Disney and Bradbury: Parallels
Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 1:45PM By: Matt Parrish
On a recent episode of Wedway Radio, Nate and I discussed the parallels between Walt Disney and Mark Twain. After recording the show, I cracked open an old D23 Magazine which featured an intriguing look at Ray Bradbury (another author mentioned on the Mark Twain episode) as a creative force behind Spaceship Earth and the EPCOT Center.
As a huge fan of both Disney and Bradbury, the article left me with more questions than answers. What was Bradbury’s impact on The Walt Disney Company through the decades? What was Bradbury’s relationship with Walt like? Why is there a Halloween Tree (the Bradbury Tree) in Frontierland at Disneyland? How did Something Wicked this Way Comes, a popular novel from Bradbury, become a major motion picture for the Walt Disney Company? Why are there so many ties between these two creative men?
In attempt to answer my own questions, I thought I might investigate further into the friendship between Bradbury and Disney…a friendship that worked to inspire a complex approach to the future simplified through “behavioral optimism,” which is to say behavior that achieves optimistic objectives day after day (like crossing tasks off of a to-do list) as quoted by Bradbury in an interview on the Disney Treasures: Tomorrowland DVD about Walt’s own personality.
Obviously, both men were fans of the fantasy genre and the future, and they both created mediated entertainment reflecting their individual passions. Likewise, Disney and Bradbury were storytellers and entertainers who used symbolic characters to captivate the minds of readers and viewers. On the contrary, though, Walt used mediums like television and films to enhance his storytelling, while Bradbury, admittedly, was a skeptic of modern media dating all the way back to his creation of Farenheit451, a story written to describe how television might destroy an interest in reading literature.
You should know by now that I like to personalize things, so I must tell you my own backstory relative to these legends. My love for Disney probably needs no explanation. I grew up with Disney films and theme parks and, if nothing else, both remind me of family and nostalgia. To add a bit, Disney is more than just attractions and shows for me…it’s a way to experience my past, present and future cohesively.
Bradbury, similarly, has always been one of my favorites and each time I uncover another factoid about his life, I begin to appreciate his legacy a bit more.
Between Walt, Ray and me…we all seem to share a common heritage. For instance, Bradbury was born 60 years to the day before me (shared birthdays mean something, right?); he was also born in the Midwest (same as Walt and me) and his approach to the future is one of intellectual optimism, a concept I understand in a tech-driven world.
Finally, Bradbury, like me (and you), was also a fan of Walt Disney…and, according to my research, that’s where the relationship began.
It’s possible an interview with Bradbury about Disney would be the only way to uncover new information about the pair (an attempt I’ve made recently), but there is enough information out there to get a fairly accurate idea about the friendly relationship between the two.
Where did it all begin? An interview with Bradbury on the Disney Treasures: Tomorrowland reveals
“I was walking down the street in Beverly Hills and a man walked by with so many gifts he couldn’t seem to hold them all. And then I saw it was Walt Disney!”
Seem humble enough? Mouseplanet.com blogger Wade Sampson also suggested (2007),
“Bradbury and Walt had informal talks about Disney's involvement in the 1964 New York World's Fair as well as plans for Epcot.”
As you well know, Nate and I have done oodles of research and conducted many interviews about Walt Disney’s involvement in the 1964 World’s Fair (Magic Skyway, Progressland, Great Moments…, It’s a Small World, etc…), but where does Bradbury fit in?
Like Walt Disney, in 1962 Ray Bradbury was also tapped to play a contributing role at the 1964 World’s Fair in NY for the America Pavilion. While Bradbury’s role at the Fair wasn’t nearly as extensive as Walt’s, it certainly made an impact. As Bradbury biographer, Sam Weller (2005), declared:
“It…portended a new, burgeoning role for Ray – as a cultural consultant for the rocket age.”
Interestingly, just as Walt’s Disneyland TV series featured several Ward Kimball directed shorts on man in space in the 1950’s, that worked to reinforce man’s desire to experience the cosmos in the decade that followed, Bradbury became a beacon of the space age amid the landing on the moon and through the 1970’s. And just as Walt had grown up with a fondness of World’s Fairs (remember the 1893 Fair in Chicago where his father had been a construction worker?), as a boy Bradbury attended the 1933 Fair in Chicago that celebrated “A Century of Progress.” The latter is one of those ties that is purely coincidental but, in my opinion, and is the launch pad for the Bradbury and Disney futurist link.
More in the "future"…
Reader Comments (6)
You might be interested in this post on one of my blogs Decidedly Disney
Hey, Brian!
Thank you, first of all, for reading the blog. I've probably started and deleted about 20 different versions of this but thought I should finally get one out there to get the ball rolling while I do more research. My attempts to contact Ray have been futile and I've kind of come to terms with it. On that note, I'm not sure he'd be interested in talking about his work on Spaceship Earth if I was able to contact him, but a man can dream.
Your blogpost on your relationship with Bradbury was fantastic. Thank you for suggesting it to me. I share a birthday with Bradbury and I love his work, so I've always had this affinity for him (away from his work with Disney, even) as an author and important symbol in the 20th Century.
So can I ask if you listen to our show? I'm just wondering how you found my show-blog, as it seems you've had a quite an entertainment (infotainment?) career yourself.
Thanks again,
Matthew
this is my favorite place to read something fun. and of course i,m no expert,but if you need to talk to bradbury,i think your man might be kevin costner. i saw it in a movie..... i,m just saying.
So funny!
I actually met and produced an interview with Kostner a few years ago. What movie talks about Bradbury and Kostner? I'm curious.
Matt
field of dreams........fictonal author, but the humor holds up.
scott
Haha,
I see now. You're talking about Terrance Mann. Nice.