The Disney Calendar Is Now At Year Zero
One of the things that made Walt Disney very different from other producers of his age was his sense of history. Most of Hollywood studios simply couldn’t begin to care less about that. As soon as the film is finished get rid of the props, and hopefully, you can make a dime to two doing it.
Walt had a vision of himself as one of the Big Americans, that his name would be remembered with men like Ford and Edison. Whether he genuinely felt an accurate record of his life and work would reflect well on him or he knew he was going to be in the history books anyway so he would be well served by writing the history book himself, he is one of the very few businessmen to start a museum dedicated to curating his life, his work and the company he built up from nothing.
So was born the Walt Disney Company Archive. Or simply The Archive. Just about every major or even minor thing the Walt Disney Company ever was a part of was dutifully curated. Decommissioned park attractions that were being dismantled would have disused animatronics packed away and sent to the archive. Every single addition and more importantly subtraction to the parks was carefully noted at the Archive. Artwork from all of the Disney animated features were meticulously cataloged and preserved at the Archive.
The Archive also operates public museums where you can gawk at such diverse things as Disneyland opening day curios, doodads, and tourist gimcrack. Want to see the real Pirates Redhead? She now lives at the archive. Original scripts, and props from the Davey Crockett show are there. Various denizens of Tomorrowland’s obsolete future past are on display at The Archive.
You know what you won’t find at the Archive? Not one fucking thing connected with Splash Mountain. The most popular ride in the history of Disney parks and not one trace of it was curated.
I got very curious about that and started making arm’s-length inquiries. The Archive’s requests for artifacts were allegedly slapped aside by Disney Imagineering. All artifacts from the Splash Mountain attractions were deliberately and painstakingly destroyed. All music from the ride has been banned at the parks. You will never hear Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah on any Disney-owned property ever again.*
What I heard back was words to the effect that The Archive staff has allegedly been thoroughly gutted and for the first time, they are getting instructions from Burbank on what will and won’t be curated. They are also allegedly being told what can be displayed and what can’t be, and much more importantly who can never be displayed at The Archive. Former Disney employees are being banished from existence at the Disney Archive.
UPDATE:
Ain’t just me that’s hearing this:
Brought to you by Reimagine Tomorrow, or more accurately, Reimagine Yesterday.
*If you get to Tokyo Disneyland, you can hear it there. The Oriental Land Company gave Disney the big middle finger when they tried to get them to build another Laquint Mickey Tianna’s Salt Mine Adventure. After the meeting with Imagineering, they went out and put extra sprayers on their Splash Mountain.
