Disneyland and the Rise of Automation Book Review
Disneyland and the Rise of Automation: How Technology Created the Happiest Place on Earth by Roland Betancourt is one of the latest additions to the library of academic treatises on Disney. Professor Betancourt takes us on a deep dive on how the tenets and implementations of automation not only helped create Disneyland but how automation influenced manufacturing, technology, and society. He also addresses how early 20th century business ultimately influenced Disneyland. With Walt Disney’s known love of technology, a book on this subject should be no surprise, but Betancourt takes us on a trip that sheds light into uncharted and previously un-researched areas.
Betancourt sets the tone early, in that Disneyland would not have existed without the business practices of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Whereas industry looked towards efficiencies in manufacturing, Disney considered their manufacturing process as moving people. Disney and his Imagineers spent time visiting and researching different manufacturing facilities, like the Ford River Rouge Plant, to gain insight into automation and technology. When Disney saw components being moved along the manufacturing line, they translated these ideas into ways of moving guests throughout a themed environment, thus beginning the process of automating Disneyland from the opening days of the park.
How Automation Shaped Disneyland’s Design
Part of the story sheds light on how early amusement park owners and operators used automation for ride safety and potential labor savings. Early operators treated rides like factory floors. The insight and research provided by Betancourt helps tell the broader story of Disneyland and the pioneers of amusement park development. It’s s fascinating tale that showcases the innovators in industry and amusement parks.
The book is dense and jam-packed with technical details; the average Disney fan will struggle with the text and some of the ideas. Still, it is a well-researched and presented book. As a longtime Disney book reader (and reviewer), I found myself needing to take some breaks to digest and ruminate on Betancourt’s texts. But I did glean information that was new to me in many areas of Disneyland technology.
The Hidden Tech Behind Disneyland’s Rides
What really elevates the book, though, are the connections Betancourt draws that most Disney historians have overlooked. Did you know the same magnetic recording tape once used to test ballistic missiles was repurposed to give voice to the talking macaws in the Enchanted Tiki Room? Or that the Programmable Logic Controllers borrowed from automotive assembly lines are what bring the Matterhorn Bobsleds, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to life behind the scenes? Betancourt organizes the book into five parts — Automation, Systems Control, Feedback, Computerization, and Animation — and by the time you reach the final section on Audio-Animatronics, you’ll never look at the Enchanted Tiki Room or Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln the same way again. At 416 pages with nearly 200 black-and-white illustrations, photographs, and technical diagrams, this is a hefty addition to any Disney library, and Kirkus Reviews awarded it a starred review, calling it “a superbly researched, structured, and written treatise on how two behemoth 20th-century trends converged.”
If you’re a casual Disney fan looking for a light behind-the-scenes read, this might not be the book for you. But if you’re an Imagineering nerd, an engineer, or someone who has ever wondered how Walt Disney turned factory floor logic into family entertainment, Disneyland and the Rise of Automation belongs on your shelf. Pick up a copy from Princeton University Press ($35 for the hardcover or ebook) or your favorite bookseller, set aside some time to really dig in, and prepare to see the parks — and the machines humming quietly behind every ride — in a whole new light. I’d love to hear what you think once you’ve read it, so drop a comment below or find me on social media and let’s talk automation, Imagineering, and everything in between.
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