226 A HISTORY OF AMERICA IN 100 MAPS
No individual embodies twentieth-century American
culture more than Walt Disney, whose childhood
interest in drawing evolved into an early career in
animation. Disney created the first animated film with
sound with Steamboat Willie (1928), and by the mid-
1930s he was the creative force behind feature-length
animations that dazzled Americans for decades
thereafter. World War II brought opportunities to turn
that talent toward the Allied cause, most powerfully
with Victory through Air Power, which also included the
first animated map.
In the postwar years, Disney broadened the reach
of his entertainment studio by branching out into
television. At the same time, he began to imagine a
theme park devoted to the same kind of fantasy that
had made his films such a success. Amusement parks
were not new in America, and had become relatively
commonplace by the turn of the twentieth century.
But Disney’s vision was fundamentally different, as
shown in this early conceptual map.
In Disney’s view, “Disneyland” was a place where
characters from his films would come to life to charm
children and their families. His early vision for the
park also centered on the re-creation of a small town,
along with carnival attractions and a western-themed
village. Within a few years, this plan had expanded
to include a spaceship and other rides, as well as
exhibits based on history and science. His vision
attracted little support within the company, however,
not even from his brother and collaborator, Roy.
Without funding, Disney realized that he would need
to convince investors of the concept. Given his recent
experience in television, he aimed to convince one of
the three major networks to back this grand scheme.
Disney began by forming WED Enterprises and
gathering together a team of creative minds to
research existing theme parks while brainstorming
new ideas. Then, over the last weekend in September
1953, he enlisted one of his talented chief art
directors, Herb Ryman, to bring his vision to life in
this aerial sketch map of Disneyland.
The map beautifully captures the essence of the
park, many of whose elements remain today. The
detail at lower right shows the path that guided
visitors into the park. In the foreground lies “Main
Street, U.S.A.”; this crucial point of entry for any
THE MAGIC KINGDOM
Herb Ryman, Bird’s-eye view of
Disneyland (with inset park plan
designed by Marvin Davis), 1953
visitor encapsulated Disney’s interpretation of
American values. Greeted by a pleasing town square
with a large national flag, visitors strolled down
a street of small businesses. Such an experience
created a powerful—if nostalgic—sense of
community that hearkened back to late-nineteenth-
century life, before the advent of the automobile
facilitated the suburbanization that would erode
these small town centers. Ironically, however,
extensive research determined that the best
location for this large theme park would be in the
heart of Orange County, where explosive suburban
development was quickly replacing miles of orange
groves that had been cultivated since the late
nineteenth century.
At the end of Main Street lay an open plaza that
offered several choices: Frontierland, Fantasyland,
the World of Tomorrow, and True Life Adventure.
Each of these distinct worlds involved an experience
far more immersive than the carnivals and
amusement parks of the day. Frontierland, for
instance, took individuals through a romanticized,
compelling view of the American West, framed as a
source of national renewal that forged the American
character. Steamboats evoked the world of Tom
Sawyer, while open expanses of land invited guests to
imagine the era of homesteaders and frontiersmen.
The World of Tomorrow (eventually Tomorrowland)
tapped the contemporary cultural fascination with
technological progress and science fiction. In each
of these, Disney sought not just to create a fantasy,
but to do so in a way that was clean, wholesome,
appealing to parents and children alike, and suffused
with a vision of values that he considered essential to
America’s exceptional place in world history.
Ryman’s decision to render the park through an
oblique perspective is important. Halfway between
a traditional map and a picture, this schematic
perspective draws the viewer into the experience
and translates Disney’s unprecedented vision into a
tangible enterprise. The park is ringed by a charming
railroad that integrates the different worlds into
a coherent whole. And it worked. In October 1953
Disney used the map to convince executives at the
American Broadcasting Company to help finance
this 160-acre dream in Anaheim, California. But
perhaps not even Disney could have anticipated the
extraordinary and enduring popularity of the park,
which remains one of the most visited attractions in
the Western United States, a physical cornerstone of
a vast entertainment empire that reaches tourists and
viewers of all ages around the world.© Disney