There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow
| "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Rex Allen (original Disneyland version), and Jean Shepherd (current) from the album The Music of Disney: A Legacy in Song | |
| Published | 1964 |
| Genre | Show tune |
| Label | Walt Disney |
| Composer(s) | Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman |
"There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" is the theme song to two Disney attractions, Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress at the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World (formerly at Disneyland) and Innoventions at Disneyland. It was also used in one scene of the Epcot attraction Horizons.
The song was written by Richard and Robert Sherman for the Carousel of Progress, one of four attractions Walt Disney and his Imagineers developed for the 1964 New York World's Fair. The lead vocal was by Rex Allen, a frequent Disney narrator who also provided the speaking voice for the Audio-Animatronic host of the attraction. When the Carousel of Progress moved to Disneyland after the fair, the song came with it. The attraction opened at Disneyland in 1967. In 1973, the Carousel of Progress closed and moved to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in 1975, to make way for Disneyland's new attraction, America Sings in 1974.
In 1974, General Electric, the sponsor of the Carousel of Progress, commissioned a new theme song, "The Best Time Of Your Life", also written by the Sherman Brothers. In 1982, GE commissioned a third song from the Sherman Brothers called "New Horizons", but in the end, opted not to use it. GE's CEO wrote a song instead. This change disappointed many fans of the attraction. When General Electric dropped sponsorship of Carousel of Progress in 1986, the newer song initially remained. But in 1994, Disney brought back the original theme, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," and renamed the attraction Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. At that time, the song was rerecorded to feature the current voice cast, including Jean Shepherd as the Father character, as can be heard on the theme park's web site. The song was also used in one scene of Horizons, the former Epcot "sequel" attraction to the Carousel of Progress.
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