A Cultural History of the Disneyland Theme Parks
Middle Class Kingdoms
Distributed for Intellect Ltd
A Cultural History of the Disneyland Theme Parks
Middle Class Kingdoms
When the first Disneyland opened its doors in 1955, it reinvented the American amusement park and transformed the travel, tourism, and entertainment industries forever. Now a global vacation empire, the original park in Anaheim, California, has been joined by massive complexes in Florida, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.
Spanning six decades, three continents, and five distinct cultures, Sabrina Mittermeier presents an interdisciplinary examination of the parks, situating them in their proper historical context and exploring the distinct cultural, social, and economic landscapes that defined each one at the time of its construction. Mittermeier then spotlights the central role of class in the subsequent success or failure of each venture. The first comparative study of the Disney theme parks, the book closes a significant gap in existing research and is an important new contribution to the field.
288 pages | 6.69 x 9.61 | © 2020
Anthropology: Cultural and Social Anthropology
Sociology: General Sociology, Social History
Reviews
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Cultural Relevance of Disneyland
Part I: The American Disney Theme Parks
An Orange Grove in Anaheim: The Original Disneyland (1955)
Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom (1971) and the Age of Fracture
Part II: The International Disney Theme Parks
‘Is There Really a Disneyland in America?’ – The Unique Case of Tokyo Disneyland (1983)
A ‘Cultural Chernobyl?’ – EuroDisney (1992) and the Theme Park Public
Hong Kong Disneyland (2005): A Site of Local Pride and Conflict
‘Authentically Disney, Distinctly Chinese’ – Shanghai Disneyland (2016)
Middle Class Kingdoms: Then, Now, and Forever?
Bibliography
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