Disney and the Theming of the Contemporary Zoo

Equal parts design history, thematic taxonomy, site survey, and practitioner insight, this book places the contemporary zoo in the context of Disney’s sizable influence on today’s built environment and those who create it. The 1998 opening of Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World introduced theme park design principles to wildlife display. In this book, Benjamin H. George and Dave Gottwald draw on extensive interviews with over three dozen zoo designers and professionals, landscape architects, and former Disney Imagineers to explore how, in the decades since, zoo designers have adopted and adapted Disney’s approach to theming both guest and animal experiences. Beginning with Tierpark Hagenbeck, the book also serves as a site study covering Animal Kingdom and some fifty zoos around the world which evince its influence as George and Gottwald chart the evolution of naturalist habitat design through immersive theming. Ultimately, this book critically examines how post-Disney zoo environments combine entertainment with education, thus complexifying authenticity with theatricality.