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 | |
| 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