It’s no secret among Disney fans that the 1964 World’s Fair was a pivotal moment in the company’s history. Its attractions represented new steps forward in Audio-Animatronics and proved that an East Coast park could succeed.
The Carousel of Progress, “it’s a small world”, and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln all sprung from the Fair. Their success was also the precursor to classic rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion. The Disneyland that we know today came about through Walt’s involvement in the New York event. They’re hardly its only story, however.
Joseph Tirella chronicles the events within and surrounding the Fair in his intriguing book Tomorrow-Land: The 1964-65 World’s Fair and the Transformation of America. The New York-based writer takes us from early discussions right through its final days. What separates this story from the standard chronicle is Tirella’s interest in what was happening in the culture.
Major events in American history like the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the JFK assassination all happened around this time. Tirella paints a larger picture of how the Fair connected to cultural trends. It’s an ambitious book that sometimes feels unwieldy, but I appreciate the attempt to go beyond the Fair.
What about the Disney content, you ask? It mostly appears in eight pages in a single chapter (six, if it interests you). A good portion of this section includes a history of Walt’s life that will be familiar to most fans. Tirella devotes a few paragraphs to the four Disney attractions, with the most time spent on Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.
Given the “Tomorrow-land” in the title, I expected more emphasis on Disney’s groundbreaking technologies at the Fair in Tomorrow-land. There’s a brief mention of Walt’s plans for the EPCOT project, but it just scratches the surface.
The Fair’s Master Builder
Despite the limited Disney material, there’s still a lot to like in Tomorrow-land if you’re interested in the Fair. We learn plenty about Robert Moses, the infamous “master builder” of New York City. His vision helped to make the Fair possible, but his restrictive approach hindered the bottom line.
Moses was a talented guy who helped to transform the city, but he also tended to bulldoze over any dissension. Tirella spends a lot of time explaining Moses’ personality and how it impacted the Fair. I knew little about Moses before reading this book, so it was intriguing to learn about him.
Tomorrow-land isn’t a Disney book, yet there’s still a great story of the Fair and its many challenges. It lost serious money yet is still referenced today. This summer’s Tomorrowland movie recreated the event in a pivotal early scene. Many of us are still intrigued by such a gigantic undertaking, especially because of Disney’s involvement.
Tirella places the Fair in the context of a tumultuous era, though there are a few surprise omissions. His mention of Walter Keane’s “Tomorrow Forever” painting doesn’t mention the controversy that his wife Margaret may have painted it (as shown in the movie Big Eyes). This brief instance makes me wonder if there are other issues. Regardless, it’s an interesting look at an event that’s still finding new fans to this day.
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Have you seen a film called After the Fair by Ryan Ritchey? I heard about it on a podcast a while back and thought it sounded interesting. From the preview I saw on YouTube it looks like movie covers a lot of the same subject matter as this book?
Ron, I hadn’t heard of After the Fair until now. It looks really interesting, though. I’ll have to check it out. Beyond the Disney parts of it, I really didn’t know that much about the World’s Fair before reading this book. Thanks for the info!