2018-02-23 18:58:03 +00:00
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---
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created_at: '2014-05-20T18:44:40.000Z'
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title: Disneyland's original prospectus (1953)
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url: http://boingboing.net/2014/05/20/disneylandprospectus.html
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author: trsohmers
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points: 83
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story_text: ''
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comment_text:
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num_comments: 17
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story_id:
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story_title:
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story_url:
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parent_id:
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created_at_i: 1400611480
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_tags:
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- story
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- author_trsohmers
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- story_7774375
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objectID: '7774375'
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2018-06-08 12:05:27 +00:00
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year: 1953
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2018-02-23 18:58:03 +00:00
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---
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2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
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# Disneyland's original prospectus revealed\!
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2018-02-23 18:19:40 +00:00
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2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
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Thanks to an anonymous benefactor, Boing Boing is pleased to present the
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first-ever look at the original Disneyland prospectus.
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2018-02-23 18:19:40 +00:00
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2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
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Thanks to an anonymous benefactor, Boing Boing is pleased to present the
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first-ever look at the original Disneyland prospectus. These extremely
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high-resolution scans were made from one of the three sets of
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pitch-documents Roy and Walt Disney used to raise the money to build
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Disneyland. There are no archive copies of this document. Neither the
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Walt Disney Company nor the Walt Disney Family Museum have it. But we
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certainly hope both organizations will download these documents for
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inclusion in their collections.
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2018-02-23 18:19:40 +00:00
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2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
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Roy Disney -- the Disney brother who controlled the company's finances -
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-- didn't like the idea of Disneyland at first. Walt Disney poached the
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best talent from the studios to help him flesh out his idea for a new
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kind of amusement park, eventually winning over Roy, who helped him
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raise the $17 million it took to build Disneyland.
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The first animator Walt took into the project was the legendary Herb
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Ryman. Over the course of a weekend in 1953, Walt and Herb drew the
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storied first map of Disneyland, as [pictured
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here](http://www.waltdisney.org/content/drawing-park). An additional
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eight typed pages of description and sales copy were added to these
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pages and the resulting "brochure" was used as an unsuccessful pitch
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session that Walt and Herb conducted for three different New York
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bankers.
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This document [changed hands at
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auction](http://weissauctions.auctionflex.com/showlot.ap?co=6845&weid=20584&weiid=7509837&archive=n&lso=lotnumasc&pagenum=4&lang=En)
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last year. The new owner has not indicated his interest in exhibiting or
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sharing the contents of this document. The new owner is Glenn Beck, a
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noted jerkface, so this is not surprising.
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As for the document itself, there's a lot of interesting detail in it. I
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was quite struck by the extent to which the document focuses on
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Disneyland as a unique place to shop. This being the post-war
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boom-years, shopping was coming into its own as an American recreational
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passtime. And indeed, Disneyland has, at various times in its history,
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focused strongly on unique gifts. In the 1950s and 1960s, doing your
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Christmas shopping at Disneyland was quite the thing in LA (in those
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days, there was a separate, low charge for admission, and ride tickets
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were extra, so it was very cheap to pass through the gates in order to
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shop). In the 1970s and 1980s, the parks sported loads of wonderful,
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bespoke materials (I loved the [Randotti
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souvenirs](http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=haunted+mansion+vintage&_sop=3&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.Xhaunted+mansion+randotti&_nkw=haunted+mansion+randotti&_sacat=0),
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especially the Haunted Mansion material). At various times since, the
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corporate emphasis on merchandise has varied wildly, though thoughtful,
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high-quality, distinctive merchandise now appears to be back in the mix.
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But Walt's vision for what the company at one point called
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"merchantainment" (\!) was more ambitious than anything yet realized
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inside the berm. Page one boasts of a "mail order catalogue" that will
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offer everything for sale at Disneyland (a kind of super-duper version
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of today's [Disneyland
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Delivears](http://disneylandinsideout.com/disneyland-resort-guide/in-the-parks/contact-disneyland)).
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This catalogue was to feature actual livestock, including "a real pony
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or a miniature donkey thirty inches high."
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Once we get to "True-Life Adventureland," we learn of even cooler (and
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less probable) living merchandise: "magnificently plumed birds and
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fantastic fish from all over the world...which may be purchased and
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shipped anywhere in the U.S. if you so desire."
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The contrafactual Disneyland of 1953 wrestled with the future just as
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much as today's Disney parks do. The prospectus promises "slidewalks," a
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scientifically accurate space-simulator, robotic open kitchens and (of
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course) merchandise. But what merch\! This being the golden age of
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science kits, Walt and Herb promised to send kids home from Disneyland
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with "scientific toys, chemical sets and model kits." We were also
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promised space-helmets. (I want a space helmet\!)
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Futurism and science fiction have been tough nuts for Disneyland to
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crack. When the park opened in 1955, there wasn't much budget to kit out
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Tomorrowland, so a bunch of corporate sponsors were quickly brought in
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to host some pretty dubious exhibits: the [Kaiser Aluminum Hall of
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Fame](http://davelandweb.com/tomorrowland/kaiser.html) (a giant tin
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telescope, a tin pig, and exhibits about the role of aluminum in
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American industry); a Dairy of the Future that featured models of cows
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with IVs in their hocks gazing at videos of pastures; the Dutch Boy
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Color Gallery (exploring the future through paint mixing). The crowning
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glory was a big-top tent housing the special-effects kraken from the
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film of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; it was staffed by a little person
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who hid inside it all day, making the tentacles wave.
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There have been several attempts to remake Tomorrowland, of varying
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success. At one point, it became a focal point for insouciant Orange
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County goths, who congregated there every day after school, making good
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use of their annual passes. These days, Tomorrowland is thoroughly
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grounded in fiction from recently acquired franchises -- not futurism
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and the "factual world of tomorrow." There's a rather good Marvel Comics
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exhibit in the otherwise lacklustre Innoventions building, and lots of
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Star Wars-themed stuff to go with the revamped Star Tours ride (which is
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also rather good). No one seems to mind that a franchise set "a long,
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long time ago" is a dominant feature in Tomorrowland. Pixar is
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represented through a Buzz Lightyear ride/shooting gallery (where my
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wife regularly and thoroughly trounces me).
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Finally, the prospectus makes a big deal out of the idea of a miniature
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walk-through land, "Lilliputian Land," where "mechanical people nine
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inches high sing and dance and talk to you." This is clearly inspired by
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Walt's experiences touring Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens, and is the
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lineal ancestor of the Small World boats (created for Unicef's pavilion
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at the 1964 NYC World's Fair) and the Storybookland Boats. More to the
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point, it shows off how much Disneyland was really an elaborate plan by
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Walt to let extend the miniature train-set he'd build in his garden as
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therapy after his mental breakdown. The classic [photo of Walt Disney
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hanging out of a train
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locomotive](https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1720&bih=878&q=walt+disney+train+driver&oq=walt+disney+train+driver&gs_l=img.3...316.3617.0.3679.24.14.0.10.5.0.129.1182.13j1.14.0....0...1ac.1.36.img..6.18.1150.ezGGzXT8ghA#q=walt+disney+train+&tbm=isch),
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grinning with pure, unfaked joy contain, for me, the real story of
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Disneyland: a man who struggled with depression and his relationship to
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the company he founded, restless with corporate culture and anxious to
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lose himself in play in a world of fantasy.
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We are forever grateful to our anonymous source for this extraordinary
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document. We hope you enjoy it as much as we
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do.
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[Disneyland Original
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Prospectus](https://archive.org/details/Disneylandoriginalprospectus)
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\[archive.org\]
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A [zip file of high-res TIFF
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files](https://ia601403.us.archive.org/27/items/Disneylandoriginalprospectus/Disneylandoriginalprospectus_images.zip)
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\[4GB\!\] is also available.
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Loading...
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