The Happiest Place on Earth: The Incredible Story of Walt Disney’s Disneyland by Don Hahn and Christopher Merritt is a new book celebrating the 70th Anniversary. This review shares photos of this giant coffee table edition, thoughts on whether it’s worth the money, and where this ranks in our library of over 100 books about Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Cracking the top of this list is a tough task. Walt Disney’s original magic kingdom (lower case) has received dozens of deep dives into the park’s creation and history. Disneyland Nickel Tour, Disneyland: Inside Story, and Walt Disney’s Disneyland are the gold standard of these books, constituting the current ‘Holy Trinity’ of Disneyland books that cover the genesis of the park and its early years.
Of those, Disneyland Nickel Tour is the ‘white whale’ for many collectors and is now stupidly expensive due to being a limited run that’s been out of print for decades. Disneyland Inside Story is much more accessible despite being older, but it’s Walt Disney’s Disneyland by TASCHEN that we previously recommended most often. That’s still in print, frequently 40% off, and is a gorgeous coffee table book (just be sure to get the full-sized copy). I’m also particularly partial to Art of Disneyland, but it’s not exhaustive in the same way as those.
Beyond this trio, there’s a growing collection of global titles that includes Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look At Making the Magic Real
One of my biggest frustrations with official Disney history is that it’s presented as “corporate canon” that has been meticulously sculpted over the years. Even the imperfections are calculated, an attempt to feign authenticity that rings hollow. Walt Disney is the main character, and he’s a one-dimensional caricature of a real person.
Oftentimes, the result is an interesting premise, but stilted and superficial. This is precisely why Walt Disney: An American Original is his best biography; it avoids those pitfalls without also falling into the other pitfall of trying to be scandalous or judging Walt by 21st century standards.
More recent Disney Editions titles have actually been better about this, presenting less of a sanitized version of events and not necessarily sticking to the script. They’ve also recruited more interesting authors, who share fascinating and fresh stories as opposed to remixes of the same subjects they’ve covered in countless other titles. (All of this is a bit in the weeds, but if you’re reading a Disneyland book review on a Disney website, as opposed to just going off the star score on Amazon or whatever, we presume you care about this stuff.)
Like other recent standout titles, Happiest Place on Earth benefits from its authors. Both Don Hahn and Christopher Merritt have impressive track records outside of the publishing realm. Hahn is a Disney Legend who was mentored by Walt’s “Nine Old Men” and is famous for producing several classics during the 1990s Disney Animation Renaissance. He’s had a long and illustrious career since, spanning several areas of the company while being nominated for countless awards.
Merritt has more than 25 years of theme park design experience, with a long career at Walt Disney Imagineering that took him from California to Florida to Tokyo, Shanghai, and beyond. After working as an Art Director and Production Designer for the parks, he turned his talents to writing, which included Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks, co-authored with filmmaker Pete Docter. That’s one of the very best and most comprehensive theme park titles ever released, although it’s very niche.
I mention this because my impression of Hahn and Merritt is that they’re Disney Editions outsiders, which is very much a good thing. They didn’t pick up the Disneyland 70th Anniversary assignment out of the blue as a side hustle; it reads as a passionate project, which is immediately evident from the first chapter of this book: “Make Believe.”
The Happiest Place on Earth starts with pictures of Kansas City’s Electric Park and Griffith Park’s Merry-Go-Round, the latter of which is said to be Walt’s inspiration for creating some kind of amusement enterprise of his own. Readers are then treated to the “first drawing” of Disneyland, which was created by Herb Ryman in September 1953 with Walt by his side, reproduced in crisp and clear detail.
However, what stands out here is the air quotes around “first drawing.” Whereas other authors have gone along with the myth and mystique of the long weekend that birthed this piece of art to help sell the idea of Disneyland to investors, Hahn and Merritt challenge it.
They point out that Imagineer Marvin Davis actually had worked on several park plans with Walt that involved a central hub, multiple lands, and train circumnavigating it all. With how much lore and tall tales have shaped the history of Disneyland, it’s interesting to read this right from the jump, on pages 3-4 of the book. It definitely sets the tone for what’s to come.
The book then pivots to the Chicago Railroad Fair, and a trip Walt and his eccentric animator Ward Kimball took to the Midwest. The book continues on with Walt’s various inspirations for Disneyland along with trips he and his key animators took that helped shape the idea.
Countless Disney Legends are discussed, including the aforementioned Kimball and Marc Davis, Harper Goff, Dick Irvine, John Hench, and more. Along with them, the first ~30 pages of the book feature over a dozen drawings of preliminary schemes for a theme park at various sites in Southern California before the aforementioned “first drawing” for the Ball Road site in Anaheim.
The first chapter continues with more familiar concept art from the Anaheim site, as the park begins to more closely resemble its final design. There’s new ground covered throughout, especially in sections devoted to Walt Disney’s collaborators and opening day. The latter, once again, rebuts hyperbolic anecdotes of one-hundred-degree temperatures. The first chapter is my favorite of the book, which is high praise because we’ve heard this story before. Hahn and Merritt present the genesis of Disneyland in a new light, bringing freshness to what should be stale for readers of books like this.
After this opening section, The Happiest Place on Earth travels through Disneyland land-by-land and shows sketches from each land’s development and photos from the early days of the park. Thankfully, these is full of rare photos including many that have never been published before. Lots of concept art is present, as well as photos of interiors of many shops–from Kodak to the Tobacconist to the Wizard of Bras.
Shelved plans and long lost areas of the park from Disneyland’s early history are shown in great detail as well. Multiple pages are devoted to Edison Square, Liberty Square, International Street, and Chinatown. There are photos of models and concept art I’d never seen before, which makes sense, as past books like this didn’t pull the curtain back nearly as much on ‘what never was’ from the early era of Disneyland. Most of this is already public knowledge thanks to Imagineering books, memoirs, and D23–but the level of detail here is fairly unprecedented. There’s also a treasure trove of concept art by John Hench–no book can ever have too much of that.
I also appreciated new-to-me tales about the challenges of civil engineering in Anaheim, feral cats converting the castle into their home (and then suddenly covering Walt with fleas), the original walkthrough version of Pirates of the Caribbean, “Lost” Land of Oz, Museum of the Weird, and more. Then there’s my personal favorite long lost attraction, Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland, which is given considerable attention.
The book concludes with Tomorrowland. The original version, the 1959 “grand reopening” and and great big beautiful expansion in 1967. Tomorrowland is my favorite castle park land, but this book is a good reminder that so much of what I love about the land is the promise of Tomorrowland as opposed to how it’s been realized over the years. Although there was a window in the 1970s and 1980s during which I wish I could time travel to see Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. The book wraps up with a photo from Walt walking the New Tomorrowland site with Imagineers in late summer 1966, which would go on to be his last working session in Disneyland before his passing in December.
This book is clearly advertised as the incredible story of Walt Disney’s Disneyland (it’s right there in the subtitle!), and is centered around exploring the park’s first five lands. It does a truly fantastic job of this, expounding upon what’s covered elsewhere and retreading surprisingly little in its 300+ pages.
Despite this, I would’ve liked it expanded to include more recent history. There’s nothing about the newer lands, expansion from a single theme park to a resort, Disney California Adventure, or on-site hotels. While I can appreciate that the target audience for this book probably cares more about Walt-era history and less about everything that happened in the 21st century, it would be nice to have a proper successor to Disneyland Inside Story or Disneyland Nickel Tour, both of which predate Disney California Adventure.
Disneyland Resort’s second gate now over two decades old. It’s time to start documenting its history. After all, the company did learn from the early mistakes made there, so the story has a happy ending. DCA has such a messy and fascinating history, but whenever the second gate or more recent expansion is mentioned, the presentation is less ‘warts and all’ and more a means of marketing the latest and greatest additions.
It’s beyond time for a true historical accounting of Disneyland Resort, the Paul Pressler days, late Eisner and early Iger era, and even the early trials and tribulations of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Heck, the COVID closure was now 5 years ago–it’s historically significant! I truly hope that by Disneyland’s 75th Anniversary, we get a book that isn’t afraid to pull back the curtain on more recent history in the same way this does with what went down seven decades ago. Because no matter how great the titles are, they’re still similar. Great as it is, this book could’ve theoretically been published for the 25th, 40th, 50th, or 60th anniversaries. Whenever such a comprehensive Disneyland Resort history is published, I hope it’s written by Hahn and Merritt.
Ultimately, The Happiest Place on Earth: The Incredible Story of Walt Disney’s Disneyland is another excellent book about the original magic kingdom. It brings a shocking amount of new content and fresh perspective to the table, and is a 5-star book when judged on its own merits.
It’s one of the highlights of the entire Disneyland 70th Anniversary celebration, and fits neatly alongside “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” and the other history-oriented additions on Main Street. It’s a perfect entry point to the creation and early days of the park. I completely glossed over the size of this book and the quality of the print, but it’s gorgeous and gigantic. Truly worthy of being displayed on your coffee table. (I don’t love the cover art, but to each their own on that.)
Whether those with bookshelves stuffed with Disneyland and Imagineering books should add this title to their collection might seem debatable, especially for those who already several titles like this. As a ‘recovering completionist,’ what I will say is that there’s more than enough daylight between this and the Holy Trinity of Disneyland Books to easily justify adding this to my library and owning them all. I don’t really think it’s debatable at all: this is a must-own for lovers of Disney history. It’s truly a testament to the authors that they’ve been able to revisit the Walt-era well yet again, and still manage to publish one of the fresher Disneyland books in years.
The Happiest Place on Earth: The Incredible Story of Walt Disney’s Disneyland is exceptional–the second consecutive all-star anniversary title that Disney Editions published, following A Portrait of Walt Disney World: 50 Years of The Most Magical Place on Earth (highly recommended and now 42% off–buy it before it goes out of print if you haven’t already).
Just as that is the best book about the Vacation Kingdom of the World and was one of the highlights of the entire 50th Anniversary celebration, so too is this. The only difference is that the competition is a lot fiercer with Disneyland books. This deserves high praise for a new release, and is going to be the souvenir that creates new lifelong fans among first-timers, and piques curiosity about Disneyland, Walt Disney, and the legendary collaborators who helped bring his dream to reality.
The Happiest Place on Earth: The Incredible Story of Walt Disney’s Disneyland retails for $60 and is available from Amazon.com and at independent booksellers. Click here to purchase The Happiest Place on Earth Disneyland 70th Anniversary book. We receive a small commission from your purchase, so buying through that link helps support the site!
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and many other SoCal cities!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of The Happiest Place on Earth: The Incredible Story of Walt Disney’s Disneyland? If you’ve already seen the book, do you think it’s on par with the ‘Holy Trinity’ of Disneyland history books? Is it one of the highlights of Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary? Will you be buying a copy? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!