In this episode, Kevin deep dives into the history of the elaborate American Idol theme park experience that used to operate at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Join Us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/defunctland 00:00 – The Birth of American Idol 08:24 – The Birth of Disney-MGM 13:19 – American Idol’s Golden Age 20:36 […]
In this episode, Kevin explores the history of kid cities, a series of fake miniature towns in which children can role-play as adults. Why do these exist, and who is behind them? Support Defunctland on Patreon: https://patreon.com/defunctland 0:00 – Part 1: La Ciudad De Los Niños 13:03 – Part 2: […]
In the 1960s, Walt Disney carried the torch of one of humanity’s oldest pursuits, the search for mechanical life. The result was Audio-Animatronics, a new breed of robots designed to mimic life. In this first part of a two-part exploration into living machines in Disney Parks, Kevin explores the history […]
So you made a robot stand up and talk… now what? In this over 4-hour journey, Kevin follows the promise of Disney’s Living Character Initiative, a dedicated effort to populate Disney’s theme parks with free-roaming, interactive, mechanical beings. It was touted as the future of theme parks, so how’d it […]
If you grew up in the ’80s, there is a good chance you can remember the catchy Fraggle Rock theme song. The catchy opening jingle wasn’t the only interesting aspect of the show. Fraggle Rock was arguably one of the best Jim Henson productions ever. It was even better than […]
We may have our differences, but everyone likes the idea of a good meal. Whether the goal was to show off the most intricate and expensive dishes or keep house guests too occupied to stage a revolt, history is full of elaborate banquets. Hosts held nothing back when trying to […]
