“Behold! The great Millennium walk.” Those booming words from the Sage of Time echo in my head more than 25 years after the debut of Tapestry of Nations at EPCOT. Created for 15-month Walt Disney World Millennium Celebration, this spectacular parade took place nightly around World Showcase Lagoon. It is by far my favorite parade ever created for Disney Parks. I spent countless evenings capturing performances on film using my Canon EOS Rebel 2000. During the COVID-19 global pandemic, I scanned those film negatives using an Epson V600 photo scanner and wanted to share some of my favorite shots with you.
TAPESTRY OF NATIONS AT EPCOT
According to Pam Brandon’s “Marking the Millennium – The Celebration of a Lifetime at Walt Disney World Resort,” the parade was in development for three years.
Originally conceived as a show called Carnival of Giants, the working title evolved from Millennium 2000, then Earth 2000, then Tapestry of Dreams (a name later used when the show continued during the 100 Years of Magic Celebration), before landing on the perfect Tapestry of Nations.
During the show, Millennium drums served as a human heartbeat while people were transported on a “spiritual journey with larger-than-life puppets” set to an emotional score.
Thirty drummers pounded giant rolling clocks in time to a breathtaking score composed by Gavin Greenaway. He said the soundtrack “communicates a feeling of oneness, of belonging, with many cultures and people together.”
The concept clicked for me as there were many times I found myself lost in the moment, drumming along to the music while performers danced on World Showcase Promenade with 20-foot-tall aerial rod puppets. I think my favorite puppets were the futuristic Hammered Man or the gangly Disc Man.
Award-winning designer Michael Curry brought the puppets designs to life. A crew of fifty worked for over a year creating 120 puppets for the show. There were forty different styles, three of each design with names like Bird Man, Wiggle Girl, Aztec Man, Inverted Marionette, Angel Girl and the Sprite.
Music was recorded at Abbey Road in London with musicians from the Royal Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, and a 30-member chorus. Even decades later, I’m moved to tears as by the soundtrack as it is filled with such hope and optimism.
The details on each of the puppets and performers were out of this world. This is a close up shot of the Sprite performer.
The Angel puppet floats by China pavilion in World Showcase.
There were three units during the parade’s original run – United Kingdom to Morocco pavilion, Italy to Morocco pavilion, Norway to Italy pavilion. Navigating World Showcase promenade was always an adventure as crowds lined both sides of the walkways.
I took countless photos during the first year of the show. It’s wild to think they were all captured on film, so I had no idea how they would turn out until they were developed.
Curry and team did an outstanding job making these larger-than-life creations. The Marionette puppet was super creative with the puppet performer moving a giant marionette who had a smaller marionette.
By far, my favorite was the Sage of Time. He was majestic and the entire outfit was incredibly detailed. You can see the crowds lined along the promenade to watch the Great Millennium walk.
One day I’d love to recreate this costume as a Halloween outfit. But the level of detail would be a challenge to capture – it was just that beautiful.
You can see more images on my Flickr account – https://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha75/albums/72157682525100424/
