The EPCOT Opening fun
EPCOT Center: The Opening Celebration aired Saturday, October 23, 1982, on CBS, the night before EPCOT's official opening. Thus, the special began with a live shot of Kaye in the park amid some rain and saying, "I'm coming to you live…and wet…from EPCOT Center."
We then get into the opening number, "Hooray For The 21st Century," which is a great piece. There are fabulous looks at how EPCOT was created, including a gorgeous montage of Spaceship Earth being constructed. Kaye also does a good job selling the park, including this masterful take on how EPCOT was meant to be WDW and vice versa.
"Just so there is no confusion. EPCOT Center is located in the center of EPCOT. And EPCOT Center is made up of two parts, which is Future World and The World Showcase. It's 2.5 miles from The Magic Kingdom, which is also part of EPCOT, which is what the entire 2,700 acre area known as the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow or EPCOT or Walt Disney World is called. [laughs] Just so there's no confusion!"
The rest of the special has more of the park being shown with Kaye talking to astronaut Alan Shephard, then meeting Drew Barrymore, who was starring in the box office mega-smash E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Their banter is fun (with Kaye doing his old "Get it? Got it! Good" catchphrase) and leads to a filmed bit of Dreamfinder and Figment.
There's Roy Clark showing off the Land pavilion and an extended bit of Kaye going around World Showcase singing about the countries involved. An interesting bit is Kaye meeting Alex Haley to discuss the never-built Africa pavilion. Another highlight is Kaye talking to Eric Sevareid, and the newsman quotes his famed obituary for Walt Disney.
It concludes with Kaye conducting the West Point Glee Club and how marvelous the park was. That was needed as, for many viewers, this was the first-ever look at EPCOT Center, and it was astounding to see this high-tech playground beckoning people with a look at the future.
It was a good special, cheesy in the right places, with some fun music, and Kaye looked like he had a good time. However, behind the scenes was a much different story.