Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln - Development of The Attraction

Development of The Attraction

Walt Disney was always fascinated with the life of Abraham Lincoln. He even recited Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to his elementary class as a small boy. As Disneyland became more prosperous, Walt proposed an expansion of Main Street, U.S.A. in 1957 to be called Liberty Street. It was to be a look back at Colonial-era America. The centerpiece attraction would have been The Hall of Presidents, a stage presentation featuring figures of every single U.S. President, which would later be built at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. Walt wanted all the figures to move, but limitations of the audio-animatronics technology of the era made it impossible. After Liberty Street was abandoned, the Imagineers concentrated their efforts on one president: Mr. Lincoln.

In April 1962, Robert Moses approached Walt Disney about contributing attractions to the pavilions of the 1964 New York World's Fair. Walt took Moses around the studio, showing him the new technology his Imagineers were working on. Nothing really sparked Moses' interest. Walt then showed Moses a prototype electronic figure of Lincoln. Moses was astonished at the possibilities and told Walt that he had to have this figure at the Fair. Despite knowing that the figure was years from completion, Walt told Moses it would be ready. Moses then sought the State of Illinois as a sponsor to have Mr. Lincoln as the featured attraction at their pavilion.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln performed very well and became one of the big draws to the Fair. It was the first human audio-animatronics figure ever attempted by Walt Disney. In 2009, the attraction was again used to showcase the latest technology when it became the first attraction to use a human autonomatronics figure.