I had to do a paper this semester for my graduate school class on utopia, and I chose EPCOT. If you have a few minutes, I'd like your opinions...
EPCOT vs. Epcot: Did Disney’s Ideal Utopia Succumb to the Theme Park?
The name Walt Disney is synonymous with the film industry. Whether animated or live-action movies, Disney’s movies are known by generations of moviegoers worldwide. Ironically, it is one of Walt Disney’s last films that is not nearly as well known as most of his films, but is, perhaps, one of his most important. On October 27, 1966, just a few weeks prior to his death, Walt Disney produced and starred in an informational film, describing what was then known as the Florida Project, and what we know today as Walt Disney World.
The film, officially entitled Project Florida, focused on what Walt Disney was planning to do with the large piece of property he and his company secretly purchased in central Florida. The film described two major aspects to Disney World (Gennawey 262). One would be an East Coast version of Disneyland (herein referred to by its current name, the Magic Kingdom) and the other would be, not a theme park, but an actual community where people could live and work. This community would be the centerpiece of the Florida Project. In fact, Neil Gabler, in his biography of Walt Disney, mentions “the appeal of Disney World to Walt—its only real appeal to him—was that he would finally have the chance to build a utopian city adjacent to the theme parks” (608). Therefore, a majority of that film is dedicated to EPCOT, Walt Disney’s Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. During the film, Walt describes EPCOT as:
The most exciting, by far the most important part of our Florida project…EPCOT will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing, and testing, and demonstrating new materials and new systems, and EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world of the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise.
As this film was being produced, Disneyland was flourishing and Disney’s successful venture at the 1964 New York’s World’s Fair had proved that a Disneyland on the east coast was feasible. Unfortunately, Walt Disney had died by the time this film was shown to audiences. Nonetheless, Roy Disney, Walt’s older brother, assumed responsibility for the project, and the Magic Kingdom, just one aspect of what would become known Walt Disney World, opened in 1971. Absent, however, from this opening was Walt’s brainchild, EPCOT.
For Walt Disney, EPCOT was not a whim or pet project that he began in his twilight years. Rather, Walt Disney had a passion for technology and ingenuity that spanned his lifetime. In Walt: The Man Behind the Myth, Marty Sklar, who worked closely with Walt Disney on his film and theme park projects, said that Walt had “One foot in the past because he loved the nostalgia and one foot in the future because he loved the technology.” Before he even ventured into theme parks, Walt Disney created new and innovative ways to film movies. For example, Neil Gabler writes that, at the time of its development, Disney’s multiplane camera helped animation “surpass live action films” (259). Additionally, while creating the Tomorrowland section of Disneyland, it was said that “Walt would carry around books on city planning and mutter about traffic, noise, and neon signs” (Gabler 608). To Walt Disney, EPCOT would have been a place where he could have expanded upon what he had created in Tomorrowland and submerged himself in the latest in “technology and American ingenuity.”
As Walt Disney’s ideas for a utopian community began to gain momentum, society was following in a similar path. In 1964, the World’s Fair was held in New York City. An exhibition of the newest technology and latest ideas from all over the globe, the World’s Fair was a representation of an American society that was advancing at a momentous rate. Sam Gennawey describes the World’s Fair as a venue that “captured the public’s imagination like no other event. Many times the ideas on display were so powerful that community leaders would return home and commit vast sums of money…to transform their cities to reflect the latest trends (193). In many ways, Walt’s reasoning behind EPCOT was similar to the purpose of the World’s Fairs. The World’s Fairs were popular attractions that lasted for decades. The American people, and people all over the world, had the interest and the capacity to take what they saw at these fairs and integrate those ideas into their own lives. Similarly, Walt believed that if he put the best and the newest technology on display at EPCOT, world leaders would take his model, or showcase, as he refers to it in the EPCOT film, and implement it in their communities. However, after Walt’s death in 1966, that mentality changed, both around the globe and around the Walt Disney Company.
What Happened to EPCOT?
According to Sam Gennawey, soon after Walt Disney’s death, his brother Roy and the company’s top executives met to discuss the future of the Florida Project. When Roy was presented with what had been Walt’s latest ideas for EPCOT, Roy replied solemnly, “Walt’s gone” (341). While Roy’s remark may have marked the end of Walt’s vision of EPCOT, it did not mark the end of the Florida project, and in no way was he abandoning Disney World. In fact, it was Roy who spearheaded the construction of the Magic Kingdom after Walt’s death. However, in his biography of Walt Disney, Neil Gabler states that when Walt Disney died, so did EPCOT (631).
Sam Gennawey, in his book, Walt and the Promise of Progress City, believes that one of the reasons the EPCOT project was not built was because, as previously mentioned, it was a product of its time. Gennawey describes the EPCOT project as a product of the “Modern era, during which truths were revealed by scientific method” (363). EPCOT, an experimental community by its own name, exemplifies the scientific method, or the process of forming hypotheses and testing their validity. EPCOT was Walt’s hypothesis; he wanted to create what he believed to be the ideal community and then test it by having actual people live there. However, Gennawey argues that today we live in the “Post-modern era…where truth is relative or impossible to know” (363). He goes on to say that the EPCOT project was a “thoroughly Modern-era” idea, but the Epcot theme park of today is “a Post-modern place” (364). In light of this, Gennawey argues that EPCOT may not have been built because of the idea that it was, in fact, a product of its time. Did the executives at the Walt Disney Company question whether “EPCOT would have been relative in a post-modern world…would it look like a dinosaur, a product of a much different time” (Gennawey 364)? This may have been a factor in the decision to build a theme park rather than an actual community. It seems that it would be easier to “update” a theme park by adding and subtracting some attractions, than update an entire community which would really have to begin from the ground-up.
While Genneway offers the idea that EPCOT was not built because it was an out-dated idea by the time Disney World opened, the “official” reason given by the Walt Disney Company was that, quite simply, they just didn’t know enough. In 1990, ________ Nunis, then-president of Walt Disney Attractions was interviewed by Chris Wallace on Prime Time Live. When asked why Walt’s original vision for EPCOT was not built, and a theme park was constructed instead, Nunis replied “the plans Walt left were sketchy at best” (345). This is quite feasible. After all, Walt, himself, states in the EPCOT film that, “The sketches and plans you will see today are simply a starting point: our first overall thinking about Disney World. Everything in this room may change time and time again as we move ahead.” Since Walt died, it was possible that the company’s executives felt they could not successfully build an entire community based on merely “sketches and plans.” This would seem so, but Walt goes on to say, “the basic philosophy of what we’re planning for Disney World is going to remain very much as it is right now.” This statement makes the plans for EPCOT seem much more concrete. The fact is, however, no one will ever really know how far along the plans for Walt’s experimental community were in Walt’s mind, nor will any know why EPCOT was built as a theme park and not a city. In fact, Card Walker, then-chief operating officer at Disney was quoted as saying, “I’ll be very honest to say that we don’t have any definitive plan for EPCOT, nor did Walt” (Koenig 157). Sam Gennawey, however, offers this hypothesis: “In the end, only Walt and a few others had been genuinely excited about the city building project. The rest of his team was satisfied with simply building another theme park and vacation destination” (346).
David Koenig, in his book Realityland, agrees with Gennawey, and makes the assertion that “Walt’s conservative heirs were terrified of the type of financial and creative risks Walt thrived on” (156). However, according to Koeing, the public would not forget Walt’s EPCOT and continued to ask if any progress was being made on this revolutionary idea. Ironically, though, it was the fact that EPCOT was so revolutionary that scared the executives at Disney. “The idea was so different and underdeveloped that carrying it out would mean a lot more innovating” when executives had been used to rehashing Walt’s ideas since his death (157).
Finally, EPCOT—sort of
Despite their apprehensions, in the mid-1970s, the Walt Disney Company announced plans for the second phase of the Florida Project, EPCOT Center. The name EPCOT Center implied that this theme park would be the center of some future EPCOT (Koenig 161). In 1979, ground was broken on Walt Disney World’s second theme park. Disney executives believed that it would appease the public if they incorporated different ideas from Walt’s EPCOT into EPCOT Center. Therefore, EPCOT Center would be comprised of two major areas: Future World and World Showcase. Future World would be an exhibition of the latest in “science, technology, communications and the arts,” much like EPCOT would have been. World Showcase, comprised of pavilions representing different countries from all over the world, was based on “the international shopping village from EPCOT’s central tower” (Koenig 159). To sponsor attractions and events, Disney was looking for long-term commitments from “industry and nations” (Gennawey 344). This concept mirrors, almost exactly, the concept for the World’s Fairs, which were, as previously mentioned, venues for countries and companies to sponsor and construct pavilions that exhibited their newest and latest developments. In fact, Sam Gennawey describes EPCOT Center as “a permanent World’s Fair” (343). Furthermore, like the World’s Fair, EPCOT Center was to be built “from the point of view of economics, operations, technology, and market potential” (Gennawey 344).
In 1982, over ten years after the debut of the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT Center opened, not a community, but a theme park. Though EPCOT Center was over twice the size of the Magic Kingdom, “EPCOT Center was no EPCOT” (Gennawey 345). It was not an experiential community, but rather a theme park that mirrored the World’s Fairs. This hardly seems experimental. After all, the Disney Company, having built Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom from the ground up, were well versed in theme park construction, so EPCOT Center did not adhere to its prototype description, and, of course, it was not a community. However, EPCOT and EPCOT Center shared one commonality: both had some focus on the future, but was this enough to call EPCOT a successful interpretation of Walt’s dream city? Perhaps this answer can be determined by looking at whether EPCOT Center was, in fact, the utopia that EPCOT was supposed to be.
In order to determine whether EPCOT Center was the utopia that Walt Disney envisioned when he devised EPCOT, it is important to define what, exactly, is a utopia. In the “End of Utopia,” Manfredi G. Nicoletti states that a “utopia is aiming toward a distant but complete horizon of human perfection, a perfection created by man and involving the totality of his life” (270). In its simplest form, this is what Walt intended EPCOT to be, “a perfection…involving the totality of man’s life.” In the EPCOT film, Walt states, “Everything in EPCOT will be dedicated to the happiness of the people who live, work, and play here, and those who come here from around the world to visit our living showcase.” This, in itself, could be a definition of utopia. If things are at their best, or perfect, as Nicoletti describes utopia, then, as Disney states, people will be “happy.”
A portion of Sam Gennawey’s Walt and the Promise of Progress City is entitled “Would it Have Worked?” and this is vital in the discussion of EPCOT as utopia. If EPCOT would not have worked, there is no way it could have been a utopia, and, therefore, comparing it to its theme park counterpart, EPCOT Center, would be fruitless. Gennawey concludes, after an interview with engineer Buzz Price, whom Walt Disney consulted on the Disneyland and Disney World projects, that EPCOT would have worked. In fact, Mr. Price states, “Absolutely yes” it would have worked. “In EPCOT, everyone could interact in a beautiful, comfortable, and inspiring public setting” (Gennawey 366). Genawey’s interpretation can easily be described a utopia. In short, EPCOT would have worked as a utopia. However, in the transition from actual community to theme park, did this utopian ideal remain or was it lost in EPCOT Center?
EPCOT Center: Still a Utopia?
In 1982, prior to the completion and opening of EPCOT Center, the Disney Company published a book, Walt Disney’s EPCOT Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow. This book is an interpretation of what the Disney Company believes EPCOT Center to be. The book itself is attempting to sway the public, the public that wanted so much to see Walt Disney’s EPOCT become a reality. By calling EPCOT Center Walt Disney’s, it implies that this is just as Walt had wanted it. This is furthered by a quote given by journalist Walter Cronkite, which appears in the last few pages of the book:
This universality of Disney carries on after his death, and continues in projects that he had put on the drawing board before he died. Epcot Center in Florida is a case in point—bringing together representatives of international industry, international commerce, and the governments of other countries in a permanent world’s fair. It perpetuates that theme of his that we are indeed one people. (Beard 127)
Mr. Cronkite mentions that this EPCOT is taken from ideas that Walt had put on the “drawing board” before his death. This perpetuates the idea that EPCOT was in its premature stages when Walt Disney died and this theme park is the best company executives could do with what they had. To see if this is true and to determine if EPCOT Center was the ideal utopia that Walt had put on the “drawing board” it is important to look at the attractions, or rides, that made up this park when it opened in 1982.
The Future World section of EPCOT was comprised of eight major attractions: Universe of Energy, Horizons, World of Motion, Journey into Imagination, The Land, The Living Seas, and Spaceship Earth, the center of the park.
Although EPCOT was transformed into a theme park, many of the attractions at the park, did, in fact, adhere to some aspect of Walt’s vision of an ideal utopia. Even Andrew Ross, who describes EPCOT center a “schizophrenic affair,” admits, “Walt’s plan lived on in a few of the pavilion rides” (56). For example, on the roof of the Universe of Energy pavilion (sponsored by Exxon Mobile, of course) were “80,000 three-inch, wafers-shaped solar collectors, are arranged on the diagonal in 2,200 panels. All together, the photovoltaic cells capture[d] power from the sun to generate about 77 kilowatts of DC current” (Beard 35). This idea, while not only technologically advanced, could also be considered utopian, since it promoted a new source of energy, solar power, which was a relatively new technology at the time. Moreover, these solar panels powered the ride vehicles inside the attraction so guests visiting EPCOT Center were able to see solar power in action. This lives up to Walt’s vision of EPCOT because it put solar energy on display so that the millions of people who visited Disney World were able to see it in use, and, possibly, take what they have learned and implement it elsewhere.
Another attraction, Horizons, also includes aspects of Walt Disney’s EPCOT. Horizons focused “less on technology than on a historically enduring social unit: the family. Rather than emphasizing the inevitable development and perfection of sophisticated machines of the future, Horizons concentrates on the purpose of the machines” (Beard 40). Horizons, like the Universe of Energy, adheres to Walt Disney’s vision of EPCOT because it does not just exhibit technology, it shows how families have benefitted, and continue to benefit, from technology. This was the central purpose of EPCOT. Walt Disney wanted the latest in technological advancements were to used by the residents of EPCOT. This attraction replaces that aspect of EPCOT the city and instead shows visitors of EPCOT Center the purpose and benefits of technology in their lives.
Similar to the Universe of Energy, another attraction, the World of Motion, exhibited some of the latest technology that was available in 1982. An example was an presentation on the “future car.” This aspect of the World of Motion pavilion is similar to Walt’s vision of EPCOT because it not only allows visitors to see a futuristic car, but it also shows how the car was designed. “Beginning with performance factors, the designers then made several sketches of the prototype car of tomorrow. The results of different tests influenced the models that were next built” (Beard 50). This is another key example of how EPCOT Center mirrors some the ideas Walt Disney presented in his EPCOT film. This is evident in that the exhibit showed how the car of the future was built, and it takes visitors on a step-by-step process of its construction. It also attempts to solve the problems faced by many drivers of the day, and, in doing so, is attempting some form of utopia. Moreover, the car was designed by Disney engineers. In the EPCOT video Walt Disney mentions that private industry would be involved in the construction of EPCOT; however, he also implies that much of the community will be designed by Disney engineers. Walt wanted to show how Disney could design a utopia, and the World of Motion does this.
Perhaps one of the greatest attractions that exhibits Disney’s attempt to create a utopia is The Land. Richard Beard, in his book previewing EPCOT, describes The Land as if he were describing Walt Disney’s original version of EPCOT: “The story of the land and its potential in partnership with man comes closest to the philosophy, purpose, and image of EPCOT, according to the designers of project. It’s a story you can see, and touch, and feel, and even eat!” EPCOT was a “story,” too, told by Walt Disney, but it was to go beyond that. It would have been a place where people could live in the story and experience it—and that is just what The Land does. It provides visitors to the pavilion with the opportunity to see the latest in agricultural technology and actually eat food grown in The Land. Utopia, as previously defined, attempts to bring perfection to its inhabitants and solve societal problems. The Land is perhaps one of the few pavilions that attempted to address a society problem almost immediately. “The most innovative techniques are here put into practice, and, as soon as they become viable, new agricultural advances will be incorporated” (Beard 63). That is exactly what EPCOT was to be—a place where new ideas could be put into practice and put on display for people to see, and, like the original plan for EPCOT, people who visited The Land could interact with the technology.
Ironically, The Land is one of the few attractions that remains in today’s Epcot. The name has since changed from EPCOT Center to Epcot. The acronym is gone, and the “Center” name has been dropped. The theme park never became the “center” of a much larger community. However, based on the attractions that were in place at the time Epcot opened in 1982, it was, at least to some degree, the EPCOT that Walt had envisioned. It displayed new and innovative technologies that were aimed at making society better. While the Epcot of 1982 was not a utopia where people could live, it was a utopia that people could visit, borrow ideas from, and make their own lives that much more utopic.
Today’s Epcot has changed since Richard Beard wrote his preview book in 1982. The World of Motion is now Test Track, a ride that allows participants to become human test dummies and experience the various tests cars go through before they hit the open market. Horizons has become Mission: Space, an attraction that simulates a space mission, right down to the g-forces of take-off. As mentioned, one of the few attractions that remains unchanged since 1982 is The Land. It still attempts to make progressions in agricultural sciences and even has a working laboratory. While many of these new attractions allow for a more thrilling experience for the participants, they deviate from the utopian ideal of Walt’s EPCOT. Test Track gives its riders an inside look, but offers little to make their lives better. The same goes for Mission: Space. While a fun ride, it shows us, the rider, technology that already exists and is already in place. Perhaps Sam Gennawey is correct. EPCOT was an idea from a modern era, and now, in 2012, we are in a post-modern era, when it may no longer be economically feasible or practical to constantly upgrade a theme park to keep up with technology that is changing at an astonishing rate. Unfortunately, when this happens, Epcot becomes less of a utopia.
“That’s EPCOT.”
Prior to the construction of EPCOT Center, many Disney executives were bombarded with questions about Walt’s progress city. They wanted to know where it was and if there was any progress being made. David Koenig, describes one such instances with Joe Potter, who was in charge of numerous construction projects on Disney properties. When asked about EPCOT, Potter would always say that work on EPCOT began on “Day One” of Disney World’s construction (122), meaning that, in Mr. Potter’s eyes, the new technologies being implemented throughout the Walt Disney World property were, in many ways, EPCOT. They were providing people with the opportunity to see the latest in American industry at work. For example, when describing the new filtered farm tree and clean energy plant, Potter would reply, “That’s EPCOT,” or when discussing Disney World’s vacuum powered trash system, Potter would again reply, “That’s EPCOT” (Koenig 122).
In many ways, Joe Potter was correct, and perhaps the Disney Company should have implemented this mantra more frequently. In many ways, the Walt Disney World Resort is a utopia. Based on Nicoletti’s definition, Walt Disney World is a utopia because it aims to bring happiness to those who visit, and it does so by implementing many new and innovative technologies. Whether its ride systems, modes of transportation, food service, or hospitality management, Disney sets the standard in many of these areas, and that is just what Walt Disney aspired to achieve. He wanted people to see the newest and most innovative technology implemented and put to use by the residents of EPCOT. While this is not the case today, visitors to Walt Disney World are in many ways visiting an EPCOT.
Additionally, in 1973, prior to the construction of EPCOT Center, the Disney Company was suggesting that it would begin doing “consulting work in transportation, recreational and city planning” (Gennawey 343). This thinking was on par with that of Joe Potter’s. If EPCOT, as envisioned by Walt Disney, could not be created, then EPCOT would be a part of other Disney productions. Furthermore, by offering consulting work, Disney was perpetuating Walt’s idea of offering the latest in technology to anyone who visited EPCOT—only Disney was bringing EPCOT to the people.
A Reason to Celebrate?
In the early 1990s, the Walt Disney Company began plans for its town of Celebration, “a small town that “features a downtown designed by a collection of the world’s great architects, state-of-the-art public facilities, and a walkable urban core integrated with a residential community” (Gennawey (338). While Celebration is separate from the Epcot theme park, the fact that Disney followed through on its plans to create a community cannot be overlooked when discussing the history of Walt Disney’s EPCOT. When EPCOT Center was announced, Disney was not ready to take on “the commitment of individuals and families to permanent residence” (Gennawey 344). Obviously, this outlook changed once Celebration was established.
However, according to Ross, when creating Celebration, Disney played down its similarity to Walt’s plan for EPCOT, although, to Ross, “Celebration would be yet another fresh start in a world gone wrong” (5). In fact, when interviewing Michael Eisner, then-chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Ross asked Eisner about any connection between Celebration and EPCOT, to which Eisner replied: The idea for EPCOT “was like having an idea for a movie over dinner, and then dropping dead after dinner, and then saying that this was your fully conceived vision” (Ross 56). Like his predecessors, Eisner believed that Walt Disney had few concrete plans about EPCOT, and, therefore, it would be impossible to see that plan through to fruition. To Eisner, Celebration, unlike EPCOT, was not meant solve any problems. Rather, it was meant to be a small community that harkened back to a quaint, small-town atmosphere that never was. Ross quotes Eisner as saying, “It is not the model for the next city, nor was it meant to be” (57). That said, Ross finds some aspects of celebration to be similar to Walt’s EPCOT. Celebration was still “an international showcase for technology, education, and medicine” (Ross 57).
Sam Gennawey disagrees with Ross’s interpretation of Celebration. “We can’t fully judge what life might have been like for EPCOT residents by looking at Celebration because it is much different city than EPCOT…Celebration was not an effort to fulfill Walt’s dream” (338). Whether or not Celebration fulfills Walt’s idea for the ideal city of the future, it does have all the markings for a utopia. In fact, “although Disney does not agree with the label, many credit the town as one of the most visible examples of The New Urbanism or Traditional Neighborhood design” (Gennawey 338). In his book, A Work in Progress, Michael Eisner, does a complete turnaround from the statement he gave to Andrew Ross and states “that the creation of Celebration was “to make good on Walt’s unrealized dream for the future” (Gennawey 338). Although Eisner may be “patting himself on the back” after being ousted at Disney, Celebration, does attempt to create, at the very least, the utopia that Walt had envisioned.
From animated shorts, to films, to theme parks, Walt Disney was always willing to accept a challenge, and he took on a tremendous challenge when he proposed building a city of tomorrow in central Florida. When Walt Disney died in 1966, this idea, perhaps too big for his successors, died with him. His Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow would never be built. Instead, a theme park, bearing the name EPCOT would be constructed to appease the loyalists who insisted that Walt’s dream be fulfilled. When it opened, EPCOT Center, was, in many ways, the utopia that Walt envisioned his community to be. It provided solutions to problems of the time, and made good on Disney’s promise to exhibit some of the greatest in American and international ingenuity. Epcot, now almost 20 years old, little resembles the utopia it was when it opened, and, other than its name, relates very little back to Walt Disney’s progress city. Absent from the Epcot of today, along with its acronym, is the focus on the future. Instead, it focuses on the present, a dangerous proposition, since the present is changing at such a momentous rate.
While Epcot may not be the utopia Walt had envisioned, that does not mean that Walt Disney World is a dystopia. Actually, it can be said that Walt Disney World in and of itself is an EPCOT—a utopia. Whether its in the technology Walt Disney World implements through its vacation resort, or in its town of Celebration, the Florida property Walt Disney purchased over forty years ago is a utopia that is “dedicated to the happiness of the people who will live, work and play” there.
EPCOT vs. Epcot: Did Disney’s Ideal Utopia Succumb to the Theme Park?
The name Walt Disney is synonymous with the film industry. Whether animated or live-action movies, Disney’s movies are known by generations of moviegoers worldwide. Ironically, it is one of Walt Disney’s last films that is not nearly as well known as most of his films, but is, perhaps, one of his most important. On October 27, 1966, just a few weeks prior to his death, Walt Disney produced and starred in an informational film, describing what was then known as the Florida Project, and what we know today as Walt Disney World.
The film, officially entitled Project Florida, focused on what Walt Disney was planning to do with the large piece of property he and his company secretly purchased in central Florida. The film described two major aspects to Disney World (Gennawey 262). One would be an East Coast version of Disneyland (herein referred to by its current name, the Magic Kingdom) and the other would be, not a theme park, but an actual community where people could live and work. This community would be the centerpiece of the Florida Project. In fact, Neil Gabler, in his biography of Walt Disney, mentions “the appeal of Disney World to Walt—its only real appeal to him—was that he would finally have the chance to build a utopian city adjacent to the theme parks” (608). Therefore, a majority of that film is dedicated to EPCOT, Walt Disney’s Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. During the film, Walt describes EPCOT as:
The most exciting, by far the most important part of our Florida project…EPCOT will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing, and testing, and demonstrating new materials and new systems, and EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world of the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise.
As this film was being produced, Disneyland was flourishing and Disney’s successful venture at the 1964 New York’s World’s Fair had proved that a Disneyland on the east coast was feasible. Unfortunately, Walt Disney had died by the time this film was shown to audiences. Nonetheless, Roy Disney, Walt’s older brother, assumed responsibility for the project, and the Magic Kingdom, just one aspect of what would become known Walt Disney World, opened in 1971. Absent, however, from this opening was Walt’s brainchild, EPCOT.
For Walt Disney, EPCOT was not a whim or pet project that he began in his twilight years. Rather, Walt Disney had a passion for technology and ingenuity that spanned his lifetime. In Walt: The Man Behind the Myth, Marty Sklar, who worked closely with Walt Disney on his film and theme park projects, said that Walt had “One foot in the past because he loved the nostalgia and one foot in the future because he loved the technology.” Before he even ventured into theme parks, Walt Disney created new and innovative ways to film movies. For example, Neil Gabler writes that, at the time of its development, Disney’s multiplane camera helped animation “surpass live action films” (259). Additionally, while creating the Tomorrowland section of Disneyland, it was said that “Walt would carry around books on city planning and mutter about traffic, noise, and neon signs” (Gabler 608). To Walt Disney, EPCOT would have been a place where he could have expanded upon what he had created in Tomorrowland and submerged himself in the latest in “technology and American ingenuity.”
As Walt Disney’s ideas for a utopian community began to gain momentum, society was following in a similar path. In 1964, the World’s Fair was held in New York City. An exhibition of the newest technology and latest ideas from all over the globe, the World’s Fair was a representation of an American society that was advancing at a momentous rate. Sam Gennawey describes the World’s Fair as a venue that “captured the public’s imagination like no other event. Many times the ideas on display were so powerful that community leaders would return home and commit vast sums of money…to transform their cities to reflect the latest trends (193). In many ways, Walt’s reasoning behind EPCOT was similar to the purpose of the World’s Fairs. The World’s Fairs were popular attractions that lasted for decades. The American people, and people all over the world, had the interest and the capacity to take what they saw at these fairs and integrate those ideas into their own lives. Similarly, Walt believed that if he put the best and the newest technology on display at EPCOT, world leaders would take his model, or showcase, as he refers to it in the EPCOT film, and implement it in their communities. However, after Walt’s death in 1966, that mentality changed, both around the globe and around the Walt Disney Company.
What Happened to EPCOT?
According to Sam Gennawey, soon after Walt Disney’s death, his brother Roy and the company’s top executives met to discuss the future of the Florida Project. When Roy was presented with what had been Walt’s latest ideas for EPCOT, Roy replied solemnly, “Walt’s gone” (341). While Roy’s remark may have marked the end of Walt’s vision of EPCOT, it did not mark the end of the Florida project, and in no way was he abandoning Disney World. In fact, it was Roy who spearheaded the construction of the Magic Kingdom after Walt’s death. However, in his biography of Walt Disney, Neil Gabler states that when Walt Disney died, so did EPCOT (631).
Sam Gennawey, in his book, Walt and the Promise of Progress City, believes that one of the reasons the EPCOT project was not built was because, as previously mentioned, it was a product of its time. Gennawey describes the EPCOT project as a product of the “Modern era, during which truths were revealed by scientific method” (363). EPCOT, an experimental community by its own name, exemplifies the scientific method, or the process of forming hypotheses and testing their validity. EPCOT was Walt’s hypothesis; he wanted to create what he believed to be the ideal community and then test it by having actual people live there. However, Gennawey argues that today we live in the “Post-modern era…where truth is relative or impossible to know” (363). He goes on to say that the EPCOT project was a “thoroughly Modern-era” idea, but the Epcot theme park of today is “a Post-modern place” (364). In light of this, Gennawey argues that EPCOT may not have been built because of the idea that it was, in fact, a product of its time. Did the executives at the Walt Disney Company question whether “EPCOT would have been relative in a post-modern world…would it look like a dinosaur, a product of a much different time” (Gennawey 364)? This may have been a factor in the decision to build a theme park rather than an actual community. It seems that it would be easier to “update” a theme park by adding and subtracting some attractions, than update an entire community which would really have to begin from the ground-up.
While Genneway offers the idea that EPCOT was not built because it was an out-dated idea by the time Disney World opened, the “official” reason given by the Walt Disney Company was that, quite simply, they just didn’t know enough. In 1990, ________ Nunis, then-president of Walt Disney Attractions was interviewed by Chris Wallace on Prime Time Live. When asked why Walt’s original vision for EPCOT was not built, and a theme park was constructed instead, Nunis replied “the plans Walt left were sketchy at best” (345). This is quite feasible. After all, Walt, himself, states in the EPCOT film that, “The sketches and plans you will see today are simply a starting point: our first overall thinking about Disney World. Everything in this room may change time and time again as we move ahead.” Since Walt died, it was possible that the company’s executives felt they could not successfully build an entire community based on merely “sketches and plans.” This would seem so, but Walt goes on to say, “the basic philosophy of what we’re planning for Disney World is going to remain very much as it is right now.” This statement makes the plans for EPCOT seem much more concrete. The fact is, however, no one will ever really know how far along the plans for Walt’s experimental community were in Walt’s mind, nor will any know why EPCOT was built as a theme park and not a city. In fact, Card Walker, then-chief operating officer at Disney was quoted as saying, “I’ll be very honest to say that we don’t have any definitive plan for EPCOT, nor did Walt” (Koenig 157). Sam Gennawey, however, offers this hypothesis: “In the end, only Walt and a few others had been genuinely excited about the city building project. The rest of his team was satisfied with simply building another theme park and vacation destination” (346).
David Koenig, in his book Realityland, agrees with Gennawey, and makes the assertion that “Walt’s conservative heirs were terrified of the type of financial and creative risks Walt thrived on” (156). However, according to Koeing, the public would not forget Walt’s EPCOT and continued to ask if any progress was being made on this revolutionary idea. Ironically, though, it was the fact that EPCOT was so revolutionary that scared the executives at Disney. “The idea was so different and underdeveloped that carrying it out would mean a lot more innovating” when executives had been used to rehashing Walt’s ideas since his death (157).
Finally, EPCOT—sort of
Despite their apprehensions, in the mid-1970s, the Walt Disney Company announced plans for the second phase of the Florida Project, EPCOT Center. The name EPCOT Center implied that this theme park would be the center of some future EPCOT (Koenig 161). In 1979, ground was broken on Walt Disney World’s second theme park. Disney executives believed that it would appease the public if they incorporated different ideas from Walt’s EPCOT into EPCOT Center. Therefore, EPCOT Center would be comprised of two major areas: Future World and World Showcase. Future World would be an exhibition of the latest in “science, technology, communications and the arts,” much like EPCOT would have been. World Showcase, comprised of pavilions representing different countries from all over the world, was based on “the international shopping village from EPCOT’s central tower” (Koenig 159). To sponsor attractions and events, Disney was looking for long-term commitments from “industry and nations” (Gennawey 344). This concept mirrors, almost exactly, the concept for the World’s Fairs, which were, as previously mentioned, venues for countries and companies to sponsor and construct pavilions that exhibited their newest and latest developments. In fact, Sam Gennawey describes EPCOT Center as “a permanent World’s Fair” (343). Furthermore, like the World’s Fair, EPCOT Center was to be built “from the point of view of economics, operations, technology, and market potential” (Gennawey 344).
In 1982, over ten years after the debut of the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT Center opened, not a community, but a theme park. Though EPCOT Center was over twice the size of the Magic Kingdom, “EPCOT Center was no EPCOT” (Gennawey 345). It was not an experiential community, but rather a theme park that mirrored the World’s Fairs. This hardly seems experimental. After all, the Disney Company, having built Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom from the ground up, were well versed in theme park construction, so EPCOT Center did not adhere to its prototype description, and, of course, it was not a community. However, EPCOT and EPCOT Center shared one commonality: both had some focus on the future, but was this enough to call EPCOT a successful interpretation of Walt’s dream city? Perhaps this answer can be determined by looking at whether EPCOT Center was, in fact, the utopia that EPCOT was supposed to be.
In order to determine whether EPCOT Center was the utopia that Walt Disney envisioned when he devised EPCOT, it is important to define what, exactly, is a utopia. In the “End of Utopia,” Manfredi G. Nicoletti states that a “utopia is aiming toward a distant but complete horizon of human perfection, a perfection created by man and involving the totality of his life” (270). In its simplest form, this is what Walt intended EPCOT to be, “a perfection…involving the totality of man’s life.” In the EPCOT film, Walt states, “Everything in EPCOT will be dedicated to the happiness of the people who live, work, and play here, and those who come here from around the world to visit our living showcase.” This, in itself, could be a definition of utopia. If things are at their best, or perfect, as Nicoletti describes utopia, then, as Disney states, people will be “happy.”
A portion of Sam Gennawey’s Walt and the Promise of Progress City is entitled “Would it Have Worked?” and this is vital in the discussion of EPCOT as utopia. If EPCOT would not have worked, there is no way it could have been a utopia, and, therefore, comparing it to its theme park counterpart, EPCOT Center, would be fruitless. Gennawey concludes, after an interview with engineer Buzz Price, whom Walt Disney consulted on the Disneyland and Disney World projects, that EPCOT would have worked. In fact, Mr. Price states, “Absolutely yes” it would have worked. “In EPCOT, everyone could interact in a beautiful, comfortable, and inspiring public setting” (Gennawey 366). Genawey’s interpretation can easily be described a utopia. In short, EPCOT would have worked as a utopia. However, in the transition from actual community to theme park, did this utopian ideal remain or was it lost in EPCOT Center?
EPCOT Center: Still a Utopia?
In 1982, prior to the completion and opening of EPCOT Center, the Disney Company published a book, Walt Disney’s EPCOT Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow. This book is an interpretation of what the Disney Company believes EPCOT Center to be. The book itself is attempting to sway the public, the public that wanted so much to see Walt Disney’s EPOCT become a reality. By calling EPCOT Center Walt Disney’s, it implies that this is just as Walt had wanted it. This is furthered by a quote given by journalist Walter Cronkite, which appears in the last few pages of the book:
This universality of Disney carries on after his death, and continues in projects that he had put on the drawing board before he died. Epcot Center in Florida is a case in point—bringing together representatives of international industry, international commerce, and the governments of other countries in a permanent world’s fair. It perpetuates that theme of his that we are indeed one people. (Beard 127)
Mr. Cronkite mentions that this EPCOT is taken from ideas that Walt had put on the “drawing board” before his death. This perpetuates the idea that EPCOT was in its premature stages when Walt Disney died and this theme park is the best company executives could do with what they had. To see if this is true and to determine if EPCOT Center was the ideal utopia that Walt had put on the “drawing board” it is important to look at the attractions, or rides, that made up this park when it opened in 1982.
The Future World section of EPCOT was comprised of eight major attractions: Universe of Energy, Horizons, World of Motion, Journey into Imagination, The Land, The Living Seas, and Spaceship Earth, the center of the park.
Although EPCOT was transformed into a theme park, many of the attractions at the park, did, in fact, adhere to some aspect of Walt’s vision of an ideal utopia. Even Andrew Ross, who describes EPCOT center a “schizophrenic affair,” admits, “Walt’s plan lived on in a few of the pavilion rides” (56). For example, on the roof of the Universe of Energy pavilion (sponsored by Exxon Mobile, of course) were “80,000 three-inch, wafers-shaped solar collectors, are arranged on the diagonal in 2,200 panels. All together, the photovoltaic cells capture[d] power from the sun to generate about 77 kilowatts of DC current” (Beard 35). This idea, while not only technologically advanced, could also be considered utopian, since it promoted a new source of energy, solar power, which was a relatively new technology at the time. Moreover, these solar panels powered the ride vehicles inside the attraction so guests visiting EPCOT Center were able to see solar power in action. This lives up to Walt’s vision of EPCOT because it put solar energy on display so that the millions of people who visited Disney World were able to see it in use, and, possibly, take what they have learned and implement it elsewhere.
Another attraction, Horizons, also includes aspects of Walt Disney’s EPCOT. Horizons focused “less on technology than on a historically enduring social unit: the family. Rather than emphasizing the inevitable development and perfection of sophisticated machines of the future, Horizons concentrates on the purpose of the machines” (Beard 40). Horizons, like the Universe of Energy, adheres to Walt Disney’s vision of EPCOT because it does not just exhibit technology, it shows how families have benefitted, and continue to benefit, from technology. This was the central purpose of EPCOT. Walt Disney wanted the latest in technological advancements were to used by the residents of EPCOT. This attraction replaces that aspect of EPCOT the city and instead shows visitors of EPCOT Center the purpose and benefits of technology in their lives.
Similar to the Universe of Energy, another attraction, the World of Motion, exhibited some of the latest technology that was available in 1982. An example was an presentation on the “future car.” This aspect of the World of Motion pavilion is similar to Walt’s vision of EPCOT because it not only allows visitors to see a futuristic car, but it also shows how the car was designed. “Beginning with performance factors, the designers then made several sketches of the prototype car of tomorrow. The results of different tests influenced the models that were next built” (Beard 50). This is another key example of how EPCOT Center mirrors some the ideas Walt Disney presented in his EPCOT film. This is evident in that the exhibit showed how the car of the future was built, and it takes visitors on a step-by-step process of its construction. It also attempts to solve the problems faced by many drivers of the day, and, in doing so, is attempting some form of utopia. Moreover, the car was designed by Disney engineers. In the EPCOT video Walt Disney mentions that private industry would be involved in the construction of EPCOT; however, he also implies that much of the community will be designed by Disney engineers. Walt wanted to show how Disney could design a utopia, and the World of Motion does this.
Perhaps one of the greatest attractions that exhibits Disney’s attempt to create a utopia is The Land. Richard Beard, in his book previewing EPCOT, describes The Land as if he were describing Walt Disney’s original version of EPCOT: “The story of the land and its potential in partnership with man comes closest to the philosophy, purpose, and image of EPCOT, according to the designers of project. It’s a story you can see, and touch, and feel, and even eat!” EPCOT was a “story,” too, told by Walt Disney, but it was to go beyond that. It would have been a place where people could live in the story and experience it—and that is just what The Land does. It provides visitors to the pavilion with the opportunity to see the latest in agricultural technology and actually eat food grown in The Land. Utopia, as previously defined, attempts to bring perfection to its inhabitants and solve societal problems. The Land is perhaps one of the few pavilions that attempted to address a society problem almost immediately. “The most innovative techniques are here put into practice, and, as soon as they become viable, new agricultural advances will be incorporated” (Beard 63). That is exactly what EPCOT was to be—a place where new ideas could be put into practice and put on display for people to see, and, like the original plan for EPCOT, people who visited The Land could interact with the technology.
Ironically, The Land is one of the few attractions that remains in today’s Epcot. The name has since changed from EPCOT Center to Epcot. The acronym is gone, and the “Center” name has been dropped. The theme park never became the “center” of a much larger community. However, based on the attractions that were in place at the time Epcot opened in 1982, it was, at least to some degree, the EPCOT that Walt had envisioned. It displayed new and innovative technologies that were aimed at making society better. While the Epcot of 1982 was not a utopia where people could live, it was a utopia that people could visit, borrow ideas from, and make their own lives that much more utopic.
Today’s Epcot has changed since Richard Beard wrote his preview book in 1982. The World of Motion is now Test Track, a ride that allows participants to become human test dummies and experience the various tests cars go through before they hit the open market. Horizons has become Mission: Space, an attraction that simulates a space mission, right down to the g-forces of take-off. As mentioned, one of the few attractions that remains unchanged since 1982 is The Land. It still attempts to make progressions in agricultural sciences and even has a working laboratory. While many of these new attractions allow for a more thrilling experience for the participants, they deviate from the utopian ideal of Walt’s EPCOT. Test Track gives its riders an inside look, but offers little to make their lives better. The same goes for Mission: Space. While a fun ride, it shows us, the rider, technology that already exists and is already in place. Perhaps Sam Gennawey is correct. EPCOT was an idea from a modern era, and now, in 2012, we are in a post-modern era, when it may no longer be economically feasible or practical to constantly upgrade a theme park to keep up with technology that is changing at an astonishing rate. Unfortunately, when this happens, Epcot becomes less of a utopia.
“That’s EPCOT.”
Prior to the construction of EPCOT Center, many Disney executives were bombarded with questions about Walt’s progress city. They wanted to know where it was and if there was any progress being made. David Koenig, describes one such instances with Joe Potter, who was in charge of numerous construction projects on Disney properties. When asked about EPCOT, Potter would always say that work on EPCOT began on “Day One” of Disney World’s construction (122), meaning that, in Mr. Potter’s eyes, the new technologies being implemented throughout the Walt Disney World property were, in many ways, EPCOT. They were providing people with the opportunity to see the latest in American industry at work. For example, when describing the new filtered farm tree and clean energy plant, Potter would reply, “That’s EPCOT,” or when discussing Disney World’s vacuum powered trash system, Potter would again reply, “That’s EPCOT” (Koenig 122).
In many ways, Joe Potter was correct, and perhaps the Disney Company should have implemented this mantra more frequently. In many ways, the Walt Disney World Resort is a utopia. Based on Nicoletti’s definition, Walt Disney World is a utopia because it aims to bring happiness to those who visit, and it does so by implementing many new and innovative technologies. Whether its ride systems, modes of transportation, food service, or hospitality management, Disney sets the standard in many of these areas, and that is just what Walt Disney aspired to achieve. He wanted people to see the newest and most innovative technology implemented and put to use by the residents of EPCOT. While this is not the case today, visitors to Walt Disney World are in many ways visiting an EPCOT.
Additionally, in 1973, prior to the construction of EPCOT Center, the Disney Company was suggesting that it would begin doing “consulting work in transportation, recreational and city planning” (Gennawey 343). This thinking was on par with that of Joe Potter’s. If EPCOT, as envisioned by Walt Disney, could not be created, then EPCOT would be a part of other Disney productions. Furthermore, by offering consulting work, Disney was perpetuating Walt’s idea of offering the latest in technology to anyone who visited EPCOT—only Disney was bringing EPCOT to the people.
A Reason to Celebrate?
In the early 1990s, the Walt Disney Company began plans for its town of Celebration, “a small town that “features a downtown designed by a collection of the world’s great architects, state-of-the-art public facilities, and a walkable urban core integrated with a residential community” (Gennawey (338). While Celebration is separate from the Epcot theme park, the fact that Disney followed through on its plans to create a community cannot be overlooked when discussing the history of Walt Disney’s EPCOT. When EPCOT Center was announced, Disney was not ready to take on “the commitment of individuals and families to permanent residence” (Gennawey 344). Obviously, this outlook changed once Celebration was established.
However, according to Ross, when creating Celebration, Disney played down its similarity to Walt’s plan for EPCOT, although, to Ross, “Celebration would be yet another fresh start in a world gone wrong” (5). In fact, when interviewing Michael Eisner, then-chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Ross asked Eisner about any connection between Celebration and EPCOT, to which Eisner replied: The idea for EPCOT “was like having an idea for a movie over dinner, and then dropping dead after dinner, and then saying that this was your fully conceived vision” (Ross 56). Like his predecessors, Eisner believed that Walt Disney had few concrete plans about EPCOT, and, therefore, it would be impossible to see that plan through to fruition. To Eisner, Celebration, unlike EPCOT, was not meant solve any problems. Rather, it was meant to be a small community that harkened back to a quaint, small-town atmosphere that never was. Ross quotes Eisner as saying, “It is not the model for the next city, nor was it meant to be” (57). That said, Ross finds some aspects of celebration to be similar to Walt’s EPCOT. Celebration was still “an international showcase for technology, education, and medicine” (Ross 57).
Sam Gennawey disagrees with Ross’s interpretation of Celebration. “We can’t fully judge what life might have been like for EPCOT residents by looking at Celebration because it is much different city than EPCOT…Celebration was not an effort to fulfill Walt’s dream” (338). Whether or not Celebration fulfills Walt’s idea for the ideal city of the future, it does have all the markings for a utopia. In fact, “although Disney does not agree with the label, many credit the town as one of the most visible examples of The New Urbanism or Traditional Neighborhood design” (Gennawey 338). In his book, A Work in Progress, Michael Eisner, does a complete turnaround from the statement he gave to Andrew Ross and states “that the creation of Celebration was “to make good on Walt’s unrealized dream for the future” (Gennawey 338). Although Eisner may be “patting himself on the back” after being ousted at Disney, Celebration, does attempt to create, at the very least, the utopia that Walt had envisioned.
From animated shorts, to films, to theme parks, Walt Disney was always willing to accept a challenge, and he took on a tremendous challenge when he proposed building a city of tomorrow in central Florida. When Walt Disney died in 1966, this idea, perhaps too big for his successors, died with him. His Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow would never be built. Instead, a theme park, bearing the name EPCOT would be constructed to appease the loyalists who insisted that Walt’s dream be fulfilled. When it opened, EPCOT Center, was, in many ways, the utopia that Walt envisioned his community to be. It provided solutions to problems of the time, and made good on Disney’s promise to exhibit some of the greatest in American and international ingenuity. Epcot, now almost 20 years old, little resembles the utopia it was when it opened, and, other than its name, relates very little back to Walt Disney’s progress city. Absent from the Epcot of today, along with its acronym, is the focus on the future. Instead, it focuses on the present, a dangerous proposition, since the present is changing at such a momentous rate.
While Epcot may not be the utopia Walt had envisioned, that does not mean that Walt Disney World is a dystopia. Actually, it can be said that Walt Disney World in and of itself is an EPCOT—a utopia. Whether its in the technology Walt Disney World implements through its vacation resort, or in its town of Celebration, the Florida property Walt Disney purchased over forty years ago is a utopia that is “dedicated to the happiness of the people who will live, work and play” there.
