Towards a happily ever after: Disneyland and imagineering the American Dream

This dissertation explores the intersection between myth, America, and popular culture. It dissects the map of Disneyland, the first themed space in the United States to provide reassurance from the stresses of post-war America (politics, economics, social issues) while reaffirming the American myths of Manifest Destiny and utopianism. By looking through the lenses of cultural, mythological, and depth psychological studies, this dissertation considers how each land of the park, with attention paid to the lands constructed during Walt Disney's lifetime, reflects aspects of the American psyche and, in turn, influences the images of the American Dream. From Main Street, U.S.A. to Tomorrowland, Disneyland offers a trajectory for facing the challenges the Cold War presented to America by reinforcing the country's utopian ideals, while also transcending reality to create a hyperrealistic playscape that offers escape from everyday stressors. This playscape has established a practice of Disneyization, or the process of sanitizing American culture to paint illusions that are preferred by the American people more than the harshness of reality.;This dissertation concludes that the Cold War era in America's history marked a turning point in American myth in which Manifest Destiny and utopianism were destabilized. The cultural response reveals a hunger that Disney attempts to satiate with its theme parks and through its merchandising and marketing campaigns. This hunger has manifested in the consumptive behaviors of America. The redefining of American myth is reflected in the ever-changing Disneyland, which is constantly being updated in response to new technology, new additions to the Disney canon, and general maintenance of rides. This constant "plussing" reflects the culture's own mythological shift as it restructures itself in light of a new, Post-War, globalized world.