ANAHEIM – Fans with questions about Disney’s upcoming mystery project “Tomorrowland” didn’t get many answers at day two of the studio’s bi-annual D23 expo, but they were shown plenty of enigmatic items to stoke their interest.
The studio showed a sneak peek at their upcoming live-action slate at the expo, including “Saving Mr. Banks,” “Maleficent,” and “The Muppets Most Wanted,” but it was the brief “Tomorrowland” presentation that seemed to capture the attention of film buffs.
What began as a tribute to Walt Disney’s ingenuity and futurist vision, led to a look at the mysterious “Tomorrowland,” directed by Brad Bird (“The Incredibles”), written by Damon Lindelof (“Prometheus”) and starring George Clooney.
The film’s plot has been the subject of various rumors since it was first announced a while back, with the original title “1952,” and D23 attendees didn’t get much to work with at today’s presentation.
Since building the Walt Disney Studios in 1939, Disney has filed away countless documents, drawings, abandoned ideas and other treasure in a massive vault. According to Bird and Lindelof, one of the archived boxes in Disney’s vast vaults is simply labeled “1952” and is allegedly stuffed with some of Disney’s futuristic ideas that were never realized — and much more.
As “found” on a strange laserdisc-like video recording purported to be unearthed in that “1952” box, the short emulates ’60s-style animation and points the Cold War-era world to a better tomorrow, based on utopian science.
– A 1928 issue of the sci-fi magazine “Amazing Stories,” which when decoded reveals that Walt and the imagineers were more ahead of their time than originally thought.
– The original plans for the It’s a Small World ride which reveal that there may have been a structure built beneath the ride, also pointing to a far-reaching conspiracy.
The duo stated that the ultimate goal of the film is to ask “what if these mystery clues were real?”
No, the mystery’s weren’t answered, but audience anticipation seemed to be at a fever pitch.
HitFix’s Drew McWeeny is also live-blogging the event here.