When Fantasia Meets Documentary

November 19, 2023 5:57 PM

Continuing on with his line of documentaries on the history of the Disney parks and their operations, Kevin Perjurer of Defunctland (previously) has released an ambitious new piece - a history of the tumultuous history of EPCOT Center from Walt's death to the park's opening, done through a synesthesic presentation built on music, visuals, and historical footage. (SLYT)

There's a virtual historical companion booklet here, as well as a sensory guide for people sensitive to stimuli here.

posted by NoxAeternum (7 comments total)

Literally watching this as you posted it. It's well and far beyond what is normally expected for a YouTube documentary. I recommend watching it just to see how much it's pushed the craft, but also because it's fascinating information presented in a really great way.
posted by hippybear at 6:06 PM on November 19 [2 favorites]

Man, that just seamlessly integrated modern video technology with period zeitgeist. That was more magic than most things Disney the past several decades. Well done.

EPCOT is/was also known by the people who worked there as "Experimental Polyester Costumes of Tomorrow," or alternatively "Every Paycheck Comes on Thursday." Been a couple decades since I lived in the area so can't say what new snark employees may have come up with since last century.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 7:04 PM on November 19

"Every Parent Comes Out Tired" and "Every Parent Carries Out Toddlers" are ones I've heard.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:05 PM on November 19 [1 favorite]

Disney's business is not the production of happiness, but only its redistribution.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 1:44 AM on November 20 [1 favorite]

I got excited when I saw it was a new Defunctland documentary. However, this was not, in my opinion, a documentary. This was a film and music presentation that had loads of style but I sorely missed the usual Defunctland informative narration.

Even though I know the narration wasn't going to start, I felt like I was stuck watching an intro to a documentary and I kept anticipating the narration would start soon.

I know this was a labor of love for Defunctland and its team, but I miss their usual documentary format and found this kind of annoying to watch.
posted by Fleebnork at 6:20 AM on November 20 [4 favorites]

What Fleebnork said. A bit too much style for my taste. Gave up when heavyhanded music played over simple title cards for way too long.
posted by kinnakeet at 7:33 AM on November 20 [1 favorite]

Thank you for posting this. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
posted by enzian9 at 11:36 AM on November 20