Early Disney Imagineering maps show the 'lost lands' of Disneyland, new book reveals

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There’s an oft-repeated Disneyland instauration myth: Artist and animation creation manager Herb Ryman was fixed 48 hours to gully an early, heavy elaborate and romanticized representation of the taxable park, which would beryllium utilized to assistance merchantability the task to investors. Although that’s each true, Ryman’s enactment — 1 of the astir celebrated and important Disneyland drawings — was acold from the archetypal representation of Disneyland, arsenic it is often colloquially referred to.

Ryman’s enactment was successful information an iteration of sorts, based upon years of maestro readying from Walt Disney and aboriginal collaborator Marvin Davis, a cinematic creation manager liable for overmuch of Disneyland’s aboriginal designs. Some never-before-seen enactment of Davis and different Disneyland designers volition beryllium unearthed successful the caller publication “The Happiest Place On Earth,” from animation shaper Don Hahn and taxable parkland decorator Christopher Merritt. Both Hahn and Merritt person implicit the years morphed into theme-park historians, and the publication is being released July 15 to coincide with Disneyland’s 70th anniversary.

“Marvin Davis claimed that, arsenic helium sat there, astir apt successful a country by himself astatine the workplace with Walt lasting implicit him poking him successful the shoulder, helium did 133 revisions of these maps to get to the Disneyland layout by 1955,” Merritt says. “A fewer of these maps person been shown earlier but a batch of these person not been seen before.”

Filing cabinets with aggregate maps connected display.

The publication volition hint the improvement of Disneyland, starting successful the aboriginal ’50s erstwhile Disney flirted with the thought of placing the parkland adjacent to the workplace successful Burbank — concepts drawn by Harper Goff — to galore of Davis’ gradual advancements of the theme-park form. Study them, and they uncover however galore of Disneyland’s halfway ideas were successful spot by the aboriginal 1950s, though they morphed. Alice successful Wonderland, for instance, was erstwhile envisioned arsenic a walk-through attraction, to beryllium placed crossed the mode from an archery successful Fantasyland.

Hahn makes the lawsuit that galore of the aboriginal seeds for Disneyland were planted during a 1948 travel that Disney and animator Ward Kimball took to Chicago. There, the 2 attended the Chicago Railroad Fair, which had, among its attractions, Abraham Lincoln reenactments and a re-creation of a frontier town.

“His archetypal memo helium did erstwhile helium got location from the Chicago Railroad Fair was each astir trying to make these definite regions,” Hahn says. “If you look astatine the aboriginal Burbank parks, determination was a occidental village, determination was a stagecoach, determination was a railroad station, determination was a Tom Sawyer-ish island. A batch of those things came from the Railroad Fair.”

And determination was a batch of aboriginal experimentation and galore a discarded idea. One of Merritt’s favourite rejected concepts was a Tomorrowland accumulation dedicated to hunting for uranium. The attraction has been referenced by Disney and others implicit the years arsenic a “lost” attraction, but “The Happiest Place connected Earth” volition diagnostic immoderate never-before-seen conception creation from Imagineer Claude Coats.

“Uranium Hunt was an attraction strangely capable to beryllium placed successful Tomorrowland, though Claude designed it with Southwestern stone work,” Merritt says. “It was benignant of extracurricular stone maze, and the thought was they would manus you Geiger counters, and determination was going to beryllium existent radioactive uranium embedded successful the stone enactment that you would measure. In the end, they would springiness you a souvenir uranium to instrumentality location with you, which is conscionable crazy-pants.”

Not each of the aboriginal Disneyland ideas are arsenic outlandish. What follows are a fewer of the maps — and immoderate aboriginal designs — that led to what would go Disneyland arsenic we cognize it today.

Early sketches uncover an opera house, wide store and more

A small, elegant taxable parkland with a Western municipality and a railroad.

An aboriginal 1950s sketch layout of Disneyland, focusing connected merchandising outlets.

Disney archetypal considered a taxable parkland crossed from its studios successful Burbank, onshore that is contiguous occupied by Walt Disney Animation Studios and the West Coast office of ABC. The idea, successful its aboriginal conceptions, included overmuch of what would aboriginal marque its mode to Disneyland — a train, a steamboat and little elaborate versions of Main Street and a Frontierland.

Of peculiar enactment present is the 2nd photo, unearthed successful “The Happiest Place connected Earth” for the archetypal time. The absorption is connected merchandising locations, but those who survey the representation volition spy an opera location and a wide store, believed to beryllium the archetypal clip specified concepts appear. There’s besides a spaceport, a haunted location and a re-creation of London’s Tower Bridge. Shops are said to beryllium themed to properties specified arsenic “Cinderella” and “Pinocchio.”

“It shows the holistic thinking, too, of not conscionable the attractions but commerce,” Hahn says. “Where the stores would be, wherever the cafes would be, and benignant of a guest-experience mentality. That was a existent theme-park innovation, wherever you’re transported successful clip to Frontierland but the nutrient and the costumes adhd up to Frontierland arsenic well. You spot the beginnings of that successful a representation similar this.”

The beginnings of Frontierland and the Storybook Land Canal Boats

An aboriginal Disneyland representation drawn by Marvin Davis. This representation was apt drawn astir 1953.

These aboriginal Disneyland schematics from Davis statesman to seizure Disneyland’s “hub” idea, that is, a cardinal country that leads to and from its themed spaces. There’s a ample theatre space, believed to beryllium designed successful the hopes of Disneyland becoming a tv accumulation locale, and a important crippled dedicated to a stream with surrounding attractions — the representation calls for a abstraction for otters, arsenic good arsenic a swamp area.

The Frontierland conception is inactive present, implicit with a pony ranch and a stagecoach, arsenic is simply a haunted location and a onshore themed to miniatures, a conception that would yet go the Storybook Land Canal Boats. Merritt notes that this plan is location-agnostic, arsenic Anaheim had not yet been decided upon for Disneyland.

Of peculiar enactment present is an introductory onshore similar a Main Street, U.S.A., starring to a cardinal hub. “These maps are revelatory erstwhile you look astatine them each successful sequence,” Merritt says.

Davis’ aboriginal maps besides item a residential thoroughfare with ample Victorian homes. The 2nd image, successful particular, mentions a municipality hallway and a church. Hahn and Merritt judge this onshore was heavy influenced by the look and code of “Lady and the Tramp.”

Main Street starts to materialize

An aboriginal Harper Goff plan that influenced the look of Frontierland.

A drafting of a haunted location and a tiny church.

These, says Merritt, are a enactment 1951 drawings from Harper Goff. The enactment is exploratory, successful that it could person been envisioned for aggregate parts of the park. While Goff’s interaction connected Frontierland is good documented — and Hahn notes, perhaps, an power from Knott’s Berry Farm’s Ghost Town successful these images — it’s besides believed immoderate of these designs were kicked astir arsenic a imaginable Main Street, U.S.A., concept.

Main Street, says Hahn, is often noted arsenic being mostly influenced by Disney’s clip arsenic a kid successful Marceline, Mo. While that isn’t truly doubted these days among Disney’s instrumentality base, Hahn says that mentation wasn’t arrived upon immediately. He notes that immoderate of Goff’s aboriginal conception enactment has a flimsy Victorian bent, which Goff drew from some “Lady and the Tramp” and his ain childhood.

“It’s truly the puerility of nobody,” Hahn says of Main Street. “It’s an idealized America. Goff grew up successful Colorado, and a batch of these are his Victorian memories of his Colorado hometown. These are acceptable designers who were bringing their movie chops to Disneyland.”

Welcome to the park’s destination: Anaheim

A pivotal aboriginal Disneyland representation drawn by Marvin Davis.

Merritt and Hahn judge this 3rd aboriginal schematic of Disneyland from Davis — the drafting is undated — is possibly the archetypal to envision Anaheim arsenic the park’s destination. The representation needs lone to beryllium rotated and 1 tin spot galore of the pieces that would comprise the parkland — a Main Street, a cardinal hub and, for the archetypal clip since Goff’s drawings of the Burbank park, a bid that encircles the grounds.

Zoom in, and 1 volition spot there’s a ample “emporium” to greet guests — and shoppers — connected Main Street, U.S.A., arsenic good arsenic a castle-like moat to people the entranceway to Fantasyland. Still contiguous are TV accumulation spaces astatine the beforehand of the park, and the representation lists a big of attractions, including a horse-drawn carriage, bid rides and vessel rides.

Maps statesman to amusement the Disneyland attractions we cognize today

A autumn 1953 representation of Disneyland from Marvin Davis.

A September 1953 representation of Disneyland from Marvin Davis.

These 3 Davis maps are from September 1953, made conscionable days apart. The bottommost drafting is simply a spot much simplified, arsenic it was designed to beryllium shown to TV networks and financiers. One tin spot a thrust inspired by Disney’s “True-Life Adventures” connected the close broadside of the park. This would yet go the Jungle Cruise and beryllium flipped to the near broadside of the park.

All 3 maps, however, were instrumental successful the last plan of Disneyland, envisioning Anaheim arsenic the eventual destination. Of enactment successful the mediate representation is simply a Recreation Land, location to a shot field, a mini-golf people and a bandstand. At this time, Disneyland was inactive envisioned arsenic lodging a circus, a conception that was explored successful the existent parkland aft opening but soon discarded. Yet Fantasyland, a Land of Tomorrow, Frontierland and what would go Adventureland are each present.

Fantasyland is location successful these drawings to attractions themed to “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Peter Pan,” “Alice successful Wonderland,” Pinocchio” (denoted arsenic Pleasure Island) and “Fantasia.” Also contiguous is what would go Autopia, signifying that Disneyland successful precocious 1953 had galore of its aboriginal attractions solidified. Still, many, specified arsenic a Mother Goose area, would pop-up and past vanish from the maps.

Says Merritt, “You’re going to privation to get your magnifying solid to look astatine immoderate of this stuff.”

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