Themed Lands and Global Metaphors:
Epcot Center and the Kingdom of Morocco Pavilion

M.A. Thesis by Mahlon W.L. Chute
Copyright 2004

ABSTRACT:

The Kingdom of Morocco pavilion, at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World, Florida, is specifically related to the manner in which Disney-themed architecture and spaces act as referents for national and cultural identities while relying heavily on precedents in carefully planned arrangements of themed spaces, not the least of which were those utilized in the World’s Fairs. Modernist utopian urban planning, such as the Garden Cities of Ebenezer Howard and the City Beautiful Movement, was developed from fairs such as the 1893 Columbian Exposition and contributed significantly to the design of Disney-themed parks and architecture. This study investigates the Kingdom of Morocco pavilion at Epcot Center and seeks to understand the shift from a Disney architecture which is based upon a particularly American national context to one in which global considerations become paramount.

LEFT: George Rester (Architectural Director)
Kingdom of Morocco Signage
Kingdom of Morocco Pavilion, Epcot Center
near Orlando, FL (1980-1984)
Photograph by Mahlon W.L. Chute
Copyright 2003

RIGHT: Restaurant Marakesch
Rendering by Herbert Dickens Ryman, 1984
Kingdom of Morocco Pavilion, Epcot Center
near Orlando, FL (1980-1984)




A comparative study of the spatial organization of the 1955 Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Walt Disney’s Experimental Prototype Community for Tomorrow, 1966, and Epcot Center, 1982, provide the material with which to understand this shift to a global attention in the image production and architectural articulation of the Walt Disney Company. This shift is characterized by the incorporation of culturally specific motifs and narratives as well as by the creation of projects which form close visual and spatial bonds to World’s Fairs.The collapsing of reality and fantasy at Epcot Center will demonstrate how Utopian urban planning ideals are actualized at the Kingdom of Morocco pavilion.

 

LEFT: George Rester (Architectural Director)
PLAN
Kingdom of Morocco Pavilion, Epcot Center
near Orlando, FL (1980-1984)
Rendering by Mahlon W.L. Chute
Copyright 2003

RIGHT: George Rester (Architectural Director)
Kingdom of Morocco Pavilion, Epcot Center
near Orlando, FL (1980-1984)
Photograph by Mahlon W.L. Chute
Copyright 2003




Table of Contents
List of Illustrations 1
I. Introduction 7
  Designing Utopia 13
  Control as a Tool in the Architectural Design and Planning of the Disney Parks 17
  Cultural Imperialism: Exportation of Disney Architectural Environments 24
  The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow 28
  Kingdom of Morocco Pavilion 34
II. Disneyland and the 1964 New York World’s Fair 43
  The Spatial Formation of Disneyland 44
  Temporal Formations in the Disneyland Park 52
  Disneyland and the Intersection of Image and Architecture 55
  Walt Disney and the 1964 New York World’s Fair 64
III. EPCOT and Epcot Center: Utopian City/Amusement Park 70
  Traces of Disneyland in the Master Plan of Walt Disney World 72
  The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow 76
  The End of EPCOT, the Creation of Epcot Center: World’s Fairs and
Amusement Parks
91
  Epcot Center: Structuring a Permanent World’s Fair 95
IV. Morocco at the World’s Fairs and Epcot Center 101
  Morocco’s History of Presence and Design at World’s Fairs 106
  Planning the Kingdom of Morocco Pavilion, Epcot Center 113
V. The Kingdom of Morocco Pavilion: Framing the Unreal 124
  The Didactic Pavilion: Text, Display and Presence 124
  Framing the Unreal 141
Appendix A: Informational Plaques within the Morocco Pavilion, Epcot Center 151
Appendix B: Walt Disney Company Themed Amusement Parks 154
Appendix C: Transcripts of Dedication Ceremonies and Radio Interviews Related to Disneyland and the 1964 New York World's Fair 156
Appendix D: Future World Pavilion Themes and Corporate Sponsors 161
Bibliography 162
Illustrations 165