Page 112 - CelebrationsSpring2020

heritage. When it was determined that the anthem should be inclusive of all peoples, a contest was held and won by Québec-born Calixa Lavallée, with original lyrics written in French by fellow Québecois Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The English lyrics were added later by Robert Stanley Weir.)
Epcot administrators listened to their concerns, and in 2007 the film received a much-needed overhaul. While the crux of the film, including a number of pieces of footage, remained the same, the new movie featured a new narrator in the comedic superstar Martin Short, a proud son of Hamilton, Ontario, and an old friend of the Disney company, having voiced B.E.N. in Treasure Planet and Jack Frost in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. The new film expanded its coverage of each area, and included images that Guests might recognize, such as glorious Niagara Falls; British Columbia’s Cathedral Grove and the Butchart Gardens, on which the landscape of the Canada Pavilion is based; Joe Carter’s World Series-winning home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1993; Cirque du Soleil, which had been in residence at Downtown Disney for 19 years and is returning to Disney Springs in the spring of 2020; and the internationally acclaimed Toronto Film Festival. The combination of Short’s down-to-earth humor (or humour, as it is spelled north of the border), updated scenes and more thorough views of each region, along with an infectious score composed by Emmy-winner Bruce Broughton, immediately made the new incarnation of the film a favorite of Guests to the Canada Pavilion.
That brings us to 2020, and with the new decade comes a new film, Canada Far and Wide. It is narrated by Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy, both Ontario natives who have collaborated on a number of projects, including the famed Canadian series SCTV, along with the films Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. O’Hara also appeared as Calamity Jane in the live-action Disney film Tall Tale, and voiced characters in Frankenweenie and Sofia the First, while Levy provided the voice of Charlie in Finding Dory.
Though it sounds simple enough, one of the innovations of the new film is that it opens with a map of Canada which is referred to throughout the movie, so that those unfamiliar with the layout of the country can have a better understanding of what they are about to see. Like its predecessors, Canada Far and Wide emphasizes the diversity of cultures contained within its borders, which covers 5700 miles--“or as we like to say in Canada, 9300 kilometres,” O’Hara reminds us--and six time zones, indicating that the
film is aptly named. (For the record, the title comes from Robert Stanley Weir’s lyrics in the national anthem: “From far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.”)
While many of the featured locations will look familiar to those who have seen the previous films, there are new images to explore, such as expanded coverage of Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, the Thousand Islands Suspension Bridge connecting the state of New York and southeastern Ontario over the St. Lawrence River, British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley (which boasts both vineyards and a desert) and Whistler Mountain, with special nods to the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, and the 2019 NBA Champion Toronto Raptors--We the North! Canada Far and Wide also includes long overdue segments on the First Nations (the native peoples of Canada), as well as Canada’s far north, comprised of the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, complete with a stunning view of the Northern Lights.
A new soundtrack was provided by Canadian composer Andrew Lockington, but the new film ends in the same way as its predecessors: with the bi-lingual song “Canada (You’re a Lifetime Journey),” written by Bob Moline. Listen carefully to the coda to catch the opening notes of “O Canada!”
With all of the new attractions coming to Epcot, not to mention the International Festival of the Arts in the winter and the International Flower and Garden Festival in the spring, there is already an abundance of things to see and do throughout the park. But don’t forget to take a break and take in a movie! Explore our Awesome Planet, join in on a song with Belle and Lumiere, or grab your passport and head north to trek across Canada Far and Wide!
Wondrous China
In addition to these three films, a fourth film was also announced, Wondrous China, which is slated to open later this year to replace the long-running Reflections of China. Wondrous China will take Guests on a spectacular journey across the country, filmed and presented in a completely seamless 360-degree digital format.
With the new films coming to World Showcase, Guests will be able to tour the globe in a whole new way, with new sights and sounds that highlight the wonder and beauty of our tiny planet. From ancient monuments and breathtaking landscapes to modern-day cities and worlds of fantasy, 2020 is poised to bring a whole new world of magic and discovery to Epcot Guests for years to come.
112 · Celebrations
Artwork © Disney