"There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" is the theme song of the Carousel of Progress and Disneyland's Innoventions. It was written by the Sherman Brothers.
History[]
The song was first used in the Carousel of Progress, one of several Disney attractions created for the 1964 New York World's Fair (the others being Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, It's a Small World, and the Ford Magic Skyway), at the Fair's General Electric Pavilion. When the World's Fair closed in 1965, the show was planned to be moved to Disneyland along with the other attractions. The Carousel of Progress opened as part of the New Tomorrowland on July 2, 1967 and ran there until September 9, 1973, to make way for America Sings.
After Walt Disney passed away on December 15, 1966, the Sherman Brothers began to view the song as his "theme song" because of his optimism and his visions of the future.
The Carousel of Progress was subsequently moved to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, where it opened on January 15, 1975. However, General Electric requested that a new song be used for the show, so the Sherman Brothers wrote "The Best Time of Your Life" for this updated version of the show. "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow", however, would eventually find its way to Walt Disney World with the 1983 opening of EPCOT Center's Horizons, a GE-sponsored Omnimover attraction located in Future World. There, the song was used in the attraction's Looking Back at Tomorrow scenes, first as an instrumental piece in the style of a French waltz, and then as a 1930s-era pop song sung by Larry Cedar.
General Electric ceased sponsorship of the Carousel of Progress in 1985, but "The Best Time of Your Life" was still used until 1993, at which point the show closed to be updated again for that park's New Tomorrowland. It reopened in 1994 as Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, and an updated "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" was again the theme song. The Larry Cedar-sung version used in Horizons was later used in part of the first act of the new Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. Arrangements of "The Best Time of Your Life" and "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" can still be heard in the current background area music for Tomorrowland at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.
Meanwhile, at Disneyland, America Sings ended its run in 1988, after which many of the audio-animatronic characters were recycled into Splash Mountain and Star Tours, leaving the Carousel Theater empty. It would lay dormant for more than ten years, when a new version of Epcot's Innoventions was installed in it. "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" was chosen as the theme song of Innoventions, with an instrumental version used as the area music and a lively rendition with new lyrics sung by Tom Morrow (voiced by Nathan Lane), as a tribute to the attraction which originally occupied the Carousel Theater.
Other appearances[]
A cover version of the song by They Might Be Giants appears as part of the soundtrack to the film, Meet the Robinsons. It also can be heard at the end of Say Hello to ASIMO, an attraction at the Honda ASIMO Theater in Disneyland. It is also used as the score for the EPCOT and Florida Project film. ESPNU also used the song to promote their National College Football Signing Day coverage in 2015. It makes an appearance at the end of the short Fun with Mr. Future, sung by the titular character himself. This song also makes an appearance in the 2015 film Tomorrowland, when a young Frank Walker arrives at the 1964 World's Fair. The version heard in the 2004–present Tomorrowland background music loop has been used to introduce Tomorrowland on the Disneyland Railroad since that attraction's reopening in July 2017. A special rendition of the song is heard in the credits of the Miles from Tomorrowland episode "The Space Station Situation" performed by Matt Mahaffey.
It is heard again in The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse episode House of Tomorrow.
In 2020, the original Rex Allen recording was used in advertisements to promote the reopening of the Walt Disney World Resort after being closed due to COVID-19.
Lyrics[]
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
And tomorrow's just a dream away
Man has a dream and that's the start
He follows his dream with mind and heart
And when it becomes a reality
It's a dream come true for you and me
So there's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Just a dream away
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
And tomorrow's just a dream away
People have dreams and they're the start
They follow those dreams with mind and heart
When they become reality
It's a dream come true for you and me
So there's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Just a dream away
There's a great big world of Innoventions
Shining in our lives in every way
And a great big beautiful tomorrow
'Cause tomorrow's happening today!
[Sports Zone Verse]
Get on your marks, get set and go!
For sports and fitness, you're in the know!
If feeling fit is how you want to stay
Let those Innoventions help you play!
There's a great big world of Innoventions
Shining in our lives in every way
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Shaping up today!
[Home Zone Verse]
Step through the door of your new home!
Robotics clean from floor to dome!
Your lawn's being trimmed automatically,
Now there's more free time for you and me!
There's a great big world of Innoventions
Shining in our lives in every way
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Headed right this way!
[Entertainment Zone Verse]
Come to the stage and silver screen
You're just in time for our op'ning scene!
Tomorrow's the star, it's about to go
So let's hit the lights, and start the show!
There's a great big world of Innoventions
Shining in our lives in every way
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Starring here today!
[Transportation Zone Verse]
Welcome aboard! We're on our way!
Hello tomorrow, goodbye today!
A world on the move is our destiny,
Over land or sky or deep blue sea!
There's a great big world of Innoventions
Shining in our lives in every way
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Bon voyage, today!
[Info Zone Verse]
When you were born, the learning starts
You go off to school to get your smarts
You launch your career, it's a snap to do
Just let Innoventions work for you!
There's a great big world of Innoventions
Shining in our lives in every way
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Calling you today!
Videos[]
v - e - d  | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
v - e - d  | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|