Circle-Vision 360°

Circle-Vision 360°, originally called Circarama, has been a part of the Disney parks since Disneyland first opened. The first show, A Tour of the West, opened with the rest of the park on July 17, 1955, and the latest Circle-Vision 360° show opened earlier this year in Epcot. That’s 65 years of new Disney Circle-Vision shows!

Walt first got the idea for Circle-Vision when, in 1952, This is Cinerama opened. This documentary was shown with new widescreen technology that included the use of three projectors. Walt saw this and decided Disney could do better. Ub Iwerks, co-creator of Mickey Mouse, designed the circular camera and surround projection for this new project. The design was named Circarama. Circarama originally used eleven cameras and projectors, but later shows only used nine.

So what is Circle-Vision exactly? It’s a movie that takes place on multiple screens in a round theater. Guests stand right in the middle of the scenes for a 360° view of the scenes. Over the decades, Circle-Vision shows have been found at five different Disney parks and various World Expos around the world.

Disneyland

Here the Circle-Vision 360° theatre was located in Tomorrowland. Today the attraction Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters is housed in parts of the old show building.

On opening day at Disneyland, Circarama, USA debuted with the show A Tour of the West. This twelve minute show used eleven cameras mounted on top of a station wagon to capture parts of western United States including the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. This show was sponsored by American Motors.

The next show at Disneyland was America the Beautiful in 1960. Originally this show debuted at the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958 and was sponsored by Ford. After the World’s Fair, the show was dubbed in Russian and moved to Moscow for six weeks. Back at Disneyland, this sixteen minute show was sponsored by Bell System and included scenes from the New York harbor, Pittsburgh steel mills, Montana farming, Hoover Dam, San Francisco, and later, Cape Canaveral. America the Beautiful was written and produced by James Algar, who worked on many of the True-Life Adventures documentaries. A rendition of the title song would later be used in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

In 1967, Circarama was renamed to Circle-Vision 360° because the owners of Cinerama finally complained about the similarity of the names. America the Beautiful was also reshot and reopened on June 25, 1967 and was now eighteen minutes long. The film was revised again in 1975 for the American Bicentennial. America the Beautiful closed on January 3, 1984, but was later released for public education on regular screen.

Later, in 1984, the theatre was renamed to World Premiere Circle-Vision 360°, and a new show called American Journeys opened on July 4. This show was sponsored by Pacific Southwest Airlines until 1989 when Delta took over.

American Journeys alternated with another show called Wonders of China until July 1996 when America the Beautiful was brought back. Delta ended its sponsorship on January 1, 1996, and the attraction closed permanently in September 1997.

Part of the theatre was then used for the Rocket Rods queue in 1998, and the preshow showed videos of transportation as well as excerpts from the past Circle-Vision shows on the nine screens. But the poor Rocket Rods closed only two years later and that was the last of Circle-Vision 360° in Disneyland.

Magic Kingdom

In Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, the Circle-Vision 360° was also located in Tomorrowland and the building now houses Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.

America the Beautiful was the first show at Magic Kingdom and it opened almost two months after the rest of the park on November 25, 1971. The original run was until March 15, 1974. It then opened on March 15, 1975 for the American Bicentennial before closing again on September 9, 1984.

When America the Beautiful was getting a revamp for the Bicentennial, the show Magic Carpet ‘Round the World played in the theatre. Both these shows were sponsored by Monsanto. Magic Carpet ‘Round the World opened on March 16, 1974 and ran until March 14, 1975. It came back again from 1979 to 1984 and alternated for a while with America the Beautiful. This show was twenty-one minutes long and showed guests over twenty different countries.

American Journeys then came to Magic Kingdom and opened on September 15, 1984 before closing on January 9, 1994. At the Magic Kingdom, American Journeys was sponsored by Black & Decker.

The last Circle-Vision show to play at Magic Kingdom was The Timekeeper. Parts of Magic Carpet ‘Round the World was reused for this new show. The Timekeeper opened on November 21, 1994. It had already debuted at both Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland (see below.) More US footage was added for the Magic Kingdom version as well as changing the language to English. Robin Williams provided the voice of Timekeeper and Rhea Perlman voiced Nine-Eye. Nine-Eye was a robot whose nine eyes represented the nine cameras used to capture the footage for the Circle-Vision shows. Both these characters interact with the film, which presents a time travel journey throughout Europe and the US. The theatre named went through some changes during the run of The Timekeeper including Transportarium and the Tomorrowland Metropolis Science Center. The Timekeeper closed on April 29, 2001, but would operate seasonally until its last show on December 31, 2005. It was announced as closed for good in February 2006.

Epcot

Currently Epcot is the only park to still have Circle-Vision 360° theatres, and it is also the only park to have two of them. The theatres are located in the Canada Pavilion and the China Pavilion.

Canada Pavilion

Opening with the rest of Epcot, O, Canada! debuted on October 1, 1982 and captured the beauty of this wonderful, glorious county (being Canadian, I’m slightly biased.) This film was inspired by Canada ’67, a Circle-Vision show Disney produced for Expo 67 in Montreal. The original narrator was Corey Burton, but in the 2007 update, Martin Short took over. O, Canada! closed on July 31, 2019.

The next, and current show, at the Canada Pavilion is Canada Far and Wide which debuted on January 17, 2020. This film is narrated by Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy with a score by Andrew Lockington.

China Pavilion

Wonders of China, the same film that had been in Disneyland, also opened on October 1, 1982 and ran until March 26, 2003.

In May 2003, Reflections of China debuted as an updated tour of China. The film featured new footage including an updated view of Shanghai as the city’s skyline had dramatically changed over the past twenty years.  Both films were directed by Jeff Blyth. Reflections of China features an actor playing the ancient poet Li Bai, who leads the tour throughout China.

A new film is supposed to debut this year called Wondrous China, but there is no news on an official opening date yet.

When Soarin’ Over California opened, Imagineers wanted this attraction to be like an update, more immersive Circle-Vision 360°. When the new film, Soarin’ Around the World was shot, the on-location team filmed the Great Wall of China in the exact spot as the original Wonders of China.

Bonus: France Pavilion

If you were confused when I said there are only two Circle-Vision 360° theatres in Epcot and not three, a lot of guests think the theatre in the France Pavilion is a Circle-Vision one. It’s a similar concept, but not actually Circle-Vision 360°. Circle-Vision 200° is more like it.

This theatre, called the Palais du Cinéma, has five adjacent screens so create one large curved view. There are seats like at an actual movie theatre instead of having guests stand in the middle of the theatre.

Impressions de France opened on October 1, 1982 and features scenes of France as well as music by French classical composers. Earlier this year, the film was upgraded to 4K projection.

A Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along now plays in rotation with Impressions de France as of January 17, 2020. This fourteen minute film was directed by Don Hahn, who was the producer of the 1991 animated film, and is narrated by Angela Lansbury (the voice of Mrs. Potts.)

Tokyo Disneyland

In Tokyo Disneyland, the Circle-Vision 360° theatre was located in Tomorrowland and now houses Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters.

Circle-Vision 360° opened with the rest of Tokyo Disneyland on April 15, 1983. The first film played there was Magic Carpet ‘Round the World which included updated footage from the original film at Magic Kingdom. This show closed on May 16, 1986.

American Journeys then played from May 17, 1986 to August 31, 1992.

As part of Tokyo Disneyland’s 10 year anniversary celebration in 1993, From Time to Time opened on April 15. This was Tokyo’s version of The Timekeeper and the theatre’s name changed to Visionarium. This version included a preshow that showed the Timekeeper’s study, library, and laboratory. Various models were displayed including the Nautilus from Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and a 1920s film projector from the Walt Disney Studios. From Time to Time closed on September 1, 2002.

Disneyland Paris

The Circle-Vision 360° theatre in Disneyland Paris was located in Discoveryland and now houses Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast.

From Time to Time was an opening day attraction at Disneyland Paris on April 12, 1992. The Circle-Vision 360° theatre there was also called Visionarium. In Disneyland Paris the show was sponsored by Renault. The show closed on September 6, 2004.

World Expos

Disney created a number of Circle-Vision 360° shows and theatres for various World Expos.

As already mentioned, Expo 58 in Brussels featured the debut of America the Beautiful.

In 1961 for Italy’s expo in Turin, Italia ’61 was sponsored by Fiat. This was still when the technology was known as Circarama. The film featured a tour of Italy and the film crew was instructed by Don Iwerks, the son of Ub Iwerks.

For Expo 64 which took place in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1964, Disney created a film called Magic of the Rails. This film was sponsored by the Swiss Federal Railways and showed a train tour throughout Europe. After the expo, the film was shown in Germany.

As already mentioned, Expo 67 in Montreal featured the debut of Canada ’67.

Portraits of Canada was made for Expo 86 in Vancouver, Canada in 1986. This film was sponsored by Telecom Canada. Prince Charles and Princess Diana officially opened the Expo on May 2, 1986.

 

Wow! There have been a lot of Circle-Vision 360° films. Fifteen, I think? I didn’t even count there were so many.

How many Circle-Vision films have you seen? Which one is your favourite?