Song for Carousel of Progress

[OldGrizzly57]

The dog has different names throughout. One is Sport, another is Rex I think.

Actually, I think it has been changed and the dog's name stays constant now throughout the show. I believe the name is Rover.

Griz

 

[Music City Mama]

I love "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow", but I will always associate the CoP with "The Best Time of Your Life/Now is the Time" song. I miss it.

 

[mesaboy2]

I love "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow", but I will always associate the CoP with "The Best Time of Your Life/Now is the Time" song. I miss it.

I still like Roger Moore as James Bond because that's who I saw first--can't wrap my head around Connery being the definitive version. I am scarred.

 

[Music City Mama]

I still like Roger Moore as James Bond because that's who I saw first--can't wrap my head around Connery being the definitive version. I am scarred.

Believe it or not, I can actually relate to that statement. We must be about the same age.

 

[Cyrano]

I still like Roger Moore as James Bond because that's who I saw first--can't wrap my head around Connery being the definitive version. I am scarred.

I know this is OT but as a proud Scot there can only be one 007 - Sean Connery

 

[ElizabethG]

You can buy an app. For instance, I have Ringtone Maker on my iPhone. (it was free)
Once you have the App, it walks you through the process....selecting a song and the part of the song that you want to use.


I just LOVE "There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow"!!!!!!!!

There are several apps. I have ringtone designer. It works great! They have a link in the app to a YouTube video for directions.

I currently have 'Yo Ho' as my ringtone. It is from the 'Four Parks' cd (which also has 'Tomorrow'). I can't wait for fall and my 'Boo to You' ringtone.

I know this is OT but as a proud Scot there can only be one 007 - Sean Connery

The right answer is George Lazenby.

 

[MK2010]

I love CoP. Its probably my favorite ride! (Well, I don't know....there is Soarin') Anyway, I'm always singing that song in my head.There's a great big beautiful tomorrow shining at the end of every day

 

[budafam]

I rode this for the first time on our last trip and absolutely loved it. So did my 5 year old son. I can't wait to bring everyone on it in less than a month! Now I have the song stuck in my head.. lol

 

[goofyernmost]

I love "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow", but I will always associate the CoP with "The Best Time of Your Life/Now is the Time" song. I miss it.

I was one of those that heard it as "now is the time" on my first visit and many subsequent visits to WDW. It holds many good memories for me basically in association with my children. We loved it. I do have some emotional connections with GBBT as well. That was reinstated during a particularly difficult time in my life and for some reason it made me look forward to the future to some degree. So they both win.

I still like Roger Moore as James Bond because that's who I saw first--can't wrap my head around Connery being the definitive version. I am scarred.

Now that's just crazy talk, that is! Sean Connery is now and always will be 007! That's like saying that Wings was better then the Beatles. If anyone feels that way, please keep it to yourself, thanks!

 

[crazycatlady]

Gotta love commercialism...

Thanks for all of the info! I love "It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" and I particularly enjoy singing it to my friends who aren't such big fans, just to be a pain. I never thought about setting it as my ringtone... even if you don't have a smart phone, you can use phonezoo to create ringtones from mp3 files on your computer.

It has been my ringtone for a while now, and I don't have a smartphone.

 

[jenjifer]

Love this song -- I have it set at my alarm clock on my iPhone, so I get to wake up to it each and every day. Starting my day off right!

 

[wcw57]

Many long-time CoP fans remember that when the attraction first opened at the then brand-new Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom in Florida, the featured song was
"The Best Time of Your Life (Now Is the Time)"

Today, the song is "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow."

But, many may not know the reason for the change.

Both of the songs used in CoP are by the Sherman Brothers (Richard and Robert) who wrote lots of the great Disney songs in the 60's (It's a Small World, Mary Poppins... just SO many!)

When Walt Disney himself commissioned the music for CoP he wanted to accentuate the story that "progress" means that even though "today seems great, tomorrow is going to be better." The Shermans responded with "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" (the song that you currently hear in the CoP at WDW.)
Walt LOVED it, it was a huge hit at the 1964 World's Fair in NYC and my family and I got to see/hear it at Disneyland after it was finally set-up there after the fair.
WE loved it and rode that carousel over and over.
When CoP was moved to WDW, the Shermans were asked to write a new song (the CoP was sponsored by GE) that stated that "NOW is the Best Time" ostensibly because it meant to "go ahead and buy appliances TODAY," don't wait until "tomorrow" (or you'll never do it.)
As a kid who had grown up with the ORIGINAL SONG, I was a bit disappointed with the NEW one.
So, years later, when I discovered that the CoP had re-opened with the ORIGINAL song back IN, I was SO HAPPY! (I couldn't believe that the present-day Imagineers had taken the time to nearly RESTORE the new CoP to its earlier Walt Disney-supervised glory!)
I can understand that it those of you who were FIRST-initiated to the CoP with the SECOND song, would have nostalgia for THAT one... but Walt himself chose the FIRST one (that's there now) and I LOVE IT!
BTW, the present voice of the host (and the "father" on-stage) is Jean Shepherd, author and narrator for the perennial
favorite "A Christmas Story" (you'll shoot your eye out!)

The original actor Walt chose for this part was Rex Allen, Sr. who also quite ably narrated most of Disney's "animal films" in the 60's, and who was also a prominent "Cowboy Film Star" in the 50's.
Rex Sr.'s voice is currently that of the Grandfather in the final Christmas vignette of the present CoP. (When I first heard that voice I nearly broke down... what a beautiful tribute to the original show!)

A third voice that's prominently featured is "Cousin Orville" ("No privacy a-tall around this place!")
He is voiced by the great Mel Blanc, Sr. (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian... all the WB classic voices AND Barney Rubble!)
Mel is also the voice of the Parrot in another of the CoP scene.
These Mel Blanc tracks were actually lifted FROM the original audio used in the first CoP and, again, is an elegant nod to Walt's creation.

Alas, all three of these wonderful "voices" have passed on... but we can still enjoy their inimitable craftwork in the CoP.

Long may it continue to spin us into the future!

There is a great video on Youtube of Walt singing with the Shermans "selling" the COP to GE for the Worlds Fair....check out the backs of their suits as they skip away....cool retro corporate stuff here abounds!

 

[Robo]

There is a great video on Youtube of Walt singing with the Shermans "selling" the COP to GE for the Worlds Fair....check out the backs of their suits as they skip away....cool retro corporate stuff here abounds!

That video (but not all of it)
plays in the outdoor waiting area for the show.

 

[wcw57]

I have never....even during New Year's Eve week----ever

waited to get on COP. There's a waiting area?!

by the way....loved it then, love it now!

 

[larryz]

Many long-time CoP fans remember that when the attraction first opened at the then brand-new Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom in Florida, the featured song was
"The Best Time of Your Life (Now Is the Time)"

Today, the song is "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow."

But, many may not know the reason for the change.

Both of the songs used in CoP are by the Sherman Brothers (Richard and Robert) who wrote lots of the great Disney songs in the 60's (It's a Small World, Mary Poppins... just SO many!)

When Walt Disney himself commissioned the music for CoP he wanted to accentuate the story that "progress" means that even though "today seems great, tomorrow is going to be better." The Shermans responded with "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" (the song that you currently hear in the CoP at WDW.)
Walt LOVED it, it was a huge hit at the 1964 World's Fair in NYC and my family and I got to see/hear it at Disneyland after it was finally set-up there after the fair.
WE loved it and rode that carousel over and over.
When CoP was moved to WDW, the Shermans were asked to write a new song (the CoP was sponsored by GE) that stated that "NOW is the Best Time" ostensibly because it meant to "go ahead and buy appliances TODAY," don't wait until "tomorrow" (or you'll never do it.)
As a kid who had grown up with the ORIGINAL SONG, I was a bit disappointed with the NEW one.
So, years later, when I discovered that the CoP had re-opened with the ORIGINAL song back IN, I was SO HAPPY! (I couldn't believe that the present-day Imagineers had taken the time to nearly RESTORE the new CoP to its earlier Walt Disney-supervised glory!)
I can understand that it those of you who were FIRST-initiated to the CoP with the SECOND song, would have nostalgia for THAT one... but Walt himself chose the FIRST one (that's there now) and I LOVE IT!
BTW, the present voice of the host (and the "father" on-stage) is Jean Shepherd, author and narrator for the perennial
favorite "A Christmas Story" (you'll shoot your eye out!)

The original actor Walt chose for this part was Rex Allen, Sr. who also quite ably narrated most of Disney's "animal films" in the 60's, and who was also a prominent "Cowboy Film Star" in the 50's.
Rex Sr.'s voice is currently that of the Grandfather in the final Christmas vignette of the present CoP. (When I first heard that voice I nearly broke down... what a beautiful tribute to the original show!)

A third voice that's prominently featured is "Cousin Orville" ("No privacy a-tall around this place!")
He is voiced by the great Mel Blanc, Sr. (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian... all the WB classic voices AND Barney Rubble!)
Mel is also the voice of the Parrot in another of the CoP scene.
These Mel Blanc tracks were actually lifted FROM the original audio used in the first CoP and, again, is an elegant nod to Walt's creation.

Alas, all three of these wonderful "voices" have passed on... but we can still enjoy their inimitable craftwork in the CoP.

Long may it continue to spin us into the future!

That's what I mean about 59,000-plus posts.

Thanks for the deep-background, Robo.

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

now is the time, now is the best time.....old school

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

SIGH. this post makes me want to be at Disney. Soooo, I only watched the YouTube video of CoP about 10 times. LOL!!!

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

YAYYYY!!! It is NOW officially my ringtone on my phone! My hubby is way more technologically savy than me, so he put it on my phone for me. YAYY!! I'm a happy Disney loving mama now!!

 

[Miss Marie]

The original song was "Now is the time" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAcPo1xDvJk . They changed it to "Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow".

Both are good.

The original song was always "There's a Great big Beautiful Tomorrow". "Now is the Time" was the in-between song that was featured when MK first got CoP. I don't like the lyrics of Now is the Time very much. There's a Great big Beautiful Tomorrow has always been my fave! But the music for the middle song is good. Maybe since the Sherman Bros. also wrote it!

Here's the version with the lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZq35oee0lI

Here's an instrumental:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeqilAKzajQ

And here are the Main Street Dapper Dans singing it (Had to listen to this one! hehe):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkAMjIFtjf8

And here's Now is the Time (Sung by Richard Sherman):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2GTwyoR8AY

So, there are a few examples of the song(s)! Enjoy!

 

[Miss Marie]

There is a great video on Youtube of Walt singing with the Shermans "selling" the COP to GE for the Worlds Fair....check out the backs of their suits as they skip away....cool retro corporate stuff here abounds!

Just looked it up, how funny!

They can sing! I'd like to have that version on my MP3, along with some of Walt's dialog!

And imagine, GE had to be a jerk and change the song! I'm glad There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow!