Concept Art: Tomorrowland

In the early years of Disneyland, Tomorrowland was probably the most malleable land. What I mean by that is it was clearly (and by Walt’s own admission) not done when it opened. A lot of the attractions were intentionally temporary due to both financial constraints and time constraints for park opening, and everyone knew that the land would eventually evolve into something greater.

Given those beginnings, looking through the concept art for this land is a very different experience than many of the other more solidified lands across the resort. Rather than identifying a particular area from a photo, I saw things like architectural elements that made it off the page and into the park.

Let’s take a look at Tomorrowland’s concept art, and what pieces we can find in the park today.

 Source: The Walt Disney Family Museum

This angle shows a large rounded courtyard with a huge rocket shop and a few other futuristic building shapes. While there is an open courtyard in the land, it doesn’t quite have this feeling to it. But I do think the idea of a tall center structure and walls on either side did somewhat translate to the land’s entrance. Today, the Astro Orbitor invites guests into the land, and the attraction buildings on either side create a walkway leading to the central courtyard.

I found this piece of concept art super interesting because I think it shows three of the futuristic elements you see everywhere in Tomorrowland: orbs, rings, and cut-out/disc shapes.

 Source: Time Magazine

These shapes appear on almost every building in the land. From this angle, you can see all 3, plus some spikes that also appear frequently throughout Tomorrowland.

This is one of the few pieces of concept art I found that appears relatively close to the final result. Rocket to the Moon once invited guests to fly into outer space, with the large rocket itself being a feature at the central courtyard.

 Source: Disney History Institute

While the original rocket is gone, Alien Pizza Planet pays tribute to the former attraction with a scaled down version in roughly the same area of the land.

This is another “element” image. Adding onto orbs and rings, rocket shapes and towers are becoming part of Tomorrowland’s DNA.

 Source: Time Magazine

This little sign for the Tomorrowland train station captures a lot of the spirit of that concept art above.

Here we have another piece of concept art that is closer to the 1950s reality. The dining areas surrounding the courtyard were never quite this large, but they did have a similar layout to this photo.

 Source: Disney History Institute

Today, the land is far too crowded to have this kind of expansive dining area. But the shape of those sun shades and rocket details both survive in the land’s central building that was once the PeopleMover platform.

And finally, I think this piece of concept art does a great job of capturing the land’s kinetic energy. You have the PeopleMover speeding above, people exploring on the ground below, and Space Mountain‘s adventures looming in the back. Plus, astronauts did once roam the land to mingle with visitors!

 Source: Never Was Mag

The curved roofline shape from the art survives in the Astro Blasters facade, as does the marquee’s big spike.

As I mentioned in the beginning, this concept art is by no means an expectation vs. reality exercise. Instead, it made me notice and appreciate a lot of the details that were once considered super futuristic, like the orbs and rings across the buildings. It’s funny to think about how our perception of what’s next changes over time…and Tomorrowland is almost like a weird time capsule now of 50’s imagination. While I completely agree the land desperately needs some TLC, viewing it from this perspective did give me a slightly better appreciation for it’s current state.