Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Tomorrowland, October 1970

Man oh man, I recently scanned a group of slides from October, 1970. There are some nice images in the bunch - or there would be, if the photographer hadn't used GAF film. You've never seen such dark, murky, grainy, horrible results in your life! Most photos look like they were taken right after a volcano released millions of tons of ash into the atmosphere. The two examples today look sort of OK, and that was after considerable slaving over a red-hot computer. GAF must stand for "G**-Awful Film". (ZING! Eat that, GAF).

Anyway... here's Tomorrowland! Rectangular Skyway buckets, Mark VII Autopia cars, the Matterhorn, Green Mark III Monorail at the station; there's lots to like. Plus a ghost of that yellowish-gray murk.


You can't tell here, but that Monorail is deep mossy green - not graphite gray. The Mark IIIs retained much of the pizzaz (not pizzas) that the Mark II versions had. Bubble dome alert! 


13 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

Apparently Henry Fonda was *lying* in those old commercials when he talked about the qualities of GAF film, and how "cerulean blue" was one color it trafficked-in with great aplomb. Although that particular defect hasn't prevented the lovely waterfalls of the Matterhorn to shine through.

And I always thought when the Monorails transitioned from the Mark II to the Mark III model, the 'pizzas' followed right along. But then I'm no Monorail expert.

Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

The color of that monorail matches the refridgerator, washer and dryer, vacuum cleaner and shag carpet that my family had in the 1970's. Groovy!

Scott Lane said...

Love me some bubble domes! Great shots of Tomorrowland's heyday - murk notwithstanding.

K. Martinez said...

If the results of the first pic are from you slaving away over a red-hot computer, then slave away. I love the image. Looking at it makes me sigh for the Disneyland of days gone by.

It was always a thrill to me to see Monorail Green in action because it seemed a rarer sight than the other three monorails. Thanks, Major.

Mark H. Besotted said...

Why does the 58-year-old Tomorrowland feel so much more like the future than anything we have today?
My Facebook memories reminded me that, exactly two years ago today, my awesome brother and I visited the Pacific Science Center, with those gorgeous arches left over from the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, and THOSE felt more forward-looking than anything Disney built since, say, 1982. (I adored the style of Brad Bird's Tomorrowland film, despite its story problems.)
I dunno, it seems like Eisner was right that the future was brown Montana sameness, but I wish he hadn't been.
Anyway, these beauties go right to the desktop background.

TommyTsunami said...

GREEN MONORAIL - YESSSSS!

Anonymous said...

I like the view of the castle through the trees in the first photo.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, Henry Fonda would say anything for a paycheck! Cerulean blue… if there ever was cerulean blue on these slides, it has been corrupted over the past 47 years into a grayish yuck. Plus I had to de-grain and sharpen the slides as much as I could in Photoshop.

TokyoMagic!, avocado green, harvest gold, burnt orange, and off-white were the big colors of the 70’s!

Scott Lane, someday… SOMEDAY, I want to customize my car with a bubble dome.

K. Martinez, you are right, the greenie is a relatively rare sight for some reason. It was in service for a pretty long time; maybe it just didn’t excite photographers the way yellow or red did.

Mark H. Besotted, they have given up on trying to feel futuristic. Now it’s some odd jumble of Jules Verne steampunk, cartoony space stuff (“Nemo” and “Buzz Lightyear”) and a touch of Marvel superheroes. It seems like the Disney designers don’t know how to inspire anymore.

Tommy Tsunami, are you speaking parseltongue?

Anonymous, oh yeah!

Anonymous said...

Yes...the green monorail! What a rare sight...even for a CM of the time. I recall it being pretty much the color here...despite the film quality. KS

Melissa said...

That's some pretty fine demurkification there! I spot a crocheted poncho and at least one babushka.

Major Pepperidge said...

KS, I don't suppose you have any idea WHY the green monorail seems to have been such a rare sight, do you?

Melissa, no fair using your cyborg eyeballs.

Anonymous said...

Major...no I don't have any info on that one and something I never questioned. I thought that maybe...just maybe...it was used on very busy days when 3 monorails were in service. I could be totally mistaken about that one. I'm going to check with one of my former buddies who I recently learned worked the monorail. KS

Anonymous said...

Green monorail is the best monorail.

Similar to Tokyo, we had green appliances and two dark green metallic cars at that time. Green monorail felt right in stride with the times, like the future would be a bright extension of the present.

Thanks Major.

JG