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| Opening Day Ceremonies for America Sings, June 29, 1974. |
Todd and I were totally blown away when we saw James Lopez’s fantastic tribute to Disneyland’s America Sings attraction (see post and video below). I have been a lifelong America Sings fan, and it remains as one of my strongest memories from my first trip to Disneyland in 1977. So compelled was I by this show, that I made it a point to interview Marc Davis, Alice Davis, and Buddy Baker specifically on their contributions to the show; which will hopefully make it into a DHI essay in the future. So to keep the America Sings love going (and support Lopez’s dream) I went digging through the Institute’s archives to find something unique from this attraction, a rarely seen view of opening day of this “Magical Joyride To Musicland, U.S.A.” So, lets give James as much support as we can as a community, as it would be great to see the film completed. Enjoy! And thank you James!!!
Was the Sam Eagle in the photo a costumed character or a static figure used for the opening ceremony?
It’s a costumed character. I’ve been scanning the image myself to see if I can glimpse Burl Ives, who I’m pretty sure was there for opening day ceremonies as well. Paul, anything?
Is there a decent video of America Sings out there anywhere? I would happily purchase a copy if the Mouse would just make one available, but I suspect there wasn’t any kind of foresight to film and edit a quality copy of the show before it shuttered. *sigh*
JT: Probably your best bet is, sadly, those on You Tube. I understand that there was a documentation video taken by WDI when the attraction was closed, but not a lot of thought or effort was put into it. What with video technology at the time, and poor interior lighting, I am told it is just simply not very good. Moreover, not multiple camera angles. I think if anyone ever surfaces, we’ll be blasting it out on DHI. Should anybody know of one, we’d love to hear as well. Paul
I loved this ride as a kid, cool photo!