It has been awhile since we posted a film restoration and I guess for good reason. I was away on vacation and the entire podcast crew has been busy researching the show and designing our t-shirts and merchandise (If you haven’t seen our exclusive original retro designs, check out www.retrowdw.com/supportus) But there is another reason, and it’s a good one…I’ve been hard at work restoring a pristine 16mm home movie of the early days of EPCOT Center. I took a bit more time to restore this film as anything with EPCOT on film is a rarity, but 16mm with sound puts this to a level of super rare and its over 17 minutes long.

Ok so what is in this film? First you’ll notice that the entire film is narrated by the individual who filmed it. While I thought this was boring at first, he brings a unique aspect to the film and if you pay attention to his commentary you’ll find some very interesting comments that demonstrate how EPCOT was viewed by its guests in the early 1980s. The film starts right in the front of EPCOT and we see the amazing acrylic fountain and Spaceship Earth. Our visit to Future World is brief but fantastic. Horizons under construction, the marquee signs on Communicore and other wonderful sights. We then dive into World Showcase in a very detailed fashion starting with Canada. I love how the photographer zooms in on “TV personality Michael Young…he used to be on Kids are People Too“…From there every World Showcase pavilion is discussed in great detail before coming around to Future World again for some wonderful footage inside Imageworks at the Journey into Imagination Pavilion.

This did not come cheap, I spent quite a bit of money to obtain the films and then the cost to restore them. I’ve opened up the Tip Jar on this film in case you’d like to help support future endeavors. A film like this cost nearly $400 to procure, transfer, restore and distribute.