Information

History

On October 1st, 1982, Spaceship Earth (and the rest of Epcot) opened up to the public. Originally narrated by Vic Perrin, this version of the ride was very different from what we know today. But let's focus on the Greek scene in particular…

On opening day this scene was based on the Theatre Arts, showing us a play of “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles performed by 3 animatronics, 2 with audio. According to infomation from the 3 iterations this scene lasted, I believe it took place at the Theatre of Dionysus during the Classical Period (5th-4th Century BC), with a view of the Parthenon flipped around for aesthetic reasons.

Vic Perrin’s narration offers a whimsical feel to the theatre arts and credits poets from that time…

Here, we see a standing figure and a sitting figure, both wearing masks to match their characters. In the 2007 rendition, they are faced oppositely yet keep the same composition.

In 1986, we got a new narrator by the name of Walter Cronkite. His voice was strong and steady, asserting information with each scene (the fact that he was a CBS News Anchorman for 19 years makes sense). He states...

The scene of Theatre stayed the same between 1982-2006, its role in Spaceship Earth to share how our communication became an ‘art’, creating stories and songs to share with the world. Instead of formal decrees and passive conversations, we now had meaning to the words we shared and could create bonds with others through our stories.

In the Jeremy Iron’s version, he states:

The 2007 version of Spaceship Earth completely rehauled the Greek scene, transforming it into a classroom instead of a theatre. Two other animatronics from the Renaissance Italy scene were added, now taking the role of astronomy students. The greeks also got an entirely new wardrobe, researched and designed by Marilyn Sotto Erdmann.

The standing figure and the sitting figure were switched around and the teacher got an upgrade, giving him a state of the art- for 2007- body for a better animated expression.

Dame Judi Dench became the new narrator for 2007, giving us these words…

“The ancient Greeks were great inventors of the future. First, they established public schools, and then begin teaching an intriguing new subject called mathematics. And with math comes mechanical technology and the birth of a high-tech life we enjoy today.”

The tone suddenly shifts from serious to comical, as much did the rest of the ride. Instead of spoken art, we learn about mathematics and the importance of schooling. The “arts” now shine onto the Renaissance area instead of the Greeks. But I digress, we learn the importance of education and how we can figure out mathematical wonders together through a ‘universal’ language. Which benefits us all and helps reach new technological advances. Something that seemed to get taken away with other past versions and adds new energy to the once ‘sorta empty’ scene.

Instead of a known play, our main animatronic now has a lecture to share. It has been translated from English to Ancient Greek and spoken as such.

“Never forget this wisdom passed down to us from Euclid … heaven and Earth hold many mysteries, but all of them can be solved with mathematics. To illustrate, let us see how we might use our knowledge of mathematics to calculate the motion of the stars with this celestial sphere.”

Today, the scene still stands the same. Its future unknown with refurbishments that could happen at any moment. As much as I loved the emphasis on ‘spoken art’, I believe the Renaissance helps with that point, now that the rest of Spaceship Earth has been cut at modern day and instead focuses on personalized ‘futures’. This issue gives us a chance to learn another thing the Greeks have given us, instead of just adding onto what we can already see later.

I hope they do not change it, it is perfect the way it is right now to me.Unless they decide to bring back the 94 version…..lol…..

Layout

Located around the 4th-ish floor, the Greeks are the 4th animatronic showroom of Spaceship Earth. They are facing to the right of the track, which grants easy access to the back of the scene from the middle of the sphere.

This scene is illuminated with blacklights and a warm light in the back as ‘fire’, you can usually see a lighter blue light in the middle that adds highlights to the characters.

There are also stars scattered around the whole scene, unknown to me yet if there are any notable constellations.

Speaking of fire, the ‘brazier’ of fire is a fog effect. The orange lighting makes the fog simulate fire. Sometimes this effect is working, sometimes working too much.

Around the classroom, we see fake cypress trees and shrubbery, mostly ferns. We can see these closely in the ‘Goat meets Greek Philosopher’ video.

Behind these shrubberies is the Acropolis hill, the statue of Athena Parthenos confirms this. Based on the ancient maps of Athens, I believe that the classroom takes place in the Kynosarges, a gymnasium where teachers commonly held classes that went beyond the required academics. Like a university of sorts. However, the Kynosarges is located to the south of the Acropolis, just outside of the Diomeian gate and by the Llissos River. So….

From this view, we would be looking at the Parthenon, the Chalkotheke (Bronze Store), and the Athena Parthenos. Of course, because of this ride’s history and the fact that this used to be a theatre setting, and also because classrooms could be held anywhere. It is up to debate on the exact location of this scene in Athens. But the Kynosarges is a very good estimation.

On the ground, we can see remnants of the old ride, between the students and the teacher, an outline that leads underneath the showroom. This connected an animatronic platform during the old layout.

2 chairs were added for the animatronic figures, one for sitting and another for reclining. These also act as new ports for connection from underneath the stage.

There is also a ledge that leads up to this scene from the track, it seems very narrow and hugs closely to the wall.

Mechanics

Note: Everything in this section is still very hidden infomation and has been mostly guessed by me with little confirmation and general research. I can confirm the figure names, figure types and Kallias' function list.

The Greek teacher and his students were reprogrammed by Darrin Hughes and his team.

Everything in this scene is run on DACS (Digital Animated Control System) from the underground of the Magic Kingdom.

The teacher and students are A-1 pneumatic animatronics, I believe they were produced by Garner Halt Productions. Most have been untouched since the 70s from when they were created, that I know of. The info on the teacher's skeleton is still unknown to me, but I believe that they just upgraded him.

Here is an example of what they could look like underneath, without the tubes and (yellowed) plastic shells of course....

Those character sheets are out there somewhere…

Kallias: F-7 Student (Prone)

Functions:

• Head nod
• Torso sidebend
• Eye blink
• Eye right
• Eye left
• Left ankle twist

Demetrios: F-36 seated student from renaissance italy

Functions:

• Head nod
• Eye blink

Teacher: F-16

Functions:

• Head nod
• Eye blink
• Eye right
• Eye left

Leonidas: F-17

Functions:

• Head nod
• Eye blink
• Eye right
• Eye left

Epizelos: F-18

Functions:

• Eye blink
• Eye right
• Eye left