Walt Disney’s fascination with Abraham Lincoln
Walt Disney was always fascinated with Abraham Lincoln.
As a child, he even memorized Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to recite it to his classmates and as he got older, Disney devoured any bits of information he could about the 16th President of the United States.
It’s no wonder that when the idea came to create a human Audio-Animatronic Disney decided he wanted to create Lincoln. And he did with the creation of “Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln.” The first Audio-Animatronics version of Lincoln debuted in 1964 at the New York World’s Fair at the State of Illinois Pavilion.
Disney was strict when he came up with the idea of creating the show, according to the Illinois Pavilion Press Kit on nywf64.com.
“There must be some way … some undeveloped means of communication … perhaps some new art form that can combine the best of traditional media … to present the courage and strength of Abraham Lincoln,” he began.
“Imagination must be tempered with authenticity. Drama must be intertwined with serenity. Fantasy must be abandoned since its presence would defeat our purpose. Reserve is demanded but it must have the form of subdued excitement. And dignity must be the constantly sounded keynote.”
The show was presented daily at the fair in continuing 10-minute presentations. “National Geographic” at the time called the figure “alarming” in its realism.
It was so popular that the attraction moved to Disneyland in 1965 to the Main Street Opera House.
In 1984, the show was reprogrammed with Audio-Animatoric enhancements, according to the Walt Disney Company.
The original had Lincoln delivering a speech composed of highlights from several speeches he made during his lifetime. In July 2001, another update was made and guests donned earphones to hear a dramatic Civil War presentation followed by Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address.
From 2005 until early 2009, the show went on hiatus.
In 2009 it reopened with the pre-show now including a bronze replica of the original 1964 sculpt of Lincoln’s head. The latest Audio-Animatronic technology was used and new speech using Lincoln’s words in previous versions of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (except the 2001 update) is being presented by using original recordings made in the early 1960s by Royal Dano.
Here are some quick facts about Abraham Lincoln:
- He was born on February 12, 1809, and died April 15, 1865, at the age of 56 from wounds he received from his assassination.
- He stood 6-feet 4-inches.
- He is the only president to receive a patent. This was in 1849 for a buoyancy system in steamboats.
- He disliked killing and harming animals, even for food.
- He was the first president to have a beard.
- He was the first president to be assassinated.
- He was very disorganized. As an attorney, he carried papers in his stovepipe hat so he wouldn’t misplace them.
- His Gettysburg Address is one of the most oft-repeated speeches throughout history. And it is only 272 words in length.
