The strange case of Dr. von Braun and Mr. Disney: Frontierland, tomorrowland, and America's final frontier

Catherine L. Newell

doi:10.3138/jrpc.25.3.416

The strange case of Dr. von Braun and Mr. Disney: Frontierland, tomorrowland, and America's final frontier

Catherine L. Newell

Religious Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

When Disneyland opened in 1955, it featured America's past in Frontierland and looked at America's future in Tomorrowland. Together they represent what scholar of religion Mircea Eliade called a "religious nostalgia" for a mythic past; in this case, a nostalgia for the western frontier. The conjoining of space exploration with the historical frontier solidified space as America's new frontier in the popular imagination and a sense of being called by God to explore the new frontier of outer space. Disney's Tomorrowland, in tension with Frontierland, paralleled how nostalgia for the western frontier was revived as faith in the future.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	416-429
Number of pages	14
Journal	Journal of Religion and Popular Culture
Volume	25
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3138/jrpc.25.3.416
State	Published - Jan 1 2013

Keywords

Frontierland
Tomorrowland
Walt Disney
Wernher von Braun
final frontier
religious nostalgia

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cultural Studies
Religious studies

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10.3138/jrpc.25.3.416

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