103. Michael Crawford on Progress City U.S.A., Horizons, and EPCOT the City

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When you look beyond official histories of Walt Disney World and the Walt Disney Company in general, so many other interesting stories are out there. I enjoy reading about all the weird promotions and odd attractions that Disney has created over the years. An excellent resource for uncovering those tales are blogs from fans with similar interests. A perfect example is Progress City, U.S.A., where Michael Crawford excels at finding information and stories that we didn’t realize we needed.

Crawford is my guest on this episode of The Tomorrow Society Podcast to talk about his background and what interested him about theme parks as a kid. Both of us have similar stories of visiting EPCOT Center and being hooked. We talk about why it resonated so strongly in the ’80s and its origins as EPCOT the city. In particular, we delve into the reasons that Horizons continues to draw new fans that never experienced it in person.

My favorite part of this podcast was talking with Crawford about the weird and silly parts of Disney’s past. Early TV specials offered so much craziness, including adult babies and even a rock video on Discovery Island. Crawford has added many of these classic clips on his YouTube channel, which is definitely worth your time. Finally, we talked about the Medfield College Film Society podcast and its focus at past Disney films.