Tomorrowland: Disney in Space and Beyond

2005-04-22

I've been looking for one of these animations since I was a kid with little hope of finding it.  I caught part of one on the Disney Channel a few years ago just buy luck on video once but of course I couldn't get the VCR started quick enough so I only got the last 1/2 and even then they were only showing part of the original.

Then about a month ago I stumbled on something, I already forgot what, that talked about Dr Werner von Braun working with Walt Disney on videos about space travel so I googled for von Braun and Disney and found out not only had they released a DVD with the animation I was looking for but IT WAS ALREADY OUT OF PRINT!  Fortunately there were some for sale from 3rd parties.  I got my copy today!

The specific animation is called "Mars and Beyond" but in general the animations in the whole series totally inspired me as a kid.  Watching them again makes me just as excited for the future as I was back then.  There's something about just hearing the voice of the narrator, Dick Tufeld.  He was the narrator for nearly all of Disney's projects back then including things like the Adventure thru Inner Space ride so his voice was the voice of the future and the voice of science and technology for most of my childhood. 

One disappointment was I assumed another animation I was seeking would be included and it's not.  The animation shows Disney's ideas for the future which you'd think would be included in a collection called "Tomorrowland".  The animation I'm looking for was all about the future and showed things like computer controlled cars that looked like a glass encased living room.  You'd program in a destination then play games or watch TV with your family while the car drove itself to your destination.  Another was an atomic powered tunnel maker that melted through a mountain like butter.  Toward the end of the segment they showed freeways going through the arctic and under the ocean.  They used to show parts of this animation on the Rocket Rods ride at Disneyland.  If you know where I can find a copy please tell me.

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