Primeval World Diorama Articles

bout 8 years after the Grand Canyon diorama was added along the Santa Fe and Disneyland railroad track the Primeval World Diorama joined the line.While the first diorama transports train guests to another location the second transports them to another time the age of dinosaurs as it's depicted in the dramatic Rite of Spring sequence in Fantasia At slow speed the train crawls past almost four dozen extinct characters some 15 feet tall and all depicted in a prehistoric world.A gigantic Brontosaurus-Rex rises out of a swamp mouth munching on vegetation.A pterodactyl gazes down from the top of a rock. Raptor-esk reptiles sip from a pond.Triceratops babies wiggle out of their eggs.

Having appeared at the New York World's Fair two years earlier, the prehistoric creatures, brought to life through Audio-Animatronics technology, debuted at Disneyland park on July 1, 1966, and they have been fascinating and entertaining the guests ever since.Although the narration says that the dinosaurs are part of what the Grand Canyon was like millions of years ago, they were actually inspired by the movie "Fantasia" from (1940) dinosaurs. 46 Audio-Animatronic dinosaurs were installed for this attraction. This was one of the first projects at WED for Disney legend X Atencio, who helped Claude Coats with the design for Primeval World.The dinosaurs originated from the 1964 New York World's Fair Ford Magic Skyway Pavilion.

Aboard the Disneyland Railroad, guests travel through this dinorama that features animatronic dinosaurs set in a misty swamp.Disneyland's diorama is accompanied by the theme for the 1961 film The Mysterious Island. The Music was composed by Bernard Herrmann.As with many dinosaur-based media in popular culture, it depicts dinosaurs from all different time periods and places in the same habitat. The stegosaurus has no support in its tail as it keeps shaking after everything stops.When the Primeval World premiered in 1966, it was commonly thought that T-Rex had three digits on each of his puny arms like his carnivorous bi-pedal cousins. It wasn't until 1988 that an intact T-Rex forearm was discovered in the Montana Badlands that proved the mighty Rex was a two-fingered critter.. The Dinosaurs are turned on via a switch that the Disneyland Train trips. The time they run is timed by how long it takes the Disneyland Train to pass.

From New Attraction Profiles: 1966 Giant animals that inhabited the earth millions of years before man will live again when Walt Disney opens his dramatic Primeval World at Disneyland this summer.Startlingly realistic in every movement and detail, the lifelike, three-dimensional "Audio-Animatronic" stars of the show were first presented in the Ford Pavilion at the New York World's Fair. Nearly 15 million people saw the show during the Fair's two-year run. Created by Walt Disney and designed by his WED Enterprises, Inc., the Primeval World adventure will be experienced by guests aboard the Sante Fe & Disneyland Railroad, which encircles the Magic Kingdom. Trains will carry guests first through the popular Grand Canyon diorama -- largest of its kind in the world -- then into a "time tunnel" where they will be whisked back to the days of prehistoric life in, settings inspired by Walt Disney's film classic, "Fantasia".

From WED Disneyland Dictionary 1968 Primeval World is visited by passengers aboard trains of the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad after passing through the Grand Canyon. Guests plunge backward through time for a breath-taking look at prehistoric plants, insects and giant reptiles that inhabited North America more than 300 million years ago. Misty vapors rise from swampy terrain as massive brontosaur; feed on tender water plants, and triceratops parents watch over their hatching young.

Rain forests give way to desert sands, and a trio of thirsty ~ornithomimus~ ("ostrich dinosaurs") are seen gathered around a drying water hole. In the final setting a carnivorous tyrannosaurus rex and a stegosaurus engage in symbolic mortal combat amidst exploding volcanoes and rivers of molten lava. Many of the Primeval World's "Audio-Animatronics" stars were also seen at the widely acclaimed Magic Skyway attraction at the New York World's Fair 1964-1965.

The Dinosaurs are turned on via a switch that the Disneyland Train trips. The time they run is timed by how long it takes the Disneyland Train to pass. The stegosaurus has no support in its tail as it keeps shaking after everything stops.

Music was composed by Bernard Herrmann

When the Primeval World premiered in 1966, it was commonly thought that T-Rex had three digits on each of his puny arms, like his carnivorous bi-pedal cousins. It wasn't until 1988 that an intact T-Rex forearm was discovered in the Montana Badlands that proved the mighty Rex was a two-fingered critter. Secret courtesy of Cat Grey

From New Attraction Profiles: 1966
Giant animals that inhabited the earth millions of years before man will live again when Walt Disney opens his dramatic Primeval World at Disneyland this summer.

Startlingly realistic in every movement and detail, the lifelike, three-dimensional "Audio-Animatronic" stars of the show were first presented in the Ford Pavilion at the New York World's Fair. Nearly 15 million people saw the show during the Fair's two-year run.

Created by Walt Disney and designed by his WED Enterprises, Inc., the Primeval World adventure will be experienced by guests aboard the Sante Fe & Disneyland Railroad, which encircles the Magic Kingdom.

Trains will carry guests first through the popular Grand Canyon diorama -- largest of its kind in the world -- then into a "time tunnel" where they will be whisked back to the days of prehistoric life in, settings inspired by Walt Disney's film classic, "Fantasia".

THE FOREST PRIMEVAL

Emerging from the "time tunnel", passengers will arrive in a forest of exotic plants that grew more than 300 million years ago.

Misty vapors will rise from the swampy terrain. This scene will be enveloped in mysterious half-light, which will reveal the stirrings of early life as large snails inch along decaying foliage. Giant insects, resembling dragonflies, will cling to tree trunks and the fin-backed edaphosaurus will breakfaSt on tropical vegetation.

AGE OF REPTILES

Guests will then come face-to-face with the most famous dinosaur of all -- the brontosaurus, who lived 155 million years ago. These massive creatures, at home in a shallow lake, will be enjoying a meal of tender water plants.

Vulture-like pteranodons (flying lizards with 25-foot wingspreads and tooth-filled three-foot beaks) will circle over a Jurassic lagoon while quieter members of their clan perch atop rugged rock cliffs.

Travelers will move on to a beautifully-landscaped plateau. Colorful species of the first flowering plants will adorn a peaceful setting where two horned dinosaurs, called triceratops, watch with parental pride as their young hatch from eggs. One egg pulsates, another rolls about and a third is punctured by a tiny triceratop head. Two recently hatched youngsters will play nearby.

Abundant herds of dinosaurs and dense rain forests begin to give way to encroaching desert sands in the next era. A trio of ornithomimus, "ostrich dinosaurs", will be gathered around a drying water hole, drinking in chicken-like fashion.

PREHISTORIC BATTLE

The action-packed final scene will feature two prehistoric monsters engaging in mortal combat amidst exploding volcanoes and rivers of molten lava.

Stegosaurus, the armored dinosaur which had two brains, will be accosted by the most horrifying of all dinosaurs, tyrannosaurus rex, which stands 22-feet high. These two prehistorical wonders will claw, growl and swipe at each other as eyes flash, tails lash and bodies convulse.

"AUDIO-ANIMATRONICS"

To animate the 46 figures in Primeval World, Walt Disney will apply the wizardry of "Audio-Animatronics". This system, developed by WED, is a space-age medium of three-dimensional animation. By an electronic process, this system will produce preprogrammed, synchronized sound and movement for the prehistoric animals.

From WED Disneyland Dictionary 1968
Is visited by passengers aboard trains of the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad after passing through the Grand Canyon. Guests plunge backward through time for a breath-taking look at prehistoric plants, insects and giant reptiles that inhabited North America more than 300 million years ago. Misty vapors rise from swampy terrain as massive brontosaur; feed on tender water plants, and triceratops parents watch over their hatching young. Rain forests give way to desert sands, and a trio of thirsty ornithomimus ("ostrich dinosaurs") are seen gathered around a drying water hole. In the final setting a carnivorous tyrannosaurus rex and a stegosaurus engage in symbolic mortal combat amidst exploding volcanoes and rivers of molten lava. Many of the Primeval World's "Audio-Animatronics" stars were also seen at the widely acclaimed Magic Skyway attraction at the New York World's Fair 1964-1965.

Quiet now as we travel back in time, back to the fantastic Primeval World, Land of the Dinosaurs.