Circle-Vision 360° is a film technique invented by Ub Iwerks for Walt Disney Studios using nine synchronized 35mm cameras, arranged in a circle to capture a 360-degreee view; subsequently projected onto nine elevated screens, to create a full 360-degree panoramic effect. Upgrading Disney’s innovative Circarama format (16mm film; 11 screens) of the 1958 film, America the Beautiful, featured at Tomorrowland (Disneyland, Anaheim, CA), Circle-Vision 360° increased the earlier format’s image quality, with larger 35mm film, and heightened its immersive effect, by reducing the spatial distortion between screens. (Some Circarama films, such as Italia 61 [1961], as shown at the Torino international labor exhibition, were filmed in 16mm and blown up to a 35mm format.)

The first film created for the new 35mm format, Magie des rails (1964), was scripted, directed and produced by Ernst A. Heiniger (who had previously made films for Disney in the 1950s), for Expo 64 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The 360-degree film was of a railroad journey through Switzerland and its Alps – with additional scenes shot in Paris (France), Pisa (Italy) and Vienna (Austria) – initiating the “travelogue” genre that would characterize subsequent Circle-Vision 360° films. It has been described as, “a four-movement ‘symphonic poem’ … consisting of 64 sequences and structured by the four seasons and the four elements of earth, water, fire and air” (Schärer, 2014: p. 16). In 1965, Canada 67 was commissioned by the Telephone Association of Canada for Montreal’s world exhibition Expo 67. The film was co-produced by Disney and Robert Lawrence Productions in Toronto, and was directed by Robert Barclay and cinematographer Fritz Spiess, both seasoned Canadian filmmakers. As seen in production stills, the production’s $250,000 camera rig was a large, heavy and awkward contraption that had to be transported by plane, boat, and a variety of land carriers, to shoot the film’s 80 scenes capturing Canada’s magnificent, coast-to-coast landscapes. Canada 67 screened alongside numerous expanded multiscreen experiments in other Expo 67 pavilions, including Labyrinth (directed by Colin Low and Roman Kroitor of the National Film Board of Canada) and Polar Life (directed by Graeme Ferguson), both films considered precursors to what would become IMAX; as well as We are Young (directed by Francis Thompson and Alexander Hammid). Like the earlier Expo 64 film, Circle-Vision 360° technology made Canada 67 and the Telephone Pavilion among the most visited at Expo 67. In the same year, America the Beautiful was remade in 35mm for Tomorrowland at Disneyland, Anaheim, CA.

The first Circle-Vision 360° film installations were presented with nine projectors, each covering a 40-degree arc of the circular screen, capable of creating the illusion of a single 360-degree image with a single horizon line – critical facets of the film’s presentation and reality effect. Up to 1,500 viewers entered the theater and stood freely, inside rails at the center of the auditorium, encircled by screens and speakers. As the viewers’ gazes moved freely, each spectator was essentially creating their own film. As one commentator quipped: “Depending on the range of your peripheral vision, you missed at any moment a quarter to a half of the film; it seemed to be made for people with eyes in the backs of their heads” (Fulford, 1968: p. 90). The visceral immersive experience of the wraparound cinematic panorama made for thrilling sensory viewing and directors maximized the effect with the inspired transport of their Circle-Vision 360° cameras, “moving” audiences swiftly over land and water – with aerial views that created a dramatic, embodied sensation of “being-there” within the expansive landscapes. In later films, such as Impressions de France (1982) and Wonders of China (1982), the single 360-degree image was often broken up, with different sections of the nine-screen composite showing separate images – this technique continued to be used in later Circle-Vision 360° films.

The unique and demanding technical requirements of Circle-Vision 360° production and projection, ensure that most of the films have exclusively screened as attractions inside Disney theme parks. Following presentations at national and world exhibitions in 1964, 1967 and 1986, Circle-Vision 360° film technology has been used for eight additional films from Walt Disney Productions– all housed in the unique theaters and architectures required, in Disney theme parks located in the US, France and Japan. Six of these films were directed by Jeff Blyth who vividly describes the experience of directing Wonders of China (1982) in his 2021 book Polishing the Dragons (Blyth, 2021).