Amusement Parks & Family Entertainment Amusement Parks

Leagues under the Sea and
drawing Sleeping Beauty.
Animator Art Scott recalls
a plane trip with Walt just before
the park’s completion. “As we
take off Walt is saying, ‘I spoke to
the pilot, I hope he remembers,
I asked him to fly over the park.
There’s nothing like seeing a
park from the air.’ Then he went
over to the window and said,
‘He’s doing it! He’s doing it!’ He
pointed out all the stuff, there’s
this, there’s that, like this little
boy with his giant toy down
there.”
Walt explained to a
reporter why he was so determined
to build a park: “It’s something
that will never be finished,
something I can keep developing
and adding to. When you
wrap up a picture and turn it
over to Technicolor, you’re
through. It’s gone. [The park]
will get more beautiful every year.
And it will get better as I find out
what the public likes. I can’t do
that with a picture; it’s finished and
unchangeable before I find out
whether the public likes it or not.”
Opening the Happiest Place
With construction working
around the clock until opening,
the park was getting ready for
The renovation of Tomorrowland, on right, is reassurance that
Walt’s ideology still lives today and that Disneyland will never
be fully completed.
Designing Disney’s Theme Parks:The Architecture
of Reassurance, edited by Karal Ann Marling,
takes an in-depth look at Disneyland’s
evolution from one man’s personal dream to
a multinational enterprise.You can order this
book through the AWN Store. © Flammarion.
television. The unfinished Tomorrowland
was given a banner and
balloons to mask the work waiting
to be done. Camera crews worked
alongside construction crews who
were putting finishing touches on
the park. The park opened to invited
guests on July 17, 1955, and
33,000 people poured into the
park. The ABC television crew ushered
Walt from site to site and kept
a positive spin on
the preview.
Off camera,
chaos ruled:
ladies’ heels sank
into still hot
asphalt on Main
Street; rides broke
down; concessions
ran out of
food and drink;
and a gas leak
was discovered
in Fantasyland
closing it down.
Opening day would come to be
known as Black Sunday, because
of all of its problems. Despite critical
reviews from print media, Walt
encouraged his crews to handle
the problems. He held media dinners
to amend relations with the
press. Within a few weeks, problems
had been wrinkled out and
Disneyland’s crowds were far
exceeding estimates.
Opening day would come to
be known as Black Sunday,
because of all of its
problems.
Walt always believed, “Disneyland
will never be completed.
It will continue to grow as long as
there is imagination left in the
world.” Walt and his successors
have carried out this promise with
changes and additions like Mickey’s
Toontown and the New
Tomorrowland. Walt’s dream has
been brought to many parts of the
globe as well with Tokyo Disneyland,
Disney World, and Disneyland
Paris. Since Walt’s vision and
imagination will never die, his
dream parks will live on forever as
very special places, the magical
reigning champions of quality
theme parks.
Katie Mason was an editorial
assistant at Animation World
Magazine. A longtime animation
reader and fan, she watches cartoons
each Saturday morning
and is currently studying toward
her university degree.
Note: Readers may contact any
Animation World Magazine contributor
by sending an e-mail to
editor@awn.com.
ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE December 1998 25