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America
The Beautiful 1974 Circle-Vision Exit Lobby Character Phones |
| "It
is to the nature of our communications that we must look for the benefactions
which can come from such interchange. The machinery stands ready, is already widely
in use, and will become perhaps incredibly more so as we put science to our humanitarian
uses." - Walt Disney |
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The
Circle-Vision 360° presentation of America The Beautiful presented a panoramic view around America of "today", and exited into a lobby of wondrous telephones of tomorrow. (Our personal favorite was the "Chatter Box", a family-sized glass booth containing a hands-free speakerphone! What a wonderful excuse to call distant relatives, simply to say, "Hello! We're calling from Disneyland!") |
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The
lobby also contained a huge illuminated panel with cameos of several Disney characters
and a railing upon which were mounted telephones corresponding to each of the
characters. The push of a button would ring that character's phone, and they would
playback a message to the caller in a recorded monologue. Note: The lack of audio quality in these recordings is due largely to the lack of audio quality offered in the original presentation. (After all, this exhibit was presented over a primitive 1974 telephone handset.) Sorcerer's Workshop offers these recordings in their original, wonderfully-flawed form, preserving with a high level of fidelity all of the clicks, hums and crackles contained in the original character voice playback. |
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| Mickey Mouse: "(Laughs) This is Mickey Mouse. It's nice to know you. (Pluto barks and pants in background) Down, Pluto, down boy. (Laughs) And that's my dog, Pluto. We're glad you called us. When you call your other friends, we want you to always get the right number, too. There's a difference on the phone dial between the number "zero" and the letter "o", and also between the number "one" and the letter "i", even though they look the same. Ask your parents to show you the difference. (Laughs) Well, good-bye for now! Say good-bye, Pluto. (Pluto barks and pants in background)" 879kb.wav - 797kb.mp3 (:41sec) |
| Grumpy:
"Hello. This is Grumpy. Who keeps calling me? I've been trying
to call Snow White, but her phone has been busy all day. So I went over there
and you know what I found? Dopey had been playing with the phone and he left it
off the hook! He knows better than that! You know better than that! Everybody
knows better than that! People who play with the phone and leave it off the hook
are just plain dopey...and they make me grumpy! Good-bye!"
831kb.wav - 753kb.mp3 (:39sec) |
| Goofy: "(Laughs) Hello? Well, I'll be doggonned! Sure nice of you to call up old Goofy. I suppose you want to know how a glamorous TV and movie star lives. Well, I-take-a-swim-and-go-to-Disneyland-and-go-waterskiing-and-...what did you say? You can't understand me? (Laughs) Gorsh, I'm sorry, I wasn't polite, was I? Remember, when you make a call, be sure to speak slowly and clearly on the phone, not like I did. It's good manners and people will understand you better. Well, so long! (Laughs)" 865kb.wav - 784kb.mp3 (:40sec) |
| Snow White: "Hello, Snow White speaking. Oh, I'm so glad you called because my friends, the 7 Dwarfs, are away at the diamond mine all day. I'm all alone* in this tiny woodland cottage with nobody to talk to. I'm glad you found my telephone number. Do you know your phone number? Ask your parents to teach you how to say it and how to write it down. Then you'll always be able to call home when you need to. Oh, I've got to go now, a little old lady is at the door with some luscious red apples. Good-bye, and please call again." 879kb.wav - 796kb.mp3 (:41sec) |
| *Important Safety Note: Kids at home, DO NOT follow Snow White's example of telling callers that you are home all alone in a tiny woodland cottage, lest it lead to unwanted sales calls.) |
| Jiminy Cricket: "Hello, Jiminy Cricket Conscience Service, Jiminy Cricket speaking. Sure glad you called! I just tried to call my friend Pinocchio, but I forgot his phone number and I never wrote it down. Don't you do that. Be sure to have a list of your friends' telephone numbers handy when you dial. It's a lot faster than always looking them up in the phone book. By the way, do you happen to know Pinocchio's phone number? Ha-ha, I seem to have lost my phone book, too! So I better get going. Good-bye!" 735kb.wav - 665kb.mp3 (:34sec) |
| Donald Duck: "Hello, this is Donald Duck, the Most Famous Duck in the World. But I've only won one Academy Award! (Explosion of temper) Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm not mad at you, but I do get mad at people who don't hang up their phones after calling. You don't do that, do you? If you do, your parents might miss important calls. Be sure and hang up when you're through. Bye-bye!" 825kb.wav - 747kb.mp3 (:39sec) |
| Your Bell Telephone Operator: "Hi, there. I'm your Bell Telephone Operator. Tinker Bell just called me! That mean old Captain Hook was after her again, so I sent Peter Pan to help. Don't forget, if you're ever home alone and you need help, like, to report a fire, or call a policeman, just call me by dialing zero. Ask your Mom and Dad to show you how to call me. I'm always here to help you. 554kb.wav - 502kb.mp3 ( :26sec) |
| EXTRA
BONUS TRACK: Guided
Tour Hostess Jody Russell:
Hear more of Hostess Jody on the PeopleMover page! |  |
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This
photo from a 1962 Guidebook bears the following caption: |
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Postcard courtesy of DisneylandPostcards.com. |
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By the time this postcard photo was taken, the first Circarama sign had gone up over the door (behind the left cluster of flagpoles, over the guy in the red sweater). At
this point in time, the Moonliner was sponsored by TWA. |
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An
even later postcard shows the blue paneled entrance that features the Bell System
logo (not visible in photo). |
| BONUS TRACK: This recording of the Audio-Animatronic Hostess figure at the Circle-Vision 360 presentation of America The Beautiful's entrance lobby demonstrates that the Imagineers still had some bugs to work out insofar as making the hostess figure sound realistic. Clearly this is the voice of a robot figure...listen for yourself and judge: 'Bot or Blonde? Hostess:
[Missing portion: "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome...]
"...to Circle-Vision 360 Theatre. For your safety and for the safety of those
around you, we must ask that you do not sit on the floor, or on the leanrails.
The leanrails were not constructed for sitting or climbing; they will not support
your weight or the weight of your children. And no smoking or refreshments, please.
The one million men and women of the Bell System hope you enjoy your visit to
Disneyland. We now present Walt Disney's magnificent look at our country. Our
nine screens will completely surround you with the wonders of these United States
as we bring you...America The Beautiful."
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DEAR
GUESTS: Someone, somewhere, back in the '60s and '70s, must have
been the kind of Disneyland enthusiast that we see reflected online today. If
you, or anyone you know, just so happens to have any information
or especially photographs regarding this CircleVision exit lobby
character telephone board... well... let's just say that Sorcerer Mickey
would be very interested in hearing from you! He'd also like to hear from
Little Miss Robin, (who apparently was something of a semi-professional
model for the Disneyland Guidebooks; she has turned up in three years' worth of
guidebooks). |  |
UPDATE:
April 10, 2007 Wednesday,
March 28, 2007 James writes: "...Yes, that is me, listening to D. Duck on the phone. The picture is circa 1972 or 1973,(it's sometimes hard to tell as my parents dragged me to Disneyland about 15 million times during the 1970's....a rough life I know). Anyway, it is cool seeing that photo on your website, and I am happy to have contributed." We are too, James. Thanks again! Photo
courtesy of James Ramey (pictured, circa 1972 or 1973) |
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This
site has gone woefully neglected since March 17, 2008 