Walt Disney himself donated the Midget Autopia to the town — 10 little roadsters on an electric track that took children through a tunnel and hairpin turns.
“This is the only ride to ever leave Disneyland, and it came to us,” said Kaye Malins. The Midget Autopia cars operated at Disneyland from 1957 to 1966, then Walt had the track and cars set up in Missouri because Midget Autopia had to leave Fantasyland to allow a walkway to “it’s a small world” coming to Disneyland from the New York World’s Fair.
Why Marceline? It was Walt's hometown, he grew up there until age 9, anyway. He saw his first movie in town and learned to draw sitting beneath a cottonwood tree. He always said the most important things in his life happened in Marceline, and he always called it home.
“To tell the truth, more things of importance happened to me in Marceline than have happened since — or are likely to in the future,” Walt Disney wrote in 1938. “Things, I mean, like seeing my first circus parade, attending my first school, seeing my first motion picture.”
Disneyland’s Main Street USA is modeled after Marceline.
When the Fantasyland and Tomorrowland Autopia tracks became instant hits, riders of all ages flocked to the attractions in huge numbers. But the youngest park guests were frustrated to find they could not drive the cars themselves. So two years after the park opened, Imagineers designed a miniature track made especially for the tiniest drivers. And unlike the other Autopias, this track did not allow for grownups to join little ones one the track; Midget Autopia was kid-only territory.
Despite its popularity, Midget Autopia couldn’t compete with the much bigger attractions, it had a low capacity, and sat on valuable real estate in expanding Fantasyland.
So when Disney decided to bring It’s A Small World into the park, Midget Autopia was removed to build a pathway to the new boat ride.
In 1966 Walt donated the tracks, cars, and some of the architecture to his hometown in Missouri because he knew not all the kids there could make it to Disneyland in Anaheim. Midget Autopia ran in Marceline until 1977, when maintenance costs became too much and it closed for good.
When Walt Disney gave the Midget Autopia to the town, his health was rapidly deteriorating, and he died before the end of the year, and the company he founded didn't share in any of his philanthropy.
That's the sad truth about company founders, and the corporate culture they create, the people have a heart, but they forget to make it a bedrock principle of the company - that they create to make money. They never force the company to also be kind, and generous.... and so the corporation sadly simply is a greed machine to pay back stockholders with ever increasing profits.
How they can willfully ignore every other characteristic about the founder, is clearly due to the underlying business golden rule "business before pleasure"
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article30661827.html
https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/personal-finance/article207891769.html
https://www.yesterland.com/d23expo2015.html
https://duchessofdisneyland.com/park-history/midget-autopia/
https://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-trb-disneyland-midget-autopia-missouri-20150730-story.html
Jesse, your last few sentences ring so true. I often wonder what would have happened if Walt lived longer and maybe instilled his philosophy into his creation. Would it be a better place, and would it's movie productions be less suggestive as I have seen?
ReplyDeleteanyone know what ever happened to this ride?
ReplyDeleteMidget Autopia ran in Marceline until 1977, when maintenance costs became too much and it closed for good.
DeleteThey put the broken cars in a barn and couldn't afford to fix them, they are still waiting for funding to afford to do restoration.
It's all still Marceline, Mo