The Disney Monorail: Imagineering A Highway In The Sky

Even casual Disney fans are familiar with the iconic Monorail. Disneyland’s version may not be the mega transportation system of Disney World, but it’s a beloved attraction that has swirling views inside Tomorrowland that bring riders back again and again.

But how much do you know about the Monorail’s development, or why exactly it was such a feat of innovation? The Disney Monorail: Imagineering a Highway in the Sky explores exactly that.

PREMISE

The Disney Monorail walks through the evolution of the monorail from its inception to its legacy in Disney parks worldwide. Paired with stunning artwork and historical park photographs, readers follow the journey of the attraction as it became the first daily operating monorail in the western hemisphere.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

From the publisher:

Jeff Kurtti is a leading authority on The Walt Disney Company, its founder, and its history. He is the author of more than thirty books, a writer-director of award-winning documentary content, and a respected public speaker. Since 1995, Kurtti has enjoyed a career as an author and consultant in the motion picture, theatre, and theme park entertainment industries. He was creative director, content consultant, and media producer for The Walt Disney Family Museum and a producer of The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story.

Vanessa Hunt is a Walt Disney Imagineer and a lifelong Disney aficionado. Her education is in art history, and she is part of the group responsible for the more than 160,000 pieces of original artwork preserved in the Walt Disney Imagineering Art Collection. She has been curator of several Imagineering exhibits featuring many of the works from the Art Collection, and has consulted for The Walt Disney Family Museum. Vanessa is also the coauthor of the wildly popular volumes Poster Art of the Disney Parks (2012) and Maps of the Disney Parks (2016), as well as a designer on Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks (2019).

Paul Wolski is a graphic designer, creative director, and illustrator whose career began in environmental graphics with Walt Disney Imagineering. He served as character illustrator for all signage in Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland and provided character graphics for Tokyo Disneyland and what is now known as Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. After two decades of working in publishing and retail design, Paul has returned to Disney as a book designer, collaborating with Jeff Kurtti on From All of Us to All of You: The Disney Christmas Card (2018) and working with Hunt on Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks (2019).

MY REVIEW

I really enjoyed this book, but it’s not terribly deep.

I went in thinking this book would tell the story of the engineering that went into creating the monorail. But that’s not quite what it is. This is more of a coffee table book, with some truly amazing concept art and historic park photographs. The design of the book itself is really great too, with great styling and engaging page layouts.

For me, the book falls a little short on depth. It largely regurgitates the same talking points Disney always shares about the attraction. So you don’t really get any new behind-the-scenes nuggets or much technical information on the actual engineering. I also think they should’ve called this book “The Disneyland Monorail”, because it is disproportionately focused on the Disneyland version over any of the other Disney parks around the world.

Overall, I do recommend The Disney Monorail, especially if you’re not super familiar with the Monorail’s backstory. It’s an enjoyable coffee table read and the artwork within is truly incredible.