The roots of Disneyland revealed from the “Tomorrowland” Expo (Part 1)

Recently, the Osaka-Kansai Expo has been a hot topic (for many reasons). So this time, I chose "Tomorrowland" (2015) as a film with the theme of the expo. Many people who have already seen it may think, "What? Really?", but this film is dotted with various motifs related to the expo.

Index

• Synopsis ①
• Movie adaptation of Disney theme park attractions
• Relationship between "New York World's Fair" and "Disneyland"
• Difficulties in visualizing the exhibition venue
• Synopsis ②
• The optimistic New York World Expo
• Synopsis ③
• Audio-Animatronics
• Synopsis ④
• Pessimistic view of the future

Synopsis ①

11-year-old Frank (Thomas Robinson) heads to Flushing Meadows Corona Park alone to visit the New York World's Fair. His goal is to enter a jetpack he developed in an invention contest. Nix (Hugh Laurie), the receptionist, hears Frank say that his experiment failed and doesn't even let him enter. However, Athena (Raffey Cassidy), a girl who had been listening to the conversation, gives Frank a small pin badge and tells him to follow them secretly.

Nix and Athena got on the "it's a small world" boat ride. Frank got on the following boat, his badge was recognized, and he was transported to an underground waterway. From there, he boarded a mysterious vehicle called a transporter and suddenly arrived at an aerial platform above the clouds. After falling from there, Frank regained his balance with his jetpack and realized that he had arrived in a futuristic city with far more advanced technology. When he landed, Nix and Athena were there.

"Tomorrowland" preview

Movie adaptation of Disney theme park attractions

Until now, Disney has been actively pursuing projects to turn theme park attractions into live-action films. for example,

"Country Bear Theater" ⇒ " Country Bears " (02)

"Haunted Mansion" ⇒ " Haunted Mansion " (03/23)

"Pirates of the Caribbean" ⇒ " Pirates of the Caribbean " series (03/06/07/11/17)

"Jungle Cruise" ⇒ " Jungle Cruise " (21)

This is how it goes.

In the midst of all this, a movie based on the area known as "Tomorrowland" itself has been in the planning stages since 2010. The Tomorrowland area has existed since 1955, when "Disneyland" (now Disneyland Park) opened in Anaheim, but there are no attractions there that could be used as a standalone subject for a movie.

This is because the background story is weak, or even if there is, the popular early attraction ``20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' and the second generation ``Star Tours'' (currently Star Tours). In most cases, the movie takes precedence, as in Tours: The Adventures Continue. There used to be an exception called "Captain EO," but this wouldn't be possible without Michael Jackson.

Relationship between "New York World's Fair" and "Disneyland"