Monday, July 30, 2007

Disneyland Fun, September 1960

These three images were from a small group of extremely faded and damaged slides (beware of "Drewery Color" slides). I decided to pick out the ones that were reasonably salvageable and give 'em the old Photoshop treatment (you'd be surprised how bad they looked beforehand). Some are still a bit rough around the edges, but they're fun just the same.

This couple is having a good time flying on the back of a big-eared elephant. Who wouldn't? I love the sense of motion, with the blurred background. Notice that Dumbo's ears are hinged, a holdover from the days when they actually moved up and down.


Here's a nice portrait of three friends in front of the Pirate Ship. As you can see, I left most of the slide's damage alone and just fixed the color.


More fun, this time on the teacups. Two gals and a guy. I believe that a very large percentage of Disneyland's guests are adults, even though it is generally seen as a family park (or less kindly as a "kiddie park"). As you can see, this slide is slowly disintegrating around the edges.

8 comments:

Matterhorn1959 said...

I love the movement in the Dumbo and Tea Cups ride. Very nice.

Steve Tanner at Magical Trash said...

I had no idea the Dumbo's ears originally moved. Wow.

Anonymous said...

About the notion that Dumbo's ears once moved up and down... I keep reading this, but is it just an urban myth? I have dozens of old 1950s 8mm movies in my collection of Disneyland films and not one seems to show those ears moving! Additionally, out of the hundreds of slides we've seen, I can't recall any that show those ears in an obvious down position. So out of curiousity, does anyone have conclusive proof (film, TV specials or otherwise) that show Dumbo's ears did, indeed, once move? Please tell us where to look! I suspect they never did. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Re: Dumbo's Ears

I've always heard that it was an effect that was tested but not used. The movement never quite worked as well as they wanted.

Major Pepperidge said...

I have no proof that the ears moved, although you CAN clearly see that they are hinged. Later photos show a smooth transition from head to ear...the hinges must have been there for a reason.

Anonymous said...

Yes, clearly there was a design change at some point. Perhaps the ears were meant to move in the beginning, but as varsenik above states (and we've read authors postulate in different places) the mechanism perhaps never worked correctly. Then again, maybe the early design just allowed for easier shipping of the elephants - those ears could be removed for crating etc. (???) Anyway, this might be a fun quest to get to the truth. Anyone have film or documentation?

Unknown said...

What great photos! Thanks for posting them.

Connie Moreno said...

You know what makes these photos great? The look of sheer joy on their faces!