Recently, I had this assignment, which required me to assume the role of a French journalist attending the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia. I enjoyed it, but I started thinking about world fairs in general because they always fascinated me.
Obviously, I immediately think of a handful of expositions, such as the 1851 Great Exhibition held in London to showcase Victorian England on the world stage (other than occupying large sections of the globe), the aforementioned 1876 Expo in Philadelphia, the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis ("Meet me in St. Louis, Meet me at the Fair"), the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, the 1934 Century of Progress in Chicago, the 1939 World's Fair in New York City, the Brussels Expo of 1958, 1962's Century 21 Exposition in Seattle (Elvis went there), the 1964 World's Fair in New York, Expo 67 in Montreal, Expo 70 in Osaka, and more.
One of the purposes of an international exposition or a World's Fair was to showcase the technology pertinent to the general theme of the Fair. For example, the world fairs of the 1970's really seemed to focus on the environment, reflecting the fears and even effects of severe environmental degradation, and these fairs would focus on specialized technology to combat those issues.
For the more geographically-based expos, the purpose was either to promote the development of a location or to at least, the purpose was to commemorate a certain aspect of history. For example, the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition held in Seattle was not only to promote the Pacific Northwest for future development, but it also served as a museum to recall the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897. Another motive in the development of this expo was based on a desire to rival the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition.
As a Disney historian and a historian in general, I've decided to look at how world fairs have not only shaped Disney history, but how world fairs intersect with Disney.
Of course, the most talked about international expo connected with Disney was the New York World's Fair in 1964 and 1965. As early as 1960, Walt was said to have displayed an interest in participating in international expositions. In 1962, he got that opportunity when infamous urban planner Robert Moses visited Walt in California and upon seeing an early prototype of the Lincoln animatronic, he knew Disney would do wonders for participants at the Fair. Disney initially signed on to help design the pavilions for the State of Illinois, General Electric, Ford, and Kodak, but Pepsi-Co needed a pavilion and Joan Crawford recommended Disney. The result was a boat ride called Children of the World, later renamed It's a Small World.
While Disney gave up on the Kodak Pavilion, they went to work on Small World, the Progressland show, the Lincoln exhibit, and a car ride through time (sponsored by Ford, of course), which all opened in April 1964 and ran for both seasons.
Afterwards, the attractions were either moved to California for installation at Disneyland or destroyed.
However, that wasn't Disney's first rodeo in the wonderful world of, well, world fairs.
Walt's father, Elias Disney, had worked in Chicago on the Exposition in 1893 and Walt attended a handful of expositions, including the original New York World's Fair in 1939. Part of his experience traveling to railroad expos or international showcases can be spotted in his Park.
Let's take a moment to also remember that Walt had contributed his directorial expertise to Brussels' Expo '58 with the Circlevision technology. The Monorail was replicated at the Century 21 Expo in Seattle just three years after debuting at Disneyland. When he died, the designers were working on New Tomorrowland were also working with Bell on an interactive exhibit where spectators at Disneyland can call and actually see fair-goers in Montreal in real time as part of Expo 67. Heck, Disney management and designers took a trip three years later to Expo 70 in Japan in order to gauge how to operate a massive operation like Walt Disney World.
In fact, those international expos played not only a role in introducing the technology and concepts seen in Disney's many beloved attractions, but it even shaped Walt's final dream, even after his death in 1966.
EPCOT was Disney's most ambitious dream after Disneyland. You see that by 1966 Walt had been involved with not only exhibits for corporate sponsors, but he understood the necessity of emerging technology to meet the needs of the population. While in New York for the World's Fair, he was reportedly impressed by the level of hospitality given to corporate sponsors and when he went back to California, he knew that a certain level of accommodation was appropriate for corporate sponsors, or lessees***. Initially, the Carousel Theater that would house General Electric's Carousel of Progress would also house the massive facilities needed for executives, but the lack of available space made a change in location necessary and that's sort of how Club 33 in New Orleans Square became a reality.
Knowing full well that Disneyland had already proved itself to be a game-changer in urban design and architecture, Disney went about addressing the issues that he felt would impact future generations by marrying his knowledge of design, hospitality, and technology.
With the WED-Way technology developed for the World's Fair, this ride system served as a prototype for the People Mover, another form of mass-transit Disney had marketed to the world, and this was a defining part of EPCOT as Disney imagined it. The layout of EPCOT would be based on the hub-and-spoke pattern of Disneyland where the spectators are transported into the center of the city and through People-Movers, they were then transported to the outer layers of the city.
It would probably have worked like intended had Disney lived for another five years, but at least the land Disney purchased was put to good use when Roy Disney continued to build the recreational aspect of EPCOT that opened in 1971.
Then, a miracle happened. It wasn't exactly Walt's Utopia, but it was certainly not a betrayal of his legacy. You see EPCOT still gestated in the minds of designers through the 1960's and 1970's, despite the death of its visionary. The Village at Lake Buena Vista was the urban realization of EPCOT on a smaller scale when it opened in 1975. Meanwhile, the name "EPCOT" was applied to a new theme park being designed for Walt Disney World as early as 1974. Originally, Epcot was supposed to be an international shopping center and technology showcase, but it transformed into a theme park focusing on those concepts. By 1980, Epcot was under construction with the duality of Future World and the World Showcase, both nods to the two overarching themes of various world fairs.
In essence, Walt Disney's last dream was a testament to his life's work as a designer, an artist, a pioneer, and a visionary.
***-Disneyland already had a private location for VIPs since 1955.
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