MovieChat Forums > A Hole in the Head (1959) Discussion > Clairvoyant Disney World Prediction?

Clairvoyant Disney World Prediction?


Has any viewer of this film ever wondered whether Frank's grand scheme of setting up a Disney amusement park in Florida was just a coincidence? Kennan Wynn throws the plan in Franks face saying, "Great plan - for Disney" and his bodyguards rough him up. I think Disney Land opened in california about 1955 and this film must have been put together in 1958. Was another Disney spot in Florida already in the wind at that time? On the other hand, could the film have put the idea in Disney's head? Maybe Frank's character in the movie didn't have such a harebrained scheme after all!

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Yes, Tony had two great ideas, and they were both stunning to hear in this movie. In one fell swoop, Tony has this idea of buying up a bunch of South Beach in Miami Beach, and building a "Disneyland" there. Well, in the last 15 or 20 years it is South Beach that has become a huge tourist magnet in Miami, and a "Disneyland" in Florida needs no explanation at all. This element of the script was really amazing.

As for this movie in general, it was an odd duck to me. Though often billed as a comedy, it barely qualifies. The dramatic elements of this story were the best & most interesting parts, and it was unexpectedly moving & emotional at times, as these characters struggled with their respective plights, particularly Tony and his son.

Sinatra was amazingly natural and convincing in this role, an unusual role for Sinatra with its close & intimate relationship with the young son. The supporting cast was quite good as well, but the script didn't match the quality of other Capra films. Still, there are a number of elements which make this film worth seeing. I was a kid living in Florida when this film was made, and I saw it for the first time only quite recently. Glad I did.

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The movie is on right now and I caught that, too. Disneyland did open here in CA around 1955 and my family went in 1957. I was too little to remember much but I still have the Mickey Mouse that I got. I can't believe it. But yes, wasn't that something about the reference to building a Disneyland in FL? I don't remember when Disney World opened but maybe this movie could have had a little something to do with putting the "bug" in someone's ear. Unless it was already in the works. We might never know. ;)

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First a clarification. Disney in Florida is called "Disney World", in California its Disneyland. Disney World in Florida opened in 1971.

In 1959, the Walt Disney Company, under the leadership of Walt Disney, began looking for land for a second resort to supplement Disneyland, which had opened in Anaheim, California in 1955. Market surveys revealed that only 2% of Disneyland's visitors came from east of the Mississippi River, where 75% of the population of the United States lived. Additionally, Walt Disney disliked the businesses that had sprung up around Disneyland and wanted control of a much larger area of land for the new project[citation

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I wonder if this movie helped Disney think of Florida as the East Coast Disneyland?

It is pretty amazing that 13 years later Disneyworld was finished!

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I first went to Disneyland in 1972 and heard the the new Disney World was much bigger. FYI Disneyland is 300 acres, Disney World is 30,000 acres, literally 100 times as big.

For who would bear the whips and scorns of Hollywood... (;-p)

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