Essay on Utopia - Disney's Utopian Community

1629 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Utopia as a social model

Disney's Utopian Community

The concept of utopian communities is a hot new commodity among major enterprises. The Walt Disney Corporation is currently marketing its own community called Celebration. Disney, known for creating worlds of fantasy through theme parks and movies tackles reality. According to architect Robert A.M. Stern, the idea behind Celebration is to "recapture the idea of a traditional American town, traditional in spirit, but modern in terms of what we know about how people live"(Oilande 1). Also, the town is "structured around the five cornerstones of life in Celebration: community, education, health, technology, and place"(Oilande 2). Celebration uses this concept to create a special utopian vision. Despite contradictions of artificiality, regulation, and price, Celebration is a good utopian vision because it has a sense of community, an outstanding educational system, and a credible health care system.

The notion of a artificial or theme park feel has come up as a possible concern. "The town resembles a movie set with the neat-and-pretty homes like facades"(Oilande 5). Disney is taking a community and making it a fantasy of the lost traditional suburb one would see on "Leave it to Beaver" or "Pleasantville". As one visitor of the new community stated, "the minute you drive into Celebration's property, Disney's visual magic takes hold. White fences reminiscent of Kentucky's Bluegrass Country, surround the property. Upon a closer inspection they prove to be plastic. And from a distance, the preview center looks like a classical mansion. It's not. It's a façade. Behind the mansion door is a pre-fab"(Wilson3). This ideal is created in a conference room at a corporate office somewhere and it i...

... middle of paper ...

...able: http://www.detnews.com/EDITPAGE/SAT1028/CANTOR.html.

Cottrell, Kenny. Celebration: Frequently Asked Questions. Tuldp. Avaliable: http://www.tudlp.org/celebfaq.html.

Disney. General Celebrations Facts and Figures. Available: http://www.primenet.com/~dbrady/oliande/celebfacts.html. February 1997.

Hoffman, Derek. Review of Disney's Celebration. Avaliable: http://mason.gmu.edu/~dhoffman/week4.htm. 12 February1997.

Lease, Daryl. Village theme for Disney: Wonderful World of Wal-Mart. The Free Lance-Star. Avaliable: http://.starweb.infi.net/columns/lease/dl032396.htm. 23 March1996.

Oliande, Sylvia. A Visit to Celebration. Avaliable: http://www.primenet.com/~dbrady/oliande/celebration.html. 9&10 March 1997.

Wilson, Craig. Celebration puts Disney in reality's realm. USA Today. Avaliable: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/usacelebration.html.

Show More
Related

  • The Nerd Play Summary

    653 Words  | 2 Pages

    The setup of the stage was very simple. It was the living room of a home in the early 1980’s. It looked like a normal household, and it had small things such as crumpled up pieces of paper lying around the wastebasket. It also had a couch, circular class table and a recliner in the living room. The dining room was to the left side of the stage and only had the dining table and surrounding chairs. There was a door in the back of the set where characters entered and exited through. Beside the door was a table and stool where Willum presumably worked on his blueprints for the hotel. The lighting design was great; it put you into the atmosphere of the

    Read More

  • Be Our Guest Rhetorical Analysis

    514 Words  | 2 Pages

    In chapter two of Be Our Guest, the system of guestology is addressed and dissected in more detail, with examples of success when correctly done. The book tells us how Disney would aim to please the audience, regardless of the rejection they received from distributors.

    Read More

  • The Main Street USA: Designing American Idealism Disney Theme Park’s

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    Younger, C. (2010). Dissecting Disney's lands: Main Street USA. Disneyology. Retrieved May 4, 2014 from http://disneyology.blogspot.ca/2010/06/dissecting-disneys-lands-main-street.html

    Read More

  • Art Spiegelman's Maus - Prisoner on the Hell Planet - A Case History

    1766 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the first frame on page 100 nest to the title "Prisoner on the Hell Planet: A Case History," including this picture of Artie and his mother at Trojan Lake in 1958 (ten years before his mother killed herself). Adding this picture of Artie and his mother brings a more personal touch to reader as they continue reading the comic strip. This strip is not just some cartoon Artie drew up, it's an abstract memory that he has of his mother's suicide. The next two frames in the strip portray Artie explaining that his mother killed herself, left no note, and how Artie's father found her dead in the bathtub. Seeing how Artie created his own character transmits to the reader how dark and tragic the impact this event has had on both himself and his father. They both have extremely dark eyes and faces, and are seriously thin; his father looks as if he is a skeleton in clothes. Seeing his father drawn this way illustrates the harsh life he lived.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest And Dead Poets Society

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    Consider McMurphy and Mr. Keating, both characters are very similar in a multitude of ways. Neither of them is in charge as they are both under their respective antagonist, either being Nurse Ratched or Principle Nolan. However throughout the progression of each plot, they both teach and inspire either the patients or the students to become individuals. McMurphy gave the patients the ability to seize back the power from Nurse Ratched through showing them the way how, and teaching the patients that they are their own person and have their own rights. Mr. Keating teaches the students how to be outside the box, as shown when in class he strays from the regular methods of teaching and shows the students a truly out-of-the-box concept about life, “Carpe Diem.” Towards the final moments of the plot, both characters achieve a full commitment to their cause that eventuates in self-sacrifice. McMurphy is lobotomized and Mr. Keating is fired from Welton Academy. However similarly in both plots, after both characters sacrifices themselves they pass on what they have learned and allowed others to beat their struggle for independence. Chief leaves the institution and the students stand up against Principle Nolan with what they believe in. Weir and Kesey use these characters to inspire and support those who struggle for independence and use their characterization as a technique to do so.

    Read More

  • The Sunshine State: California

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    Disneyland is known to be the happiest place on earth. Walt Disney is the founder of this amusement park. Walt had ...

    Read More

  • Peck's Theory of Love and Discipline in the film The Dead Poet's Society

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    Overall, it appears that Peck's theories on love and discipline provide an effective tool for analysis of relationships between characters in "The Dead Poets Society." This mutual relevance is even supported symbolically, when Professor Keating quotes Robert Frost and his "choosing the road less traveled," which is actually the title of Peck's book.

    Read More

  • Disneyland Informative Speech

    830 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the website dreamsunlimitedtravel accessed on November 16 2015, “The park opened with 5 original parks. Those parks are Main Street U.S.A, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland.” The idea for Main Street, U.S.A is derived from a typical Midwest town of the early 20th century. It’s suppose to reflect the Victorian era with a train station, emporium, double-decker buses, and horse-drawn streetcars. Adventureland is designed to recreate the feel of an exotic tropical place in a far-off region of the world. Frontierland recreates the setting of pioneer days along the American frontier. And finally, the Fantasyland was originally styled in a medieval European fairground fashion, but its 1983 refurbishment turned it into a Bavarian village. There have been 3 new parks added to Disneyland since opening day. These new parks include New Orleans square, Critter Country, and Mickey's Toontown. New Orleans Square is based on 19th-century New Orleans, opened on July 24, 1966. Critter Country opened in 1972 and formerly was the area home to Indian Village, where indigenous tribespeople demonstrated their dances and other customs. Mickey's Toontown opened in 1993 and was partly inspired by the fictional Los Angeles suburb of Toontown in the Touchstone Pictures' 1988 release Who Framed Roger

    Read More

  • spring awakening

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    For a college production, the acting was outstanding. I really felt the emotions. The lead Wendla, who was played by KyLeigh Zimmerer, was amazing. I have also seen bits and pieces of the Broadway version which starred Lea Michelle, and obviously if I were to compare the acting, the Broadway version would be victorious. However, for a college production, these actors have limited past experience, but their acting was professional. Also, when they sang the song "Those You've Known," I felt chills and had goose bumps because that was such an emotional song. You could feel all the emotions and guilt Melchior, played by Ryan Ramirez, was feeling because both his best friend, Moritz, played by Justin Noblitt, and the girl he impregnated, Wendla, died and he believed he was to blame. Moritz committed suicide while Wendla died from a botch abortion her mom for...

    Read More

  • Music News, or Just News?

    423 Words  | 1 Pages

    From sleek new photos of today's hottest bands, to ultra gorgeous supermodels, the covers of today's Rock-and-Roll magazines are sure to catch a reader's eye. Rolling Stone, with its huge magazine size, has opted to take a direction toward a more modern-like feel to their covers. With supermodels and classic rock bands draped across the front, consumers cannot help but snag it off the shelf. The larger than life photos definitely give Rolling Stone an edge.

    Read More

  • Utopia Essay

    3248 Words  | 7 Pages

    The concept of Utopia has been around for many years, tracing back to ancient Greece. The word for Utopia came from the Greek words ou and topos, meaning no place. Even from the beginning, the concept of Utopia was not seemed to be possible.

    Read More

  • Essay From A Utopia Vision To A Dystopian Society

    1757 Words  | 4 Pages

    I believe everyone has an ideal of a perfect society. No one wants to live in a society where there is violence and evil. In my opinion, a utopian society would consist of very few government mandated laws and a desirable constitution. People would get along, and everything would be perfect. In order to achieve such an ideal, people must do anything in their power to manifest what they have envisioned. Human nature, like any other animal’s nature, causes us to become competitive, especially with each other. In practice, the attempt to have a perfect society leads to the creation of a dystopian society where people are unhappy, afraid, and not treated fairly.

    Read More

  • Utopia Essay

    675 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ben Franklin himself said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

    Read More

  • Beautiful by Christina Aguilera

    538 Words  | 2 Pages

    Her tone in this song is at first mellow, but when she comes to the stanza of this song, she deliberately raises her voice to emphasize her genuine feelings. The tone describes her want and need for her thoughts to be truly heard. She wants the listener to capture her essence and the view of herself. In this specific stanza, she explains that s...

    Read More

  • Dead Poets Society Analysis

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    The movie, Dead Poets Society, takes place at Welton Academy, an elite preparatory school for boys. The four pillars of the school’s philosophy are tradition, honor, discipline, and excellence. The new English teacher, a Welton Academy alumnus, is John Keating, played by Robin Williams. Keating believes that the purpose of education is to teach students to think for themselves. John Keating challenges the traditional learning techniques with a new progressive and humanistic approach, through a student-centered curriculum.

    Read More

More about Essay on Utopia - Disney's Utopian Community

Open Document