''America the Beautiful'' was a 360° movie attraction in Circarama created by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

for the American exhibit at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. The exhibit was sponsored by the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

. After the fair ended, the film was exhibited in 1959 for six weeks, dubbed in Russian, at the

American National Exhibition The American National Exhibition (July 25 to Sept. 4, 1959) was an exhibition of American art, fashion, cars, capitalism, model homes and futuristic kitchens that attracted 3 million visitors to its Sokolniki Park, Moscow venue during its six-week ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The film had its American debut at

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 1960, and it was later added to

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The W ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in 1971. The Disneyland attraction was housed in the Circle-Vision 360 Theater in

Tomorrowland Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...

, replacing ''A Tour of the West,'' which had played there since Disneyland's opening day, July 17, 1955. The film was subsequently revised several times, eventually closing in 1984, when it was replaced by ''

American Journeys American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

''. Circle-Vision 360 is a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

technique that uses multiple cameras arranged in a circle. The viewing image is displayed on a large circular screen. The film's rendition of the title song would later be used in ''

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln ''Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln'' is a stage show featuring an Audio-Animatronic representation of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, best known for being presented at Disneyland since 1965. It was originally showcased as the prime feature of the ...

''. The Disney 360 film processes were created and refined by

Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), known as Ub Iwerks ( ), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Iwerks grew up with a contentious ...

and son

Don Iwerks Donald Warren Iwerks (; born July 24, 1929) is an American former Disney executive and co-founder of Iwerks Entertainment along with former Disney executive Stan Kinsey. He is the son of the animator Ub Iwerks (Walt Disney's original business part ...

and in the 1950s and 1960s. In September 1959, Disneyland Records (now Walt Disney Records) released a vinyl LP album called "America the Beautiful" to tie in with the Russian dub and subsequent Disneyland Park premiere of the Circarama film. Branded as a "Music Mural," the gatefold cover contained a book illustrated with photos. The recordings was not a soundtrack of the attraction but instead a collection of twelve American folk and popular songs performed by Disney studio artists.

References

1960 films Disneyland Circle-Vision 360° films Walt Disney Parks and Resorts films Former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Disney documentary films 1960s American films World's fair films Expo 58 {{short-documentary-film-stub