The Futurist March-April 2011

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Here You Leave Today, and Enter the World of Yesterday, Tomorrow and Fantasy—Sign at the entrance to Disneyland

V ISIONS

Imagineers in Search

of the Future By Gary Dehrer

In 1955, Walt Disney Imagineers achieved virtual reality with Disneyland.

Eight Imagineering principles explain how they did it.

Above: Walt

Disney (right)

employed artists

such as John

Hench as Imagi-

neers to bring the

new theme park

to life. Hench wasthe official portrait

artist of Mickey

Mouse.

Cinderella’s Castle greets guests

with magic realism at Disneyland,

built in Anaheim, California, in

1955.

DISNEYLAND RESORT / PRNEWSFOTO / NEWSCOM

PAUL ALMASY / AKG IMAGES / NEWSCOM

WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING / PRNEWSFOTO / NEWSCOM

Above: Imagineer Marc

Davis (left) presents

sketches and Audio-Anima-

tronics figure created for

the Pirates of the Carib-

bean attraction in 1967, the

last Disneyland attractionthat Walt Disney personally

supervised.

36 THE FUTURIST March-April 2011



ciples were essential to the creationof Disneyland’s virtual reality: AreaDevelopment, Blue Sky, Brainstorm,Dark Ride, Elevation, Kinetics, Plus-sing, and Show [see sidebar, “EightPrinciples of Imagineering”].

1. Area Development. The original1955 master plan for Disneyland en-visioned Main Street, U.S.A., as theinitial experience funneling peopleto a central plaza hub and thendrawing them into one of four ad- joining lands: Adventureland, Fron-tierland, Fantasyland, and Tomor-rowland. Creating an expansive andinteractive 60-acre venue such asDisneyland was a monumental un-dertaking; with no other prior expe-rience, the Imagineers were facedwith a Herculean task.

In reviewing Walt Disney’s plan to

Rivers of the World, and the largerRivers of America visible. The To-morrowland site, which lagged be-hind in construction, lacked the clearidentity of the other lands. TheImagineers, specialists using creativ-ity and technical know-how, becamefrustrated and suggested that the To-morrowland of 1986 be concealed behind an att ractive fence until itwas ready. Although Walt Disneyagreed to this at first, he changed hismind, saying, “We’ll open the wholepark.… Do the best you can with To-morrowland, and we’ll fix it up afterwe open.”

Imagineering Principles:How a Dream Is Built

Eight basic Imagineering prin-

T he opening of Disneyland inthe middle of the twentiethcentury saw Walt Disney un-

leashing the forces of Imagineeringto create a true “virtual reality”world of entertainment and adven-ture. When the first paying custom-ers entered Disneyland on July 18,1955, they walked through one oftwo tunnel passageways leading toMain Street, U.S.A. Many thoughtthey were about to encounter an up-graded amusement park, but WaltDisney knew he had created some-thing much more than that. FromTown Square, guests looked downMain Street to see Sleeping BeautyCastle beckoning in the distance.This immediate first impression wasdesigned to have guests feel likethey were being absorbed into a cin-

ematic experience, a sensa-tion of knowing they hadstepped from their everydaylife into an extraordinaryworld.

Virtual reality is most of-ten defined as a simulatedsensory experience madepossible by computer soft-ware, creating a convincing,three-dimensional experi-ence that—at its best—looks,feels, and sounds like thereal thing. It can be likenedto any virtual environmentwhere someone can literallywalk into it and perceive itas true to life. Another wordfor virtual is enhanced reality.While various applicationsof simulated virtual realitywill be increasingly possiblein the future, people actuallyexperienced it at Disneylandin 1955, without the aid ofcomputer-generated specialeffects or other advanced

technology.Ground was broken forthe Disneyland Park in July1954, with opening day setfor only 12 months later. Afrenzy of construction activ-ity swept over the formerAnaheim, California, orangegrove. In just a few months,the outlines of now-familiarlandmarks began to emerge,with Main Street, SleepingBeauty Castle, the Jungle

Eight Principles of Imagineering

According to Disney historian AlexWright and contributors to The Imagi-neering Field Guide to Disneyland, Imagineering consists of the followingeight basic principles.

1. Area Development: “The intersti-tial spaces between the attractions,restaurants, and shops. This includeslandscaping, architecture, propping,show elements, and special enhance-ments intended to expand the experi-ence.”

2. Blue Sky: “The early stages in theidea-generation process when any-thing is possible. There are not yetany considerations taken into accountthat might rein in the creative process.At this point, the sky’s the limit!”

3. Brainstorm: “A gathering for thepurpose of generating as many ideasas possible in the shortest time pos-sible. We hold many brainstormingsessions at WDI [Walt Disney Imagi-

neering], always looking for the bestideas.” The rules include remember-ing that there is no such thing as a badidea and that nothing should stifle theflow of ideas.

4. Dark Ride: “A term often used todescribe the charming Fantasyland at-tractions, among others, housed moreor less completely inside a show building, which allows for greater iso-lation of show elements and light con-trol, as needed.”

5. Elevation: “A drawing of a truefrontal view of an object—usually a building—often drawn from multiplesides, eliminating the perspective thatyou would see in the real world, forclarity in the design and to lead con-struction activities.”

6. Kinetics: “Movement and motionin a scene that give it life and energy.This can come from moving vehicles,active signage, changes in lighting,special effects, or even hanging ban-ners or flags that move as the wind blows.”

7. Plussing: “A word derived fromWalt’s penchant for always trying tomake an idea better. Imagineers arecontinually trying to plus work, evenafter it’s ‘finished.’”

8. Show: “Everything we put ‘on-stage’ in a Disney park. Walt believedthat everything we put out for theGuests in our parks was part of a big

show, so much of our terminologyoriginated in the show businessworld. With that in mind, ‘show’ be-comes for us a very broad term thatincludes just about anything ourGuests see, hear, smell, or come incontact with during their visit to anyof our parks or resorts.”

Source: The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland by Alex Wright and the Imagineers

(Disney Editions, 2008).

© 2011 World Future Society • 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450, Bethesda, MD 20814, U.S.A. • All rights reserved.

THE FUTURIST March-April 2011 37



video-game designers would be do-ing decades later using an interac-tive electronic visual format.

2. Blue Sky. Disneyland was thefirst project for Walt Disney Imagi-neering (WDI), which was createdon December 16, 1952, as part ofWED (Walter Elias Disney) Enter-prises. Walt Disney, considered to bethe foremost Imagineer of moderntimes, had built a major animationand film studio by the early 1950s.WED was to address all Disney ac-tivities outside the film studio andthis would come to include Disneyparks, resorts, special attractions atWorld’s Fairs, cruise ships, and otherdiverse entertainment activities. Dis-neyland offered the Imagineers an

the overall sensory experience. TownSquare was to serve as the gatewayto Disneyland’s virtual reality.

The dramatic, one-two punch ofthe Main Street environs with Sleep-ing Beauty Castle looming down thestreet convinced Disney that he wason the right track in lifting his gueststo a higher entertainment experi-ence.

Disney was able to use his experi-ence in animation and films, espe-cially his extraordinary storytellingskills, to add believability to his Park creation. He grasped the importanceof quickly altering the perceptionand attitudes of guests entering Dis-neyland, thereby drawing them intoa new reality. This is similar to what

have everyone enter Disneyland atTown Square, amusement-park ex-perts questioned why there was onlyone entrance. They warned that thiswould create unnecessary conges-tion. They also questioned the ex-pense of Town Square, especiallysince it was not going to produceany revenue.

Disney responded that this entryspace was designed to create an es-sential first impression and specialmood for his guests. All guests hadto enter the Park the same way toshare an identical illusion. Even theMain Street transportation, which in-cluded a fire wagon and horse-drawn trolleys, was not intended tomake any money but to help add to

Now Is the Time for the Future

At the entrance to the original1955 Tomorrowland, the first at-traction to come into view was atall clock structure. This was theClock of the World, which declaredthat now is the time for the future.This clock was intended to symbol-ize the incredible futuristic worldabout to be entered. Stand-ing more than 17 feet tall,

the clock looked much likea squeezed soda cantopped with a half sphere,gold-spiked anodized alu-minum sun and a stylizedsilver crescent Man in theMoon face. The blue tilesencircling its base depictedthe vast universe.

Few passersby stoppedto notice that the timepieceshowed not only the timein Anaheim, California, but also around the world.Other than serving as aconvenient place for par-ents to meet their kids, theclock rapidly faded intoobscurity. The toweringr e d - a n d - w h i t e T W ARocket was a much more-remembered symbol of To-morrowland.

The Clock of the Worldis now gone, with only

some first-generation Disneyland-ers able to recall it. The clock con-tinued to faithfully perform itstimekeeping duties until it was re-moved in 1966, along with thewidespread demolition of the orig-inal 1955 Tomorrowland. The exit-ing of the clock was captured in a

photo showing the timepiece, mi-nus its top ornamentation, beinghauled away with the lower edgeof its blue “universe” mosaic tiles broken off at the base.

Sometimes the future can betreated rather shabbily.

—Gary Dehrer

The author poses at the entry to Tomorrowland.

COURTESY OF GARY DEHRER




cess, Walt Disney had one word forit: curiosity. “There’s really no secretabout our approach,” he said. “Wekeep moving forward—opening upnew doors and doing new things— because we’re curious. And curiositykeeps leading us down new paths.We’re always exploring and experi-menting.” And curiosity was foreverwrapped in endless “Blue Sky” pos-

Even the landscaping and speciallyscaled architecture would add to thecredibility of this dream place. Hewas intent on creating an illusion oftime and space taking people awayfrom their daily cares on a journey ofimagination that was different fromanything they had ever experienced before.

In explaining the secret of his suc-

opportunity to demon-strate that anything ispossible.

He was creating some-

thing to bring peopleacross disciplines—engi-neer ing , animat ion ,scriptwriting and film-making—together totackle specific projects.Early in the developmentof the Disneyland project,Walt Disney realized thatcreating his park illusionor “show” needed me-chanical know-how aswell as artistic expertise.To make his “big dreams”a reality, he would have toenlist an army of Imagi-neers, versed in an ever-widening range of disci-plines. The Disneylandshow needed not onlypeople who could designand illustrate the dream, but al so writ ers, archi-tects, interior designers,engineers, lighting ex-perts, graphic designers,set designers, craftsmen,

sound technicians, land-scapers, model makers,sculptors, special-effectstechnicians, master planners, re-searchers, managers, constructionexperts, and more.

Disneyland was first envisioned asa “place for people to find happinessand knowledge.” Here, peoplewould not be watching a movie, butrather participating in it. Theywould be walking through a tunneland emerging in another world.

Disneyland ride designer

Bob Gurr holds a model of

the monorail car he helped

design. With his aptitude for

mechanical engineering,

Gurr also worked on the

Autopia cars, Matterhorn,

and other rides.

JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER / ZUMA PRESS / NEWSCOM

Walt Disney takes his

daughter Diane Disney

Miller and grandson

Christopher for a ride in

one of Disneyland’s

Autopia cars.

C99 / ZUMA PRESS / NEWSCOM




Disneyland, “It’s something that willnever be finished, something I cankeep developing, keep ‘plussing’and adding to. It’s alive.”

Disneyland has been compared toan animated movie, where main at-tractions are much like “key frames”in a film. Disney even went so far asto devise ways to fade from one Dis-neyland attraction and then focusguests into another, much as a filmmoves from scene to scene. JohnHench said of Disney, “He would in-sist on changing the texture of the

pavement at the threshold of eachnew land because, he said, ‘You canget information about a changing en-vironment through the soles of yourfeet.’” Thus, through continuousplussing, the Disneyland experiencewould be both ordered and harmo-nious, not chaotic or confusing.

From opening day in 1955, Dis-neyland was meant to undergo con-tinuous innovation and upgrading.Walt Disney and his Imagineers en-visioned that Disneyland would em-

castle, where he described all of theattractions and how everythingwould look in full color. He was de-scribing the kinetics of Fantasylandand how the carousel horses would be leaping.

Disney realized that transferringstories from film to real-life three di-mensionality would be challenging but knew his guests could use theirimaginations in the Park just as theydid in movie theaters. Thus, the Park experience would become believable ,allowing guests to trust and enjoy

the attractions and illusions. The Jeep visited all the lands, andeveryone could feel the enthusiasmof Walt Disney. When the Jeep re-turned to the Park entrance, Disneylooked back down an unpaved MainStreet and remarked, “Don’t forgetthe biggest attraction isn’t here yet.”When asked what that was he re-sponded, “People. You fill this placewith people, and you’ll really have ashow.”

7. Plussing. Walt Disney said of

the story. The rides and attractionswere designed to work in harmonyto produce a series of sensations. Ar-guably, the Park setting and attrac-tions worked well to subliminallycapture moods and influence atti-tudes that are so important in creat-ing virtual reality. Fantasy would be-come real.

5. Elevation. Imagineering ush-ered in the concept of three-dimen-sional storytelling. Imagineers de-tailed the images and settings theyfelt important to telling storiesthrough mood and sensation.

Even Main Street, U.S.A., had astory to tell. John Hench explains,“Mood is created mainly by the sen-sation of carefully orchestrated andintensified stimuli, of color, sound,form, and movement. Disneyland’s

Main Street, U.S.A., which repre-sents the main shopping street in anidealized American turn-of-the-century small town, is a good ex-ample of mood created by sensationthat results in enhanced reality.”

Disney historian Jeff Kurtti notes,“While the first Imagineers had noformal training in urban design, thenature of the animator’s art madethem natural systems architects. Asstorytellers, they ‘wrote’ the park,giving it consistency of narrativethat is matched by few other publicspaces.” As the architectural eleva-tion drawings of Disneyland weremade into real buildings, Walt Dis-ney was achieving an unprecedented br ea kt hr ough in en te rt ain me nt ,causing people to directly experienceand interact with a virtual world asstories and adventures came alive.The Imagineered elements of story-telling created a virtual-reality set-ting by placing Park guests in a fan-tasy, larger-than-life environment.Transferring imagination into blue-

prints and then into an actual park virtual experience was a singularachievement that foreshadowed afuture world as yet unknown.

6. Kinetics. On an inspection tourof Disneyland when it was underconstruction, Walt Disney spent sev-eral hours riding around in a Jeepaccompanied by several people, in-cluding Joe Fowler, his construction boss. Departing from Town Square,Disney and his small party droveover to Sleeping Beauty’s unfinished

Disneyland’s magic captures a 1955 cast member, comedian Steve Martin, who began his

career as an entertainer performing tricks at the Park’s Magic Shop.

DISNEYLAND / PRNEWSFOTO / NEWSCOM




anything can be handled. In thissense, all of Disneyland is indeed a bright and hopeful Tomorrowland. ❑

About the Author

Gary Dehrer is a retired prin-

cipal of the San BernardinoCity Unified School District

(San Bernardino, California),

a retired lieutenant colonel

in the U.S. Army Reserves,

author of Building a Champi-

onship Family (New Horizon Press, 2007),

and a lifelong visitor to Disneyland. He

resides in Yucaipa, California. E-mail

[email protected].

This article draws from his essay “Tomor-

rowland,” to be published in the 2011 World

Future Society conference volume, Moving

from Vision to Action.

Park. Staff members knew that,when the front window lamp wason, their ever-watchful boss was on board. Few guests took notice of theapartment lamp, as there were manylights along Main Street. Today, if

you look up to the second-floor FireStation apartment, you realize thatthe lamp in the window behind thecurtain is always on.

In assembling his team of Imagi-neers, Walt Disney had created anextension of himself that would pur-sue his dreams and the future longafter he had died. Disneyland is aliving virtual world that is a portalinto an optimistic future. It is “an-other world” where everything is allright, people are innately good, and

brace ongoing change and newlyemerging technologies, while retain-ing its original footprint of a won-drous “magical kingdom.”

Imagineering plussing kept thepark vision alive, with each “frame” being reedited to achieve the bestreal-life experience possible. Virtualreality is all about “plussing” an en-vironment so that it is constantly be-ing changed and improved.

8. Show. Crucial to the virtual-reality creation was its cast of char-acters. To further create his Disney-land illusion, Walt Disney institutedhis Disneyland University, whichwould train Park personnel to not just do their jobs, but to perform asthough they were onstage. Employ-ees were expected to be happy andcheerful, further creating the feeling

of an optimistic world. They wouldfollow special protocols and a dresscode to help guests feel comfortableabout participating in the show.

Adding to this inclusive effectwere Mickey and Minnie Mouse,along with other Disney cartooncharacters, who would join guests inthe Park. These costumed walk-around characters were meant tomingle with guests, posing for pic-tures but remaining silent. The phys-ical impact of the walk-around char-acters enhanced the show andproduced a convincing and compel-ling fantasy environment for adultsand children alike.

Disneyland: A Living Virtual WorldAnd Portal into the Future

In 1955, Walt Disney had madeDisneyland a living virtual reality. Itwould pull generations of peopleinto Town Square to start alteringtheir moods and sensations, andthen down Main Street, U.S.A., and

on into the Park, enabling them toescape into their imaginationsthrough carefully Imagineered expe-riences, settings, stories, and adven-tures. Imagineering architecture,landscaping, and storytelling creatednot only a compelling “show,” butalso a living virtual world.

Walt Disney, who died in 1966,had a family apartment over the FireStation overlooking Town Square inMain Street, U.S.A., where he wouldsometimes stay overnight at the

The Disneyland Story: For Further Reading

• Walt Disney: An American

Original by Bob Thomas (WaltDisney Company, 1994). Thomaschronicles Disney’s keen attentionto detail in perfecting an en-hanced park experience, as withtree placement, the scale of thetrains, and noise level of cars inhis dark rides. He also observesthat Walt Disney challenged thosearound him to go the extra mile intheir work, but that this was notalways well received. Accordingto Thomas, Walt Disney viewedthe Park as a living motion picturethat could change and grow withits guests.

• Walt Disney: The Triumph of

the American Imagination by NealGabler (Vintage Books, 2006).Gabler’s candid assessment ofWalt Disney offers an excellentcompanion to Bob Thomas’s in-sightful biography. Gabler feelsthat Disney saw the Park as an in-terlocking series of movie sets,whereby guests were to be ab-sorbed as participants in a cine-matic experience. He sees Disney-land as both transforming andtherapeutic in helping people feelgood about themselves and inlove with life, and he sees WaltDisney, as the master animator,pulling his audience or guests intohis own creation.

• Walt Disney’s Imagineering

Legends and the Genesis of the

Disney Theme Park by Jeff Kurtti(Disney Editions, 2008). Kurtti’s book is an informative overviewof the men and women who cre-ated the Disney theme-park con-cept. Beyond Disneyland’s “archi-tecture of reassurance” is acarefully crafted encounter withvirtual reality. Kurtti writes,“Nothing looks fake. Fabricated,yes; fake, no. Disneyland isn’t themimicry of a thing. It’s a thing.”Once through the entry tunnels,you are quickly absorbed into Dis-ney’s imagineered world of fan-tasy.

• Designing Disney: Imagineer- ing and the Art of the Show by John Hench (Disney Edit ions ,2008). Hench, a legendary DisneyImagineer, had a 65-year Disneycareer, from 1939 to until his deathat age 95 in 2004. In this book, herelates how the 1955 Disneylandwas to be a venue for a successionof new attractions within thepark’s original Main Street andfour lands framework. Henchsuggests the enhanced simulatedreality is achieved through care-fully orchestrated and intensifiedcolor, sound, form, and move-ment.

—Gary Dehrer




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