American Adventure Update
Disney is reporting that the American Adventure iat Epcot s getting an update September 26, 2007--The National Treasures Exhibit will feature such items as President Lincoln's actual stove-pipe hat and real inventions by Thomas Edison. Also the Golden Dreams film will be updated using digital technology and include more recent events in American history such as WW II and Sept.11.
The looong email Disney sent out: :dizzy:
Hats Off To America!
National Treasures comes to The American Adventure at Epcot
One of the most amazing collections of real-life Americana ever assembled—National Treasures*—comes September 26. You'll find it inside the landmark Epcot® attraction at the center of World Showcase, a place where you can become completely immersed in the astonishing authenticity and culture of eleven great nations.
As rare and multifaceted as the finest jewels
"These are the jewels of museums and foundations all over the country, all gathered in one place," said Jim Clark, Walt Disney Imagineering Ambassador Representative and one of the team members designing National Treasures. "You'll see one of Abraham Lincoln's actual stovepipe hats, which has never been publicly exhibited outside of the Lincoln family home in Manchester, Vermont.
"We're also presenting many of Lincoln's personal items, like the book of Lord Byron poetry that inspired his second inaugural address, and his full-length mirror—where he probably took his last glimpse of himself before he went off to Ford's Theater."
Always new and exciting
The National Treasures collection will also be continually changed, so you never know when you'll see something new. Imagine the thrill of seeing, up close, things that actually changed the world!
One of the most inspiring examples is the microscope George Washington Carver used. "This is the actual microscope he used to develop over 100 methods for producing industrial products from peanuts—innovations that are still used today, from cosmetics and paints to plastics and gasoline," said Jim. "Without Dr. Carver's research with that microscope, we would not have crop rotation or many other agricultural advances of the past 75 years.
In addition to Dr. Carver, Americans from diverse cultures will be celebrated, including items from the lives of Rosa Parks and Jackie Robinson. An entire section devoted to the space program will feature the flight vest of Native American Commander John Herrington. And you'll see the actual Purple Heart medal awarded to Japanese-American World War II hero and Senator Daniel Inouye.
You'll even be able to tell your friends you saw Thomas Edison's original inventions. The Edison portion is one of the largest in the National Treasures exhibit because of the sheer size of the inventions. "The motion picture projector is so gigantic we could barely fit it in the case," said Jim. "We've got one of the first record players. Only 100 tin foil cylinder players were made in order to demonstrate recorded sound to people who never imagined it before—and we wouldn't have had today's MP3 players without it. There are only two of these foil players left, and you'll be able to see one."
An adventure with its eye on the future
This new exhibit will be in the lobby of The American Adventure, the Disney Audio-Animatronics® attraction that truly is, to respectfully borrow Walt's words, "dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America."
The main show at The American Adventure takes place on a Broadway-size stage, miraculous Audio-Animatronics figures of Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain initiate a mammoth presentation conveying the drama that shaped the country and forged our journey into the 21st century and beyond.
A newly-revised "Golden Dreams" film presentation. The presentation reaches its emotional high point during the "Golden Dreams" finale, a 70-millimeter widescreen film montage now digitally enhanced and newly revised to include over 100 notable Americans from sports, entertainment, politics and other walks of life, from post-WWII to post-911.
Updating "Golden Dreams" for The American Adventure was a labor of love for Walt Disney Imagineering Executive Show Director, Senior Vice President Rick Rothschild. "It's more beautiful than ever," Rick told us. "You need to see it to appreciate it because it's an emotional piece, structured with images that connect you back to moments in time, from just after World War II to today."
"Obviously, we had to address 9/11 and other aspects of America in major ways," Rick continued. "We've also included individuals and movements devoted to helping others, such as Oprah Winfrey's work with people in Africa and Willie Nelson's involvement with Farm Aid.
"We still end the sequence at New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty, but we completely redid the fireworks so they're much more beautiful and plentiful and the whole shot is absolutely gorgeous."
As real as it gets
Everything you see in the Golden Dreams sequence, everything in the new National Treasures exhibit, and the entire Audio-Animatronics main show tie together. Even the show "hosts" are represented with exhibit items, from the chair in which Benjamin Franklin sat to the pens and inkwell Mark Twain used to write Tom Sawyer.
"This is a collection of real things from real human beings," said Jim Clark. "It truly conveys the feeling that these people all lived on the same Earth we live on now. The choices they made have affected our lives. And the choices we make can have a positive impact. That's the idea behind the entire attraction."
