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Examining Epcot – The Germany Showcase

Germany, at a distance

When planners at WED Enterprises were selecting the initial lineup of pavilions for Epcot Center’s World Showcase, they knew that Germany would be included. This decision might seem obvious, considering the nation’s prominence on the world stage, as well as its familiarity to American audiences. Disney’s key reasons for including [...]

Selling EPCOT – Germany and Hummel

Sponsors were critical to the creation of Epcot Center, and some of the very first corporations to sign on for the park were German companies. One of the earliest was Goebel, who sponsored the Glas und Porzellan shop in the Germany pavilion. It remained an Epcot presence until 2010, when the shop closed to make [...]

The Lost Forests Of EPCOT Center

In his recent Imaginerding review of Steve Alcorn’s excellent Building A Better Mouse: The Story Of The Electronic Imagineers Who Designed Epcot, George Taylor linked a number of fantastic snapshots on Alcorn’s site that depict the creation of EPCOT Center.

You should head over to Alcorn’s site posthaste to investigate, but I’m going to reprint [...]

Neverworlds – The Israel Agreement

Concept art for shopping street in the Israel pavilion at EPCOT Center by Herb Ryman

Another press release from the sad file of fruitless announcements, this excited blurb comes from November of 1981:

ISRAEL JOINS COMMUNITY OF NATIONS AT EPCOT CENTER

Representatives of the State of Israel and Walt Disney World signed an agreement for [...]

The Ryman Centennial: The 21st Century Begins

Herb Ryman at work on EPCOT Center’s Mexico pavilion

Herb Ryman’s work on EPCOT City for Walt Disney ended well before Walt Disney World’s debut in 1971. Ryman departed WED Enterprises that year, and set off on another round of world travels. He returned to the halls of Imagineering in 1976, though, in order to [...]