Impressions de France

''Impressions de France'' (''Impressions of France'') is a film about France and the featured attraction in the France Pavilion of Epcot's World Showcase at Walt Disney World in Florida. The movie is presented in the Palais du Cinéma building and projected onto five adjacent screens, giving 200° coverage and resembling a Cinerama Screen, in which one giant, curved screen stretches so wide that the edges are at the peripheral vision of the average person, unlike Circle-Vision 360° found at the Canada pavilion and the China pavilion.

Synopsis

''Impressions de France'' is one of the original Epcot park attractions which has been playing every day since the park opened in 1982. It is also recognized by the Guinness World Records as holding the world record for the "longest running daily screening of a film in the same theater." The film sweeps pavilion guests into a tour of the French countryside, major cities, various regions and important structures. Set to a musical score written and arranged by Buddy Baker (composer), the film encompasses the music of classical French composers such as Claude Debussy and Camille Saint-Saëns. The film is the work of director Rick Harper and written and co-produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Bob Rogers. The film's aerial views, mixed with closer views, include, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe, the French Alps, Versailles, scenes from Cannes, Notre Dame de Paris and scenes from Normandy. The movie is presented with a lively classical soundtrack and narrated by Claude Gobet.

Scene list

The film showcases 49 locations in France. The areas that appear (in order) in ''Impressions de France'' are:

# The cliffs at Étretat in Normandy
# Gliding through the Marais Poitevin, a swamp area near La Rochelle
# Château de Chenonceau; in the Loire Valley, then from the gardens
# Horsemen and hunting dogs cross the Cheverny Forest
# Aerial shot of Château de Chambord
# Flying over the red rooftops up to the bell tower of the church in the Vézelay village
# Vezelay Church interior, with church bells in the background
# Horsecart ride through Riquewihr Village near Germany
# Moving through the market place in Beuvron-en-Auge, Normandy
# French pastries
# Wine harvest at the Monbazillac Vineyard
# Interior of a Cognac cave
# The Fountain of Apollo at Versailles
# The Palace of Versailles Garden
# The Versailles building and the Hall of Mirrors
# Flying over Castle Beynac in the Dordogne Valley
# Man chopping wood with Chateau Montpoupon
# La Roque - Gageac in the Dordogne Valley (bicyclists)
# Chateau Montpoupon, bicyclists racing toward us
# Bugatti race cars in Cannes
# Hot air balloons take off near Chaumont Castle on the Loire river
# Hot air balloons in front of the cliff city of Rocamadour
# French Alps in the spring
# Mountain climbers on rocky peaks in Chamonix (French Alps)
# Skiers in Chamonix
# La Rochelle Harbor
# On board a Brittany fishing boat at sea
# Fishing boats on the rocky beach of Etretat in Normandy
# Mont Saint-Michel
# Interior of Notre-Dame-de-Penhors church in Pouldreuzic, Brittany
# Wedding reception in full swing at a Brittany farm to traditional Brittany folk music
# Couple walks along the cliffs of Normandy in Étretat
# The cliff city of Bonifacio, Corsica
# Villefranche near Nice
# Calanque cliffs near Cassis
# Pier in front of the Carlton Hotel in Cannes
# Cannes Harbor at twilight
# Racing along railway tracks in the small Lozère town of Chapeauroux next to the Allier River
# Gare du Nord (North rail station) in Paris
# Champs-Élysées at twilight featuring the Arc de Triomphe
# Seine River in Paris
# Notre Dame de Paris
# Through the archways at the Louvre, the Republican Guard
# Eiffel Tower
# Aerial shot of Étretat Cliffs
# Aerial shot of the Pyrenées of Cirque de Gavarnie
# Aerial shot of Château de Chambord
# Aerial shot of French Alps near Mont Blanc
# Finale - Eiffel Tower

Soundtrack

Buddy Baker arranged the film score, and he conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios. The soundtrack was recorded digitally with a Sony prototype recorder, and Impressions de France became the first movie with a digital soundtrack from beginning to end.

Rick Harper made the initial selections of French music for the movie. Regarding the inspiration for his musical choices, Harper said:

I grew up being exposed to a lot of great music. My mother is a fantastic musician and pianist, and when I was in grade school, she would take me out of school to go the San Francisco opera and symphony. I built a classical music collection of records starting from when I was about 6 years old. I was really familiar with music from the Romantic era and primarily French music. It's almost in my DNA. Even to this day, that's the music of my preference.

A listing of the movie's score from official and unofficial sources:

The selections marked with * can be found on these albums:
*''Walt Disney World Resort: The Official Album'' (1999)
*''Walt Disney World Resort: Official Album'' (2000)
*Official Album: ''Walt Disney World Resort Celebrating 100 Years of Magic'' (2001)
*Official Album: ''The Happiest Celebration on Earth – Walt Disney World Resort Album''
*Official Album: ''Where Magic Lives – Walt Disney World Resort''
*''Four Parks - One World: Walt Disney World Official Album'' (2008)

Additions

On January 17th, 2020, the Palais du Cinéma theatre began its new schedule, which involves alternating between showing ''Impressions de France'' and a Beauty and the Beast sing-along.

References

External links

Walt Disney World Resort - ''Impressions de France''

{{Epcot

Amusement rides introduced in 1982
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions
Epcot
1982 films
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts films
French documentary films
World Showcase
Films scored by Buddy Baker (composer)
Multi-screen film
1982 establishments in Florida
1980s French films