13 Billion Years in 35 seconds

EPCOT Center, like everything else in Walt Disney World, tells a story. But this isn’t a fairy tale, a fantasy or a legend this is the story of man — of our time on the planet. A story told with flashbacks to the past and flash-forwards to the future.
— Mike Bonnifer,
Walt Disney World: Past, Present and Future, 1991

Epcot’s theme as a celebration of the intrinsic value of humanity dictates that in our modern world of entertainment, focused on fewer and fewer franchises it’s essential to the subject of Epcot that one completely dissociate themselves with anything involving films, intellectual properties, and especially theme parks.

As with most films in this precisely defined genre of “Science Factual” presentations focused on the future, the narrative begins in our deep past. In all cases, whether it’s the prologue to Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the beginning of “Mars and Beyond” (1957) or most of the “Spaceship Earth” attraction this is done to establish a lineage through which a thesis can credibly emerge. For the development of “EPCOT | Recentered”, it was crucial to prime the audience for a discussion about the park’s potential by first moving as far away from its current condition as humanly possible, while still maintaining links and homages to its own history.

Drawing inspiration from the first minute of “The Spirit of EPCOT Center”, the opening of Carl Sagan’s “Contact” and most importantly the highly expressive early concept art of Claudio Mazzoli for Spaceship Earth (see below), this opening sequence was conceived as a literal journey through both time and space from before the big bang — From the outermost edge of the universe at the conception of human history to a soundstage in Burbank, CA in 1966.

Beyond these inspirations, this prologue is meant to convey that EPCOT was the latest in a very long line of historical achievements. And unlike most treks through time, this sequence was intentionally constructed to not cover all the major events or cultures in human history. Although undeniably significant, there would be no wars, dictators, weapons or other travesties shown in this tableau of our triumphs — every person, place or invention depicted was carefully chosen to signify a positive step in the progression of mankind.

Below are key moments in the “EPCOT | Recentered” prologue with historical commentary
☆ = Denotes further discussion in future entries of Making Recentered

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Genesis

Beginning in the shapeless void before the Big Bang, this segment was inspired by the Lumia Effect that begins our journey aboard Spaceship Earth, which coincidentally aligns with “M Theory” where when two Membranes in the fifth dimension collide to create our universe.

Starchild

The first abstraction in our trip through time and space, this image was inspired by the early conceptual paintings of Spaceship Earth by Claudio Mazzoli where he frequently depicted the dawn of humanity with angelic fetuses.

The Spark of Consciousness

Our first step through the evolution of mankind is sparked by the development of our frontal lobes, making possible all the progress of our species.

Our Trajectory

The Spark of Consciousness becomes the galactic map found on the Pioneer 10 Space Probe that triangulates the position of our Sun in relationship to 14 Pulsars.
This map will lead us to our final destination on this 13.8 Billion Light year odyssey through the cosmos.

Assyria

Although precious little has survived from one of our oldest civilizations these bas reliefs serve as a mysterious first stop through the early mists of time.

The Wondrous Wheel

Setting much of civilization in Motion, these early incarnations of our World’s round revolution are also the first direct cameo from the Center-ed subject matter of our film. ☆

Abram ben Terah

Commonly known as Abraham, the patriarch of the three Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Pharaoh Akhenaten

Father of the famous Tutankhamun, Akhenaten holds the distinction of establishing the first (and possibly only) monotheistic religion of Egypt.

City of Memphis

Memphis was one of the oldest and most important cities in ancient Egypt, located at the entrance to the Nile River Valley near the Giza plateau. It served as the capital of ancient Egypt. ☆

The Giza Plateau

The “Golden Era” Necropolis of the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, here we see complex in its original glory filled with lush tropical vegetation and cap-stoned pyramids. ☆

Democratic Legislation and Language

Ancient Greece serves as the birthplace of democracy while Phoenicians create a common alphabet ☆

Pythagoras and the Pentagram

One of the earliest and most important scientists, making many discoveries in the worlds of Mathematics, Metaphysics, Music theory, and the first person to call himself a “philosopher”, Pythagoras was also well versed in Mysticism, Ethics and Religion.

The Golden Spiral

Classic Proportions discovered by Euclid of Alexandria is often referred to as the “founder of geometry”. This segment (and the pentagram preceding it) is simultaneously a tribute to 1959’s “Donald in Mathmagicland” — in many ways the embryo of EPCOT Center.

The Transcendent versus the Temporal

Greecian philosophers Plato & Aristotle debate their opposing beliefs in Raphael’s magnificent School of Athens fresco. ☆

The Light of Alexander

One of the wonders of the ancient world, the Lighthouse of Alexandria shines through the night sky. ☆

Herod's Temple

The reconstructed (or Second) Jewish holy temple that stood on the Temple Mount in the city of Jerusalem between c. 516 BC and 70 AD.

The Prince of Peace

As the central figure of the human race, Jesus of Nazareth, is symbolically depicted as a dove flying through the temple veil forever breaking the barriers to salvation through the Living God.

The Eternal City

The Roman Empire before the fall as seen in “The Martyrdom of St. Agnes” ☆

The Philosopher and the Christian

Last of the “Five Good Emperors” in the “Pax Romana” age, Marcus Aurelius furthered Stotic philosophies while Constantine more than 100 years later restructured the faltering federation into the Holy Roman Empire.

New Rome

Beginning as “Byzantium” the city was renamed “Constantinople” after Constantine the Great established it as the new capital of the Holy Roman Empire.

Music and Exploration

Although by far not the first culture to perform it, the Byzantines created modern music notation, such as this traditional chant allowing music to be “recorded” for replication and distribution.
Vikings set out to explore New Worlds long before others attempt similar journeys.

The Scientific Saint and the Stained Glass.

An immensely influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism, St. Thomas Aquinas bridges the false gap between the spiritual and scientific, inspired, in part, by the North Rose Window of Notre Dame de Paris. Interestingly, I had no knowledge of the relationship between these two, while creating this shot.

Pressing Progress

A page from the Gutenberg bible appears letter-by-letter to usher in The Age of Enlightenment. ☆
(Note: Because of image compression, this element had to be eliminated from the final film.)

The Renaissance

Represented by its Florentine epicenter, The Renaissance brings new knowledge and discoveries to light. ☆

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Intersecting Art & Science

History’s preeminent polymath, Leonardo da Vinci and his contemporary astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

Heliocentric

Copernicus’ revolutionary Heliocentric Model of the Solar System featuring period-appropriate planetary symbols and proportionally accelerated orbits.

Beauty and Majesty

The central scene of Michelangelo's magnificent Sistine Ceiling, the “Creation of Adam” represents a pinnacle of artistic expression while also (less importantly) serving as an homage to the sequence’s Spaceship Earth inspiration. ☆

Civilizations & Celestial Mechanics

Sir Thomas More social philosopher and statesman and author of Utopia with Galileo Galilei, "father" of observational astronomy, modern physics and the scientific method among a myriad of other accomplishments.

Discovering New Worlds

Representing the many ships that set sail from the Old World to the New, are the Discovery, Godspeed & Susan Constant that settled Jamestown. ☆

Architects of America

Founding Fathers Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson herald the arrival of a revolutionary republic that would change the course of human events.

Birthing a Nation

Independence Hall and the Constitution signify the arrival of a new society; not great, but fitted by our very faults for greatness.
Although the original still exists, it was near impossible to get I clean shot of Independence Hall as it existed in 1776, so the replica at Knott's Berry Farm was substituted as well as a new vectorization of the US Constitution.

By and For the People

The US Capitol symbolizing the democratic system of government that brought forth the flexiblity needed to found a forward-thinking nation.

Programming & Inventing

The world's first Theoretical Computer Programmer Ada Lovelace and the practical inventor Thomas Alva Edison.

Mechanical Marvels

The gears of the industrial age explode bringing us mechanical marvels like Locomotives and visionary inventors such as Nikola Tesla.

French Influences

Designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi with a framework by Gustave Eiffel is The Statue of Liberty in her original copper color and visionary novelist Jules Verne.

Microexploration

Pioneering physicist and chemist, Marie Curie that was the first to research radioactivity and discover polonium.

The Iron Lady

The first purely futuristic structure Le Tour Eiffel as it appeared during its debut at the Exposition universelle de 1889 complete with original lighting scheme.

Top of the Tower

A continuation of the previous image, now showcasing one of its original omnidirectional spotlights.

Dawn of the 20th Century

The first skyscrapers including The Flatiron and Singer Buildings with the automobile racing its way thru history.

Scraping the Sky (Part 1)

The Singer building is quickly surpassed by the MET Tower as the Wright Flyer begins the era of air travel. Note: At this point, the acceleration of time in combination with practical concerns of composition precipitates overlapping events in history.

Scraping the Sky (Part 2)

The competition for ever-higher edifices continues with Art Deco masterpieces the Chrysler and Empire State.

Computing & Connecting

Movie star and inventor Hedy Lamarr develops the process of “frequency-hopping”, thus creating our Wi-Fi-enabled world of today with Alan Turning mathematician and pioneer of modern computer science. Off in the distance, the Trylon & Perisphere from the 1939 World’s Fair come into view. ☆

Mars and Beyond

Aerospace engineer Wernher von Braun appears as the Trylon & Perisphere begin their metamorphosis into other aspirational structures. ☆

The Final Frontier

Science Fiction author and inventor of the geosynchronous orbit, Arthur C. Clarke appears on the surface of the moon, as the TWA Moonliner (the only fantasy element of this presentation) takes off to its lunar destination. ☆

Peace through Understanding

The transformation from 1939’s Perisphere into the 1964 Unisphere completes featuring its original lights illuminating the capitals of the world.

Pale Blue Dot

In its final transition, the orbits of Yuri Gagarin, John Glenn and the Telstar satellite spin out of view as the Unisphere metamorphosizes into our spaceship — our Spaceship Earth.

Reentry

Our journey across the furthest reaches of time and space begins its descent to the Earth’s surface “crash landing” into a particular parcel of land towards the end of 1966.

Burbank, CA

Although interrupted by the opening titles of “EPCOT | Recentered” our trek across the cosmos pick-ups where we left off with a catwalk view of Walt Disney shooting “The EPCOT Film” and beginning our story.

UP NEXT

We’ll cover the technical aspects of depicting the history of history including asset creation & test footage for several segments of the prologue.

Joshua HarrisMay 17, 2022Comment