pynchon-l-digest V2 #1663

[Scott Badger]

Doug Millison:

> I could make a credible
> argument, and I wouldn't be the first to do so, that Pynchon does
> "tar" Disney with the Nazi brush -- look again at Slothrop's E Ticket
> Ride through the Mittelwerke, and the way that Pokler's superiors use
> Zwolfkinder, with its clear echoes of Disneyland, as a way of keeping
> him under control and at the service of the Rocket.

Not so clear to me, in this particular at least.  There happens to be a
place here in northern NH called StoryLand which is almost identical to
Zwolfkinder.  The rides and attractions are generally low-tech (funny how my
kids always preferred the giant sand-box or the farmyard petting zoo to the
few more technically elaborate - though woefully simple by Disney
standards - rides that are offered) and the place is almost entirely run by
kids.  Managing adults remain, almost completely, out of sight.  Though "for
kids", Disneyland/world is clearly an adult operation whereas Zwolfkinder's
most notable feature, for me at least, was the lack of adults in even its
management.  I've always thought of StoryLand as the antithesis of the
corporate, over-the-top, Disneyland/world.

There are several theme parks in NH - StoryLand, Heritage NH, Santa's
Village, Six-Gun City - that pre-date Disney, Busch Gardens, Epcot Center
etc.  Perhaps Zwolfkinder refers, instead, to such parks in Europe at the
time of, or prior to, WWII which in turn inspired the Disney phenomenon.
Not vice versa.

Scott Badger