Then, Short muses, "This would be a perfect place for a song... don't you think?" (Once again, self-aware irony.) Music swells up in the background, and we're treated to a new version of "Canada, You're a Lifetime Journey", the old song also used in the previous version of the film. This time it's sung by Eva Avila, recent winner of the Canadian Idol TV show. Mercifully, we aren't told who she is, so this part may actually age well. That prompts the question though: did they need to update the song at all? If Eva becomes famous the world over, it will be seen as prophetic and Disney will look smart. But if not, Disney will have just exchanged one mostly-unknown singer for another. It's the same song, and while Eva sings, we see a lot of shots, many of them from the previous version.

There is also some attempt to make the lyrics match the visuals. For instance, when the word "sunset" is invoked, we see what used to be the closing shot of the movie: a winding waterway illuminated by a beautiful sunset.

With the song over, we return to Niagara Falls, this time at night (as if to bookend our journey and imply it took a whole day), and then even that disappears, as Martin Short has the place to himself, appearing on just one screen while the others go dark.

He urges us to see the real thing, "so just go past Spaceship Earth and keep going" and we'll get there, hinting we should just walk to Canada. Then, he pantomimes being stuck inside the movie. "Now how do I get out of here? I have a FastPass to Soarin' and I'd hate to miss that!"

The humor throughout the movie didn't prompt much audience laughter or even giggling, but the crowd, including my four year old, did laugh at this joke about Soarin' at the end. And yet, I had the same feeling here that I did in the early '90s when Aladdin came out: these are not the right jokes. This kind of entertainment is not what Disney is famous for. Where's the escapism?

Koda and Kenai at least refer to the escapism of a particular Disney movie.

The movie does the job of revitalizing the pavilion. I'll certainly agree that the old version came across as stale, a bit plodding, and seemed too tame. The new film is shorter than the previous version by a full five minutes, but there are so many quick cuts one still has the feeling of having seen something longer. This is the curse of the MTV generation; no scene is allowed to last longer than a few seconds.

As noted before, the primary change here is one of tone. Before, the show highlighted beauty, relaxation, and history. Now it showcases vitality, dynamism, and action. We saw a minor move in this direction when China updated its movie, and we saw a big move in this direction when Mexico updated its boat ride. The revised version of "O Canada" accomplishes the same thing. Don't just visit us because the scenery is beautiful, this new movie implies, but because we're fun too. Perhaps it's just a generational thing. This change may, in the end analysis, say as much about us in the audience as it does about Canada, the supposed subject.

I'll still visit. But certainly not more than I had in the past. I wonder if I might even do so less often. The joke's topicality will grow wearisome quickly, and will seem more lame each time I hear them, so it's possible the new version will drive me away. But I'm not the target audience. The infrequently visiting tourists are, and they may indeed come away thinking that Canada is a fun and vibrant place. If so, mission accomplished.

I could go on and on about how the wand had denied this structure its noble futurism, or reduced the ineffable message of hope and optimism to a Mickey Mouse cartoon, but I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

One icon down, one left to go.

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© 2007 Kevin Yee