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That was the Grand Canyon as we know it today, but it wasn't always that way. Quiet now, as we travel back in time, back to the fantastic Primeval World, land of the dinosaurs!
―Announcer in the California version of the attraction after passing the Grand Canyon Diorama (pre-2017 revamp)


Primeval World is a short attraction on the Disneyland Railroad at Disneyland and on the Western River Railroad at Tokyo Disneyland.

It was formerly part of the Ford Magic Skyway attraction at the 1964 New York World's Fair.

It is based on the Rite of Spring segment of the 1940 Disney animated feature film Fantasia.

In Disneyland, it comes immediately after the Grand Canyon Diorama between the Tomorrowland and Main Street stations. In Tokyo Disneyland, it is located in a mining shaft behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, heralded by a Triceratops skeleton at the entrance to the tunnel.

At the Primeval World, guests see a many dinosaurs (a large number of dinosaurs) in a supposed natural habitat after traveling back in time. This includes a forest inhabited by Edaphosaurus, a swamp with a feeding herd of Brontosaurus (plural: Brontosauri) and Pteranodons perched upon rocks and waterfalls, a Triceratops couple and a nest of baby Protoceratops, a group of Gallimimus at a small watering hole in a scorching desert, and a Tyrannosaurus battling a Stegosaurus in a volcanic landscape. The Tokyo version merges the Pteranodon and Gallimimus vignettes into one scene and utilizes figure molds created for the Universe of Energy to depict its brontosaur herd.

Disneyland's diorama is accompanied by the theme for the 1961 film The Mysterious Island, while Tokyo's diorama uses the original Ford Magic Skyway soundtrack.

Dinosaurs and other Prehistoric Animals[]

  • Edaphosaurus - Actually a synapsid (a reptile-like ancestor of mammals) that died out before the dinosaurs existed, though this is a common mistake. They are among the first creatures shown, and have characteristic glowing red eyes.
  • Giant Snails
  • Giant Scorpion
  • Meganeura
  • Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus- A large, long-necked plant eater seen in the water. Both adult and young are present.
  • Pteranodon - Though it is a flying reptile, they aren't seen flying and are instead perched on cliffs.
  • Triceratops - A couple of these three-horned dinosaurs are seen.
  • Protoceratops - Seen as hatchlings.
  • Gallimimus - A small herd of these ornithomimids are seen at a watering hole in a desert. They may not actually be Gallimimus, as names are not mentioned on the ride.
  • Tyrannosaurus Rex - One of the last dinosaurs to be seen, it can be seen fighting a Stegosaurus around a lava pit.
  • Stegosaurus - One of the last dinosaurs to be seen, it can be seen fighting a Tyrannosaurus Rex around a lava pit.

The Primeval World diorama was originally constructed by Disney for the 1964 New York World's Fair as part of the Ford Magic Skyway attraction, where it was viewed from a Ford Mustang and was narrated by Walt Disney himself. The attractions It's a Small World, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and the Carousel of Progress were also constructed for the same Fair and transferred to the park after the closing of the Fair in 1965.

Goofs[]

Several paleontological mistakes are found in the diorama. This can be forgiven by the fact that it was created in the 1960s and was predominately rooted in an animated sequence that was created in the 1940s.

With the exception of Triceratops and Protoceratops, there are numerous mistakes:

  • As with many dinosaur-based media in popular culture, it depicts dinosaurs from all different time periods and places in the same habitat. 
  • Many of the dinosaurs are out of proportion to their actual size.
  • The Brontosaurus/Apatosaurus has a number of mistakes:
    • They are seen chewing plants like cows. This is known to be incorrect, as it/they swallowed its/their food whole and it was broken down by gizzard stones (gastroliths).
  • It/they did not have spines.
  • It/they did not drag its/their tail on the ground.
    • It/they were proven incapable of eating (or resting/snuggling) with its/their body submerged under water due to the pressure's impact on its/their internal organs.
  • The Stegosaurus has a number of mistakes:
    • Its tail should be more elevated and it has five or six tail spikes (with the fifth spike --out of the five-- being on the tip of the tail). (The real dinosaur Stegosaurus only had four spikes on the tail.)
    • It did not live at the same time as Tyrannosaurus Rex.
  • The Gallimimus has a number of mistakes:
    • It/they had feathers.
    • It/they could not pronate its/their wrists.
  • The Pteranodon has a number of mistakes:
    • They are shown standing on their hind legs with their wings spread out like a vulture, when they should be on all fours with their wings folded like a vampire bat.
    • They (like all pterosaurs) were supposed to have fur and lack bat wings.
    • Despite not living at the same time as Brontosaurus --as Brontosaurus was around in the Jurassic period and Pteranodon lived in the Cretaceous period-- Pteranodon --even though it was not a dinosaur-- it (like all pterosaurs) lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.
      • So the Brontosaurus and Pteranodon living at the same time (living in the Mesozoic era --age of dinosaurs-- overall) could be seen correct, as pterosaurs lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.
  • Edaphosaurus went extinct before the dinosaurs existed. And (since it was a mammal-like reptile and related to mammals) it should have naked mammal-like skin instead of scales.
  • The Tyrannosaurus Rex near the end has a number of anatomical faults:
    • The head is wrong shape.
    • There are three fingers on the hand (three fingers like an Allosaurus or Giganotosaurus). The real dinosaur (Tyrannosaurus Rex) had two.
    • It did not have pronated arms.
    • It is standing upright, which has been determined wrong.
    • Its tail is dragging on the ground.
    • It did not live at the same time as Stegosaurus.
    • Tyrannosaurus Rex (when it was young) had feathers along its back, neck, and head. This however was not definitively proven until the 21st century so the mistake is understandable.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • The theme song is from the 1961 film Mysterious Island was played.


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