Feb. 15, 2008: Monsanto House of the Future

[Werner Weiss]

This week, I've updated one of the most popular Yesterland entries to include some comments about the newly announced Innoventions Dream Home and additional photos.

Link to Monsanto House of the Future

It's amazing to me that the official Disneyland press release about the Innoventions Dream Home contains misinformation. According to the press release:

"Walt Disney was fascinated with the concept of a futuristic home and he introduced concepts at World’s Fairs that led to the first 'House of Tomorrow' exhibit in Disneyland (1967)."

Act 4 of the Disneyland version of the Carousel of Progress (1967-1973) could be considered a "House of Tomorrow" exhibit, and the Carousel of Progress debuted at the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair. However, the press release writer failed to realize that the Monsanto House of the Future, which opened in 1957, was the first "House of Tomorrow" exhibit in Disneyland. Of course, before the House of the Future, there was the Bathroom of Tomorrow (1956), presented by Crane.

The good news is that the AP story by Gillian Flaccus, which is all over the Internet, correctly reported, "Disneyland's original 'House of the Future,' a pod-shaped, all-plastic dwelling, quickly seemed quaint and closed its doors after a decade, in 1967."

Please discuss the House of the Future here.

[wulfblat]

Thanks for the update and the information on the original attraction -- I remember it fondly, and think it remains a popular Yesterland attraction because it did what any Tomorrowland attraction should: it provided a bold glimpse into the future.

Which is just what Innoventions does not do, and the newly announced Innoventions Dream Home will not do. Crappy product placement of currently available technology. Yawn. Is this Circuit City or Tomorrowland?

[nojarama]

I just don't see the point in what they are planning to do. If they're not going to pay homage to the original & go a "Jetson" route or revisit it with a more modern flare, then why bother? Anything they put in there that is remotely possible in actuality will be obsolete as soon as it's available. The public aren't living in bubbles ya know (although some people are incredibly ignorant, like the Disney people who think that we'll actually be interested). They should tear out "innovations" and either put a new ride in it's place or something much more "futuristic" IMO.

[Werner Weiss]

Originally Posted by wulfblat

Which is just what Innoventions does not do, and the newly announced Innoventions Dream Home will not do. Crappy product placement of currently available technology. Yawn. Is this Circuit City or Tomorrowland?

I'm sure the Elias family will do whatever Microsoft, HP, Life|ware and Taylor Morrison want them to do. I wonder if the Elias family will be "squirting" music to each other with their Zunes. The Elias family wouldn't be caught dead with iPods.

Seriously, I hope there will be some effort at visionary predictions of the future — even though that's not their primary intent. I hope it won't just be advertising for things you can buy at Circuit City on the drive home form Disneyland.

[Werner Weiss]

Originally Posted by nojarama

I just don't see the point in what they are planning to do. If they're not going to pay homage to the original & go a "Jetson" route or revisit it with a more modern flare, then why bother?

I guess the reason that Disneyland is "bothering" is that the sponsors are putting up a lot of money.

It makes sense that the sponsors wouldn't want to do some sort of retro-future based on the original Monsanto House of the Future (or Hanna-Barberra's Jetsons series). Unfortunately for Disney, their press release invites such a comparison by referencing "the first 'House of Tomorrow' exhibit in Disneyland."

However, my guess is that the sponsors would be more successful in communicating with guests as great visionaries rather than as hucksters pushing currently available products. As a technology company, you build mindshare, goodwill, and positive brand image by coming across as brilliant people with the most amazing ideas for the future — not by showing off that Zune is cooler than iPod because you can't buy a brown iPod.

[Aladdin]

The worst thing to come to DL during the TL'98 makeover
was Innoventions ~ and 10 long tedious years later THAT
is one of the few surving things left of that horrendous makeover.
How the heck is it possible that no one at Disney has had the
fortitude to say enough of this crappy electronics show, and
make it into a truely remarkable attraction like the Carousel
of Progress or America Sings!?!?!?!?!?

It took them 10 long years to "Imagineer a New Attraction",
and 10 EVEN LONGER YEARS that TL struggled with Innoventions ~
and after all that time, wouldn't sponsors know already the
miniscule numbers that this revolving building barely attracts???
Sponsors would be much better off spending money on showing
a REAL Disney attraction, one that would actually attract people.

[mserenity]

Any vintage pics of the inside? I've seen the outside a zillion times on various promo and historical pieces but what about the inside? I especially want to see an image of that "nonfunctional" wall mounted TV to see how it compares with our current ones. Color photos would be especially nice.

[Werner Weiss]

Originally Posted by mserenity

Any vintage pics of the inside? I've seen the outside a zillion times on various promo and historical pieces but what about the inside? I especially want to see an image of that "nonfunctional" wall mounted TV to see how it compares with our current ones. Color photos would be especially nice.

Daveland has a terrific collection of photos, drawings, and 3-D renderings of the Monsanto House of the Future. There are even a couple of pictures that include the fake big-screen TV.

http://davelandweb.com/hof/

Click on the thumbnail pictures for larger pictures. (You must turn off any pop-up blocker first.)

[Lore]

Am I seeing a trend? "Walt's apartment over Pirates returns..." and "Walt's house of the future returns...". Neither really correct, and both likely lame. What's next? "Walt's banana sandwiches return to the Blue Bayou?"

[mserenity]

Fantastic! Thank you so much for the link. Those pictures are great!