A great graphic poster advertising the Gala New Years Eve Party at Disneyland. The event featured entertainment by the Elliott Brothers and Their Orchestra, Firehouse Five plus Two, The Spaceman, Jimmy Henderson Orchestra, The Young Men From New Orleans, and also included a special Midnite spectacular as well as Hats and Noisemakers for everyone. It must have been on very happy event looking at all the smiling guests in their party hats and noisemakers.
Since I am in the middle of another storm I decided to bulk up this post with three images of Disney models over the years. The first image is of Joe Grant's model shop with Robert Benchley on a tour. I wish I could walk into that model shop and choose one model, the model would be the Casey Junior sitting in the back.
The second is a picture of the Pirates of the Caribbean model. I believe this is the one that Walt rides through in the 1965 Tencenniel Special.
The final picture is a fairly modern one showing Imagineer Jon Foster putting the finishing touches on Gadget's Go Coaster and Donald Duck's boat "Miss Daisy." Mickey's Toontown opened in 1993 with a gala event. Several of the attractions opened at that time have now joined Yesterland including Chip and Dales Slide and Nut Crawl, Jolly Trolley and Goofy's Bounce House. I don't think Jon wore the Mickey Mouse hat when at work.
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Any idea what year the poster is from? The photo of the model shop is amazing...I see the coach from Pinocchio, lots of Fantasia characters, some Bambi models (though some of the deer look more like the Snow White versions)...great stuff.
The figures in the Pirates model are so expressive, even though they are relatively small.
Hey Major- I looked at calendars and December 31st was on a Monday in 1962.
I absolutely LOVE the image of Benchley in the model department.
My friend Dennis Books and I have been gathering information on the model department for over 15 years now.
Dennis was fortunate enough to interview Bob Jones, one of the major players in the department, before Jones passed away. Bob eventually gave Dennis one of two sets of four Fantasia models Jones had cast in bronze - they are gorgeous!
Jones started at Disney's in 1937 and transferred into the Model Department from the Production Camera Department.
Dennis also extensively interviewed Wah Ming Chang who worked in the department making models and helping with special effects.
One of the projects Wah worked on was at Walt's request. Walt wanted working models of some of the cuckoo clocks and music boxes seen in Gepetto's workshop.
Wah and Jack Miller made one of a mother spanking her son. As the son was spanked on his bottom, he would cry out the number of the hour. This actual clock can be seen in the bottom right corner of your photo.
The clock in your photo that Benchley is looking at was designed by Miller and Jones and was called "The Little Drunk" cuckoo clock. When the hour chimed, the drunk would pop out of the door, his neck would extend about one inch, his nose would light-up red, and he would hiccough the number of the hour.
The maquettes in the photo are numerous and gorgeous! At Walt Disney's request, Jones hired Charles Cristodora to sculpt models.
Cristadora was hired in March of 1938. The first model he created was either Pinocchio pointing towards the sky, or Gepetto sitting on a tool chest.
Helen Nervobig was charged with painting the statues. She was a very talented lady who worked in the Ink and Paint Department and also the Merchandise and Publicity Art Department.
(As an intersting sidenote, Nervobig also managed the cel set-up department for art sold to the Courvoisier Gallery).
Besides the Coachman's stagecoach, pictured on the second shelf in the top middle of the photo, Jones and the other artists in the department also made a functioning model of Stromboli's gypsy wagon. The model had a spring suspension. One day this model was loaded with lead weights and was photographed on a treadmill, complete with bumps to give the illusion the wagon was travelling down a cobblestone lane.
To me, the most interesting model that was created was the inside of Monstro the Whale's insides. This model was made of wood, screws, tin and shingles and was used to show animators how Monstro's ribs would move when he was asleep.
Also visible in the photo on the top shelf are two sets of deer heads with antlers used by animators while making Bambi.
An articulated model of a complete deer is seen on the bench in the foreground. Four of these particular models were made with ball and socket joints that could be positioned in any movement a deer could make including leaps.
It also looks like the armature wire wings of Chernabog are visible behind the drunk clock, but it's hard to say for sure.
Dennis told me that when he visited Bob at his house, he was enchanted with a huge model of the pirate ship from Peter Pan, which Jones had hung in a corner of his living room. Peter Pan was in development when the war broke out and was shelved until the war's conclusion.
I went back tonight after seeing your photo and re-read some of the research Dennis and I have done. The story of the Model Department is a really interesting area of the Studio's history that definitely merits additional research.
Thanks for posting the photo!
nice add with great picture.
john
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