The Progress City Radio Hour

The Progress City Radio Hour

Hosts Jeff & Michael Crawford take you through a century of Disney history, with a focus on Walt Disney and his many works. From animation to live-action film to theme parks and Imagineering and beyond, we present deep dives into our monthly topics while also interviewing fascinating individuals who have contributed to the Disney legacy. With a look to the past, and an eye to the future, hop on the monorail and join us for a great big beautiful tomorrow! Disney history, music, and more - broadcasting from beautiful downtown Progress City, U.S.A.

Episodes

March 26, 2024 117 mins

The Progress City Radio Hour sets sail for a nautical exploration of one of Disney's best features - its boats! Our salty tales include the life of Disney Legend Admiral Joe Fowler, the origin of Disney boat attractions at Arrow Development, a glimpse of life aboard a FriendShip launch, the creation of Disneyland's Submarine Voyage, and a tribute to Miss Tilly! History, music, and more - cast off the bow line and gun it Mr. Baxter,...

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The Progress City Radio Hour returns to the slopes for more snowbound adventure! We have a wintry mix of tales including a trip to Switzerland with Walt to film on the slopes of the Matterhorn, a look at Disney's involvement in the 1960 Winter Olympics, and a conversation with Greg Glasgow and Kathryn Mayer about their book, Disneyland On The Mountain, about the never-built resort at Mineral King. History, music, and more - fire up...

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The Progress City Radio Hour mulls the wine and sets out the relish tray for our 2023 Christmas episode! This year we're hosting two very special historians and authors, Steven Vagnini and Foxx Nolte! We talk about their past, current, and future book projects, and take a look ahead at 2024. History, music, and more - from all of us to all of you, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

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Former Imagineering Show Writer Scott Hennesy returns in this month's Progress City Town Hall! In this episode Scott answers some lingering questions from last time before taking us to Tokyo to discuss his adventures there. From Juicy Lucy to Chandu, there's a lot to talk about. Pack your duffle - it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

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This month on the Progress City Town Hall we welcome former Imagineering Show Writer Scott Hennesy! Scott comes from a long Disney lineage, and in his time at Imagineering worked on such classic attractions as Kitchen Kabaret, Journey into Imagination, Cranium Command, and more. In this interview we talk about his history, his early Imagineering experiences, and some of his projects for Tokyo Disneyland. Cha-cha-cha, it's the Progr...

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Let's return to EPCOT Center for a patriotic extravaganza like no other! Join us for a look at the creation of the groundbreaking attraction The American Adventure, and the history of Americana-themed spectacles that preceded it in the 19th and 20th centuries. Then take your seat for a history of the beloved singing group Voices of Liberty! Grab those rose-colored bifocals and spare a dime -  it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

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Our 40th anniversary retrospective of EPCOT Center gathers one little spark of inspiration to make some memories! Follow Figment to the Dreamport as we explore the development of the classic attraction Journey into Imagination, and find out about previous Kodak promotions both at Disneyland and at the World's Fairs. And fire up the filmstrip because we're remembering the EPCOT Educational Media Company! Just an ordinary day, but al...

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We're riding on sunshine as we continue our 40th anniversary retrospective of EPCOT Center with a look at a few of the faces of energy! Cross the bridge future bound as we explore the development of the classic attraction Universe of Energy, and find out about previous energy exhibits both at Disneyland and at the World's Fairs. And take an off-topic side trip to The Chummery for the dulcet tones of the Saltwater Express! Feel the ...

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In this Progress City Town Hall we welcome back animator and Audio-Animatronics programmer Davy Feiten for part two of our epic interview! This time we go into detail about the Country Bear Jamboree and its seasonal shows, plus more of Davy's work on attractions such as Visionarium. Put some pants on that bear, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

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This month on the Progress City Town Hall we're thrilled to welcome audio-animatronics wizard Davy Feiten! Davy started his career as an animator before coming to Imagineering to work on EPCOT Center, where he programmed American Adventure, World of Motion, Universe of Energy, and more. In this interview we discuss those experiences, as well as his work on Splash Mountain and on attractions for Disneyland Paris. Watch out for those...

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It's fun to be free as we continue our 40th anniversary retrospective of EPCOT Center with a celebration of the fifth freedom - mobility! Heed the call of the open road as we talk about the development of the classic attraction World of Motion. Find out about sponsor General Motors, and their previous brushes with Disney and World's Fairs. And take a listen to the silliest souvenir video ever made. Free in mind, free in spirit, it'...

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For this month's Progress City Town Hall we're pleased to introduce you to director, producer, and writer Bob Garner! A showbiz veteran, Bob was responsible for documenting Imagineering's work leading up to the opening of EPCOT Center. Among his many credits are the EPCOT preview center film, The Living Seas, the Captain EO preshow film, and much more. Tie down Mickey because Bob is in town, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

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We continue our 40th anniversary celebration of EPCOT Center with a look at the pavilion which today most holds true to its original intent - The Land! We'll look back at how the pavilion came to be, and some of the concepts which were abandoned along the way. We'll also talk about original sponsor Kraft, and how they had a presence at World's Fairs and with Disney long before EPCOT. We'll look at the pavilion's research under cons...

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In this episode we conclude our two-part Progress City Town Hall featuring veteran Imagineer and Disney Legend Doris Hardoon! In her long career, Doris worked on projects ranging from EPCOT to Shanghai and beyond. In part two of our talk we discuss her work on EPCOT galleries, the Autry museum, Port Disney, WESTCOT, Hong Kong Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland and more - whew! Pack your bags for a round-the-world journey, it's the Pro...

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This month we're happy to bring you a two-part Progress City Town Hall featuring veteran Imagineer and Disney Legend Doris Hardoon! In her long career, Doris worked on projects ranging from EPCOT to Shanghai and beyond. In part one of our talk we discuss her early life as a pop singer and model in Hong Kong, her early career in themed entertainment, and her work with Rolly Crump and others on EPCOT's The Land. Vacuum the wall carpe...

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We begin our 40th anniversary celebration of EPCOT Center with a look at the theme of its signature pavilion, communications! We'll look back in time to see the history of the Bell System's past offerings at World's Fairs and Disneyland itself, and talk with Imagineer Peggie Fariss about the level of research that went into the creation of EPCOT's Spaceship Earth. To top it off, we'll examine how Spaceship Earth developed from the ...

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This is it, folks - our fiftieth episode! Can you believe it? To mark the occasion we're looking back at two fiftieth anniversary celebrations of the past, 1973's 50th anniversary of Walt Disney Productions and 1978's 50th anniversary of Mickey Mouse. History, music, and more - nifty at fifty, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

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This episode we're bringing you part two of our Progress City Town Hall with veteran Imagineer Peggie Fariss! Peggie started at Disneyland in 1965 as an attractions hostess, and in her amazing fifty-year career she worked on any number of fascinating projects. In part two of our talk we discuss more of her role in putting together EPCOT's planning conferences, her work helping create the Disney Gallery, the art of dealing with corp...

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This month we're very excited to bring you a two-part Progress City Town Hall with veteran Imagineer Peggie Fariss! Peggie started at Disneyland in 1965 as an attractions hostess, and in her amazing fifty-year career she worked on any number of fascinating projects. In part one of our talk we discuss the origins of Peggie's Disney career, her time in Florida previewing Walt Disney World in 1969, her role there as the resort opened ...

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We're on the rails again as we continue our exploration of the production of the 1956 Disney feature The Great Locomotive Chase. Join us, Walt, and Fess in the mountains of Georgia and North Carolina for a look at the locals Walt recruited to take part in the film, some of whom he tried to bring back to California with him! We also look back at the film's multiple premiere events, and Jeff speaks to Bill Kurtz III, whose grandfathe...

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