Music Behind the Ride: America Sings

Let's dig back into the Disneyland past of a long gone animatronic music show.  In this edition of Music Behind the Ride, I'll be looking back at the Bicentennial show America Sings!

When the Carousel of Progress closed in 1973, Disneyland was looking to fill the space and also find something to celebrate America's Bicentennial in 1976.  The bighead characters of America on Parade were also used around this time.  Even though it didn't fit in Tomorrowland, America Sings took guests through different eras of American music in the rotating theater.  (Fun fact: the rotation went opposite of Carousel of Progress!)

With characters designed by Marc Davis and Al Bertino, we see many audio-animatronic animals in each scene, sometimes in joke scenarios quickly appearing to perform a phrase of a song.  Each act has several characters and songs which are too lengthy to list - here's a sample.  

We first meet our narrator Eagle Sam (voiced by Burl Ives).  He sings "Yankee Doodle" and introduces the show's idea.  Eagle Sam and Ollie Owl sing snippets of American songs that can be sad "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" or happy "Pop Goes the Weasel".  "Yankee Doodle" continues as the stage rotates to the first section.

The first segment is The Deep South.  Throughout the act we see geese, gators, possums and hens sing a portions of "Dixie", "Camptown Races", and "Polly Wolly Doodle" among others.

With the stage rotating to the next act called Heading West, "Yankee Doodle" is given a western treatment by Eagle Sam and Ollie Owl.  In this act we see a sombrero-wearing dog, turkey and vultures sing songs like "Old Chisholm Trail", "Who Shot The Hole in My Sombrero?" and "Home on the Range".

The next transition explains the next act, The Gay '90s with songs from the turn of the century. We see new sets of animal performers and hear songs like “Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey?”, "The Old Gray Mare", with "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" providing the endcap.  

The last transition leads to jazzier arrangements of the Modern Times.  We hear bits of "Singin' in the Rain", while the electric guitars introduce "Hound Dog", "Shake Rattle and Roll" and "Joy to the World".

We rotate again as "Yankee Doodle" gets a more updated funkier adaptation.  Eagle Sam leads the audience into a chorus of "Auld Lang Syne" and we hear a peppy version of "Star and Stripes Forever" as the audience exits the theater.      

The show continued from 1974 until 1988.  After years of being office space, the gutted theater became the home for Innovations in 1998 and Star Wars Launch Bay in 2015.  After the COVID closure, the space hasn't been reopened.

Buddy Baker arranged all the musical styles and (mostly public domain) songs for the show.  The America Sings album in 1974 featured all the show songs and others sung by Burl Ives.  Later park albums would include a pared down medley.  

To many Disneyland fans, the show is famous for two reasons: the unfortunate death of a cast member in 1974 and the repurposing of several animatronics to Splash Mountain in 1988.  Since imagineer Marc Davis also designed characters for Song of the South, many animatronics fit right into Br'er Rabbit's laughing place for its run. 

Originally a staple of the early Disney years, animatronic stage shows operated all around the Disney parks.  You can read about the others I've featured: The Mickey Mouse Revue, Kitchen Kabaret.  One fun animatronic stage show Walt Disney World is getting a total refresh in 2024: Country Bear Jamboree.