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

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

ABSTRACT:

This study investigates the Kingdom of Morocco pavilion at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World, near Orlando, Florida. In so doing, this study 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. The Kingdom of Morocco pavilion 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.

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 in image production can be 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. Modernist utopian urban planning, such as in 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. Furthermore, the collapsing of reality and fantasy will demonstrate how Utopian urban planning ideals are actualized at Epcot Center’s 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