Tomorrowland Mystery Box Decoded By Disney Blog
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What’s in the box!? It seems like J.J. Abrams’ penchant for the dramatic is rubbing off on Brad Bird. The new feature film from the former Pixar director — previously referred to as 1952, now revealed as Tomorrowland — has been the center of much speculation after Bird tweeted an image of a box with the label “1952” on it. Supposedly the key to Tomorrowland’s story movie is inside this mystery box.
According to the Disney blog D23, the contents of the box are important to the understanding of the movie. The direction of the film is to offer up a family movie with a science fiction twist, but what will Tomorrowland bring to audiences? The latest rumor is that Bird’s new film could possibly feature Walt Disney covering up an alien invasion at Disneyland.
The Disney blog turned to Walt Disney Archives Director Becky Cline to unravel the “1952” box. She surmised a military angle, thanks to black-and-white photos of Walt Disney with one Major Woodlief, of the U.S. Army Reserve General Fund. The photo was taken in September 1943. Cline goes on to mention the Disney Studios’ work and partnership with the U.S. Government after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It seems like Tomorrowland will have some sort of a possible alien cover-up or science fiction element to it. Cline says:
From the age, type, and conditions of the items I can see, I feel that the materials in the box were gathered together for a project from the past. Perhaps as research for a science-fiction-themed film, television, or park attraction, or even a futurism project like Walt’s vision of EPCOT.”
The other contents of the box reveal an old issue of Amazing Stories from 1928 featuring Elmer Edward “Doc” Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby’s short story, The Skylark of Space, as well as the first ever appearance of Buck Rogers (we correctly identified that issue several weeks ago, so go us!). In relation to the flying man on the magazine’s cover, Cline reveals:
Walt was always interested in futurism and flight especially in the 1950s and early ’60s; in fact, for Disneyland’s Tencennial Celebration in 1965, he actually had a man fly down Main Street, U.S.A. with a jet pack. The man also did flight demonstrations in Tomorrowland in the Flight Circle.
Read the full breakdown of the 1952 mystery box on Disney’s D23 blog.
Tomorrowland will be released in theaters everywhere on December 19, 2014.
