FYS The Fifties

By Victoria Lemire

During the 1940s, filmmaker and cartoonist, Walt Disney, visited many amusement parks with his two daughters. While watching them play on the small rides, Disney started to form an idea of a place where children and adults could have fun together. Walt Disney developed a production company with his brother Roy, creating some of the characters that are still popular today such as Mickey Mouse and Cinderella (Admin). Some of Walt and Roy’s design ideas can be seen here. As the years passed, Walt gained more money from the many shows and movies he had begun to produce, direct, and illustrate like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and The Disneyland Show, and his idea started to become a reality.

At first, Disney wanted to build his Magic Kingdom in Burbank, California, near his production studio, but realized that the site was too small. He instead decided to build in Anaheim on a 160 acre site. Construction started in 1954 and ended in 1955. Opening day, July 17, 1955, was recorded to be a minor disaster. Many of the rides were not ready, thousands of uninvited guests managed to sneak in, whether knowingly or not due to counterfeit tickets being sold, traffic was backed up, and there were many problems with the broadcasting system (Admin). Despite all of those challenges, Disneyland was still a huge success.

On July 18, 1955 Disneyland was officially opened to the public. Crowds started forming at the gates at 2 in the morning for the chance to buy a ticket. The public was interested in everything Disneyland had to offer. Disney tried to encompass all of the different lands that he had developed in his show The Disneyland Show, “Fantasyland,” “Frontierland,” “Adventureland,” and “Tomorrowland” (Dunar 245). One of the iconic elements of the park was Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, located in the middle of the four lands.The show itself helped to promote Disneyland, peaking interest in young viewers. The park was one of the biggest tourist attractions in the United States. It was designed to “engage people’s interest, move them efficiently through the park grounds and convey a consistent set of values” (Dunar 247). Workers were trained thoroughly to be friendly, helpful, and welcoming. Disneyland was clean and new, giving guests a sense of what once was and what could be.

Despite Disneyland’s huge success, it had gained several critics. People discussed the issue of guests waiting in hour long lines, and the vibe of consumerism that the park gave off. Others in defense said the Disneyland represented the culture of the 1950s in America, showing a capitalist culture with a mix of family entertainment and technology. Today, The Walt Disney Company is one of the largest and most successful business operations throughout the world. Disney owns several channels on the television, they have hundreds of movies and television shows that have been produced since the 1930s, and there are now 11 Disney parks opened around the world (Admin).

When Walt Disney first opened his park in 1955, he had no idea of how popular and successful his idea would become. He did not realize how his ideas would evolve into something that is loved and cherished by children and adults worldwide.

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle in 1955

Works Cited
Admin. “Walt Disney.” The Walt Disney Family Museum, The Walt Disney Museum, Disney
Enterprises Inc., 21 June 2016, waltdisney.com/walt-disney.
Dunar, Andrew J. America in the Fifties. Syracuse University Press, 2006.