Disneyland, 1955: Just Take the Santa Ana Freeway to the American Dream Author(S): Karal Ann Marling Reviewed Work(S): Source: American Art, Vol

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Disneyland, 1955: Just Take the Santa Ana Freeway to the American Dream Author(S): Karal Ann Marling Reviewed Work(S): Source: American Art, Vol Disneyland, 1955: Just Take the Santa Ana Freeway to the American Dream Author(s): Karal Ann Marling Reviewed work(s): Source: American Art, Vol. 5, No. 1/2 (Winter - Spring, 1991), pp. 168-207 Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Smithsonian American Art Museum Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3109036 . Accessed: 06/12/2011 16:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The University of Chicago Press and Smithsonian American Art Museum are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Art. http://www.jstor.org Disneyland,1955 Just Takethe SantaAna Freewayto theAmerican Dream KaralAnn Marling The opening-or openings-of the new of the outsideworld. Some of the extra amusementpark in SouthernCalifornia "invitees"flashed counterfeit passes. did not go well. On 13 July, a Wednes- Othershad simplyclimbed the fence, day, the day of a privatethirtieth anniver- slippinginto the parkin behind-the-scene saryparty for Walt and Lil, Mrs. Disney spotswhere dense vegetation formed the herselfwas discoveredsweeping the deck backgroundfor a boat ride througha of the steamboatMark Twainas the first make-believeAmazon jungle. guestsarrived for a twilightshakedown Afterwards,they calledit "Black cruise.On Thursdayand Friday,during Sunday."Anything that could go wrong galapreopening tributes to Disney film did. The food ran out. Thereweren't music at the Hollywood Bowl, workmen enough drinkingfountains. A gas leak backin Anaheim,some twenty-three temporarilyshut down Fantasyland,site miles away,struggled to finish pavingthe of many of the twenty-twonew Disney- streetsthat would soon lead to Fantasy- designedrides the crowdhad come to land,Adventureland, Frontierland, and inspect.It was terriblyhot, too. Main Tomorrowland.Last-minute strikes had StreetUSA melted, and visitors'high compelledthe buildersto haul in asphalt heels stuck fast in the freshasphalt. The all the way from San Diego. nervousproprietor (who had spent the The invitation-onlypress preview and night in the park)accidentally locked dedication,broadcast over a coast-to-coast himselfin his apartmentabove the turn- TV hookup on 17 July, was a disaster of-the-centuryfirehouse near the front from startto finish.At dawn,with gate.As the moment approachedfor the carpentersand plumbersstill working boss to welcomea vast, stay-at-home againstthe clock, trafficon the freeway audienceto his Californiakingdom was backedup for sevenmiles, and throughthe magicof television,Walt gridlockprevailed on the secondaryroads Disney (1901-1966) was nowhereto surroundingthe formerorange grove be found. And somehow,ABC's twenty- along HarborBoulevard. Studio publicists four live camerasmanaged to coverall had issuedtwenty thousand tickets to the glitches:the ladieswalking out of reporters,local dignitaries,Disney theirshoes; "Davy Crockett," star of employees,corporate investors, and Disney'snew weeklyseries, drenched Hollywoodstars-including Eddie Fisher, by a hyperactivesprinkler system as Debbie Reynolds,Lana Turner, Danny he thrashedabout on horsebackin Thomas,and FrankSinatra. By mid- Frontierland'swestern scenery; the regal The Carolwood-Pacificline, the morning,however, more than thirty IreneDunne showeringannouncer Art railroadtrain in the gardenof Linkletterwith and sodawater while new Hills thousandpeople were alreadypacked glass Disney's Holmby the to christenthe Mark Twain house, was the realinspiration inside earthenberm that was supposed attempting for Disneyland. to seal off Disney'sdomain from the cares on televisedcue. 4'^ i I ,j i'i TW IX ! ^ ". x ts ? k* f h I1 1 ;l* A souvenirmap of Disneylandin the 1950s showsthe various . ,: ,r "lands,"the peripheralrailroad, L and the controlledaccess to the parkthrough the stage-setre- creationof Main StreetUSA. i !~~~~~~~~'4~ Bob Cummings and Ronald Reagan And too reverential, too much like "the shared the network hosting duties-and a dedication of a national shrine." whole range of maddening "technical Cummings, for instance, repeatedly difficulties"-with Linkletter. Sometimes assured viewers that cultural history was the screen simply went blank. Audio and being made in Orange County before video transmissions winked on and off at their very eyes: "I think that everyone here will. When the voice-over described will one day be as proud to have been at Cinderella's coach at the head of a passing this opening as the people who were there parade, the picture showed Roy Rogers at the dedication of the Eiffel Tower." and Dale Evans. Linkletter strolled And the commemorative plaque, which blithely through the portcullis of Sleeping Disney read aloud during his segment of Beauty's Castle and emerged from the the broadcast, was both portentous and other side, seconds later, without his vaguely imperialistic in tone: microphone. Walt Disney accidentally appeared on camera ahead of schedule, To all who come to this happyplace... chatting with the crew and wondering Welcome.Disneyland is your land. Here, aloud how the show was going. "'Dateline age relivesfond memoriesof thepast, and Disneyland,"' concluded the New York hereyouth may savor the challengeand Times,had "captured some fun and promise of thefuture. Disneyland is dedi- fantasy, the elements ... that are sup- cated to the ideals, the dreams,and hard posed to make the place tick." But despite facts that have createdAmerica... with the such flashes of honest spontaneity, the hope that it will be a sourceofjoy and tightly scripted ninety-minute program- inspiration to all the world.' like the whole Disneyland enterprise- had serious flaws. It was entirely too Park officials, of course, had no time to "Hollywood," according to the Times: brood over iffy reviews: the real opening, slick, commercial, star-studded, glitzy. for the general public, was less than twelve 170 Winter/Spring1991 Hosts of the televisedopening, hoursoff, and, if Sunday'smobs were any Hollywood,and her seven-year-old 17 July 1955: RonaldReagan, portentof things to come, Mondaywas cousin, MichaelSchwartner, of Bakers- Bob and Art Cummings, going to be wild. Dave McPherson,a field.Although the childrengot all the Linkletter.The presenceof these seniorat BeachState media the clear of small-screenstars of the Long College, attention, majority period stationedhimself at the ticketwindow at those who followed insidewere signaledthe importanceof Disney 2:00 televisionto the genesis,iconogra- A.M., just about the time the state grown-ups,determined to experiencefor phy, and formaldesign of police beganto reportabnormal traffic themselveswhat only the elite had been Disneyland. volumesbuilding along the peripheryof privilegedto enjoy the day before.They Anaheim. By 8:00 A.M., two hours before swarmedover the park,eating everything the posted startof business,eight thou- in sight, droppinggarbage everywhere, sand merrymakershad alreadyqueued up tossingtheir kids from hand to hand to behindMcPherson, and the hundred-acre get them a seat on the KingArthur parking lot was almost full. At 10:00 A.M., Carousel,nearly swamping the Mark Walt Disney appearedand personally Twainin their eagernessto clamber greetedthe firsttwo kids in line: little aboard.But they came, they had a ChristineVess, age five, from North wonderfultime, and, in defianceof 171 AmericanArt strong negative criticism from travel my subsidy.I mortgagedeverything I own writers, influential columnists, glossy andput it in jeopardyfor this Park. news magazines, and itinerant intellectu- Commercial?... They'recrazy! We have als, they kept on coming in enormous lots offree things [here]. No otherplace has numbers, more than a million of them in as high a quality. I stand here in the Park the first seven weeks alone, exceeding all and talk to people. It's a mostgratifying estimates and giving backers reason to thing. All I've gotfrom thepublic is believe their risky, $17 million investment thank-yous.3 might someday pay off. Indeed, even before the previews Middlebrows continued to carp about began, speculation about costs and profits the potential profitability of Disneyland, all but overshadowed discussion of the as if capitalism were an unfamiliar park's entertainment value. And while the concept or Disney's park, by virtue of its press did not fail to wax eloquent about use of charactersthat all Americans knew The steamboatMark Twain the chronic traffic tie-ups around and loved from his cartoon features, plies the Riversof Americaat Disneyland, most of the first-year com- ought to have been in the public do- Disneyland,carrying visitors plaints came down to dollars and cents. main-free, or almost free, like a national backinto a 1950s special, "Walt's dream is a nightmare," wrote one park or national shrine. With few excep- versionof Americanhistory. particularlydisillusioned member of the tions, highbrow critics of the 1950s fourth estate. despised Disneyland for similar reasons. Writing for the Nation, the novelist Julian To me [the park]felt like a giant cash Halevy took exception to an enterprise register,clicking and clanging, as creatures that charged
Recommended publications
  • The Theme Park As "De Sprookjessprokkelaar," the Gatherer and Teller of Stories
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2018 Exploring a Three-Dimensional Narrative Medium: The Theme Park as "De Sprookjessprokkelaar," The Gatherer and Teller of Stories Carissa Baker University of Central Florida, [email protected] Part of the Rhetoric Commons, and the Tourism and Travel Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Baker, Carissa, "Exploring a Three-Dimensional Narrative Medium: The Theme Park as "De Sprookjessprokkelaar," The Gatherer and Teller of Stories" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 5795. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/5795 EXPLORING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL NARRATIVE MEDIUM: THE THEME PARK AS “DE SPROOKJESSPROKKELAAR,” THE GATHERER AND TELLER OF STORIES by CARISSA ANN BAKER B.A. Chapman University, 2006 M.A. University of Central Florida, 2008 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, FL Spring Term 2018 Major Professor: Rudy McDaniel © 2018 Carissa Ann Baker ii ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the pervasiveness of storytelling in theme parks and establishes the theme park as a distinct narrative medium. It traces the characteristics of theme park storytelling, how it has changed over time, and what makes the medium unique.
    [Show full text]
  • Classic Trains' 2014-2015 Index
    INDEX TO VOLUMES 15 and 16 All contents of publications indexed © 2013, 2014, and 2015 by Kalmbach Publishing Co., Waukesha, Wis. CLASSIC TRAINS Spring 2014 through Winter 2015 (8 issues) ALL ABOARD! (1 issue) 876 pages HOW TO USE THIS INDEX: Feature material has been indexed three or more times—once by the title under which it was published, again under the author’s last name, and finally under one or more of the subject categories or railroads. Photographs standing alone are indexed (usually by railroad), but photographs within a feature article are not separately indexed. Brief items are indexed under the appropriate railroad and/or category. Most references to people are indexed under the company with which they are commonly identified; if there is no common identification, they may be indexed under the person’s last name. Items from countries from other than the U.S. and Canada are indexed under the appropriate country name. ABBREVIATIONS: Sp = Spring Classic Trains, Su = Summer Classic Trains, Fa = Fall Classic Trains, Wi = Winter Classic Trains; AA! = All Aboard!; 14 = 2014, 15 = 2015. Albany & Northern: Strange Bedfellows, Wi14 32 A Bridgeboro Boogie, Fa15 60 21st Century Pullman, Classics Today, Su15 76 Abbey, Wallace W., obituary, Su14 9 Alco: Variety in the Valley, Sp14 68 About the BL2, Fa15 35 Catching the Sales Pitchers, Wi15 38 Amtrak’s GG1 That Might Have Been, Su15 28 Adams, Stuart: Finding FAs, Sp14 20 Anderson, Barry: Article by: Alexandria Steam Show, Fa14 36 Article by: Once Upon a Railway, Sp14 32 Algoma Central: Herding the Goats, Wi15 72 Biographical sketch, Sp14 6 Through the Wilderness on an RDC, AA! 50 Biographical sketch, Wi15 6 Adventures With SP Train 51, AA! 98 Tracks of the Black Bear, Fallen Flags Remembered, Wi14 16 Anderson, Richard J.
    [Show full text]
  • Walt Disney's Pilgrimage Will Fascinate Readers!
    NEWS RELEASE September 26, 2017 WALT DISNEY’S PILGRIMAGE WILL FASCINATE READERS! DETROIT AREA, MICHIGAN—A unique book that geographically chronicles the life of Walt Disney has just been published. Entitled Walt’s Pilgrimage, the nearly 400‐page book was written by Disney researcher and metro Detroiter, Christopher W. Tremblay, Ed.D. The book was inspired from the college course that Tremblay developed and teaches for Western Michigan University’s (WMU) Lee Honors College. In addition, eight WMU students and the WMU Director of Archives contributed to the content. About the Book The book is a combination travel guide, biography, and history book. While there are more than 50 biographies written about Walt Disney, this book takes a unique approach. It enables Disney fans to travel in Walt’s shoes from his birthplace to his gravesite, and everywhere in between throughout North America. It features more than 70 chapters and highlights more than 275 sites connected to Walt Disney throughout the United States (from Alaska to Hawaii), Canada, and Mexico. It offers insights about significant places like Disneyland, various Walt Disney museums – as well as places that never came to fruition – like Mineral King and St. Louis’ proposed Riverfront Square. Foreword Written by a Disney Family Member The Foreword was written by Walt Disney’s son‐in‐law, Ron Miller, who also serves as President of the Board of the Walt Disney Family Museum, which was started by Walt’s daughter, Diane Disney Miller. “I am grateful to Christopher for helping impart the true story of Walt Disney …. I hope that you are inspired by Christopher’s book and by Walt’s story,” stated Ron Miller, who Tremblay first met in 2015.
    [Show full text]
  • Enjoy the Magic of Walt Disney World All Year Long with Celebrations Magazine! Receive 6 Issues for $29.99* (Save More Than 15% Off the Cover Price!) *U.S
    Enjoy the magic of Walt Disney World all year long with Celebrations magazine! Receive 6 issues for $29.99* (save more than 15% off the cover price!) *U.S. residents only. To order outside the United States, please visit www.celebrationspress.com. To subscribe to Celebrations magazine, clip or copy the coupon below. Send check or money order for $29.99 to: YES! Celebrations Press Please send me 6 issues of PO Box 584 Celebrations magazine Uwchland, PA 19480 Name Confirmation email address Address City State Zip You can also subscribe online at www.celebrationspress.com. Cover Photography © Mike Billick Issue 44 The Rustic Majesty of the Wilderness Lodge 42 Contents Calendar of Events ............................................................ 8 Disney News ...........................................................................10 MOUSE VIEWS ......................................................... 15 Guide to the Magic by Tim Foster............................................................................16 Darling Daughters: Hidden Mickeys by Steve Barrett ......................................................................18 Diane & Sharon Disney 52 Shutters & Lenses by Tim Devine .........................................................................20 Disney Legends by Jamie Hecker ....................................................................24 Disney Cuisine by Allison Jones ......................................................................26 Disney Touring Tips by Carrie Hurst .......................................................................28
    [Show full text]
  • Once Upon a Time
    ONCE UPON A TIME THE SOURCES OF INSPIRATION FOR THE DISNEY STUDIOS ONCE UPON A TIME THE SOURCES OF INSPIRATION FOR THE DISNEY STUDIOS Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris September 16, 2006 – January 15, 2007 Pavillon Jean-Noël Desmarais The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts March 8 – June 24, 2007 PRESTEL Munich · Berlin · London · New York This exhibition was organized by the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Design: Atelier Mendini, Milan Project management in Paris: Yves Kneusé, architect, DPLG Project management in Montreal: Sandra Gagné General co-ordination and organization in Paris: Organization in Montreal: Réunion des Musées Nationaux Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Olivier Toche Bernard Lamarre Director of Cultural Development Chairman of the Board Magali Sicsic Nathalie Blondil Administrator of Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais Principal Curator Juliette Armand Paul Lavallée Head of Exhibitions Department Administrative Director Vincent David Pascal Normandin Project Manager, Exhibitions Co-ordinator, Exhibitions Jean Naudin Registrar Communications Christine Jéquel Registrar assistant Danielle Champagne Director of Communications Communications Françoise Pams Director of Communications Cécile Vignot Head of Promotion Services and Media Partnerships Florence Le Moing Press Officer Advisory committee Paris Francine Mariani-Ducray Director, Musées de France Marcel Pochard Chairman of the Board Réunion des Musées Nationaux Thomas Grenon Director General Réunion des Musées Nationaux Montreal
    [Show full text]
  • 1949 Chicago Railroad Fair Official Guide Book Wheels A-Rolling
    2nd GREAT YEAR The Chicago Railroad Fair IS PRESENTED BY The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway System Illinois Central Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad Company The Boston and Maine Railroad Maine Central Railroad Company Durlington Lines Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company The Monongahela Railway Company Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad New York Central System Chicago Great Western Railway Nickel Plate Road- The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Chicago & Illinois 1idland Railway Company Railroad Company Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway Company- Norfolk Southern Railway Company Monon Northern Pacific Railway Company Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Pennsylvania Railroad Company The Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway Company Chicago And Nnrth Western Railway System The Pullman Company The Colorado & Wyoming Railway Company Rock Island Lines- Ch icago, Rock Island and Pacific Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Railroad Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway Company Soo Line-Minneapolis, St. Paul & Saulte Ste. Marie Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company Railroad Erie Railroad Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Company Grand Trunk Railway ystem The Texas-Mexican Railway Company Great Northern Railway Company Union Pacific Railroad Green Bay & Western Lines Wabash Railroad Company Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad- The Alton Route Western Pacific Railroad Company OFFICERS President LENOX R. LOHR President, Museum of Science and Industry Vice-President Treasurer Secretary R. L. WILL IAMS WAYNE A_ JOH STON G. M. CAMPBELL President, Chicago And President, Illinois Vice-Pres. and Exec. Rep. North Western Railway System Central Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company DIRECTORS ARTHUR K.
    [Show full text]
  • Pullman Company Archives
    PULLMAN COMPANY ARCHIVES THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY Guide to the Pullman Company Archives by Martha T. Briggs and Cynthia H. Peters Funded in Part by a Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities Chicago The Newberry Library 1995 ISBN 0-911028-55-2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................. v - xii ... Access Statement ............................................ xiii Record Group Structure ..................................... xiv-xx Record Group No . 01 President .............................................. 1 - 42 Subgroup No . 01 Office of the President ...................... 2 - 34 Subgroup No . 02 Office of the Vice President .................. 35 - 39 Subgroup No . 03 Personal Papers ......................... 40 - 42 Record Group No . 02 Secretary and Treasurer ........................................ 43 - 153 Subgroup No . 01 Office of the Secretary and Treasurer ............ 44 - 151 Subgroup No . 02 Personal Papers ........................... 152 - 153 Record Group No . 03 Office of Finance and Accounts .................................. 155 - 197 Subgroup No . 01 Vice President and Comptroller . 156 - 158 Subgroup No. 02 General Auditor ............................ 159 - 191 Subgroup No . 03 Auditor of Disbursements ........................ 192 Subgroup No . 04 Auditor of Receipts ......................... 193 - 197 Record Group No . 04 Law Department ........................................ 199 - 237 Subgroup No . 01 General Counsel .......................... 200 - 225 Subgroup No . 02
    [Show full text]
  • The Walt Disney Family Museum Mourns the Loss of Ron Miller
    PRESS RELEASE The Walt Disney Family Museum Mourns the Loss of Ron Miller San Francisco, CA, Feb 9, 2019—Ron Miller, husband of Diane Disney Miller, son-in-law of Walt Disney, President of the Board of Directors at The Walt Disney Family Museum, and owner of Silverado Vineyards, has passed in Napa, California at the age of 85. At age 21, Ron, a member of the University of Southern California football team, was introduced to 20-year-old Diane Disney on a blind date. They were married in Santa Barbara on May 9, 1954. Ron served in the Army and then played professional football for the Los Angeles Rams before his father-in-law recruited him to work at The Walt Disney Studios. There, he ascended from motion picture and television production roles to CEO of what is now The Walt Disney Company. Ron first started working for Walt as part of the original Disneyland team, where he was employee number six. Ron’s first job in this capacity was serving as second assistant on Old Yeller (1957). Eventually, as CEO, Ron pushed the Company to expand and explore, creating Walt Disney Home Video, Touchstone Pictures, and The Disney Channel. Ron, Diane, and Diane’s mother, Lillian, established Silverado Vineyards in 1981, four years after they purchased the property. This place, near the small town of Yountville, California, became Ron and Diane’s permanent residence. Ron supported Diane’s pursuit in documenting the life and accomplishments of her father, from producing the documentary film Walt: The Man Behind the Myth (2001) to establishing The Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio of San Francisco in 2009.
    [Show full text]
  • Official Guide Book and Program for the Pageant Wheels Arolling
    ILLINOIS HISTORIBAI SURVEY i s p r e s e n t e d b y — Fe R ailwa S stem M obile O hio T he T he Atchison , Topeka and Santa y y Gulf, and Railroad Alton Route I l l l T he Balt imore and Ohio Railroad Company l inois Centra Rai road Lake min ilr T he Boston and M aine Railroad Superior Ishpe g Ra oad Company l lr B urlington Lines M aine Centra Rai oad Company a ea o hs S l 140 1 1 5 i w T he Chesapeake and Ohio Rail way Company p 5 Ra l ay ll h o n n ahela I i ail way mpa Chicago Eastern I llinois Railroad e é Co ny Eew éorfi é l s stem o uv entra y r a Wes z d — N T he N ew ickel Plate Road York , Chicago And St . Louis 212 222 2 g filino is dfiiglafid Rsi vay Co m panv Ra i lroad Company o i ll a lw m — Chicago , Indianapolis L u svi e R i ay Co pany M onon Norfolk Southern R ailw av Company i i l PaC i fi c il ‘ lw . Ch cago , M aukee, St Pau and Ra road Company Northern Pact fi C Rail way Co m pany Chicago And North Western Rail way System Pennsylvania Railroad T he m i ai w Colorado W yo ng R l ay Company T he Pittsburgh West V irginia Rail way Company R i i Denver and o Grande Western Ra lroad T he P ul lman Company I i w m Duluth .
    [Show full text]
  • Re-Embroidering the Bayeux Tapestry in Film and Media: the Flip Side of History in Opening and End Title Sequences
    Exemplaria Medieval, Early Modern, Theory ISSN: 1041-2573 (Print) 1753-3074 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/yexm20 Re-embroidering the Bayeux Tapestry in Film and Media: The Flip Side of History in Opening and End Title Sequences Richard Burt To cite this article: Richard Burt (2007) Re-embroidering the Bayeux Tapestry in Film and Media: The Flip Side of History in Opening and End Title Sequences, Exemplaria, 19:2, 327-350, DOI: 10.1179/175330707X212895 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1179/175330707X212895 Published online: 18 Jul 2013. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 148 View related articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=yexm20 EXEMPLARIA, VOL. 19, NO. 2, SUMMER 2007, 327 – 350 Re-embroidering the Bayeux Tapestry in Film and Media: The Flip Side of History in Opening and End Title Sequences RICHARD BURT University of Florida This essay explores homologies between the Tapestry and cinema, focusing on the opening title sequences of several fi lms that cite the Bayeux Tapestry, including The Vikings; Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves; Bedknobs and Broomsticks; Blackadder; and La Chanson de Roland. The cinematic adaptation of a medieval artifact such as the Bayeux Tapestry suggests that history, whether located in the archive, museum, or movie medievalism, always has a more or less obscure and parodic fl ip side, and that history, written or cinematic, tells a narrative disturbed by uncanny hauntings
    [Show full text]
  • IMAGES from the WALT DISNEY FAMILY MUSEUM Walt and Lillian
    IMAGES FROM THE WALT DISNEY FAMILY MUSEUM For high resolution versions of the images below or for additional images and information, please contact: Andi Wang, Communications and Digital Media Manager 415.345.6816 or [email protected] Walt and Lillian Disney on board The Rex, 1935 Courtesy Walt Disney Family Foundation, ©Disney Walt Disney, early 1930s Courtesy of The Walt Disney Company, ©Disney Walt Disney reading to his daughters Courtesy Walt Disney Family Foundation Walt Disney reads a bedtime story to his daughters Sharon (left) and Diane (right). The Walt Disney Family Museum Photo by Ric Miller, courtesy The Walt Disney Family Museum. The Museum is located in a former army barrack on the Main Post in the Presidio of San Francisco, with the Golden Gate Bridge as a backdrop. The Walt Disney Family Museum, at night Photo by Jim Smith, courtesy The Walt Disney Family Museum. The Walt Disney Family Museum, from the back Photo by Jim Smith, courtesy The Walt Disney Family Museum. A reflection of the Golden Gate Bridge can be seen on the Museum’s back glass panel. The Theater Photo by Jim Smith, courtesy The Walt Disney Family Museum. Inspired by Fantasia and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” this state-of-the-art digital theater seats an audience of 114 and daily screens classic Disney films. 2 Gallery 2: The Move to Hollywood Photo by Jim Smith, courtesy The Walt Disney Family Museum. IN 1923, when Walt Disney’s first company (Laugh-O- grams) failed, Walt moved out West and formed the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studios, which ultimately led to the creation of Mickey Mouse.
    [Show full text]
  • Winter 2008 Vol. 17 No. 4
    Winter 2008 vol. 17 no. 4 Jada and Lawrence Smith of Florida, Members since 2005, cruise past the construction site of the Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. Illustration by Keelan Parham Disney Files Magazine is published by the good people at Disney Vacation Club If I were to list what I love most about living in Florida P.O. Box 10350 and working for the Mouse, “employer’s liberal use of Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830 code names” would have to make my top 10, somewhere behind “sunscreen in January” and slightly ahead of All dates, times, events and prices “humidity in January.” (Just missing the cut: “saltiness of printed herein are subject to turkey legs” and “abundance of white pants.”) change without notice. (Our lawyers Nothing delights middle managers more than sitting do a happy dance when we say that.) around a conference table acting like the room is bugged. MOVING? The rapid dropping of names like “Project Quasar” (Disney’s Update your mailing address Animal Kingdom Villas) and “Project Crystal” (Bay Lake Tower online at www.dvcmember.com at Disney’s Contemporary Resort) can transform any meeting into a scene from Windtalkers (albeit with more nametags and less Nicolas Cage). Of course, not MEMBERSHIP QUESTIONS? all codes are tough to decipher. Case in point: our cloaking of the Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Contact Member Services from Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa with the code name “Project Tarzan.” Not very subtle, but I 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Eastern daily at suppose it beats “Project Treehouse.” (800) 800-9800 or (407) 566-3800 You’ll read more about “Project Tarzan” in this edition of your magazine (pages 2-4), but allow me to first introduce a few other key features by revealing their rejected code names.
    [Show full text]