WORLD OF MOTION

LINER NOTES

ENTRANCE PLAZA

1. FUN TO BE FREE (ENTRANCE PLAZA)
The third of seven incredibly innovative compositions created for EPCOT Center’s Entrance Plaza. “Fun to be Free” with its triumphant brass solos, pastoral strings, heroic tone and consistently upbeat tempo is undisputedly the most iconic of Future World compositions and a fitting centerpiece to EPCOT Center’s Overture.

WORLD OF MOTION

2. PAVILION ATMOSPHERE
While most Future World pavilions endeavored to present themselves with forward-thinking atmospheres, Buddy Baker’s arrangements for the World of Motion featured an eclectic assortment of instrumental “Fun to be Free” variations in musical styles ranging from Classical to Cool Jazz including some curiously placed chords from “Yankee Doodle”, “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” & “When You Wish Upon a Star”.

3. TRANSPORTATION LOBBY
Clad in chrome paneling with a load platform of multi-colored wall carpeting, the World of Motion’s understated interior queue presented another EPCOT Center innovation with Disney's first stereophonic BGM featuring various vehicle sound effects that traveled across the room as the attraction’s theme “Fun to be Free” was performed in 13 musical genres from Westerns to Broadway spanning the last century of transportation.

4. THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF MOTION
A whimsical “roadshow” past the milestones of transportation from foot power to flight and beyond. The World of Motion featured Ward Kimball’s wacky sense of portraying history in a humorous way coupled with brilliantly staged vignettes crafted by Marc Davis and settings designed by Claude Coats. This truly epic-scale omnimover attraction, with a final count of 188, holds the distinction of having the largest cast of animatronic characters ever created in an elaborately executed 24-scene show, hosted by the famously funny radio announcer & TV personality Gary Owens, and (most importantly) scored by genius composer Norman “Buddy” Baker.

TRANSCENTER

5. THE TRANSCENTER SUITE
Primarily designed by BRC (Bob Rogers & Co), the post-show of World of Motion, “Transcenter" was a sprawling exhibit space showcasing the intricacies of automotive design and manufacturing with shows like the aerodynamic display “Aerotest” and the Vaudeville-style show “Bird & The Robot” culminating in the “Dreamers’ Workshop” of vehicle designs for well beyond the beginning of the 21st century. This suite represents Transcenter en masse by drawing from the “Epcot Expanded Universe“ (see Footnote) utilizing the underscore to "A Look Inside the World of Motion", one of GM’s many promotional films that documented the creation and philosophies behind the pavilion.


6. LEAN MACHINE THEME
The highlight of the “Dreamer’s Workshop” exhibit that featured largely far-fetched vehicle concepts for land, sea & air was the potentially practical Lean Machine as a “21st Century urban commuter car” — already in the prototyping phase of production. This ultra-futuristic vehicle boasted impressively decreased aerodynamic drag to less than one-fifth of a motorcycle and one-eighth of an automobile. Accompanying a full-sized model of the vehicle was a video monitor showing a high-end short with this distinctly edgy 80’s soundtrack that demonstrated its functionality.


7. BIRD (and the Robot) MEDLEY
Focusing on the manufacturing process, this funny presentation featured a feathered host (originally created for Tokyo Disneyland’s Tiki Room) and a genuine GM industrial robot named “Tiger” that displayed the robot’s many skills of dexterity. The Vaudeville-style presentation showed filmed elements showcasing the many intricate facets of modern manufacturing culminating in a finale with the "Detroit Philrobotic Orchestra" that repurposes footage from the Academy Award winning short “Ballet Robotique” — also shot by BRC onsite in GM’s factories with dramatic lighting and colorful cinematography.


8. WATER ENGINE THEATER
A nine-screen animated film presentation with a cast of cartoon characters that depicts the (seemingly eternal) debate between various engines and their energy sources with the (40 years later still) mythical “water engine” as its centerpiece. Notably, the Water Engine show was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London with the 90-piece Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

WORLD OF MOTION SCORE

9. WORLD OF MOTION SUITE
One of Buddy Baker’s most elaborate attraction scores utilizing a 65-piece orchestra for over 20 arrangements of the “Fun to be Free” theme seamlessly blended through the “small world” technique of synchronized one-minute tracks. This suite features a curated collection of those elements as well as the original unused cues composed by George Wilkins for the attraction’s culminating speed rooms.

10. CENTERCORE CITY
From the original operational guide: “An impressionistic vision of the future including peoplemovers, giant airships and mile-high city buildings. Everything seems dreamlike, without detail or definite shape. Moving lights, fiber optics and liquid neon show movement off into infinity, creating the impression of multi-dimensional transportation systems all working together in harmony.”

11. FWSS – MAIN THEME
FWSS – MAIN THEME Starting from the digital frontier of TRON then expanding into the entire Universe of Energy, the Future World Soundtrack Series theme encompasses some of the most iconic and impactful themes in the history of the park.

Footnote

THE EPCOT EXPANDED UNIVERSE

Ranging from the tangential, like Duran Duran’s “Rio” on The Living Seas opening to custom-created compositions as in Danny Kaye’s many musical numbers for the park’s Grand Opening Special, many works have become inextricably associated with the park. And although not presented inside its gates, they are nevertheless an intrinsic part of its history.