Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Making the Jungle Cruise Animals 1954- Hippos!

Continuing with the unique views of the animals being sculpted at the Walt Disney Studio's model shops with the hippos who threaten to attack your Jungle Cruise launch. First off is a line up of the bad hippos threatening a young actress. In the background can be seen a smoke stack for one of the Disneyland Railroad locomotives.

Chris Mueller was the sculptor for the majority of the animals used in the attraction. It appears he is attaching a wiggling ear for the attacking hippo.

Final shot of hippos under construction is this shot of a still wet clay being hand sculpted. In the left hand side is a box containing glass with an address for Walt Disney Productions. In the back window are three boots drying out.

3 comments:

Major Pepperidge said...

I really like that first shot; a cute girl, and plenty of hippos! I guess the one she is standing next to is a "bull"? The others look much more demure.

Thanks for pointing out the train's smoke stack, I would have missed that neat detail!

Anonymous said...

Actually Mueller is pictured in the third photo (with the hat) NOT the second. The fella in spot number two may be Peter Kermode. Incidentally Peter was also part of the tiny team that sculpted Bruce the shark in JAWS.

Unknown said...

I knew the Hippo's were big, but the perspective these pics give, REALLY show you just how big they are!