Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Yet More Frontierland, February 1969

It's hard to stay away from Frontierland for very long! One day, in my case. It is the most photographed "land" in the park by a long shot.

Here's a lovely view of the old Twain at the dock, on a bright sunny February day. I wish I was there! At first I thought the sternwheeler was "101" on this day, but in the shadows you can see a herd of humanity about to climb aboard.


I like this late afternoon photo looking back towards Frontierland (and no New Orleans Square I believe). A puff of smoke, or steam, or something, hangs in the still winter air. Maybe it's that monster from "Lost". There's lots of empty tables and chairs at the restaurants, which can only mean one thing... back in 1969, everybody had the power to turn themselves invisible.


8 comments:

  1. Course NOS was there silly, it was only for the Haunted Mansion to open and it would later that year. :)

    Wish I was there too... hm. Aunt Jemimah's. Paddle Canoes for exercise. Ride on Mark Twain to relax. Take in Golden Horseshoe. Eat at Silver Banjo or Casa Fritos. Do Mine Train. Snack on popcorn while basking in afternoon on bench. Well it's a pleasant dream. :)

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  2. Nice couple of photos, love the late day shadows - adds a neat hue to these.

    2nd pic, the reeds growing on the right along the rivers edge, is that were the Gazebo used to be?

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  3. It will be sad to see this set go away. Whatever the film used or the process of bringing them to life; they are all excellent captures. I have enjoyed them.
    That bottom photo took my breath away.

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  4. Don't worry Major, we don't mind Frontierland every day. Especially with pictures like these.

    Striking how "real" the river looks in the bottom picture, the reeds, the color of the sky in the water, it's hard to believe that is all artificial.

    Do you have anymore pics of Tom Sawyer's Treehouse? I was reading something last night that made me think of a tree with a spring in it's roots. I had always wondered about that detail, why did they do it, other than that the spring driving the mill had to come out somewhere...and now I might know why...

    JG

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  5. Chiana, I meant that I wasn't sure if we were technically seeing any NOS in that photo...Where does it begin? I know it existed in 1969! ;-)

    VDT, that looks to be about the right spot, but I don't really know if the gazebo was exactly there.

    Thufer, these are good old Kodachromes... I probably should have pulled out some of the magenta in them (look at that sky), but they look OK anyhow.

    JG, I don't think I have any better pictures than ones that you've already seen. There was a wonderful issue of "The E-Ticket" magazine (RIP) all about Tom Sawyer Island, I'll bet it has all the info you could possibly want about TSI. All my issues are in storage, or else I'd just scan it and send it to you.

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  6. OK, I will go back to some prior posts of the treehouse views and post new comments in that location.

    It's just fluff, but you might find it interesting. It's obvious that among the original designers, there were some very educated people, in terms of the symbolism and art history of the elements that were used. A lot of imagery extends into the distant past and isn't strictly cartoon related. And very much more complex than "Mickey Heads" made up of dishes.

    JG

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  7. look at those colors....beautiful!

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  8. I feel like I could just dive into that water. Amazing color in these shots!

    The Mark Twain has got to be the most photogenic object on the planet...and I think it somehow knows it; It almost looks smug sitting there at dock, thinking, "Yes, I *am* lookin' good! Snap away folks!"

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