By all accounts, July 17, 1955, was a scorching hot day in Anaheim, California. But that didn't stop people from jamming area roads to get to opening day at Disneyland, the world's first theme park.
About 10,000 people too many showed up for what was supposed to be an invitation-only affair, surging through the gates to see the four major lands of the park: Frontierland, Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. When the time came to witness the park's dedication, though, everyone gathered on Main Street and listened to founder Walt Disney deliver this inspiring speech:
"To all who have come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the hard facts that have created America - with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world."
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of this event and the inspiring leadership that Disneyland has provided to the entertainment industry in the intervening years, The Henry Ford, in collaboration with Walt Disney Imagineering, created an exclusive exhibit set to tour the United States for the next several years.
Behind the Magic - 50 Years of Disneyland contains a stunning collection of Walt Disney Imagineering art and artifacts rarely exhibited in the United States.
Forming the foundation of the exhibit are 250 pieces of original artwork, models, construction drawings and marketing materials tracing the history of the California landmark, including the Herb Ryman rendering that was used to entice investors to fund the park.
You'll also be able to see - and, in some cases, interact with -more than 40 three-dimensional artifacts, among them figures from it's a small world, arcade games from Pirates of the Caribbean and a Model T -like vehicle used in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.
The rarest opportunity in this exhibit will be the chance to view up close the Abraham Lincoln figure created specifically for the 1964 World's Fair in New York City - the first Audio-Animatronics (r)' "human" ever to appear in a Walt Disney production. It debuted in the Illinois pavilion at the fair.
"We feel privileged to be granted Unlimited access to the Disney Company's amazing collections," said Scott Mallwitz, The Henry Ford's director of Experience Design. "To be able to bring these objects out in the open for all our visitors to see has been a very exciting and exclusive opportunity for this institution."
The Henry Ford was chosen to organize this exhibit for several reasons, including its influence on the early development of Disney's first theme park. "The connection can be traced back to Walt Disney himself and his first visit to our Greenfield Village in 1940," explained Mallwitz. "Walt was so taken with Henry Ford's vision of an idealized American village that he returned eight years later. These trips and visits to other destinations and events across the country helped him frame the concept of what would later become Disneyland."
Guest curator Karal Ann Marling helped The Henry Ford in interpreting the Disneyland artifacts. Marling, a professor of art history and American studies at the University of Minnesota, has a long-standing interest in Disneyana (Disney Collector's Trade Show); as a 12-year-old, she won a trip to Walt Disney's theme park for her entry in a cereal-box coloring contest. "I remember standing on the balcony at the Disneyland hotel and watching the fireworks with my mother," she recalled. "They were lighting up this fairy-tale castle that had only existed for me in two-dimensional storybooks. And the possibility that your imaginative life could dominate your real life has been the guiding force in my existence ever since:"
Marling, who is also a distinguished author and journalist on subjects of popular culture, served as guest curator for the only other museum exhibit devoted to the study of Disney theme parks - an event hosted by the Canadian Centre for Architecture in 1997.
Behind the Magic - 50 Years of Disneyland will be open to the public in Henry Ford Museurn's Exhibit Gallery until January 1, 2006. At that point, it will be crated up and shipped around the country so that others might enjoy these rarely seen objects and read about the rich history that surrounds them.
"I recommend that members make plans to see this exhibit while it's here in Dearborn," said Mallwitz. "We may never have a chance to see these artifacts again in our lifetime."
Walt Disney is known to have visited Greenfield Village at least twice in his life, both trips occurring in the 15 years leading up to his park's official opening. During his 1940 visit, he visited with Greenfleld Village school students and posed for a photograph with one lucky girl. Eight years later, he returned with animator and railroad enthusiast Ward Kimball. The two men had been in Chicago for the Railroad Fair, which celebrated 100 years of railroad history, and decided to make a side trip to Dearborn. They spent two days exploring the Greenfield Village and Henry
Ford Museum, and marked the occasion by posing for tintypes that are now in the archives of the Benson Ford Research Center.
On the train ride home, Disney jotted down notes of what he had seen in Illinois and Michigan. From these, he composed an internal memo detailing something he tentatively called "Mickey Mouse Park":
"The Main Village... is built around a village green or informal park. In the park will be benches, a bandstand, drinking _fountain, trees and shrubs. It will be a place for people to sit and rest, mothers and grandmothers can watch over small children at play. I want it to be very relaxing, cool and inviting. "
Disney goes on to describe his ideas for a railroad station, a town hall, and a main street of shops and services, including "a real Post Office where mail and packages can be mailed." He talks about a variety of conveyances including horse cars, buckboards and stagecoaches - to "pick up those [visitors] who did not want to walk" - as well as an on-site museum.
The allusions to Greenfield Village were striking, but the influences didn't stop there. In the early 1950s, after Disney had assembled a design and engineering team to finally move the Disneyland project forward, he sent a representative to Dearborn to gather data regarding personnel as well as the comments and interests of visitors. As author Michael Broggie noted in his book Walt Disney's Railroad Story, "While Walt Disney admired many of America's great historical figures, he particularly revered Henry Ford [who unknowingly] played a significant role in helping Walt visualize his revolutionary concept for a multi-themed park."
