An Underrated Disney Parade
Since the 50’s Disney theme parks have been the home of countless parades. Some have taken place during the day and others at night. I’m sure you have your favorites…The Main Street Electrical Parade….SpectroMagic, and others.
There is one parade however that has to be looked upon as being not only the most unique parade in Disney Parks history but a parade that sends a message that we all can use today.
For my money it is the most underrated of all the parades. I feel lucky that I was able to witness this parade and in fact I watched the last performance with a mom whose daughter was a cast member in the parade. Yes there were tears.
From my recollection, this was the only parade to have promenaded around EPCOT, primarily around World Showcase.
Have you guessed the parade yet? If you had visited EPCOT during the years from 1999 to 2001 you might have been lucky enough to watch this amazing parade.
I am talking about the Tapestry of Nations Parade.
I mention this parade with reverence because it represented so much and it is in my opinion the most creative parade ever put on display by Disney.
Let’s talk about the theme….it was all about world peace and unity throughout the world.
The parade was adorned by many exquisite puppets designed from the imagination of Michael Curry who was also the designer for the puppets used in the Broadway version of The Lion King.
So a little bit about the parade.
Like all Disney parades this particular parade had a leader and that was the Sage of Time who was represented as a stilt walker in an elaborate costume featuring alchemy symbols, gold trim on a white robe, a staff, and a headpiece resembling a sun with a face.
If I was ever lucky enough to be in a Disney parks parade it would be to portray the Sage of Time. According to legend, he walked the Earth and put the nations altogether. Since his arrival, the Sage put everyone in harmony together to complete the circle.
The Sage of Time was the first character who first appeared in the parade, where he was the one leading the procession - consisting of Millennium Drummers and puppeteers controlling puppets of various types. The Sage gathered the puppets and drummers to join the unity and dance together in peace and harmony, where they all followed his commands. He then narrated that peace is the one that puts everyone on Earth in harmony, as well as narrating that the gateway of time had opened, everyone in harmony, planning to bring peace and harmony for the world.
“Peace and goodwill to all who gather here for this earthly celebration. May the spirit of humanity bring us together. May the promise of the new millennium light the child within your heart.”
―Sage of Time
During the Great Millennium Walk, the Sage of Time told everyone to join him, the puppets, and the drummers in dancing into a new age of celebration, peace, and harmony as he narrated that the universe began to echo with joy and rejoice together. Near the end of the procession, all the puppets and clocks all left the promenade with the Sage telling guests about the importance of peace, unity, and harmony just before he exited the promenade.
The Puppets included:
Reverse Marionette, a large multicolored puppet with a little marionette being held in its arms, which the parade's cast members nicknamed Bobo.
Disc Man, a large character with discs within the body and dreadlocks. This was the heaviest and tallest of all the puppets.
Hammer Man, a humanoid character made of pieces of sheet metal.
The Sprite, a winged character with a three tiered tail.
Angel Girl, a feminine figure with a massive wingspan and human face.
Wiggle Girl, similar to Angel Girl, but had a smaller wingspan and lacked a face, also had movement in the hips.
Bird Man, with a large wingspan and a crane-like face. This puppet was the hardest to control.
Aztec Man, with an Aztec-style head, small wingspan and several flaps at its end, similar to kite tails.
Rebranding
Tapestry of Nations was rebranded in 2001 to Tapestry of Dreams. There were a few changes made for the parade. The soundtrack was now filtered about with the voices of children who proclaimed their most fondest wishes.
The parade also was given a special tribute to Walt Disney. remember the new name is Tapestry of DREAMS and of course Walt Disney is proclaimed as "...the greatest and most wonderful dreamer of all!"
The Sage of Time was retired and in his place came the Dreamseekers. These characters were basically elves walking around in elaborately decorated butterfly nets. These nets would collect collect Dreamtale coins that children would receive at the Epcot Kidcot stations. The three Dreamseekers were:
Leonardo Columbus, who represented discovery, invention and genius
Elfin, who represented nature, magic and emotion
Cosmo, who represented space and the unknown
Besides the new soundtrack additions, the replacing of the Sage of time with the Dreamseekers, the parade was also given a new float.
It was known as the Dreamcatcher.
The parade puppets were puppets were adorned with chimes and cymbals to enhance the audio performances. The Millennium Drums received additional propping with streamers added to the drummer balconies.
The Tapestry of Dreams parade ran nightly until March 2003.
From what I was told one of the reasons for the cancellation was the concern for the puppeteers. Although wind is rarely a concern for World Showcase, even a slight breeze made it difficult for the puppeteers to handle the puppets. Two other factors came into play and that was that due to the parade route crowd control was very difficult for the cast members to handle. The other noted factor was that the parade was not as popular as the organizers had hoped it would be.
You can see what Tapestry of Dreams was like in this YouTube video.
The music for the parades was written by Gavin Greenway and after the parades were cancelled the soundtrack was adopted by Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.
And now you know…the rest of the story.
See you next time.