Tomorrowland Is Gone but It’s Not Forgotten

Nostalgic for the future? The future, that is, as envisioned by Disney’s in-house dreamers of the 1950s and 1960s. They dreamed of a world where we would all routinely travel to the moon, whisk down freeways on carpets of air and live in cities entirely enclosed for climate control.

It was a world where almost everything that moved had tail fins. It was “Tomorrowland,” a part of the early Disneyland that now seems more dated than many historical monuments. It’s not that we have progressed past the marvels of “Tomorrowland,” where everything seemed so clean, bright and possible. It’s that somewhere along the way we realized that technology would not be able to solve all our ills.

Keeping up with the times, Disney has replaced many of the more optimistic and downright kitschy parts of “Tomorrowland.” But you can still travel to the old “Tomorrowland” via one of this era’s technological marvels, the World Wide Web. Just close your eyes, pretend your computer mouse is Tinker Bell’s wand and click on “Yesterland,” one of the most delightful sites on the Internet. Here, a net citizen named Werner W. Weiss has paid tribute to rides, shows and even restaurants that have been discontinued in Disneyland.

Using bright Disney colors, he has created a Web site with information and pictures on “Rocket to the Moon,” the “Carousel of Progress,” “Adventure Thru Inner Space” and other dismantled locales.

When I was younger and seeing things more symbolically, I used to love to begin a visit to Disneyland with the “Adventure Thru Inner Space.” Crowds would pass through the Mighty Microscope that magically shrank them for a tour of the world of atoms and molecules.

Back before anyone was talking about the “inner child,” I figured this shrinking “Adventure” prepared me to take on Disneyland with the eyes of a child. I wasn’t even disillusioned when at the end of the Atomobile ride, we visitors were subjected to displays by Monsanto and the theme song “Miracles from Molecules” written by the same team that gave us “It’s a Small World.”

“Inner Space,” which opened in 1967 in the spot that previously housed “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” closed in 1986. The “Carousel of Progress” was another favorite. In this circular attraction the audience was shown a family (played by audio-animatronic robots) at home in six different time periods. The gimmick was that it was not the sets that moved to show us the different periods, it was the whole audience that moved as the big theater rotated.

The attraction, sponsored by General Electric in Disneyland from 1967 to 1973, ended with a gadget-filled home of the future. I remember being struck by the fact that Grandpa and Grandma, who had been a part of all the previous scenes, were now absent. Mom pointed out that they now lived in a section of the city reserved for retired folks.

In the meantime, Mom and Dad gave us a tour. Mother: “Now far off to your right, we have a welcome neighbor. . . .” Father: “Our GE nuclear power plant, dear.” See you at https://www.mcs.net/ ~werner/yester.html.

* Cyburbia’s e-mail address is david.colker@latimes.com.