Musk is the Clive Sinclair someone has at home.
-
Hi Guest!
The costs of running this forum are covered by Sea Lion Press. If you'd like to help support the company and the forum, visit patreon.com/sealionpress -
Thank you to everyone who reached out with concern about the upcoming UK legislation which requires online communities to be compliant regarding illegal content. As a result of hard work and research by members of this community (chiefly iainbhx) and other members of communities UK-wide, the decision has been taken that the Sea Lion Press Forum will continue to operate. For more information, please see this thread.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
AH Cooperative Lists Thread
- Thread starter Stuyvesant
- Start date
Alberto Knox
Well-known member
- Location
- Mistress Masham's Repose
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Time's People of the 20th Century
To celebrate the dawn of the new Millennium Time Magazine released a special edition dedicated to persons who had "the most enduring impact on each decade of the 20th Century"
1900s: Father Georgy Gapon [1]
1910s: Song Jiaoren [2]
1920s: Anita Augspurg [3]
1930s: Henry Moseley [4]
1940s: Rudolf Breitscheid [5]
1950s: Cheddi Jagan [6]
1960s: Virgil Grissom [7]
1970s: Aristotelis Savalas [8]
1980s: Clive Sinclair [9]
1990s: Herbert Kwouk [10]
To celebrate the dawn of the new Millennium Time Magazine released a special edition dedicated to persons who had "the most enduring impact on each decade of the 20th Century"
1900s: Father Georgy Gapon [1]
1910s: Song Jiaoren [2]
1920s: Anita Augspurg [3]
1930s: Henry Moseley [4]
1940s: Rudolf Breitscheid [5]
1950s: Cheddi Jagan [6]
1960s: Virgil Grissom [7]
1970s: Aristotelis Savalas [8]
1980s: Clive Sinclair [9]
1990s: Herbert Kwouk [10]
[1] While a controversial figure due to more information now available on his work with the Russian secret police Gapon secures his status as the Times Person of the 1900s due to his martyr status following his death on the Bloody Sunday of 1905. The resulting Russian Revolution would lead to the eventual democratisation of the country and the reformation of the Autocratic Monarchy into a Constitutional one, albeit it at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives and the destabilisation of the status quo in Eastern Europe.
[2] An atypical pick - many Western commentators would have reflexively picked Jean Jaurès or Friedrech Ebert for their resolution of the Alsace-Lorraine question. But in the late 1990s there was a sense that China was entering the new millennium as the only great power with its best days ahead of it (1990s American culture's fascination with the culture of Shanghai and Guangzhou was expressed in Sino-Wave fashion and music.) The magazine traced much of this to Jiaoren's role in stabilising the nascent Chinese republic and avoiding the on and off waves of chaos that marked Russia's transition from a transcontinental autocracy to the much smaller - relatively! - state that seemed to imprison fewer nations every year.
[3] Controversial at the time for her radical views, Augspurg had risen to leadership of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance and travelled the world advocating for women's voting rights, working votes, pacifism (something of great concern after the Eastern European wars), and independence for the colonies. Pent-up demand for suffrage would lead to nation after nation passing it and large all-women matches for peace became common in 1925 (and got her the Time cover), but it was the decolonisation that would both get her in trouble (she would have to leave her native Germany under pressure) and see her become a key 'go-between' between African and Asian political leaders.
[4] While Henry Moseley made many significant contributions to the fields of atomic, nuclear and quantum physics over his long career (winning Nobel prizes in 1916 and 1922); his selection by Time was owed to the perceived impact of his work on the geopolitical landscape of the ‘30s. Specifically, his 1933 discovery of nuclear fission at Oxford and the realisation of its military applications which he felt compelled (out of a sense of patriotic duty) to communicate to the British government. In the politically febrile atmosphere of the decade, the "Moseley Memorandum" was recognised in hindsight as igniting a nuclear arms race in the years immediately preceding the Great War. While not directly involved in their development, Moseley would live to see the first wartime use of nuclear weapons, with the British bombing of Hamburg and the retaliatory German bombing of Colchester in 1939 bringing the global conflict to a close.
[5] The father of modern Germany, Breitscheid earns his place on the list for his work at pulling the broken country back together in the wake of the Great War. With starvation and lawlessness stalking the country many at the time feared Europe was heading towards another geopolitical catastrophe to match the collapse of the Russian Empire.
That that did not happen was down to the sterling work of Breitscheid and his fellow members of the previously outlawed SPD. Using every contact and favour gathered during their long exile from Germany during the 'Regime of the Generals' they managed to hold Germany together as it exited form the shadows of Authoritarianisn towards Democracy.
That was not a steady path, and it was injuries obtained during the abortive 1947 Leeb putsch that forced Breitscheid to step down form public office. His last act would be to sign off on the treaty that would form the Council of Europe, the collective economic and defensive pact that would be the predecessor to the European Union.
[6] Cheddi Jagan had been one of numerous political young men who'd expected to have to fight hard for their freedom and found the great empires were bankrupt & retreating - Guyana had become a "Second-Tier Dominion" the same year he and his wife founded the Political Affairs Committee, and he would merge it with another to form the People's Progressive Party and sweep the 1953 elections, leading the country into independence and socialism the next year. This is what led him to be Man of the Year, for he was the first socialist country in the Caribbean and became a target for the US, with Guyana blockaded and facing attempted coups & assassinations. With no major patron, Guyana should have fallen soon but Jagan and the PAP managed to hold the multi-ethnic working class together for long enough to inspire the "Red Tide" that swept the Caribbean and led to the controversial, unpopular US military missions that caused the Summer of '59 back home. Jagan himself stood down, broken and weary, when the US Marines landed but he remained a symbol for global socialism, and his wife would become president after the 'restoration' government agreed to elections in 1961.
[7] The ‘60s had been defined by a number of significant social shifts and political events. To choose a figure from any one event or movement would seem to underplay the others. Eventually, Time chose to frame the decade through space exploration. The Space Race, after all, was an unprecedented event in human history and the competition between the major powers could be viewed as a proxy for the period’s other ideological struggles. It had also been the primary catalyst for the futurist “Spacer” youth movement, which dominated Western popular culture of the decade and be cited as a formative influence by many of the late 20th century’s most prominent figures.
They were spoiled for choice. They might have selected Hideo Itokawa (father of the prolific Japanese space program) or Canada’s Bill Waterton (Commonwealth astronaut and the first human in space). Ultimately, they opted for a native son. Virgil Grissom, Air Force test pilot and NARA astronaut, had become the first American in space in 1962 (missing Waterton’s record by a matter of weeks) and an instant national celebrity. In 1969, he would be selected to lead the Artemis 10 mission and make history as the first human to step on the Moon. His succinct first words, directed at the NARA ground crew, were taken to heart by a watching world. “Good work, everyone.”
[8] The 1970s would usher in a new Era of Good Feelings within the United States and the wider world, as a series of bipolar agreements between the United States of America and the European Union reduced global tensions to a level not seen since the end of the Great War. Technological and social advancements rocketed on the back of the Space Race and as people looked to the stars everything seemed possible. While any number of world leaders could have served as the face for the Spacer Age the most obvious choice would be the dynamic and virile President of the United States, Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas.
Perhaps no-one else could embody the United States at its best than this son of Greek immigrants, who had witnessed poverty and hard times before dragging himself, via the acting profession, to the highest office of the land. A strong working class Democrat, Savalas would oversee the expansion of workers protections, industrial reform and a manufacturing boom that unlocked the potential of the American working man. Soft power expanded too, as a former actor Savalas was uniquely aware of the power of movies and television and how it could project the success of the American Dream to those less fortunate.
Over 2 successful terms Savalas would remake the United States into a strong Social Democratic state, stressing dignity to those at home but not afraid to be muscular abroad in the name of freedom, such as professing both diplomatic and military support to the Brazilian President in the face of the 1977 military coup attempt. Widely loved abroad as "Uncle Telly", Savalas was a globe trotting President, once famously being mobbed when visiting the city of Birmingham. The clip of President Savalas hugging a local women while crooning "who loves ya baby" is still a mainstay on documentaries of this very special decade.
[9] One of the results of the Space Age was a boom in computer technology, and British entrepreneur Clive Sinclair would be a key player with his low-cost Spectrums which did well in Europe, the newly rising East Africa, and the newly open Vietnam - which is what got him the Time cover, ironically the same year the Chinese were storming the global industry. 80s America, unlike the 90s, didn't want to accept SinoWave. What saw him be chosen was not Speccies at all but what he did next: electronic vehicles. Despite early ridicule of his first device, the following Sinclair C15 proved the concept worked and, seeing the growth in China, Sinclair started a partnership with the rising Spacer tycoons who saw this as the shiny future. By 1989, electric cars were a growth market in China as well as Britain; by 1999, the Car Wars were clearly going against gasoline.
[10] Time had long since declared the 90’s the “Chinese Decade”. As America and Europe seemed to be slowing down, the high-growth, high-tech economies of Asia appeared unstoppable and China was at the head of the pack. The Shanghai and Guangzhou skylines were a Spacer’s dream of glass and chrome come to life and the Sino-Wave craze dominated global media. With the approach of the new millenium, the popular vision of the future was distinctly Chinese and no one was more synonymous with that vision than President Herbert Kweok.
The descendant of a Tang dynasty general and heir to a textile tycoon, Kweok might have lived an idle life of complacent luxury. Instead, embracing the vision of the Space Age, he would transform his inherited empire into one of China’s first leaders in the high-tech sector and expand his fortune even further. A late-life entry into politics would see him elected as President of China in the 1990 election on an Independent ticket and presiding over the nation’s great economic boom all but guaranteed his reelection in 1996.
A telegenic personality (capable of both stern dignity and comedic charm as required) and fluent in English, Kweok achieved a level of international celebrity and acclaim unseen for a politician since Savalas. Already named Person of the Year in 1997 alongside UK Prime Minister Christopher Patten (in the midst of the handover of Hong Kong), Kweok’s was probably the least surprising choice on the Time list.
Despite continuing popularity, the elderly Kweok chose not to seek a third term and instead would retire from both business and politics. As the first years of the 21st century unfolded, as the Chinese bubble burst and the world economy saw one its most major downturns in decades, many would look back on the Kweok years with a fond nostalgia. Others, with hindsight, saw an era of willful complacency, ignoring the warning signs of what was to come. Either way, no one would forget it in a hurry.
[2] An atypical pick - many Western commentators would have reflexively picked Jean Jaurès or Friedrech Ebert for their resolution of the Alsace-Lorraine question. But in the late 1990s there was a sense that China was entering the new millennium as the only great power with its best days ahead of it (1990s American culture's fascination with the culture of Shanghai and Guangzhou was expressed in Sino-Wave fashion and music.) The magazine traced much of this to Jiaoren's role in stabilising the nascent Chinese republic and avoiding the on and off waves of chaos that marked Russia's transition from a transcontinental autocracy to the much smaller - relatively! - state that seemed to imprison fewer nations every year.
[3] Controversial at the time for her radical views, Augspurg had risen to leadership of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance and travelled the world advocating for women's voting rights, working votes, pacifism (something of great concern after the Eastern European wars), and independence for the colonies. Pent-up demand for suffrage would lead to nation after nation passing it and large all-women matches for peace became common in 1925 (and got her the Time cover), but it was the decolonisation that would both get her in trouble (she would have to leave her native Germany under pressure) and see her become a key 'go-between' between African and Asian political leaders.
[4] While Henry Moseley made many significant contributions to the fields of atomic, nuclear and quantum physics over his long career (winning Nobel prizes in 1916 and 1922); his selection by Time was owed to the perceived impact of his work on the geopolitical landscape of the ‘30s. Specifically, his 1933 discovery of nuclear fission at Oxford and the realisation of its military applications which he felt compelled (out of a sense of patriotic duty) to communicate to the British government. In the politically febrile atmosphere of the decade, the "Moseley Memorandum" was recognised in hindsight as igniting a nuclear arms race in the years immediately preceding the Great War. While not directly involved in their development, Moseley would live to see the first wartime use of nuclear weapons, with the British bombing of Hamburg and the retaliatory German bombing of Colchester in 1939 bringing the global conflict to a close.
[5] The father of modern Germany, Breitscheid earns his place on the list for his work at pulling the broken country back together in the wake of the Great War. With starvation and lawlessness stalking the country many at the time feared Europe was heading towards another geopolitical catastrophe to match the collapse of the Russian Empire.
That that did not happen was down to the sterling work of Breitscheid and his fellow members of the previously outlawed SPD. Using every contact and favour gathered during their long exile from Germany during the 'Regime of the Generals' they managed to hold Germany together as it exited form the shadows of Authoritarianisn towards Democracy.
That was not a steady path, and it was injuries obtained during the abortive 1947 Leeb putsch that forced Breitscheid to step down form public office. His last act would be to sign off on the treaty that would form the Council of Europe, the collective economic and defensive pact that would be the predecessor to the European Union.
[6] Cheddi Jagan had been one of numerous political young men who'd expected to have to fight hard for their freedom and found the great empires were bankrupt & retreating - Guyana had become a "Second-Tier Dominion" the same year he and his wife founded the Political Affairs Committee, and he would merge it with another to form the People's Progressive Party and sweep the 1953 elections, leading the country into independence and socialism the next year. This is what led him to be Man of the Year, for he was the first socialist country in the Caribbean and became a target for the US, with Guyana blockaded and facing attempted coups & assassinations. With no major patron, Guyana should have fallen soon but Jagan and the PAP managed to hold the multi-ethnic working class together for long enough to inspire the "Red Tide" that swept the Caribbean and led to the controversial, unpopular US military missions that caused the Summer of '59 back home. Jagan himself stood down, broken and weary, when the US Marines landed but he remained a symbol for global socialism, and his wife would become president after the 'restoration' government agreed to elections in 1961.
[7] The ‘60s had been defined by a number of significant social shifts and political events. To choose a figure from any one event or movement would seem to underplay the others. Eventually, Time chose to frame the decade through space exploration. The Space Race, after all, was an unprecedented event in human history and the competition between the major powers could be viewed as a proxy for the period’s other ideological struggles. It had also been the primary catalyst for the futurist “Spacer” youth movement, which dominated Western popular culture of the decade and be cited as a formative influence by many of the late 20th century’s most prominent figures.
They were spoiled for choice. They might have selected Hideo Itokawa (father of the prolific Japanese space program) or Canada’s Bill Waterton (Commonwealth astronaut and the first human in space). Ultimately, they opted for a native son. Virgil Grissom, Air Force test pilot and NARA astronaut, had become the first American in space in 1962 (missing Waterton’s record by a matter of weeks) and an instant national celebrity. In 1969, he would be selected to lead the Artemis 10 mission and make history as the first human to step on the Moon. His succinct first words, directed at the NARA ground crew, were taken to heart by a watching world. “Good work, everyone.”
[8] The 1970s would usher in a new Era of Good Feelings within the United States and the wider world, as a series of bipolar agreements between the United States of America and the European Union reduced global tensions to a level not seen since the end of the Great War. Technological and social advancements rocketed on the back of the Space Race and as people looked to the stars everything seemed possible. While any number of world leaders could have served as the face for the Spacer Age the most obvious choice would be the dynamic and virile President of the United States, Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas.
Perhaps no-one else could embody the United States at its best than this son of Greek immigrants, who had witnessed poverty and hard times before dragging himself, via the acting profession, to the highest office of the land. A strong working class Democrat, Savalas would oversee the expansion of workers protections, industrial reform and a manufacturing boom that unlocked the potential of the American working man. Soft power expanded too, as a former actor Savalas was uniquely aware of the power of movies and television and how it could project the success of the American Dream to those less fortunate.
Over 2 successful terms Savalas would remake the United States into a strong Social Democratic state, stressing dignity to those at home but not afraid to be muscular abroad in the name of freedom, such as professing both diplomatic and military support to the Brazilian President in the face of the 1977 military coup attempt. Widely loved abroad as "Uncle Telly", Savalas was a globe trotting President, once famously being mobbed when visiting the city of Birmingham. The clip of President Savalas hugging a local women while crooning "who loves ya baby" is still a mainstay on documentaries of this very special decade.
[9] One of the results of the Space Age was a boom in computer technology, and British entrepreneur Clive Sinclair would be a key player with his low-cost Spectrums which did well in Europe, the newly rising East Africa, and the newly open Vietnam - which is what got him the Time cover, ironically the same year the Chinese were storming the global industry. 80s America, unlike the 90s, didn't want to accept SinoWave. What saw him be chosen was not Speccies at all but what he did next: electronic vehicles. Despite early ridicule of his first device, the following Sinclair C15 proved the concept worked and, seeing the growth in China, Sinclair started a partnership with the rising Spacer tycoons who saw this as the shiny future. By 1989, electric cars were a growth market in China as well as Britain; by 1999, the Car Wars were clearly going against gasoline.
[10] Time had long since declared the 90’s the “Chinese Decade”. As America and Europe seemed to be slowing down, the high-growth, high-tech economies of Asia appeared unstoppable and China was at the head of the pack. The Shanghai and Guangzhou skylines were a Spacer’s dream of glass and chrome come to life and the Sino-Wave craze dominated global media. With the approach of the new millenium, the popular vision of the future was distinctly Chinese and no one was more synonymous with that vision than President Herbert Kweok.
The descendant of a Tang dynasty general and heir to a textile tycoon, Kweok might have lived an idle life of complacent luxury. Instead, embracing the vision of the Space Age, he would transform his inherited empire into one of China’s first leaders in the high-tech sector and expand his fortune even further. A late-life entry into politics would see him elected as President of China in the 1990 election on an Independent ticket and presiding over the nation’s great economic boom all but guaranteed his reelection in 1996.
A telegenic personality (capable of both stern dignity and comedic charm as required) and fluent in English, Kweok achieved a level of international celebrity and acclaim unseen for a politician since Savalas. Already named Person of the Year in 1997 alongside UK Prime Minister Christopher Patten (in the midst of the handover of Hong Kong), Kweok’s was probably the least surprising choice on the Time list.
Despite continuing popularity, the elderly Kweok chose not to seek a third term and instead would retire from both business and politics. As the first years of the 21st century unfolded, as the Chinese bubble burst and the world economy saw one its most major downturns in decades, many would look back on the Kweok years with a fond nostalgia. Others, with hindsight, saw an era of willful complacency, ignoring the warning signs of what was to come. Either way, no one would forget it in a hurry.
Alberto Knox
Well-known member
- Location
- Mistress Masham's Repose
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Disneylands outside the USA (1962-Present)
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
[1] Preceding 'Walt Disney World' in Florida by nearly a decade, Disney’s second park would also be its first overseas. Nara Disneyland was the product of a franchise agreement between Disney and Japanese businessman Kunizo Matsuo, who had visited Disneyland in 1955 and saw the commercial potential of such a theme park in his own country. Though the deal was nearly scuppered at the last minute by disagreements over licensing fees, the park would eventually open in 1962 to immediate success and acclaim, proving the potential in overseas expansion for the American entertainment company.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
[1] Preceding 'Walt Disney World' in Florida by nearly a decade, Disney’s second park would also be its first overseas. Nara Disneyland was the product of a franchise agreement between Disney and Japanese businessman Kunizo Matsuo, who had visited Disneyland in 1955 and saw the commercial potential of such a theme park in his own country. Though the deal was nearly scuppered at the last minute by disagreements over licensing fees, the park would eventually open in 1962 to immediate success and acclaim, proving the potential in overseas expansion for the American entertainment company.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
Last edited:
Disneylands outside the USA (1962-Present)
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
[1] Preceding 'Walt Disney World' in Florida by nearly a decade, Disney’s second park would also be its first overseas. Nara Disneyland was the product of a franchise agreement between Disney and Japanese businessman Kunizo Matsuo, who had visited Disneyland in 1955 and saw the commercial potential of such a theme park in his own country. Though the deal was nearly scuppered at the last minute by disagreements over licensing fees, the park would eventually open in 1962 to immediate success and acclaim, proving the potential in overseas expansion for the American entertainment company.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
[1] Preceding 'Walt Disney World' in Florida by nearly a decade, Disney’s second park would also be its first overseas. Nara Disneyland was the product of a franchise agreement between Disney and Japanese businessman Kunizo Matsuo, who had visited Disneyland in 1955 and saw the commercial potential of such a theme park in his own country. Though the deal was nearly scuppered at the last minute by disagreements over licensing fees, the park would eventually open in 1962 to immediate success and acclaim, proving the potential in overseas expansion for the American entertainment company.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
- Pronouns
- he/him
Disneylands outside the USA (1962-Present)
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3. Disneyland South Africa (1971-1994, 1999-Present) [3]
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3. Disneyland South Africa (1971-1994, 1999-Present) [3]
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
[1] Preceding 'Walt Disney World' in Florida by nearly a decade, Disney’s second park would also be its first overseas. Nara Disneyland was the product of a franchise agreement between Disney and Japanese businessman Kunizo Matsuo, who had visited Disneyland in 1955 and saw the commercial potential of such a theme park in his own country. Though the deal was nearly scuppered at the last minute by disagreements over licensing fees, the park would eventually open in 1962 to immediate success and acclaim, proving the potential in overseas expansion for the American entertainment company.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
[3] Look, this one can't really be blamed on head office. Well, you can blame it on their incompetence, but even Disney isn't that tone deaf.
When Disney's lawyers in the sixties were drawing up their franchise agreement with Kunizo Matsuo, other foreign investors had signalled their interest. When a South African consortium approached the company they were politely but firmly rebuffed - but then Walt died in 1966, Roy Disney was thrust into the spotlight even after he wanted to retire and got distracted by Disneyworld and Nara Disneyland and Disneyland Britain... and when all that temporarily overstretched the company's finances in 1968, one of Roy's vice-presidents signed over the rights to a South African franchise. He apparently thought that the contract was clever enough that the Americans could take the money and then stonewall the opening; but if there's one group of lawyers more cold-blooded than a film studio's, it's the ones who've worked for De Beers.
Disneyland South Africa opened in 1971 to the deep embarrassment of the Disney Corporation, who did everything they could to stop the display of their most popular properties. The segregated park became a major tourism site in Apartheid South Africa - and resorts from Anaheim to Milton Keynes became the targets of the anti-apartheid movement. The park itself was structured around a Gold Rush Land based on the late 19th century Witwatersrand, a Fantasyland which was memorable for being based more on the low countries than the fairy tale Bavaria of Anaheim, a safari park Savannah Land, and a Tomorrowland which is better known for the 1985 bombing by the uMkhonto weSizwe.
The park was closed in 1994 the moment that Disney had enough control to finally close the open wound on its image; it reopened in 1999 after negotiations with the Mandela government which wanted to rebrand the park for the Rainbow Nation Era. Savannah Land was rebranded as the Pride Lands, and is now regarded as one of the more successful Disney parks.
Funnily enough, Disneyland South Africa is also associated with the company's move in the 1980s away from the lilywhite fairytales of the mid-century era. The efforts at representation now often seem hamfisted to modern viewers, but at the time they were genuinely remarkable. This both helped mitigate (though not stop) the anti-Disney protests, but also played a role in the Disney Renaissance (from 1981's Pocahontas) which saw the company stave off commercial and creative bankruptcy.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
[3] Look, this one can't really be blamed on head office. Well, you can blame it on their incompetence, but even Disney isn't that tone deaf.
When Disney's lawyers in the sixties were drawing up their franchise agreement with Kunizo Matsuo, other foreign investors had signalled their interest. When a South African consortium approached the company they were politely but firmly rebuffed - but then Walt died in 1966, Roy Disney was thrust into the spotlight even after he wanted to retire and got distracted by Disneyworld and Nara Disneyland and Disneyland Britain... and when all that temporarily overstretched the company's finances in 1968, one of Roy's vice-presidents signed over the rights to a South African franchise. He apparently thought that the contract was clever enough that the Americans could take the money and then stonewall the opening; but if there's one group of lawyers more cold-blooded than a film studio's, it's the ones who've worked for De Beers.
Disneyland South Africa opened in 1971 to the deep embarrassment of the Disney Corporation, who did everything they could to stop the display of their most popular properties. The segregated park became a major tourism site in Apartheid South Africa - and resorts from Anaheim to Milton Keynes became the targets of the anti-apartheid movement. The park itself was structured around a Gold Rush Land based on the late 19th century Witwatersrand, a Fantasyland which was memorable for being based more on the low countries than the fairy tale Bavaria of Anaheim, a safari park Savannah Land, and a Tomorrowland which is better known for the 1985 bombing by the uMkhonto weSizwe.
The park was closed in 1994 the moment that Disney had enough control to finally close the open wound on its image; it reopened in 1999 after negotiations with the Mandela government which wanted to rebrand the park for the Rainbow Nation Era. Savannah Land was rebranded as the Pride Lands, and is now regarded as one of the more successful Disney parks.
Funnily enough, Disneyland South Africa is also associated with the company's move in the 1980s away from the lilywhite fairytales of the mid-century era. The efforts at representation now often seem hamfisted to modern viewers, but at the time they were genuinely remarkable. This both helped mitigate (though not stop) the anti-Disney protests, but also played a role in the Disney Renaissance (from 1981's Pocahontas) which saw the company stave off commercial and creative bankruptcy.
Last edited:
BRILLIANT.
Alberto Knox
Well-known member
- Location
- Mistress Masham's Repose
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Disneylands outside the USA (1962-Present)
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3. Disneyland South Africa (1971-1994, 1999-Present) [3]
4. Disneyland Barcelona (1985-Present) [4]
5.
6.
7.
8.
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3. Disneyland South Africa (1971-1994, 1999-Present) [3]
4. Disneyland Barcelona (1985-Present) [4]
5.
6.
7.
8.
[1] Preceding 'Walt Disney World' in Florida by nearly a decade, Disney’s second park would also be its first overseas. Nara Disneyland was the product of a franchise agreement between Disney and Japanese businessman Kunizo Matsuo, who had visited Disneyland in 1955 and saw the commercial potential of such a theme park in his own country. Though the deal was nearly scuppered at the last minute by disagreements over licensing fees, the park would eventually open in 1962 to immediate success and acclaim, proving the potential in overseas expansion for the American entertainment company.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
[3] Look, this one can't really be blamed on head office. Well, you can blame it on their incompetence, but even Disney isn't that tone deaf.
When Disney's lawyers in the sixties were drawing up their franchise agreement with Kunizo Matsuo, other foreign investors had signalled their interest. When a South African consortium approached the company they were politely but firmly rebuffed - but then Walt died in 1966, Roy Disney was thrust into the spotlight even after he wanted to retire and got distracted by Disneyworld and Nara Disneyland and Disneyland Britain... and when all that temporarily overstretched the company's finances in 1968, one of Roy's vice-presidents signed over the rights to a South African franchise. He apparently thought that the contract was clever enough that the Americans could take the money and then stonewall the opening; but if there's one group of lawyers more cold-blooded than a film studio's, it's the ones who've worked for De Beers.
Disneyland South Africa opened in 1971 to the deep embarrassment of the Disney Corporation, who did everything they could to stop the display of their most popular properties. The segregated park became a major tourism site in Apartheid South Africa - and resorts from Anaheim to Milton Keynes became the targets of the anti-apartheid movement. The park itself was structured around a Gold Rush Land based on the late 19th century Witwatersrand, a Fantasyland which was memorable for being based more on the low countries than the fairy tale Bavaria of Anaheim, a safari park Savannah Land, and a Tomorrowland which is better known for the 1985 bombing by the uMkhonto weSizwe.
The park was closed in 1994 the moment that Disney had enough control to finally close the open wound on its image; it reopened in 1999 after negotiations with the Mandela government which wanted to rebrand the park for the Rainbow Nation Era. Savannah Land was rebranded as the Pride Lands, and is now regarded as one of the more successful Disney parks.
Funnily enough, Disneyland South Africa is also associated with the company's move in the 1980s away from the lilywhite fairytales of the mid-century era. The efforts at representation now often seem hamfisted to modern viewers, but at the time they were genuinely remarkable. This both helped mitigate (though not stop) the anti-Disney protests, but also played a role in the Disney Renaissance (from 1981's Pocahontas) which saw the company stave off commercial and creative bankruptcy.
[4] After the South Africa fiasco, Disney was determined that their next park would be one directly under their control. However, such a project would be a significantly more expensive undertaking than the franchise model. With the company’s continuing decline through the ‘70s (and with what resources that were available being committed to the realisation of EPCOT), further plans for overseas expansion were put on hold. It would not be until the Disney Renaissance put the company back on more secure financial footing that the subject was revisited.
The new Disney leadership, eager to expand on renewed success, dusted off the long-shelved plans for a mainland Europe park. While there wasn’t the same “bidding war” as two decades prior (Disney-style theme parks now a far more common sight in Europe), there was nonetheless significant national and business interest as the site search began. While locations in both France and Italy were considered; Disney would eventually settle on building their new park on the Costa Daurada of Catalonia, Spain.
Roughly an hour south-west of Barcelona, the location was selected for the Mediterranean climate (ensuring unimpeded year-round operations) and the potential to tap into the thriving tourism industry of post-Franco Spain, which was attracting visitors from across the continent. Disney partnered with a local construction conglomerate to offset building costs, while ensuring the contracts left them with full creative control. Despite local protests from both ends of Spanish politics, Disneyland Barcelona would be completed roughly on schedule; and much effort was taken during development to accommodate the concerns of the locals, for instance bending to local cultural values regarding wine and lifting the usual ban on alcohol in the park.
The Disneyland Barcelona Resort would open in 1985, and was immediately praised for its original and innovative design. Main Street USA was reimagined in the style of Art Deco New Orleans, while the new Frontierland put a greater emphasis on the Hispanic elements of the Old West and Discoveryland, evoking the timeless works of Jules Verne and HG Wells, took the place of Tommorowland. Adventureland was given a distinctly Middle Eastern flavour, both in hopes of drawing in visitors from the adjacent market and in anticipation of the 1988 release of Disney’s Aladdin. At the centre was a Sleeping Beauty Castle that owed more to Seville’s Alcázar than Neuschwanstein.
While something of a gamble at the outset, the park would soon prove a success story for Disney, becoming Europe’s most popular theme park and doing much to restore the image of the Disney brand overseas. It would also become the first overseas park to gain an attached water park, with the 1995 opening of Port Aventura, themed as a fantastical Mediterranean harbour town.
The emergence of the new park would have an unintended side effect on class-minded British culture. From the late ‘80s onwards, asking someone which Disneyland they had gone on family holidays to (“Barcelona or Milton Keynes?”) became a not so roundabout way of gauging that person’s background. Despite the timelines not matching up, it remains received wisdom that the financial struggles of Disneyland Britain began with Barcelona pinching their more affluent potential visitors.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
[3] Look, this one can't really be blamed on head office. Well, you can blame it on their incompetence, but even Disney isn't that tone deaf.
When Disney's lawyers in the sixties were drawing up their franchise agreement with Kunizo Matsuo, other foreign investors had signalled their interest. When a South African consortium approached the company they were politely but firmly rebuffed - but then Walt died in 1966, Roy Disney was thrust into the spotlight even after he wanted to retire and got distracted by Disneyworld and Nara Disneyland and Disneyland Britain... and when all that temporarily overstretched the company's finances in 1968, one of Roy's vice-presidents signed over the rights to a South African franchise. He apparently thought that the contract was clever enough that the Americans could take the money and then stonewall the opening; but if there's one group of lawyers more cold-blooded than a film studio's, it's the ones who've worked for De Beers.
Disneyland South Africa opened in 1971 to the deep embarrassment of the Disney Corporation, who did everything they could to stop the display of their most popular properties. The segregated park became a major tourism site in Apartheid South Africa - and resorts from Anaheim to Milton Keynes became the targets of the anti-apartheid movement. The park itself was structured around a Gold Rush Land based on the late 19th century Witwatersrand, a Fantasyland which was memorable for being based more on the low countries than the fairy tale Bavaria of Anaheim, a safari park Savannah Land, and a Tomorrowland which is better known for the 1985 bombing by the uMkhonto weSizwe.
The park was closed in 1994 the moment that Disney had enough control to finally close the open wound on its image; it reopened in 1999 after negotiations with the Mandela government which wanted to rebrand the park for the Rainbow Nation Era. Savannah Land was rebranded as the Pride Lands, and is now regarded as one of the more successful Disney parks.
Funnily enough, Disneyland South Africa is also associated with the company's move in the 1980s away from the lilywhite fairytales of the mid-century era. The efforts at representation now often seem hamfisted to modern viewers, but at the time they were genuinely remarkable. This both helped mitigate (though not stop) the anti-Disney protests, but also played a role in the Disney Renaissance (from 1981's Pocahontas) which saw the company stave off commercial and creative bankruptcy.
[4] After the South Africa fiasco, Disney was determined that their next park would be one directly under their control. However, such a project would be a significantly more expensive undertaking than the franchise model. With the company’s continuing decline through the ‘70s (and with what resources that were available being committed to the realisation of EPCOT), further plans for overseas expansion were put on hold. It would not be until the Disney Renaissance put the company back on more secure financial footing that the subject was revisited.
The new Disney leadership, eager to expand on renewed success, dusted off the long-shelved plans for a mainland Europe park. While there wasn’t the same “bidding war” as two decades prior (Disney-style theme parks now a far more common sight in Europe), there was nonetheless significant national and business interest as the site search began. While locations in both France and Italy were considered; Disney would eventually settle on building their new park on the Costa Daurada of Catalonia, Spain.
Roughly an hour south-west of Barcelona, the location was selected for the Mediterranean climate (ensuring unimpeded year-round operations) and the potential to tap into the thriving tourism industry of post-Franco Spain, which was attracting visitors from across the continent. Disney partnered with a local construction conglomerate to offset building costs, while ensuring the contracts left them with full creative control. Despite local protests from both ends of Spanish politics, Disneyland Barcelona would be completed roughly on schedule; and much effort was taken during development to accommodate the concerns of the locals, for instance bending to local cultural values regarding wine and lifting the usual ban on alcohol in the park.
The Disneyland Barcelona Resort would open in 1985, and was immediately praised for its original and innovative design. Main Street USA was reimagined in the style of Art Deco New Orleans, while the new Frontierland put a greater emphasis on the Hispanic elements of the Old West and Discoveryland, evoking the timeless works of Jules Verne and HG Wells, took the place of Tommorowland. Adventureland was given a distinctly Middle Eastern flavour, both in hopes of drawing in visitors from the adjacent market and in anticipation of the 1988 release of Disney’s Aladdin. At the centre was a Sleeping Beauty Castle that owed more to Seville’s Alcázar than Neuschwanstein.
While something of a gamble at the outset, the park would soon prove a success story for Disney, becoming Europe’s most popular theme park and doing much to restore the image of the Disney brand overseas. It would also become the first overseas park to gain an attached water park, with the 1995 opening of Port Aventura, themed as a fantastical Mediterranean harbour town.
The emergence of the new park would have an unintended side effect on class-minded British culture. From the late ‘80s onwards, asking someone which Disneyland they had gone on family holidays to (“Barcelona or Milton Keynes?”) became a not so roundabout way of gauging that person’s background. Despite the timelines not matching up, it remains received wisdom that the financial struggles of Disneyland Britain began with Barcelona pinching their more affluent potential visitors.
Last edited:
Disneylands outside the USA (1962-Present)
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3. Disneyland South Africa (1971-1994, 1999-Present) [3]
4. Disneyland Barcelona (1985-Present) [4]
5. Disneyland St Petersburg (1992 - 2017) [5]
6.
7.
8.
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3. Disneyland South Africa (1971-1994, 1999-Present) [3]
4. Disneyland Barcelona (1985-Present) [4]
5. Disneyland St Petersburg (1992 - 2017) [5]
6.
7.
8.
[1] Preceding 'Walt Disney World' in Florida by nearly a decade, Disney’s second park would also be its first overseas. Nara Disneyland was the product of a franchise agreement between Disney and Japanese businessman Kunizo Matsuo, who had visited Disneyland in 1955 and saw the commercial potential of such a theme park in his own country. Though the deal was nearly scuppered at the last minute by disagreements over licensing fees, the park would eventually open in 1962 to immediate success and acclaim, proving the potential in overseas expansion for the American entertainment company.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
[3] Look, this one can't really be blamed on head office. Well, you can blame it on their incompetence, but even Disney isn't that tone deaf.
When Disney's lawyers in the sixties were drawing up their franchise agreement with Kunizo Matsuo, other foreign investors had signalled their interest. When a South African consortium approached the company they were politely but firmly rebuffed - but then Walt died in 1966, Roy Disney was thrust into the spotlight even after he wanted to retire and got distracted by Disneyworld and Nara Disneyland and Disneyland Britain... and when all that temporarily overstretched the company's finances in 1968, one of Roy's vice-presidents signed over the rights to a South African franchise. He apparently thought that the contract was clever enough that the Americans could take the money and then stonewall the opening; but if there's one group of lawyers more cold-blooded than a film studio's, it's the ones who've worked for De Beers.
Disneyland South Africa opened in 1971 to the deep embarrassment of the Disney Corporation, who did everything they could to stop the display of their most popular properties. The segregated park became a major tourism site in Apartheid South Africa - and resorts from Anaheim to Milton Keynes became the targets of the anti-apartheid movement. The park itself was structured around a Gold Rush Land based on the late 19th century Witwatersrand, a Fantasyland which was memorable for being based more on the low countries than the fairy tale Bavaria of Anaheim, a safari park Savannah Land, and a Tomorrowland which is better known for the 1985 bombing by the uMkhonto weSizwe.
The park was closed in 1994 the moment that Disney had enough control to finally close the open wound on its image; it reopened in 1999 after negotiations with the Mandela government which wanted to rebrand the park for the Rainbow Nation Era. Savannah Land was rebranded as the Pride Lands, and is now regarded as one of the more successful Disney parks.
Funnily enough, Disneyland South Africa is also associated with the company's move in the 1980s away from the lilywhite fairytales of the mid-century era. The efforts at representation now often seem hamfisted to modern viewers, but at the time they were genuinely remarkable. This both helped mitigate (though not stop) the anti-Disney protests, but also played a role in the Disney Renaissance (from 1981's Pocahontas) which saw the company stave off commercial and creative bankruptcy.
[4] After the South Africa fiasco, Disney was determined that their next park would be one directly under their control. However, such a project would be a significantly more expensive undertaking than the franchise model. With the company’s continuing decline through the ‘70s (and with what resources that were available being committed to the realisation of EPCOT), further plans for overseas expansion were put on hold. It would not be until the Disney Renaissance put the company back on more secure financial footing that the subject was revisited.
The new Disney leadership, eager to expand on renewed success, dusted off the long-shelved plans for a mainland Europe park. While there wasn’t the same “bidding war” as two decades prior (Disney-style theme parks now a far more common sight in Europe), there was nonetheless significant national and business interest as the site search began. While locations in both France and Italy were considered; Disney would eventually settle on building their new park on the Costa Daurada of Catalonia, Spain.
Roughly an hour south-west of Barcelona, the location was selected for the Mediterranean climate (ensuring unimpeded year-round operations) and the potential to tap into the thriving tourism industry of post-Franco Spain, which was attracting visitors from across the continent. Disney partnered with a local construction conglomerate to offset building costs, while ensuring the contracts left them with full creative control. Despite local protests from both ends of Spanish politics, Disneyland Barcelona would be completed roughly on schedule; and much effort was taken during development to accommodate the concerns of the locals, for instance bending to local cultural values regarding wine and lifting the usual ban on alcohol in the park.
The Disneyland Barcelona Resort would open in 1985, and was immediately praised for its original and innovative design. Main Street USA was reimagined in the style of Art Deco New Orleans, while the new Frontierland put a greater emphasis on the Hispanic elements of the Old West and Discoveryland, evoking the timeless works of Jules Verne and HG Wells, took the place of Tommorowland. Adventureland was given a distinctly Middle Eastern flavour, both in hopes of drawing in visitors from the adjacent market and in anticipation of the 1988 release of Disney’s Aladdin. At the centre was a Sleeping Beauty Castle that owed more to Seville’s Alcázar than Neuschwanstein.
While something of a gamble at the outset, the park would soon prove a success story for Disney, becoming Europe’s most popular theme park and doing much to restore the image of the Disney brand overseas. It would also become the first overseas park to gain an attached water park, with the 1995 opening of Port Aventura, themed as a fantastical Mediterranean harbour town.
The emergence of the new park would have an unintended side effect on class-minded British culture. From the late ‘80s onwards, asking someone which Disneyland they had gone on family holidays to (“Barcelona or Milton Keynes?”) became a not so roundabout way of gauging that person’s background. Despite the timelines not matching up, it remains received wisdom that the financial struggles of Disneyland Britain began with Barcelona pinching their more affluent potential visitors.
[5] The end of the Cold War was seen as an opportunity by Disney (who started work even before the USSR ended) and a sign of the new era for Russia: opening day saw top people in government and the US Embassy bringing their families. Allegations of graft and suspicious ties would dog both the park and Disney throughout the 1990s, with a major crackdown and multiple arrests in 2001 embarrassing the company, but the park was still a huge moneyspinner. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, the Baltics, and others made the journey to meet Mickey.
Frontierland, Fantasyland, and the recent Roger's Toon Town were replicated from California, while Adventureland was modelled on Barcelona and Tomorrowland was altered into Spaceland: not only about the future and the recent film High Score, but about the past glories of the Soviet programme. Spaceland was expanded in 1995 to tie into Treasure Planet.
Revenue gently declined as more people in Eastern Europe could visit sunnier Barcelona, but it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014 that ruined it. Ukrainian and Baltic tourists dropped away, a sudden shock that caused the park to go bankrupt on 2015. Unable to get out of a spiral, it closed in 2017. Plans to convert the land into a new homegrown attraction stalled during covid.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
[3] Look, this one can't really be blamed on head office. Well, you can blame it on their incompetence, but even Disney isn't that tone deaf.
When Disney's lawyers in the sixties were drawing up their franchise agreement with Kunizo Matsuo, other foreign investors had signalled their interest. When a South African consortium approached the company they were politely but firmly rebuffed - but then Walt died in 1966, Roy Disney was thrust into the spotlight even after he wanted to retire and got distracted by Disneyworld and Nara Disneyland and Disneyland Britain... and when all that temporarily overstretched the company's finances in 1968, one of Roy's vice-presidents signed over the rights to a South African franchise. He apparently thought that the contract was clever enough that the Americans could take the money and then stonewall the opening; but if there's one group of lawyers more cold-blooded than a film studio's, it's the ones who've worked for De Beers.
Disneyland South Africa opened in 1971 to the deep embarrassment of the Disney Corporation, who did everything they could to stop the display of their most popular properties. The segregated park became a major tourism site in Apartheid South Africa - and resorts from Anaheim to Milton Keynes became the targets of the anti-apartheid movement. The park itself was structured around a Gold Rush Land based on the late 19th century Witwatersrand, a Fantasyland which was memorable for being based more on the low countries than the fairy tale Bavaria of Anaheim, a safari park Savannah Land, and a Tomorrowland which is better known for the 1985 bombing by the uMkhonto weSizwe.
The park was closed in 1994 the moment that Disney had enough control to finally close the open wound on its image; it reopened in 1999 after negotiations with the Mandela government which wanted to rebrand the park for the Rainbow Nation Era. Savannah Land was rebranded as the Pride Lands, and is now regarded as one of the more successful Disney parks.
Funnily enough, Disneyland South Africa is also associated with the company's move in the 1980s away from the lilywhite fairytales of the mid-century era. The efforts at representation now often seem hamfisted to modern viewers, but at the time they were genuinely remarkable. This both helped mitigate (though not stop) the anti-Disney protests, but also played a role in the Disney Renaissance (from 1981's Pocahontas) which saw the company stave off commercial and creative bankruptcy.
[4] After the South Africa fiasco, Disney was determined that their next park would be one directly under their control. However, such a project would be a significantly more expensive undertaking than the franchise model. With the company’s continuing decline through the ‘70s (and with what resources that were available being committed to the realisation of EPCOT), further plans for overseas expansion were put on hold. It would not be until the Disney Renaissance put the company back on more secure financial footing that the subject was revisited.
The new Disney leadership, eager to expand on renewed success, dusted off the long-shelved plans for a mainland Europe park. While there wasn’t the same “bidding war” as two decades prior (Disney-style theme parks now a far more common sight in Europe), there was nonetheless significant national and business interest as the site search began. While locations in both France and Italy were considered; Disney would eventually settle on building their new park on the Costa Daurada of Catalonia, Spain.
Roughly an hour south-west of Barcelona, the location was selected for the Mediterranean climate (ensuring unimpeded year-round operations) and the potential to tap into the thriving tourism industry of post-Franco Spain, which was attracting visitors from across the continent. Disney partnered with a local construction conglomerate to offset building costs, while ensuring the contracts left them with full creative control. Despite local protests from both ends of Spanish politics, Disneyland Barcelona would be completed roughly on schedule; and much effort was taken during development to accommodate the concerns of the locals, for instance bending to local cultural values regarding wine and lifting the usual ban on alcohol in the park.
The Disneyland Barcelona Resort would open in 1985, and was immediately praised for its original and innovative design. Main Street USA was reimagined in the style of Art Deco New Orleans, while the new Frontierland put a greater emphasis on the Hispanic elements of the Old West and Discoveryland, evoking the timeless works of Jules Verne and HG Wells, took the place of Tommorowland. Adventureland was given a distinctly Middle Eastern flavour, both in hopes of drawing in visitors from the adjacent market and in anticipation of the 1988 release of Disney’s Aladdin. At the centre was a Sleeping Beauty Castle that owed more to Seville’s Alcázar than Neuschwanstein.
While something of a gamble at the outset, the park would soon prove a success story for Disney, becoming Europe’s most popular theme park and doing much to restore the image of the Disney brand overseas. It would also become the first overseas park to gain an attached water park, with the 1995 opening of Port Aventura, themed as a fantastical Mediterranean harbour town.
The emergence of the new park would have an unintended side effect on class-minded British culture. From the late ‘80s onwards, asking someone which Disneyland they had gone on family holidays to (“Barcelona or Milton Keynes?”) became a not so roundabout way of gauging that person’s background. Despite the timelines not matching up, it remains received wisdom that the financial struggles of Disneyland Britain began with Barcelona pinching their more affluent potential visitors.
[5] The end of the Cold War was seen as an opportunity by Disney (who started work even before the USSR ended) and a sign of the new era for Russia: opening day saw top people in government and the US Embassy bringing their families. Allegations of graft and suspicious ties would dog both the park and Disney throughout the 1990s, with a major crackdown and multiple arrests in 2001 embarrassing the company, but the park was still a huge moneyspinner. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, the Baltics, and others made the journey to meet Mickey.
Frontierland, Fantasyland, and the recent Roger's Toon Town were replicated from California, while Adventureland was modelled on Barcelona and Tomorrowland was altered into Spaceland: not only about the future and the recent film High Score, but about the past glories of the Soviet programme. Spaceland was expanded in 1995 to tie into Treasure Planet.
Revenue gently declined as more people in Eastern Europe could visit sunnier Barcelona, but it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014 that ruined it. Ukrainian and Baltic tourists dropped away, a sudden shock that caused the park to go bankrupt on 2015. Unable to get out of a spiral, it closed in 2017. Plans to convert the land into a new homegrown attraction stalled during covid.
Disneylands outside the USA (1962-Present)
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3. Disneyland South Africa (1971-1994, 1999-Present) [3]
4. Disneyland Barcelona (1985-Present) [4]
5. Disneyland St Petersburg (1992 - 2017) [5]
6. Millennium Disneyland (1999-present) [6]
7.
8.
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3. Disneyland South Africa (1971-1994, 1999-Present) [3]
4. Disneyland Barcelona (1985-Present) [4]
5. Disneyland St Petersburg (1992 - 2017) [5]
6. Millennium Disneyland (1999-present) [6]
7.
8.
[1] Preceding 'Walt Disney World' in Florida by nearly a decade, Disney’s second park would also be its first overseas. Nara Disneyland was the product of a franchise agreement between Disney and Japanese businessman Kunizo Matsuo, who had visited Disneyland in 1955 and saw the commercial potential of such a theme park in his own country. Though the deal was nearly scuppered at the last minute by disagreements over licensing fees, the park would eventually open in 1962 to immediate success and acclaim, proving the potential in overseas expansion for the American entertainment company.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
[3] Look, this one can't really be blamed on head office. Well, you can blame it on their incompetence, but even Disney isn't that tone deaf.
When Disney's lawyers in the sixties were drawing up their franchise agreement with Kunizo Matsuo, other foreign investors had signalled their interest. When a South African consortium approached the company they were politely but firmly rebuffed - but then Walt died in 1966, Roy Disney was thrust into the spotlight even after he wanted to retire and got distracted by Disneyworld and Nara Disneyland and Disneyland Britain... and when all that temporarily overstretched the company's finances in 1968, one of Roy's vice-presidents signed over the rights to a South African franchise. He apparently thought that the contract was clever enough that the Americans could take the money and then stonewall the opening; but if there's one group of lawyers more cold-blooded than a film studio's, it's the ones who've worked for De Beers.
Disneyland South Africa opened in 1971 to the deep embarrassment of the Disney Corporation, who did everything they could to stop the display of their most popular properties. The segregated park became a major tourism site in Apartheid South Africa - and resorts from Anaheim to Milton Keynes became the targets of the anti-apartheid movement. The park itself was structured around a Gold Rush Land based on the late 19th century Witwatersrand, a Fantasyland which was memorable for being based more on the low countries than the fairy tale Bavaria of Anaheim, a safari park Savannah Land, and a Tomorrowland which is better known for the 1985 bombing by the uMkhonto weSizwe.
The park was closed in 1994 the moment that Disney had enough control to finally close the open wound on its image; it reopened in 1999 after negotiations with the Mandela government which wanted to rebrand the park for the Rainbow Nation Era. Savannah Land was rebranded as the Pride Lands, and is now regarded as one of the more successful Disney parks.
Funnily enough, Disneyland South Africa is also associated with the company's move in the 1980s away from the lilywhite fairytales of the mid-century era. The efforts at representation now often seem hamfisted to modern viewers, but at the time they were genuinely remarkable. This both helped mitigate (though not stop) the anti-Disney protests, but also played a role in the Disney Renaissance (from 1981's Pocahontas) which saw the company stave off commercial and creative bankruptcy.
[4] After the South Africa fiasco, Disney was determined that their next park would be one directly under their control. However, such a project would be a significantly more expensive undertaking than the franchise model. With the company’s continuing decline through the ‘70s (and with what resources that were available being committed to the realisation of EPCOT), further plans for overseas expansion were put on hold. It would not be until the Disney Renaissance put the company back on more secure financial footing that the subject was revisited.
The new Disney leadership, eager to expand on renewed success, dusted off the long-shelved plans for a mainland Europe park. While there wasn’t the same “bidding war” as two decades prior (Disney-style theme parks now a far more common sight in Europe), there was nonetheless significant national and business interest as the site search began. While locations in both France and Italy were considered; Disney would eventually settle on building their new park on the Costa Daurada of Catalonia, Spain.
Roughly an hour south-west of Barcelona, the location was selected for the Mediterranean climate (ensuring unimpeded year-round operations) and the potential to tap into the thriving tourism industry of post-Franco Spain, which was attracting visitors from across the continent. Disney partnered with a local construction conglomerate to offset building costs, while ensuring the contracts left them with full creative control. Despite local protests from both ends of Spanish politics, Disneyland Barcelona would be completed roughly on schedule; and much effort was taken during development to accommodate the concerns of the locals, for instance bending to local cultural values regarding wine and lifting the usual ban on alcohol in the park.
The Disneyland Barcelona Resort would open in 1985, and was immediately praised for its original and innovative design. Main Street USA was reimagined in the style of Art Deco New Orleans, while the new Frontierland put a greater emphasis on the Hispanic elements of the Old West and Discoveryland, evoking the timeless works of Jules Verne and HG Wells, took the place of Tommorowland. Adventureland was given a distinctly Middle Eastern flavour, both in hopes of drawing in visitors from the adjacent market and in anticipation of the 1988 release of Disney’s Aladdin. At the centre was a Sleeping Beauty Castle that owed more to Seville’s Alcázar than Neuschwanstein.
While something of a gamble at the outset, the park would soon prove a success story for Disney, becoming Europe’s most popular theme park and doing much to restore the image of the Disney brand overseas. It would also become the first overseas park to gain an attached water park, with the 1995 opening of Port Aventura, themed as a fantastical Mediterranean harbour town.
The emergence of the new park would have an unintended side effect on class-minded British culture. From the late ‘80s onwards, asking someone which Disneyland they had gone on family holidays to (“Barcelona or Milton Keynes?”) became a not so roundabout way of gauging that person’s background. Despite the timelines not matching up, it remains received wisdom that the financial struggles of Disneyland Britain began with Barcelona pinching their more affluent potential visitors.
[5] The end of the Cold War was seen as an opportunity by Disney (who started work even before the USSR ended) and a sign of the new era for Russia: opening day saw top people in government and the US Embassy bringing their families. Allegations of graft and suspicious ties would dog both the park and Disney throughout the 1990s, with a major crackdown and multiple arrests in 2001 embarrassing the company, but the park was still a huge moneyspinner. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, the Baltics, and others made the journey to meet Mickey.
Frontierland, Fantasyland, and the recent Roger's Toon Town were replicated from California, while Adventureland was modelled on Barcelona and Tomorrowland was altered into Spaceland: not only about the future and the recent film High Score, but about the past glories of the Soviet programme. Spaceland was expanded in 1995 to tie into Treasure Planet.
Revenue gently declined as more people in Eastern Europe could visit sunnier Barcelona, but it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014 that ruined it. Ukrainian and Baltic tourists dropped away, a sudden shock that caused the park to go bankrupt on 2015. Unable to get out of a spiral, it closed in 2017. Plans to convert the land into a new homegrown attraction stalled during covid.
[6] Millennium Disneyland was the agglomeration of several ideas that had been percolating in the Disney ecosystem. Firstly, the idea for a revitalization of Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom was in the works for years. There were also many proposals to revive Walt Disney's original ideas for EPCOT. However, expansion of domestic parks was sidelined in favor of the new Disney's America park in Virginia. Secondly, in the wake of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Disney wanted a big science fiction franchise of its own, and found this in adapations of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Imagineers began pitching ideas for Barsoom rides and attractions which soon spiralled into a whole park. And given that director George Miller had filmed in his native Australia, utilizing its unique landscape and geography, the idea for a completely new resort in Australia came about. Additionally, the success of Spaceland in Russia encouraged ideas for similar revamps in the United States.
This became Millennium Disneyland, seizing upon the Y2K craze infecting pop culture throughout the 90s. Each of the themed lands at Disney parks was to be given a space theme or sci-fi twist. Work on the newest Disneyland began hastily with the intention of completing the park by 2000. The development was plagued by construction accidents, ever-changing plans, and corporate upheaval on Disney's board downstream of Russian events, and grand promises had to be reduced to opening just one main section by the new millennium, Futuropolis. Still, there was great excitement when the park opened its doors in December of 1999, right at the start of the Australian summer.
Located outside Melbourne, visitors came from all of Australia's big cities, but Disney was soon forced to revise its estimates upon realizing that the country-continent was simply too remote to attract as many guests from southeast Asia as hoped. Nontheless, the opening of the planned expansions increase revenue from Australia, and the Barsoom land became one of Disney's biggest hits, taking the place of the usual Frontierland. Great Outback combined the other parts of the usual Frontierland with Adventureland, giving it a more Australian flair. Although Millennium Disneyland became a successful local attraction, it remains the second smallest park after Disneyland Britain. It is perhaps the most experimental of any Disneyland, with the least fidelity to the typical features of the parks.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
[3] Look, this one can't really be blamed on head office. Well, you can blame it on their incompetence, but even Disney isn't that tone deaf.
When Disney's lawyers in the sixties were drawing up their franchise agreement with Kunizo Matsuo, other foreign investors had signalled their interest. When a South African consortium approached the company they were politely but firmly rebuffed - but then Walt died in 1966, Roy Disney was thrust into the spotlight even after he wanted to retire and got distracted by Disneyworld and Nara Disneyland and Disneyland Britain... and when all that temporarily overstretched the company's finances in 1968, one of Roy's vice-presidents signed over the rights to a South African franchise. He apparently thought that the contract was clever enough that the Americans could take the money and then stonewall the opening; but if there's one group of lawyers more cold-blooded than a film studio's, it's the ones who've worked for De Beers.
Disneyland South Africa opened in 1971 to the deep embarrassment of the Disney Corporation, who did everything they could to stop the display of their most popular properties. The segregated park became a major tourism site in Apartheid South Africa - and resorts from Anaheim to Milton Keynes became the targets of the anti-apartheid movement. The park itself was structured around a Gold Rush Land based on the late 19th century Witwatersrand, a Fantasyland which was memorable for being based more on the low countries than the fairy tale Bavaria of Anaheim, a safari park Savannah Land, and a Tomorrowland which is better known for the 1985 bombing by the uMkhonto weSizwe.
The park was closed in 1994 the moment that Disney had enough control to finally close the open wound on its image; it reopened in 1999 after negotiations with the Mandela government which wanted to rebrand the park for the Rainbow Nation Era. Savannah Land was rebranded as the Pride Lands, and is now regarded as one of the more successful Disney parks.
Funnily enough, Disneyland South Africa is also associated with the company's move in the 1980s away from the lilywhite fairytales of the mid-century era. The efforts at representation now often seem hamfisted to modern viewers, but at the time they were genuinely remarkable. This both helped mitigate (though not stop) the anti-Disney protests, but also played a role in the Disney Renaissance (from 1981's Pocahontas) which saw the company stave off commercial and creative bankruptcy.
[4] After the South Africa fiasco, Disney was determined that their next park would be one directly under their control. However, such a project would be a significantly more expensive undertaking than the franchise model. With the company’s continuing decline through the ‘70s (and with what resources that were available being committed to the realisation of EPCOT), further plans for overseas expansion were put on hold. It would not be until the Disney Renaissance put the company back on more secure financial footing that the subject was revisited.
The new Disney leadership, eager to expand on renewed success, dusted off the long-shelved plans for a mainland Europe park. While there wasn’t the same “bidding war” as two decades prior (Disney-style theme parks now a far more common sight in Europe), there was nonetheless significant national and business interest as the site search began. While locations in both France and Italy were considered; Disney would eventually settle on building their new park on the Costa Daurada of Catalonia, Spain.
Roughly an hour south-west of Barcelona, the location was selected for the Mediterranean climate (ensuring unimpeded year-round operations) and the potential to tap into the thriving tourism industry of post-Franco Spain, which was attracting visitors from across the continent. Disney partnered with a local construction conglomerate to offset building costs, while ensuring the contracts left them with full creative control. Despite local protests from both ends of Spanish politics, Disneyland Barcelona would be completed roughly on schedule; and much effort was taken during development to accommodate the concerns of the locals, for instance bending to local cultural values regarding wine and lifting the usual ban on alcohol in the park.
The Disneyland Barcelona Resort would open in 1985, and was immediately praised for its original and innovative design. Main Street USA was reimagined in the style of Art Deco New Orleans, while the new Frontierland put a greater emphasis on the Hispanic elements of the Old West and Discoveryland, evoking the timeless works of Jules Verne and HG Wells, took the place of Tommorowland. Adventureland was given a distinctly Middle Eastern flavour, both in hopes of drawing in visitors from the adjacent market and in anticipation of the 1988 release of Disney’s Aladdin. At the centre was a Sleeping Beauty Castle that owed more to Seville’s Alcázar than Neuschwanstein.
While something of a gamble at the outset, the park would soon prove a success story for Disney, becoming Europe’s most popular theme park and doing much to restore the image of the Disney brand overseas. It would also become the first overseas park to gain an attached water park, with the 1995 opening of Port Aventura, themed as a fantastical Mediterranean harbour town.
The emergence of the new park would have an unintended side effect on class-minded British culture. From the late ‘80s onwards, asking someone which Disneyland they had gone on family holidays to (“Barcelona or Milton Keynes?”) became a not so roundabout way of gauging that person’s background. Despite the timelines not matching up, it remains received wisdom that the financial struggles of Disneyland Britain began with Barcelona pinching their more affluent potential visitors.
[5] The end of the Cold War was seen as an opportunity by Disney (who started work even before the USSR ended) and a sign of the new era for Russia: opening day saw top people in government and the US Embassy bringing their families. Allegations of graft and suspicious ties would dog both the park and Disney throughout the 1990s, with a major crackdown and multiple arrests in 2001 embarrassing the company, but the park was still a huge moneyspinner. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, the Baltics, and others made the journey to meet Mickey.
Frontierland, Fantasyland, and the recent Roger's Toon Town were replicated from California, while Adventureland was modelled on Barcelona and Tomorrowland was altered into Spaceland: not only about the future and the recent film High Score, but about the past glories of the Soviet programme. Spaceland was expanded in 1995 to tie into Treasure Planet.
Revenue gently declined as more people in Eastern Europe could visit sunnier Barcelona, but it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014 that ruined it. Ukrainian and Baltic tourists dropped away, a sudden shock that caused the park to go bankrupt on 2015. Unable to get out of a spiral, it closed in 2017. Plans to convert the land into a new homegrown attraction stalled during covid.
[6] Millennium Disneyland was the agglomeration of several ideas that had been percolating in the Disney ecosystem. Firstly, the idea for a revitalization of Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom was in the works for years. There were also many proposals to revive Walt Disney's original ideas for EPCOT. However, expansion of domestic parks was sidelined in favor of the new Disney's America park in Virginia. Secondly, in the wake of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Disney wanted a big science fiction franchise of its own, and found this in adapations of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Imagineers began pitching ideas for Barsoom rides and attractions which soon spiralled into a whole park. And given that director George Miller had filmed in his native Australia, utilizing its unique landscape and geography, the idea for a completely new resort in Australia came about. Additionally, the success of Spaceland in Russia encouraged ideas for similar revamps in the United States.
This became Millennium Disneyland, seizing upon the Y2K craze infecting pop culture throughout the 90s. Each of the themed lands at Disney parks was to be given a space theme or sci-fi twist. Work on the newest Disneyland began hastily with the intention of completing the park by 2000. The development was plagued by construction accidents, ever-changing plans, and corporate upheaval on Disney's board downstream of Russian events, and grand promises had to be reduced to opening just one main section by the new millennium, Futuropolis. Still, there was great excitement when the park opened its doors in December of 1999, right at the start of the Australian summer.
Located outside Melbourne, visitors came from all of Australia's big cities, but Disney was soon forced to revise its estimates upon realizing that the country-continent was simply too remote to attract as many guests from southeast Asia as hoped. Nontheless, the opening of the planned expansions increase revenue from Australia, and the Barsoom land became one of Disney's biggest hits, taking the place of the usual Frontierland. Great Outback combined the other parts of the usual Frontierland with Adventureland, giving it a more Australian flair. Although Millennium Disneyland became a successful local attraction, it remains the second smallest park after Disneyland Britain. It is perhaps the most experimental of any Disneyland, with the least fidelity to the typical features of the parks.
Alberto Knox
Well-known member
- Location
- Mistress Masham's Repose
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Disneylands outside the USA (1962-Present)
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3. Disneyland South Africa (1971-1994, 1999-Present) [3]
4. Disneyland Barcelona (1985-Present) [4]
5. Disneyland St Petersburg (1992 - 2017) [5]
6. Millennium Disneyland (1999-present) [6]
7. Beijing Disneyland (2009-Present) [7]
8.
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3. Disneyland South Africa (1971-1994, 1999-Present) [3]
4. Disneyland Barcelona (1985-Present) [4]
5. Disneyland St Petersburg (1992 - 2017) [5]
6. Millennium Disneyland (1999-present) [6]
7. Beijing Disneyland (2009-Present) [7]
8.
[1] Preceding 'Walt Disney World' in Florida by nearly a decade, Disney’s second park would also be its first overseas. Nara Disneyland was the product of a franchise agreement between Disney and Japanese businessman Kunizo Matsuo, who had visited Disneyland in 1955 and saw the commercial potential of such a theme park in his own country. Though the deal was nearly scuppered at the last minute by disagreements over licensing fees, the park would eventually open in 1962 to immediate success and acclaim, proving the potential in overseas expansion for the American entertainment company.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
[3] Look, this one can't really be blamed on head office. Well, you can blame it on their incompetence, but even Disney isn't that tone deaf.
When Disney's lawyers in the sixties were drawing up their franchise agreement with Kunizo Matsuo, other foreign investors had signalled their interest. When a South African consortium approached the company they were politely but firmly rebuffed - but then Walt died in 1966, Roy Disney was thrust into the spotlight even after he wanted to retire and got distracted by Disneyworld and Nara Disneyland and Disneyland Britain... and when all that temporarily overstretched the company's finances in 1968, one of Roy's vice-presidents signed over the rights to a South African franchise. He apparently thought that the contract was clever enough that the Americans could take the money and then stonewall the opening; but if there's one group of lawyers more cold-blooded than a film studio's, it's the ones who've worked for De Beers.
Disneyland South Africa opened in 1971 to the deep embarrassment of the Disney Corporation, who did everything they could to stop the display of their most popular properties. The segregated park became a major tourism site in Apartheid South Africa - and resorts from Anaheim to Milton Keynes became the targets of the anti-apartheid movement. The park itself was structured around a Gold Rush Land based on the late 19th century Witwatersrand, a Fantasyland which was memorable for being based more on the low countries than the fairy tale Bavaria of Anaheim, a safari park Savannah Land, and a Tomorrowland which is better known for the 1985 bombing by the uMkhonto weSizwe.
The park was closed in 1994 the moment that Disney had enough control to finally close the open wound on its image; it reopened in 1999 after negotiations with the Mandela government which wanted to rebrand the park for the Rainbow Nation Era. Savannah Land was rebranded as the Pride Lands, and is now regarded as one of the more successful Disney parks.
Funnily enough, Disneyland South Africa is also associated with the company's move in the 1980s away from the lilywhite fairytales of the mid-century era. The efforts at representation now often seem hamfisted to modern viewers, but at the time they were genuinely remarkable. This both helped mitigate (though not stop) the anti-Disney protests, but also played a role in the Disney Renaissance (from 1981's Pocahontas) which saw the company stave off commercial and creative bankruptcy.
[4] After the South Africa fiasco, Disney was determined that their next park would be one directly under their control. However, such a project would be a significantly more expensive undertaking than the franchise model. With the company’s continuing decline through the ‘70s (and with what resources that were available being committed to the realisation of EPCOT), further plans for overseas expansion were put on hold. It would not be until the Disney Renaissance put the company back on more secure financial footing that the subject was revisited.
The new Disney leadership, eager to expand on renewed success, dusted off the long-shelved plans for a mainland Europe park. While there wasn’t the same “bidding war” as two decades prior (Disney-style theme parks now a far more common sight in Europe), there was nonetheless significant national and business interest as the site search began. While locations in both France and Italy were considered; Disney would eventually settle on building their new park on the Costa Daurada of Catalonia, Spain.
Roughly an hour south-west of Barcelona, the location was selected for the Mediterranean climate (ensuring unimpeded year-round operations) and the potential to tap into the thriving tourism industry of post-Franco Spain, which was attracting visitors from across the continent. Disney partnered with a local construction conglomerate to offset building costs, while ensuring the contracts left them with full creative control. Despite local protests from both ends of Spanish politics, Disneyland Barcelona would be completed roughly on schedule; and much effort was taken during development to accommodate the concerns of the locals, for instance bending to local cultural values regarding wine and lifting the usual ban on alcohol in the park.
The Disneyland Barcelona Resort would open in 1985, and was immediately praised for its original and innovative design. Main Street USA was reimagined in the style of Art Deco New Orleans, while the new Frontierland put a greater emphasis on the Hispanic elements of the Old West and Discoveryland, evoking the timeless works of Jules Verne and HG Wells, took the place of Tommorowland. Adventureland was given a distinctly Middle Eastern flavour, both in hopes of drawing in visitors from the adjacent market and in anticipation of the 1988 release of Disney’s Aladdin. At the centre was a Sleeping Beauty Castle that owed more to Seville’s Alcázar than Neuschwanstein.
While something of a gamble at the outset, the park would soon prove a success story for Disney, becoming Europe’s most popular theme park and doing much to restore the image of the Disney brand overseas. It would also become the first overseas park to gain an attached water park, with the 1995 opening of Port Aventura, themed as a fantastical Mediterranean harbour town.
The emergence of the new park would have an unintended side effect on class-minded British culture. From the late ‘80s onwards, asking someone which Disneyland they had gone on family holidays to (“Barcelona or Milton Keynes?”) became a not so roundabout way of gauging that person’s background. Despite the timelines not matching up, it remains received wisdom that the financial struggles of Disneyland Britain began with Barcelona pinching their more affluent potential visitors.
[5] The end of the Cold War was seen as an opportunity by Disney (who started work even before the USSR ended) and a sign of the new era for Russia: opening day saw top people in government and the US Embassy bringing their families. Allegations of graft and suspicious ties would dog both the park and Disney throughout the 1990s, with a major crackdown and multiple arrests in 2001 embarrassing the company, but the park was still a huge moneyspinner. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, the Baltics, and others made the journey to meet Mickey.
Frontierland, Fantasyland, and the recent Roger's Toon Town were replicated from California, while Adventureland was modelled on Barcelona and Tomorrowland was altered into Spaceland: not only about the future and the recent film High Score, but about the past glories of the Soviet programme. Spaceland was expanded in 1995 to tie into Treasure Planet.
Revenue gently declined as more people in Eastern Europe could visit sunnier Barcelona, but it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014 that ruined it. Ukrainian and Baltic tourists dropped away, a sudden shock that caused the park to go bankrupt on 2015. Unable to get out of a spiral, it closed in 2017. Plans to convert the land into a new homegrown attraction stalled during covid.
[6] Millennium Disneyland was the agglomeration of several ideas that had been percolating in the Disney ecosystem. Firstly, the idea for a revitalization of Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom was in the works for years. There were also many proposals to revive Walt Disney's original ideas for EPCOT. However, expansion of domestic parks was sidelined in favor of the new Disney's America park in Virginia. Secondly, in the wake of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Disney wanted a big science fiction franchise of its own, and found this in adapations of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Imagineers began pitching ideas for Barsoom rides and attractions which soon spiralled into a whole park. And given that director George Miller had filmed in his native Australia, utilizing its unique landscape and geography, the idea for a completely new resort in Australia came about. Additionally, the success of Spaceland in Russia encouraged ideas for similar revamps in the United States.
This became Millennium Disneyland, seizing upon the Y2K craze infecting pop culture throughout the 90s. Each of the themed lands at Disney parks was to be given a space theme or sci-fi twist. Work on the newest Disneyland began hastily with the intention of completing the park by 2000. The development was plagued by construction accidents, ever-changing plans, and corporate upheaval on Disney's board downstream of Russian events, and grand promises had to be reduced to opening just one main section by the new millennium, Futuropolis. Still, there was great excitement when the park opened its doors in December of 1999, right at the start of the Australian summer.
Located outside Melbourne, visitors came from all of Australia's big cities, but Disney was soon forced to revise its estimates upon realizing that the country-continent was simply too remote to attract as many guests from southeast Asia as hoped. Nontheless, the opening of the planned expansions increase revenue from Australia, and the Barsoom land became one of Disney's biggest hits, taking the place of the usual Frontierland. Great Outback combined the other parts of the usual Frontierland with Adventureland, giving it a more Australian flair. Although Millennium Disneyland became a successful local attraction, it remains the second smallest park after Disneyland Britain. It is perhaps the most experimental of any Disneyland, with the least fidelity to the typical features of the parks.
[7] With lessons learned from Millennium, Disney’s first overseas expansion of the 21st Century sought to expand their presence in Asia and establish a foothold in the Chinese market. After considering sites in Shanghai and recently repatriated Hong Kong; Disney chose to begin construction of their new park outside Beijing. This was due in large part to a tempting financial package and encouragement from the national government; who saw the project as complementing the capital’s much anticipated hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Plans were made to open in summer of 2007, in an effort to further raise the city’s international profile in the year leading up to the opening ceremonies.
Development and construction were plagued by bad luck and mishaps. Plans to theme Adventureland heavily on Pixer’s highly successful 2001 CGI film Monkey (based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West) were scuppered when Pixer chose to end their distribution agreement with Disney in 2006. Rides and attractions already under construction had to be heavily altered or scrapped entirely, leading to significant delays. Efforts to save time resulted in a hasty redesign into what was essentially a replication of Anaheim with some additional theming from the 2003 animated Tarzan. Attempts to speed construction along resulted in increased industrial accidents and even some fatalities that garnered media attention; placing a dark cloud over the whole project.
Beijing Disneyland would ultimately open in the late spring of 2009 (missing the Olympics window entirely) to mixed reviews. While Spaceland (evoking China’s own ongoing space programme) proved a hit, the decision to include a Barsoom Land was regarded as an error, the films proving less popular in the Chinese market. Responses to Adventureland proved outright hostile, both due to the disappointment over the much-touted original plans and a sense of “colonialism and cultural imperialism” in the realised design. Together with the global dip in tourism following the Great Recession, it seemed as if events conspired to keep attendance numbers low. 2011 would see Disney fighting off rumours of imminent bankruptcy for the new park.
While Beijing Disneyland would eventually stablise (following significant renovation in 2013), its underperformance in the early years proved reflective of Disney’s downturn in the late ‘00s/early ‘10s. As Pixer went on to continued success in partnership with Warner Bros, Disney’s own animated films (seemingly lacking the creative spark and innovation of the Renaissance) consistently underperformed. The continuing Barsoom series would prove their only real box office successes in this period.
More reliant than ever on park revenue, the corporation’s overextension (both at home and abroad) in the previous decade proved a two-edged sword. While there was more money coming in overall, what didn’t go into keeping the books balanced was more thinly spread between the parks than ever. Ambitious and creative plans for the Disney-owned resorts were put on hold in the face of financial realities. The franchise parks, insulated from corporate circumstances, fared better monetarily in this period but still felt the lack of creative vision coming from the centre.
It would take yet another shakeup in leadership, following the attempted hostile takeover by Bell Atlantic in 2015, before Disney was able to begin to turn the corner.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
[3] Look, this one can't really be blamed on head office. Well, you can blame it on their incompetence, but even Disney isn't that tone deaf.
When Disney's lawyers in the sixties were drawing up their franchise agreement with Kunizo Matsuo, other foreign investors had signalled their interest. When a South African consortium approached the company they were politely but firmly rebuffed - but then Walt died in 1966, Roy Disney was thrust into the spotlight even after he wanted to retire and got distracted by Disneyworld and Nara Disneyland and Disneyland Britain... and when all that temporarily overstretched the company's finances in 1968, one of Roy's vice-presidents signed over the rights to a South African franchise. He apparently thought that the contract was clever enough that the Americans could take the money and then stonewall the opening; but if there's one group of lawyers more cold-blooded than a film studio's, it's the ones who've worked for De Beers.
Disneyland South Africa opened in 1971 to the deep embarrassment of the Disney Corporation, who did everything they could to stop the display of their most popular properties. The segregated park became a major tourism site in Apartheid South Africa - and resorts from Anaheim to Milton Keynes became the targets of the anti-apartheid movement. The park itself was structured around a Gold Rush Land based on the late 19th century Witwatersrand, a Fantasyland which was memorable for being based more on the low countries than the fairy tale Bavaria of Anaheim, a safari park Savannah Land, and a Tomorrowland which is better known for the 1985 bombing by the uMkhonto weSizwe.
The park was closed in 1994 the moment that Disney had enough control to finally close the open wound on its image; it reopened in 1999 after negotiations with the Mandela government which wanted to rebrand the park for the Rainbow Nation Era. Savannah Land was rebranded as the Pride Lands, and is now regarded as one of the more successful Disney parks.
Funnily enough, Disneyland South Africa is also associated with the company's move in the 1980s away from the lilywhite fairytales of the mid-century era. The efforts at representation now often seem hamfisted to modern viewers, but at the time they were genuinely remarkable. This both helped mitigate (though not stop) the anti-Disney protests, but also played a role in the Disney Renaissance (from 1981's Pocahontas) which saw the company stave off commercial and creative bankruptcy.
[4] After the South Africa fiasco, Disney was determined that their next park would be one directly under their control. However, such a project would be a significantly more expensive undertaking than the franchise model. With the company’s continuing decline through the ‘70s (and with what resources that were available being committed to the realisation of EPCOT), further plans for overseas expansion were put on hold. It would not be until the Disney Renaissance put the company back on more secure financial footing that the subject was revisited.
The new Disney leadership, eager to expand on renewed success, dusted off the long-shelved plans for a mainland Europe park. While there wasn’t the same “bidding war” as two decades prior (Disney-style theme parks now a far more common sight in Europe), there was nonetheless significant national and business interest as the site search began. While locations in both France and Italy were considered; Disney would eventually settle on building their new park on the Costa Daurada of Catalonia, Spain.
Roughly an hour south-west of Barcelona, the location was selected for the Mediterranean climate (ensuring unimpeded year-round operations) and the potential to tap into the thriving tourism industry of post-Franco Spain, which was attracting visitors from across the continent. Disney partnered with a local construction conglomerate to offset building costs, while ensuring the contracts left them with full creative control. Despite local protests from both ends of Spanish politics, Disneyland Barcelona would be completed roughly on schedule; and much effort was taken during development to accommodate the concerns of the locals, for instance bending to local cultural values regarding wine and lifting the usual ban on alcohol in the park.
The Disneyland Barcelona Resort would open in 1985, and was immediately praised for its original and innovative design. Main Street USA was reimagined in the style of Art Deco New Orleans, while the new Frontierland put a greater emphasis on the Hispanic elements of the Old West and Discoveryland, evoking the timeless works of Jules Verne and HG Wells, took the place of Tommorowland. Adventureland was given a distinctly Middle Eastern flavour, both in hopes of drawing in visitors from the adjacent market and in anticipation of the 1988 release of Disney’s Aladdin. At the centre was a Sleeping Beauty Castle that owed more to Seville’s Alcázar than Neuschwanstein.
While something of a gamble at the outset, the park would soon prove a success story for Disney, becoming Europe’s most popular theme park and doing much to restore the image of the Disney brand overseas. It would also become the first overseas park to gain an attached water park, with the 1995 opening of Port Aventura, themed as a fantastical Mediterranean harbour town.
The emergence of the new park would have an unintended side effect on class-minded British culture. From the late ‘80s onwards, asking someone which Disneyland they had gone on family holidays to (“Barcelona or Milton Keynes?”) became a not so roundabout way of gauging that person’s background. Despite the timelines not matching up, it remains received wisdom that the financial struggles of Disneyland Britain began with Barcelona pinching their more affluent potential visitors.
[5] The end of the Cold War was seen as an opportunity by Disney (who started work even before the USSR ended) and a sign of the new era for Russia: opening day saw top people in government and the US Embassy bringing their families. Allegations of graft and suspicious ties would dog both the park and Disney throughout the 1990s, with a major crackdown and multiple arrests in 2001 embarrassing the company, but the park was still a huge moneyspinner. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, the Baltics, and others made the journey to meet Mickey.
Frontierland, Fantasyland, and the recent Roger's Toon Town were replicated from California, while Adventureland was modelled on Barcelona and Tomorrowland was altered into Spaceland: not only about the future and the recent film High Score, but about the past glories of the Soviet programme. Spaceland was expanded in 1995 to tie into Treasure Planet.
Revenue gently declined as more people in Eastern Europe could visit sunnier Barcelona, but it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014 that ruined it. Ukrainian and Baltic tourists dropped away, a sudden shock that caused the park to go bankrupt on 2015. Unable to get out of a spiral, it closed in 2017. Plans to convert the land into a new homegrown attraction stalled during covid.
[6] Millennium Disneyland was the agglomeration of several ideas that had been percolating in the Disney ecosystem. Firstly, the idea for a revitalization of Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom was in the works for years. There were also many proposals to revive Walt Disney's original ideas for EPCOT. However, expansion of domestic parks was sidelined in favor of the new Disney's America park in Virginia. Secondly, in the wake of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Disney wanted a big science fiction franchise of its own, and found this in adapations of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Imagineers began pitching ideas for Barsoom rides and attractions which soon spiralled into a whole park. And given that director George Miller had filmed in his native Australia, utilizing its unique landscape and geography, the idea for a completely new resort in Australia came about. Additionally, the success of Spaceland in Russia encouraged ideas for similar revamps in the United States.
This became Millennium Disneyland, seizing upon the Y2K craze infecting pop culture throughout the 90s. Each of the themed lands at Disney parks was to be given a space theme or sci-fi twist. Work on the newest Disneyland began hastily with the intention of completing the park by 2000. The development was plagued by construction accidents, ever-changing plans, and corporate upheaval on Disney's board downstream of Russian events, and grand promises had to be reduced to opening just one main section by the new millennium, Futuropolis. Still, there was great excitement when the park opened its doors in December of 1999, right at the start of the Australian summer.
Located outside Melbourne, visitors came from all of Australia's big cities, but Disney was soon forced to revise its estimates upon realizing that the country-continent was simply too remote to attract as many guests from southeast Asia as hoped. Nontheless, the opening of the planned expansions increase revenue from Australia, and the Barsoom land became one of Disney's biggest hits, taking the place of the usual Frontierland. Great Outback combined the other parts of the usual Frontierland with Adventureland, giving it a more Australian flair. Although Millennium Disneyland became a successful local attraction, it remains the second smallest park after Disneyland Britain. It is perhaps the most experimental of any Disneyland, with the least fidelity to the typical features of the parks.
[7] With lessons learned from Millennium, Disney’s first overseas expansion of the 21st Century sought to expand their presence in Asia and establish a foothold in the Chinese market. After considering sites in Shanghai and recently repatriated Hong Kong; Disney chose to begin construction of their new park outside Beijing. This was due in large part to a tempting financial package and encouragement from the national government; who saw the project as complementing the capital’s much anticipated hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Plans were made to open in summer of 2007, in an effort to further raise the city’s international profile in the year leading up to the opening ceremonies.
Development and construction were plagued by bad luck and mishaps. Plans to theme Adventureland heavily on Pixer’s highly successful 2001 CGI film Monkey (based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West) were scuppered when Pixer chose to end their distribution agreement with Disney in 2006. Rides and attractions already under construction had to be heavily altered or scrapped entirely, leading to significant delays. Efforts to save time resulted in a hasty redesign into what was essentially a replication of Anaheim with some additional theming from the 2003 animated Tarzan. Attempts to speed construction along resulted in increased industrial accidents and even some fatalities that garnered media attention; placing a dark cloud over the whole project.
Beijing Disneyland would ultimately open in the late spring of 2009 (missing the Olympics window entirely) to mixed reviews. While Spaceland (evoking China’s own ongoing space programme) proved a hit, the decision to include a Barsoom Land was regarded as an error, the films proving less popular in the Chinese market. Responses to Adventureland proved outright hostile, both due to the disappointment over the much-touted original plans and a sense of “colonialism and cultural imperialism” in the realised design. Together with the global dip in tourism following the Great Recession, it seemed as if events conspired to keep attendance numbers low. 2011 would see Disney fighting off rumours of imminent bankruptcy for the new park.
While Beijing Disneyland would eventually stablise (following significant renovation in 2013), its underperformance in the early years proved reflective of Disney’s downturn in the late ‘00s/early ‘10s. As Pixer went on to continued success in partnership with Warner Bros, Disney’s own animated films (seemingly lacking the creative spark and innovation of the Renaissance) consistently underperformed. The continuing Barsoom series would prove their only real box office successes in this period.
More reliant than ever on park revenue, the corporation’s overextension (both at home and abroad) in the previous decade proved a two-edged sword. While there was more money coming in overall, what didn’t go into keeping the books balanced was more thinly spread between the parks than ever. Ambitious and creative plans for the Disney-owned resorts were put on hold in the face of financial realities. The franchise parks, insulated from corporate circumstances, fared better monetarily in this period but still felt the lack of creative vision coming from the centre.
It would take yet another shakeup in leadership, following the attempted hostile takeover by Bell Atlantic in 2015, before Disney was able to begin to turn the corner.
Last edited:
Disneylands outside the USA (1962-Present)
1. Nara Disneyland (1962-Present) [1]
2. Disneyland Britain (1969-Present) [2]
3. Disneyland South Africa (1971-1994, 1999-Present) [3]
4. Disneyland Barcelona (1985-Present) [4]
5. Disneyland St Petersburg (1992 - 2017) [5]
6. Millennium Disneyland (1999-present) [6]
7. Beijing Disneyland (2009-Present) [7]
8. RioDisney (in the works)
[1] Preceding 'Walt Disney World' in Florida by nearly a decade, Disney’s second park would also be its first overseas. Nara Disneyland was the product of a franchise agreement between Disney and Japanese businessman Kunizo Matsuo, who had visited Disneyland in 1955 and saw the commercial potential of such a theme park in his own country. Though the deal was nearly scuppered at the last minute by disagreements over licensing fees, the park would eventually open in 1962 to immediate success and acclaim, proving the potential in overseas expansion for the American entertainment company.
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
[3] Look, this one can't really be blamed on head office. Well, you can blame it on their incompetence, but even Disney isn't that tone deaf.
When Disney's lawyers in the sixties were drawing up their franchise agreement with Kunizo Matsuo, other foreign investors had signalled their interest. When a South African consortium approached the company they were politely but firmly rebuffed - but then Walt died in 1966, Roy Disney was thrust into the spotlight even after he wanted to retire and got distracted by Disneyworld and Nara Disneyland and Disneyland Britain... and when all that temporarily overstretched the company's finances in 1968, one of Roy's vice-presidents signed over the rights to a South African franchise. He apparently thought that the contract was clever enough that the Americans could take the money and then stonewall the opening; but if there's one group of lawyers more cold-blooded than a film studio's, it's the ones who've worked for De Beers.
Disneyland South Africa opened in 1971 to the deep embarrassment of the Disney Corporation, who did everything they could to stop the display of their most popular properties. The segregated park became a major tourism site in Apartheid South Africa - and resorts from Anaheim to Milton Keynes became the targets of the anti-apartheid movement. The park itself was structured around a Gold Rush Land based on the late 19th century Witwatersrand, a Fantasyland which was memorable for being based more on the low countries than the fairy tale Bavaria of Anaheim, a safari park Savannah Land, and a Tomorrowland which is better known for the 1985 bombing by the uMkhonto weSizwe.
The park was closed in 1994 the moment that Disney had enough control to finally close the open wound on its image; it reopened in 1999 after negotiations with the Mandela government which wanted to rebrand the park for the Rainbow Nation Era. Savannah Land was rebranded as the Pride Lands, and is now regarded as one of the more successful Disney parks.
Funnily enough, Disneyland South Africa is also associated with the company's move in the 1980s away from the lilywhite fairytales of the mid-century era. The efforts at representation now often seem hamfisted to modern viewers, but at the time they were genuinely remarkable. This both helped mitigate (though not stop) the anti-Disney protests, but also played a role in the Disney Renaissance (from 1981's Pocahontas) which saw the company stave off commercial and creative bankruptcy.
[4] After the South Africa fiasco, Disney was determined that their next park would be one directly under their control. However, such a project would be a significantly more expensive undertaking than the franchise model. With the company’s continuing decline through the ‘70s (and with what resources that were available being committed to the realisation of EPCOT), further plans for overseas expansion were put on hold. It would not be until the Disney Renaissance put the company back on more secure financial footing that the subject was revisited.
The new Disney leadership, eager to expand on renewed success, dusted off the long-shelved plans for a mainland Europe park. While there wasn’t the same “bidding war” as two decades prior (Disney-style theme parks now a far more common sight in Europe), there was nonetheless significant national and business interest as the site search began. While locations in both France and Italy were considered; Disney would eventually settle on building their new park on the Costa Daurada of Catalonia, Spain.
Roughly an hour south-west of Barcelona, the location was selected for the Mediterranean climate (ensuring unimpeded year-round operations) and the potential to tap into the thriving tourism industry of post-Franco Spain, which was attracting visitors from across the continent. Disney partnered with a local construction conglomerate to offset building costs, while ensuring the contracts left them with full creative control. Despite local protests from both ends of Spanish politics, Disneyland Barcelona would be completed roughly on schedule; and much effort was taken during development to accommodate the concerns of the locals, for instance bending to local cultural values regarding wine and lifting the usual ban on alcohol in the park.
The Disneyland Barcelona Resort would open in 1985, and was immediately praised for its original and innovative design. Main Street USA was reimagined in the style of Art Deco New Orleans, while the new Frontierland put a greater emphasis on the Hispanic elements of the Old West and Discoveryland, evoking the timeless works of Jules Verne and HG Wells, took the place of Tommorowland. Adventureland was given a distinctly Middle Eastern flavour, both in hopes of drawing in visitors from the adjacent market and in anticipation of the 1988 release of Disney’s Aladdin. At the centre was a Sleeping Beauty Castle that owed more to Seville’s Alcázar than Neuschwanstein.
While something of a gamble at the outset, the park would soon prove a success story for Disney, becoming Europe’s most popular theme park and doing much to restore the image of the Disney brand overseas. It would also become the first overseas park to gain an attached water park, with the 1995 opening of Port Aventura, themed as a fantastical Mediterranean harbour town.
The emergence of the new park would have an unintended side effect on class-minded British culture. From the late ‘80s onwards, asking someone which Disneyland they had gone on family holidays to (“Barcelona or Milton Keynes?”) became a not so roundabout way of gauging that person’s background. Despite the timelines not matching up, it remains received wisdom that the financial struggles of Disneyland Britain began with Barcelona pinching their more affluent potential visitors.
[5] The end of the Cold War was seen as an opportunity by Disney (who started work even before the USSR ended) and a sign of the new era for Russia: opening day saw top people in government and the US Embassy bringing their families. Allegations of graft and suspicious ties would dog both the park and Disney throughout the 1990s, with a major crackdown and multiple arrests in 2001 embarrassing the company, but the park was still a huge moneyspinner. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, the Baltics, and others made the journey to meet Mickey.
Frontierland, Fantasyland, and the recent Roger's Toon Town were replicated from California, while Adventureland was modelled on Barcelona and Tomorrowland was altered into Spaceland: not only about the future and the recent film High Score, but about the past glories of the Soviet programme. Spaceland was expanded in 1995 to tie into Treasure Planet.
Revenue gently declined as more people in Eastern Europe could visit sunnier Barcelona, but it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014 that ruined it. Ukrainian and Baltic tourists dropped away, a sudden shock that caused the park to go bankrupt on 2015. Unable to get out of a spiral, it closed in 2017. Plans to convert the land into a new homegrown attraction stalled during covid.
[6] Millennium Disneyland was the agglomeration of several ideas that had been percolating in the Disney ecosystem. Firstly, the idea for a revitalization of Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom was in the works for years. There were also many proposals to revive Walt Disney's original ideas for EPCOT. However, expansion of domestic parks was sidelined in favor of the new Disney's America park in Virginia. Secondly, in the wake of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Disney wanted a big science fiction franchise of its own, and found this in adapations of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Imagineers began pitching ideas for Barsoom rides and attractions which soon spiralled into a whole park. And given that director George Miller had filmed in his native Australia, utilizing its unique landscape and geography, the idea for a completely new resort in Australia came about. Additionally, the success of Spaceland in Russia encouraged ideas for similar revamps in the United States.
This became Millennium Disneyland, seizing upon the Y2K craze infecting pop culture throughout the 90s. Each of the themed lands at Disney parks was to be given a space theme or sci-fi twist. Work on the newest Disneyland began hastily with the intention of completing the park by 2000. The development was plagued by construction accidents, ever-changing plans, and corporate upheaval on Disney's board downstream of Russian events, and grand promises had to be reduced to opening just one main section by the new millennium, Futuropolis. Still, there was great excitement when the park opened its doors in December of 1999, right at the start of the Australian summer.
Located outside Melbourne, visitors came from all of Australia's big cities, but Disney was soon forced to revise its estimates upon realizing that the country-continent was simply too remote to attract as many guests from southeast Asia as hoped. Nontheless, the opening of the planned expansions increase revenue from Australia, and the Barsoom land became one of Disney's biggest hits, taking the place of the usual Frontierland. Great Outback combined the other parts of the usual Frontierland with Adventureland, giving it a more Australian flair. Although Millennium Disneyland became a successful local attraction, it remains the second smallest park after Disneyland Britain. It is perhaps the most experimental of any Disneyland, with the least fidelity to the typical features of the parks.
[7] With lessons learned from Millennium, Disney’s first overseas expansion of the 21st Century sought to expand their presence in Asia and establish a foothold in the Chinese market. After considering sites in Shanghai and recently repatriated Hong Kong; Disney chose to begin construction of their new park outside Beijing. This was due in large part to a tempting financial package and encouragement from the national government; who saw the project as complementing the capital’s much anticipated hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Plans were made to open in summer of 2007, in an effort to further raise the city’s international profile in the year leading up to the opening ceremonies.
Development and construction were plagued by bad luck and mishaps. Plans to theme Adventureland heavily on Pixer’s highly successful 2001 CGI film Monkey (based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West) were scuppered when Pixer chose to end their distribution agreement with Disney in 2006. Rides and attractions already under construction had to be heavily altered or scrapped entirely, leading to significant delays. Efforts to save time resulted in a hasty redesign into what was essentially a replication of Anaheim with some additional theming from the 2003 animated Tarzan. Attempts to speed construction along resulted in increased industrial accidents and even some fatalities that garnered media attention; placing a dark cloud over the whole project.
Beijing Disneyland would ultimately open in the late spring of 2009 (missing the Olympics window entirely) to mixed reviews. While Spaceland (evoking China’s own ongoing space programme) proved a hit, the decision to include a Barsoom Land was regarded as an error, the films proving less popular in the Chinese market. Responses to Adventureland proved outright hostile, both due to the disappointment over the much-touted original plans and a sense of “colonialism and cultural imperialism” in the realised design. Together with the global dip in tourism following the Great Recession, it seemed as if events conspired to keep attendance numbers low. 2011 would see Disney fighting off rumours of imminent bankruptcy for the new park.
While Beijing Disneyland would eventually stablise (following significant renovation in 2013), its underperformance in the early years proved reflective of Disney’s downturn in the late ‘00s/early ‘10s. As Pixer went on to continued success in partnership with Warner Bros, Disney’s own animated films (seemingly lacking the creative spark and innovation of the Renaissance) consistently underperformed. The continuing Barsoom series would prove their only real box office successes in this period.
More reliant than ever on park revenue, the corporation’s overextension (both at home and abroad) in the previous decade proved a two-edged sword. While there was more money coming in overall, what didn’t go into keeping the books balanced was more thinly spread between the parks than ever. Ambitious and creative plans for the Disney-owned resorts were put on hold in the face of financial realities. The franchise parks, insulated from corporate circumstances, fared better monetarily in this period but still felt the lack of creative vision coming from the centre.
It would take yet another shakeup in leadership, following the attempted hostile takeover by Bell Atlantic in 2015, before Disney was able to begin to turn the corner.
[8] Disney's new management held back further park expansion until they'd sorted their films out. New boss Chris Meledandri, formerly of Fox, turned fortunes around with the big hit Despicable Me (a pitch origibally made, and passed on, by Fox) and follow-ups Sing and The Grinch. More successes (and a few misses) followed, and Disney began thinking of a new regional park. Brazil, once Bolsonaro was out, became the most attractive bid.
As well as Fantasyland & Tomorrowland and an Amazonian themed Adventureland, RioDisney is seeing newer attractions Spookyland (Nightmare Before Christmas, Owl House, and others) and Cats Land (for the blockbuster cartoon adaptation of Cats) brought over from the States, as well as a LOT of Minions. It's unclear how successful this new park will be when it opens in 2026, and rumour has it Bell Atlantic are watching to see if this is the first sign of weakness for another go....
Developed in close consultation with Disney’s Imagineers, the initial park bore a very close resemblance to the one in Anaheim, including its own Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty Castle; as well as replicas of the popular Jungle Cruise, Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage attractions (amongst others). The most noticeable difference was an Ancestorland (evoking Japan’s history and traditional culture) in place of Anaheim’s Frontierland.
As the years passed, Nara would take on more and more of its own character and develop its own unique attractions. It is currently best known for its use of various Tezuka properties, a legacy of Walt Disney’s chance meeting with a young Osamu Tezuka at the park’s opening ceremony that would lead to decades of on and off collaboration between their respective studios. In 1991, a statue of the two animation pioneers was unveiled at the front entrance to celebrate both the 30th anniversary of the park and the completion of Disney’s acquisition of Tezuka Productions.
While showing its age and certainly not capable of boasting the same attendance numbers as in its heyday, Nara Disneyland remains much beloved by the Japanese public and foreign visitors alike.
[2] After the success of Nara Disneyland, a European Disney park was a logical next step and a 'bidding war' broke out with diplomats and business figures trying to woo the corporation to their shores. Realising that the continent would win out due to the ease of getting more tourists to travel, a British consortium - openly backed by the government of the time - promised the first 'mini-park', a smaller regional place that wouldn't be as big as Anaheim or Nara but would be able to make a tidy profit regardless. The benefit for Disney was that they could still one day run a larger continental park, the benefit for Westminster was a sign of growth and to boost their plans for Milton Keynes by placing Disneyland Britain around there.
Main Street USA was retained for the 'exotic' nature of the UK, but another attraction was Old London Town modelled on the Edwardian era - and a place to meet and greet "Mary Poppins" (whose film had recently come out), who would remain one of the most popular characters, and both the Dalmatians and "Cruella DeVille" (also one of the big draws). Fantasyland was modelled after the one in Anaheim, while Tomorrowland would be modelled after the sci-fi ideas of the 1960s and drafted the Century 21 Studios team to design it. (Gerry Anderson characters have made sporadic licensed appearances) A fourth location, Prydain, was opened to tie into the presumed success of The Black Cauldron - a success that did not happen but the location has clung on regardless.
Disneyland Britain has flirted with bankruptcy on and off since the late 1970s, forever just staying on the side of profitability, and there are allegations that a few dirty deeds have been done to help it stay up due to the economic importance to Milton Keynes.
[3] Look, this one can't really be blamed on head office. Well, you can blame it on their incompetence, but even Disney isn't that tone deaf.
When Disney's lawyers in the sixties were drawing up their franchise agreement with Kunizo Matsuo, other foreign investors had signalled their interest. When a South African consortium approached the company they were politely but firmly rebuffed - but then Walt died in 1966, Roy Disney was thrust into the spotlight even after he wanted to retire and got distracted by Disneyworld and Nara Disneyland and Disneyland Britain... and when all that temporarily overstretched the company's finances in 1968, one of Roy's vice-presidents signed over the rights to a South African franchise. He apparently thought that the contract was clever enough that the Americans could take the money and then stonewall the opening; but if there's one group of lawyers more cold-blooded than a film studio's, it's the ones who've worked for De Beers.
Disneyland South Africa opened in 1971 to the deep embarrassment of the Disney Corporation, who did everything they could to stop the display of their most popular properties. The segregated park became a major tourism site in Apartheid South Africa - and resorts from Anaheim to Milton Keynes became the targets of the anti-apartheid movement. The park itself was structured around a Gold Rush Land based on the late 19th century Witwatersrand, a Fantasyland which was memorable for being based more on the low countries than the fairy tale Bavaria of Anaheim, a safari park Savannah Land, and a Tomorrowland which is better known for the 1985 bombing by the uMkhonto weSizwe.
The park was closed in 1994 the moment that Disney had enough control to finally close the open wound on its image; it reopened in 1999 after negotiations with the Mandela government which wanted to rebrand the park for the Rainbow Nation Era. Savannah Land was rebranded as the Pride Lands, and is now regarded as one of the more successful Disney parks.
Funnily enough, Disneyland South Africa is also associated with the company's move in the 1980s away from the lilywhite fairytales of the mid-century era. The efforts at representation now often seem hamfisted to modern viewers, but at the time they were genuinely remarkable. This both helped mitigate (though not stop) the anti-Disney protests, but also played a role in the Disney Renaissance (from 1981's Pocahontas) which saw the company stave off commercial and creative bankruptcy.
[4] After the South Africa fiasco, Disney was determined that their next park would be one directly under their control. However, such a project would be a significantly more expensive undertaking than the franchise model. With the company’s continuing decline through the ‘70s (and with what resources that were available being committed to the realisation of EPCOT), further plans for overseas expansion were put on hold. It would not be until the Disney Renaissance put the company back on more secure financial footing that the subject was revisited.
The new Disney leadership, eager to expand on renewed success, dusted off the long-shelved plans for a mainland Europe park. While there wasn’t the same “bidding war” as two decades prior (Disney-style theme parks now a far more common sight in Europe), there was nonetheless significant national and business interest as the site search began. While locations in both France and Italy were considered; Disney would eventually settle on building their new park on the Costa Daurada of Catalonia, Spain.
Roughly an hour south-west of Barcelona, the location was selected for the Mediterranean climate (ensuring unimpeded year-round operations) and the potential to tap into the thriving tourism industry of post-Franco Spain, which was attracting visitors from across the continent. Disney partnered with a local construction conglomerate to offset building costs, while ensuring the contracts left them with full creative control. Despite local protests from both ends of Spanish politics, Disneyland Barcelona would be completed roughly on schedule; and much effort was taken during development to accommodate the concerns of the locals, for instance bending to local cultural values regarding wine and lifting the usual ban on alcohol in the park.
The Disneyland Barcelona Resort would open in 1985, and was immediately praised for its original and innovative design. Main Street USA was reimagined in the style of Art Deco New Orleans, while the new Frontierland put a greater emphasis on the Hispanic elements of the Old West and Discoveryland, evoking the timeless works of Jules Verne and HG Wells, took the place of Tommorowland. Adventureland was given a distinctly Middle Eastern flavour, both in hopes of drawing in visitors from the adjacent market and in anticipation of the 1988 release of Disney’s Aladdin. At the centre was a Sleeping Beauty Castle that owed more to Seville’s Alcázar than Neuschwanstein.
While something of a gamble at the outset, the park would soon prove a success story for Disney, becoming Europe’s most popular theme park and doing much to restore the image of the Disney brand overseas. It would also become the first overseas park to gain an attached water park, with the 1995 opening of Port Aventura, themed as a fantastical Mediterranean harbour town.
The emergence of the new park would have an unintended side effect on class-minded British culture. From the late ‘80s onwards, asking someone which Disneyland they had gone on family holidays to (“Barcelona or Milton Keynes?”) became a not so roundabout way of gauging that person’s background. Despite the timelines not matching up, it remains received wisdom that the financial struggles of Disneyland Britain began with Barcelona pinching their more affluent potential visitors.
[5] The end of the Cold War was seen as an opportunity by Disney (who started work even before the USSR ended) and a sign of the new era for Russia: opening day saw top people in government and the US Embassy bringing their families. Allegations of graft and suspicious ties would dog both the park and Disney throughout the 1990s, with a major crackdown and multiple arrests in 2001 embarrassing the company, but the park was still a huge moneyspinner. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, the Baltics, and others made the journey to meet Mickey.
Frontierland, Fantasyland, and the recent Roger's Toon Town were replicated from California, while Adventureland was modelled on Barcelona and Tomorrowland was altered into Spaceland: not only about the future and the recent film High Score, but about the past glories of the Soviet programme. Spaceland was expanded in 1995 to tie into Treasure Planet.
Revenue gently declined as more people in Eastern Europe could visit sunnier Barcelona, but it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014 that ruined it. Ukrainian and Baltic tourists dropped away, a sudden shock that caused the park to go bankrupt on 2015. Unable to get out of a spiral, it closed in 2017. Plans to convert the land into a new homegrown attraction stalled during covid.
[6] Millennium Disneyland was the agglomeration of several ideas that had been percolating in the Disney ecosystem. Firstly, the idea for a revitalization of Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom was in the works for years. There were also many proposals to revive Walt Disney's original ideas for EPCOT. However, expansion of domestic parks was sidelined in favor of the new Disney's America park in Virginia. Secondly, in the wake of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Disney wanted a big science fiction franchise of its own, and found this in adapations of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Imagineers began pitching ideas for Barsoom rides and attractions which soon spiralled into a whole park. And given that director George Miller had filmed in his native Australia, utilizing its unique landscape and geography, the idea for a completely new resort in Australia came about. Additionally, the success of Spaceland in Russia encouraged ideas for similar revamps in the United States.
This became Millennium Disneyland, seizing upon the Y2K craze infecting pop culture throughout the 90s. Each of the themed lands at Disney parks was to be given a space theme or sci-fi twist. Work on the newest Disneyland began hastily with the intention of completing the park by 2000. The development was plagued by construction accidents, ever-changing plans, and corporate upheaval on Disney's board downstream of Russian events, and grand promises had to be reduced to opening just one main section by the new millennium, Futuropolis. Still, there was great excitement when the park opened its doors in December of 1999, right at the start of the Australian summer.
Located outside Melbourne, visitors came from all of Australia's big cities, but Disney was soon forced to revise its estimates upon realizing that the country-continent was simply too remote to attract as many guests from southeast Asia as hoped. Nontheless, the opening of the planned expansions increase revenue from Australia, and the Barsoom land became one of Disney's biggest hits, taking the place of the usual Frontierland. Great Outback combined the other parts of the usual Frontierland with Adventureland, giving it a more Australian flair. Although Millennium Disneyland became a successful local attraction, it remains the second smallest park after Disneyland Britain. It is perhaps the most experimental of any Disneyland, with the least fidelity to the typical features of the parks.
[7] With lessons learned from Millennium, Disney’s first overseas expansion of the 21st Century sought to expand their presence in Asia and establish a foothold in the Chinese market. After considering sites in Shanghai and recently repatriated Hong Kong; Disney chose to begin construction of their new park outside Beijing. This was due in large part to a tempting financial package and encouragement from the national government; who saw the project as complementing the capital’s much anticipated hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Plans were made to open in summer of 2007, in an effort to further raise the city’s international profile in the year leading up to the opening ceremonies.
Development and construction were plagued by bad luck and mishaps. Plans to theme Adventureland heavily on Pixer’s highly successful 2001 CGI film Monkey (based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West) were scuppered when Pixer chose to end their distribution agreement with Disney in 2006. Rides and attractions already under construction had to be heavily altered or scrapped entirely, leading to significant delays. Efforts to save time resulted in a hasty redesign into what was essentially a replication of Anaheim with some additional theming from the 2003 animated Tarzan. Attempts to speed construction along resulted in increased industrial accidents and even some fatalities that garnered media attention; placing a dark cloud over the whole project.
Beijing Disneyland would ultimately open in the late spring of 2009 (missing the Olympics window entirely) to mixed reviews. While Spaceland (evoking China’s own ongoing space programme) proved a hit, the decision to include a Barsoom Land was regarded as an error, the films proving less popular in the Chinese market. Responses to Adventureland proved outright hostile, both due to the disappointment over the much-touted original plans and a sense of “colonialism and cultural imperialism” in the realised design. Together with the global dip in tourism following the Great Recession, it seemed as if events conspired to keep attendance numbers low. 2011 would see Disney fighting off rumours of imminent bankruptcy for the new park.
While Beijing Disneyland would eventually stablise (following significant renovation in 2013), its underperformance in the early years proved reflective of Disney’s downturn in the late ‘00s/early ‘10s. As Pixer went on to continued success in partnership with Warner Bros, Disney’s own animated films (seemingly lacking the creative spark and innovation of the Renaissance) consistently underperformed. The continuing Barsoom series would prove their only real box office successes in this period.
More reliant than ever on park revenue, the corporation’s overextension (both at home and abroad) in the previous decade proved a two-edged sword. While there was more money coming in overall, what didn’t go into keeping the books balanced was more thinly spread between the parks than ever. Ambitious and creative plans for the Disney-owned resorts were put on hold in the face of financial realities. The franchise parks, insulated from corporate circumstances, fared better monetarily in this period but still felt the lack of creative vision coming from the centre.
It would take yet another shakeup in leadership, following the attempted hostile takeover by Bell Atlantic in 2015, before Disney was able to begin to turn the corner.
[8] Disney's new management held back further park expansion until they'd sorted their films out. New boss Chris Meledandri, formerly of Fox, turned fortunes around with the big hit Despicable Me (a pitch origibally made, and passed on, by Fox) and follow-ups Sing and The Grinch. More successes (and a few misses) followed, and Disney began thinking of a new regional park. Brazil, once Bolsonaro was out, became the most attractive bid.
As well as Fantasyland & Tomorrowland and an Amazonian themed Adventureland, RioDisney is seeing newer attractions Spookyland (Nightmare Before Christmas, Owl House, and others) and Cats Land (for the blockbuster cartoon adaptation of Cats) brought over from the States, as well as a LOT of Minions. It's unclear how successful this new park will be when it opens in 2026, and rumour has it Bell Atlantic are watching to see if this is the first sign of weakness for another go....
Luke_Starkiller
Well-known member
List of National Football League players awarded the Super Bowl MVP
1998: Robert Brooks (Green Bay Packers)
1999:
1998: Robert Brooks (Green Bay Packers)
1999:
The L. Chiffre Bond Books
1) Casino Grande (1953)
Bond is despatched to Las Vegas to intercept and "clean out" local German asset Sluggsy Morant, who has blown his Abwerh money and needs to make it back fast. But is a traitor close to home...?
This was the first of Ian Fleming's novels, written under his famous winking pseudonym (French for 'the cipher') - he had only recently left Naval Intelligence and was still a potential reservist. It would've been frowned upon if it looked like he was being too accurate, with the Cold War still on.
Casino Grande was a big hit with its fast pace, glamorous foreign locales, and sex and violence. It also carries a harsh political undertone: America becoming ever less concerned with the Nazis (except local FBI man Felix Lieber), and Bond himself underestimating them, leading to torture and personal defeat. The book takes the (blunt) view that the Polish War and Scandinavian Crisis could both have gone far worse, and the Cold War is necessary to keep evil locked away.
(A young Roger Corman woukd sneak his way into the film rights, greatly changing the plot to make Vesper Lynd the lead & American and casting Vincent Price as a mysterious, slightly sinister Bond)
EDIT: Ah. Snapped!
1) Casino Grande (1953)
Bond is despatched to Las Vegas to intercept and "clean out" local German asset Sluggsy Morant, who has blown his Abwerh money and needs to make it back fast. But is a traitor close to home...?
This was the first of Ian Fleming's novels, written under his famous winking pseudonym (French for 'the cipher') - he had only recently left Naval Intelligence and was still a potential reservist. It would've been frowned upon if it looked like he was being too accurate, with the Cold War still on.
Casino Grande was a big hit with its fast pace, glamorous foreign locales, and sex and violence. It also carries a harsh political undertone: America becoming ever less concerned with the Nazis (except local FBI man Felix Lieber), and Bond himself underestimating them, leading to torture and personal defeat. The book takes the (blunt) view that the Polish War and Scandinavian Crisis could both have gone far worse, and the Cold War is necessary to keep evil locked away.
(A young Roger Corman woukd sneak his way into the film rights, greatly changing the plot to make Vesper Lynd the lead & American and casting Vincent Price as a mysterious, slightly sinister Bond)
EDIT: Ah. Snapped!
Alberto Knox
Well-known member
- Location
- Mistress Masham's Repose
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I assume we are continuing this one for now?List of National Football League players awarded the Super Bowl MVP
1998: Robert Brooks (Green Bay Packers)
1999:
List of National Football League players awarded the Super Bowl MVP
1998: Robert Brooks (Green Bay Packers)
1999: Chris Chandler (Atlanta Falcons)
2000:
Alberto Knox
Well-known member
- Location
- Mistress Masham's Repose
- Pronouns
- He/Him
List of National Football League players awarded the Super Bowl MVP
1998: Robert Brooks (Green Bay Packers)
1999: Chris Chandler (Atlanta Falcons)
2000: Kurt Warner (St. Louis Rams)
2001: Shannon Sharpe (Baltimore Ravens)
1998: Robert Brooks (Green Bay Packers)
1999: Chris Chandler (Atlanta Falcons)
2000: Kurt Warner (St. Louis Rams)
2001: Shannon Sharpe (Baltimore Ravens)
List of National Football League players awarded the Super Bowl MVP
1998: Robert Brooks, WR (Green Bay Packers)
1999: Chris Chandler, QB (Atlanta Falcons)
2000: Kurt Warner, QB (St. Louis Rams)
2001: Shannon Sharpe, TE (Baltimore Ravens)
2002: Charles Woodson, CB (Oakland Raiders)
1998: Robert Brooks, WR (Green Bay Packers)
1999: Chris Chandler, QB (Atlanta Falcons)
2000: Kurt Warner, QB (St. Louis Rams)
2001: Shannon Sharpe, TE (Baltimore Ravens)
2002: Charles Woodson, CB (Oakland Raiders)
Alberto Knox
Well-known member
- Location
- Mistress Masham's Repose
- Pronouns
- He/Him
List of National Football League players awarded the Super Bowl MVP
1998: Robert Brooks, WR (Green Bay Packers)
1999: Chris Chandler, QB (Atlanta Falcons)
2000: Kurt Warner, QB (St. Louis Rams)
2001: Shannon Sharpe, TE (Baltimore Ravens)
2002: Charles Woodson, CB (Oakland Raiders)
2003: Derrick Brooks, WLB (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1998: Robert Brooks, WR (Green Bay Packers)
1999: Chris Chandler, QB (Atlanta Falcons)
2000: Kurt Warner, QB (St. Louis Rams)
2001: Shannon Sharpe, TE (Baltimore Ravens)
2002: Charles Woodson, CB (Oakland Raiders)
2003: Derrick Brooks, WLB (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
List of National Football League players awarded the Super Bowl MVP
1998: Robert Brooks, WR (Green Bay Packers)
1999: Chris Chandler, QB (Atlanta Falcons)
2000: Kurt Warner, QB (St. Louis Rams)
2001: Shannon Sharpe, TE (Baltimore Ravens)
2002: Charles Woodson, CB (Oakland Raiders)
2003: Derrick Brooks, WLB (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
2004: Peyton Manning, QB (Indianapolis Colts)
1998: Robert Brooks, WR (Green Bay Packers)
1999: Chris Chandler, QB (Atlanta Falcons)
2000: Kurt Warner, QB (St. Louis Rams)
2001: Shannon Sharpe, TE (Baltimore Ravens)
2002: Charles Woodson, CB (Oakland Raiders)
2003: Derrick Brooks, WLB (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
2004: Peyton Manning, QB (Indianapolis Colts)
Alberto Knox
Well-known member
- Location
- Mistress Masham's Repose
- Pronouns
- He/Him
List of National Football League players awarded the Super Bowl MVP
1998: Robert Brooks, WR (Green Bay Packers)
1999: Chris Chandler, QB (Atlanta Falcons)
2000: Kurt Warner, QB (St. Louis Rams)
2001: Shannon Sharpe, TE (Baltimore Ravens)
2002: Charles Woodson, CB (Oakland Raiders)
2003: Derrick Brooks, WLB (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
2004: Peyton Manning, QB (Indianapolis Colts)
2005: Todd Pinkston, WR (Philadelphia Eagles)
1998: Robert Brooks, WR (Green Bay Packers)
1999: Chris Chandler, QB (Atlanta Falcons)
2000: Kurt Warner, QB (St. Louis Rams)
2001: Shannon Sharpe, TE (Baltimore Ravens)
2002: Charles Woodson, CB (Oakland Raiders)
2003: Derrick Brooks, WLB (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
2004: Peyton Manning, QB (Indianapolis Colts)
2005: Todd Pinkston, WR (Philadelphia Eagles)