Nothing said "Walt-made" more than Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. So you can image my severe disappointment when they shortened his speech, then changed the end music away from Julia W. Howe's, Battle Hymn of the Republic, eliminated the opening slideshow for historic context, and the coup de grâce, replacing Lincoln with something resembling Grant reciting the Gettysburg Address. Worse yet, it employed historically inaccurate pillars and audience applause sound effects. Ahem, this was a memorial service for the thousands of troops that died at Gettysburg. This was not a campaign speech. Now Walt Disney had the foresight of having Royal Dano recite the Gettysburg Address. Why they did not use it rather than the revised current version is beyond me. Today the Main Street Opera House is showing the history of Disney. Fine. But hopefully, we will see a fully restored version of the original. And (if Disney takes the Lincoln speech to heart) restore the original music as well. The Battle Hymn of the Republic is still a part of American history, and the whole message of Lincoln's speech is "liberty", not "relinquishment".Here is hoping that December of 2009 will remedy this great error!
Hats off to Imagineering for bringing back this great and wonderful presentation! Can't wait to see it once again. Bravo Disneyland!
I was not disappointed. The new Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln is brilliant! The only drawback was that they shortened his speech. I would have rather had the extended, full speech, and taken much of the slideshow in the waiting area.
