Meet the World

Meet the World
Meet the World attraction poster
Tokyo Disneyland
Area	Tomorrowland
Status	Removed
Opening date	April 15, 1983 (1983-04-15)
Closing date	June 30, 2002 (2002-06-30)
Replaced by	Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek
Ride statistics
Designer	Walt Disney Imagineering
Theme	Japanese history
Vehicle type	Rotating theater with Audio-Animatronics
Duration	20:00
Sponsor	National-Panasonic/Japan Airlines
Required ticket	Free
Wheelchair accessible

Meet the World (ミート・ザ・ワールド, Mīto za Wārudo) was an attraction at Tomorrowland in Tokyo Disneyland that operated from 1983 until 2002.^[1] It was a show that explored the history of Japan over the course of 19 minutes, focusing specifically on the history of Japan's engagement with the outside world. The show featured an animated crane explaining Japanese history to a young boy and girl from Yokohama. The show featured dialogue between a number of audio-animatronic figures (including Sakamoto Ryōma, Itō Hirobumi and Fukuzawa Yukichi) and a movie screen in the background. Park guides and maps said "explore Japan's heritage in an incredible time-travel adventure!"

The show was presented in a rotating theater, similar to the Carousel of Progress at Walt Disney World and previously at Disneyland. However, they were designed in the opposite way. In Tokyo, the audiences sat in the rotating theater inside with the stages built around them, whereas, in the Carousel of Progress the audience sits in the rotating outside with the stages being the center of the building. Meet the World's layout meant less audience capacity but a larger stage area, while Carousel of Progress's format has more capacity but smaller stages.

The "Meet The World" song was written by the Sherman Brothers. The attraction was designed by WED Enterprises Imagineer Claude Coats. The Animatronics and Show Action Equipment were built at Walt Disney World's Central Shops in Florida (adjacent to the huge carriages for Epcot's American Adventure attraction being built at the same time.) The show scenes were staged at the WED facility in North Hollywood for integration and show programming. The crane character was animated by Disney animator Randy Cartwright. The attraction had over thirty Audio Animatronic figures, nine 70 millimeter projectors and 15 large pieces of show action equipment. There were two large Stewart rear projection screens and three proscenium filling perforated "scrim/screens." The figures were sculpted by Blaine Gibson with the exception of the three Meiji figures who were sculpted in Glendale by a Japanese sculptor from Toho Studios in Tokyo.