If you read enough Disney books, there are a few different formats which you find recurring. One common format is the park walk around, where the author strolls from land to land sharing secrets and history. It is a familiar book type to Disney fans, where if you have read five Disney books you’ve read this format at least twice. Honestly, I have read the walkthroughs enough, I’m not sure one could add a new flair to it. But I am willing to give an academic version of this style a chance.
Walt’s Utopia: Disneyland and American Mythmaking Second Edition by Priscilla Hobbs provides a new take to a familiar format. Hobbs takes readers through Walt Disney’s original park, Disneyland, with a look not to fun facts, but discussions of myth making in the park. Hobbs declares that Disneyland is one of America’s most mythic spaces as a location where reality is often surplanted by imagination. Here the American myths of exceptionalism can be built out and explored by guests on a physical canvas, allowing guests to create their own connections and personal myths about the park. Hobbs adopts an interdisciplinary approach to explore Disney myths. Hobbs uses textual analysis to break down the stories that Disney offers guests to reach their foundations. Additionally, Hobbs relies on contextual analysis to better understand the symbols and metaphors that guests are immersed within. Often what Hobbs finds are stories that provide guests reassurance, not lost on me as a goal of Disney Legend John Hench. In a world that may not have always seemed orderly, Disneyland often bolsters the myth of human progress even going so far as allowing one to buy into the myth through the purchase of items tying guests back to the park. With an approach set to review the myths of Disneyland, Hobbs walks readers through the park from Main Street USA to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, discussing not just the history of the attractions and lands, but also the myths the lands communicate to guests as they immerse themselves in the themed environments.
I found Hobbs’ discussions to be interesting and enlightening. I would remind us all that theme parks are often seen as a setting for children and play. Therefore, you may wonder if one really needs to analyze the messages an myths that the park is projecting. But Hobbs helps us to understand the power of the myths and why they are so attractive to audiences like Disney adults, who seek a more ordered world, let’s be honest working isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and why the parks are able to make individual connections that foster return visits and return spending. For example, I love the Adventureland’s of the world. I think of them as places where one can explore and have fun. Hobbs notes that placemaking here is attempting to establish a world that was seen as exotic by mid-century Americans. The plants, sounds, and smells all created a hyperreality of an unspoiled world. Where, myself and my own studies of the British Empire has made it clear that what I am seeing is fiction. But I find myself returning to enter the myth Disney storytellers have crafted for me.
Along with Hobbs’ argument, I also appreciate Hobbs’ viewpoint. I don’t feel like Hobbs is ever anti-Disney. We have all seen or heard about academic Disney books with only one goal, burn it all down! Hobbs is a Disney Parks fan and I believe quite comfortable in the explored lands. Hobbs is just able to separate from the placemaking to step outside and review the story being told. And while Hobbs may show some fandom, the author especially with this edition is still able to hold Disney accountable by noting the connections between their mythmaking and the consumption and consumerism it encourages. As I often say, Disney doesn’t leave a dollar on the table. So I think even the most ardent Disney defenders must admit that while we love the parks they are quite good at separating us from our money. I also appreciate that Hobbs is very transparent on their academic approach, not leading me to believe that I am reading a history book when I am really reading a literary deconstruction of a physical place.
Walt’s Utopia: Disneyland and American Mythmaking Second Edition by Priscilla Hobbs is a unique way to walk through a Disney park. Hobbs reminds us that Disneyland is a myth, one that creates reassurance about the world and human progress. Additionally, this created deep individual attachments to the park, even for adults playing in a land seen as childish by others. These attachments support Disney corporate goals as guests become consumers and consume beyond park tickets to further their personal attachment. Overall, I found Walt’s Utopia to be well-written and thought provoking, a good read for Disney fans who want to think about their park visits intellectually.
Review Copy Provided for Review
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