To All Who Come to This Happy Place: Cold War Ideologies and the Utopian Image of America’S Past, Present, and Future in Disneyland 1955-65 ______
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
TO ALL WHO COME TO THIS HAPPY PLACE: COLD WAR IDEOLOGIES AND THE UTOPIAN IMAGE OF AMERICA’S PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE IN DISNEYLAND 1955-65 ____________________________________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Fullerton ____________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts In History ____________________________________ By Samantha Self Thesis Committee Approval: Professor Benjamin Cawthra, Chair Professor Allison Varzally, Department of History Professor Natalie Fousekis, Department of History Summer, 2016 ABSTRACT Walt Disney gave his opening address of Disneyland on July 17, 1955 claiming that Disneyland would “be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.” As Disneyland opened its gates to visitors from all over the world, the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a Cold War, fighting social, economic, political, and cultural ideologies. This thesis explores three “lands” located within the Disneyland park and how these lands respectively created sheltered vistas of a utopian society, a frontier past, and visions of a bright future. Main Street, U.S.A. provided visitors with a manufactured version of a “simpler” time in American history by allowing suburban white families a place to feel safe in their gender roles. Main Street, U.S.A. also provided visitors with a new outlet for consumerism that thrived under the disposable income model. Frontierland provided visitors with a simulated history that demonstrated the “successes” of spreading American democracy into foreign and uncivilized societies. Frontierland also used the American film industry’s craze of western films to provide an illusion of “otherness” with stereotypical images of Native Americans and African Americans. Tomorrowland created an illusion of a bright future. Centered on consumption and corporate sponsorships, Tomorrowland encouraged visitors to believe in a future full of space travel and devices to enhance home life. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... ii Introduction DEVELOPING DISNEYLAND IN A COLD WAR WORLD ........................... 1 Coming Into the Age of the Cold War .................................................................. 4 McCarthyism, House of Un-American Activities, and Walt Disney ............. 7 Developing Disneyland—An Amusement Park Unlike Any Other ............... 11 Introducing Disneyland to the World ............................................................. 17 Khrushchev’s Almost Visit to Disneyland ..................................................... 20 Chapter 1. MAIN STREET, U.S.A.: AMERICA’S HOMETOWN FOR THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS ........................................................................... 26 Architecture, Trains, and Abraham Lincoln: Images of Nostalgia and Predictability .............................................................................................. 29 The Nuclear Family, Gender Roles, and Sexuality ........................................ 34 Consumerism and Experiences ....................................................................... 41 2. FRONTIERLAND: MANIFEST DESTINY, PATRIOTISM, AND THE CONTINUED SUCCESS OF AMERICA ........................................................... 45 The “Disneyfied” Landscape of American Democracy ....................................... 47 A Reconnection to a Falsified Nature ............................................................. 50 Davy Crockett and Hollywood’s West ........................................................... 52 Images of Race—Native Americans ............................................................... 56 Aunt Jemima and the Civil Rights Movement ................................................ 58 3. TOMORROWLAND: A BRIGHT AND DEMOCRATIC FUTURE ................. 63 Walt Disney and the Space Race .......................................................................... 67 Autopia and the Interstate Highway System ................................................... 70 The Circarama, The Kitchen Debates and American Technology in Russia ..................................................................................................... 74 New Technologies and Company Sponsorships ............................................. 77 iii Conclusion THE CONTINUED SEARCH FOR A UTOPIAN SOCIETY ............................ 80 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................... 87 iv 1 INTRODUCTION DEVELOPING DISNEYLAND IN A COLD WAR WORLD To all who come to this happy place welcome. Disneyland is your land, here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth can savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals the dreams and the hard facts that have created America, with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world. —Walt Disney, The Disneyland Story On a hot July day in 1955, Hollywood celebrities, invited guests, camera crews, and audiences from around the world heard Walt Disney deliver his welcoming address and dedication at Disneyland. Audiences then watched an hour special on American Broadcasting Company (ABC) starring Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, and Ronald “Ronnie” Reagan, who discussed the wonders visitors could soon experience at Disneyland. Audiences witnessed the past, present, future, and fantasy of what would eventually grow into one of the greatest theme parks in the world.1 Families all over the United States dreamed of the day when they could attend this magical kingdom. What began as an orange grove in a small rural town of Anaheim now evolved into the home of one of the greatest consumer and tourist attractions that California and the United States possessed. While Disneyland welcomed families into its gates, the United States found itself in the midst of a Cold War against the Soviet Union. The United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a war of politics, economics, and cultural ideals where American democracy and Russian communism contested each other. During this period of tension, Disneyland provided a place of security, nostalgia, and 1 “Dateline Disneyland” 1955 film, Walt Disney Archives, Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, California. 2 predictability. However, it too faced the war of ideals taking place between America and the Soviets. Disneyland’s immense success and popularity amongst American citizens was a direct result of Cold War America. Disneyland’s original purpose as a source of revenue for the Walt Disney Company quickly became more than a money making theme park. Disney’s manufactured narratives of lands within Disneyland provided solutions to problems consumers never knew they had. The unpredictable and unstable world of the Cold War brought many social, economic, and political concerns. However, Disney’s ability to construct an “ideal” narrative of the past, present, and future instilled a sense of certainty and security visitors had not realized they needed. During a time of widespread uncertainty across the United States, Disneyland served as a manufactured national identity that aided in fueling utopian nostalgia and the promise of a bright democratic future. The study of three specific “lands” in Disneyland will demonstrate how the manufactured narratives allowed visitors to experience an expression of Cold War thinking. Main Street, U.S.A., Frontierland, and Tomorrowland proved to be an outlet for visitors to consume material goods and ideals that allowed them to cope with issues they faced outside of Disneyland. Disney and his developers often put a premium on fantasy instead of truth. While certain themes within these lands such as race, gender, consumerism, and expansion, were all very real, the way they were presented within Disneyland displayed them as much easier to define and integrate into daily life. When visitors walked through the gates of Disneyland they expected entertainment for the entire family. However, behind the rather thick veil of fantasy and invents histories 3 visitors had the opportunity to found solutions to problems like gender identity, family structures, civil rights, and the atomic age. Located behind the berm, visitors of Disneyland found five themed lands that all held unique narratives. Main Street, U.S.A., modeled after a familiar turn-of-the-century small town, welcomed back generations who grew up in these locales and introduced younger generations to a life of safety, security, simplicity, and predictability. Frontierland housed the cowboys and Indians of America’s wild western frontier. Visitors experienced a time when America’s desire to civilize unknown territories and people proved adventurous and successful. Adventureland took visitors to the farthest depths of unexplored regions, bringing them face to face with new worlds. Fantasyland brought classic Disney characters to life. Finally, Tomorrowland launched visitors into the world of 1986 when trips to the moon existed as an everyday occurrence and through the gift of technology, everyday life proved easier than in prior generations. The actual history and future of the narratives found within these lands were more complicated than the lands let on too. However, the “Disneyified” imagery of the stories being consumed by visitors was a much easier pill to swallow than the truth. It is the focus on fantasy and the purposeful removal of