Spaceship Earth, Scene by Scene: The Cro-Magnon

I still remember my first ride on Spaceship Earth in the summer of 1984. As an eight-year-old in days long before the Internet, I knew nothing about what was in store. We walked into EPCOT Center and headed for the park’s iconic centerpiece. I don’t recall too many specifics of this experience, but one feeling sticks with me. The first sighting of the Cro-Magnon hunters freaked me out. The eerie still images floating into view created the sense of traveling to another world. Our time machines were drifting through the past, and the first stop offered mystery about wonders to come.

Part of my reaction was due to the colder tone of the 1982 version. Vic Perrin utters statements like “Now, suns reverse, moons rephrase, let us return to ancient caves where first we learn to share our thoughts…and to survive”. While it’s a catchy line, Perrin takes a serious approach. Images of men holding spears and the mammoth disappear intermittently and create a spellbinding atmosphere. The initial ascent also included a smoke machine in place of the star field. It made me nervous as a kid, but it’s effective. The excellent design creates the right environment to begin the attraction.

We’ve reached the second stage of our journey through Spaceship Earth, Scene by Scene. Last week, I discussed the introductions with each narrator and how Disney set the stage for our journey. In this article, we’ve reached the world of cave dwellers as they hunt a mammoth and create drawings. The verbal communication and paintings are the first steps on the trip through the history of communication (and eventually, innovation). Let’s take a deeper look at a memorable beginning for Spaceship Earth.

Our Story Begins

What I love about this scene is the way it easily transports us into another place and time. The images floating on the screen help with the transition into the attraction. Instead of just dropping us into a show scene, the Imagineers create the mood and then move on to the larger scene. This moment also connects to the Claudio Mozzoli mural outside, which features a group of cave dwellers from the dawn of recorded time. That image connects the early people directly to modern achievements like space travel. It’s the essence of Spaceship Earth in one shot.

Returning to the Cro-Magnon scene, we observe a shaman telling a story to two men and a woman seated around a fire. The lighting effectively provides a looming shadow behind the storyteller. That touch creates a sense of realism and makes us forget that we’re watching an animatronic. The original scene would remain in place until the 2007 version (more on that later). The Cro-Magnon shaman is describing a hunt possibly similar to what we saw earlier, and it all ties together.

The key factor here is the importance of recorded language to the Cro-Magnon people. Walter Cronkite aptly describes that point with this description, “But with spoken language, the ancient hunters learn to work together and meet the challenges of this hostile world.” In the 1994 version, Jeremy Irons nails home this message even stronger with these points, “For the first time, we could share and learn from one another. We bonded together in small tribes and prospered. No longer isolated, no longer alone.” He describes the first steps toward a global neighborhood.

The Importance of Details

While investigating Spaceship Earth, we should remember the overall message going back to Ray Bradbury’s story treatment. Marty Sklar describes the communication theme as “taking us from the cave walls of France to the exploration of outer space” in his book Dream It! Do It!. Nailing this opening scene is crucial to making the entire attraction succeed. Key elements to this and all of Spaceship Earth are the intricate details that expand each moment.

A central aspect of this scene is the cave painting on the walls behind the shaman. Disney could easily phone in these drawings; instead, there’s real care taken with each one. We even see animatronics working on them directly. In an article for Mouse Planet, Jim Korkis points out that the scene represents the Upper Paleolithic period in Europe of 30,000-40,000 years ago. These paintings represent the Cro-Magnon paintings from that time.

In his book Secret Stories of Walt Disney World, Korkis also points out that the skulls here were cast from molds of actual animals in the Page Museum’s Paleolithic collection. The skulls include a saber-toothed tiger, two dire wolves, a lion, and a cave bear. I’m sad to admit that I have little memory of these skulls, which reinforces just how many details there are within Spaceship Earth. Korkis describes other examples in his book that I’ll mention in future articles.

A Significant Update

This scene remained largely unchanged during the first three incarnations of Spaceship Earth. That changed for the 2007 version, which made considerable upgrades to the opening visuals and show scene. Thankfully, our first glimpse of the mammoth hunt maintains the eerie atmosphere. The new CGI images are stunning and expand well on the past still images. They bring more action and movement into the scene, and excellent sound design helps create a convincing environment.

Judi Dench’s narration again stresses how people were alone prior to communication. This succinct opening nails the message: “Here, in this hostile world, is where our story begins. We are alone, struggling to survive until we learn to communicate with one another. Now we can hunt as a team and survive together.” It’s an ominous start but quickly switches to a tale of hope through community.

This version also delineates the time change between the first images and show scene. Dench explains that 15,000 years pass before the drawings on cave walls appear. This scene has also received a major upgrade, with new animatronics and visual projections for the paintings. Those effects seem unnecessary but add energy to the static moment. Our eyes immediately go to the effect compared to the rest of the cave.

The Magic Skyway

EPCOT Center took inspiration from the grand pavilions of the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. Disney’s four attractions led directly to technology upgrades and future additions to Disneyland and beyond. Spaceship Earth has definite connections to the Magic Skyway, which Disney produced for Ford at the Fair. That ride system with Ford cars was a direct ancestor of the Omnimovers inside Spaceship Earth.

Beyond the technical similarities, the Magic Skyway also included scenes with primitive humans. There is even a confrontation between several cavemen and a mammoth. The technology doesn’t match the modern audio-animatronics we expect today, but it still works from a storytelling perspective. I wasn’t born until 12 years after the Fair, but there are excellent online resources for learning more.

The best example is the episode “Disneyland Goes to the World’s Fair” from Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. The episode first aired on May 17, 1964 and is an amazing time capsule of Disney’s contributions. A comic look at the early humans offers a cool perspective of that portion of the Skyway. The episode is widely available online, including on YouTube here. I also wrote a blog about that show back in March 2017. Viewing that show today, you can see connections with Spaceship Earth.

The Dawn of Recorded Time

Spaceship Earth is the last of a certain type of EPCOT Center pavilion that looked into the past to help explain our future. World of Motion, Horizons, and the Universe of Energy all employed variations on this format via slow-moving ride vehicles. The loss of those attractions makes Spaceship Earth even more precious to fans and Disney’s legacy. Many guests never experienced those attractions yet still love this formula.

Circling back to Perrin, his narration eloquently describes “the dawn of a new beginning, the dawn of recorded time.” There is an epic feeling to this original Cro-Magnon scene that creates the mold for the rest of the attraction. The slow pace of this beginning ultimately gives way to the faster pace of technology. We need this quieter start to ramp up to the changes on the way. By presenting the start of recorded time in slower fashion, the Imagineers help us acclimate to this style before the pace increases. It’s a brilliant approach.

In our next installment, we’ll travel to the time of hieroglyphics and the creation of papyrus in Egypt. Our journey through Spaceship Earth is just beginning, and there is so much more to explore in our grand future.

Sources: INTERCOT, Martin’s Videos, Mouseplanet, Dream It! Do It! by Marty Sklar, Secret Stories of Walt Disney World by Jim Korkis

Related Articles: Cro-Magnon

Spaceship Earth, Scene by Scene: The Introduction

Five Steps to Enhance Spaceship Earth

Five Reasons the Future World Concept Still Works

Disneyland Goes to the World’s Fair

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