Changes

Although Disney had always planned on creating a movie film for the [[France ]] pavilion that gave would give guests an overview of the country, Impressions de France went through many changes before making its debut. Original models for the France pavilion show the Palais du Cinema (which houses the film) as being round<ref> http://progresscityusa.com/2010/04/15/elseworlds-epcot-centers-french-circlevision/ </ref>. Initially, WDI President Marty Sklar tasked young filmmakers Bob Rogers and Richard Harper with coming up with a concept for a 20 minute Circle-Vision 360 film for the pavilion <ref name= "funworld"> Miller, Keith. “Record-Setting 'Impressions de France' Turns 35 Along with Epcot.” Funworld, Oct. 2017, pp. 22–23. </ref>. After , and after a couple of months, the duo was tasking tasked with creating the film. Unlike 360 films that had been created for the [[Canada]] and [[China]]however, Harper and Rogers decided that they wanted to present the film in 200 degrees <ref name="funworld"/>. This allowed would allow guests to sit down while they watchedthe attraction, while still having the screen cover their peripheral vision.

Before filming on Impressions de France started, director Rick Harper decided to match individual passages of French music , from the late Romantic and early Impressionistic eras , with the proposed filming locations <ref name= "score"> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084124/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv </ref>. While shooting the film, Harper and writer/co-producer Bob Rogers sometimes used a stop watch, or played-back the music on a cassette recorder, to ensure that the shots would line up with the music. After filming the scenes, the shots were matched with the musical pieces that Harper had selected <ref name= "score"/>.

Because of the this preplanningpre-planning, the "temp" soundtrack created for the film was far more detailed than is the norm. In total, Harper had about 80% of the score planned out. After hearing the temp score, composer Buddy Baker was enthused by what Harper was trying to do <ref name= "score"/>. Baker ended up using all of Harper's selections, but re-orchestrating them to improve the transitions and create bridges to fill the 20% of the film that Harper had not selected tracks for. After the score was complete, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra finally recorded the soundtrack at Abbey Road Studio in London <ref name= "score"/>.

Impressions de France opened with the rest of the [[France]] pavilion on October 1, 1982 <ref> https://d23.com/a-to-z/impressions-de-france-film/ </ref>. The attraction, along with the rest of the France pavilion, was originally sponsored by French automobile manufacturer Renault <ref>http://www.wdwradio.com/2015/01/disney-twenty-something-impressions-de-france/</ref>. The first significant change to Impressions de France came when Renault's sponsorship of the attraction ended. At this time, the companies logo was removed from the film. Subsequently, in 2011, the film was remastered and the theater was given digital projectors <ref> http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/impressions-de-france/news/22apr2011-epcot's-'impressions-de-france'-movie-goes-digital.htm </ref>.