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drjones
05-16-2006, 06:28 PM
does anyone here remember this ride?
would anyone who remembers it like it back?
does anyone here know the names of all the songs performed in this show?

I'm just sayin'

JookyG
05-16-2006, 06:32 PM
I remember it and loved it. But given the choice, I'd take Carousel of Progress, but either one is better than Crappoventions!

I love that many of the America Sings characters can be seen in Splash Mountain.

Darkbeer
05-16-2006, 06:43 PM
http://www.yesterland.com/amersings.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_Sings

And here is a tragic story by David Koenig here at MP...

http://www.mouseplanet.com/david/dk040708.htm

Gone2Disneyland
05-16-2006, 06:50 PM
"America Sings" is my number one favorite attraction no longer at Disneyland.

I bought the soundtrack when it was available previously on those Disneyland Forever kiosks. The tracks on it, which are medleys of course, are titled:

• America Sings "Welcome and Introduction"
• America Sings "Old South"
• America Sings "Goin' West"
• America Sings "Gay 90's"
• America Sings "Modern Times"
• America Sings "Closing"

The complete soundtrack is also on the new 6-disc "Musical History of Disneyland" set (The one in the red box at the 20th Century Music Store.)

And finally, I'd highly recommend the DVD that's sold thru www.extinct-attractions-club.com. I have it. The guy films walking thru the line to inside the theatre, sits in the front row center, and films the entire show non-stop. Watching it brought a tear to my eye. :) Here's the direct link to that DVD: http://www.extinct-attractions-club.com/New_TLAND1.HTML

MrsPooh
05-16-2006, 06:51 PM
Oh man, do I remember that ride! It was my very favorite as a kid. I really wish we still had it. As you probably know, some of the animals wound up in Splash Mountain, especially in the riverboat scene. I get nostalgic when I see it!

Several years ago I found someone online that had a pretty good video of the ride that you could download. The camera work was good, you could tell that the person running it knew what would pop up next, as he always had the camera where it needed to be. It isn't perfect, but I didn't care because it allowed me to ride it again. I almost felt the theater turning as I watched!

I downloaded it on to my computer, then burned myself a CD just in case so I didn't lose it. Good thing I did, I can't find that website anymore. I have seen some DVDs of the ride on eBay, but have never bought one so I don't know what they are like.

If you want a list of the songs, I could watch my CD and write them down for you. Like that would be a major chore, it would give me an excuse to watch it again! ;)

Yup, I remember it WELL! :D

MrsPooh
05-16-2006, 07:00 PM
Gone2Disneyland, thank you so much for that link! Looks like I will be ordering soon! I can't wait! ;)

MrsG
05-16-2006, 07:33 PM
I remember it and loved it. But given the choice, I'd take Carousel of Progress, but either one is better than Crappoventions!
Ditto!

olegc
05-16-2006, 07:59 PM
If you really miss the attraction - you can pick it up as a CD-on-demand at 20th Century music Main Street (or delivears). ALso, online radio sites like Mouseinfo and especially VisionsFantastic Radio offer audio of the complete ride..

3894
05-17-2006, 04:40 AM
I remember it and loved it. But given the choice, I'd take Carousel of Progress, but either one is better than Crappoventions!

I love that many of the America Sings characters can be seen in Splash Mountain.

What JookyG said.

stan4d_steph
05-17-2006, 06:06 AM
I never saw the show, but the audio version leaves something to be desired. I don't think I could have dealt with the whole "Pop goes the weasel" bit for multiple viewings.

Also, the characterization of minorities seems to tend toward the stereotypical.

oregontraveler
05-17-2006, 06:39 AM
I never saw the show, but the audio version leaves something to be desired. I don't think I could have dealt with the whole "Pop goes the weasel" bit for multiple viewings.

I agree, I saw it back in '88 right before it closed.

Opus1guy
05-17-2006, 06:46 AM
I don't think I could have dealt with the whole "Pop goes the weasel" bit for multiple viewings.

Also, the characterization of minorities seems to tend toward the stereotypical.

Most Guests toward it's plug-pulling would agree with you, and that's part of what lead to it's dismal attendance numbers and it's eventual closing.

Here are my thoughts and observations from a post in August of last year on this same subject:


Always thought American Sings was an OK show...a little too kiddie and at times cornball for my tastes...but nowhere near as great a show as COP. And that final "contemporary" Joy To the World scene which was supposed to show how "hip" Disney was back in 1974...was really embarrassing and actually just highlighted how much the then-current management (and perhaps even some of the older veteran Imagineers) were out-of-touch with the youth market of the day. And Guest Satisfaction Exit Surveys usually averaged only so-so. Many Guests found it literally painful to sit through, and that's never a good thing.

Other than the first couple of years when it was a fairly new attraction, attendance on it was dismal to say the least. And if proof is in tanking attendance numbers...

The worst was that it was in Tomorrowland. That whole business was ram-rodded through corporate in order to get an Americana show in place in time for the then upcoming 1976 American Bicentennial Celebration (which Disney kicked off it's Celebrations in 1975). Even most of the Imagineers that worked hard on it, cringed that it was going in Tomorrowland. It had no place being there. None. Zippo. There were many cheers at Imagineering (and within the public) when it was announced that America Sings was being closed for good.

It has been noted by Disney however, that America Sings does have a following of loyal fans out there.

With America Sings' closure, the hope was for finally getting a show worthy of the COP as a replacement in this great piece of Tomorrowland real estate. Instead, we got Innoventions. Not sure I'd rate that as worthy of COP's quality and show levels. But at least it fits in with the technological spirit of Tomorrowland.

It's my opinion and observation that most folks that first experienced America Sings as children have fond memories of it...and most folks that first saw it as an adult do not. Except as a great place to get some fine Air Conditioning and perhaps a short nap. ;)


I love that many of the America Sings characters can be seen in Splash Mountain.

And don't forget the one they skinned alive and placed on display in Star Tours as the talkative Worker Droid in the pre-show area ("I've been working on the same Droid, all the live-long day.") :)

jdee
05-17-2006, 06:53 AM
...I'd take Carousel of Progress, but either one is better than Crappoventions!

Ditto!

JCrickett
05-17-2006, 07:09 AM
Ah, what a fun attraction....
As a kid, I most enjoyed the shows at Disneyland. When I was still too small to ride the "big" rides, I would love to go to America Sings, the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Country Bear Jamboree. I had the record soundtrack for each of these shows and wore them out. (To this day, I can still repeat the opening spiel from the tiki room verbatem.)

I did not get to see the CoP until fairly recently. It is a good attraction, but as a kid, I would have been bored with it. America Sings was extremely patriotic and very upbeat. I would love to see it returned.:)

olegc
05-17-2006, 07:11 AM
It's my opinion and observation that most folks that first experienced America Sings as children have fond memories of it...

I admit it - I am one of thos kids - although now I am entertaind by the small music history lesson it provides for song. yes, stuck in the '70s but as a musician since the 2nd grade I love all kinds of music and this show provided some of that hook.

Not to say it compares to the history of Jazz on PBS- but you get what I mean.

Also, the current online audio have the original voice for the sombrero song - a latin american voice. When the show finally hit the public they used a cowboy voice. it validates even more what opus1guy said - the management and imagineers were a little behind the times in sensitivity...

nursemelis374
05-17-2006, 07:12 AM
I remember and miss it! The best thing was that my entire family could 'ride' this together and we all enjoyed it. My brother and I always loved when everything turned to starts right before you moved.

drjones
05-17-2006, 08:28 AM
It's great to hear I'm not the only one that loved the ride. I brought this up because I downloaded a video from visionsfantastic.com. I was watching it with my 3 yo daughter who proclaimed " I haven't been on that ride before, Daddy" I asked her if she liked it and she said she liked the songs. I know the show is separated into acts, but I would like to get a hold of the individual songs that make up the act. Obviously i know "who shot the hole in my sombrero" and "Down in the Valley", but I would like the names of the more obscure songs, like the one the female possum sings about "I wish I were a single girl again" and that kind of stuff. I know someone here knows that. thanks.

p.s. I loved the joy to the world part, very moving in a gospel way

Gone2Disneyland
05-17-2006, 01:50 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_Sings


drjones, Darkbeer's link provides a list of the songs used in the show.

DianeM
05-17-2006, 03:06 PM
I LOVE American Sings, and I would LOVE to have it back. I would also love to have Country Bear Jamboree back.


does anyone here remember this ride?
would anyone who remembers it like it back?
does anyone here know the names of all the songs performed in this show?

I'm just sayin'

iwannabeanimagineer
05-17-2006, 04:11 PM
Also, the characterization of minorities seems to tend toward the stereotypical.
This is an interesting comment. I've heard two separate recordings of the "Goin' West" scene and each has a different recording of the large sombrero-wearing dog character singing:

Who shot that hole in my sombrero?
Who put that bullet through my hat?
Who shot that hole in my sombrero?
Now who would do a terrible thing like that?

In one version (presumably the older one), the character has an unmistakable stereotypical Mexican accent and in the other version (presumably the revised or corrected one) he has a sort of fake Texan drawl. The words also differ in the second stanza:

Mexican version:
Was it Pancho...from the rancho?
You think he's still mad 'cuz I kiss his wife?

Texan version:
I can't figger...who pulled the trigger.
You don't suppose my ex-wife is in town? Ay ya ya ya

(This is from memory, so corrections are probably necessary and they're welcome.)

I'm glad they changed it and I don't remember seeing it with the first version. I'm not sure when the change was made.

Other than this, I don't remember anything particularly stereotypical. I guess some people might assume that some characters are meant to portray people that are black, but I have a hard time picking out which ones they might be by voice because they are all animals.

I guess the number "Down by the Riverside" in the "Old South" scene (aka "Lay Down My Burden" according to wikipedia) is probably meant to portray people that are black because of the song's origin as a spiritual, but I don't find anything stereotypical about it. The vocal style is appropriate for the number, so I don't hear anything negative in it. The characters kind of lean back, sing heavenward and wiggle their upraised hands (http://www.yesterland.com/images-tomorrowland/americasings.jpeg), which seems, again, appropriate for the number and not negative.

My opinion is that the attraction was important because it pushed the audioanimatronic technology to achieve new things and because it captured sound that seemed appropriate for the Bicentennial celebration. I think it would be anachronistic today because people aren't as drawn to the cute innocent type of humor upon which it drew. Of course, I think the Tiki Room is anachronistic too, but it's still open. I don't think anything in the Carousel building since America Sings was any better than America Sings and I think Splash Mountain could have been just as good without cannabalizing America Sings (they have Splash Mountain in the Magic Kingdom and WDW and they didn't have an America Sings to cannibalize).

POTCpurist
05-18-2006, 10:00 AM
I LOVE American Sings, and I would LOVE to have it back. I would also love to have Country Bear Jamboree back.

I'll use this as my "first post since registering but have been lurking for a few years". Keeping everything else out of it for a moment (location, sensitivity to stereotyping, etc.)...I too adored America Sings. I really miss it. Two weekends ago when my older sister and I (I'm 41) needed a fix and went for the day on a Sunday (we live in the Riverside, CA area), I told her "One of the things I have been meaning to do for months is go to the First 50 Years movie" and display on Main Street. So we did...and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so cool to be able to see the stuff on display for America Sings. And like a poster said above, it's always cool to see the "folks" from the attraction in Splash Mountain...very nostalgic indeed.

And boy do I miss County Bear Jamboree too!!

tinker3
05-18-2006, 11:17 AM
It has great childhood memories for me also, I remember how much my Mom loved it. Thanks for the link Darkbeer, I remember reading a CM died but I didn't know the whole story!

Do you ever wonder what rides our kids will be reflecting on that have left?