In this Music Behind the Ride, we're continuing our look into the EPCOT classic pavilion - Wonders of Life. Part One featured the main attraction, Body Wars, which you can read here.
Located in EPCOT's Future World, the Wonders of Life pavilion was sandwiched between the Universe of Energy and Horizons, opening in October 1989. Sponsored by MetLife, the pavilion gave guests a look at heath and fitness through rides, films and fitness machines. The pavilion was known for the golden dome and huge Tower of Life DNA strand at the entrance.
On we go to another major attraction in the pavilion - Cranium Command.
It featured a look inside the militaristic functions of the brain as it connects with the rest of the human body. The show was divided into two sections: the animated preshow and main theater attraction with an animatronic, animation and live action segments.
In the preshow, we first meet our fearless leader - General Knowledge, in charge of us Cranium Commando recruits to run the brain. (Corey Burton provides the drill sergeant voice of the General). He runs through some facts about the brain and includes references to Albert Einstein and Jim Varney's Ernest character. We then meet Buzzy along with the new recruits. He gives each of them their human assignments with a bit of blustery insults. Buzzy is given the "most unstable craft in the fleet", a twelve year old adolescent boy. General Knowledge then orders everyone into the main theater.
The main theater is a few rows of benches facing the command center inside the head of twelve year old Bobby. We now see Captain Buzzy, an animatronic on a swivel chair. The General tells Buzzy he needs to guide Bobby through a typical day. We are introduced to Hypothalamus who explains his job as Bobby wakes up. We see everything through his POV with smaller screens around the control center. Buzzy checks in with the various parts with celebrity roles: steadfast Left Brain (Charles Grodin), groovy Right Brain (Jon Lovitz). In the heart we meet Left and Right Ventricle (Kevin Nealon and Dana Carvey doing their SNL Hans and Franz bit). Frazzled Adrenal Gland (Bobcat Goldthwait) reports, as does hungry Stomach (George Wendt). As Buzzy rushes Bobby past breakfast and missing the bus, the various parts provide body commentary as he makes it into science class and meeting new cute classmate Annie. We follow Bobby into the cafeteria, meeting bullies and leading a food fight.
General Knowledge interrupts the chaos as the boy is sent to the principal's office. Buzzy takes control and gets the parts to cooperate. Bobby runs into Annie who agrees to meet up with him after school and kisses him, leading to cheers from all the parts. The General congratulates Buzzy for for keeping cool under stress and thanks us as we exit the auditorium.
Cranium Command opened with the pavilion in October 1989. The 20-ish minute show had some great comedy moments, aided with the 1980s comedians. The preshow was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise (both would go on to direct Beauty and the Beast, Hunchback and Atlantis). The live action segments were directed by Jerry Rees (director of The Brave Little Toaster among other park attractions). The music was written by David Newman, who worked on Brave Little Toaster and several future Disney projects. The preshow is full of militaristic fanfares and the main show is full of peppy and manic moments. As far as I've seen, no recording of the music has been released.
Next we head to the back of the pavilion to The Making Of Me.
At the entrance and in the park guide, this attraction had a parental warning as it features the topic human reproduction and birth - pretty unusual for a theme park.
Showing every 15 minutes, the show begins with host Martin Short (years before his appearance in O Canada! across the park). He narrates in his parents past, following them in school and the school dance. He also get in front of a chalkboard to lecture about the difference between male and female bodies. The school dance fades into their wedding with some pretty funny interludes. He awkwardly explains the way sperm meets the egg as the film turns animated. We see animated sperm in a race to the fallopian tubes. Next we see some up close fetal footage with Short narrating the stages. The footage fades out as the baby is born.
Music was composed by Bruce Broughton, the Disney parks musical legend. The music really carries this short film, with several sweet moments, and the full Carl Stalling-style cartoon segment with a Ride of the Valkyries reference and sexy saxophone representing the egg. No recording of this material has been publicly released.
The rest of the pavilion had the Fitness Fairgrounds, small activities and shorter programs. Goofy About Health was an 8 minute theater show reminding the audience to exercise, eat right and be healthy. Of course you see Goofy with his bad habits and the doctor sings the "Unhealthy Living Blues" over a montage of old Goofy cartoons. The AnaComical Theatre had actors doing improv sketches about healthy lifestyles, which ended in 2000. The Sensory Funhouse had interactive exhibits to test your senses. The more active section had Coach's Corner with sports equipment to test your swing speed, Wonder Cycles to pedal your stationary bike while watching video clips. There was also Frontiers of Medicine with its real medical exhibits and Lifestyle Revue gave you health tips after putting your habits into a computer.
By 2001, MetLife ended their sponsorship of the pavilion. The main attractions continued to run, with the fairground area staying generally empty. In 2004, the entire pavilion ran only seasonally before officially closing the doors in 2007. The pavilion was used for Epcot Festivals with most of the interior details removed or just blocked off. In 2019, talks were made to transform the The Wonders of Life pavilion into the Play Pavilion....which may be officially cancelled as of 2022.
Like many things from the original Epcot days, this pavilion fizzled away over the decades. The attractions from this pavilion haven't had the same resurgence in Disney nostalgia like other things from lost Epcot. The exception may be Buzzy, whose apparent theft gave many Disney fans something to discuss. Overall, the pavilion was a fun and interesting way to tackle the info-tainment that was part of early Epcot's vision.
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