Lunchbox and Thermos – Disney’s Tomorrowland, ca. 1970s
This week Disney celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding, so we’re honoring the historic milestone with this Tomorrowland lunchbox and thermos. Tomorrowland is one of the five original “lands” of Disneyland which opened along with the park in 1955. As you can guess from the lunchbox, Tomorrowland had an outer space theme and was set in the far-off year of 1986! Although this vision of the future was not quite realized, it’s fun to see this inspired dream for the future.
It’s awesome to think how far Disney has come in the past years, cranking out hand-drawn animated classics like Steamboat Willie in 1928 to the CGI-animated Strange Worlds in 2022. Since its founding in 1923, the company has become one of the world’s largest entertainment companies, producing 61 animated feature films and hundreds of animated short films, live action films, television shows, theme parks, resorts, books and other print media, music, cruise lines, streaming services, and a plethora of consumer products like this lunchbox.
Did you know that there are 12 Disney theme parks worldwide? In 2019 (pre-pandemic), the parks welcomed a combined 157 million visitors making it the world’s most visited theme park company. Magic Kingdom had 21 million visitors alone! Tomorrowland is featured in five Disney parks around the world, including Magic Kingdom, and although each version is different, they all focus on the future, technology, outer space, discovery, and science fiction.
In Walt Disney’s words, “Tomorrow can be a wonderful age. Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come. The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future.” Disney was very interested in the future and wanted to show the American public how he saw the world moving toward the world of tomorrow. Tomorrowland was the culmination of his views and dreams for a future shaped by technology, science, and innovation.
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