Impressions de France Re-edit

[KaliSplash]

Watch them cut it from 18min to 12min.

That's exactly what I would suspect. Make it shorter so it can turn over more frequently. That seems to be a recuring and unfortunate trend these days.

 

[ToTBellHop]

That's exactly what I would suspect. Make it shorter so it can turn over more frequently. That seems to be a recuring and unfortunate trend these days.

they claim the attention span of park visitors is declining.

 

[MickeyPeace]

One of my best memories of Epcot was seeing Impressions du France for the first time. In true Disney form I was pleased beyond my expectations with the beauty of the theater, introduction of the film from the cast member, the content of the film and perfect accompanying score. I went in to just take a break from the heat and walking and left with one of the most pleasant memories of the day.

 

[RSoxNo1]

The entire soundtrack is on the 4 parks one world 2 cd set that's available at the parks.

 

[Bork Bork]

I would like to find the entire soundtrack, narration and all, on cd. But its nowhere. I know the official album has it but its a condensed version with no narration.

I'm listening to it on GrooveShark right now!

 

[aladdin2007]

The entire soundtrack is on the 4 parks one world 2 cd set that's available at the parks.

Yes but its not the entire 18min and narration, its been cut down to 9:52 on the cd.

 

[David S.]

The entire soundtrack is on the 4 parks one world 2 cd set that's available at the parks.

Not intending to be "argumentative", but I have that CD (and all the other "Official Albums" that Impressions de France appears on) and the track is edited. It has MOST of the most "iconic" highlights of the score, but much is missing.

Regarding the film itself, I'll join in with the praise for it. I consider it nothing less than a timeless masterpiece of sublime perfection. The music and scenery are both beautiful and stunning taken by themselves, but combined they are truly too sublime for words. There are sequences in that film that routinely move me to goosebumps.

Buddy Baker did a masterful job of compiling the score and writing some original transition bits between the works of the French masters.

That's another thing about the film that is done really well. The transitions (both visual and audio), just flow flawlessly and seamlessly from one scene to another.

Even the format of 200 degrees (which some on first-glance may consider "lesser" than 360 degrees) is for me, preferable. For one thing, you can sit down, and for another, you can see everything at once without missing stuff in back of you. For best results, I like to sit in the middle of the back row, to get a nice, wide overview of all the screens at once.

This is, by far, my favorite of the World Showcase films, with China second, followed by Canada. The shortening and more humorous tone of the new version of O Canada took some getting used to, but now I enjoy it just fine.

I also really enjoy the Norway film as well. Not being a technology-oriented person, I never noticed the "outdated" computers in the film. I'll have to remember to look for those next time!

 

[TheBeatles]

bad idea.

 

[zooey]

I consider it nothing less than a timeless masterpiece of sublime perfection.

I'm sold!

 

[minniemickeyfan]

Just keep the original film...but add in a "Soarin" type ride-then my husband won't nap

 

[RSoxNo1]

Sorry I was misinformed about the 4 parks 1 world. I thought it was the full track.

 

[MarkTwain]

I know a large part of the soundtrack is derived from actual pieces of French classical/orchestral music:

Camille Saint-Saens - Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium
Camille Saint-Saens - Carnival of the Animals: Finale
Debussy - Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Camille Saint-Saens - Organ Concerto... several movements so this one's on your own

I'm sure a real classical music expert could identify even more of the pieces used in the film.

 

[David S.]

I know a large part of the soundtrack is derived from actual pieces of French classical/orchestral music:

Camille Saint-Saens - Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium
Camille Saint-Saens - Carnival of the Animals: Finale
Debussy - Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Camille Saint-Saens - Organ Concerto... several movements so this one's on your own

I'm sure a real classical music expert could identify even more of the pieces used in the film.

All great music, thanks for the clips. That Saint-Saens organ symphony Number 3, second movement, used as the sublime finale of the film, was also adopted for the score of the film Babe, used prominently, and became the basis for the song "If I Had Words". I found a clip here (the part used in Impressions is approximately the first 2 minutes of the clip):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGGcV2ftbFM&feature=related

One of my favorite pieces used in the film is the hauntingly beautiful "Clair du Lune" by Debussy, used to score the Alps sequence. Here is a clip of a deleted sequence from Fantasia* featuring this piece. The motif used as the basis of the Alps scene in Impressions de France begins at around the 2:30 mark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcpamvLB2JU

* the animation was later used in Make Mine Music.

Wikipedia has the complete list of scenes and score selections, including which bits of the score made it into the Official Album track:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressions_de_France

 

[tomm4004]

Given by a CM years ago:

(the sheet is full of typos and spelling errors. I've tried to correct them.)

- Cliffs of Etretat in Normandy (Debussy - Solo for Flute)
- Marais Poitvin near La Rochelle (Saint Saens - Aquarium from the Carnival of the Animals)
- Chateau Chenonceaux
- Horsemen and hunting dogs in the Cheverny Forest with Chateau Cheverny in the background
- Chambord in the Loire Valley (Boieldieu - Concerto for Harp and Orchestra)
- Vezelay Village and church interior
- Marketplace in Bouvron, Normandy
- Monbazillac Vineyard
- Cognac Cave near the city of Cognac
- The Fountain of Apollo, statues, west face and the hall of Mirrors at Versailles
- Chateau Beynac in Dordogne Valley (Debussy - Nocturne 1)
- Forest near Chateau Montpoupon
- Bicyclists at La Roque-Gageac in Dordogne Valley (Offenbach - Gaite Parisienne)
- Bicyclists at Chateau Montpoupon
- Bugatti race cars in Cannes
- Hot air balloons near Chateau Chaumont and suspend above the cliff city of Rocamadour (Ravel - Daybreak from Dauphine et Chloe Suite 1)
- French Alps aerial in Spring and Winter - Mont Blanc, the highest point in Europe is in the background (Debussy - Claire de Lune)
- Aerial of mountain climbers on the rocky peaks of Chamonix
- Skiers in Chamonix (Erik Satie - Trois Gymnopedies)
- La Rochelle Harbor
- Brittany fishing boat at sea
- Rocky Beach at Normandy
- Mont St. Michel (Saint-Saens - Aquarium from the Carnival of the Animals)
- Small church in Brittany
- Wedding reception in a Brittany farmyard (traditional Folk music)
- The cliffs of Etretat in Normandy
- Bonifacio in Corsica
- Villefranche near Nice
- Cove at Calanque Cliffs near Cassis
- Pier in front of Carlton Hotel in Cannes
- Rooftop restaurant in Cannes
- Railway tracks in the hills of Chapeauroux (Saint-Saens - Finale from the Carnival of the Animals)
- Gare du Nord in Paris
- Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triumphe
- Boat on the Seine River in Paris under Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris)
- Notre Dame de Paris (Offenbach - Gaite Parisienne)
- Garde Republicaine rides through the archways at the Louvre(Dukas - Fanfare from La Peri)
- Eiffel Tower, Paris (Saint-Saens - 4th Movement from Organ Symphony Number 3)
- Finale including cliffs of Etretat Cliffs, the Alps near Chamonix, Chateau Chambord, the Alps near Mont Blanc and the Eiffel Tower

The solo artist for Debussy's Solo for Flute was Eddie Beckett of the London Symphony Orchestra

Buddy Baker contributed some original material for Impressions de France. In addition, he did the arrangements and conducted the London Symphony Orchestra for the film's musical score, which was recorded in London.

copyright Disney

 

[officeboy]

Re-Edit? While I assume they still have some or all of the original camera footage it is hard to imagine they would reprocess it to cut a new show. Rather I would expect any changes would reflect a country's travel bureaus desire to represent the current offerings in a more contemporary setting thus they may be looking to rid the experience of some less than current imagery.

Since the OP stated Re-Edit, not re-shoot it seems unlikely modern imagery is coming. If they wanted or needed to increase hourly capacity I could easily see them edit (cut) the show down. That is also generally cheaper than exposing new film or fixing what is in the vault....

As far digital versus film goes I sometimes look at the grain in some shots and wonder why Super16 was invented. Between that look (to me) and the shoe prints on the film to say nothing of the dirt, hair and light fall off in the corners I sometimes wonder if stacked 4K digital is a reasonable alternative. Can one assume they are still using film in this venue due to ROI?

And yes, I do still enjoy this show when the opportunity presents itself. The aural presentation is wonderful. The visual content that goes with it (sans tech issues) are great.

 

[Hoop Raeb]

Given by a CM years ago:

(the sheet is full of typos and spelling errors. I've tried to correct them.)

VERY VERY cool. Thanks. Love the show. It's one of my first memories of EPCOT. Not too long afterwards, I took a high school trip to Paris and have been in love with the country ever since. Can't wait to go back. In the meantime, IdF will suffice.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

I really hope the info you have is right, the film is just pure perfection even with the slightly dated couple of scenes. At least the digital will make it look fresher right?

didn't grand fiesta tour go all digital recently

 

[Jerm]

For everyone who is worried about missing the show, our very own Martin has taken care of making sure it wont every be lost!!!!

http://www.martinsvids.net/?p=121

 

[Monsterfan99]

didn't grand fiesta tour go all digital recently

Much if not all the videos did. It really does make a huge difference.

 

[ChrisFL]

I think they could keep about half the scenes. The format, scenes and music are brilliant and I hope that remains.

But there are several scenes that are very clearly outdated, they just need to re-shoot similar scenes IMO.