This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.
Happy Saturday night:
Interesting to see how much of this actually happened and how much is still ridiculous sci-fi. The giant automated road builder is particularly amazing.
Also interesting how Disney took the lead on explaining the future to us. Who fills that role today? Or is the future just too depressing to actually contemplate?
Not real sure that Disney “took the lead”. although it might well be argued that he brought up the end of the parade, when the mechanism was already clanking along in full gear. You can go back to the GM display at the ’39 Worlds Fair, which in turn borrowed from Buckminster Fuller, who in turn borrowed from early 20th century visions of megalomania.
Even if I could view what presumably is a video (check your post, Frank, I don’t see anything at all where there normally is a blank icon for videos I can’t download), I think it might be more Disney taking the lead in explaining the present to us. I watched the construction of 405 quite intimately, but with no understanding at all of what I would see when I returned 40 years later. To us, as kids, Futureland was where we would get to drive the cars and ride the Monorail.
oops, for some reason the video got stripped out. it’s back now.