Friday, June 26, 2009

I Wonder What They Found

September 11, 1974 Disneyland Line:
At the present time, the Disney University is doing research on the history of the Park. In trying to re-create Disneyland as it has developed through the years, they are tracing the changes that have taken place both on and off stage. If you have any old maps, photos, guide books, or any other historical data, the University would greatly appreciate your help. All material used will be Xeroxed and returned. For further information or inquiries, please call Jon Worsdell at the Disney University at Ext. 641 or 642...Thanks!
What motivated them to research the Park's history at this point in time? A specific training program? Did anybody submit anything that we today would find amazing? What did the University eventually do with the material?

4 comments:

Daveland said...

Holy Canoli! Welcome back Jason! Where the heck have you been?

The call for info could have been in anticipation of the 20th anniversary.

Major Pepperidge said...

Just when I had nearly given up... a new post! Welcome back, don't be such a stranger.

Daveland's guess is as good as any; I would imagine that in 1974, there were plenty of people directly involved with every aspect of the park's development, alive and kicking, and not even especially antique. Imagineering was still thriving, cast members were happy, it must have been a relatively easy task to get info back then??

Jason Schultz said...

From the employee surveys (still no use of the term Cast Member by 1974), they weren't all quite so happy. The Line was professionalizing at this point, and I believe the University was under "new management" around this time. Perhaps the new management found such essential historical information lacking? I agree that the 20th anniversary could have been a motivating factor.

I'm not totally gone! Should be moving back to Southern California within a year, and as you can see from the Disneyland Resort Thesaurus Statistics sidebar, still actively at work on the thesaurus...

outsidetheberm said...

Glad you're back! Been missing your informative posts.

Have no clue what Disney was up to with this open call...