By a fortuitous turn of events , Jim also had the opportunity to lead some last-minute changes for the top of the fountain . Jim described the events to me . “ The day that Marty Sklar and John Hench came to approve it , they didn ’ t like the top , and Walt [ Peregroy ] wasn ’ t there , and they were on a tight schedule . They said , ‘ Jim , is there anything you can do ? We love the fountain , but we ’ d love the top to be a little different .’ So I took the fountain top home , and the foam that we use , and I went into the shower … and pulled the curtain … got my mask on , and I sculpted a new top , brought it back the next day , and they said ‘ Jim , that ’ s it .’”
Some of Jim ' s design work can still be seen in The Land Pavilion like the iconic hot air ballons ( above ). PHOTO BY CLIFF WANG Other work like the fountain ( left ) has been removed over the years . VINTAGE EPCOT MAP SCAN BY TRISHA DAAB
Jim admitted that Walt wasn ’ t too thrilled to hear John and Marty didn ’ t like his original design , but Jim was proud to have added to Walt ’ s iconic fountain .
MUSICAL VEGETABLES Another legendary Imagineer who worked on The Land Pavilion was George Wilkins , a composer who was the protegé of Buddy Baker and who developed several music pieces for the Disney Parks . George ’ s talents were instrumental ( pun intended ) to the early days at EPCOT . He wrote the theme to Horizons and The Living Seas , the ride score to Journey Into Imagination ( adapted from “ One Little Spark ,” which was written by the Sherman Brothers ), and the original background music for The Land Pavilion .
George also wrote an hour ’ s worth of
Kitchen Kabaret has become a cult classic . Check it out on YouTube with the QR code below . VINTAGE EPCOT MAP SCAN BY TRISHA DAAB
jazz area music for a cult classic , Kitchen Kabaret , and arranged many of the songs featured in the main attraction , including a Disney fan favorite , “ Veggie Veggie Fruit Fruit .” Years later , George ’ s work as an arranger continued with Kitchen Kabaret ’ s replacement , Food Rocks , which featured parodies of pop hits that included songs like “ Good Nutrition ” ( sung by The Peach Boys , it was a parody of The Beach Boys hit , “ Good Vibrations ”) and “ High Fiber ” ( sung by Pita Gabriel , it was a parody of the Peter Gabriel hit , “ Sledgehammer ”).
In summing up his years at Walt Disney Imagineering , George recalled fondly , “ For a guy like me , it was the break of a lifetime .”
You can hear my interviews with Jim Sarno and George Wilkins in Imagineer Podcast episodes 59 and 86 .