The song was written by
Richard and Robert Sherman for the
Carousel of Progress, one of four attractions
Walt Disney and his
Imagineers developed for the
1964 New York World's Fair. The lead vocals were by
Rex Allen, a frequent Disney narrator who also provided the speaking voice for the
Audio-Animatronic host of the attraction. When the Carousel of Progress moved to Disneyland after the fair and opened in 1967, the song came with it. In 1973, the Carousel of Progress closed and moved to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in 1975. During the move, in 1974,
General Electric—the sponsor of the show—commissioned a new theme song known as "
The Best Time Of Your Life", also written by the Sherman Brothers. In 1982, GE commissioned a third song from the Sherman Brothers called
"New Horizons", but in the end, opted not to use it and
GE's CEO wrote a song instead, which disappointed many fans of the attraction. When General Electric dropped sponsorship of Carousel of Progress in 1985, the newer song initially remained. But in 1993, Disney brought back the original theme, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," and renamed the attraction Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. At that time, the song was rerecorded to feature the current voice cast, including
Jean Shepherd (Speaking) and
Jess Harnell (Singing) as the Father character, as can be heard on the theme park's web site. The song was also used in one scene of
Horizons, the former Epcot "sequel" attraction to the Carousel of Progress. At Disneyland, the attraction that had replaced the Carousel of Progress, America Sings, closed in 1988. The building, known as the "Carousel Theater," sat empty for ten years, until the new
Tomorrowland opened on May 22, 1998. The new occupant of the Carousel Theater building, Innoventions, paid tribute to the older attraction by reviving the 1964 song until it closed in 2015. Tom Morrow (the audio-animatronic host of Innoventions) sang it at the beginning, end, and during transitions of sets. This version of the song featured new lyrics written by the Sherman Brothers in 1998, and was sung by
Nathan Lane. The attraction was updated periodically to include newer elements, but still uses the original theme song between each transition. However, the different Tom Morrow scenes are not directly linked in a continuous show as the old attraction was. The original Rex Allen recording was the exit music for the
ASIMO show inside Innoventions as well. ==Legacy==