Disney and parades go together like peanut butter and jelly. For most people, an iconic childhood memory is visiting either Disneyland or Walt Disney World and sitting on a curb, watching favorite characters sing and dance their way down Main Street, USA. Disney has gone through quite a lot of parades over the years, with a few of them really standing out. Today, let’s take a look at some of the most unusual but fun parades Disney has created over the years.
1. America on Parade
Image: Disney
Presented at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, America on Parade ran from 1975-1976, celebrating America’s bicentennial. This parade was unique, as it was the largest parade ever made at that point in Disney history. It featured over 150 performers and had about 50 unique and floats, some which were so high they had to dismantled in order to pass under bridges and ceilings to return to their starting point. It also had synchronized music (including a song created by the legendary Sherman Brothers) and choreographed dancers.
Strangely, the parade featured very few Disney characters. Instead, doll-like characters rode on floats that reenacted important moments in American history, like the first Thanksgiving, the Revolutionary War, and the meeting of the two trains that symbolized the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The floats also represented parts of American culture, like riverboats on the Mississippi River, baseball, and picnics in the park. Later in the parade a few Disney characters make appearances, representing American films and television. The parade also featured perhaps the weirdest float in Disney parade history, a giant sandwich followed by a dancing jar of mustard.
Although it can be argued that the parade glossed over more important (and controversial) parts of history, it does certainly represent Disney’s view of the perfect American town and family. And considering that this was the first parade of this size, you can see how it influenced the many parades that would follow it.
2. Circus on Parade
Image: Larry, Flickr (license)
Sometimes called the “Circus Fantasy Parade,” this ran in Disneyland from 1986-1988. Although the idea of a circus themed parade sounds fun, Disney took it to a whole other level. The parade, which ran just under 20 minutes from start to finish, decided to have different sections that represented various parts of the world, like the Old American West, South America, and the Far East. Each section had performers and classic Disney characters dressed in costumes that represented their section of the world, with the parade’s catchy soundtrack changing to incorporate music from that section (including a sampling of “The Three Caballeros” song in the South American section). However, the most memorable (and strangest) part of the parade was its use of exotic animals.
The parade opens with a stagecoach pulled by a team of eight horses trotting down Main Street, USA. But when you then see a herd of five elephants following them, one with Minnie Mouse riding on its back, you know that this is going to be a different type of parade. Also included in this parade were llamas, parrots, camels, a chimpanzee, and a giraffe. Even stranger, Pluto rides on the back of a bull, Goofy dances on a float five feet behind a puma only constrained by a leash, and a lion glides by in a giant, lion-shaped cage float.
The parade also included classic parade and circus favorites like clowns, stilt walkers, unicycle riders, dancers, and a marching band. As entertaining as it was, it does leave some important questions unanswered, like how did Disneyland find so many animals for the parade? Whatever the answer, it looks like the animals didn’t stay around for long, considering the parade only lasted for two years on and off and was followed by some more sensible parade themes.
3. Blast to the Past
Image: Disney
The 1970’s and 1980’s seemed to have a certain nostalgia factor for the 50’s and 60’s. With popular movies and TV shows like Grease, American Graffiti, Dirty Dancing, Stand by Me, Back to the Future, The Wonder Years, and Happy Days set in the “good old days” it makes sense that Disneyland would also jump on the bandwagon in the form of a 50’s themed parade back in 1988.
The Blast to the Past parade started with a series of bright pink and green numbers dancing to the music, followed by floats and dancers representing retro records, record players, television sets, and cars. Following that were dancers dressed up as popular television characters, such as the Three Stooges, Lucille Ball, Dezi Arnaz, the Mousketeers, and even Superman. The soundtrack had its own theme song, intertwined with popular songs like “Barbara Ann,” “The Twist,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” and, of course, “The Mickey Mouse March.”
The parade ended with a retro futuristic space rocket float, with Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Chip and Dale dressed in their best future space costumes, perhaps symbolic of the new interest in the space race. The parade was colorful and fun, although it did lack a lot of the classic Disney images. However, the parade only lasted a year, ending in 1989.
4. Dinosaurs Live!
Image: ABC
In the 1990’s, Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios (then Disney-MGM Studios) often had parades promoting their newest films, such as Aladdin, The Lion King, Toy Story, Hercules, and Mulan. Besides this, MGM Studios also created a mini-parade based on Dinosaurs, the television show on ABC.
This parade could be considered more of a moving stage show. It consisted of two floats, one with a camera crane carrying a “director” and one that was a large, two story float with the entire Sinclair family, who are presented to the crowd as the “surprise family of the day.” They are “filming” a movie, which includes the dinosaurs singing and dancing with a marching band. Most of the parade included the floats and performers circling in front of the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre before eventually stopping for the main dance portion and eventually making it’s way up Hollywood Blvd. Much of the soundtrack is the Dinosaurs voice actors exclaiming how excited they are about to be in Disney World, along with the song “Walk the Dinosaur” by the band Was (Not Was).
Although it may not be considered a full parade, it did certainly have unique floats and costumes. It was also unique in the fact that the entire show was used to promote one television show, which was cancelled just a few years later.
5. The World According to Goofy
Image: Disney
Has anyone ever wondered what it would look like if Goofy decided to tell the history of the world? Someone at Disneyland did, so in 1992 “The World According to Goofy” parade came to life, including various parts of history retold from Goofy’s viewpoint.
The parade started with Ludwig Von Drake rapping about how Goofy has a different interpretation on history. This is followed by the first story – Caveman Goofy opened a tar pit bath resort, which trapped all the dinosaurs (including a “Goofasaurus”) and lead to their extinction. Other stories in the parade include “King Putt,” a Goofy-looking Egyptian pharaoh who invented golf, an Italian Renaissance painter who invented pizza, and a modern day Goofy who is running for president of Disneyland (by literally running on a treadmill).
As strange as a concept this was, it was presented well with great costumes and floats, plus a bunch of fun songs. Each story or section of the parade was proceeded by a float shaped like an open book, giving a brief description of the next section. Every section was full of great puns and Goofy jokes. Unfortunately, the parade only lasted for five months before being replaced by an Aladdin themed parade the following year.
