Keepin' on the move
Magic Highway U.S.A. and Walt's idyllic vision for highways of the future
Happy Wednesday, readers! Today’s post is likened to one of those days in elementary school when your beloved teacher briefly left the classroom and returned with that glorious, wheeled television cart. Rather than punching through a couple episodes of Mathnet, we’ll be feasting our eyes upon a lil’ fragment of Disney history that is nestled in one of my favorite eras: the mid-century days of postwar optimism and retro-futurism design.
But first, let’s get into some history.
It’s June 1956 and President Dwight D. Eisenhower just signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act into law, which authorized a whoppin’ $25 billion (almost $289 billion today) for the construction of roughly forty-one thousand miles of interstate highway across the United States. Inspired by Germany’s impressive network of four-lane superhighways (also known as the autobahn) that he saw during his World War II days, Eisenhower envisioned a similar but far larger network that would — among other things — connect American motorists from sea to shining sea.
Ever the pragmatist, Walt Disney understood that Americans could only continue to construct and utilize a traditional highway system for so long. At some point, we had to get a lil’ more creative in the ways in which we move.
So on May 14th, 1958, Walt hosted an episode of Disneyland called Magic Highway, U.S.A. where he introduced his audience to the early days and rapid evolution of motoring in the United States, along with a look at the “highway of the future” as envisioned by Walt and engineers and urban planners (starting at 39:15).1
As in the past, the highway will continue to play a vital role in the progress of civilization. It will be our magic carpet to new hopes, new dreams, and a better way of life for the future.
While a bit outlandish and humorous in some ways, the episode was an engaging and fairly convincing infomercial for the Interstate Highway System. It told audiences, “Hey, look at how spectacular this is! With a shiny sedan and a full tank of gas, who knows what the open road might hold for you and your family.”
Additionally, this episode is solid proof of the era’s limitless optimism. You’re telling me that we could’ve had tubular highways stretching both land and sea or nuclear-powered, domed vehicles that ran off of punchcards?
The logistics of it all seem wildly complicated in today’s terms, but very little was deemed impossible in this day and age. After all, we’re talking about the Atomic Age here. Humans wouldn’t even land on the moon for another ten years! Opportunity was ripe, and the possibilities were endless.
Also, it tickles me in a dark and haha-I-hate-it-here sort of way to know that despite being able to conduct business meetings from a three-paneled television in his flying car, the father still had to go to the office. I guess they weren’t too far off about some things after all…
The now-defunct Disneyland attraction Rocket Rods featured clips of Magic Highway U.S.A. in the queue. With that track and those ride vehicles, it sure does fit the bill.
One could say that Walt Disney was a whole lot of things but one thing he certainly wasn’t was unimaginative. If you were to sit down with him over a cup of coffee (or his favorite libation, a Scotch Mist) and ask what he broadly envisioned for the future, I imagine he’d have some ideas. The man would be absolutely overflowing.
His enthused curiosity surrounding technology and innovation is what ultimately led to the ideas of Tomorrowland and the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (or EPCOT), as well the Monorail, various attractions found throughout the theme parks, and other forms of entertainment circulated by way of books, print media, television shows, films, etc.
Walt assumed the unique role of not only entertaining his audiences, but also introducing them to relevant and intriguing topics that would fuel and hopefully sustain their interest in the possibilities of tomorrow. Whether behind the screen or a windshield, “we spin the wheel and span a nation.” That’s magic, noted.
See ya real soon,
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Former Disney artist Kevin Kidney cleaned up a handful of publicity stills from the premiere of the episode and they’re *chef’s kiss* — so clean, crisp, and bright!