America Sings
Located in the carousel theater, guests rotated through four scenes on the central stage that depicted the history of American popular music in four different eras. The show was hosted by Sam the Eagle, and contained over 100 different Audio-Animatronic figures.
ID:
TMS-425
Dates Open:
Replaced By:
Land:
Photos:
Construction: 0
Onstage: 13
Backstage: 3
Articles:
30
Ride Layout:
Ride Duration:
24 minutes
Deaths Injuries:
Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
USB Drive:
Video Length:
19:49
Video Excerpt:
Rumble Link:
Movie Tie-In:
Google Maps:
Wikipedia:
Patents:
SPECIFICATIONS
Theoretical Capacity:
3600 per hour
THEORETICAL CAPACITY
This figure is what the attraction should yield under ideal conditions utilizing all units in the system with no loss in efficiency at any position. This figure should be seldom or never attained. It is an ideal against which to measure.
Trip Time:
24:00
TRIP TIME
From dispatch to unload.
America Sings Photos:
Backstage Photos
plays with dialogue America Sings was more like a six-part Carousel of Music. A group of 114 audio animatronic characters
Though it revolved in the opposite direction America Sings utilize the same rotating theater format that Carousel of Progress
had used to slowly wheel the audience around a stationary hub. Where as the Carousel of Progress had presented many
the largest Disneyland assembly ever at the time saluted America's musical heritage with a 24 minute show that included a
prologue four light-hearted musical medleys and an epilogue.
The Great Big Beautiful History And Legacy Of Walt Disneys Carousel Of Progress 50 Years After It Left
Dateline: September 10, 2023
Status: Current
Source: cinemablend.com
As a West Coast resident, I have been to Disneyland far more times than I have been to Walt Disney World. As such, when I find myself in Magic Kingdom, while there are a lot of subtle differences between the two similar parks, I always find myself veering towards Tomorrowland first. The reasons are two special attractions you can find there that were once residents of
Disneyland To Open Exclusive Retro Futuristic Tomorrowland Lounge Here Is How To Get In
Dateline: April 18, 2023
Status: Current
Source: Orange County Register
Disney Vacation Club members will be whisked away to a retro-futuristic Space Age vision of tomorrow when an exclusive new lounge opens in a long-underused Tomorrowland space at Disneyland ahead of the debut of a new DVC timeshare tower later this year.
The Disney Vacation Club Star View Station member lounge inspired by Walt Disney 's optimistic vision
Disneyland Sets Splash Mountain Closing Date Releases New Concept Art For Tianas Bayou Adventure
Dateline: April 12, 2023
Status: Current
Source: Los Angeles Times
Disneyland 's Splash Mountain - the famed log flume ride whose imagery is rooted in the dated and racist 1946 film “Song of the South” - has an end date. Guests will have their final chance to plunge a five-story drop through a briar patch on May 30, giving Disneyland attendees one last busy Memorial Day weekend to experience the attraction in its current
How Much Can You Afford We Asked Experts How To Fix Disneyland
Dateline: April 9, 2023
Status: Current
Source: SFGate
When Disney CEO Bob Chapek was fired in November 2022, and previous CEO Bob Iger was reinstated for a temporary two-year term, fans were overjoyed. Iger was widely perceived as a beloved steward of the company 's - and Walt Disney 's - original vision. The cost-cutting, increased prices, sacrificing of quality and indefinable “loss of magic” that many complained
What Does New Disney Vacation Club Lounge Mean For The Future Of Tomorrowland
Dateline: September 2, 2022
Status: Current
Source: Mercury News
Tomorrowland will be home to Disneyland 's first Disney Vacation Club member lounge when the timeshare perk opens next year in unused “space” in a perpetual white elephant building - but what does that mean for any makeover plans for the futuristic themed land?
The Disney Vacation Club Star View Station will open in the first half of 2023 on the second
Disney Parks Princess And The Frog Redo Of Splash Mountain Gets Name And Launch Date
Dateline: July 1, 2022
Status: Current
Source: thewrap.com
Back in 2020 Disney announced that its popular (but highly controversial) attraction Splash Mountain would get an overlay, this time themed to “Princess and the Frog,” its 2009 animated feature that starred the studio 's first African American Princess, Tiana (voiced memorably by Anika Noni Rose).
Now the company has finally announced some details,
18 Disneyland Attractions Parades And Fireworks Shows That Closed This Decade
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Dateline: December 26, 2019
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
Walt Disney famously said that Disneyland would never be complete as long as there was imagination left in the world and that adage held true during the past decade as a host of attractions departed for Yesterland.
Let 's take a chronological look at 18 Disneyland attractions, parades and fireworks shows that closed in the 2010s to make way for new or updated
Can You Name All 15 Eticket Rides Still At Disneyland It Is Not As Easy As You Think
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Dateline: August 5, 2019
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
As Disneyland celebrates the 60th anniversary of the E-ticket, it seems like a good time to look back at the rides that earned that distinction at the Anaheim theme park.
But what are the E-ticket rides of Disneyland? Naming them all is not as simple as you might think.
There were 23 E-ticket attractions during the ticket book era that stretched
12 Fun Things You May Not Know About Disneyland
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Dateline: December 26, 2017
Status: Archive
Source: Mercury News
Test your Disney trivia mojo here. How many of these items do you already know?
1. King Arthur Carousel. The lead horse on the iconic Fantasyland carousel is named Jingles. Walt Disney wanted all horses on the carousel, and he wanted them all to be leaping, so when a classic carousel was purchased, it was supplemented with other horses and those that had straight
9 Ghosts That Reportedly Haunt Disney Parks From Urban Legends To Actual Events In The Parks History
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Dateline: October 20, 2017
Status: Archive
Source: bustle.com
In 1955, something spectacular happened: Disneyland opened in Anaheim, Calif., forever changing the face of amusement parks in America. Given its long and storied history, of course, it's to be expected that over the years, rumors that ghosts allegedly haunt Disneyland, as well as Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. And all the other Disney properties that have opened in
Hunny In The Briar Patch
Dateline: March 12, 2017
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
"Critter Country" was originally called the "Indian Village." Until 1971, that section of Frontierland contained Native American shows and attractions. The following year, it became "Bear Country," the first major expansion since the "Haunted Mansion" and cost $8 million. "Bear Country" was themed like the forest of the Pacific North-West. The centerpiece attraction was
Todays Future
Dateline: January 9, 2017
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
During the rush of getting the Park constructed, "Tomorrowland" was the last land finished. Budget cuts didn't allow all of its attractions to be opened that first day. One of those cuts was to use the "Nautilus" sets from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" as a walk-through. When it closed in 1966, the organ belonging to Captain Nemo was moved to the ballroom of the "Haunted
This Is How Disneyland Looked In The 1970s
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Dateline: July 14, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
The seventies at Disneyland started with an invasion, then went into space, and ended with a wild ride in the frontier.
Unfortunately for Disneyland, the riots that had been happening in cities across America during the latter half of the sixties and some of the protesters turned their attention to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom. On Aug. 6, 1970, the Yippies (an
This Is How Disneyland Changed In The 1980s
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Dateline: July 14, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
Changes at Disneyland in the 1980s started slow, then ended in a splash down a mountain.
During the first couple years of the decade, Disney Imagineers were busy with the design and building of Epcot Center (as it was called then) at Walt Disney World. But they were also planning a project for Disneyland - rebuilding Fantasyland.
1980-83
In early 1982, most
Dangerous Disneyland Mental Fatigue Part 2
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Dateline: February 14, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
It wasn't until I was almost finished with the human stupidity portion of this "Dangerous Disney" article that I realized that this should be a two-parter, so that (in addition to keeping it from being too long) some might hopefully regain some faith in humanity. Here is that second part. Again, some of these I've only read about on one site.
I start with the
Dangerous Disneyland Mental Fatigue Part 1
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Dateline: January 6, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
Disneyland gets sued for injuries and deaths all of the time. Believe me, I get that accidents happen, but most of these tourists are simply victims of their own stupidity. Mild disclaimer: a few of these I've read about on only one site, so I'm not entirely sure they happened. Now, let's get down to business.
Matterhorn, Space, and Thunder Mountains are not most
Spider Man To Join Fellow Superheroes At Disneyland
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Dateline: October 14, 2015
Status: Archive
Source: Los Angeles Times
Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is coming Disneyland.
As part of the theme park's Super Hero HQ attraction opening Nov. 16 in Tomorrowland, a Spider-Man character will join other Marvel superheroes, including Thor and Iron Man, to pose for pictures and sign autographs with park visitors, the theme park has announced.
The bad news is that Captain America
California vs. Blackpool: General
Dateline: September 1, 2011
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
Earlier in the year, I wrote an article for DLDHistory.com comparing the Alice in Wonderland ride in Disneyland to Alice's Wonderland at Pleasure Beach Blackpool (the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom).
As I have recently come back from a week's vacation in Blackpool (and seeing as my main article this month was shorter than usual) I thought I would
Bill Justice, Walt Disney Studios Animator Worked On Fantasia And Bambi
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Dateline: February 10, 2011
Status: Archive
Source: allaboutjazz.com
Bill Justice, a former Walt Disney Studios animator who worked on classics such as "Fantasia," "Bambi" and "Alice in Wonderland" and later joined Walt Disney Imagineering where he helped program Audio-Animatronics figures for attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, died Thursday, a day after he turned 97.
Justice died of natural causes in a nursing home in
Disneyland's Splash Mountain Set To Close Until May
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Dateline: January 18, 2011
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
Disneyland is set Tuesday to close Splash Mountain for about four months during a major rehabilitation project, according to the Disneyland website.
Disney usually refurbishes big rides about once every five to 10 years. Splash Mountain is next on the calendar, said John McClintock, a Disneyland Resort spokesman, earlier this month.
Crews plans to spruce up the
Disney Reveals Rides That Never Happened
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Dateline: September 25, 2010
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
A moon-walking, animatronic Michael Jackson. A uranium exhibit. A crocodile aquarium inside the mouth of a big crocodile model.
All were attractions that Disney creators dreamed up. But they never made it into Disneyland.
Disney presented rare pictures and concepts of Disneyland rides that never came true during a presentation at a Disney fan club event
Five Ghostly Disneyland Urban Legends
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Dateline: September 22, 2009
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Weekly
You know, being a ghost stuck at Disneyland doesn't sound all that bad. It's better than haunting some family in Texas, right?
Like any place with a rich history, Disneyland's got its fair share of urban legends and myths surrounding it--take the cryogenically frozen head of Unky Walt for an example--but cast members and guests alike have reported over the years
5 Disneyland Secrets That Nobody Knows
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Dateline: June 30, 2009
Status: Archive
Source: Examiner
If you're heading to Disneyland this summer, you can increase your knowledge and impress your traveling companions by sharing these 5 little-known secrets from the park. So without further ado:
1. The Disneyland "Test Bricks"
If you are heading down Main Street toward Sleeping Beauty Castle, take a quick right toward the locker rentals. There, just to the right
50 Things You Didn't Know About Disneyland
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Dateline: November 23, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
In honor of Disneyland's 50th anniversary, we present 50 cool, obscure and simply odd things you probably didn't know about the self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth. Many were culled from Mouse Tales by David Koenig (Bonaventure, $19.95). Some were provided by Disney archivist Dave Smith, and others came from 101 Things You Never Knew About Disneyland by former park
Disneyland Remains Forever Young
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Dateline: May 5, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: NZHerald
The last time I went to Disneyland I got to drive the jeep in the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ride. Unfortunately, my family disobeyed instructions and looked into the eye of the idol, so we were condemned to a terrifying adventure before finally returning safely to the loading dock.
The sense of triumph I derived from what was a predictable outcome far
Discovering Disneyland
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Dateline: May 1, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
You have to look quickly, and you have to know exactly where to look. But if you do, you'll catch a pretty cool inside joke at Disneyland.
On the Star Tours ride, just before your runaway Starspeeder exits the space station, keep your eye on the lower right side of the screen: You flash past what looks like a giant electron microscope. Old-timers will recognize it
Greetings From Disneyland
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Dateline: September 1, 2000
Status: Archive
Source: Disney Magazine
If Imagineers David Mumford and Bruce Gordon have gained fame among Disney fans, it may be because they haven't forgotten their roots. Gordon spent his childhood building Disneyland models in his garage and went on to become a show producer on the park's new Autopia. Mumford, meanwhile, filled his early years with Disney memorabilia and worked his way up to his current
With The Future Set In 1986, Tomorrowland Had To Change
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Dateline: March 22, 1996
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
In announcing a renovation of Disneyland's Tomorrowland, Walt Disney Co. imagineers acknowledged that men on the moon, home computers and time had caught up to the land, one of the five original areas in the 42-year-old-park.
When Disneyland opened, "1986 sounded very futuristic," said Tony Baxter, senior vice president-creative development for Disney's imagineering
California's Disneyland
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Dateline: February 1, 1980
Status: Archive
Source: Better Homes & Gardens
Disneyland, the country's first truly big-time theme park, is located 27 miles southeast of Los Angeles in Anaheim. When the park opened in 1955, Walt Disney promised it would get bigger and better. Well, Disneyland is celebrating its 25th birthday this year, with a spectacle of special happenings. In fact, you may want to check into what's on tap when and schedule your
Girl Employe Killed At Disneyland
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Dateline: July 10, 1974
Status: Archive
Source: Los Angeles Times
Summertime employe Deborah Gail Stone, 18 was crushed to death Monday night at Disneyland's new $6 million attraction "America Sings."
The 5 - foot 2 - inch brunette was caught between a stationary and moving wall as an outer ring of six theaters rotate like a merry-go-round past a central, fixed inner stage.
The attraction, which opened June 29, was closed
Castmember Deborah Stone Crushed
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Accident Date: 7/8/1974
Accident Type: Death
July 8, 1974:--Disneyland hostess Deborah Gail Stone, 18, from Santa Ana, is the first employee fatality. She dies after being caught between the America Sings carousel's rotating theater wall and a stationary stage wall. Standing to the left of the
When America Sings closed many of the Audio-Animatronics were moved to Splash Mountain.
America Sings had 114 Audio Animatronics.
The show was 24 minutes long.
The hosts of the show were Sam the Eagle (Burl Ives) and Ollie the Owl (Sam Edwards).
The theater rotated in the opposite direction than when it was the Carousel Of Progress
The theater rotated at 2 Feet Per Second
Capacity: 240 per theater.
Weight of Carousel: approx 375 tons
The show was designed for the American Bi-Centennial
Disneyland's 54th Major attraction.
Held the record for most audio Animatronics ever assembled for a single attraction
Construction cost: $6 million dollars ($34.1 million in 2021 dollars)
In the 1970's required a "E" ticket
From 1970's Attraction Showmanship:
An eagle named Sam and his owl sidekick host a comical tour of our nation's musical heritage. More than two years in the making, this attraction presents a comical, tune-filled adventure tracing nearly 200 years of musical history. Opening in 1973, one hundred and fourteen audio-animatronic characters perform music from the 1800's through the years of the Gay 90's, blues, jazz and present day rock. Guests glide about theater's hub stages in a three hundred and sixty degree circuit which covers American musical history.
From Steve Birnbaum brings you the best of Disneyland 1982:
Opened in 1974, this attraction gives a short history of American popular song through the good works of an Audio-Animatronics eagle named Sam, his whimsical owl sidekick, and some 114 other Audio-Animatronics geese, gators, possums, foxes, turkeys, mongrels, vultures, prairie dogs, rabbits, sows, horses, wolves, pigs, cranes, roosters, frogs, and birds. There's "Yankee Doo- die" and "I Dream of Jeannie," "Pop Goes the Weasel" and "Dixie," "Camptown Races" and "My Old Kentucky Home," "Polly Wolly Doodle," "Down by the Riverside," "Down in the Valley"- some 40 familiar songs in all. The music is great, and the characters are wonderfully whimsical. "Shake, Rattle, and Roll," for instance, is done by a group of hippie chickens and "Bill Bailey" by a long-eyelashes, eye-shadowed vamp of a lovesick sow. If the voice of Eagle Sam sounds familiar, it's not surprising: Burl Ives does the vocals. Betty Taylor, of the Golden Horseshoe Revue, sings in the Bill Bailey sequence. Total cost of America Sings, which replaced the Carousel of Progress in the theater after the latter moved to Walt Disney World at the end of a six-year run here, was $6 million. Presented by Del Monte.
Concept From 1990's to bring back Carousel Of Progress to replace America Sings
THE CAROUSEL OF PROGRESS
Presented by General Electric
The New Tomorrowland at Disneyland
The following is a first draft proposal to return, revitalize and expand the General Electric "Carousel of Progress" for the New Tomorrowland at Disneyland.
Guests who come to the park to "re-live" their favorite show will be pleasantly surprised: while it's almost a totally new experience, we've remained true to the spirit and nostalgia of the original. We've kept the family the same, and we've brought back the original song and the original narrator.
We've also added more variety and interest through our "future dreaming" concept, which incorporates humor, fanciful inventions, differing viewpoints, changes in setting, and a much greater passage of time. These all serve the reinforce the point that we can accomplish almost anything (with a little help from a company called G.E.)
In addition, we are once again invited to walk up onto the stage and ride a speedramp into the future: a full-size recreation of Horizon's Space, Desert and Urban Habitats awaits us on the second level.
Let's take the theater for a spin!
THEATER I
(1) Load
(2) Scene: "Looking Back at Tomorrow" from "Horizons"
(3) Concept: Man has always dreamed of what the future might bring. Let's travel back in time and see how yesterday's dreams have become tomorrow's realities. For no matter where we are, or where we're headed, there's always a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!
(4) Song: "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" (Contempory arrangement segues into 1900's style music)
THEATER II
(1) Scene: 1890's Victorian style American living room, with electrical cords crazily strung all around the room. Similar to the first scene in the original "Carousel of Progress'. The family is gathered around the room.
(2) Concept: This is a time when the good life was maintained through plain, hard work. The conveniences of our modern day are unknown. Electricity has just been harnessed for the home, promising a new future of comfort and ease.
Father talks about this new company, General Electric, and all the wonderful things they're doing. Each member of the family, in turn, describes what they would really like to see come about in the future ... a 'someday, maybe" session.
The turntables at either side of the stage become a depictation of the family's dreams. These won't depict the reality that was to come, but instead they'll show humorous, whimsical fantasies envisioning exotic solutions to problems we now consider "everyday". And sometimes their dreams might not exactly solve the problem...things always have a way of going wrong!
Other dream topics in this scene could include automatic machines for washing the clothes and doing the dishes, a contraption for keeping food cold, sound and pictures travelling through the air, and of course, the automobile.
As we progress from theater to theater, we will see that the earlier dreams of the family have all become a reality.
(3) Song: segues into 1940's style music
THEATER III
(1) Scene: The kitchen of a 1940's modern home. We see all the modern conveniences described in the earlier scene. The family is busy preparing a meal.
(2) Concept: Now is the time when modern day conveniences have become a reality. All the resources of the country are funneled towards a better life at home. It's the beginning of the summer, and the family is discussing what to do with their new-found leisure time.
Dream topics could include such marvels as color television, women's rights, and jet air travel to far away places.
(3) Song: Segues into contemporary, yet slightly future sound
THEATER IV
(1) Scene: A vacation villa circa 1990. Its obviously far from home, but complete with all imaginable gadgets and conveniences.
(2) Concept: This is a time which must be familiar and identifiable as our present, but stretching to the future so as not to date too quickly. Around the family we see such modern-day wonders as a giant flat TV, cordless phones, home computers, video discs and microwave ovens. We see a life-time of increasing freedom to be creative: it's an optimistic look at a time of unlimited imagination.
As the family winds up their vacation, they still dream about the future. Topics could include living in space stations, robots, longer life and elimination of disease, and, on the lighter side, totally-involving holographic video games.
(3) Song: segues into futuristic electronic sound
THEATER V
(1) Scene: An undersea research station. The daughter is working on a research program and has given her family a tour of the facility. (This will give as an opportunity to utilize the Seas habitat from Horizons which was deleted from the second level)
(2) Concept: Even after seeing all the wonders of the Sea Base, they are still able to dream and envision greater heights for mankind to attain.
Topics could include matter transmission through space, visits to other planets (with the kids having imaginary alien encounters) and solutions to the worldwide problems of hunger and disease that have plagued mankind.
We've seen all their other dreams come true...and now we can believe that even these are within our reach.
(3) Sono: becomes an upbeat march
THEATER VI
(1) Scene: A space station orbiting the Earth.
(2) Concept: We are invited aboard the station, and up the speedramp to see the future of mankind on Earth.
(3) Song: The march continues
THEATER VII
(1) Scene: Urban habitat from "Horizons"
(2) Concept: This is the first of three habitats taken from Horizons. In order to maintain continuity with the earlier scenes, we see the same family in an extended view of their future.
(3) Sono: appropriate style
THEATER VIII
(1) Scene: The desert habitat from Horizons
(2) Concept: Again, we see members of the family exploring the future
(3) Sono: appropriate style
THEATER IX
(1) Scene: The Space scene from Horizons
(2) Concept: The final dazzling view of our future.
(3) Sono: As appropriate
EXIT onto the second level of the theater, and down the existing ramp or onto the skywalks around Tomorrowland.
This scenario is intended to spark discussions and generate further input into the New Carousel of Progress. New settings, new topics and new solutions are welcome.
The new Carousel will truly be a Carousel of Progress!
PROLOGUE
Onstage is a small, white, curtained gazebo. The backdrop shows a typical American park. There is a bright fanfare and the curtains open to reveal an eagle, Sam, holding an arrow. He has a red, white and blue striped and starred shield on his chest. Beside him is an owl, Ollie, w/ a tricornered hat. We hear a few bars of ''Yankee Doodle'' and Sam begins to sing along.
SAM: Yankee Doodle went to town Riding on a pony Stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni. Yankee Doodle keep it up. Yankee Doodle dandy. Mind the music and the step And with the girls be handy.(music finishes; Sam chuckles)
''Yankee Doodle.'' (music continues as underscore) Yes, folks, that was America's first popular song. And that's what this show is all about: America's music.
OLLIE: Where'd the songs come from, Sam?
SAM: Why, they were the songs people brought from their native countries.
OLLIE: They did? What kind of music was it?
SAM: Sometimes it was happy, (bright riff) sometimes it was sad. (somber passage) And sometimes it just spoke of love, like (sings) I dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair.
OLLIE: Ooh, very nice. But frankly, I prefer... All around the cobbler's bench The monkey chased the weasel The monkey thought 'twas all in fun...
(Blackout. A single spot comes up on a tiny ''house'' at the top of the gazebo. A smiling weasel pops out.)
WEASEL: (Pop! sound) Goes the weasel! (He laughs mischeviously, pops back in and the doors slam shut. Lights back up on Sam and Ollie, who laugh.)
SAM: And now, let's travel on through history and hear America sing!
OLLIE: Sing it, Sam!
The lights black out and a hidden mirror ball comes on. The audience seating bank begins to rotate.)
SAM: Yankee Doodle traveled south, A-riding on a riverboat Played a tune and sang it out It sounded like a billygoat Yankee Doodle like the South And sang their songs so dear Thought they were most elegant for everyone to hear.
(curtains close on gazebo)
SAM, OLLIE: Yankee Doodle sing it up Yankee Doodle dandy Mind the music and the words And with the songs be handy.
(Another chorus of ''Yankee Doodle'' plays in a dixieland arrangement.)
ACT I--GOING SOUTH
(The mirror ball turns off and the lights come up. We are in a southern bayou. At the left side of the stage is a group of frogs. A grove of trees opens, revealing 4 geese.)
GEESE: Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton Old times there are not forgotten Look away, look away, look away Dixieland.
1 GOOSE: I got a gal and you got none.
ANOTHER GOOSE: I gotta go and you gotta run.
HIGH TENOR GOOSE: Doo-dah.
BASS GOOSE: Doo-dah.
GEESE: ..those old doo-dah days.
The trees close and lights down on geese. Lights up on the porch of an old plantation house swinging into view on the right. An old bloodhound is relaxing in a rocking chair smoking a pipe.)
CHORUS: (not onstage) The sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home. 'Tis summer, the old folks are gay.
COL.. HOUNDSTOOTHE (Dog): (spoken) It's the good life.
CHORUS: The corn tips ripe (Several ears of corn pop open.) And the meadows in the bloom. (A patch of flowers comes up.) And the birds make music all the day.
(Blackout. Spot up on the Col.'s weather vane, which depicts a bird. The vane turns as we hear a bird sing. A grove of trees opens to the right of the Col, and we see Sam and Ollie on a donkey.)
SAM: Now, the Swamp Boys.
(Lights up on a group of 4 alligators playing instruments and a raccoon on harmonica. The frogs croak in rhythym.)
SWAMP BOYS: Oh, I went down south For to see my Sal Singing polly wolly doodle all the day My Sally is a spunky gal Singing polly wolly doodle all the day Fare thee well Fare thee well Fare thee well my fairy fay I'm off to Louisiana for to see my Suzy-anna Singing polly wolly doodle all the day.
SAM: (chuckles) And now, a tender complaint.
OLLIE: Sung from the heart.
(Lights up on a mother possum bathing her brood in a washtub. She is using a washboard and hanging them out to dry by their tails.)
MOTHER: When I was single Dressed all so fine Now I am married, go ragged all the time. Lord, I wish I was a single girl again.
FROGS: Aaaaaaaw.
(Bubbling sounds. Lights up on a fox in a rocking chair w/ a distiller nearby.)
FOX: Down in the valley. The valley so low (distiller bubbles). Late in the evening. Hear the train blow. (train whistle). Write me a letter. Send it by mail. Send it in care of The Birmingham Jail
(A jail backdrop comes up behind him. Suddenly the weasel pops out of the distiller.)
WEASEL: (pop sound).goes the weasel! Hee, hee!
(Lights up on a chorus of foxes and hens, about 12 in all, filling the stage.)
1 HEN: Well, I'm gonna lay down my burden.
ALL: Down!
HEN: Down by the riverside.
ALL: Down!
HEN:Down by the riverside.
ALL: Down!
HEN: Down by the riverside Gonna lay down my burden.
ALL: Down!
HEN: Down by the riverside, and
ALL: Study war no more. No, no!
HEN: Ain't gonna study
ALL: War no more.
HEN: Ooooooh, study.
ALL: War no more.
HEN:Ain't gonna study.
ALL:War no more.
HEN:Oooooh, study.
ALL:War no more. Ain't gonna study war no more, no more. No more, no more!
FROGS:Bum, bum.
SAM:And now, let's journey on. (tugs donkey's reins) Tug away!
OLLIE:Giddyap, you all! (Theater begins to turn.)
SAM: Well, Yankee Doodle headed west. A-working on the railroad. Crossing them rivers, over hills. And moving with a big load. Onward west the trains rolled. Where cattle were a-grazin' . The tales and songs that people sang. Were really quite amazin'
(Blackout. Mirror ball on.)
CHORUS: Yankee doodle, sing it up. Yankee doodle dandy. Mind the music and the words. And with the songs be handy.
(''Yankee Doodle'' plays in a country arrangement.)
ACT II--HEADING WEST
(Lights up and mirror ball off. We are in a desert somewhere out west. There are tall buttes on either side of the stage. Near the left side of the stage stands a long-dead tree w/ a cow skull at its base. Sitting on what's left of the tree are two evil-looking vultures in top hats. The 4 geese are in the same place as before, only now they are in an old, run-down saloon.)
GEESE: Drill, ye tarriers, drill. Drill, ye tarriers, drill. Oh, it's work all day with no sugar in your tea. When you meet me on the way. And drill, ye tarriers, drill.
(A handcart being operated by a fox and a rabbit emerges from behind the butte on the left, travels across the stage during the next song and disappears behind the butte on the right.)
GEESE: I've been workin' on the railroad. All the live long day. I've been workin' on the railroad. To pass the time away.
(Music picks up. The handcart comes back out on the right and proceeds back across the stage twice as fast.)
GEESE:Here she comes. Look at 'er roll. There she goes. Keep it cool. Watch 'er fly. Look at 'er sail. Let 'er by, by, by. The Fireball Mail
(Handcart crashes offstage. There is an explosion effect. A Scream is also heard. The saloon twirls around, hiding the geese. Lights up on Sam and Ollie, in an old wagon stuck in quicksand.)
SAM: My, my, my. Ahem. And now, Saddle Sore Swanson!
OLLIE: Who?
(Lights up on Saddle Sore, a turkey buzzard wearing spurs and 10-gallon hat and strumming a guitar.)
SADDLESORE: Yee-hah! Well, come along boys and listen to my tale. And I'll tell y'all my troubles on the Old Chisholm Trail. Come-a-ty-yi, yippi-yippi-ay. Come-a-ty-yi, yippi-yippi-ay. Well, I went to the boss to draw my roll, and--(music breaks) (spoken). He had me figured nine dollars in the hole. (as his platform descends and the spot goes out) Ay-yi-yi-yi.
(Another platform begins to ascend on the opposite side of the stage. Gunshot. Lights up on an old dog, a terrier, dressed as a prospector. He rides a donkey carrying barrels marked ''EXPLOSIVES.'' His 10-gallon hat has a bullet hole through the center.)
MINER: Who shot that hole in my sombrero? Who put that bullet through my hy-at? Who shot that hole in my sombrero? Who would do a turrible thang like thy-at? I cain't figger . Who'd pull that trigger. (spoken) You don't reckin mah *wife* could be back in ty-own?
(music finishes and the weasel emerges from the barrel of blasting powder.)
WEASEL: (pop sound).goes the weasel. Hee, hee.
SAM:The tail end of Billy the Kid.
OLLIE: Sung by the Boothill Boys.
(These are the two vultures who have been eyeing us menacingly all this time. They don't actually sing the song, just talk it.)
VULTURE 1: Billy was a bad guy, and carried a big gun.
VULTURE 2: He was always after lawmen, and kept them on the run. (evil chuckle) (funereal music)
VULTURE 1: One day he met a bandit.
VULTURE 2: Who was a whole lot badder.
BOTH: Now Billy's dead and gone And we ain't none the sadder. (more evil chuckles; musical finish)
(Lights up behind the backdrop. Another terrier prospector is strumming a guitar on top of a small butte. As ''Tex Ranger'' sings this little-known verse of ''Home on the Range,'' other creatures--a rattlesnake, a roadrunner, 2 prairie dogs, a desert tortoise, and an owl, most of them in hats--rise from below to listen.)
TEX: Oh, give me a land. Where the bright diamond sand. Flows leisurely down the stream. Where the graceful white swan. Goes glidin' along. Like a maid in a heavenly dream. Home, home on the range. (coyote howls off in the distance) Where the deer and the antelope play. Where seldom is heard a discouraging word. And the skies are not cloudly all day.
( Lights up on Sam and Ollie. Theater starts to move.)
SAM: The Gay 90's were upon us now. The country was in full swing. People headin' for the cities. Had to do their own thing. Each time the people sang a song. The tunesmiths wrote another. 'Bout love, marriage, moon in June. And always one about Mother.
(Blackout. Mirror ball on.)
SAM, OLLIE: Yankee Doodle, sing it up. Oh, Yankee Doodle dandy. Mind the music and the words. And with the songs be handy.
(''Yankee Doodle'' plays in a soft-shoe arrangement.)
ACT III--THE GAY 90'S
(Lights up and mirror ball off. We are in an elaborate ballroom straight out of the gay 90's. There are gaslights, ''gingerbread'' architecture, and two velvet-curtained stages, one at each side. The left stage opens up to reveal the now-familiar geese.)
A SOLO GOOSE: She may be somebody's mother.Come, let her go her way.
GEESE: The Bowery, the Bowery. They sing strange things and they do strange things. After the ball is over. After the break of morn.
SOLO: Where is my wand'ring boy tonight? Down in the licensed saloon.
(Curtains close. Lights up on a mother rabbit w/ her bunnies standing in front of a full length window. She is holding a candle.)
MA RABBIT: Learning new vices all the night long. Tempted to all that's sinful and wrong. (An animated silhouette of her son, appears in the window.) Lis'ning to the siren's old song. Down in the licensed saloon.
(Lights up on a pig dressed in a showgirl outfit with a big plume and holding a hanky. There is a potted plant next to her. Sam and Ollie are seated at a table nearby.)
PIG:Won't you come home, Bill Bailey? Won't you c'mon home? She moans the whole nightlong. Boo hoo hoo! I'll do the cookin', darlin'. I'll pay the rent. I know I've done you wrong. Boo hoo hoo! Remember that rainy evenin'. I threw you out. With nothin' but a fine tooth comb? I know I'se to blame, well, Ain't that a shame? Bill Bailey, won't you please come home? (spoken) C'mon home, Bill.
(Weasel pops out of plant.)
WEASEL: (pop sound).goes the weasel! (giggle)
SAM: And now, Blossom Nose Murphy.
(Both curtained boxes open. The one on the right shows a fifth goose, clinging to a bottle of cheap liquor. His nose has a distinct red tinge to it. A gruff terrier policeman holds him by the collar.)
MURPHY: (drunkenly) Sweeeeeet Aaaaaaaaduuuuuuhliiiiine.
GEESE: (echo) Sweet Adeline.
MURPHY: Mmmmmmmmy Aaaaaaduuuhliiiiiiiiiine.
GEESE: My Adeline.
MURPHY: Aaaaat niiiiiiiight, dear heaaaaaaaart.
GEESE: At night, dear heart.
MURPHY: Ffffffffffforrrrrrrr youuuuuuu I piiiiiiiine.
GEESE: For you I pine.
(Suddenly the song is interrupted by the sound of an auto horn. Lights up on the Ol' Gray Mare, in a period jalopy which seems to have a mind of its own. The trunk and hood open and slam in time w/ the music.)
MARE: (exclaims proudly) I'm the Old Gray Mare!
CHORUS: (sung) She ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be.
MARE: (spoken) The Old Gray Mare!
CHORUS: (sung) She ain't what she used to be, many long years ago.
MARE: (chuckles) Don't you believe it, sonny!
(The trunk gives a final decisive slam. Part of the back wall opens up to allow an ornate birdcage to pass through. There is a champagne bucket attached to the cage.)
BIRD: She's only a bird in a gilded cage.
(Lights up on a fox at floor level.)
FOX: (in a fine Irish tenor) A beautiful sight to see.
BIRD: You may think she is happy and free from care.
FOX: She's not, though she seems to be.
BIRD: (yells) Ta ra ra BOOM de ay!
(Basically, the entire set opens up and turns into a vaudeville showroom. There are can can chicks--kicking, a pig waiter dancing while precariously balancing a tray of glasses, --storks riding velocipedes along the walls of the set! Everyone joins in.)
ALL:Ta ra (ta ra) ra boom de ay! Ta ra (ta ra) ra boom de ay! Ta ra ra boom de ay!
BIRD: Ta ra ra BOOM de ay!
ALL: Ta ra (ta ra) ra boom de ay! Ta ra (ta ra) ra boom de ay! Ta ra ra boom de ay! Ta ra ra boom de ay, boom de ay, Boom ta ra ra boom Boom ta ra ra Boom ta ra ra BOOM DE AYYYYYYY!
WEASEL: Pop goes the weasel. Hiccup!
(Theater starts to turn.)
SAM: Next came ragtime, blues and jazz.The nation was a-jumpin'! Fox trots and the bunny hug had everyone a-stompin'. Then swing and big bands were the rage. The songs they were most pleasin'. Rock and roll soon took its toll. The dancers stopped a-squeezin'.
(Blackout. Mirror ball on.)
SAM, OLLIE: Yankee Doodle sing it up. Oh, Yankee Doodle dandy. Mind the music and the words. And with the songs be handy.
(''Yankee Doodle'' plays in a rock arrangment.)
ACT IV--MODERN TIMES
(Lights up and mirror ball off. We are in a back alley of a large city. There are multistory apartment buildings all around. There is a cafe nearby. A house twirls around at the left side of the stage and we see the geese.)
GEESE: Ja da, ja da. Ja da ja da jing jing jing. Ja da, ja da. Ja da ja da jing jing jing. I'll be down to catch you in a taxi, honey. You better be ready round a half past eight. Now, dearie, don't be late. I wanna be there when the band starts playin'. Singin' in the rain. Just singin' in the rain. What a glorious feelin'. I'm happy again. I'm laughin' at clouds. So dark up above. The sun's in my heart and I'm ready for love.
(A car horn beeps twice. A garage door opens and a model T pulls out. Two kittens, holding a college pennant, are riding w/ their dates, who are foxes. All are dressed in the ''jitterbug'' fashion.)
GROUP: A tisket, a tasket. A green and yellow basket. I sent a letter to my mommy. On the way I dropped it. Boo hoo. You've got me cryin' for you.
KITTENS: And as I sit here and sigh. Say, I.
ALL: I can't believe it's true.
(The horn honks three times and the car backs into the garage. Lights up on the cafe. A pig is out in front playing jazz piano. He actually entered through the door of the cafe, rather than just up through the floor.)
PIG: The people gather 'round. When he gets on the stand. Then when he plays. He gets a hand. The rhythm he plays puts the cats in a trance. Nobody there. Bob is through dancin' when he plays with the bass guitar They holler, ''Oooh, beat me Daddy Eight to the bar'' A-blink, a-blank.
(Weasel pops out of piano.)
WEASEL: (pop noise).goes the weasel! (giggle)
(Lights up on Sam and Ollie, on a rooftop.)
SAM: Okay, boys, act alive and *jive!*
(Lights up on a rock band consisting of a hippie stork w/ dreadlocks, love beads, and granny glasses, a porcupine on drums, and a rooster w/his crest teased into a fright wig.)
STORK: You ain't nothin' but a hound dog Cryin' all the time
ROOSTER: Yeaaaaaah!
STORK: You ain't nothin' but a hound dog Cryin' all the time.(An alligator, also wearing love beads, appears at right carrying a valise that says ''Florida or Bust.'') Weeeeeeeell, See you later, alligator.
GATOR: (spoken) Goin' uptown.
STORK:After a while, crocodile.
GATOR: (spoken) Movin' out.
STORK: See you later, alligator.
GATOR: (spoken) Feelin' good.
STORK: After a while, crocodile.
(An upper-level apartment twirls to reveal a flower child band, this one a stork and frog. The stork is wearing a daisy crown. They are in a diner, w/ pots hanging all around.)
STORK: Get outta that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans!
VOICE: Coming up!
STORK: And roll my bread because I'm a hungry man. Let's shake, rattle and roll.
FROG: (in a very low bass) Yeeeeeeeeeah.
STORK: Let's shake, rattle, and roll.
FROG: Oh, ba-by.
STORK: Let's shake, rattle, and roll.
FROG: Yeeeeeeeeeah.
STORK: Let's shake, rattle, and roll.
(Diner twirls back around. A pair of storks on a motorcycle--enters on the left side, balancing along a wall. The girl has a guitar on her back. They are wearing helmets.)
GUY: Yeah, twistin'.
GIRL: (spoken, effervescently) Twistin'!
GUY: New York.
GIRL: (spoken) New York!
GUY: And old Chicago town.
GIRL: Oooooooooh!
GUY: In Hartford.
GIRL: Hartford!
GUY: And Frisco.
GIRL: Frisco!!
BOTH: They all go round and round. Up and down and around and around and around.
(All characters in this scene come out again for the finale. There are multicolored lights and the music goes up.)
ALL: Joy to the world. All the boys and girls. Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea. Joy to you and me. Joy to the world (Sing out!). All the boys and girls. Joy to the fishes in the deep blue seeeeeea. (big slowdown for finish). Joy To you And me!
(Sam does a little scat solo. Song finishes. The characters retreat. Theater starts to turn.)
SAM: Yes, folks, Yankee Doodle remembers when.To make these songs ring true. People came from every land. To mix these tunes for you. So we should all remember. As hist'ry moves along. That everything is better now. 'Cause someone knows the song.
(Blackout. Mirror ball on.)
SAM AND OLLIE: Yankee Doodle, sing it up. Oh, Yankee Doodle dandy. Mind the music and the words. And with the songs be handy.
(''Yankee Doodle'' continues in a splashy contemporary arrangment w/ lots of brass.)
EPILOGUE
(Lights up and mirror ball off. We are back where we started, in the same sleepy little park. There is a tiny zoo on the left hand side of the backdrop. Sam and Ollie are in their little bandstand, in the same costumes as before.)
SAM: (singing as music continues quietly behind him). Yankee Doodle always says. The past is just a start.Tomorrow will bring songs to you. That comes straight from the heart. Another thing he had to say. Was life is just a song. So everybody get in tune. And let's all sing along.
(At this point, a stereo effect is used, to make it sound as if the audience were singing.)
CHORUS: Should auld acquaintance be forgot. And never brought to mind. Should auld acquaintance be forgot. And days of auld lang syne.
(Blackout. Spot up on weasel's house at top of bandstand.)
WEASEL: Goodbye goes the weasel! (giggle)
(House doors slam shut. House lights up immediately. The CM gives us the standard cheerful goodbye spiel as we exit into Tomorrowland, to an upbeat rendition of ''Stars and Stripes Forever.'')
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Then And Now
