Saturday, April 16, 2011

Dumbo, 1957

Dumbo's Flying Elephants is one of those classic attractions dating back to the earliest days of Disneyland; charming and simple, its appeal has not waned in over 55 years (demonstrated by the fact that they will have twin Dumbo rides in Florida when their Fantasyland refurbishment is finished).


Today's photos were taken by a proud papa - in fact these are just two of five pictures of the airborne pachyderms. I'll post the others someday! This first picture is wonderful, with a happy mom and kid sitting, with crazy-colorful Fantasyland behind them. It's hard to tell, but this might have been taken while the ride was in motion.


This is my second favorite view, with Dumbo soaring through the air, and the deep blue sky (and Skyway buckets) behind. His trunk seems to be posed to hold a magic feather, and yet there is none. Did you know that Dumbo was designed by the great animator Bill Tytla, who was inspired by his own infant son Peter?


6 comments:

Connie Moreno said...

Holy cow, that second photo is PERFECTION!! One year later in 1958 I would be help prisoner by Dumbo and ride approximately six times in a row because the castmember didn't see little old me sitting in the elephant.

Nancy said...

wow, that second snap would make a great postcard...its crystal clear with the beautiful blue sky! :)

Matt said...

Looks like these have flapping ears...I never got to see that variety, wonder what it looked like?

Major Pepperidge said...

Connie, six times in a row! Now I'm guessing you are afraid of elephants.

Nancy, you are right, that one is definitely postcard-worthy!

Matt, yes you can see the hinged ears, though apparently the flapping did not work very well.

JG said...

The second shot is perfection, Major. Straight to the desktop.

JG

Nancy said...

my daughter Rachel was in DC over the weekend and got a picture with the purple Dumbo that is at Smithsonian National Museum of American History....very cool!