Communists are trying to invade every facet of American society! Even the Most Magical Place on Earth is vulnerable to commie infiltration. Won’t somebody please think of the children???
Sure, the above sounds like the less than subtle message from a post-World War II propaganda film. Almost unbelievably, this line of thinking has a basis in fact. Years prior to the opening of EPCOT Center in Orlando, Florida, several different American intelligence gathering organizations carefully monitored the development of the second gate at Walt Disney World. That’s a real thing that happened.
Before scoffing in disgust, you should think about the situation from a historical perspective. In the late 1970s, the Second Red Scare was roughly two decades old, which may seem like a lot until you consider it’s basically the same timeframe of the opening Disney’s Animal Kingdom to today. To anybody over the age of 40, the massive media coverage of Animal Kingdom’s debut doesn’t seem like forever ago, simply an earlier point in life.
Image: Dan Taylor, Flickr (license)
The same was true in the 1970s of the Second Red Scare as well as a Cold War that continued until Charlie Wilson came up with a plan. This explains why the continued fear of communism, socialism, and all things Russian remained a pervasive part of American culture well after World War II ended.
Until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, all good-hearted citizens cast a wary eye toward Eastern Europe. Some of the most ardent supporters of the American way of life found a method to turn their patriotism into a professional calling. These well-intended folks joined secretive institutions such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency. Their primary goal in life was to protect the American way of life, one they believed that communists threatened.
What follows is the shocking story of how the theme park we now know as Epcot once stood as a potential cultural turning point for the United States. It was here that people feared our country was most vulnerable. This article will describe how and why Epcot reached this point as well as how many of the fears proved to be founded in truth. We’ll evaluate the no longer redacted files that revealed how much espionage transpired just outside the Magic Kingdom as the opening of Epcot approached. And we’ll also discuss how much the politics of Walt Disney and the company that continued after his death played into the chaos of the entire situation.
Inventor of Mickey Mouse, Red Cross ambulance driver, patriot
Image: PunkToad, Flickr (license)
Walt Disney was more than just a proud American citizen. He was a war hero of a sort. No, he didn’t fight in either World War I or World War II. It wasn’t for lack of trying, though. He quit high school at the age of 16 specifically with the intent of becoming an Allied soldier. Since he was only 16, he wasn’t allowed to join.
Eventually, Disney and a friend participated in the Red Cross, which greatly expanded its global presence during World War I. Due to the tremendous training involved, Disney wouldn’t even serve as a Red Cross ambulance driver until the war had technically ended. What he learned during this tumultuous period was that the world was a more beautiful and challenging place than his homes in Kansas City and Chicago. After getting a taste of the world, Disney wanted to make his mark.
We all know that he did so in the field of animation. His animation abilities, his entrepreneurial skills, and his natural storytelling gifts helped him become successful extremely quickly. Around his 30th birthday, Walt Disney was already responsible for the creation of the most iconic cartoon character in the world, Mickey Mouse.
Uncle Walt’s War Movies
Image:Tom Simpson, Flickr (license)
By the end of the 1930s, people across North America revered Walt Disney. His seminal animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, became so popular that Disney received an honorary Academy Award for his creation. When War World II unfolded, Uncle Walt was already in his 40s, too old to serve in a military role. He wasn’t about to sit on the sidelines while his country fought in the Great War, though.
War propaganda films became his stock and trade as younger Americans fought against the Axis Powers overseas. The sheer volume of them was partially a tribute to the marketing power of Walt Disney. His war movies underscored the important of able men doing their part to stop Hitler.
Starting in 1942, only months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Disney’s filmmaking team crafted edutainment ads for the United States Navy. Later, the Army and the Air Force asked for similar propaganda pieces. As the country experienced a greater need for materials and tax revenue, Disney added the Department of Agriculture and the United States Treasury to his growling list of war clients. In a fascinating trivia note, one of his contacts for the government was a colonel named Frank Capra. You know him better as the director of It’s a Wonderful Life.
Image: Tom Simpson, Flickr (license)
Disney’s contributions to the war effort cannot be overstated. His crew shot an estimated 400,000 feet of footage. That’s the equivalent of three full days of movies enticing Americans to do their part to help their fighting soldiers abroad. His credibility in all phases of society influenced people in ways that politicians and statesmen could not.
For example, one of Disney’s Treasury Department films explained the consequences of many Americans cheating on their income taxes. During a time of war, the government needed as much money as possible. Disney petitioned viewers to pay their fair share to fill the economic gap. A Gallup survey performed in the wake of war film indicated that roughly 30 percent of viewers of the propaganda piece either paid taxes for the first time or paid them earlier than normal in order to boost the United States’ war chest.
Disney versus the Reds
Image: Tom Simpson, Flickr (license)
Certain aspects of Disney’s life were controversial at the time and even more so now. He was a diehard Republican and frequent fundraiser for conservative issues. Most of his political beliefs involved the need to protect America from the influx of socialism. After World War II ended, a perception existed that the United States and Russia were headed to war at some point. The only question was when.
From a historical perspective, all the countries Germany had conquered were susceptible to new influences. Men like Disney worried that Russia would steer these nations toward communism. The moment Hitler’s reign ended and Emperor Hirohito surrendered on behalf of Japan, people on both sides of the Atlantic quickly soured on the alliance that saved the planet during World War II. Disney in particular remained wary of what would become the Soviet Union for the rest of his life.
Image:Tom Simpson, Flickr (license)
One of the most unfortunate legacies of Walt Disney was his support of McCarthyism during the 1950s. He testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and you can find a full transcript of the details here. The gist is that Disney’s anti-socialist reputation was so established that some other people within the industry orchestrated strikes and smear campaigns against Walt Disney Studios. This tactic only steeled Disney’s resolve. Here’s the testimony that clearly defines why he feared the growing socialist influence in Hollywood:
“Well, they distorted everything, they lied; there was no way you could ever counteract anything that they did; they formed picket lines in front of the theaters, and, well, they called my plant a sweat-shop, and that is not true, and anybody in Hollywood would prove it otherwise. They claimed things that were not true at all and there was no way you could fight it back. It was not a labor problem at all because—I mean, I have never had labor trouble, and I think that would be backed up by anybody in Hollywood.”
Uncle Walt also noted that his reputation took a hit across the globe. That’s because regions where socialism enjoyed more popularity took note of the charges against Disney. He was the millionaire businessman taking advantage of the sweat of brow of the working class, the proletariat so important to the underlying theory of Marxism. To communists across the planet, Disney was an extremely public enemy. That intense dislike was mutual, a rarity for a man otherwise chronicled for his kindness.
The politics of The Walt Disney Company after Walt Disney
Image: Tom Simpson, Flickr (license)
This is where the situation grows trickier, more nuanced. The company founder was unquestionably a political partisan. An argument could be made that this philosophy has either evolved or skipped a generation. Did you know that one of Disney’s grand-nieces, Abigail Disney, is an accredited filmmaker in her own right? You can see a list of the projects she’s had a hand in creating on her Wikipedia page. What you’ll immediately note is that the philanthropist skews heavily to the left with her political views, something chronicled in this Los Angeles Times story.
Abigail Disney reflects something fascinating about the politics of Disney. They’re difficult to pin down accurately. On social issues, the company is above reproach. Their leadership in inclusive hiring practices is the gold standard in the corporate realm. They are thought leaders who back up their theories in practice, hiring people from all walks of life, independent of nationality, race, or sexuality. More than once, Disney has supported gay rights as opponents have threatened boycotts. The corporation held its ground on the subject so steadfastly that the boycotters eventually acknowledged failure. On social issues, The Walt Disney Company is left of MSNBC.
Image: Castles, Capes & Clones: Flickr (license)
In spite of the above, their financial donations during election years are decidedly one-sided. As this article notes, The Walt Disney Company directed 90 percent of their political buys to the Republican Party in Florida. Does this reflect a conservative point of view? The answer is actually no. Instead, it’s simply a practical matter of good business.
The state of Florida has always enjoyed a unique working relationship with Disney. When the man himself purchased the land during the 1960s, he negotiated unique autonomy from the government. Despite Disney’s control of its own lands, it’s still susceptible to other changes in Florida. For example, much of the money Disney spent on lobbying Florida politicians went toward a specific goal. The company wanted to prevent the introduction of legalized gambling into the local economy. That would have changed the nature of the greater Orlando area from family fun area to a more adult destination, ruining years of meticulous Disney strategizing. In other words, their lobbying during the 2012 election cycle was more about a single outcome than a point of view.
Image: Tom Simpson Flickr (license)
In this manner, the legacy of Walt Disney lives on. He too was a difficult man to pin down in few words. He loved his employees almost obsessively, yet was stubbornly opposed to those who were socialist. When forced to choose between finances and people, he avoided the issue as only he could, unveiling solutions that addressed both problems equally.
Disney deftly prevented the ascension of gambling from Native American-exclusivity to readily available casinos anywhere. By manipulating circumstances to protect Walt Disney World’s interests, the company’s leaders have followed Disney’s blueprint for success. He believed in the laws of the land, but he also believed in adjusting the ones that didn’t make sense. Disney largely did what he wanted with his land in first Anaheim, California, and later with his new swampland in Florida. That’s what forced the United States government into an awkward situation.
An inclusive global community…communists not allowed
Image: Ricardo Mangual Photography, Flickr (license)
Company leaders such as his brother Roy O. Disney have tried to honor Walt’s legacy whenever possible. That’s why the incongruity of EPCOT Center is so critical to this discussion. Before he died, Walt Disney envisioned a utopia, a place where people could arrive from anywhere on the planet and discover a new home. He bought almost 50 square miles of land in the greater Orlando area with the express intent of fulfilling this vision.
The politics of the suggestion were amazing then and remain so to this day. Uncle Want wanted to build a community where everyone contributed to the greater good…which sounds a lot like socialism. There was a catch, though. Every member of the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow would work for Disney. The unemployment rate would be zero. And Disney would involve itself in every part of the lives of its citizens. Effectively, it was the polar opposite of socialism: a uniform capitalism. Critics would even throw in some fascism when describing the terms. So, even Uncle Walt’s utopia proved perplexing to the public.
Image: Disney
The one thing Disney made clear is that he wouldn’t be dealing with Russia. As noted during his House Un-American Activities Committee testimony, acrimony existed between an entire country and a single man, Disney himself. As he noted,
“…I think they ran a lot of them in Russia, but then turned them back to us and said they didn’t want them, they didn’t suit their purposes.”
In other words, communist countries hated Walt Disney’s strident belief in capitalism almost as much as he hated their socialist economic system. When Disney announced plans for what would become EPCOT Center, he described a permanent World’s Fair, which was a sound business strategy given Disney’s dominance at the 1964 New York’s World Fair. Card Walker, former Chief Operating Officer at Disney, once stated, “…the nations of the world may participate on a permanent basis to demonstrate their culture and their products.”
The above was true of everyone…except for Russia. Walt Disney was a man who could hold a grudge, and he was a patriot. Those two strikes were enough to exclude Russia from any potential EPCOT plans, even as China merited at least a modicum of consideration.
A change in philosophy
Image: AK Rockefeller, Flickr (license)
This was an interesting exclusion that Disney itself avoided in the wake of their founder’s death. In 1976, a marketing executive famously noted that people loved the idea of EPCOT Center “all the way from Russia to the Philippines.” This man, Jack Lindquist, would later become President of Disneyland, so he was in a position to know.
The statement signified a dramatic departure from Walt Disney’s Red Scare mentality, even though it occurred during the height of the Cold War in the mid-1970s. By this point, Disney had adapted their plans to reflect a more international corporate philosophy. Even forty years ago, sales revenue revealed the global popularity of the Walt Disney brand. For a permanent World’s Fair to succeed, they’d need to develop a policy of inclusion, which was part of the early impetus for the social policies discussed above that are in place today.
The adapted initial plans for EPCOT Center projected that 10 countries would participate at park launch. Disney expected to cull the list down from the 27 countries they’d initially pitched to have a presence at the second gate. Over time, park planners believed that the permanent World’s Fair would expand to 30 countries, all of whom would share a part of their history and customs with the good people of Orlando, Florida.
This shift away from divisive politics toward an era of prosperity predicated on tolerance and inclusion rings true in spirit to the original Walt Disney vision for the Florida Project. It sounds wonderful in theory and we now know after almost 35 years in operation that it works in execution as well. There was just one little problem, however, and you’ve probably already figured it out.
Epcot meets The Departed
Image: Warner Bros.
Have you seen The Departed, the 2006 movie directed by Martin Scorsese that stars Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio? Since it earned a lot of money and won Best Picture at the 79th Academy Awards, the answer is likely yes. Just in case you haven’t, the central conceit of the film is that the mob and the police are always fighting.
Since both organizations are wary of spies, each one tries a new kind of infiltration. They train someone impossibly young to join the other side too early to seem like a spy. Since each group has the same idea and the two young spies know one another, they cancel each other out, leading to chaos, bloodshed, and a confused audience wondering aloud when Mark Wahlberg learned to act.
The whole conceit seems ludicrous, but it’s actually based in fact. One of the best ways for moles to become spies surreptitiously is by joining at such a young age that they avoid suspicion. That’s because their integration seems fluid and organic rather than forced. Does the premise sound comical? Of course. Still, if you’re professionally obligated to worry about everything, this sadly counts.
The security flaw of EPCOT Center
Image: Kelly Walker, Flickr (license)
During the construction phase of Walt Disney World’s second gate, Disney hired 10,000 builders. The government had no cause to worry about any particular individual, yet they cast a wary eye on the entirety of the company’s hiring practices for the Florida Project.
From the perspective of a government agent, Magic Kingdom attracted 13.2 million guests in 1981. While there was a downturn to 12.6 million in 1982, that’s still a massive amount of people visiting the southernmost state on the East Coast. The introduction of EPCOT Center could theoretically double attendance for the region, which it did. In 1983, 22.7 million people visited Walt Disney World, and that number increased to 23.9 million by 1986. The second gate gave tourists twice as many reasons to visit Central Florida.
What’s scary about that notion? The distance from Miami to Orlando is 235 miles. The distance from Miami to Cuba is 330 miles. EPCOT Center opened only 21 years after the Bay of Pigs conflict. That’s roughly the same time gap from the release of the original Toy Story until today. Sure, it’s a great deal of time, but for something as unforgettable as the United States and Russia reaching the brink of nuclear war, it’s nowhere near enough time to forget.
So, from the FBI’s point of view, about 10 million more people were ready to visit a place where 10,000 construction workers were currently breaking ground on a revolutionary project, EPCOT Center. The government had no way to block people from going, and they had no way of knowing the intentions of any potential guests. Also, the location Walt Disney meticulously selected for Project X inconveniently happened to be one of the closest major cities to a communist country. And that wasn’t even the worst part.
No World’s Fair without China
In culling the list shortlist of countries for a permanent World’s Fair, Disney executives quickly realized the obvious. After Greece and Africa, China provides the oldest, most fascinating civilization on the planet. They simply couldn’t build a structure like EPCOT Center then exclude China. It would render irrelevant everything they had done and were hoping to accomplish.
This decision was like waving a red flag in front of a bull to government law enforcement officials. Now, EPCOT Center wasn’t simply a security risk due to the population. It was also going to be authentic in tone, highlighting the ideals and beliefs of a people whose very way of life seemed decidedly un-American to the CIA and FBI in the late 1970s. What Disney proposed was the equivalent of not only embracing an enemy thousands of miles away but also inviting many of them into the United States as permanent guests. Sure, it’s the alarmist evaluation of the matter, but FBI and CIA employees are paid to do exactly that.
Border patrol
Beginning in 1979, the federal government took such an interest in Walt Disney World that they worried Disney employees might notice. Despite this concern, the local Tampa Bay field office for the FBI requested more manpower and authorized man-hours.
Initially, the most troubling worry was that Disney would select Russia as one of the first countries represented at EPCOT Center. After Disney decided to honor their founder’s wishes by resisting this possibility, the FBI saw a different shadow. They carefully studied Disney’s plans for the various international pavilions. Something jumped out at them. Actual residents of foreign countries would become de facto citizens of the United States.
Disney planned to host a series of student ambassadors in the various housing facilities onsite. In other words, the communists would have the ability to spread their dogma to people from other countries. Disney named their plan to have natives of each nation work at the pavilions as the World Showcase Fellowship Program. This innocuous idea, one largely involving authenticity, scared a lot of people.
The particular anxiety was that the Chinese who were invited guests of America would spend a lot of time attempting to indoctrinate citizens. The FBI now perceived Walt Disney World, the Most Magical Place on Earth, as one of the most dangerous security breaches in the continental United States.
Freedom of Information…but nobody said quickly
How do shadowy law enforcement officials handle surveillance for a locale as beloved as Walt Disney World? The answer is secretively. In fact, the information didn’t become publicly available until the end of 2015. This only occurred due to the dedication of a gentleman named Jason Smathers at MuckRock.com. On March 16, 2012, he originally submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) request for details about Disney records on file with the government. You could read the bureaucratic nightmare that ensued on this page. It’ll make you feel a lot better about waiting in line at the DMV.
For the body of three years, Smathers checked with the FBI. He posted the same FoIA request time and again, passed around to at least three agents during this timeframe. I presume that he persisted for a simple reason. He had to realize that their evasiveness indicated that he’d somehow struck gold with his request. On December 3, 2015, Smathers got to say something most people only dream about. He fought the law, but the law didn’t win. The FBI notified him that they were in the process of redacting the appropriate information from the secured documents prior to sending them to him.
The Bourne Disney
Here are the details of the WSFP, the sponsorship system that terrified the FBI. Countries would have the right to pay $15,000 each (the equivalent of $52,000 today) to embark on a sort of foreign exchange program. Natives of these lands would work at EPCOT Center for 40 hours each week. 75 percent of that time on the clock would involve the actual job of being a Pavilion employee. The other 25 percent would include job training and education on local interactions involving currency, social interactions, and tourist behavior.
If this sounds innocent, that’s because it is. Your local high school probably had a similar program, although I doubt they got $15,000 per exchange statement. That’s the high cost of working for Disney. The FBI’s fear circles back to The Departed. They expected an influx of 200 to 250 students, although they used some shaky math to determine that each pavilion would include about 10 residents of the applicable foreign nations. That’s 20 to 25 each for the 10 pavilions, which turned out to be too high since only nine pavilions opened when EPCOT debuted, but the point here is about early indoctrination.
These students would come to America, learn our ways, and integrate into society. At that point, the FBI worried they’d be difficult to track and almost impossible to differentiate from ordinary citizens. Remember that computer technology in the 1970s was somewhere between Pong and Atari. A Vic-20 stood out as cutting edge tech for 1980. When EPCOT Center opened in 1981, people who worked there would gain all the appropriate identification to pass for Americans.
If there’s one thing people in the espionage community hate, it’s potential sleeper agents. The Tampa office of the FBI requested back-up. Their three requests were equal parts practical and panicky. They expected immediate notification if FBI’s central headquarters learned of terrorist cells operating in the United States who might find allies at Walt Disney World. Tampa’s law enforcement officials also asked for precise instructions about who would handle their processes in the event of emergency situations unfolding. Basically, if Chinese spies attacked anybody, the Central Florida office wanted to know where they should report and who would be their handler. And they wanted a cryptonym (aka a code name) for any and all spy activities performed by potential insurrectionists at EPCOT Center.
The restauranteur spy (not a John le Carré novel)
Image: summonedbyfells, Flickr (license)
While the FBI as a whole worried the most about The Departed Scenario, Tampa’s local office prioritized something different. The six foreign nationals running the show at each pavilion were a more direct threat in the short term than youthful sleeper agents. The FBI wanted the ability to surveil these potential spies lodging within the walls of the Walt Disney World employee village. Their request never came to fruition since the international delegates in question preferred not to live like co-eds. So, they acquired residence in other parts of Orlando, like your average grown-up would do. This should’ve tipped off the FBI that people from foreign countries viewed their Walt Disney World assignments as dream jobs rather than a reason to force their political causes on strangers.
Also – and this is the funny part – many of the delegates selected to work at the various pavilions weren’t even living in their home countries at the time. For the sake of convenience and/or pragmatism, many nations including China selected people living in America for their Walt Disney World pavilions. Such people offered a better understanding of the cultures of both their homeland and their current nation.
In fact, the most important delegate on the list was a restaurant owner in New York City. K.W. Poon became the Chinese representative at their EPCOT Center pavilion. The FBI carefully detailed as much of his bio as they could. The worst criticism they had of him on a personal level was the following. “Poon’s primary interest in the whole operation was to make money.” Yes, the dreaded Chinese insurgent who the FBI feared would infiltrate our country and foment rebellion from within…was a huge capitalist.
Image: Disney
Also, and this feels like pettiness from a bored FBI agent, Poon’s file notes that his food wasn’t very good. Also, his business was once shut down for a week due to its unclean food preparation practices. So, if you’re ever enjoying a meal at Nine Dragons or Lotus Blossom Café, you’re clearly not eating one of Mr. Poon’s recipes.
Summarizing this entire series of events seems ludicrous on its face. The FBI developed a fear of foreign nationals that bled into every facet of society. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the World’s Fair concept wreaked havoc with the government’s self-perceived concept of security. In addition to the issues at EPCOT Center, similar problems persisted in Knoxville, Tennessee, home to the 1982’s World Fair. Perhaps the only people who understood and sympathized with the Tampa office were the FBI officials in the Knoxville, Tennessee branch. They too faced numerous inquiries and suspicions involving a Chinese delegate at their upcoming event. The two offices communicated frequently, hoping that the sharing of information would lead to better security measures and processes.
Mission accomplished?
Image: Frinkiac
How well did all of this work? Well, we’re not reciting a pledge to Xi Jinping every morning, so that’s something. Of course, that’s a Bear Patrol type of argument. In reality, the American government wasted millions of dollars worrying about the Red Scare. Members of the FBI trained to prepare for situations that never had a chance of transpiring. China had no legitimate intention of invading the United States, especially not starting through Orlando, Florida. They didn’t even care enough about the opportunity to stick a Chinese citizen at the Chinese pavilion.
When push came to shove, China picked the most American option possible, a money-hungry New Yorker. If the entire affair had been a James Bond film, 007 would have followed a dude for 100 minutes, only to realize it was an old school chum of his. Then, they’d have a shaken martini and talk about the weather.
The FBI has done so much to protect our country that we could never thank them enough for their service. What happened with Walt Disney World, however, goes on their blooper reel.
