Wild Photos Of Disneyland's Opening In The 1950s
Today, Disneyland serves as the late Walt Disney’s lasting monument to fantasy and nostalgia. And as these photos show, it’s been that way since it opened its gates in 1955. However, while the attraction has since been described as “The Happiest Place On Earth,” not everyone was left smiling on its opening day.
Steamboat Willy success
It’s believed that Walt Disney first conceived his plan for Disneyland during the early 1950s. By that point, he’d established himself as a pioneering figure in the cartoon film industry, having built on the success of his breakout short Steamboat Willy in 1928.
On top of introducing the world to Mickey Mouse, the groundbreaking movie was the earliest animated film to include sound.
Animation domination
Steamboat Willy captured the public’s imagination and made viewers hungry for more animated films. The Disney studio catered to this new demand, delivering such classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1938, and Pinocchio in 1940.
Dumbo followed just a year later. But while Disney had defined the cartoon film genre, he wasn’t one to rest on his laurels.
Groundbreaking work
In 1940 the Disney movie Fantasia set animation to classical music, in the first work of its kind. The studio also ventured into live-action films during the 1950s as well as documentary-style movies about the natural world.
And whereas many executives and power brokers in the movie business were apprehensive about the rise of television, Disney decided to embrace the new medium.
Financial woes
But while Disney certainly didn’t lack vision, his company was not exactly flourishing financially when he dreamed up Disneyland. At the start of World War Two, in fact, Disney staff had gone on strike, which compounded the firm’s spiraling money problems.
The business took time to recover, but Disney’s decision to take a chance on TV would eventually reap dividends.