Concerning the collapse of Disney's America, the US historical park that nearly

As a top producer of kids's entertainmentDisney isn’t any stranger to the American culture wars.

liberal have long been criticizing the corporate for promoting gender stereotypes and racial stereotypes through its products. Conservatives have castigated the corporate was “too awake”, whether within the casting of coloured actresses in live-action remakes of “The Little Mermaid” and “Snow White” or against a law in Florida that limits discussion about gender and sexuality in public schools.

As Disney boss Bob Iger battling the unenviable task of coping with criticism from all sides, I cannot help but remember how the executives decided to present an try and “Disneyfy“American history 30 years ago.”

My research and teaching examines how media corporations like Disney construct historical narratives for mass consumption. I can only imagine how today's culture wars would have expressed themselves in Disney's planned theme park, which might have featured all the pieces from Civil War forts to Native American villages.

Disney has its sights set on the outskirts of DC

From his beginnings as an animator, Walt Disney presented a whitewashed and nostalgic image of America.

Mickey Mouse represented the “everyman”, while the corporate’s animators created a largely optimistic picture of Americafirst within the studio's animated movies and later of their theme parks. Anyone who has visited Disneyland's Main Street, USAwitnessed Magic Kingdoms Hall of Presidents or visited Epcot's American Adventure can see how Disney strives to present an easy, uncritical image of the nation and its leaders.

In 1984 Michael Eisner became CEO of the corporate. He was credited with reviving the Disney brand by creating successful animated movies corresponding to “Beauty and the Beast” And “The Little Mermaid”, and is a pioneer in theme parks corresponding to Disney–MGM Studios – now often called Hollywood Studios – and Disneyland Paris.

A visit to Colonial Williamsburg inspired Eisner’s next project: a theme park based on US history that will be built outside of Washington, DC

In 1993, the corporate began quietly Buying property in Northern Virginia using shell corporations. The land acquisition was only made public just a few days before the announcement of the theme park with the apt name Disney's America.

The news was largely welcomed by politicians. Eisner already had the support of the of the state's outgoing and incoming governors, together with the Virginia Commission on Population Growth and Development. The plan was to construct the park in Haymarket, Virginia, a small, affluent area southwest of Washington, DC, just a few miles from Manassasthe scene of two major battles of the Civil War.

The story isn’t so easy

Although Disney had worked diligently to consolidate the corporate's support within the run-up to the announcement, signs of conflict emerged through the initial press conference, which was also attended by Bob Weis, a Disney vp who had helped plan several theme parks.

“This is not an optimistic view of America,” He told the assembled group of reporters“We want to make you a Civil War soldier. We want you to feel what it was like to be a slave or what it was like to escape on the Underground Railroad.”

Questions about how Disney would tell the nation’s complex – often discriminatory – history spurred a gaggle of historians to under the direction of David McCulloughto lift their concerns: How would Disney Narrative of the United States– And what impact would the park have on Manassas, one of the essential battlefields of the Civil War?

According to the unique plans and brochures, Disney's America nine sections: a colonial-era Presidents Square, an indigenous village, Ellis Island, an Industrial Revolution factory town, a Civil War fort, a county fairground, an early Nineteenth-century port, a World War II-era battlefield, and a Depression-era family farm.

On the surface, these themed areas seemed appropriate. They could easily be considered exhibits within the Smithsonian. However, problems arose when one considered that this was still a Disney theme park, and entertaining guests and getting cash likely took precedence over historical accuracy and contemporary sensitivities and sensibilities.

The story of immigration, for instance, would have been told through the musical comedy sort of Kermit the Frog and the opposite Muppets.

There were also concerns about how Disney would cope with its exploitative and violent treatment of quite a lot of groups previously.

These included the enslavement of Africans and the genocide of the indigenous population, the latter also being linked to the upcoming publication of “Pocahontas.” Historians later emphasized the distorted story of the filmand it's not far-fetched to assume that there are rides or attractions at Disney's America which might be based on these misrepresentations.

Mickey Mouse goes to Washington

Even because the plans for Disney took shape, criticism began to mount.

Disney issued an ultimatum to the Virginia legislature to enhance the infrastructure around the positioning and threatened to desert the project if the $150 million for infrastructure improvements weren’t passed on the last day of the Virginia General Assembly's legislative session in March 1994.

In June, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a resolution opposing the park and the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the environmental impacts of the proposed project.

The The now infamous hearing Discussions about sewage, transportation and housing, and even saw U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado, who was then a registered Democrat, Place a Mickey Mouse hat on the lectern as an indication of your support.

As criticism grew, Disney decided to vary its approach. In the summer of 1994, the project was renamed Disney's American Celebration.

Instead of highlighting periods or events in American history, the brand new concept would focus more on themes: democracy, work, family, generations, American streets and the country.

Many of the attractions in these countries would have been much like the attractions within the Disney parks. For example, Generations would have been much like the Carousel of Progress within the Magic Kingdomwhile the land was already a pavilion in Epcot.

This would even have opened up more opportunities for sponsorship. The park's Work area would have included virtual factory tours of popular brands like Apple or Crayola, while Streets of America would have featured dishes from across the country, much like Downtown Disneywhich was opened 1997 at Disney World and 2001 at Disneyland.

Everything is falling apart

On September 28, 1994, Disney abruptly announced that it was abandoning these plans.

Although criticism from historians was an element, there have been also concerns concerning the park's profitability through the colder months. The company was faced with mounting debts from its Paris theme park and unsure leadership after the death of executive Frank Wells in a helicopter crash in April 1994. Eisner had meanwhile Underwent bypass surgery in July 1994.

Many of the attractions planned for the Virginia location found their way into Disney parks, especially Disney’s Californian adventure in Anaheim.

Disney, each under Walt’s leadership and after his death, has long championed patriotism for the advantage of its Media content and parking experiencesFrom Mickey Mouse to the Hall of Presidents, Disney's nostalgic, straightforward, and uncomplicated view of American progress was fundamental to the Disney experience.

For historians and other critics, nevertheless, the thought of ​​a complete park dedicated to this approach – and just down the road from an actual battlefield that played a central role within the bloodiest war in U.S. history – was an excessive amount of to disregard.

The incontrovertible fact that Disney was unable to capitalize on uncritical praise of America could have been a blessing in disguise, because it avoided creating one other battlefield within the culture war.