Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Disneyland: An Inside Story

Author: Randy Bright
Stars: 3
Review by: MandyApgar

 A fairly appealing, but not very meaty account of the construction of the park. I was hoping for something with more teeth to it but this was probably a sort of mass produced fluff intended for general tourists. Walt Disney wanted an amusement park for years, but thanks to his usually shaky finances and a lack of available land, he never seemed to be able to get the project running. But thanks to the Mickey Mouse Club, cashing in all his insurance policies, going heavily into hock, he was able to bankroll the original project. Revolutionary travel and transport studies decided to place the project in Anaheim and under Walt's extremely watchful eye the project went underway to its infamous opening, known in Disney speak as "Black Sunday." As time went on and new rides and attractions were added, others were removed, and the park soon became today's prime people mover. One thing I truly missed was more of an acknowledgement of how insanely adept Walt was at anything he took to during construction. Having learned to read blueprints from his carpenter father, he soon became in many situations more adept than his engineers at remembering important details and improvising solutions. For a more personal look try Thomas' superlative An American Original biography, and Surrell's various attraction specific books.

No comments: