The Alt-Hist File: Prototype World of Tomorrow: Murder in Progress

I've always been fascinated by all of the artistry, creativity, and imagination that goes into Disney theme park attractions. That's especially true of ones that aren't tied to a preexisting franchise. There's a tons of attractions that were never built for various reasons. We have not but some very tantalizing concept art. There's plenty of fertile ground for alternate history fun and adventure among those ideas. Am I going somewhere with this? Yes indeed, it all ties into the podcast we're taking a look at today. We're taking a look at Prototype World of Tomorrow: Murder in Progress.

Prototype World of Tomorrow: Murder in Progress takes place in a world where Walt Disney's original plan to build an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow became a reality. This great domed metropolis, known as Progress City, is home to over 50,000 temporary workers. It is a permanent showcase of American ingenuity and industry. Progress is home to super-science and fantastical inventions. Robots, shrink rays, and other futuristic inventions are all common sights. Recently, however, it's also become home to a homicide. Liam Crawford, the richest man in Progress, has been found murdered. Someone tossed him from his penthouse apartment, but who? Thankfully, Progress is home to a crack private detective named Tim who...well, actually, he's kind of an idiot. Still, Tim's going to do his best to solve the murder and bring the killer to justice. Though, if he wants to get by, he'll need a little help from his friends.

I first became aware of this audio drama while I was listening to a podcast by Defunctland, one of my favorite YouTube channels. It covers the history of defunct, or otherwise non-functioning, theme park attractions. Kevin Perjurer, Defunctland's creator and host, was interviewing Ben Lancaster about an indie film he made called The Further Adventures of Walt's Frozen Head. Towards the end of the podcast, Ben mentioned a future project he was working on called Murder in Progress. It would be an audio drama murder mystery set in a world where Walt Disney's dream of an experimental prototype community of tomorrow became a reality. Obviously, this was to be Prototype World of Tomorrow.

Time passed, and then one day I decided to search for Murder in Progress on the Apple podcast app. Lo and behold, I founded it, and it was absolutely amazing. I should also clarify some terminology. The show was originally called just World of Tomorrow, but then the team discovered that there is a Futurama fan cast, which hasn't been updated since 2018, that also has that name. So, after season one, they modified the name to Prototype World of Tomorrow. Murder in Progress is the name of the first five-part story of the series, which we will be discussing in this review.

 Now that we've got all that out of the way, let's begin. As a fan of alternate history, I do appreciate that this podcast took the path less traveled. Don't think I've seen too many works where Walt Disney successfully achieved his dream to make Progress City. The way it is presented sounds fun, if not necessarily realistic. Let me elaborate. Could Progress City have been made using 1960s tech, probably yes. Would it have functioned as intended, probably not. For example, the residents would constantly have their appliances switched out with the latest models as soon as they hit production. On paper, this sounds good, but it would be a logistical nightmare. Imagine having to have your refrigerator replaced every few months. You'd have to constantly unload and reload it, and what if the new model wasn't as good as the old, or removed some feature you really liked?

Then there's all the fantastical and otherwise super-science inventions. So, maybe not realistic, but I'm not complaining. Plus, we do get hints that Progress doesn't work quite as well as advertised. For example, Progress is enclosed by a giant concrete dome, as was the plan in real life. However, this causes quite a bit of noise whenever it rains. Given that Progress is in Florida, this happens fairly frequently.

 There's a ton of references to the history of Disney theme parks, especially never built attraction, scattered throughout the series. Progress is depicted, by and large, much as it was in Walt Disney's concept art and models for his planned Progress City. Yes, even the cable cars were part of the plan at various points. The center of Progress has a collection of ethnic neighbors called the International Tapestry. Yes, this was also a plan for Progress City, and it is what inspired the World Showcase section of EPCOT.

At one point, when describing the various nations represented, Tim specifically mentions Israel, Equatorial Africa, and Spain. These are the most famous never built World Showcase pavilions, because they came closest to actually getting built. Israel agreed to pay for a pavilion, but Disney got cold feet because they were afraid Palestinian terrorists would bomb the pavilion. Disney could never find any one African nation to sponsor Equatorial Africa, because every time they almost got a sponsor, there would be some political turmoil that sent them back to square one. South Africa offered to sponsor a pavilion, but they did so in the middle of Apartheid, so Disney said hell no. Though many design elements of Equatorial Africa got incorporated into the Africa section of Animal Kingdom. There's is a small stand called The Outpost that sells African themed souvenirs, and hosts African drum performances, at EPCOT. As for Spain...well, you got me there.

There's also a Persian section of the International Tapestry, where Tim's friend Bayan lives. Most residents of the International Tapestry live in Progress for a year, as ambassadors of their home nations. However, if their home country experiences any political turmoil while they're in Progress, they're allowed to stay indefinitely as part of the Progress Refugee Program. This first happened in 1979 during the Iranian/Islamic Revolution, and that's how Bayan and his family are in Progress. This is another sly reference to a never built pavilion. Disney planned for an Iran pavilion at EPCOT, but the revolution put the kibosh on that.

There's also plenty of references to attractions that actually did get built. For example, there's a popular bar in Progress called The Temple of Heaven. This is a nod to how the centerpiece of the China pavilion at EPCOT is a replica of the Temple of Heaven.  Many of the business tend to be nods to the various pavilions of Future World. For example, Tim's girlfriend Annie works for an agricultural company that offers behind the scenes tours. This is obviously a nod to Living with the Land, which these days is just called The Land.

As a fan of all the creativity and imagination that goes into Disney theme park attractions, I very much approve of all of these references. Though I do wonder how Progress effected the history of Disney World. I'm guessing that EPCOT never got built, but was some other park built in its place? If so, what is it like? For that matter, do Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom exist, or are other parks standing in their place? Also, what about the international Disney Theme Parks? It is interesting stuff to think about, and I hope it will be addressed in future seasons.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk characters. Tim Less is our protagonist. He's a private investigator who is eager to prove himself. He's eager, but also kind of an idiot. Well, he does show a fair bit of cunning and initiative, and is willing to take several risks, as the series go on. All the same, he just as often stumbles into clues without intending to. Tim seems to believe he's a detective in a film noir, as opposed to the science fiction dramedy that he's actually in. Still, his eagerness coupled with his frequent ineptitude is what makes him enduring.

Tim soon finds himself entangled with his girlfriend's sister Eve Moore. Oh, less and more, I just realized that. Anyway, Eve used to work in robotics, but she was framed for the murder of her boss. I need to take a moment to discuss that. She and the boss were working on nanobots, but had trouble getting them small enough. So, they built the robots at standard size, and used a shrink ray to shrink the robots down to the proper size. Very creative solution, though not very applicable to the real world, as we have yet to invent shrink rays.

Eve suddenly becoming unemployed is a bit of an issue, as all residents of Progress are required to be employed. If you don't have a job within a set number of days, you are evicted from the city. Since she's already suspected of one murder, now two, Eve would draw the attention of the Orange County sheriff department if that were to happen. Though it is in Orange County, Progress is considered legally distinct, which the Orange County sheriff department is very resentful of. I actually thought that Tim had more chemistry with Eve than he did with Annie. Granted, Eve got a lot more screen time, for want of a better term. Still, I do wonder if this will become a plot point in future seasons. She compliments him well. Eve is smart, quick-witted, and more down-to-earth than Tim is.

I'll now take a moment to talk about the amazing cast of voice actors that were assembled for this podcast. Tim and Eve are voiced by BrIan Ballance and Callie Wills. I'm not previously familiar with either of them, but I see bright futures in the world of voice acting for both of them. That is, assuming they aren't already involved in other productions. Really the whole cast is incredibly talented, and top of the line. However, the biggest surprise among the cast is that Ron Schneider cameo's as the announcer for one of the companies. Ron played Dreamfinder in the original version of the ride Journey into Imagination. He also previously worked with Ben Lancaster on The Further Adventures of Walt's Frozen Head, where Ron played Walt Disney himself.

This is just the first season, and there's still many mysteries to solve in Progress. Chief among, just what was Liam Crawford secretly working on before his death? Also, I know Kevin Perjurer said he'd love to cameo in the podcast. Perhaps ought to take him up on that offer. Based on what we've seen in season one, there are great things in-store for Prototype World of Tomorrow in the coming seasons.

Well there you have it. Prototype World of Tomorrow: Murder in Progress is an alternate history murder mystery that you won't want to miss out on, especially if you love Disney Theme Parks. Go and listen to it today, you'll be glad that you did.

I think that should do it for now. I will see you guys next time.