Put aside for a moment that everyone in charge of this vision was basically a hyperrational white dude, which introduced all sorts of exclusionary problems. I love the iconography and significance of the 1939 World’s Fair as much as the next nerd, but aesthetically and philosophically its origins were a little too aligned with fascism for anyone to accept unquestioningly-rejection of the past, idolatry of speed, technology, and war, as Edward Denison writes. It was at its heart an ugly sort of futurism.

That World’s Fair vision of the future, born out of pre-World War II science fiction and post-war optimism, had plenty of issues. Like I said, it looks fun.īut…let me break out the problematizer for a moment. Hugh Laurie is some kind of adversarial character, and OK. Only a young girl who Frank knows can save the city she’s Tomorrowland’s hero.

(Do you like that nominative determinism? Our hero walks the walk frankly, OK? If his parents had named him Valtar Von Bloody, this would be a totally different movie.) In the present, something is going wrong in Tomorrowland, a utopian city full of science fiction stuff built covertly when the world’s smartest people assembled at world’s fairs. John apparently grows up to be George Clooney, which is a good deal, who as an adult goes by the name Frank Walker. So John manages to strap on the pack and hit ignition just before crashing to the ground. Now, look, this is actually a lot more suspenseful in the preview than I’m making it sound to you, because you’ve already realized that the kid is falling while holding onto a jetpack that at one time did not work, but now a robot has fixed it for him. In freefall, he grabs ahold of the jetpack, and sees through a break in the clouds that he’s high above a miraculous city of golden spires, airships, and monorails. Then John falls again, knocked down by more robots. Suddenly again! Another robot-a big-eyed, friendly Disney one, not a Japanese violent one-grabs the jetpack and expertly puts it back together with tool-tipped fingers, giving John a mechanical thumbs up. John falls, lands on another catwalk, and the jetpack falls near him, breaking into pieces. Suddenly! (You knew there was a suddenly coming.) Massive assembler robots appear out of the fog, extruding spiraling buildings beneath them. He chases after them, still carrying his bag of jetpack, but reaches a ledge. In a fog-shrouded world, John sees Athena and Laurie in a sleek, fish-like airship, flying away. House for some of you, the dimwitted Bertie Wooster for the PBS crowd. Our boy trudges up to the front of the line in a best-invention contest, but he’s about to have a problem, because his judge is Hugh Laurie-the acerbic Dr. That’s no accident Walt Disney designed a bunch of attractions at that World’s Fair. He makes his way past the early- Mad Men-era wonders (people movers! The original It’s a Small World Ride!) and in fact the whole thing looks a lot like Tomorrowland-the actual place in Disneyland. The preview begins with a young boy toting a heavy bag to the Hall of Invention at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. But the new footage-and a behind-the-scenes exhibit next door-also point to the movie's reliance on a troubling strain of futurism. Director Brad Bird is rightly beloved for animation like Iron Giant and Ratatouille as well as the live-action Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and there's no question that the movie looks like it'll be lots of fun. It’s in the old Captain EO space (for you Disney aficionados), and the preview uses some of the effects that have come to be called “4D,” like rumbling seats and air blowing in your face. Beginning last week, visitors to Disneyland had access to a new attraction: a 15-minute extended preview of the movie Tomorrowland, which comes out in May.

Tomorrowland full movie online youtube