Mouse Extra

Mouse Extra’s special holiday series, the 12 Milestones of Walt Disney World History, continues today with a look at the last time Walt appeared on film, and the impact that film had on Disney World. 

Walt Disney World operates with an unbelievable amount of freedom.  It is a freedom that is unprecedented among not only theme parks, but among any industry in the world.  They are essentially free to operate on their own without intervention from local elected officials or taxpayers.  Because of this freedom, Walt Disney World has become the giant it is today, and they owe this freedom to one of Walt Disney’s final efforts in his life; the famous Epcot Film of 1966.

As I am sure you can imagine, this type of independence does not come easily within the political realm in the United States, and some in Florida were not at all happy about the idea of leaving a California company completely in charge of a large swath of Florida’s land.  But Disney was convinced there was no other way, and the political wrangling ensued.    As a way to close the deal, and perhaps get the prevailing opinion on his side, Walt Disney shot a film promoting the “Florida Project” and laying out his plans for an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.   He was going to build the country’s greatest city, and the politicians agreed with him.  Thus began the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the legislative arm that allowed Disney World to operate with nearly complete freedom.

The film is a fascinating insight into the Epcot that never was.  It was also the last time Walt Disney appeared on film.  He died only a short time later.

So why is this film a milestone in Walt Disney World history?  Like I said before, it went a long way in helping pave the political road for the resort’s future.  And that reason should not to be diminished in the slightest.  Though much of this political freedom was manipulated by future Disney executives and few of the plans actually realized after Walt’s death, this freedom has fueled what seems to be a never ending expansion and has allowed Disney World a leverage among the local governments that is unheard of anywhere else.

But it also stands as a sort of reference point for what Walt Disney himself wanted out of Walt Disney World, specifically Epcot.  When Imagineers went to build the resort’s second theme park, they wanted to make a park that was somehow connected to their late-hero’s vision and ideas.  They couldn’t build the city, but they could build their own creative monument to the best of what Walt’s Epcot plans had to offer.  Whether Walt himself would be happy with what has become of Epcot not is infinitely debatable, but without this film one must wonder if an Epcot in any form would have ever happened at all.