.Meet The World gave a condensed history of Japan through the use of audio-animatronics as well as movie footage. The ride system used was a "reverse" Carousel Of Progress/Carousel Theater, so to speak. The audience sat in the center of the building and rotated in place while the show elements were situated around the audience in the outside ring of the theater. (As a side note, a duplicate of this attraction was in the original plans for the Japan Pavilion at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World, but was never built.)
I love the building's facade. It kind of reminds me of a structure that could have been found at a world's fair. Unfortunately, the building was torn down a couple years ago and construction began on a Monster's Inc. attraction which is scheduled to open in 2009. The photos below are of the new construction and were taken in April of 2008.
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For more info about Tokyo Disneyland's Meet The World attraction, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_the_World
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8 comments:
Hey there TokyoMagic, have loved your blog for years now and appreciate all you do man. You are a true Disney Nerd, I mean that in the best way possible lol. Do you have a deep connection with Meet the World? I mean, It is your blog site name. I would love an in depth post with pics if it’s something you would be interested in doing. I find the attraction to be quite fascinating, it’s the most rare Disney audio-animatronic attraction and one of the most forgotten. Designed by Claude Coats, animatronics sculpted by Blaine Gibson and music by the Sherman Brothers, an all star line-up I must say. Crazy to think they were going to make two of these for TDL and Epcot but obviously, the designers at Epcot made the building too small to house it and ultimately decided to just send the version meant to open in 1982 to TDL for the 1983 opening. I really hope Disney kept something from the attraction when it closed, particularly the hot air balloon with the three animatronics.
Hi disneymike! Thank you for the nice words about my blog! It is truly appreciated! I also find TDL's "Meet The World" attraction fascinating. And I have a mild obsession with it. First of all, I love Disney's "revolving theater" attractions. And the Carousel of Progress is my favorite Disney attraction ever (the Disneyland version, NOT the WDW version). I also love Meet The World for the reasons you mentioned....the brilliant artists who worked on it. And I absolutely LOVE the Sherman Bros' theme song, both in Japanese and English.
It is a total shame that the attraction did not end up at Epcot, as planned. But I have a feeling that even if it had been completed, that it would no longer be standing today. I'm sure by now they would have given it the axe, the way they have to most of Epcots's animatronic-filled attractions.
I also hope that they kept something from the attraction. I have often wondered about that, whenever something closes at TDL. I know that at least one set of the Three Caballeros figures from "The Mickey Mouse Revue" were sent to Epcot, for use in the Mexico pavilion. But what about all of those other animatronic characters? And what about all of the figures from Meet The World? I'm guessing that they are cannibalized for parts, to be used on other animatronics such as the pirates in POTC? Sad!
Thank you so much for commenting!
disneymike (again!), sorry! I forgot to answer your question about doing a post. I don't think I'll be doing a detailed post about the attraction, because I don't have any photos of the attraction's interior, unfortunately. All I have are a few exterior shots, after it closed. I would love it if someone could recreate it virtually, the way someone did with DL's "Adventure Thru Inner Space"!
I understand, I apologize for posting on your most recent post, like I said, my google account name is being weird. I created a post that includes clear video and a separate video with clear sound and in English, the two can be played in unison and you should get the best experience and hopefully relive those memories of watching it in person.
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/tdl%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cmeet-the-world%E2%80%9D-attraction-with-crystal-clear-video.983755/#post-10922698
DisneyMike, no worries about where you post your comments. They are always sent to my email, so I will get them either way. Thank you for creating that post and for sharing the link! I really enjoyed it.....great job! And I was able to watch the video and listen to the English audio, with only a few minor adjustments throughout. It was nice to be able to watch such clear video, along with the clear audio. Thanks, again!
I just created a new post on that link, it shows how the building for Meet the World was dramatically changed for the better in less than a year.
DisneyMike, Wow....more great information! I had never seen pics of the Meet The World building, within the park's first year of operation. That is interesting that they changed the design and color scheme so dramatically. I do agree that it looked better, after the changes. Thank you so much, for the continuing info updates on the attraction!
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