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Lost LA

Fantasyland

Season 3 Episode 6

Los Angeles has long been the place where you can imagine something — a time period, a location, ordinary or exotic, real or fantasy — and build it. It’s a tradition that dates back to the 1910s and 1920s, when early filmmakers built huge, elaborately themed sets that often remained standing for months or years, inviting visitors to explore and to imagine being a part of the action. It found its fullest expression in nearby Anaheim, where Walt Disney’s Imagineers created the intricately themed, immersive experience that is Disneyland.

With developer Rick Caruso (The Grove, Americana at Brand and Palisades Village), we explore the creation of modern-day fantasylands, their appeal, and why they flourish in Los Angeles. We look at the birth and evolution of the studio tour, starting with D. W. Griffith’s set for “Intolerance” in 1916, and including a closer historical look at the Universal Studios Hollywood tour. We go behind the scenes at the Walt Disney Archives for a peek at the prospectus that fueled investment for Disneyland. We also speak with Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr, who takes us through the history of immersive experiences at Disneyland, Walt Disney’s ultimate fantasy landscape. “I don't want the public to see the real world they live in while they’re in the park. I want them to feel they are in another world.” — Walt Disney

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Season
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Visit Hollywood Forever, Evergreen and Forest Lawn, where L.A. reinvented the cemetery.
Hiking Trailblazers
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The hiker-activists who led Angelenos into their hills and onto the trails.
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How Filipino Americans in Southern California are making their heritage more visible.
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26:47
Iconic fast-food chains from McDonald’s to Taco Bell were born in SoCal.
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After internment camps, Japanese Americans made L.A.'s Crenshaw neighborhood their home.
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26:04
During WWII, L.A. became a sanctuary for Europe’s accomplished artists and intellectuals.
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26:46
Dig deep into Southern California’s past to reveal lessons for our climate-changed future.
Winemaking
26:41
Explore a forgotten age when winemaking was Southern California’s principal industry.
Who Killed the Red Car?
26:46
Why did Los Angeles dismantle one of the greatest rail transit systems in the nation?
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26:40
Explore the lasting impact of the Shindana Toy Company, created out of the need for community empowerment following the 1965 Watts uprising, whose ethnically correct black dolls forever changed the American doll industry.
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