An Evening with Roland Betancourt in conversation with Didier Ghez

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A history of the engineering marvels behind one of America’s most innovative and beloved entertainment experiences
When Disneyland opened to the public in 1955, it demystified the hidden world of factory automation through its extraordinary new attractions. In this fascinating book, Roland Betancourt tells the story of how the visionary engineers and designers at Disney transformed the technologies of the postwar assembly line into an entertainment experience unlike anything the world had ever seen.
Disneyland and the Rise of Automation traces the origins and evolution of these technical innovations during the theme park’s first three decades in operation, exploring how engineers reimagined the systems and machines of industrial manufacturing and the military. The magnetic tape used to test ballistic missiles was repurposed to animate the talking macaws in the Enchanted Tiki Room. Programmable Logic Controllers, widely used on automotive assembly lines, brought to life the spectacular rides of the Matterhorn Bobsleds and Space Mountain. Betancourt shows how these and other attractions helped to allay fears about automation and job displacement in 1950s America. Along the way, he situates Disneyland’s remarkable creations within a broader history of the technologies that increasingly order and construct the world around us, from the Fordist factory to artificial intelligence.
Essential reading for anyone interested in engineering, corporate histories, or popular culture, Disneyland and the Rise of Automation invites us to consider how technology and the logic of automation become integrated into our lives through entertainment.

Roland Betancourt is Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Art History at the University of California, Irvine, and a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow. His books include the prize-winning Byzantine Intersectionality: Sexuality, Gender, and Race in the Middle Ages (Princeton) and Performing the Gospels in Byzantium: Sight, Sound, and Space in the Divine Liturgy.

Didier Ghez is President of the Hyperion Historical Alliance. He is the author of the books Disneyland Paris: From Sketch to Reality, Disney’s Grand Tour, The Origins of Walt Disney’s True-Life Adventures, Walt Disney & El Grupo in Latin America (along with Theodore Thomas and J.B. Kaufman), Mickey Mouse in the 1930s—The Christmas Season and the series They Drew as They Pleased—The Hidden Art of Disney. He runs The Disney History blog (disneybooks.blogspot.com) and The Disney Books Network website (www.didierghez.com) and serves as editor of the Walt’s People book series (31 volumes released to date). He is currently working on the art book The Wonderful Worlds of Disney for Chronicle Books and on Monographs about Mickey Mouse in the 1930s—On Stage and on Radio; The Making of Walt Disney’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People (along with Jim Hollifield); and Walt Disney & El Grupo in Mexico and Cuba (along with Jim Hollifield, J.B. Kaufman and Theodore Thomas), all scheduled for publication by the Hyperion Historical Alliance Press.

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