Disney World and History

[dismichael]

Hello Everyone!!!
I am currently a senior in college and am working on my senior thesis. I am doing mine on Disney World as a public history site. It would be amazing if I could include some first hand accounts of learning history from a Disney attraction! If anyone has a story or comment that I could include in my paper it would be amazing!

Thank you in Advance!!

 

[Robo]

http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/wyw.htm

 

[yulilin3]

Hello Everyone!!!
I am currently a senior in college and am working on my senior thesis. I am doing mine on Disney World as a public history site. It would be amazing if I could include some first hand accounts of learning history from a Disney attraction! If anyone has a story or comment that I could include in my paper it would be amazing!

Thank you in Advance!!

my kids learn that the Phoenicians created the alphabet from Spaceship Earth. When it came up in class they both were excited to know the answer (keep in mind that they are 20 and 16 now so this was a while back) and papyrus came from Egypt. Basically the entire Spaceship Earth was one of their earliest history lessons
I think that as far as history goes that's it. My daughter also had the correct answer when they were talking about hydroponics but that's not history

 

[DisneyOma]

Hello Everyone!!!
I am currently a senior in college and am working on my senior thesis. I am doing mine on Disney World as a public history site. It would be amazing if I could include some first hand accounts of learning history from a Disney attraction! If anyone has a story or comment that I could include in my paper it would be amazing!

Thank you in Advance!!

I'd be careful - a lot of the "history" is very filtered, etc, since it is a vacation destination, not a National Historic Site, or somesuch. Can you research who (if) they used as historians, the accreditation they have, and so on? Or are you looking for something historic that happened on WDW property?

 

[Micca]

Or are you looking for something historic that happened on WDW property?

Yeah, I'm a bit confused too. Robo directed you to a terrific site about the history of WDW, Yulilin3 contributed an anecdote. I get the part about learning about history from Disney attractions, but this is confusing me...

Disney World as a public history site.

Is that just a way of saying you want stories about people who learned about historical events via WDW attractions?

If I may offer a suggestion? If you're examining historical events through the lens of the Walt Disney company, I would include films in the mix. Disney did some live action movies based on U.S. history, and they created some propaganda animated shorts during WWII. I think Disney as a participant in the World's Fair is of historical merit as well. Maybe this makes your topic too broad, just thought I'd throw that out there. With respect to the theme parks, you'll want to look at Frontierland and Liberty Square for sure.

As for something historic that happened on property-- At DlR you have Nixon at the grand opening of the monorail, many heads of state visited DLR in the 60s.
Ronald Reagan was present on opening day at DLR and participated in the live broadcast from the park.
It's also interesting to note that the document to officially breakup The Beatles was signed by John Lennon at the Poly.

 

[amberpi]

Nixon gave his "I am not a crook" speech at the Contemporary in 73.

 

[dismichael]

Part 1: My thesis
Only ~33% of Americans have college degrees. The last history class most Americans have taken was in high school. As such, Public History looks to move history from classrooms into people's everyday lives.

So, Public History at its simplest is history outside of academia. It is the way that we as historians disseminate information to the public (through museums, national parks, etc). Within this subfield of history there has been a growing process of sites (ex. Colonial Williamsburg) to commercialize and become more appealing to guests (aptly named "disneyfication"). Up to this point historians have been split over this topic; half see it as a good thing in a "do what's necessary" kind of way and the other half see it as destroying the integrity of the sites. Since this trend stems from Disney, I have chose to look at the Walt Disney World park and how they deal with this balance of education and entertainment. Attractions such as Hall of Presidents, American Adventure, and Spaceship Earth provide a perfect example for the balance of both education and entertainment. These attractions often deal with the tougher moments in historical memory which other public history sites have a tough time dealing with (ex. slavery). This stems from two things: one Disney has had practice in dealing with these issues and they consult with the major historians (Eric Foner).

Part 2:
I have already written my paper and made my argument. However, I was looking of real world examples of people learning about history from the attractions at Disney. This was just to reinforce the idea that it is serving its purpose.

 

[bryanb]

I learned a filtered version of history aboard the Mark Twain riverboat at Disneyland and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Even the old telephones on Main Street provided a view of what life was like in 1900s America. In contrast, one might argue that later Disney attractions contain much less history and much more entertainment. It might be the case that history and education have taken a back seat in modern times.

For a more complete analysis and critique of "Disneyfication" of history, I'm guessing (if you haven't already) you might want to reference the controversial Disney's America theme park that was scrapped.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney's_America

 

[DisneyOma]

Well, my daughters learned all about the white male version of US History at the American Adventures pavilion. We've had some really deep conversations about how pathetic that show is.

 

[horner89]

One of my three dissertations at University (I studied American History) was about the "disneyfication" of history and society. I'm not really sure how much online personal anecdotes will help you here to be honest as they don't really carry too much weight in academic circles and they could lead into a potential structural minefield (how would you cite the source, who would you quote/how/why for example).

You really do sound like you know what you're doing, but if I can offer some free advice then I'd suggest that adding an extra paragraph or two relating to the process of disneyfication in a broader context might be a better way to strengthen your essay e.g: the various ways history is themed to sell merchandise/attract customers, the heavy reliance on nostalgia (real and imagined), the perspective the history is being told from (gender/race/religion etc.), the emphasis the company places on accuracy (or not), their responsibility to be accurate and who judges said accuracy, the accountability that comes with portraying historical events/people, the way Disney portrays minorities (native Americans in Frontierland for example) and any objections that might have been raised since the park opened etc.

Either way, best of luck with your studies and I hope it all works out for you

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Well, my daughters learned all about the white male version of US History at the American Adventures pavilion. We've had some really deep conversations about how pathetic that show is.

The fact that Lance Armstrong is featured prominently in the montage at the end of the show ruins any credibility...unless he has been removed finally, he was in there when we were there and were shocked to see him celebrated.

 

[CarolynFH]

Getting back to disneyfication of history, the newest example is probably the new Muppets show in Independence Square....

 

[dismichael]

Well, my daughters learned all about the white male version of US History at the American Adventures pavilion. We've had some really deep conversations about how pathetic that show is.

Frederick Douglass, Chief Joseph, Riveters, Immigrants....I'm sorry, but this is not white washed history. A textbook in Texas replaced the word slave with foreign laborer....That is a white male history. They have 30 minutes to tell all of American history. I'm not saying it's perfect (it's not), but it is more historically accurate than say Hamilton or some of the past exhibits at Colonial Williamsburg.

One of my three dissertations at University (I studied American History) was about the "disneyfication" of history and society. I'm not really sure how much online personal anecdotes will help you here to be honest as they don't really carry too much weight in academic circles and they could lead into a potential structural minefield (how would you cite the source, who would you quote/how/why for example).

You really do sound like you know what you're doing, but if I can offer some free advice then I'd suggest that adding an extra paragraph or two relating to the process of disneyfication in a broader context might be a better way to strengthen your essay...

Either way, best of luck with your studies and I hope it all works out for you

I appreciate your input. To be honest, I do not think it is totally necessary either. My Professor had made mention of including some first hand accounts just to supplement the scholarly research I have. I'm always on the boards so I figured I'd see if I could find a good anecdote to include. It's only a 30 page paper so I had to be fairly to the point, but I definitely included the wider ramifications for public history and even a bit about the Disney's America concept. The paper has garnered me a lot of support in my department so I hope to continue expand the topic for my master's thesis and get it published.