Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln Reopens Today
 

According to an LA Times article, Great Moments with Mr. Martin Lincoln reopens today. But apparently, some people are not happy with his voice:
Oy

How would anyone have any idea what he actually sounded like?

Whatever. I'm excited to see it. And I'm glad to be done with the haircut.

Thought they said it was open yesterday and we walked by early in the day and the doors were open. Then later in the evening it was closed.

Cast Member Previews were last night.

I wonder if he still has Michael Landon's hairstyle.

I still want them to do Lincoln Encounter, where he ends the Gettysburg Address with the room going pitch black and you feel the spray of the chestburster coming from ye olde president.

Because people wrote down what his voice was like. Now, they won't know exactly what he sounded like but if 40 people wrote in their journals "OMG!!! Abe's voice is so funny, he's all squeaky like a mouse and he stutters when giving speeches something awful" then we'll know today that James Earl Jones would not be an accurate voice to use and should get Matt Frewer to do it.

That said, the comment that his voice isn't right is about as old as the attraction so I'm guessing nobody at Imagineering cares.

Too bad Bea Arthur is dead. She could have done Abe's voice.

Or Bobcat Goldthwait

I hear the prez is so articulate now that he can blow you kisses! Cool!

Yup, this goes on the list for "maybe in May".

I went tonight, around 11 pm, and it was a full house. There's a whole pre-show in the lobby about Royal Dano, Paul Frees is back with intro duties, and the music is fully restored, with bonuses for those of us who know our Disney music! "Two Brothers" is even back! I'm not sure what to make of Abe, though. The in-theater pre-show is more moving than the "great moments" themselves. There are some programming kinks that need to be smoothed out in the animation. The hyper-real facial expressions just don't jive with the clunky body movements and the occasional extravagant gestures. I'm so glad it's back, especially in it's original style of presentation, but the Imagineers just can't quash their need to show off with a suped up Abe.

90%.

An Imagineer once told me of a vaudeville performer who was known for doing a spot-on impersonation of Lincoln. He included this in his act for decades, and a recording was made of him reciting the Gettysburg address. My friend had heard it and told me it sounded a little like Barney Fife.

Apparently, there are written descriptions of Lincoln's voice as being high-pitched and annoying, though I don't know if the Imagineers in '64 knew this or not. They picked Royal Dano because he was already associated with the role, having played Lincoln in a five-part television bio on "Omnibus."

It's good that Great Moments is back. :)

But poor Abe. It looks like he's hungover...

Wow. I guess it's the hair, but you're right. Looks like he had a rough night.

And maybe as president he could afford getting his pants tailored so they fit.

Well, he did fire his barber

I wonder if in about 15 years, we'll get one with body movements that are as cool as the face?

Saw it last night. While I was impressed with the additional facial expressions, it still looks a little cartoonish. Also, when he stands up, it looks artificial. it all looks great, but there is still some room for improvement.

I also enjoyed the new foyer/intro, talking about Royal Dano and showing some of his clips from the TV show Walt saw him on.

And I guess I completely forgot the original (per-haircut) GMWML, as I forgot that Paul Frees did the VO. I kept thinking I was walking onto HM :D

The post-show leaves a bit to be desired. They attempted to highlight people (Americans) who had an impact on the world. I can see JFK, Jackie Robinson, Steve Wozniak, and many others, but Sonia Sotomayor and Hannah Montana?!? Nothing against Sotomayor, but she hasn't been around long enough to have done anything yet. If they wanted a recent Supreme Court Justice, I would have gone with Sandra Day O'Connor since she was the first female Justice.

I'm kind of thinking they wanted to highlight her as the first Latina SCJ.
As for Hannah Montana... maybe they wanted to make sure that the over-hyped and untalented get some spotlight.

We went Sunday. Maddie declared it officially "creepy". She also wanted to know why Hanna Montana was there as "she's not dead". We missed the pre-show but she loved the model of the capital. She's going there in April.

It's kind of funny to think that whenever advancements are made in how to make robots look convincingly human, the first person to get the homage will be Lincoln. I wonder what he'll look like 30 years from now.

He'll look like Glenn Close?

Ow, that hurt my eyes

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!

Bad, GD! Bad!

VGCM

Like father, like daughter.

Personally, I think the first female SCJ was a much larger advancement.

What scale exactly are you judging that by? And on that scale, would first female SCJ outrank first black SCJ? Or would having justice O'Connor just bring cries of, "O'connor? They should have had Thurgood Marshall!"

In any conversation about Lincoln is necessarily couched the sub-topic of racial equality. I find it perfectly appropriate, especially considering the demographic of Disneyland attendees, to put a spotlight on the person who represents one of the highest profile breakings of a contemporary racial barrier. Judging whose advancement was "large" seems a futile and pointless exercise. No matter who was in that segment, someone could come up with some argument for why someone else is "more deserving". But Sotomayor seems to be a apropos, topical choice to me.

I said "convincingly" human.

I was hoping Mr. Lincoln would be wearing a Captain Eo jumpsuit...