The Progress City Radio Hour

It's fun to be free as we continue our 40th anniversary retrospective of EPCOT Center with a celebration of the fifth freedom - mobility! Heed the call of the open road as we talk about the development of the classic attraction World of Motion. Find out about sponsor General Motors, and their previous brushes with Disney and World's Fairs. And take a listen to the silliest souvenir video ever made. Free in mind, free in spirit, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

For this month's Progress City Town Hall we're pleased to introduce you to director, producer, and writer Bob Garner! A showbiz veteran, Bob was responsible for documenting Imagineering's work leading up to the opening of EPCOT Center. Among his many credits are the EPCOT preview center film, The Living Seas, the Captain EO preshow film, and much more. Tie down Mickey because Bob is in town, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

We continue our 40th anniversary celebration of EPCOT Center with a look at the pavilion which today most holds true to its original intent - The Land! We'll look back at how the pavilion came to be, and some of the concepts which were abandoned along the way. We'll also talk about original sponsor Kraft, and how they had a presence at World's Fairs and with Disney long before EPCOT. We'll look at the pavilion's research under consultant Carl Hodges, and we'll revisit EPCOT musical muse Bob Moline. History, music, and more - make believe you're a tiny little seed and mayo up that salad loaf, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

In this episode we conclude our two-part Progress City Town Hall featuring veteran Imagineer and Disney Legend Doris Hardoon! In her long career, Doris worked on projects ranging from EPCOT to Shanghai and beyond. In part two of our talk we discuss her work on EPCOT galleries, the Autry museum, Port Disney, WESTCOT, Hong Kong Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland and more - whew! Pack your bags for a round-the-world journey, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

This month we're happy to bring you a two-part Progress City Town Hall featuring veteran Imagineer and Disney Legend Doris Hardoon! In her long career, Doris worked on projects ranging from EPCOT to Shanghai and beyond. In part one of our talk we discuss her early life as a pop singer and model in Hong Kong, her early career in themed entertainment, and her work with Rolly Crump and others on EPCOT's The Land. Vacuum the wall carpet and I'll meet you at the potato stand, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

We begin our 40th anniversary celebration of EPCOT Center with a look at the theme of its signature pavilion, communications! We'll look back in time to see the history of the Bell System's past offerings at World's Fairs and Disneyland itself, and talk with Imagineer Peggie Fariss about the level of research that went into the creation of EPCOT's Spaceship Earth. To top it off, we'll examine how Spaceship Earth developed from the "Future World Theme Show" to the attraction we know and love today. History, music, and more - hug a Phoenician and beware the electronic babble, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

This is it, folks - our fiftieth episode! Can you believe it? To mark the occasion we're looking back at two fiftieth anniversary celebrations of the past, 1973's 50th anniversary of Walt Disney Productions and 1978's 50th anniversary of Mickey Mouse. History, music, and more - nifty at fifty, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

This episode we're bringing you part two of our Progress City Town Hall with veteran Imagineer Peggie Fariss! Peggie started at Disneyland in 1965 as an attractions hostess, and in her amazing fifty-year career she worked on any number of fascinating projects. In part two of our talk we discuss more of her role in putting together EPCOT's planning conferences, her work helping create the Disney Gallery, the art of dealing with corporate participants, and her time at Disneyland Paris! Head for Ice Station Cool, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

This month we're very excited to bring you a two-part Progress City Town Hall with veteran Imagineer Peggie Fariss! Peggie started at Disneyland in 1965 as an attractions hostess, and in her amazing fifty-year career she worked on any number of fascinating projects. In part one of our talk we discuss the origins of Peggie's Disney career, her time in Florida previewing Walt Disney World in 1969, her role there as the resort opened in 1971, and her work helping develop EPCOT programming in the 1970s. Meet you at the Sunshine State Exhibitorium, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

We're on the rails again as we continue our exploration of the production of the 1956 Disney feature The Great Locomotive Chase. Join us, Walt, and Fess in the mountains of Georgia and North Carolina for a look at the locals Walt recruited to take part in the film, some of whom he tried to bring back to California with him! We also look back at the film's multiple premiere events, and Jeff speaks to Bill Kurtz III, whose grandfather was technical advisor for the film and who himself made an actual appearance on the Disneyland television show! History, music, and more - pop open a Coca Cola, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!