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Recognizing and Representing Mexico at EPCOT Center's Mexico Pavilion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Randal Sheppard
Randal Sheppard*
Affiliation:
University of Cologne, Germany
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Abstract

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In this article, I explore the creation of the Mexico pavilion that opened in 1982 at Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center theme park in Orlando, Florida. I show how designers created a representation of Mexico intended to be recognizably authentic to EPCOT Center visitors by drawing on established touristic images of Mexico in the United States. I then discuss Disney's decision to hire Mexican American artist Eddie Martinez to oversee the design of the pavilion's main attraction, a boat ride through Mexican history and culture. Specifically, I examine Martinez's involvement in the Goez Art Studio and Gallery in East Los Angeles to explain how Mexican Americans gained cultural authority as interpreters of Mexico in the United States. Finally, I show how the pavilion reflected ways in which Mexican Americans read and reconstructed established visions of Mexico in the United States, particularly in relation to pre-Columbian cultures.

Resumen

Resumen

El presente artículo analiza la creación del pabellón de México que abrió en 1982 como parte del parque temático EPCOT Center de Walt Disney World en Orlando, Florida. Muestra cómo los diseñadores del pabellón utilizaron imágenes turísticas de México ya establecidas en los Estados Unidos para que su representación de México fuera reconocida como “auténtica” por los visitantes de EPCOT Center. Asimismo, reflexiona sobre la decisión de Disney de contratar al artista mexicanoamericano Eddie Martinez para supervisar el diseño de la atracción principal del pabellón: un paseo en barco por la historia y la cultura de México. Esta parte del análisis se enfoca en el trabajo de Martinez con Goez Art Studio and Gallery en el Este de Los Ángeles para explicar cómo los estadounidenses de origen mexicano ganaron autoridad cultural como intérpretes de México en los Estados Unidos. Por último, demuestra como el pabellón de México reflejaba las maneras en que los mexicano-americanos leían y reconstruían las visiones de México establecidas en los Estados Unidos, particularmente las relacionadas con las culturas precolombinas.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , 2016 , pp. 64 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by the Latin American Studies Association

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