40 YEARS AGO - THE MAIN STREET ELECTRICAL PARADE

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Disneyland proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination in thousands of sparkling lights and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sounds. The Main Street Electrical Parade!"

40 years ago today, the most spectacular and popular parade of Disneyland ever, the "Main Street Electrical Parade" debuted.

According to D23's official website...

"It was a day of deep tension and nerves for those involved in the premiere of Disneyland’s Main Street Electrical Parade, because just two weeks earlier the parade was on the fritz. Disney engaged a company in Chicago to build the floats and most were not complete, and work on some hadn’t even begun! Disneyland’s Vice President of Entertainment Bob Jani and Director of Show Development Ron Miziker decided to have all the units shipped to California in pieces where a second set of electricians and technicians would try to make them all work. Everything was down to “the wire” but when the gates opened for the big premiere, it was all ready, and it was electrifying. As for the now trademark theme song, Jani originally suggested that music from Fantasia should accompany the new parade of lights, but it was Producer Jack Wagner who felt that it should be something electronic rather than orchestral. Within 48 hours Wagner discovered Baroque Hoedown on the record album Spotlight on the Moog: Kaleidoscopic Vibrations by Jean Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley, and for the next 37 years, that song has accompanied the various versions of the Electrical Parade at Disney theme parks around the world and it’s still glowing strong!"

This parade was the inspiration of Robert Jani, who was Disneyland's director of entertainment for may years. the floats were designed by Disney Legend Bill Justice.

According to Wikipedia, here is a complete list of the parade floats...

Units

• Blue Fairy
• Casey Jr. Circus Engine
• Alice in Wonderland
  • Mushroom with Butterfly and Ladybug
  • Snails
  • White Rabbit
  • Mushroom with Alice and Cheshire Cat
  • Fireflies
  • Mushroom with The Caterpillar and Frog (originally a butterfly)
  • Turtles
  • Centipede
• Cinderella
  • Pumpkin Coach
  • Ballroom
  • Cinderella's Ball w/ Prince Charming and stepsisters
  • Clock Tower
• Peter Pan (1985–1996)
  • Pirate Ship w/ Captain Hook and Peter Pan
  • Smee's Boat w/ Mr. Smee
• Dumbo's Circus
  • Hippo and King Leonidas Calliope
  • Four Ring Circus with Dumbo and Clown (split into two parts)
  • Bear Balancing on Barrels
  • Elephant Bathing
• Briny Deep/Pinocchio Underwater (1977–Spring '83)
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1985–1996)
  • Dopey's Mine Train with Dopey, Snow White, Doc, Grumpy, and Sneezy
  • Dwarf Mine with Happy, Sleepy, and Bashful
• Pinocchio on Pleasure Island (1985–1996)
  • Funhouse Face and Pleasure Island Part 1
  • Pleasure Island Part 2 w/ Pinocchio and Lampwick.
• Sleeping Beauty Dragon (1972) (later changed to Chinese Dragon)
• Pete's Dragon (1977–1996, replaced Chinese Dragon)
• Return To Oz (1985)
• Disneyland's 25th Anniversary (1980) (replica of Sleeping Beauty Castle)
• Mickey Mouse's 60th Anniversary (1988)
• It's a Small World (1972–1988)
• Disneyland's 35th Anniversary (1990) (logo float)
• To Honor America (1979–1996
• Disney Neon Finale (1977–1978) with a series of rotating mirrors and adorned with various neon-lit Disney characters. These include:
  • Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore
  • Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee
  • Bambi, Thumper and Flower
  • Bernard, Bianca and Orville
• Fox and the Hound (1981)

It was sponsored by Energizer (1972-1985) and General Electric (1985-1996).

It ended on November 25th 1996. Click Here to watch a video of the parade that was shot "the year that it 'glowed' away". 

In 2001, a new reincarnation of this beloved parade was brought back in the form of "Disney's Electrical Parade" at Disney's California Adventure. That closed in 2010. (And hopefully they bring it back soon! I would like to see it for once!!!)