More Fantastic Epcot Concept Paintings

On our "In the Year 2000" Flickr pool update with the picture of the Epcot concept painting, Willykea left this comment:

Miraculously, on the day this was first posted I was cleaning out my garage and found a box containing a thick, full-color brochure from 1982 announcing the opening of Epcot. I immediately thought of boingboing. I was shocked when I saw the headline "Incredible Epcot Concept Painting" the next morning and the associated picture that I had just been admiring the day before. The brochure was buried under a pile of old letters and memorabilia that I had held onto for almost 30 years and I found it a few hours before someone posted the picture of the painting online - amazing coincidence. I went out and bought a scanner so that I could share some additional images from the brochure with you guys

Willy, you rule! (You should scan in and upload even higher fidelity versions, though!)

Bill's Public Gallery [Picasa]

[#1 posted by Anonymous , April 6, 2008 10:51 AM]

Heh, I have that same book tucked away in a polybag. Mine's probably in shoddier condition, tho.

[#2 posted by gobo , April 6, 2008 11:12 AM]

I have a copy of this guide! It's got amazing concept art of various attractions, as well as a page talking about the countries coming soon to World Showcase -- Spain, Russia, Equatorial Africa, and Israel.

[#3 posted by Anonymous , April 6, 2008 3:53 PM]

I love this kind of art, it seems that the late 70's early 80s was awash in it. I remember it being very prevalent ans shows how much Star Wars seeped into the Culture. What would one call this late 70s early 80s futurism?

[#4 posted by Silva , April 6, 2008 4:46 PM]

I remember similar artwork for local Disney comics advertising EPCOT, this around 1984 or so. Really cool drawings, they still look "the future" to me.

[#5 posted by ZekeSulastin , April 6, 2008 4:59 PM]

I think I prefer the old perception of what now would be like than what now actually is ._.

[#6 posted by Tavie , April 6, 2008 5:50 PM]

Ahhh, that brings back memories. When I was a kid I had a tee shirt of that first image. One of my favorite memories was coming out of "Journey Into Imagination" and playing with my sister and friends in the jumping-water fountain outside, getting soaked and having all the black dye from that tee shirt run all over our arms and legs.

Parents weren't too fond of that, but I thought it was a hoot.

[#7 posted by braincelljupiter , April 7, 2008 2:02 AM]

I got one of these in mint condition from when I was a kid. It's been in a ziploc bag since 1982. Are these pamphlets that rare?

[#8 posted by ericman , April 7, 2008 9:38 AM]

Anyone know who the artist was for these images?

[#9 posted by MoleMan , April 26, 2008 7:18 PM]

Well, looks like EPCOT Computer Central WAS a "series of tubes".

[#10 posted by Tamooj , April 26, 2008 11:10 PM]

While I love the art style, I still mourn for the wonderous EPCOT that Walt (and his WED team) originally designed, rather than this mundane thing they eventually built.

Chris Cole used to tell a sad story that went something like this:

"Walt Disney said "Let's make cartoons in color!" and marketing people said "You're crazy, Walt, no one wants or needs that" and then he did it anyway and it was amazing and successful and the marketing people said "Wow, Walt's a genius!".

Then Walt said "Let's use cartoons to tell full length stories; tales which can never be told with real films and actors" and the marketing people said "You're crazy, Walt, no one wants or needs that" and then he did it anyway and it was amazing and successful and the marketing people said "Wow, Walt's a genius!".

Then Walt said "Let's create an amusement park like no other - a clean, friendly place, where we can build narrative spaces and meaningful experiences that people will remember all their lives" and the marketing people said "You're crazy, Walt, no one wants or needs that" and then he did it anyway and it was amazing and successful and the marketing people said "Wow, Walt's a genius!".

Finally Walt had his greatest vision to date; He said "Cities are in horrible shape, poorly laid out, designed by chance and greed, and giving rise to all kinds of environmental and social ills. We can do better than this! Besides, mankind will someday journey to the stars, trips that may take centuries - we'd best learn how to live together soon; let's build a carefully designed arcology that puts the people's needs first, and which improves and changes efficiently as technology evolves. We'll call it EPCOT; Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow!" and the marketing people said "You're crazy, Walt, no one wants or needs that".

...and then Walt died...

and the marketing people took control of the company said "Walt was crazy, let's build a big themed shopping center - people want and need that!"

Sigh.