Semiquincentennial is one heck of a tongue twister. Mouthing it out will make those around you think you’ve swallowed a lime.
So it follows that the republic’s getting-up-there birthday celebration next year is dubbed “America250.”
And it also follows that Disney’s California Adventure Park would update its Soarin’ Around the World attraction to Soarin’ Around America to mark the quarter millennium since Thomas Paine circulated pamphlets (!) demanding independence and the 13 colonies declared it.
Disneyland plans to rework the attraction in Anaheim, and another in Florida, in time for the country’s 250th anniversary in July, Times columnist Todd Martens writes in a piece exploring the tensions around the marketing of that idea (“Disney leans into patriotism, turning Soarin’ Around the World into Soarin’ Across America”).
Not much has been revealed about the revamp but images of “amber waves of grain” and “purple mountains majesty” are promised.
A flag-raising ceremony in July honored American veterans at the Disneyland Resort.
(Richard Harbaugh / Disneyland Resort )
It’s part of a series called “Disney Celebrating America” that begins Nov. 11, Veterans Day. And, as Martens writes, the branding comes at a sensitive moment for both the divided country and the entertainment company, which faced fierce criticism — and received some praise — when it temporarily suspended Jimmy Kimmel from its ABC network after he made remarks following the shooting death of Charlie Kirk.
“The celebration arrives at a divisive time in American history,” Martens writes. “A poster for the attraction showcases the Statue of Liberty juxtaposed with the American flag and bald eagle. It’s art that conveys a sense of nationalistic pride, and it’s perhaps representative of shifting an outward-facing, global ride with one that may suddenly be more inward-looking.”
Disneyland is receiving online criticism about its imagery tied to the revamped attraction, according to the column, which also makes clear that the theme park has a long tradition of patriotism that, of course, spans many diverse political eras.
Examples that come to mind: The animatronic tribute to Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, opened in 1965 when Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat, was president, and the large-scale America on Parade celebration during the nation’s bicentennial (call it America200) took place when Gerald R. Ford, a Republican, was in the White House.
Nevertheless, try to enjoy next year’s semiquincentennial, as well as these newsworthy headlines out of Orange County.
The front entrance of the Newport Police Department building in Newport Beach.
(File Photo)
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Thanks for reading my take on the headlines this week. Your regular editor, Carol Cormaci, should be back at the helm of TimesOC next week.
— John
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