Traveling Back in Time to Disney’s Big Moment

The Disney you know didn’t get its start until the early 1960s.

Sure, The Walt Disney Company officially started in 1923, and its roots date back even earlier.

Then, Disneyland opened in 1955, no doubt a momentous occasion that made everything else possible.

Still, Disney wouldn’t find its true identity until the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

Let’s travel back in time to admire Disney’s big moment as it felt then.

The Planning Stage

By the start of the 1960s, WED Enterprises, the group we now call Imagineers, had become famous.

Word of the majesty of Disneyland had spread around the world, and fans wanted more.

In 1959, Walt Disney granted their wish by expanding Disneyland with several new attractions.

Disney added a submarine ride, a monorail system, and even an artificial mountain.

While all the creations were remarkable, Matterhorn Bobsleds wowed everyone.

Disney elevated the steel roller coaster and unintentionally triggered the Coaster Wars.

Meanwhile, onlookers admired the Matterhorn itself, a fake mountain built just for a theme park.

At the time, World’s Fair events were seminal for inventors and observers alike.

So, everyone accepted that Imagineers would be the proverbial belles of the ball in 1964.

That was the date for the next World’s Fair to be held in New York, with corporations eyeing that date hungrily.

Many of the biggest companies in the world approached Disney about creating pavilions for them.

Walt Disney stood at the height of his power at the time, and he happily held court with would-be suitors.

Technically, Disney was splitting his time as he plotted his next project, Walt Disney World.

The entrepreneur started searching for plots of land in 1959 and settled on Florida in 1963.

That’s the year when Disney purchased his first piece of real estate in Florida, but that’s not all.

Imagineers also worked hard to create three pavilions for the upcoming World’s Fair.

Then, just to add to the degree of difficulty, Walt Disney himself signed up for a fourth one.

Uncle Walt knew something that most outsider observers didn’t yet.

His Imagineers had unlocked the secret of robotics, and their skill existed beyond tiny birds.

So, Disney targeted the World’s Fair as the coming-out party for Imagineering.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln

The host of that particular party was none other than Abraham Lincoln.

Okay, technically, it was a robotic recreation of Lincoln, but that’s the point.

Disney created such a lifelike Audio-Animatronic of Lincoln that World’s Fair guests expressed awe.

The State of Illinois made the unusual decision to sponsor Disney, and everyone benefited.

For his part, Walt Disney had planned something like this for several years.

At one point, he’d debated a Disneyland expansion called Liberty Street on one side of Main Street, U.S.A.

The signature attraction on Liberty Street would have been The Hall of the Presidents of the United States.

Yes, that’s the same concept Magic Kingdom later introduced at its Liberty Square themed land.

Disneyland nearly beat its successor to the punch by adding this space in 1957.

However, The Hall of Presidents wouldn’t have had a Robo-Lincoln, as that technology hadn’t been created yet.

Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room would introduce the concept in 1963, the year before the World’s Fair.

So, almost as if the whole thing was meant to be, Disney flexed its creative muscle during the exhibition.

That was the first time many guests witnessed the robotic version of Abe Lincoln.

Here’s a rare interview with Walt Disney where he couldn’t hide his glee about the production:

Just to be clear, the “$50 million in shows” he mentions is the equivalent of $525 million today.

Here’s his sales pitch about Disney’s World’s Fair presence:

At the 3:45 mark, you can watch part of the show as people would have watched it in 1964.

Ford’s Magic Skyway

Disney used robotics at three of its four World’s Fair pavilions. It was that big a flex at the time.

Just as importantly, Disney worked with three of the largest corporations in the world at the time.

While the transaction with the State of Illinois was a bit odd, the others made perfect sense.

Ford was already a juggernaut of the car industry by this point, and it wanted to stay that way.

So, the company worked with Disney to create one giant promotional campaign for its business.

Ford’s Magic Skyway told the history of transportation as guests rode a Ford vehicle. Here’s how that looked in 1964:

That’s the voice of Henry Ford II, the grandson of the legendary Henry Ford, greeting guests.

As a company, Ford had little to do with the attraction beyond supplying the cars, though.

Magic Skyway demonstrated pure Imagineering magic, with Audio-Animatronic dinosaurs.

You may notice eerie similarities to another defunct attraction, Ellen’s Energy Adventure.

Before that, it was known as the Universe of Energy, and it owes its origins to Magic Skyway.

Oddly, that statement applies to multiple attractions, including EPCOT’s opening day ride, World of Motion.

The depiction of how humanity evolved over time also shares similarities with Spaceship Earth.

Most importantly, Disney created an entirely new ride system for the Magic Skyway.

To transport guests from scene to scene, the Ford vehicles needed a moving sidewalk underneath them.

Imagineering’s invention to solve this problem was the precursor to the Omnimover.

That’s the ride system countless Disney rides have used over the years, most notably Haunted Mansion.

That attraction opened two years after the World’s Fair and would have worked much differently if not for the Magic Skyway.

Can you even imagine Haunted Mansion without its Omnimover Doom Buggy system?

It’s a Small World

The most stressful World’s Fair pavilion was also the fastest one to build.

Pepsi found itself on the outside looking in as the World’s Fair approached.

Joan Crawford, the Academy Award-winning actress, sat on Pepsi’s Board of Directors.

A Hollywood friend of Walt Disney, she pleaded for his help in designing a Pepsi attraction.

Remarkably, Uncle Walt almost immediately invented an entire ride in his head.

This attraction perfectly fit the global theme of the 1964 World’s Fair, as it celebrated unity.

Imagineers had less than one year to build what Walt Disney called his “little boat ride.”

Thankfully, artist Mary Blair instinctively understood her boss’s vision for the ride.

Similarly, after a couple of false starts, the Sherman Brothers created a fitting song.

All these ideas unified, and the sum proved greater than the parts.

From the moment guests sat down on It’s a Small World for the first time, they knew it was magical.

Here’s a time-stamped home movie someone made of their World’s Fair experience:

Here’s another few seconds of the original version of the ride during its World’s Fair era:

A master negotiator, Disney drove a hard bargain with Pepsi and the State of Illinois.

Disney agreed to cut its fee for the creation of these pavilions in exchange for transportation.

Pepsi and the State of Illinois agreed to ship It’s a Small World and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln to Disneyland.

Both attractions remain in operation more than 60 years later at Disneyland.

They’re permanent monuments to Disney’s World’s Fair dominance, as is the final ride…

Carousel of Progress

Walt Disney marveled at technology in all its forms, which explains his company’s success.

Whenever Uncle Walt encountered something he’d never seen before, he’d try to determine how it worked.

This curiosity and his admiration for societal advancement led to the creation of this attraction.

General Electric planned a pavilion named Progressland, which would depict the history of electricity.

When GE approached Disney, he recycled an idea he’d had for Disneyland in the late 1950s.

Edison Square would have featured a show called Harnessing the Lighting.

This show would have required guests to walk from stage to stage to learn the full story.

Specifically, Disney wanted to show how electrical appliances had improved society during his lifetime.

That idea became the basis for Progressland’s Carousel of Progress. You can watch a clip here:

Again, Audio-Animatronics drove the story, albeit with a more personalized touch.

This wasn’t a former President of the United States speaking. No, it was just a simple man named John.

The family man welcomed people into his home and relayed tales of how far technology had advanced.

By adopting this measured approach, Disney showed the seminal nature of GE in society.

Obviously, the corporation was thrilled with the ride and happily paid to transfer it to Disneyland.

Eventually, the original version of the ride made its way to Magic Kingdom, where it resides to this day.

You can watch some World’s Fair footage here:

Back to the Future

Soon, you can watch Walt Disney himself in Audio-Animatronic form at the Magic Kingdom ride.

Uncle Walt’s successors will make him a permanent part of the very show he created.

In that way, the World’s Fair legacies of Walt and his Imagineers will live on for future generations.

More than 60 years ago, this team created four memorable attractions, three of which live to this day.

The other one provided inspiration for countless attractions and one vital ride design.

That’s why the Disney you know didn’t really start until the 1960s.

The New York World’s Fair changed everything.

Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!

Feature Photo: Disney