Hats Off To America!
National Treasures comes to The American Adventure at Epcot


Backstage Pass e-mail Update: Walt Disney World® Parks and Resorts e-Newsletter
July 2007

One of the most amazing collections of real-life Americana ever assembled—National Treasures*—comes September 26. You'll find it inside the landmark Epcot® attraction at the center of World Showcase, a place where you can become completely immersed in the astonishing authenticity and culture of eleven great nations.

As rare and multifaceted as the finest jewels

"These are the jewels of museums and foundations all over the country, all gathered in one place," said Jim Clark, Walt Disney Imagineering Ambassador Representative and one of the team members designing National Treasures. "You'll see one of Abraham Lincoln's actual stovepipe hats, which has never been publicly exhibited outside of the Lincoln Family Home in Manchester, Vermont.

"We're also presenting many of Lincoln's personal items, like the book of Lord Byron poetry that inspired his second inaugural address, and his dressing room mirror—where he probably took his last glimpse of himself before he went off to Ford's Theater."

Always new and exciting

The National Treasures collection will also be continually changed, so you never know when you'll see something new. Imagine the thrill of seeing, up close, things that actually changed the world!

Some are the big things you've heard of; others are the little things that played huge roles in making major breakthroughs. One of the most inspiring examples of this is one of the microscopes George Washington Carver used to help revolutionize American agriculture.

In addition to Dr. Carver, Americans from diverse cultures will be celebrated, including items from the lives of Rosa Parks and Jackie Robinson. An entire section devoted to the space program will feature the flight vest of Native American Commander John Herrington. And you'll see the actual Purple Heart medal awarded to Japanese-American World War II hero and Senator Daniel Inouye.

You'll even be able to tell your friends you saw Thomas Edison's original inventions. Inventions that affect the way we live today. That includes one of only two remaining (out of the original 100) Tin Foil Cylinder Players that were created to demonstrate recorded sound to people who had never imagined it before. An innovation that leads all the way to today's MP3 players. The Edison portion is also one of the largest in the National Treasures exhibit because of the sheer size of some of the inventions. According to Jim, "The motion picture projector is so gigantic, it will barely fit it in the case."

An adventure with its eye on the future

This new exhibit will be in the lobby of The American Adventure, the Disney Audio-Animatronics® attraction that truly is, to respectfully borrow Walt's words, "Dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America."

The main show at The American Adventure takes place on a Broadway-size stage. Miraculous Audio-Animatronics figures of Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain initiate a mammoth presentation conveying the drama that shaped the country and forged our journey into the 21st century and beyond.

A newly-revised "Golden Dreams" film presentation

The presentation reaches its emotional high point during the "Golden Dreams" finale, a 70-millimeter widescreen film montage now digitally enhanced and newly revised to include over 100 notable Americans from sports, entertainment, politics and other walks of life, from post-WWII to post-911.

Updating "Golden Dreams" for The American Adventure was a labor of love for Walt Disney Imagineering Executive Show Director, Senior Vice President Rick Rothschild. "It's more beautiful than ever," Rick told us. "You need to see it to appreciate it because it's an emotional piece, structured with images that connect you back to moments in time, from just after World War II to today."

"Obviously, we had to address 9/11 and other aspects of America in major ways," Rick continued. "We've also included individuals and movements devoted to helping others, such as Oprah Winfrey's work with people in Africa and Willie Nelson's involvement with Farm Aid.

"We still end the sequence at New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty, but we completely redid the fireworks so they're much more beautiful and plentiful and the whole shot is absolutely gorgeous."

As real as it gets

Everything you see in the Golden Dreams sequence, everything in the new National Treasures exhibit, and the entire Audio-Animatronics main show tie together. Even the show "hosts" are represented with exhibit items, from the chair in which Benjamin Franklin sat to the pens and inkwell Mark Twain used to write Tom Sawyer.

"This is a collection of real things from real human beings," said Jim Clark. "It truly conveys the feeling that these people all lived on the same Earth we live on now. The choices they made have affected our lives. And the choices we make can have a positive impact. That's the idea behind the entire attraction."

The adventure is still just beginning...

* Walt Disney World Co. thanks Hildene: The Lincoln Family Home, The Henry Ford, Mark Twain House & Museum, Keeper of the World Foundation, Cmdr. Herrington, Senator Inouye and Gregory J. Reed Esq. for lending to the exhibit.