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Title details for Three Years in Wonderland by Todd James Pierce - Available

Three Years in Wonderland

The Disney Brothers, C. V. Wood, and the Making of the Great American Theme Park

by Todd James Pierce
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While the success of Disneyland is largely credited to Walt and Roy Disney, there was a third, mostly forgotten dynamo instrumental to the development of the park—fast-talking Texan C. V. Wood. Three Years in Wonderland presents the never-before-told, full story of "the happiest place on earth." Using information from over one hundred unpublished interviews, Todd James Pierce lays down the arc of Disneyland's development from an idea to a paragon of entertainment.
In the early 1950s, the Disney brothers hired Wood and his team to develop a feasibility study for an amusement park that Walt wanted to build in southern California. "Woody" quickly became a central figure. In 1954, Roy hired him as Disneyland's first official employee, its first general manager, and appointed him vice president of Disneyland, Inc., where Walt's authority only exceeded Wood's authority. A brilliant project manager, Wood was also a con artist of sorts. Previously, he had forged his university diploma. A smooth-talker drawn to Hollywood, the first general manager of Disneyland valued money over art. As relations soured between Wood and the Disney brothers, Wood found creative ways to increase his income, leveraging his position for personal fame. Eventually, tensions at the Disney park reached a boiling point, with Walt demanding Wood be fired.
In compelling detail, Three Years in Wonderland lays out the struggles and rewards of building the world's first cinematic theme park and convincing the American public that a $17 million amusement park was the ideal place for a family vacation. The early experience of Walt Disney, Roy Disney, and C. V. Wood is one of the most captivating untold stories in the history of Hollywood. Pierce interviewed dozens of individuals who enjoyed long careers at the Walt Disney Company as well as dozens of individuals who—like C. V. Wood—helped develop the park but then left the company for good once the park opened. Through much research and many interviews, Three Years in Wonderland offers readers a rare opportunity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the people who built the best-known theme park in the world.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 10, 2016

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781496803825
      • File size: 587 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781496803825
      • File size: 587 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      April 1, 2016

      Major companies and banks were not interested in sponsoring the fanciful, and sure to fail, concept of a theme park when Walt Disney floated the idea, especially at a time when television was causing turmoil among the Walt Disney Company's relationships with its traditional partners--theater chains. Here, Pierce (creative writing, California Polytechnic State Univ.; Newsworld) chronicles the early life of C.V. Wood (1920-92), a smooth-talking Texan who would become integral to the building, funding, and opening of Disneyland amid often contentious collaboration with Walt and Roy Disney. The author goes beyond the official history of the resort, sharing the backroom deals, conflict, and near failures that went into selecting a location, purchasing large parcels of land, and designing and developing the park's novel rides. Readers will get an inside look at the Disney brothers and their dubious yet immensely charismatic associate Wood, along with Disneyland's near disastrous opening day in 1955. VERDICT With the extensive appeal of the backstory of America's original theme park, this book will be equally engaging for those drawn to the origins of such destinations, mid-19th-century American workplace culture, California history, and all things Disney.--Zebulin Evelhoch, Central Washington Univ. Lib.

      Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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