Impressions de France

Impressions de France (Impressions of France) is a film about France and the featured attraction in the France Pavilion of Epcot's World Showcase at Walt Disney World in Florida. The movie is presented in the Palais du Cinéma building and projected onto five adjacent screens, giving 200° coverage and resembling a Cinerama Screen, in which one giant, curved screen stretches so wide that the edges are at the peripheral vision of the average person. (This is not a Circle-Vision 360° Theatre, in which a person stands and turns to look at 9 screens all around them with a projector between every pair of screens. The Canada and China films in the World Showcase are in Circle-Vision 360° Theatres.)

Impressions de France
Epcot
AreaWorld Showcase, France
StatusOperating
Opening dateOctober 1, 1982
General statistics
Attraction typeMovie Theater
DesignerWED Enterprises
ThemeTour of France
MusicArranged by Buddy Baker; includes works by Boieldieu, Debussy, Offenbach and Saint-Saëns
Duration18:00
Wheelchair accessible
Assistive listening available
Closed captioning available

Synopsis

Impressions de France is one of the original Epcot park attractions, which has been playing every day since the park opened in 1982. It is also recognized, by the Guinness World Records as holding the world record for the "longest running daily screening of a film in the same theater."[1] The film sweeps pavilion guests into a tour of the French countryside, major cities, various regions and important structures. Set to a musical score written and arranged by Buddy Baker (composer), the film encompasses the music of classical French composers such as Claude Debussy and Camille Saint-Saëns.[2] The film is the work of director Rick Harper[3] and written and co-produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Bob Rogers.[3][4][5] The film's aerial views, mixed with closer views, include, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe, the French Alps, Versailles, scenes from Cannes, Notre Dame de Paris and scenes from Normandy. The movie is presented with a lively classical soundtrack and narrated by Claude Gobet.

Scene list

Here is the list of the scenes from an official list:

  1. The cliffs at Étretat in Normandy.
  2. Gliding through the Marais Poitevin, a swamp area near La Rochelle.
  3. Château de Chenonceau; in the Loire Valley, then from the gardens.
  4. Horsemen and hunting dogs cross the Cheverny Forest.
  5. Aerial shot of Château de Chambord.
  6. We fly over the red rooftops up to the bell tower of the church in the Vézelay village.
  7. Vezelay Church interior, with church bells in the background.
  8. In the horsecart we ride through Riquewihr Village near Germany.
  9. Moving through the market place in Beuvron-en-Auge, Normandy.
  10. French pastries.
  11. Wine harvest at the Monbazillac Vineyard.
  12. Interior of a Cognac cave.
  13. The Fountain of Apollo at Versailles.
  14. The Palace of Versailles Garden.
  15. The Versailles building and the Hall of Mirrors.
  16. Flying over Castle Beynac in the Dordogne Valley.
  17. Man chopping wood with Chateau Montpoupon.
  18. La Roque - Gageac in the Dordogne Valley (bicyclists).
  19. Chateau Montpoupon, bicyclists racing toward us.
  20. Bugatti race cars in Cannes.
  21. Hot air balloons take off near Chaumont Castle on the Loire river.
  22. Hot air balloons in front of the cliff city of Rocamadour.
  23. French Alps in the spring.
  24. Mountain climbers on rocky peaks in Chamonix. (French Alps)
  25. Skiers in Chamonix.
  26. La Rochelle Harbor.
  27. On board a Brittany fishing boat at sea.
  28. Fishing boats on the rocky beach of Etretat in Normandy.
  29. Mont Saint-Michel.
  30. Interior of Notre-Dame-de-Penhors church in Pouldreuzic, Brittany.
  31. Wedding reception in full swing at a Brittany farm to traditional Brittany folk music.
  32. Couple walks along the cliffs of Normandy in Étretat.
  33. The cliff city of Bonifacio, Corsica.
  34. Villefranche near Nice.
  35. Calanque cliffs near Cassis.
  36. Pier in front of the Carlton Hotel in Cannes.
  37. Cannes Harbor at twilight.
  38. Racing along railway tracks in the small Lozère town of Chapeauroux next to the Allier River.
  39. Gare du Nord (North rail station) in Paris.
  40. Champs-Élysées at twilight featuring the Arc de Triomphe.
  41. Seine River in Paris.
  42. Notre Dame de Paris.
  43. Through the archways at the Louvre, the Republican Guard
  44. Eiffel Tower.
  45. Aerial shot of Étretat Cliffs.
  46. Aerial shot of the Pyrenées of Cirque de Gavarnie
  47. Aerial shot of Château de Chambord.
  48. Aerial shot of French Alps near Mont Blanc.
  49. Finale - Eiffel Tower.

Soundtrack

Buddy Baker arranged the film score, and he conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios. The soundtrack was recorded digitally with a Sony prototype recorder, and Impressions de France became the first movie with a digital soundtrack from beginning to end.[6]

Regarding the inspiration for his musical choices, Harper said:

I grew up being exposed to a lot of great music. My mother is a fantastic musician and pianist, and when I was in grade school, she would take me out of school to go the San Francisco opera and symphony. I built a classical music collection of records starting from when I was about 6 years old. I was really familiar with music from the Romantic era and primarily French music. It's almost in my DNA. Even to this day, that's the music of my preference.[6]

Here is a listing of the movie's score from official and unofficial sources:[7]

Scene 1
"Syrinx" * (0:00-0:33)
by Claude Debussy
Solo for Flute by Eddie Beckett of the London Symphony Orchestra
Scenes 2 - 4
"Aquarium" from The Carnival of the Animals * (0:33-1:52)
by Camille Saint-Saëns
Scenes 5 - 6
"Rondeau (Allegro agitato)" from Concerto in C for Harp and Orchestra * (1:52-2:52)
by François-Adrien Boïeldieu
Scenes 8 - 9
original music
by Buddy Baker
Scene 10
original music
by Buddy Baker
Scenes 11 & 12
original music
by Buddy Baker
Scenes 13 - 15
original music
by Buddy Baker
Scene 16
"Nuages" from Nocturnes
by Claude Debussy
Scene 17
original music
by Buddy Baker
Scenes 18 - 20
"Ouverture" from Gaîté Parisienne * (2:52-3:38)
by Jacques Offenbach
original 6 second introduction by Buddy Baker
Scenes 21 - 22
"Lever du jour" from Part 3 of Daphnis et Chloé Suite #2
by Maurice Ravel
Scenes 23 & 24
"Clair de Lune" from Suite bergamasque (Orchestral Arrangement) * (3:38-4:51)
by Claude Debussy
Scene 25
"Trois Gymnopedies #1" * (4:51-5:25)
by Erik Satie
orchestrated by Debussy
Scene 26
original music
by Buddy Baker
Scene 27 & 28
original music
by Buddy Baker
Scene 29
"Aquarium" from Carnival of the Animals
by Camille Saint-Saëns
flute arrangement by Buddy Baker
Scene 30
original music
by Buddy Baker
Scene 31
source music (traditional Brittany folk music)
final bars arranged and adapted by Buddy Baker
Scene 32
original music
by Buddy Baker
Scenes 33 - 35
original music
by Buddy Baker
Scenes 36 & 37
original music
by Buddy Baker
Scenes 38 - 40
"Finale" from Carnival of the Animals * (5:25-6:25)
by Camille Saint-Saëns
Scenes 41 & 42
original music * (6:25-7:07)
by Buddy Baker
Scene 42
"Allegro moderato" from Gaite Parisienne * (7:07-7:22)
by Jacques Offenbach
Scene 43
"Fanfare" from La Peri * (7:22-7:59)
by Paul Dukas
Scene 44 - 49
"Maestoso - Allegro" from the 2nd movement of Symphony no. 3 (Organ Symphony) * (7:59-9:51)[8]
by Camille Saint-Saëns

The selections marked with * can be found on these albums:

  • Walt Disney World Resort: The Official Album (1999)
  • Walt Disney World Resort: Official Album (2000)
  • Official Album: Walt Disney World Resort Celebrating 100 Years of Magic (2001)
  • Official Album: The Happiest Celebration on Earth – Walt Disney World Resort Album
  • Official Album: Where Magic Lives – Walt Disney World Resort
  • Four Parks - One World: Walt Disney World Official Album (2008)

See also
  •  Florida portal
  •  Disney portal

References
  1. "Impressions de France: Longest running daily screening of a film in the same theater". Guinness World Records.
  2. Niles, Robert (December 17, 2008). "Why 'Impressions de France' is the best movie ever made for a theme park". Theme Park Insider. Archived from the original on December 21, 2013.
  3. Niles, Robert (March 8, 2010). "2010 Best Theme Park Attraction nominee: Epcot's Impressions de France". Theme Park Insider.
  4. "Bob Rogers: Theme Park Storytelling". mouseplanet.com. January 12, 2011.
  5. "France Pavilion, EPCOT: Impressions de France" (PDF). BRC Imagination Arts.
  6. "Rick Harper: A Conversation -- Impressions de France". The MacGyver Project.
  7. "Impressions de France". Theme Park Insider.
  8. "Score: AEF8378".
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