“Come join us as the Sage of Time brings the Millennium drummers to life and starts the heartbeat for our journey as we prepare to touch tomorrow today.”

Ask me what my all-time favorite Walt Disney World Parade is and without hesitation I will answer Tapestry of Nations. To me, it was everything a parade should be. The music was amazing and played over and over in your head long after you’d left the park that night. The puppets were fantastic and interacted beautifully with the guests. It even had a story behind it!

The parade debuted at Epcot on October 1, 1999 as part of the Millennium Celebration, when it ran twice nightly.

It was actually 3 identical parades, running at the same time. One ran from Mexico to Germany, another from Germany to Morocco, and the last from Morocco to Canada.

The second parade of the evening was usually after the sun had set, and with the use of lighting, was a completely different experience to the same parade in daylight.

“There is a great and lasting truth about the family of man. A truth which separates us from all the other creatures of the Earth. We can dream.
Through the centuries it is our dreams that have filled the sails of explorer’s ships, splashed color on artist’s paintings, and brought smiles to children’s faces. There is a dreamer within each of us imagining a greater tomorrow .. daring to fly, to build, to cure. Daring to invent, to sing, to love. Daring to believe in the beauty of the world and the beauty within ourselves.
Tonight, in celebration of the dreamer in all of us, we present to you a dream of a better world … where this circle of nations comes together to rejoice … proclaiming the great truth that with our vast diversity, we are all dreamers at heart.
Join us as we celebrate the visions of tomorrow …. the pageant of human kind … the Tapestry of Nations.”

The story is told by the Sage of Time who reminds us that long ago humans lived side by side in harmony and peace with each other, and with the earth. As the years passed by this changed as humans tried to rule the earth. We now realise that we are all part of one family, humans, and we must join together to celebrate the fact that although we are all different, we are really the same. Each of us is a single thread, but as we all share the same love, kindness and compassion, each thread weaves together to form the human spirit.

“Peace and goodwill to all who gather here for this earthly celebration. May the spirit of humanity bring us together. May the power of your dreams inspire the child within your heart. And now, as the drum beats call us to begin our journey, let us dance inspired into motion by visions of joy, kindness, compassion, and love…Behold, the Tapestry of Nations.
Time is the heartbeat of the world. The rhythm of our hearts inspires our drums and the drums call us to dance. Rise up…join us…all nations dance together!
Peace covers the Earth. The torches of our celebration encircle the world. The Tapestry of Nations is weaving itself together. Come and be a part of the circle dance with us.
Your dreams will unlock the future and the vision of humanity will bring us together. Let us reach out and touch the stars as they light the way to tomorrow and bring us hope…for a better world.
Join us as we dance into a new age. Enter the world of our celebration.
The universe is echoing with joy and the sound of our voices and the beat of our drums and the rhythm of our footsteps… as we rejoice together.
May peace go with you on your journey…forever dreaming of the future…We Go On!”

Each of the 120 puppets featured in the parade belonged to a different group, and within those groups, each puppet was unique.

They included eight basic styles:

Reverse Marionette – a large multicolored puppet, holding a small marionette.

Disc Man - the tallest puppet, whose body was made up of discs.

Hammer Man – a character made of pieces of sheet metal.

The Sprite - had large wings and a three tiered tail.

Angel Girl – a human face and a large wingspan.

Wiggle Girl - a smaller wingspan than Angel girl, and no face.

Bird Man - a puppet with a crane-like face and large wingspan.

Aztec Man - had an Aztec-style head, and a small wingspan.

The Sage of Time was represented by a stilt walker wearing an elaborate silver cloak, with a sun for its face.

The puppets towered up to 18 ft above the ground, and were designed to move effortlessly in the breeze, making it easy for the performers to interact with guests.

Each was designed by artist Michael Curry, who was also responsible for creating the puppets used in The Lion King show on Broadway.

The haunting and uplifting musical score was composed by Gavin Greenaway, and supervised by Oscar winning Hans Zimmer. The music was recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios, which was made famous by The Beatles.

Fifteen massive, rolling percussive units carrying a total of 720 drums and 30 drummers added rhythmic spirit to the soundtrack. The Millennium Clock drums symbolized the human heartbeat, and had a drummer on each side.

Around the Lagoon, 19 torch towers stood, each with flames rising almost 30 feet in the air, igniting the spirit of celebration.

Throughout the day, children could make masks at the Kidcot Funstops throughout World Showcase, which they could then wear during the parade.

In December 1999, the narration was changed slightly to give the Sage of Time a gentler tone to his voice. Another change in Spring 2001 brought in the theme of human dreams.

This continued through to summer that year when the parade was rethemed to Tapestry of Dreams. Wishes made by children from all around the world were added to the soundtrack, with a tribute to Walt Disney himself added to the middle of the parade.

The Dreamseekers replaced the Sage of Time. This trio of elf-like creatures (Leonardo Columbus, Elfin and Cosmo) collected Dreamtale coins in their butterfly nets. Children had written their dreams on the coins at the Kidcot stations during the day.

Tapestry of Dreams was cancelled in March 2003 due to its waning popularity*, although it remains one of the most missed parades that Disney World has ever staged.

[* edit: since publishing this article I have discovered the real reason it was discontinued was due to injuries suffered by the performers due to the heavy puppets]

---

This post is part of the Disney Blog Carnival. Head over there to see more great Disney-related posts and articles.”