Back to the Future!

I've been working on a story on futurism, and have been kind of moved by some of the things I've been researching. So I'd like to share them with you.

EPCOT: Not the theme park, but rather Walt Disney's City of Tomorrow development project cut short by his death. You can watch a distinctly 1960's quicktime clip of Disney's last film, which he produced two days before dying of lung cancer.

Xanadu House: Not Charles Foster Kane's mansion, but a styrofoam constructed House of Tomorrow (not likely to appear in Disney's City of Tomorrow) that featured the best in 1979 computerized automation for the home, and introduced some interesting concepts to home construction and planning, none of which were incorporated into the homes it was designed to replace. You can watch a kind of sad quicktime clip of the tour.

Horizons: This is the attraction that made it into what EPCOT would become- a future/world travel themed amusement(?) park in Tourist Hell, FL. As a ten year old, I remember going on this ride and being taken with it. It almost hurt to hear that it was shut down and demolished in 1994. For those of you who do remember it, you can check out a Real Video clip of the entire ride. (courtesy of intercot.

Had EPCOT been built as Disney planned, it most assuredly would have had the same problems that are inherit when humans gather in large numbers. Likewise, the Xanadu House would have been plagued by viruses and software crashes. In that sense, it's a sweet affirmation that they remain only ideas- simple, innocent, naive reflections of humankind's greatest hopes and most immediately pleasant ambitions.