Woody and Walt
Freedomland was conceived by Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood (1920–1992), a young Texan who had previously worked in the planning, construction, and management of Disneyland. Hired by Walt Disney in 1953, Wood was the person who selected the orange grove site in Anaheim, California, where Disneyland was eventually built.
Wood became very close to Disney during the next two years, but eventually the two men had a falling out. Reasons for this are unclear, but three theories exist: Wood was embezzling money from the park; Wood was taking too much public credit for Disneyland; or Wood had betrayed Disney by planning his own amusement parks, effectively stealing Disney's original concept.
By January 1956, Wood had been fired from Disneyland. To this day, The Walt Disney Company refuses to acknowledge any role played by him in the creation of the first Disney theme park.
Read more about this topic: Freedomland U.S.A.
Famous quotes containing the word woody:
“Dylan used to sound like a lung cancer victim singing Woody Guthrie. Now he sounds like a Rolling Stone singing Immanuel Kant.”
—Also quoted in Robert Shelton, No Direction Home, ch. 2, “Prophet Without Honor” (1986)