The Disneyland logo is inspired by legend and points to the fabulous content of the parks. The elements of the emblem show the versatility of the entertainment presented. Carousels, slides, and caves take adults and children to a fairy-tale world.
Disneyland: Brand overview
Founded: | July 17, 1955 |
Founder: | Disney Parks, Experiences and Products |
Headquarters: |
Anaheim, California, U.S. |
Website: | disneyland.disney.go.com |
Meaning and History
Disney Parks, a special division of The Walt Disney Company, is responsible for developing all Disneyland. This business segment originated in 1971 when Walt Disney World was created. While there are many Disney resorts with rides and hotels, the main one is the original Disneyland of Anaheim. Walt Disney needed him to entertain tourists who wanted to see the film studio. The owner of the huge corporation made sure fans could meet characters from their favorite cartoons and have fun.
The very first Disneyland continually expanded. New themed “lands” were added as it grew – locations dedicated to different movies and cartoon series. At the same time, the park’s logo remained virtually unchanged, which ensured its recognizability.
1955 – today
Walt Disney originally wanted to call its entertainment complex Mickey Mouse Park, but then changed its mind and chose Disneyland. The name was first used in 1954 for a television series that aired on ABC. The television program helped raise funds to build the park, as the ABC network agreed to fund it in exchange for showing the show.
The first logo features the word “Disneyland,” written in an unusual font. The lettering style is reminiscent of the Gothic writing of the Middle Ages. The black color emphasizes this similarity, making the text expressive.
2000 – today
The official name of the entertainment complex was changed to Disneyland Park to distinguish it from the Disneyland Resort of the same name. This was reflected in the logo. The word “Park” was added to the existing inscription in the lower right corner. It is reduced in size and consists of sans serif letters. The design of the central part has been retained, but instead of black, it is now in light blue.
The Disneyland emblem shows a typical Disney princess castle. The building with its fortress wall, numerous towers, and five triangular flags is cartoon style. Despite the high defenses, the castle does not look impregnable because the lattice gate is raised. The entrance welcomes all who want to get inside and promises guests lots of fun activities. The two-dimensional design and the monotonous black and white color scheme do not spoil the fairytale character of the moment. Even in such a minimalistic way, the graphic character shows the atmosphere of the Disney universe.
Font and Colors
The creators of the Disneyland logo chose individual glyphs for the inscription. Later they created a font with a similar shape – Started by a Mouse by Robert Nava. The wordmark was based on the so-called rotunda, an Italian variant of the Gothic script transitioning to Antiqua. Many of the edges of the letters are cut at a 45-degree angle because goose pens with a diagonally cut writing edge were used at the inception of the Gothic script. The characters are very tightly spaced because parchment used to be very expensive and had to be saved. Of course, such spacing between letters is not due to lack of space but to historical traditions in the modern world.
The high contrast of strokes and the illusion of slanting to the left side make the logo dynamic. It feels like a fabulous addition to Disneyland world. As for the word “Park,” the designers chose an unusual sans serif font – a geometric grotesque with rectangular protrusions on the edges.
The theme park icon uses two color schemes. The classic option is a combination of black and white. It is presented in the first logo and the emblem with the image of the castle. A later version involves a combination of white with a bright shade of blue called Cyan-Blue Azure (#3081C3). The latter is associated with the sky, constancy, eternity, and honesty, and in heraldry denotes loyalty and good glory.
Disneyland color codes
Cyan-Blue Azure | Hex color: | #3081c3 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 48 129 195 | |
CMYK: | 75 34 0 24 | |
Pantone: | PMS 7461 C |
Black | Hex color: | #000000 |
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RGB: | 0 0 0 | |
CMYK: | 0 0 0 100 | |
Pantone: | PMS Process Black C |