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Todd James Pierce

Three Years in Wonderland: The Disney Brothers, C. V. Wood, and the Making of the Great American Theme Park Kindle Edition

by Todd James Pierce (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.7 133 ratings

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While the success of Disneyland is largely credited to Walt and Roy Disney, there was a third, mostly forgotten dynamo instrumental to the development of the park—fast-talking Texan C. V. Wood. Three Years in Wonderland presents the never-before-told, full story of “the happiest place on earth.” Using information from over one hundred unpublished interviews, Todd James Pierce lays down the arc of Disneyland's development from an idea to a paragon of entertainment.

In the early 1950s, the Disney brothers hired Wood and his team to develop a feasibility study for an amusement park that Walt wanted to build in southern California. “Woody” quickly became a central figure. In 1954, Roy hired him as Disneyland's first official employee, its first general manager, and appointed him vice president of Disneyland, Inc., where Walt’s authority only exceeded Wood’s authority. A brilliant project manager, Wood was also a con artist of sorts. Previously, he had forged his university diploma. A smooth-talker drawn to Hollywood, the first general manager of Disneyland valued money over art. As relations soured between Wood and the Disney brothers, Wood found creative ways to increase his income, leveraging his position for personal fame. Eventually, tensions at the Disney park reached a boiling point, with Walt demanding Wood be fired.

In compelling detail, Three Years in Wonderland lays out the struggles and rewards of building the world's first cinematic theme park and convincing the American public that a $17 million amusement park was the ideal place for a family vacation. The early experience of Walt Disney, Roy Disney, and C. V. Wood is one of the most captivating untold stories in the history of Hollywood. Pierce interviewed dozens of individuals who enjoyed long careers at the Walt Disney Company as well as dozens of individuals who—like C. V. Wood—helped develop the park but then left the company for good once the park opened. Through much research and many interviews, Three Years in Wonderland offers readers a rare opportunity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the people who built the best-known theme park in the world.

Print length

296 pages
Language

English
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Publisher

University Press of Mississippi
Publication date

March 10, 2016
File size

1344 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Book Description

The story of the dynamic, driven, and sometimes despised third wheel in the creation of America's iconic theme park

--This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

Todd James Pierce is professor of literature at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. He is author of Newsworld, which won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize; The Life and Times of Ward Kimball: Maverick of Disney Animation; and Three Years in Wonderland: The Disney Brothers, C. V. Wood, and the Making of the Great American Theme Park, the latter two published by University Press of Mississippi. His work has appeared in over seventy magazines and journals, including the Harvard Review, the Georgia Review, and the North American Review. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01BI4CR2U
Publisher ‏ : ‎ University Press of Mississippi; 1st edition (March 10, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 10, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1344 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 296 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1628462418

Best Sellers Rank: #1,057,036 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #244 in Sports & Entertainment Industry (Kindle Store)
- #329 in Entertainment Industry
- #624 in Company Histories

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4.7 133 ratings

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Todd James Pierce

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Todd James Pierce lives in Orcutt, California, which is in the northern portion of Santa Barbara County. He is the author or co-author of nine books, including Newsworld, which won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, Three Years in Wonderland, and The Life and Times of Ward Kimball. His work has been published in over 80 magazines and journals, including The Georgia Review, The Gettysburg Review, Harvard Review, Indiana Review, The Iowa Review, The Missouri Review, and VQR. He is the host of the DHI Podcast which covers the history of American animation and theme parks. You can find his work and his podcast online at www.toddjamespierce.com

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Oil and Walter

Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2016

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Sometimes the stars are in alignment and magic happens. It was thus on June 23, 1953 when Walt Disney was introduced to C. V. Wood (Woody). It was an epic moment for the theme park industry. The meeting between a man of amazing imagination who yearned to build a very special amusement park and a man, a Texan, with a dubious background, who had the charm to find, cajole and procure the funds required. So begins the history of Three Years in Wonderland by Todd James Pierce, the history of how Disneyland came to be.

I am not a fan of Disney but I was surprised and fascinated by this story of the conflict between Walt Disney and his first General Manager, C. V. Wood. The author's style of prose was perfect to recreate the fifties, the period when released from the restrictions of the war years, many Californians found they could buy their own house for the first time, go to college, and afford to enrich their lives with new experiences. At that time, opportunities seemed endless and the excitement was palpable. Disney, riding the crest of his success in the movie world, wanted to try something new. He wanted to create a fantasy world that children and their parents could enjoy. Brother Roy, the money man in his projects, listened but was unsympathetic. It took the Texas size personality of Wood and his ability to connect with people to make Disney's dream come true.

The drama between Disney and Wood plays out against the difficult struggle to organize and build the park. Two men, two egos, very different, battling each other at times but needing each other nonetheless. Meanwhile, a large crew of craftsmen work to prepare the park for the planned
opening date of July 17, 1955. Pierce includes many anecdotes gleaned from interviews with former members of this crew providing a wonderful and authentic insight of how they felt, what they did, what happened, etc., painstakingly, I feel sure, hunting down any lead that would bear fruit. Against all odds it would seem, Disneyland's inauguration happened as planned, however, nothing went smoothly and the chaos grew to hilarious proportions as the day went on.

What happened shortly after could have been predicted, probably by all the crew, and sadly Wood never received the recognition for his part in the whole enterprise. However, there was a happy ending. Wood went on to build lots more amusement parks across the entire country. Disneyland launched him into a whole new career.

I really enjoyed reading this book and feel Pierce has been fair to both parties, and I am sure everyone who has ever enjoyed Disneyland will be grateful for their coming together.

13 people found this helpful

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Paul in Guangzhou

A frank, insightful history of Disneyland's genesis

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2021

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This book is well-written, thorough, and blunt. It deals with the creation of Disneyland without any sugar-coating, but also without any malice. As a fan of Disneyland history, I read things I've never heard before, certainly not from the company, and connections I hadn't thought about -- for example, the Zorro TV show being produced by WED Enterprises and not Walt Disney Productions so it could fund the park. And of course it goes into the rollicking life and shady dealings of C.V. Wood, essentially Walt's Judas. A lot about Wood isn't family-friendly, but he was a very interesting character.

As a Disney park history fan, it's really gratifying to see books coming out with new things to say. (Those Disney+ shows and old Wonderful World of Disney episodes are nice, but how many times can you hear the story of the colorblind bulldozer driver, or about Herb Ryman's epic weekend designing the whole park?) A lot of individual Imagineers are finally getting their due (how is a book on Claude Coates only finally emerging in 2021?) which is fantastic. "Three Years in Wonderland" is a little more comprehensive, dealing with the financial, artistic, and architectural challenges to the park, with a special focus on the intentionally forgotten C.V. Wood. The first chapter, describing the author's attempts to get any information on Wood from the Disney company, is hilarious.

One person found this helpful

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goatdan

The Best Disneyland Construction History, Period

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2020

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I have been an avid reader of Disney theme park historical books for the last 20 years, with a giant bookshelf of literally every book I could get my hands on, which I read. Lately, I've slowed my reading because so many books rehash the same information I had already heard, and I figured this would be more of the same.

The fact it averages 5 stars in reviews pushed me over the edge even though I questioned if it was real.

It's real.

Even with so many Disney theme park books on my shelf, easily more than half of the information was new to me. Stories included do an incredible job of showing just how close Walt's dream came to disaster time and time again, and some of the ways that disaster was avoided in all their gritty detail.

The book is told in a narrative style, a choice I intially questioned since the author wasn't there, but it makes the book read better and the author's note where he explains the rules he set for his narrative made me appreciate it even further.

Make no doubt about it, if you're at all interested in how Disneyland came to be, this should be your first choice.

6 people found this helpful

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Noel Adolph

Great History of first years of Disneyland

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2022

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Todd Pierce's accounting of the 3 men who created Disneyland is an absolute must-read for any fan of the parks. Through numerous interviews and research, Pierce presents a timeline of the building of Disneyland that is a fascinating look into the lives of Walt Disney, his brother Roy, and C.V. Wood and their struggle to create the first great american theme park.

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Jamie Hecker

This is the definitive origin story of Disneyland

Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2021

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Fabulous. This is the deep dive into the origin of Disneyland. The nuts and bolts are all on display in detailed form. Imaging a park is one thing. Funding, designing and building it were the tremendous barriers of entry, even for Hollywood mogul Walt Disney.

I've heard many of the Disneyland stories before, but in TYiW, the story is presented in a compelling and page-turning style.

Highly recommended for Disney bibliophiles looking for 'next level' material

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Barry Linetsky

Great Read for Fans of Walt Disney and Disneyland

Reviewed in Canada on May 6, 2016

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Three Years in Wonderland is a well researched effort shining light on a three-year slice of time and the trials and tribulations of Walt Disney and other key men in creating and building Disneyland. What's mostly new here, in addition to the specific focus on one aspect of Walt Disney's incredible business biography, is the research done on the efforts and character of the man Walt put in charge as the first general manager and executive vice-president of Disneyland, Inc., C.V. Wood.

As with all histories, the reader has the responsibility of applying their own judgement and assessment to the narrative. While no fault of author Todd James Pierce, IMO the sources of some of this information places a question mark on its veracity and historical accuracy of minor and rather unimportant details. Nonetheless, each of these details contributes to the story and profile of Wood, of which not too much is known, and to which it is clear that Pierce has worked on this project for years to contribute to the historical profile. I would have liked more detail in relation to the chronology of the story, which I felt to be convoluted in some parts, but that's my own problem, and not a detriment for the general reader. What you need to know is that it is well-researched, well-written, and fun to read, even if you've read all of the other Disney biographies.

For those interested in some aspects of the career of C.V. Wood after his tenure at Disneyland, you will enjoy the book Disney's Dream Weavers by Chuck Schmidt.

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