History Film / Tomorrowland

--> '''Governor Nix''': Let's imagine, if you glimpsed the future, were frightened by what you saw, what would you do with that information? Would you go to... The politicians? Captains of industry? And how would you convince them? With data, facts? Good luck. The only facts they won't challenge are the ones that keep the wheels greased and the dollars rolling in. [[spoiler:But, what if? What if there was a way of skipping the middleman, and putting the critical news directly into everyone's head? The probability of widespread annihilation kept going up. The only way to stop it was to show it, and to scare people straight. Because, what ''reasonable'' human being wouldn't be galvanized by the potential destruction of everything they've ever known or loved? To save civilization, I would show its collapse. But, how do you think this vision was received? How do you think people responded to the prospect of imminent doom? They gobbled it up! Like a chocolate eclair! They didn't fear their demise, they repackaged it! It can be enjoyed as video games, as TV shows, books, movies – the entire world wholeheartedly embraced the apocalypse, and sprinted toward it with gleeful abandon. Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling all around you. You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation! Explain that one! Bees and butterflies start to disappear, the glaciers melt, algae blooms... All around you the coal mine canaries are dropping dead and ''you won't take the hint!'' '''In every moment there is the possibility of a better future, but you people won't believe it. And because you won't believe it, you won't do what is necessary to make it a reality!''' So you dwell on this terrible future, you resign yourselves to it. For one reason — because that future doesn't ask anything of you ''today.'' So, yes, we saw the iceberg, we warned the Titanic. But you all just steered for it anyway, full steam ahead. Why? Because you ''want'' to sink. You ''gave up.'' That's not the ''Monitor's fault.'' That's ''yours.'']]

--> '''Governor Nix''': Just imagine, if you glimpsed the future, were frightened by what you saw, what would you do with that information? Would you go to... politicians, captains of industry? And how would you convince them? With data, facts? Good luck. The only facts they won't challenge are the ones that keep the wheels greased and the dollars rolling in. [[spoiler:Now what if, what if there was a way of skipping the middleman, and putting the critical news directly into everyone's head? The probability of widespread annihilation kept going up. The only way to stop it is to show it, and to scare people straight. What ''reasonable'' human being wouldn't be galvanized by the potential destruction of everything they've ever known or loved? To save civilization, I would show its collapse. But how do you think this vision was received? How do you think people responded to the prospect of imminent doom? They gobbled it up like a chocolate eclair! They didn't fear their demise, they repackaged it! It can be enjoyed as video games, as TV shows, books, movies – the entire world wholeheartedly embraced the apocalypse, and sprinted toward it with gleeful abandon. Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling all around you. You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation. Explain that one! Bees and butterflies start to disappear, the glaciers melt, algae blooms - all around you the coal mine canaries are dropping dead and ''you won't take the hint!'' '''In every moment there is the possibility of a better future, but you people won't believe it. And because you won't believe it, you won't do what is necessary to make it a reality!''' So you dwell on this oh, terrible future, you resign yourselves to it. For one reason — because that future doesn't ask anything of you ''today''. So, yes, you saw the iceberg, warned the Titanic, but you all just steered for it anyway, full steam ahead. Why? Because you ''want'' to sink. You gave up. That's not the monitor's fault. That's yours.]]

** Much like [[Disney/MeetTheRobinsons another Disney film about the future]], Space Mountain appears as part of Tomorrowland's skyline. People have also spotted nods to Epcot's Ride/{{Horizons}} and the Disneyland episode ''Magic Highway USA.'' During the end credits, Space Mountain and EPCOT's iconic Spaceship Earth appear side-by-side as part of the landscape.

In 1889 at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, a group of visionaries put aside their differences to discuss how to make the future happen: Creator/JulesVerne, Gustave Eiffel, UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla and UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison. They established a secret society, known as Plus Ultra, to figure out how and where to change the world. Eventually, Tesla's experiments uncovered an alternate dimension, which would become their living laboratory: A realm that would become known as Tomorrowland. The Tomorrowland we know in the parks was a cover story/orientation space created by later member Creator/WaltDisney, who was also giving lucky Plus Ultra inductees the opportunity to visit the real thing via a portal hidden beneath the 1964 New York World's Fair installation of "Ride/ItsASmallWorld".

In 1889 at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, a group of visionaries put aside their differences to discuss how to make the future happen: Creator/JulesVerne, Gustave Eiffel, UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla and UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison. They established a secret society, known as Plus Ultra, to figure out how and where to change the world. Eventually, Tesla's experiments uncovered an alternate dimension, which would become their living laboratory: A realm that would become known as Tomorrowland. The Tomorrowland we know in the parks was a cover story/orientation space created by later member Creator/WaltDisney, who was also giving lucky Plus Ultra inductees the opportunity to visit the real thing via a portal hidden beneath the 1964 New York World's Fair installation of "It's A Small World".

** The World's Fair features a number of brands, which is probably true to life. A Greyhound-branded shuttle drives past Frank when he arrives. Disney's "It's a Small World" ride factors into the plot.

UnspecifiedApocalypse: [[spoiler:The Monitor predicts a [[{{ApocalypseHow/Class2}} Class 2]] through a combination of nuclear war, societal unrest ''and'' environmental damage. It's implied to [[{{ApocalypseHow/Class3a}} get much worse]].]]

* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: The Monitor predicts a [[{{ApocalypseHow/Class2}} Class 2]], which will likely evolve into a [[{{ApocalypseHow/Class3a}} Class 3a]]]].

* VillainHasAPoint: Governor Nix's plan wasn't actually evil. At first he believed showing humanity a possible apocalyptic future would scare them into trying to prevent it. However, he lost faith when instead of trying to prevent the apocalypse, humanity ''embraced'' the idea of it. How do you save someone who doesn't want to be saved? However, he ''does'' go too far by ordering killer robots to assassinate Casey and Frank.

--> '''Governor Nix''': Just imagine, if you glimpsed the future, were frightened by what you saw, what would you do with that information? [[spoiler:Would you go to... politicians, captains of industry? And how would you convince them? With data, facts? Good luck. The only facts they won't challenge are the ones that keep the wheels greased and the dollars rolling in. Now what if, what if there was a way of skipping the middleman, and putting the critical news directly into everyone's head? The probability of widespread annihilation kept going up. The only way to stop it is to show it, and to scare people straight. What ''reasonable'' human being wouldn't be galvanized by the potential destruction of everything they've ever known or loved? To save civilization, I would show its collapse. But how do you think this vision was received? How do you think people responded to the prospect of imminent doom? They gobbled it up like a chocolate eclair! They didn't fear their demise, they repackaged it! It can be enjoyed as video games, as TV shows, books, movies – the entire world wholeheartedly embraced the apocalypse, and sprinted toward it with gleeful abandon. Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling all around you. You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation. Explain that one! Bees and butterflies start to disappear, the glaciers melt, algae blooms - all around you the coal mine canaries are dropping dead and ''you won't take the hint!'' '''In every moment there is the possibility of a better future, but you people won't believe it. And because you won't believe it, you won't do what is necessary to make it a reality!''' So you dwell on this oh, terrible future, you resign yourselves to it. For one reason — because that future doesn't ask anything of you ''today''. So, yes, you saw the iceberg, warned the Titanic, but you all just steered for it anyway, full steam ahead. Why? Because you ''want'' to sink. You gave up. That's not the monitor's fault. That's yours.]]

** You cannot extract DNA from hair. Hair is all protein. Justified, though; if there's a skin cell on the hair, it can provide DNA, and the scanner in question is from Tomorrowland (which is centuries more advanced than the rest of the world).
** Losing "90% of your blood sugar in 1/100th of a second" ''is'' survivable; The [[http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/highest-blood-sugar-level/ highest ever recorded]] in someone who ''survived'' was 2,656 mg/dl, and people are known to still be conscious at 27 mg/dl - let's just HandWave that powder Frank and Casey's ate beforehand was some kind of ultra-tech "hyper sugar" meant specifically for this purpose. The catch is that climbing back up again is a living hell; Frank warns "You're gonna wish you were dead" but people usually have to lie very still for some time while their body assimilates the cup of honey or whatever they gulped down to save their lives - in many cases people have had to be ''hospitalized''.

* ReedRichardsIsUseless: A DiscussedTrope; While the founders of Tomorrowland went so far as to travel to another dimension to be able to work in peace towards a better tomorrow, once they found solutions to all the problems back home they decided not to share them, so essentially that "better tomorrow" is relegated to the tiny elite of Tomorrowland while the Earth is left to rot. Casey calls Nix out for isolating Tomorrowland instead of revealing the existence of the fantastical realm to the world as its founders originally planned and not doing anything to help prevent it; Nix reveals that [[spoiler:they ''did'' try - just as people on Earth ''are'' trying - only to be rebuffed by the [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney rich]] and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections powerful]], who only care about business as usual and status quo. So he modified the Monitor to directly broadcast that information to the world at large... only for them to turn it into a ''[[AfterTheEnd genre]]'', which they proceeded to [[CosyCatastrophe idealize]] even as the signs of it approached. This drove Nix right past the DespairEventHorizon, which is why Tomorrowland turned its back on the world it came from]].

** Losing "90% of your blood sugar in 1/100th of a second" ''is'' survivable; The [[http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/highest-blood-sugar-level/ highest ever recorded in someone]] who ''survived'' was 2,656 mg/dl, and people are known to still be conscious at 27 mg/dl - let's just HandWave that powder Frank poured in Casey's mouth was some kind of ultra-tech "hyper sugar" meant specifically for this purpose. The catch is that climbing back up again is a living hell; Frank warns "You're gonna wish you were dead" but people usually have to lie very still for some time while their body assimilates the cup of honey or whatever they gulped down to save their lives - in many cases people have had to be ''hospitalized''.

** Also, losing ''95% of your blood sugar'' is likely fatal (though that could be explained as an exaggeration).

* ReedRichardsIsUseless: A DiscussedTrope; While the founders of Tomorrowland went so far as to travel to another dimension to be able to work in peace towards a better tomorrow, once they found solutions to all the problems back home they decided not to share them, so essentially that "better tomorrow" is relegated to the tiny elite of Tomorrowland while the Earth is left to rot. Casey calls Nix out for isolating Tomorrowland instead of revealing the existence of the fantastical realm to the world as its founders originally planned and not doing anything to help prevent it; Nix reveals that [[spoiler:they ''did'' try - just as people on Earth ''are'' trying - only to be rebuffed by the [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney rich]] and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections powerful]], who only care about business as usual and status quo. So he modified the Monitor to directly broadcast that information to the world at large... only for them to turn it into a ''[[AfterTheEnd genre]]'', which they proceeded to [[CosyCatastrophe idealize]] and lampoon even as the signs of it approached. This drove Nix right past the DespairEventHorizon, which is why Tomorrowland turned its back on the world it came from]].

* ReedRichardsIsUseless: A DiscussedTrope; While the founders of Tomorrowland went so far as to travel to another dimension to be able to work in peace towards a better tomorrow, once they found solutions to all the problems back home they decided not to share them, so essentially that "better tomorrow" is relegated to the tiny elite of Tomorrowland while the Earth is left to rot. Casey calls Nix out for isolating Tomorrowland instead of revealing the existence of the fantastical realm to the world (like they had originally planned before the Monitor revealed the ApocalypseHow future) and not doing anything to help prevent it; Nix reveals that [[spoiler:they ''did'' try - just as people on Earth ''are'' trying - only to be rebuffed by the [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney rich]] and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections powerful]], who only care about business as usual and status quo. So he modified the Monitor to directly broadcast that information to the world at large... only for them to turn it into a ''[[AfterTheEnd genre]]'', which they proceeded to [[CosyCatastrophe idealize]] and lampoon even as the signs of it approached. This drove Nix right past the DespairEventHorizon, which is why Tomorrowland turned its back on the world it came from]].

* UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler: The Monitor predicted [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt inevitable doom]] for the Earth in as little as 56 days but, after it is destroyed and governor Nix dies [[NoEndorHolocaust absolutely nothing happens at all]]. While it is reasonable that without its influence nuclear war could be averted, if the planet was in such a catastrophic nosedive as to suffer environmental and ecological collapse in less than two months you'd think there would be more consequence. Frank goes so far as to completely {{handwave}} it by saying "We shouldn't even be here, but we are".]]

* VillainHasAPoint: Governor Nix's plan wasn't actually evil. At first he believed showing humanity a possible apocalyptic future would scare them into trying to prevent it. However, he lost faith when instead of trying to prevent the apocalypse, humanity ''embraced'' the idea of it. How do you save someone who doesn't want to be saved? However, he later goes too far by ordering killer robots to assassinate Casey and Frank.

--> '''Governor Nix''': Just imagine, if you glimpsed the future, were frightened by what you saw, what would you do with that information? Would you go to... politicians, captains of industry? And how would you convince them? With data, facts? Good luck. The only facts they won't challenge are the ones that keep the wheels greased and the dollars rolling in. Now what if, what if there was a way of skipping the middleman, and putting the critical news directly into everyone's head? The probability of widespread annihilation kept going up. The only way to stop it is to show it, and to scare people straight. What ''reasonable'' human being wouldn't be galvanized by the potential destruction of everything they've ever known or loved? To save civilization, I would show its collapse. But how do you think this vision was received? How do you think people responded to the prospect of imminent doom? They gobbled it up like a chocolate eclair! They didn't fear their demise, they repackaged it! It can be enjoyed as video games, as TV shows, books, movies – the entire world wholeheartedly embraced the apocalypse, and sprinted toward it with gleeful abandon. Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling all around you. You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation. Explain that one! Bees and butterflies start to disappear, the glaciers melt, algae blooms - all around you the coal mine canaries are dropping dead and ''you won't take the hint!'' '''In every moment there is the possibility of a better future, but you people won't believe it. And because you won't believe it, you won't do what is necessary to make it a reality!''' So you dwell on this oh, terrible future, you resign yourselves to it. For one reason — because that future doesn't ask anything of you ''today''. So, yes, you saw the iceberg, warned the Titanic, but you all just steered for it anyway, full steam ahead. Why? Because you ''want'' to sink. You gave up. That's not the monitor's fault. That's yours.
* ReedRichardsIsUseless: While the founders of Tomorrowland went so far as to travel to another dimension to be able to work in peace towards a better tomorrow, once they found solutions to all the problems back home they decided not to share them, so essentially that "better tomorrow" is relegated to the tiny elite of Tomorrowland while the Earth is left to rot.
** This is actually addressed InUniverse, with Casey calling Nix out for isolating Tomorrowland instead of revealing the existence of the fantastical realm to the world (like they had originally planned before the Monitor revealed the ApocalypseHow future) and not doing anything to help prevent it.

* TheAestheticsOfTechnology: Best demonstrated by the methods used to reach Tomorrowland. NikolaTesla's designs are Steampunk; a wood, brass and steel spaceship out of JulesVerne. The equipment Frank finds under the 1964 World's Fair is RaygunGothic. The modern "bridgeway" is basically [[EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture a giant IPod]].

** "Never give up." As a child, Frank refuses to give up on his jetpack when his father tells him he'll never fix it. He also refuses to give up after Nix rebuffs him. His pamphlet for The World's Fair has "I'll never give up!" scrawled on it. [[spoiler:In the end, Frank sends out a new wave of recruiter animatronics with pins, telling them to, "Find the ones who haven't given up. They're the future."]]

* NostalgiaAintLikeItUsedToBe: A DeconReconSwitch; Frank is a cynical and paranoid outcast because he was ''exiled'' from Tomorrowland after [[spoiler:inventing a machine that showed Earth was coming to an end]], which he believes proves that the optimism that built it was all a lie. After discovering that [[spoiler:the machine broadcasts its predictions, creating a SelfFulfillingProphecy]], he realizes that ''he'' was the one who made it a lie, by giving up on the future. Thus, the problem isn't that the past was ''better'', it was just more ''optimistic'' - despite the myriad problems that those eras faced, people who lived in them believed they would ultimately be solved. The modern world's cynical view of the problems it faces - pollution, sickness, war, hate - has made those problems appear unsolvable, and embracing the optimism of earlier eras will help solve them.

* TheAestheticsOfTechnology: Best demonstrated by the methods used to reach Tomorrowland. NikolaTesla's designs are Steampunk; a wood, brass and steel spaceship out of JulesVerne. The equipment Frank finds under the 1964 World's Fair is RaygunGothic. The modern "bridgeway" is basically [[EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture a giant IPod]].

** As a child, Frank refuses to give up on his jetpack when his father tells him he'll never fix it. He also refuses to give up after Nix rebuffs him. His pamphlet for The World's Fair has "I'll never give up!" scrawled on it. [[spoiler:In the end, Frank sends out a new wave of recruiter animatronics with pins, telling them to, "Find the ones who haven't given up. They're the future."]]

** Casey is also an example of "Don't be so obsessed with your destination you forget to watch where you're going." This is figurative with her [[WindmillCrusader attempts to keep NASA's last shuttle gantry from being dismantled]] - which get her arrested. It becomes very literal when she finds the Tomorrowland pin, is dazzled with wonder and starts blindly wandering the virtual landscape - [[WatchOutForThatTree into walls]], [[StaircaseTumble down staircases]] and into lakes [[spoiler:until it runs out of power and she has to find her way to Tomorrowland for real]].

--> '''Governor Nix''': Just imagine, if you glimpsed the future, were frightened by what you saw, what would you do with that information? Would you go to... politicians, captains of industry? And how would you convince them? With data, facts? Good luck. The only facts they won't challenge are the ones that keep the wheels greased and the dollars rolling in. Now what if, what if there was a way of skipping the middleman, and putting the critical news directly into everyone's head? The probability of widespread annihilation kept going up. The only way to stop it is to show it, and to scare people straight. What ''reasonable'' human being wouldn't be galvanized by the potential destruction of everything they've ever known or loved? To save civilization, I would show its collapse. But how do you think this vision was received? How do you think people responded to the prospect of imminent doom? They gobbled it up like a chocolate eclair! They didn't fear their demise, they repackaged it! It can be enjoyed as video games, as TV shows, books, movies – the entire world wholeheartedly embraced the apocalypse, and sprinted toward it with gleeful abandon. Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling all around you. You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation. Explain that one! Bees and butterflies start to disappear, the glaciers melt, algae blooms - all around you the coal mine canaries are dropping dead and ''you won't take the hint!'' '''In every moment there is the possibility of a better future, but you people won't believe]it. And because you won't believe it, you won't do what is necessary to make it a reality!''' So you dwell on this oh, terrible future, you resign yourselves to it. For one reason — because that future doesn't ask anything of you ''today''. So, yes, you saw the iceberg, warned the Titanic, but you all just steered for it anyway, full steam ahead. Why? Because you ''want'' to sink. You gave up. That's not the monitor's fault. That's yours.

--> '''Governor Nix''': Just imagine, if you glimpsed the future, were frightened by what you saw, what would you do with that information? Would you go to...politicians, captains of industry? And how would you convince them? With data, facts? Good luck. The only facts they won't challenge are the ones that keep the wheels greased and the dollars rolling in. Now what if, what if there was a way of skipping the middleman, and putting the critical news directly into everyone's head? The probability of widespread annihilation kept going up. The only way to stop it is to show it, and to scare people straight. Because what reasonable human being wouldn't be galvanized over by the potential destruction of anything they've ever known or loved? To save civilization...I would show it's collapse. How do you think this vision was received? How do you think people responded to the prospect of imminent doom? They gobbled it up, like a chocolate eclaire. They didn't fear their demise, they repackaged it! It can be enjoyed as video games, as TV shows, books, movies. The entire world, wholeheartedly embraced the apocalypse. They sprinted towards it with gleeful abandon. Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling, all around you. You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation! Explain that one. Bees, butterflies start to disappear. The glaciers melt, algae blooms. All around you, the coal mine canaries are dropping dead, and you won't take the hint! In every moment, there is the possibility of a better future, but you people won't believe it! And because you won't believe it, you won't do what is necessary to make it a reality. So you dwell on this terrible future, and you resign yourselves to it. And for one reason; because that future doesn't ask anything of you, TODAY. So yes, we saw the iceberg, we warned the Titanic. But you all just steered for it anyway. Full steam ahead. Why? Because you want to sink. You gave up.

-->''"[[{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}} WELCOME to the Land of TOMORROW!]]"''

* BaitAndSwitch: The rocket launched from the Eiffel Tower makes the audience think the Tomorrowland is located on a distant planet. [[spoiler: In reality they only make it to high orbit because they need a “running start” to make the jump to a parallel dimension Earth]].

* TeenGenius: Casey.

* ThisIsNotAFloor: Since Athena hands out her pins without any context or warning whatsoever, thinking that they are transporting the user to Tomorrowland instead of just showing it is a very easy mistake to make. Also a very dangerous one, as Casey discovers [[StaircaseTumble the hard way]].

* ScrewDestiny: Casey pretty much says this word for word in a conversation with Frank about what she would do if he could tell her exactly when she'd die. [[spoiler:This causes the probability of an ApocalypseHow to drop from 100% to 99.99 or so]].

** Discussed when Frank asks Casey a hypothetical question in which, if it were possible for her to know the exact moment of her death, would she want to know. Casey ponders this, thinking out loud about whether accepting your death would be what brings it about in the first place. She comes to the conclusion that the correct response is that she should know, but refuse to beleive. This answer is what causes [[spoiler:the 100% probability of doom to go down by 0.01%]].

* NostalgiaAintLikeItUsedToBe: {{Deconstructed}}, but ultimately played straight; the problem isn't that the past was ''better'', it was just more ''optimistic'' - despite the myriad problems that those eras faced, people who lived in them believed they would ultimately be solved. The modern world's cynical view of the problems it faces - pollution, sickness, war, hate - has made those problems appear unsolvable, and embracing the optimism of earlier eras will help solve them.