pairs race costume in this one-two punch of Alan Shepard and Drew Barrymore.
8. Hey, none of these songs were in Epcot Forever. This is Danny Kaye erasure!
9. I WILL grow up to be a kid. Truth in advertising!
10. OH MY GOD THIS ROVING ROBOT IS AMAZING BRING HIM BAAAAACK
11. Unless it’s him or Dreamfinder, in which case I choose Dreamfinder. Important note: old school Journey into Imagination is 3000% better than… whatever’s happening in there now.
12. I have heard tell of this so-called Kitchen Kabaret. It looks scarier than the parade dolls.
13. Living with the Land is superior to Soarin’ and I am ready to die on this hill. All you need is Patrick Warburton to record the narration and it would be unmatched.
14. This Communicore robot is also very cute. Get her some merch already!
15. It’s remarkable how much of World Showcase remains unchanged.
16. What country is the kid in the suit and bowtie supposed to be from?
17. Ah, so many almost-pavilions to mourn! Israel! Spain! Equatorial Africa! (And no, the Outpost doesn’t really count.)
19. Marie Osmond is great and all, but where is Donny Osmond with “I’ll Make A Man Out of You”?
20. This number is… a lot.
21. “[Walt Disney] probably did more to soothe troubled human spirits than all the psychiatrists in the world.” Amen to that!
22. Danny Kaye does a pretty good Mad Conductor.
And that’s game! I don’t know about you guys, but I much preferred this style of opening ceremony to the glitzier, pop-focused productions that characterized later specials. Danny Kaye provided a steady through line as we explored Epcot’s wonders.
The park has certainly changed a lot over the decades, but I find a lot of charm and value in the retrofuturism of its past. I wouldn’t mind seeing some of it return – particularly the weirder stuff like the bobble headed World Showcase parade dolls, the robots, and oh, I don’t know… THE DREAMFINDER??? You know what they say: if I keep on believing, a dream and a wish could come true…
Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Threads @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!