This blog exists mainly as a repository for my thoughts and ideas. One idea that I continually come back to is how much I love retro futurism. I love how people thought the future was going to look, and I love looking at the styles of yesteryear. One inspiring look back at looking forward was the EPCOT Center attraction Horizons. In the attraction, the riders are shown several ways the future would have looked to people in the past, and then shows them where the future might be heading. This ride inspired me, and I always wanted to create something around that idea of how the future can look to a person. At first, I tried to create a computer generated ride through of the original attraction with some updated moments. This idea never materialized completely, but I noticed something in the work I was doing. Space Mountain fit perfectly in every version of the future I could create. I was intrigued by this idea, and I decided to make versions of each Disney Parks Tomorrowlands, from Anaheim to Hong Kong. The first pictures are the various times Horizons showed, and then a few of where the future might take us.
The Future of Jules Verne: .
I wanted the picture to have soft pinks, like a sunrise.
Jules Verne was a personal hero of mine. I loved his Extraordinary Voyage tales, and the scientific approach they took to creating amazing new devices and worlds. The picture above, an impressionistic Paris, was a tribute to those works. I also used various elements of Discoveryland in Disneyland Paris, which was inspired by Jules Verne and the other great visionaries of Europe. Verne's Nautilus joins Da Vinci's Flying Machine and Disney's Hyperion airship. As this is the first picture, I will talk about the various elements from Disney parks that made it in. I used Space Mountain in each picture, although exactly how it looks would vary. I also tried to use the spinner ride from each Tomorrowland somewhere in the picture.
The Future of Art Deco: .
Yes. The picture is a tribute to Edward Hopper's Nighthawkes.
Art Deco was a unique point in design, where industry and decor met. The sharp angles and exposed metalwork compliment the idea of the future quite nicely. It also gained interest from the silent film Metropolis. The film featured a strong contrast for a bright progressive future and the harsh reality that it takes to make it. In the picture, Space Mountain, resembling its look on the Walt Disney World Tomorrowland 94 poster, looms above as the bright beacon of tomorrow while the dark gritty gear toil away. This picture also has a secondary function as a form of Yester-Tomorrowland. The robot chef and butler in the red coat are from the EPCOT Horizons attraction, and the two aliens are from the Magic Kingdom Alien Encounter. It amused me to have these forgotten characters hanging out in a dive, maybe reminiscing on better days.
The Future of Mid Century Mod .
The red white and blue sunset gives this a patriotic look.
This was the first picture I made; it was a plan for retheming the original Tomorrowland at Disneyland. The entire picture is a tribute to the original 1969 New Tomorrowland, and the mid century styling of the Jetsons. The Pop century future is set above the clouds, where floating houses are connected by people-mover tracks. The House of Tomorrow, the flying saucers, even the Tomorrowland Terrace Stage all make an appearance. Space Mountain is similar to the original concept art by John Hench. The flying saucers are launching off around the Clock of the World, taking the place of the original spinner. As this was an attempt at retheming Tomorrowland, I had intended that spinner to be the new spinner, using the double sized flying saucer design from Hong Kong Disneyland.