Storybook Land, October 5 1984
We're continuing our look at photos taken by Lou Perry, of "Lou and Sue" fame! This is from his 1984 trip to the park, where he used many rolls of film to document every aspect of the park (over the period of at least two days). Today's examples feature the Storybook Land area.
I'm guessing that Lou was using a telephoto lens from a Skyway bucket to get this shot of a Casey Jr. train as it loaded up with a fresh supply of guests. Funky fresh! The people crammed into those tiny cars now know what it feels like to be animal crackers in the box.
The patchwork blanket landscape of Storybook Land is made up of tiny fruit orchards (with BB-sized oranges!), baby-broccoli, micro-mushrooms, and compact cabbage. This is where baby corn comes from, but it's not alliterative.
How do we know we're not in Tabloid Town? Because of that big floral sign, silly!
At the bottom of the sign, two giant red sharks swim in opposite directions because they're mad at each other. Red sharks are even scarier than white sharks. I like being able to peek over the snowy Alps into the attraction - I think that's the Practical Pig's home of bricks on the hilltop?
I've always loved the little train depot and ticket booth at the beginning of the Casey Jr. ride; in 1954, Disney produced a cartoon called "Pigs Is Pigs", and the style is very similar.
See? Eyvind Earle was involved, and it has his hard-edged, graphic look to it.
Would you rather take a train to see Storybook Land? Or a boat? Well you can do both! Unlike in Russia, am I right? Those folks are pointing with one finger, but I'll try to forgive them.
And finally, no trip to Storybook Land would be complete without a look at Monstro's teeth.
THANK YOU, Lou and Sue!
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At TokyoMagic's suggestion, I tried to merge photo 1 and photo 5. It worked! But there was nothing to be done about the black rectangles in the corners. If I had more time I might get better results, but I'm going to be out for most of the day.
27 comments:
Major-
Truly an eye for the well-composed shot-!
Thanks to Lou & Sue.
What Nanook said!
I wonder if the first and fifth pics would "merge" together well? I see the same people inside the train cars, in both shots.
So the proposed "WESTCOT" park for the old DL parking lot, got it's name from the train station in, "Pigs is Pigs"? ;-)
Thank you, Lou, Sue, and the Major, too!
Some folks snap pictures, others take photos, Lou creates art. These are really all wonderful. Thanks Lou and Sue. What a great angle of Monstro. And all of Storybook Land, documented beautifully. I will be enjoying these all day long. Thanks Major.
Beautiful! And no time to properly comment today!
I will note the woman carrying the baby in a sling in front of Monstro. My youngest got carried that way on his first trip to the MK, and yet we
still brought the double stroller for him and his older brother. Yep - I admit to being part of the problem.
Thanks again, Lou & Sue!
I see that Casey Jr. has flanged, side-friction wheels, but for some reason I can't help imagining the train (with no people, of course) falling off the hillside into the canal. :-0 Great job on the pics, Lou!
Great shots as always by Lou!
These give you a very good idea of just how small Casey really is! I might need to take a quick ride around Tabloid Tow....er....Storybook Land myself vie You Tube!
Andrew, I never noticed the rather unique (at least to railroads) wheel system before. The wheels seem to ride outside the rails rather than within them. Very interesting...
There's too much goodness to even scrape the surface of. Really great photos Lou.
I'm in Chuck's position right now. Big project at work and of course the city wants it tomorrow instead of February first which is the due date.
Those folks in the next to last photo must have really spotted something interesting to point at. That or they're pretending to shoot the big bad wolf.
Thanks Major, and thank you Lou and your successful mission to document the park in detail. Just grand.
I never saw the sharks before! I have seen a ♪ brick......house ♫, though.
These have always been two of my favorites. Lou's photos bring out the insouciance and simplicity of the two intertwined rides. The driver of the storybook boats breaks the tie as to my favorite of the two.
Does anyone know when the flower Story Book Land spelling changed to Storybook Land? At Daveland it looks like it made it all the way to the 2000s.
Thanks, Lou, for your artistic eye and Sue for sharing your dad with us. And thank you, Major P,
Zach
Nanook, I love getting emails with more scans of Lou’s photos (courtesy of Sue, of course)!
TokyoMagic!, they DID merge! It’s not perfect, but hey, still fun. And I didn’t even notice that the sign on the little station said “WESTCOT” (well almost)!!
Jonathan, I’d love to know how Lou spent his day at the park; was his brain mostly thinking of ways to get interesting photos? “If I go up here and use a telephoto lens…”. Hopefully he had some fun too.
Chuck, if you had to deal with two youngsters, I think a stroller can be forgiven. I admit that I’ve seen kids sleeping in their strollers and wished that I could find someplace to get a nice nap!
Andrew, I hope Casey never falls over! That would be just the excuse they need to remove the ride.
Stu29573, I would like to see what a “Tabloid Town” ride would be like! Interesting observation on the wheel flanges, I wish I knew why that decision was made.
DrGoat, you need to march right into the head office and tell your employers that you have more important things to deal with than your job! Just show them today’s post and they will understand. I have to admit that I wondered what could be so darn interesting (in that last photo) that several folks had to point at it!
zach, combining two modes of transportation for a single ride was ingenious; and it IS nice to see the miniature scenes from different angles. Until about 8 years ago, I always rode the canal boats, but finally realized that I needed to ride Casey Jr. The line was LONG and slow, but it was great. As for the spelling of the flowered sign, I would have to do some research, which I don’t have time for this morning, sadly. Life… sometimes you have to do stuff you don't want to do.
I'm really like the second photo. I spy a bucket hat and a turban. Good day for hats. The older gentleman in the bucket hat and blue checked shirt has a doppelganger about 25 feet behind him, (or 25 feet in front of him) in the last merged photo. Like matter and anti-matter, you don't want to be around if they converge.
Ok, I just took a spin on Casey Jr (on You tube) and the first thing I thought of was that this little train owes a LOT to the Carolwood Pacific! I guess I never noticed that it's a slightly upscaled version of the train Walt used to take his guests on in his back yard. The whole ride is very "model train layout-ish."
DrGoat, great eye! Now that I'm looking at the merged photo, I see that 3 people appear twice (because they were in each of the two photos). The guy with the hat; the man with the reddish hair to our left of the hat guy (he has a black strap over his right shoulder), and the lady with the reddish hair (in front of our hat guy), looking into the train cage, in one of her shots. In her other shot, she has her hand over her mouth, is wearing sunglasses and purple pants.
Thanks, TokyoMagic and Major for putting the puzzle together, too!
Major, thank you for discovering the Red Sharks! This group is talented in finding hidden marine life. First, Fudgie the Whale, and now, the Red Sharks. Hidden Mickeys are passé.
I’d love to know how Lou spent his day at the park; was his brain mostly thinking of ways to get interesting photos?
Major, my dad would be awake before the sun was up, and out the door, wandering and taking pictures at the first glimmer of sunrise, while everyone else was still sleeping. When we would get to the Park, we (my mom, me, etc.) would have to either keep an eye on him - because he wandered like a child - or we would set a time to meet him for the next meal (pre-cell-phone days). If you decided to stay "with him," it really still was fun because my dad would just meander in and out of shops (buying things, too), in and out of restaurants or snack areas (buying food, too) and going on rides and attractions. He wasn't a serious photographer; he was having lots of fun and it was always fun to be with him because he made jokes and laughed along the way. The Disney magic turned him into a little kid, in the Parks. The only time he planned his picture-taking was for parades; then he would park himself on a bench for a couple hours, to get a good parade view (and, then, it was easier not to lose him, because we knew where he was parked).
Many thanks to Lou and Sue for great photos of my favorite attractions.
Like several others in the thread, I have too much to do right now to post detailed comments, so I will finish up by saying thanks to the Major for his hard work posting and merging that last shot. It is a wonder, and I love it.
Maybe more later.
JG
The Monstro-eating-the-bushes-and-trees picture reminds me of the goats they use around O'Hare Airport, to clear the unwanted vegetation. See HERE!
I've gotta run, but will check back later. Thank you for all your kind comments that I'll pass along to Lou, this Thursday, when we eat lunch together.
Sue, My wish would be that every child have a Dad like Lou (and other Dad's on this blog). What a great, impossible thing that would be. I know, I'm sentimental old dreamer, but it's nice to imagine every once and awhile a world full of people like Lou, and Sue and all the nice people that populate this, the Major's brain child.
Thanks
DrGoat, yes, that turban is rather magnificent! You can see the man’s wife next to him, in her traditional sari. It turns out that when you mix matter and anti-matter, you get a delicious chocolate drink. Good eye on the doubles, which I didn’t notice!!
Stu29573, I think you are right about Casey Jr. owing a lot to Walt’s “Carolwood Pacific”. When you think of how big a deal trains have been at the park, it’s amazing. The DLRR, Casey Jr., Nature’s Wonderland, the Viewliner, and even the Monorail and Peoplemover to a degree.
Lou and Sue, after DrGoat pointed it out, it was easy to see the guy with the bucket hat, but I didn’t notice the guy with the camera strap or Ms. Purple Pants. (Note to self: buy purple pants). Fun!
Lou and Sue, thanks for the look into a typical day for Lou! It sounds like you had a ton of wonderful memories, and Lou never lost that “inner child” that helps one appreciate places like Disneyland so much. My dad was always an early riser too, which I thought was crazy - but now I’m an early bird too! Thanks so much, Sue.
JG, yes, I’m about to run out the door, so my comments are shorter than I’d like, but I don’t want to put them off until later. My hard work isn’t that hard, by the way!
Lou and Sue, they use goats to clear hillsides around here to hopefully reduce the chances of structures burning in case of a brush fire. They do an amazing job, nibbling those weeds down to nothing, and people always like to see them.
DrGoat, yep, Sue got lucky! But I have to say that I did too, my Dad was not a big Disneyland guy, but he was a great father, and loved to go on trips and go fishing, etc.
I think by now all of us have an honorary degree in cetacean dentistry.
Major-
In images 3 & 4, we can see the addition of the 'Tulip' and [I think] 'Flower Bell' OUTDOOR LIGHTS, "disguised" as acid-etched verde green patina, copper/brass 'flowers'. The lights were first offered by Kim Outdoor Lighting back in the 1950's and the 'Tulip" (the smaller flower) is still in the line today. As I recall, they weren't all that effective in providing even illumination on the floral signage, but that was demanding a bit more from the fixtures than its intended design.
I remember the canal boat guides identifying the landscape quilt as the World's Largest. To this day, I wished I was wise guy enough to ask where the Second Largest was.
@ DBenson-
We all have regrettable 'woulda, shoulda, coulda' moments. The trick is to remember for the next time...
Major, thank you for taking the time to merge those two photos. I did try to do it myself, but I don't have Photoshop, so it turned out a little weird.
Those two sharks in the fourth photo, are leaving behind a little pool of blood.
Major, they did try making a "Tabloid Town" ride. It didn't turn out so well. They called it "Superstar Limo."
The French call it ”L'esprit de l’escalier - the idea that comes to you on the staircase as you’re leaving.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'esprit_de_l'escalier
Melissa, I go to a cetacean dentist - it’s a little awkward, but his prices are so low!
Nanook, how do you know this stuff?? Why aren’t you a contestant on “Jeopardy”?? I know that some lighting is more decorative than useful, that must be the purpose of those tulip lights - they probably provided pleasant little spots of warm light.
DBenson, ha ha! It would be funny, but the poor cast member probably doesn’t need the aggravation!
Nanook, yes, if the Storybook Land guide is a “host” and not a “hostess”, I would feel much more comfortable making his life a living hell.
TokyoMagic!, that is one advantage (of many) with Photoshop, it often makes merging photos super easy. I barely did anything. Then again, the program is hella expensive! Sharks always like to leave behind a little pool of blood, it’s considered to be good manners.
Chuck, OH YEAH! That nightmare. It’s so unbelievable to watch videos of that ride; a terrible ride, bad execution - no good.
Melissa, that's a new one to me! I like it, but my pronunciation will be so bad if I attempt it. There's nothing worse than being laughed at by a French person.
The comments are so wonderful. Thank you everyone.
Hammering rain here, thank goodness, but I have to work outside in it tomorrow, so... I won’t be able to comment till late.
I’m so fortunate this pandemic has barely affected our work, we are busier than ever. I hope all of you have the same, all the work you need, or all the retirement you want.
Cheers all.
JG
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