Taschen’s “Walt Disney’s Disneyland” a visual treat

By John Freeman on August 23, 2018

Specialist publisher Taschen has just released a stunning look back at the origins of Disneyland in Walt Disney’s Disneyland by Chris Nichols, a visual history of the world’s magic megalopolis.

Walt Disney dreamed for decades about opening the ultimate entertainment venue, but it wasn’t until the early 1950s that his handpicked team began to bring his vision to life. Together, artists, architects, and engineers transformed a dusty tract of orange groves about an hour south of Los Angeles into one of the world’s most beloved destinations.

Today, there are Disney resorts from Paris to Shanghai, but the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California, which has been visited by more than 800 million people to-date, remains one of America’s most popular attractions. From the day it opened on 17th July 1955, Disneyland brought history and fairy tales to life, the future into the present, and exciting cultures and galaxies unknown to our imaginations.

Walt Disney’s Disneyland is a bountiful visual history, drawing on Disney’s vast historical collections, private archives, and the golden age of photojournalism to provide unique access to the concept, development, launch, and enjoyment of this sun-drenched oasis of fun and fantasy.

Disneyland documents Walt’s earliest inspirations and ideas; the park’s extraordinary feats of design and engineering; its grand opening; each of its immersive “lands” from Main Street, U.S.A., to Tomorrowland; and the park’s evolution through the six decades since it opened. It is a treasure trove of original Disney documentation and expertise, with award-winning writer Chris Nichols drawing on his extensive knowledge of both Disneyland and Southern California history to reveal the fascinating tale of “the happiest place on Earth.”

Chris Nichols is a writer and historian specialising in Southern Californian architecture and culture. He is the author of The Leisure Architecture of Wayne McAllister and a long-time historic preservationist whose work has been profiled in Smithsonian magazine, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and LA Weekly. He serves on the board of directors of the Hollywood Heritage Museum, and his live appearances, lectures, exhibitions, and tours have enjoyed sell-out crowds. He currently writes Los Angeles magazine’s “Ask Chris” column.

• Walt Disney’s Disneyland is available from Amazon (using this link helps support downthetubes) and other good book shops, digital and physical

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About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.