On the 4th of July this year, the United States of America will be celebrating its 250th anniversary. Disney is commemorating this milestone year with its Disney Celebrates America initiative. This includes the opening of Soarin’ Across America at EPCOT and Disney California Adventure, special events, merchandise, food, military performances, and more (see Disneyland Resort’s schedule here). As the 250th anniversary draws closer, the Walt Disney Archives has opened its vaults to showcase artifacts related to the history of the USA.

“Disney has long celebrated the American experience through storytelling — offering something alive, something shared, and something each generation is invited to engage with in its own ways,” according to Rebecca Cline, Director of the Walt Disney Archives.

Cline showed three key artifacts from Disney’s past. This includes:

• An early Disneyland concept art picture book
• The 1971 American flag from the dedication ceremony of Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World
• One of the Declaration of Independence props used in Disney’s National Treasure (2004)

These three artifacts showcase how Disney continues to explore the USA’s past, present, and future. Take a look at what Disney and the Archives shared below:

Disneyland Pitch Book

In the early 1950s, as Walt and Roy O. Disney were feverishly gathering resources to turn Walt’s dream of the first themed family entertainment park into a reality, Walt worked with some of his legendary studio artists to create a portfolio of images that, “articulated his own dreams and point of view for what he wanted to create,” Cline said.

Core to that vision are the images of Main Street, U.S.A., which appear remarkably close to what is standing in Anaheim, California, today. They recall Walt’s early days in the Midwest, capturing a moment of transition at the dawn of a new era, “where horse-drawn vehicles share the street with motorized automobiles and where both gas lamps and electric lightbulbs illuminate the night,” Cline remarked.

Through Main Street, U.S.A. — the very intentional entryway into the park for both its physical and emotional qualities — a unique theme emerges, one that highlights Walt’s view of America.

That fond recollection is balanced by the entrance to Tomorrowland, located right around the corner from Main Street, U.S.A., which as Cline noted, “reflects a profound faith in innovation and in the idea that American ingenuity can shape a better, more hopeful future.”

The juxtaposition of those two areas suggests that, as Cline explained, “progress and optimism were not at odds with tradition but rather grew out of it.”

“What is so powerful about the original Disneyland pitch books — and the artwork within them — is that they allow us to see, almost unfiltered, how Walt Disney chose to frame his own idealized vision of America — not as a static reality, but as an impressionist, emotional story still being written,” Cline said.

As Disney parks have opened around the world, they’re designed to reflect the unique local cultures in which they’re situated, while still carrying forward Walt’s values.

As Cline noted, “Disneyland has become a kind of cultural ambassador, introducing global audiences to ‘the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts’ that Walt believed were at the heart of the American experience.”

What do you think of these artifacts? Which one is your favorite? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!