The Experience: Singing an unforgettable ditty that’s all about positivity

The Trick: Having the Sherman Brothers create another instant, timeless classic

Image: DisneyWalt Disney relied on the Sherman Brothers so much that I wonder whether he was their real father. Whenever he needed a song for a new Disney film or attraction, he’d run straight to Richard and Robert. They wrote many classics like The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room, It’s a Small World, and One Little Spark, all of which still have a park presence to this day.

When GE commissioned Disney for the World’s Fair pavilion, everyone involved understood that the Sherman Brothers would create the soundtrack. What no one could have imagined is how impacting that the piece would be. There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow is the Disney song most likely to put a smile on the paces of diehard theme park tourists. It encapsulates all of the magic of Disney thanks to its optimistic lyrics.

Image: DisneyThe song succeeds due to what it represents. The Sherman Brothers were understandably grateful to Uncle Walt for their careers. They marveled at their friend’s boundless enthusiasm and unyielding positivity. Their lyrics became an unsubtle anthem about the man himself. Whenever you hear There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, you’re learning how Walt Disney’s peers perceived him.

Please take this opportunity to read them in this light and understand how revered Uncle Walt was:

There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day
There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow
And tomorrow's just a dream away

Man has a dream and that's the start
He follows his dream with mind and heart
And when it becomes a reality
It's a dream come true for you and me

So there's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day
There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow
Just a dream away

The Experience: Keeping the story current in an ever-changing world

The Trick: Representing the past authentically while predicting the future accurately

Image: DisneyWhat’s the polite way to say that the world was a lot more sexist back in the day? As a product of its era, one that’s frozen in time, Carousel of Progress has had some awkward lines of dialogue over the years. Disney has done the same thing with it that they did with Pirates of Caribbean. They’ve changed some of the scenes to make them more palatable to modern audiences.

Some of the updates weren’t Disney’s choice, though. In fact, the reason why this attraction is housed at Walt Disney World is that GE asked for the move. Their research suggested that the ride had stagnated at Disneyland. They found that the overwhelming majority of guests were Californians who had ridden it many times previously.

Image: DisneyGE aimed for Carousel of Progress to entice its viewers to purchase their products. It’s the equivalent of seeing the same commercial 50 times. The corporation must pay for the advertising no matter how ineffective it is. GE felt they weren’t getting their money’s worth at Disneyland and persuaded park officials that this attraction would be perfect for phase two of Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom.

Carousel of Progress opened at Walt Disney World in 1975. GE’s 10-year sponsorship agreement ended in 1985, and the maintenance of this attraction has been Disney’s responsibility ever since. They no longer require GE’s approval for changes, although attentive audience members have noticed that GE products are still visible on the ride. It was cheaper for Disney to keep what they had in place.

The dialogue is a less comfortable topic. Perspectives have changed over the years as Americans have grown more societally conscientious. Park officials must balance the integrity of the story that Uncle Walt desired with modern sensibilities. After all, it’s the oldest attraction in Orlando that Walt Disney actually touched. Carousel of Progress is several years older than Walt Disney World! So, Disney has mostly left alone the sexist representations of previous generations to protect the integrity of the ride.

Image: DisneyOver the years, the attraction has received five different significant updates. The first one happened when Disney transitioned Carousel of Progress from the World's Pavilion to the Happiest Place on Earth. The next major change was the transfer of the ride to Walt Disney World. A huge change took place under the hood here. Disney altered the turntable change to rotate counter-clockwise. The World’s Fair and Disneyland versions had turned clockwise.

Disney then made tweaks in 1981 and 1985 before finishing the last major update in 1993. The trick each time is the fourth act, the one that projects the future. The current version of Carousel of Progress seems prescient in that it has virtual reality headsets and references to smart house technology.

The remarkable part is that Disney crafted these scenes before the internet became a ubiquitous part of our lives. While guests feel Act 4 has once again grown a bit stale, Imagineers deserve a great deal of credit for predicting the future so accurately.

One other landmark change didn’t stick, though. When the ride moved from Disneyland to Walt Disney World, park officials commissioned the Sherman Brothers to write a new song. They wanted something more contemporary.

The Best Time of Your Life became the theme song for Carousel of Progress in 1975 and would maintain that honor until 1994. At that point, park officials wisely returned to the roots of the attraction. They restored There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow to its rightful place as the theme song of Carousel of Progress. I would go so far as to say that it’s the soul of the attraction.