Editing EPCOT (concept) (section)

==History==
{{blockquote|EPCOT will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed but will always be introducing, testing, and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise.{{sfn|Beard|1982|p=11}} — Walt Disney, describing the genesis of EPCOT}}
Forerunners of Disney's EPCOT plan include [[Tomorrowland (Disney Parks)|Tomorrowland]] in [[Disneyland]], which already featured monorails and [[People mover|People Movers]], and the [[Monsanto House of the Future]] (1957), which was designed by [[architect]]s from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. Architect/planner [[Victor Gruen]]'s plans to convert the site of the [[1964 New York World's Fair|1964-1965 New York World's Fair]] was also a significant influence on EPCOT, Disney [[Imagineers|Imagineer]] [[Marty Sklar]] said.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Huxtable |first1=Ada Louise |title=Out of a Fair, a City |journal=Horizon |date=May 1960}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Green |first1=Howard E. |title=Remembering Walt: Favorite Memories of Walt Disney |last2=Green |first2=Amy Boothe |publisher=Disney Editions |year=1999 |isbn=978-0786863488 |edition=1st |location=New York |language=English}}</ref> Concerned with the "urban crisis" of the time, which he believed was one of the biggest problems facing society,<ref name="florida film">''EPCOT''. Directed by Art Vitarelli, Walt Disney Productions, 1966.</ref> Disney also consulted urban planning literature, including books by [[Ebenezer Howard]], founder of the architectural "[[garden city movement]]", and Victor Gruen.

=== Location ===
Numerous locations were proposed for EPCOT, including [[St. Louis]], [[Niagara Falls, Ontario|Niagara Falls]], [[Washington, D.C.]], [[New Jersey]], and [[New York City]]'s [[Flushing Meadows–Corona Park|World Fair site]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Patches|first=Matt|date=May 20, 2015|title=Inside Walt Disney's Ambitious, Failed Plan to Build the City of Tomorrow|work=Esquire|url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/news/a35104/walt-disney-epcot-history-city-of-tomorrow/|access-date=October 20, 2020}}</ref> Disney also considered incorporating an experimental city into his plans for a [[Palm Beach, Florida]] development with [[RCA]] and investor [[John D. MacArthur]] in 1959.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mannheim |first1=Steve |title=Walt Disney and the Quest for Community |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |location=Oxfordshire and New York |isbn=978-1-138-26968-2 |page=67 |edition=First}}</ref> Eventually, [[Central Florida]] was chosen.<ref name=":0" /> Commenting on the choice, Disney said, "Here in [[Florida]] we've enjoyed something that we've never enjoyed at Disneyland: a blessing of size. There's enough land here to hold all the ideas and plans we could possibly imagine."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Disney|first1=Walt|title=Florida Film}}</ref> The plans for "The Florida Project", officially dubbed Disney World, called for a [[Magic Kingdom|Disneyland-style theme park]] and resort area, EPCOT, an [[industrial park]], an [[airport]], and an entrance complex.

Disney quietly purchased undeveloped swampland in [[Osceola County, Florida|Osceola County]] and [[Orange County, Florida|Orange County]] using [[dummy corporation]]s to avoid [[price gouging]]. By June 1965, Disney had acquired 27,433 acres—twice the size of [[Manhattan]]—for an estimated $5.1 million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|5100000|1965}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}).<ref name=":0" /> Walt Disney had planned to announce Disney World on November 15, 1965, publicly. Still, after the ''[[Orlando Sentinel]]'' broke the story of Disney's land purchase, Disney asked then-Florida Governor [[Haydon Burns]] to confirm the story on October 25. His announcement boasted that the new theme park would be, "The greatest attraction in the history of Florida."<ref name="WDW-Secret">{{cite web|author=Mark Andrews|date=August 6, 2000|title=Disney Pulled Strings So Mouse Moved In With Barely A Squeak|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2000/08/06/disney-pulled-strings-so-mouse-moved-in-with-barely-a-squeak/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910033232/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2000-08-06/news/0008050172_1_walt-disney-andersen-central-florida/2|archive-date=September 10, 2015|access-date=September 10, 2015|work=Orlando Sentinel}}</ref> The official announcement was made on the previously planned November 15 date, with Disney joining Burns in Orlando for the press conference.<ref name="WDW-Secret" /> Dissatisfied with the [[zoning]] regulations he had to deal with in [[Anaheim, California|Anaheim]], Disney developed the [[Reedy Creek Improvement District]] (RCID) for the [[property]]. With the approval of the [[Florida Legislature|Florida legislature]] and the governor, as enshrined in the [[Reedy Creek Improvement Act]], the District had most of the powers of a Florida county.

=== The EPCOT film ===
To lobby the Florida legislature to approve the RCID and persuade [[United States|American]] industries to participate in the project, a [[short film]] was shot at the [[Walt Disney Studios (Burbank)|Walt Disney Studios]] on October 27, 1966, two months before Disney's death.<ref name=":0" /> Written by [[Marty Sklar]] and directed by Art Vitarelli, the 25-minute film is hosted by Disney, who explains the plans for Disney World, focusing on how EPCOT would interrelate with other aspects of the property.<ref>{{cite web|title=E.P.C.O.T Film - The Original E.P.C.O.T Project|url=http://sites.google.com/site/theoriginalepcot/the-epcot-film-video|access-date=18 September 2015|work=google.com}}</ref>

The film, utilizing [[concept art]] and highly technical [[animation]], was a start to the conceptualization of EPCOT. The EPCOT philosophy, as it became known, included showcasing the development, testing, and use of new materials and ideas from American industries to find solutions to urban problems. EPCOT would always be in a state of becoming, the philosophy detailed, focusing on the needs and happiness of residents, and generating demand for new technologies.<ref name="florida film" />

''EPCOT'' was screened for Florida legislators on February 2, 1967.<ref name=":0" /> Clips of the film were shown periodically as part of TV specials in the decades after that. The film was released in its entirety on DVD in May of 2004 as part of the ''[[Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Three#Tomorrow Land|Walt Disney Treasures: Tomorrowland]]'' collection.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tomorrowland DVD Review |url=https://www.dvdizzy.com/tomorrowland.html |website=DVD Dizzy |access-date=14 February 2021}}</ref>