Backtrack is a series that takes a look back at attractions of yesteryear and brings them back for a modern audience. Today, we are talking about an underrated classic audio animatronic show located inside The Land Pavilion at Epcot Center (now simply Epcot). That show was Food Rocks and it was a wonderful show.
In 1994, Food Rocks replaced Kitchen Cabaret, an opening day attraction that was a parody musical review talking about the basic food groups. Rather than the softer and less recognizable sound of the previous attraction, Food Rocks parodied 80s rock hits from artists like The Police, Queen & Peter Gabriel.
Your host for Food Rocks was Fudd Wrapper, a nutritional facts wrapper who also rapped about nutrition. He was voiced by Tone Loc and did a parody of his own hit "Funky Cold Medina" for the show.
The show was billed as a benefit concert for good nutrition and featured quite a lineup of food music superstars including The Utensils, Pita Gabriel, The Peach Boys, The Refrigerator Police and The Get-The-Point Sisters. Each of the songs were excellent parody versions that focused on nutritional facts. The show even featured an original song for their villain metal group The Excess to sing entitled "Give Us Junk".
Food Rocks had a strong 9 year run. In 2003, Food Rocks performed it's final show in order to make way for a hit new attraction coming from Disney's California Adventure.
Soarin' officially opened on May 5th, 2005. The actual ride building for Soarin' began construction behind The Land before Food Rocks even closed. The space that was occupied by Food Rocks was used to connect the ride's queue with the actual theaters for the ride. Soarin' has proven to be one of Epcot's most popular attractions, but as a kid of the 90s, I'll never forget my first exposure to some of the 80s best bands by listening to their parodies in Food Rocks.
Below is a video tribute to Food Rocks that includes the full original show from multiple angles.
Below is a video tribute to Food Rocks that includes the full original show from multiple angles.
Written by Chris Coburn
Sources: Wikipedia, Yesterland, MartinsVids
Sources: Wikipedia, Yesterland, MartinsVids