To Listen: Click Here
The Facts:
- Writer: Buddy Baker (music), X Atencio (lyrics)
- Year: 1982
- Key: E Major
Heard In:
World of Motion
Background:
Future World circa 1986 was my favorite Disney World area of all time (I'll probably do an entire post about old-school, extinct Future World some day when I feel like depressing myself). The ride was sponsored by General Motors and was a journey through the world history of transportation. Motion closed in January of 1996 when GM wanted Disney tobreak kids' hearts update the ride, and Test Track (the pavilion's current incarnation) opened in 1999.
Musically Speaking:
"It's Fun to be Free" was heard throughout the ride in different styles to match the era (most of them can be found on youtube). The link above has the traditional version that appears on records and CDs (at least the ones that I have).
Personal Connection:
Of all the glorious Future World pavilions of my childhood, Motion was in my lower tier (still a good place to be). And I do enjoy Test Track and understand why they freshened and updated the transportation pavilion with it. That said, I'd still take WOM over TT every day of the week and twice on Sundays as Lt. Sam Weinberg would say.
I recently watched video of the ride, and it's amazing how many details I had forgotten and came back to me (e.g. the Mona Lisa tapping her foot impatiently while Da Vinci is studying flight). In particular, the ending of the ride is striking as you see the Tron-like effects and the city of the future. It seems like amazing technology for 1982, and that sense of wonder and mystery you get from scenes like this is what's missing in today's Future World.
And one thing I haven't yet mentioned about the ride was the post-ride showroom with real GM cars that you could actually get into (there were other things to do in the post-ride area but all I was really interested in was the cars). For an 8 year-old kid who was a long way from driving, sitting behind the wheel of a big car was pretty fun.
Future World circa 1986 was my favorite Disney World area of all time (I'll probably do an entire post about old-school, extinct Future World some day when I feel like depressing myself). The ride was sponsored by General Motors and was a journey through the world history of transportation. Motion closed in January of 1996 when GM wanted Disney to
Musically Speaking:
"It's Fun to be Free" was heard throughout the ride in different styles to match the era (most of them can be found on youtube). The link above has the traditional version that appears on records and CDs (at least the ones that I have).
Personal Connection:
Of all the glorious Future World pavilions of my childhood, Motion was in my lower tier (still a good place to be). And I do enjoy Test Track and understand why they freshened and updated the transportation pavilion with it. That said, I'd still take WOM over TT every day of the week and twice on Sundays as Lt. Sam Weinberg would say.
I recently watched video of the ride, and it's amazing how many details I had forgotten and came back to me (e.g. the Mona Lisa tapping her foot impatiently while Da Vinci is studying flight). In particular, the ending of the ride is striking as you see the Tron-like effects and the city of the future. It seems like amazing technology for 1982, and that sense of wonder and mystery you get from scenes like this is what's missing in today's Future World.
And one thing I haven't yet mentioned about the ride was the post-ride showroom with real GM cars that you could actually get into (there were other things to do in the post-ride area but all I was really interested in was the cars). For an 8 year-old kid who was a long way from driving, sitting behind the wheel of a big car was pretty fun.
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