Disney’s mysterious ‘1952’ movie officially titled ‘Tomorrowland’

On Jan. 28, Walt Disney Studios announced that its live-action film formerly known as “1952” will now be titled “Tomorrowland.”

Disney has kept much about “Tomorrowland” under wraps. The film is produced and directed by Brad Bird, whose work include Disney-Pixar’s “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille” as well as “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol." The movie will also star George Clooney.

Disney, who released the limited information about “Tomorrowland” via D23, also notes that Bird and Damon Lindelof wrote the film’s script, which is based on an idea by Lindelof and Jeff Jensen.

That the story for “Tomorrowland” remains shrouded in mystery seems fitting given Lindelof’s involvement. Lindelof co-created “Lost,” writing for the series as well as for “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “Prometheus.” Jensen is a writer for Entertainment Weekly who extensively covered “Lost” for the magazine.

Still, the film’s official title raises immediate associations with the Disney Parks, as Tomorrowland is one of the five original “lands” at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif. (Tomorrowland also has counterparts in Magic Kingdom as well as the global theme parks).

According to Entertainment Weekly, some industry watchers speculated the working title’s date referred to the year Walt Disney announced plans for Disneyland. It is also the year Walt Disney Imagineering was founded (as WED Enterprises) to develop projects for the theme park, which opened in 1955.

Last week rumors about the project’s focus, then still known by its working title, heated up after Bird and Lindelof posted a picture of a Walt Disney Productions box labeled “1952” that presumably served as the film’s inspiration.

Inside the box are pictures of Walt Disney, closed files, and a copy of the Alex Roland's book “Model Research: The National Advisory Committee For Aeronautics 1918-1958." Other items in the box are a 45 record and what appears to be a 1928 edition of “Amazing Stories” that introduces Buck Rogers.

After the official announcement, Lindelof offered this teaser about the film on Twitter:

We won't tell you what it's about (yet), but we will tell you what it's NOT about. And that would be ALIENS. #Tomorrowland

Lindelof’s claim might contradict earlier speculation that the upcoming film is based on proposed Disney film entitled “1952,” said to be about alien contact, that was found in the company archives. On the other hand, his response might be a dodge, as “Tomorrowland” might very well be about the proposed film or have that element as part of a larger story.

Although the story of “Tomorrowland” remains a secret – for now – the film is generally considered to be part of Disney’s strategy to produce films with “multi-platform appeal,” building on popular properties in other divisions of the company. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise, starring Johnny Depp, is one such property. Another is the “Magic Kingdom” movie being developed by Jon Favreau.

Another possibility is that “Tomorrowland” will focus more on Walt Disney himself, presumably with Clooney in the role. “Saving Mr. Banks,” a film based on the making of Mary Poppins that stars Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, is currently in post-production for a December release.

Whatever its final version, Disney's "Tomorrowland" is slated for a Dec. 14, 2014 release.

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