"From coonskin caps to lightsabers" Topic

"In a few days, Disneyland is closing some attractions—most of them in Frontierland—to make way for construction of a new Star Wars themed area. The Disneyland Railroad, Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes, Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia, and Tom Sawyer Island Pirates' Lair will be out of commission for at least a year, while the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree, Petting Farm, and a frontier-themed BBQ restaurant are shutting down for good.

It's somewhat fitting that Disney is replacing parts of Frontierland with Star Wars, because it reflects some long-term changes in the relationship between popular culture, childhood, and historical memory.

For kids of my parents' and grandparents' generation, the American frontier was the setting for a lot of the mass media they consumed and the toys they played with, whether they were listening to cowboy-themed radio shows in the 1930s or watching the wildly popular Davy Crockett serial on the Disneyland TV series in the 1950s. The Crockett serial starring Fess Parker was so popular that it became a bona fide part of the Zeitgeist for children of the 1950s. According to the L.A. Times, at the height of Crockettmania, parents were buying 5,000 coonskin caps per day. The same article reports that Disney moved some $300 USD million in Crockett-themed merchandise before the whole thing ran its course. I ran that figure through some inflation calculators. Turns out $300 USD million in 1955 would be the equivalent of $2.6 USD billion in 2015. To put that in perspective, it's more than the 2013 merchandising revenue from Spider-Man, the Avengers, Batman, and Superman combined…"

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Amicalement
Armand

Bummer, riding the Steamboat and visiting Frontierland were some of my best memories of visiting Disneyland when I was a kid. Out with the old, in with the new I guess. Since I'm not in Disneyland's key demographic anymore nor am I all that interested in Star Wars all I can say is meh.

It all started going to when they closed the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride…

Amen to that Flintloque.

Agree!…

Amicalement
Armand

Is it me or is that canoe seriously overloaded?

I hate that ride. It's the worst ride I've ever been on. You actually have to row the damn canoe around the lake.

Though, I love the fort.

i rode 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea this past September – didn't go on Columbia but watched it 'sail' by and 'fire' its cannons. Rode the steamboat, went out on the island (via the rafts). It was fulfilling a lot desires – all of these were closed for my first visit a dozen years ago. And yelled out to the canoe a few 'stroke, stroke, stroke' and got a vigorous 'you need to take this ride!' response. Sounds like only the petting zoo, jamboree, and restaurant are closing permanently – though I didn't click to the full article.

You rode this:

last September? Where did you find the time machine?

Actually, they were yellow and they went "under" the water but the theme was more on Finding Nemo, so maybe already a generational update. It was close enough for my tastes, I guess. I'm pretty sure it was the same ride, just updated. For me, it was about going on the ride. I probably would have enjoyed a Captain Nemo theme more, though. But it was fun watching the little people's responses to the fishy variation of Nemo. And my wife got a kick out of it, too.

Ah, that's the Disneyland version. The Disney World version was 20k Leagues themed. It was closed in 1994, the lagoon filled in, and the space reclaimed.