Ask Mr. Lincoln and Carousel of Progress

[FergieTCat]

I was watching a fascinating show on A&E last night about the mechanics behind the construction of WDW, and they were discussing how Disney contributed to the 1964 NY World's Fair.

They said that "Ask Mr. Lincoln" was the first use of "human" animatronics (as opposed to birds, animals or dolls). My question is "What about 'Carousel of Progress'"? That attraction was also at the World's Fair, and it included the narrator.

Does anyone know why "Ask Mr. Lincoln" is considered the ground breaker, but not "Carousel of Progress"?

 

[MJMcBride]

Don't you have the wrong world's fair?

I believe Ask Mr Lincoln was present at Disneyland before the 1964 Fair.

 

[dbm20th]

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln debuted at the 1964 World's Fair. So did the Carousel of Progress.

I saw that show as well, it was Modern Marvels, and I never quite made that connection. I think they just wanted to focus on Mr. Lincoln. They said it was a pioneer, and it was. CoP was also, though they didn't fit too much about CoP into the show.

 

[FergieTCat]

I found this on Laughingplace.com:

"Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln was originally an attraction at the 1964 New York World's Fair. The sponsors of the Illinois Pavilion wanted to celebrate the state's connection to Lincoln. When they heard about Disney's work with Audio-Animatronics they agreed to sponsor the implementation of an audio-animatronic Lincoln."

If you can catch this show on A&E, I highly recommend it. It's not a typical travelogue about WDW, and if you are a trivia geek like me, you'll be fascinated.

 

[daber]

Disney had 4 pavillions at the 64 NY Worlds Fair: GE Carousel of Progress, Illinois Meet Mr. Lincoln, Pepsi pavillion (It's a Small World) and Ford pavillion (the only thing left from that ride that I know exists are the dinosaurs on the train ride around DL).

 

[ktulu]

I think Mr. Lincoln was break through because he stands and sits in a chair, not just sit or stand around like that lazy family on COP

darren

 

[Uncleromulus]

Can't help with the "order" of which was first--but I was at the 64' Worlds Fair and recall that ALL the Disney built attractions were BIG draws.

 

[SpaceAce]

I am asking this here because many of you know. You never hear of "World's Fairs" anymore. Do they still happen? If not, when and why did they stop?

 

[seashoreCM]

I am asking this here because many of you know. You never hear of "World's Fairs" anymore. Do they still happen? If not, when and why did they stop?

Not sure when the last World's Fair was held but the fairs all need sponsoring countries and companies. Companies used World's Fairs for advertising. Currently Disney is looking for sponsoring countries to fill spaces at Epcot's World Showcase. Did Disney find a new sponsor for Space Mountain to replace Federal Express?

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[WebmasterCricket]

I think Mr. Lincoln was break through because he stands and sits in a chair, not just sit or stand around like that lazy family on COP

darren

I thought his standing was a more recent addition?

 

[dbm20th]

I thought his standing was a more recent addition?

In fact, I believe there was a funny story about how when he stood up during an early show, and lost hydraulic fluid which made him collapse with red fluid all over him...making people think they staged his murder.

 

[MJMcBride]

That is a true story about the red fluid. Apparently, after that incident, they changed the color of the fluid.

 

[HarambeGuy]

That is a true story about the red fluid. Apparently, after that incident, they changed the color of the fluid.

Yes, fortunately it was during a preview and not seen by the general public...

 

[HarambeGuy]

BTW, you can buy the DVD here: http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=74566

Well worth it! It was originally a two hour TV show so without the commercials it's still 100 minutes long.

 

[amy4bruce]

I was thirteen when I first went to the 1964 Worlds Fair. (In fact, in the next two years, I went there 16 times. I know this doesn't come close to the amount of times some of you have been to WDW , but it impressed me as a child.

Anyhow, I was very familiar with the four Disney pavilions. (As a side note, I find it funny that It's a Small World was sponsored by Pepsi, and now Disney has an exclusive deal with Coke. It was also the only one of the four that charged admission. But I digress.)

I do no know why the special (which I saw) said that Lincoln came before COP. I saw both. I do know that it was easier to get into Lincoln - the lines weren't as long as COP or the Ford pavilion. Lincoln did stand from a sitting position while I was there, and none of the audioanimatronics at COP did. And this was a big deal at the time, Lincoln licked his lips during the speech.

Last year I saw Carousel of Progress for the first time since 1965. It didn't thrill me like it used to, but it was very nostalgic.

 

[KimDis]

I think Disney and Coke's agreement has just come to an end

Sorry, that was actually Disney & MCDonald's

 

[Patch'sD]

I had a Video of the Worlds Fair which showed all four Disney attractions. Fair ran in NYC’s Flushing Meadow park from April 1964 through October 1965. Fair was not sanctioned by Worlds Fair Governing body, Since there was a worlds fair recently in the United States, Seattle I believe. Fair was a money loser as 70,000,000 expected guests turned into about 54,000,000 actual. In fact about 10,000,000 came the last few months of the fair. Fair was segregated into main areas. Industry, International, State, Food, and Rides. Highlights were Belgium Waffles from the Belgium Village. The Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at the Illinois Pavilion, IBM’s people wall, Dunlap Tire Ferris Wheel, Michelangelo’s Pieta at the Vatican Pavilion, GM’s Futurama exhibit, NASA’s rocket park with a replica of the Saturn V booster, Sinclair’s Dinoland, and Pepsi’s It’s a small World ride.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln: Disney showed the prototype of Lincoln to Robert Mosses, Worlds fair President, Mosses once shown the prototype had to have it. They worked with State of Illinois to have them sponsor the attraction. Disney was working on Lincoln for Disneyland. The attraction was not ready on Opening Day as when tested it looked like Lincoln had a spasm.

Carousel of Progress; Disney designed the main attraction for GE Progressland as it was called at the worlds fair. The theme song was written to be as long as it took the moving theater to get to the next stage. I believe that the exhibit also had a simulated nuclear reaction. There was also an exhibit area on the top of the pavilion

Ford Pavilion, Disney Designed the attraction which was a look back to the prehistoric era with Dinosaurs and Caveman. The big deal was that attraction used Ford Convertible Cars as the ride vehicle. With the introduction of the 1964 ½ Mustang at the Fair, Everyone wanted to ride in the Mustang. I remember touching the Radio in the car and my father yelling at me for breaking it. When the Disney people were testing the ride, a lot of the cars banged into each other. Disney had Ford scouring the New York Area Ford Dealers for parts.

Pepsi Pavilion; From what I read this was a last minute thing for Disney, and it was Designed and built in less than a year. My god, this has to be the most popular of all Disney Attractions Ever, and it was an afterthought. The biggest loss here is that there was a mobile at the entrance to the pavilion called the four winds or something. It was destroyed along with most of the other Worlds Fair exhibits when the fair closed down.

Some of the Worlds Fair still exists today. The New York State Pavilion is still there but in a tremendous amount of decay. The Pavilion is somewhat replicated at Universal for the MIB ride along with one of the Arches that were used along the Worlds Fair Walkways. Other arches are scattered around the Country, There is one on Hempstead Turnpike in West Hempstead at a Supermarket Shopping Center. Some of the Rockets are still at the Space Park, now the Queens Museum of Science. Terrace on the Park is the old PAN/AM pavilion. Shea Stadium home of the second best baseball team in New York was built as part of the fair, is destined for the wrecking ball after the replacement stadium is built. The AMF monorail was sold to someone down in Texas, one of it’s cars were spotted rotting away in someone’s yard. The Singerbowl was renamed the Louis Armstrong Stadium used for the US Open. The federal Pavilion, another of the Pavilions that was made to be permanent was torn down and the Arthur Ashe Tennis Staduim, Mayor David Dinkins NYC taxpayers gift to the USTA stands in it’s place. The Symbol of the Fair the Unisphere still stands today at Flushing Meadows.

EPCOT is basically a copy of the Worlds Fair with it’s separate Industry (Future World& Innoventions and World Showcase areas)

 

[WebmasterCricket]

The Symbol of the Fair the Unisphere still stands today at Flushing Meadows.

Is that the thing in the opening credits of "King of Queens"?

 

[Patch'sD]

Yes, Served the Same purpose as the Spaceship Earth at EPCOT does, yet was not a ride.

 

[amy4bruce]

I had a Video of the Worlds Fair which showed all four Disney attractions. Fair ran in NYC’s Flushing Meadow park from April 1964 through October 1965. Fair was not sanctioned by Worlds Fair Governing body, Since there was a worlds fair recently in the United States, Seattle I believe. Fair was a money loser as 70,000,000 expected guests turned into about 54,000,000 actual. In fact about 10,000,000 came the last few months of the fair. Fair was segregated into main areas. Industry, International, State, Food, and Rides. Highlights were Belgium Waffles from the Belgium Village. The Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at the Illinois Pavilion, IBM’s people wall, Dunlap Tire Ferris Wheel, Michelangelo’s Pieta at the Vatican Pavilion, GM’s Futurama exhibit, NASA’s rocket park with a replica of the Saturn V booster, Sinclair’s Dinoland, and Pepsi’s It’s a small World ride.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln: Disney showed the prototype of Lincoln to Robert Mosses, Worlds fair President, Mosses once shown the prototype had to have it. They worked with State of Illinois to have them sponsor the attraction. Disney was working on Lincoln for Disneyland. The attraction was not ready on Opening Day as when tested it looked like Lincoln had a spasm.

Carousel of Progress; Disney designed the main attraction for GE Progressland as it was called at the worlds fair. The theme song was written to be as long as it took the moving theater to get to the next stage. I believe that the exhibit also had a simulated nuclear reaction. There was also an exhibit area on the top of the pavilion

Ford Pavilion, Disney Designed the attraction which was a look back to the prehistoric era with Dinosaurs and Caveman. The big deal was that attraction used Ford Convertible Cars as the ride vehicle. With the introduction of the 1964 ½ Mustang at the Fair, Everyone wanted to ride in the Mustang. I remember touching the Radio in the car and my father yelling at me for breaking it. When the Disney people were testing the ride, a lot of the cars banged into each other. Disney had Ford scouring the New York Area Ford Dealers for parts.

Pepsi Pavilion; From what I read this was a last minute thing for Disney, and it was Designed and built in less than a year. My god, this has to be the most popular of all Disney Attractions Ever, and it was an afterthought. The biggest loss here is that there was a mobile at the entrance to the pavilion called the four winds or something. It was destroyed along with most of the other Worlds Fair exhibits when the fair closed down.

Some of the Worlds Fair still exists today. The New York State Pavilion is still there but in a tremendous amount of decay. The Pavilion is somewhat replicated at Universal for the MIB ride along with one of the Arches that were used along the Worlds Fair Walkways. Other arches are scattered around the Country, There is one on Hempstead Turnpike in West Hempstead at a Supermarket Shopping Center. Some of the Rockets are still at the Space Park, now the Queens Museum of Science. Terrace on the Park is the old PAN/AM pavilion. Shea Stadium home of the second best baseball team in New York was built as part of the fair, is destined for the wrecking ball after the replacement stadium is built. The AMF monorail was sold to someone down in Texas, one of it’s cars were spotted rotting away in someone’s yard. The Singerbowl was renamed the Louis Armstrong Stadium used for the US Open. The federal Pavilion, another of the Pavilions that was made to be permanent was torn down and the Arthur Ashe Tennis Staduim, Mayor David Dinkins NYC taxpayers gift to the USTA stands in it’s place. The Symbol of the Fair the Unisphere still stands today at Flushing Meadows.

EPCOT is basically a copy of the Worlds Fair with it’s separate Industry (Future World& Innoventions and World Showcase areas)

A couple of things, from someone who was there.

*Shea Stadium was NOT built as part of the World's Fair. It was right next door, and you took the same elevated train (the No. 7) to get there, at the same stop, but Shea was never part of the Fair.

*The NY state pavilion was later used as a concert venue called The Pavilion. It is now in disrepair, since the pylons were really spaceships (and that is the Men in Black reference).

From another posting - Yes, the Unisphere is seen in the beginning of The King of Queens. It does not, however, serve the same purpose as as Spaceship Earth in EPCOT. It was meant to serve the purpose of the Trylon and Perisphere, the symbol of the NY Worlds Fair in the '30s, and the Space Needle, the symbol of the Seattle Worlds Fair.

And this whole thing, by the way, is wildly