Thursday, April 30, 2009

You Will Not Find Nemo On This Submarine Voyage

Kodak film stock, dated September 1968, Disneyland's Submarine Voyage. These are pictures of a ride you are about to take. The secret agent photographer managed to infiltrate the Motorboat Cruise and photographed the Submarine you will ride.

Once upon the ride, the agent was able to sneak a few photographs of the sea creatures.

Then the submarine will go even deeper, so deep that our operatives camera will not work.

Upon your exit, the agent was able to photograph how all those bubbles are created.

And not one sighting of Nemo, his dad or the annoying Dory.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Northwest Pacific Indians at Indian Village

One of the additions to Indian Village when Columbia Below Decks opened was a Northwest Pacific Indian series of totem poles and lodge house. It was not a popular photograph shot, so images of that part of the park can be difficult to find. Here are a couple, the first being one of the totem poles.

The second is of the lodge house with totem poles out front.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Boats on the Rivers of America

From the same grouping as yesterday are these four shots of the two boats on the Rivers of America. First up is the Mark Twain.

I like this shot taken from Indian Village. The large decoration on the pole really catches my eye.

The other ship is the Mighty Columbia. Here it is in dock.

And as it disappears around the bend.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Some Characters in Tomorrowland

Quick post today, Denver has some spring snow...here are a couple of characters having fun in Tomorrowland. Also check out the tour guide in the background.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

A Little Follow Up

The first thing I want to post about today is to tell you all about a new DVD that has been released. The DVD is The Secret Tour of Disneyland featuring Lauren who takes you to many places in Disneyland and shows many of the secrets. Within the DVD are many of the images you have seen here, Daveland's, and Major Pepperidge's blog. My wife watched the DVD and enjoyed it immensely and I did learn one new secret hidden mickey. Click on the link above for purchasing information.

The next item is a follow up on the Dwarf's Mine Ride drawing I posted about a month ago.

I received an e-mail from Kevin Kidney with the following tale:

When I saw it this evening, my jaw hit the floor. You'll find this hard to believe - and maybe you'll even be slightly disappointed by the news - but the artist who drew that picture is ME! It's not from the 70s but specifically from December of 1989.
It's a long story, but the illustration was done for an article on "Early Disneyland" by Bob Jones. Bob was the model builder whiz-kid who is most remembered for his maquettes, clocks and puppet models used in making Pinocchio and Fantasia. In 1939/40 with Snow White, and soon Pinocchio, already in the Disney repertoire, Walt asked Bob and his brother Bill to help design an early type of "Disneyland" park to be built on a small piece of land adjacent to the new Burbank studio.
Bob suggested an idea to Walt that the park might include a little train ride which would pass through the Dwarfs' Mine from Snow White. During the six weeks that Bob and Bill were brainstorming ideas for the park, Bob had worked up a plan to make life-sized figures of the seven dwarfs which would perform simple movements operated by cams, and triggered to life by the approaching train. Apparently Walt liked the idea, and it planted the seed for the Disneyland dark rides to come. Of course, the little Burbank park never materialized, and sometime later Bob left the studio for a position at Lockheed engineering aircraft for the war effort. When Disneyland was being built in 1954, Walt contracted Bob to build the flying galleons for Peter Pan's Flight.
When I first moved out to California and started working as a designer at Disneyland in the mid-80s, I met and became close friends with Bob and his wife Margie who were living in Fullerton at the time. Because I was also a model builder and puppeteer, Bob and I really connected and we worked on several projects together, just for fun. He had a secret room in his den, literally behind a revolving bookcase, that he kept models and mementos of his work at Disney. He was an inspiring friend and so supportive of all the things I was doing back then.
One evening Margie was cooking dinner for us, and Bob relayed the story of designing the proto-Disneyland for Walt, and showed me a 20-page "article" he had been putting together. He had typed it all out by hand and had Scotch-taped some photographs to it as illustrations. He hadn't kept any of the drawings that he had done for the park, and so he asked me if I could sketch something to show his vision for the mine train tunnel. Back then I always had PrismaColor pencils with me and drew the picture from his description while we sat in his living room after dinner. I had no character reference with me and drew the whole scene from memory, which impressed Bob to no end. I recall he wanted me to put my signature on it, but I wasn't confident that the characters looked right and so I didn't.
Bob sent the article to Dave Smith at the studio archives in 1990, literally months before Bob passed away. I was devastated, but remained very close with Margie for several years until she also passed away. She was one of the dearest women I've ever known. Not long after Margie's passing, one of their sons submitted much of the art and models that Bob had saved to Howard Lowery Auctions, and I was really sad to see so many of Bob's things scattered out into the unknown. I'd completely forgotten about the dwarf illustration until you posted it!
Thanks Kevin for the drawing, the memory and the story and I am not disappointed at all. I now know I own an early Kevin Kidney drawing.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Popeye the Submarine Voyage Sailing Man

When I was working on the two scans today, the Popeye theme song just kept going through my mind. I think it is due to the sailor outfit (with bell bottoms) in the second image. These are from a series of slides from 1968.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Souvenir Friday- Disneyland Santa Fe Railroad Hat Patch

Continuing to delve into my collection of costume patches, here is the iconic Disneyland and Santa Fe Railroad patch. Most often seen on a Lee Hickory Stripe denim train engineers hat.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Jungle Cruise and the Big Moosekeeter

Two more images from the same photographer. The first is of the nicely themed hut at the start of the Jungle Cruise.

The second is of Roy Williams drawing characters at the Plaza Pavilion. Roy was a gifted story man, sketch artist and appeared as the Big Moosekeeter on the Mickey Mouse Club. During the mid to late 1950s he would be at Disneyland and draw quick character sketches for fans.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

A Different Look At Indian Village

Indian Village was a fascinating spot for many visitors in the 1950s. Most photographers captured the vibrancy and action of the dances and did not document the other activities that were happening. Here are two rather unusual views of the Indian Village. The first is a Hopi sand painter working on a masterpiece. It appears he is inside one of the Native American houses. (Unfortunately it appears the photographers camera was not performing well and there are light spots on all the slides from the photographer.)

The second shows a mom and son displaying some crafts at the edge of the dance floor. I like the details of the little boy on the rock on the right and what appears to be a bass guitar case in the background.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Santa's Village Trip

Sorry about the quality of these slides, they turned a nice shade of red. Here is Santa's Village in Sky Forest California in it's glory of the early 1960s. I really enjoy the characters and other scenic elements of the park at this time. Plus the rides are fun, although there is no picture of the bumble bee monorail.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Sea Circus at Pacific Ocean Park

Today's images are from the long lost amusement park, Pacific Ocean Park. One of the main features was a Sea Circus with trained animal performers and more. I have seen very little documentation on the show and the stadium. It appears the stadium sat almost in the middle of the pier, with views to both sides. The first view is of the Skyway (where many a wild scary tale has been told) and the mysterious Banana Island, which was at the end of the pier.

The second view shows some of the other rides including the Fun Forest. The Sea Circus sign is a blast.

The third image is of the band and the master of ceremonies who was quite a clown. I love the stage backdrop, I wonder if I could fit it into my house someway?

A final shot showing the sky above and the tower from which the live broadcast from the Aragon Ballroom by Lawrence Welk emanated.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Midget Autopia Experience

The Midget Autopia was a great idea. The ride let young kids experience the joy of driving a car. The track was more involved than other kiddie rides of the time and had some cute theming. The cars had two steering wheels so brothers and sisters could ride at the same time and not feel upset that they were not driving. And of course, the cars just look so cool. The first image shows the line, I like the signage up on the ceiling.

The second shot shows the two brothers in their car and ready to take off on their trip through the fields away from Disneyland City Limits (with Disneyland in the non-Gothic font.)

Friday, April 17, 2009

Souvenir Friday- Tomorrowland Patch

One of the earliest patches I own is this one for Tomorrowland. I believe this was worn on the blazers and maybe the shirts for the cast members who worked the shows and rides in Tomorrowland. I like the classic atomic symbol. I have seen another version of this patch with the word Tomorrowland on the bottom. That version is embroidered on twill.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

King Arthur Carrousel

King Arthur Carrousel is always a tough ride to photograph due to the cover over the top placing everything into the shade. The first two images are of a small girl riding her horse.

In this shot, the light really shows the subject.

The next two are from a different set of slides, the first a nice you are there, abstract, almost 3-D image.

A shot of one of the horses with a cast member in the background.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

A Christmas Trip- Rivers of America

For the final four images, the family took a trip on the Mark Twain around the Rivers of America at dusk. The first image is a nice abstract shot of the paddle wheel.

The next shot is of the Mark Twain rounding the bend with a distinct lack of landscaping in the background.

One of my favorite shots, an early image of Fowler's Harbor. It has been a while since a good image of Fowler's Harbor has been posted.

Finally a gorgeous shot of the Chicken Plantation restaurant showing how close the railroad tracks are to the building. Notice the kid in the foreground is holding a gate flier and a ticket book.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A Christmas Trip- Some Views

Just like a movie, we are in the middle section. Not necessarily the most exciting bunch of photographs, but nice images any ways. The ending will be worth it. First up today is an image of Main Street decked out in Christmas glory.

The next shows the venerable and well loved Chicken of the Sea pirate ship restaurant.

The requisite Sleeping Beauty Castle image.

And Disneyland Sky...oh wait a minute there are the Dumbo flying elephants as well.

Monday, April 13, 2009

A Christmas Trip- Main Street Views

Moving always unearths items that have not seen the light of day in many years. The slides in this post and those to come were purchased about 5 years ago, stuck in a box and not found until I moved again. The photographer was fairly talented and managed to take some interesting views. The first three are of scenes on Main Street. The Gurrmobile Carnation truck has never looked as nice as in this picture. I like the detail of the early California license plate. In the background can be seen the Bluebird shoe store.

The photographer also snapped this image of the Keystone Kop giving directions in front of the INA exhibit located at Plaza Apartments. Dave- as a warning do not look as it includes a stroller, albeit a rather crude, early stroller. I also like the Christmas display.

The last shot is the reason I purchased the slides. A little girl registers shock that poor Grannie is not alive, and that she has just entered the Wizard of Bras! I love the Hollywood- Maxwell logo design on the sign.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Attraction Poster Love

I always love a good shot of the attraction posters up on the fence in front of Main Street Station. This one is a favorite with one of the rarest posters on display. For those who love attraction posters, this image is for you.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Waterfight!

The water fight scene from the Elephant Bathing Pool.