How Disneyland Became America’s Great National Park

The Disney Dilemma The latest season of Land of the Giants from Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Photo-Illustration: Zohar Lazar; Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty
By far, the buzziest piece of criticism of the year so far — more talked about and clicked upon than that scathing literati takedown in Bookforum, or all of those Madame Web drubbings, or even the worst and meanest of reactions to the new Katy Perry song — is a four-hour video in which YouTuber Jenny Nicholson thoroughly analyzes every inch of the now-defunct Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser immersive hotel at Walt Disney World. The screed, which is 33 percent longer than Oppenheimer, has had over 9.2 million views since it dropped in mid-May, and its popularity proves that adult Disney tourism is far from niche. Disney adults, that much-maligned subgenre of person, have truly become the mainstream. And Disney’s Parks division knows it: It earns 70 percent of the company’s operating income, compared to the entertainment-and-streaming division’s 11 percent.
It’s what great thinkers from French philosopher Jean Baudrillard to American philosopher Shailene Woodley have long attested: It’s all Disneyland, baby. Mickeys all the way down — just look at the current presidential candidates and their animatronic counterparts in Magic Kingdom’s Hall of Presidents and tell me who looks more taut-skinned and lifelike. That’s the simulacrum in action. But how did a scrappy Jazz Age animation studio peddling a Felix the Cat knockoff become, in essence, a travel, real-estate, and robotics-engineering company? How did Disney World’s Cinderella Castle become an American landmark on the level of Mt. Rushmore? And how did the development of a Tomorrowland ride possibly influence the Space Race? We get into all of that with the help of some experts on this week’s episode of Land of the Giants: The Disney Dilemma.
Listen to episode two below or wherever you get your podcasts, and if you missed part one, you can subscribe to catch up and to get the next four weeks of episodes. Upcoming episodes will focus on Disney’s animation studio, adventures in the Wonderful World of Corporate Acquisitions (that means Marvel and Star Wars), and more. Please keep your arms and legs inside at all times. We hope you enjoy the ride.