Amongst Disney watchers, there is a subset of us which could glibly be referred to as the “WED did it better” crowd. With a historical view of Disney attraction offerings, one can come to the conclusion that the old-guard Imagineering that created Pirates of the Caribbean, the Country Bear Jamboree and Horizons possessed a certain flair that the Imagineering that created Stitch’s Great Escape, Journey into YOUR Imagination, and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor lacks.
The real reasons for this perceived shift are hard to single out; there’s certainly not a lack of artistic talent or technical wizardry at Imagineering, even after several waves of layoff and attrition. There are a variety of opinions out there as to why things are the way they are, and at what level the responsibility lies. And the blame doesn’t all fall squarely on Imagineering’s shoulders either; after all, they can only build what they are asked by the parks division to build, and only with the budget they’re allotted by Disney corporate.
It’s the curse of the Disney researcher that Disney, historically, has published far more documents for internal use than they have for fandom or the general public. Whether Eyes & Ears of Walt Disney World, Disneyland Line, Disney Newsreel, or one of a million old departmental newsletters, there’s a huge paper trail that’s always turning up new surprises.
One of the best sources of information from the development of EPCOT Center and Tokyo Disneyland is Imaginews, an employee newsletter for the Imagineers of WED and MAPO which ran from the late 1970s until sometime in the mid 1980s. As with most old cast publications, it’s a less-glossy look at Disney, full of in-jokes and the kind of in-the-trenches humor that arises from tight deadlines.
Several cast publications made a stab at including employee-drawn cartoons at some point during their run, but these usually were high school newspaper-grade gags. A notable exception is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Imaginews. Imagineer Chris Runco (also responsible for “Go-Bots“) created a series of gags which were printed during the early 1980s and played on some of the iconography of EPCOT – especially the pavilion logos. They also convey some of the mood at WED at the time – the above gag takes its cue from the driving slogan behind the creation of EPCOT Center and Tokyo Disneyland, “We Can Do It!” It’s a nice bit of history for EPCOT fans and, most importantly, they’re pretty funny.
The guy on the right is thinking of Flash-animated cartoons
It's a fun gag, but I would buy the heck out of those balloons - and those omnimover toys!
The first Julie Reihm-bot was designed by John Hench in 1965... they evolved... they rebelled... there are many copies... and they have a plan
We’ve spoken at length – some might say disturbing length – about the fabled “Lost Danish Potties” of World Showcase. Essentially, what are now the bathrooms for EPCOT’s Norway pavilion (opened in 1988) were originally constructed as a stand-alone building in 1982. They were intended for a never-built Denmark pavilion, and even though the facilities were later annexed by the Norse, we’ve looked at how Disney repeatedly tried to bring Denmark into World Showcase afterward.
Before the Imagineers slotted Denmark into the site currently occupied by Norway, they considered other possible locations in World Showcase. One potential site was between the French and United Kingdom pavilions; another, show below from a 1979 rendering, was the area currently occupied by the China pavilion.
After the park opened, plans for a Denmark pavilion faded in favor of building a “Scandinavia” pavilion which would represent several nations in the region. This was, naturally, an issue of money; if a single nation couldn’t underwrite a pavilion, perhaps several could.
In the end, only Norwegian corporations (and the Norwegian government) came through with sponsorship cash, so “Scandinavia” became simply “Norway: Gateway to Scandinavia”. By billing the pavilion as such, it left the door open for future participation by other nations yet let Norway have the spotlight to themselves.
But what of this mystery “Scandinavia” pavilion, sandwiched (Handwiched?) historically between the Denmark and Norway pavilion concepts? Take a look…
EPCOT's Scandinavia, as seen from the promenade
A closer look at EPCOT's Scandinavia pavilion
These undated pieces of art show a pavilion much more similar to today’s Norway than to the original Denmark concepts. They also appear to depict a somewhat larger pavilion, which would make sense considering that it was to represent multiple nations.
In the end, only Norway came to pass, but we live in hope that someday the eleven nations of World Showcase will get some new company.
A few pieces of art have emerged from Disney animation’s upcoming (and awkwardly-named) 2012 release, Wreck-It Ralph. The computer-rendered film tells the story of an 8-bit era video game villain in the Donkey Kong vein who has to deal not only with living in the modern digital world but also the fact that his heart just isn’t in villainy anymore. It’s a film that has been in turnaround a few times (its original titles was Joe Jump, and then Reboot Ralph) and its original creator has since left the company, but the story reels that were shown at the D23 Expo in 2011 were quite promising.
Wreck-It Ralph arrives in theaters on November 2nd, 2012.
Wreck-It Ralph glumly contemplates the building which he is tasked to destroy day in and day out
"Hero's Duty", a modern "Halo"-esque shooter, is one of the more modern games that Ralph escapes into in his quest to become a hero
"Sugar Rush" is a kart racing game into which Ralph escapes, and it is the source of a threat that will imperil the entire arcade
Making the rounds on Twitter last weekend was this remarkable video, made by the Bell System in 1982 to promote their sponsorship of Spaceship Earth at the newly-opened EPCOT Center. The “Chronicle News Update” contains a chat with AT&T president William Ellinghaus, who presided over the pavilion’s opening ceremony, as well as Disney CEO Card Walker.
More importantly, it contains a look beyond the pavilion to AT&T’s other contributions to the park, which were found at FutureCom in CommuniCore West. Long-gone exhibits such as “The Amazing Microchip” and the “Network Map” are shown, as is the still-spectacular Information Fountain and the folk-art (and song!) that were part of the Age of Information show. It really does get across how funky CommuniCore was back in the day, and underscores the pleasant atmosphere that has been lost in years since.
Another nice treat for EPCOT history buffs is the footage of the WorldKey Information System kiosk that graced the bridge from Future World to World Showcase; this is one of the less-remembered WorldKey outposts so it’s good to have this video. I’m fascinated by the clip of the WorldKey system itself that they show during the film – it is not the WorldKey that I recall. The icons are far more primitive, and the voice is not “Bit” – the character who would later host the WorldKey presentations. Perhaps this is a prototype of the system? WorldKey was tested in various Walt Disney World locations in the years leading up to EPCOT’s opening, and I wonder if this isn’t one of those prototype implementations.
This video is one of several posted by the AT&T Archives; I highly recommend that you check out their YouTube channel for a number of remarkable films and videos from the last century. Some are quite amazing – and hilarious.
From the Progress City archives comes this collection of 33 tall tales and true from Disney history. Available in paperback, hardback, and ebook formats.
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