Another Group from Keith
Here's another wonderful selection of slide scans from Keith Schad... this is from the late 1971 batch taken by his wife's father Ed.
First up is this great photo showing the beautiful bas-relief sculpture on the stern of Captain Hook's Pirate Ship (formerly the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship up to 1969); the sculpt had been altered a bit, but was essentially the same.
Here's a closeup!
If I was the captain of a rich merchant vessel, the sight of this flag through my spyglass would strike terror into my heart. "Men, they're coming for our tuna. I'll scuttle the ship rather than let the likes of them take the Queen's tuna!". "HUZZAH!", shouts the crow in the crow's nest. Crow's can talk, you know. And operate forklifts.
And finally, you know it, you love it, it's the coolest rock on the block... Skull Rock! Is it just me, or does he look kind of cheerful here? Maybe it's because he realizes how beautiful that lagoon is. "It's no Oxnard, but it will do!".
THANK YOU, Keith Schad!
23 comments:
Major-
Skull Rock - it ALWAYS looks wonderful. I don't think it's capable of ever looking less than stellar.
Thanks to Keith.
It looks like the only change from Chicken of the Sea to Captain Hook is the wording. Everything else looks the same: The mermaid is still brandishing her scepter, and she's still surrounded by tuna. I don't think the sculpture was painted in multiple colors in the early days(?), though. I like the fan coral behind her.
So much loving detail went into this ship, just to be unceremoniously bashed to bits..... [sigh]
I spent the last 37 minutes looking for that danged crow in the crow's nest; nowhere in sight. I think yer pullin' our leg, Major. ;-) Crows may be able to operate forklifts well enough, but the only word they can speak is "Huzzah!". Which makes understanding them problematic, when the answer to everything is "Huzzah!". Sort of like Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Every time Skully tries to smile, a new crack develops in his rocky head. He literally 'cracks a smile'.
Thanks, Major. And thanks to Keith and Ed.
These are some beautiful closeup shots of the pirate ship and Skull Rock. I don't know if I've ever noticed the cannons on the backside of the ship.
JB, I think it's the other way around. In the ship's later years, the various colors of that bas-relief were painted out with gold. Or maybe they were covered with gold leafing?
I am just now realizing that Skull Rock only existed in Disneyland, for about 21 years. It was such an iconic part of Fantasyland, along with the pirate ship. It still just boggles the mind to think that someone was so hellbent on destroying them.
Thank you Keith, and Major!
Thanks Keith and Ed for the historic documentation. The back side of Pirate Ship looks really amazing. They COULD have done something with it, and possibly they did....all the legends speak to bits and pieces being used in Peter Pan in the New Fantasyland, now 40 years old: that number in itself boggles my mind. So if a toddler was tooling around Fantasyland when I was there, they now are a 43 year old grumpy old man like myself?! whatttttt?!!! Or does grumpy set in at 50+. I may have been grumpy straight out of the womb. Skull Rock is as amazing as ever, and the only thing to make it "better" would be to photograph it at night, when it is even more spectacular. I think this could have been saved a bit too....but I think they just got too swack-happy with that wrecking ball...lots "ideas" and "imagining" ....from a litany of people. And in the end, the group conscience was probably: "yah...it's sad, but they gotta go"...and here we are 40 years later STILL talking about it. Of all the things to lose, I personally would lament more about the PeopleMover than this ship. I'm not too overly connected with it...I do not like Tuna Sandwiches, and did not like the smell of that place...so rarely entered it's portals. I always wanted it to be more "below decks: Columbia", and it was more "McDonaldland" to me, with the smell of tartar sauce and fried foods...with the smoke blowing over from Fan 2 to add to the experience. From afar, and at night, it was all magical though...as long as the park was closed and quests weren't swarming about. It's interesting to note that in order to maintain the Jolly Roger flag someone needed to climb all those ropes....or perhaps they just got one of those long "grabby sticks" and hovered near by on the Skyway. Oh....that's another one I'd rather keep....but that's a long story, and it was unfortunately doomed...unlike this ship that COULD have been saved. I read a story about some Swedish ship, hundreds of years old, that was pulled from the depths of the ocean and restored and is SAILING. So...they COULD...if they wanted to...they COULD have spent a few 100K to save her. BTW. She also does not have a name. But someone had named her...they HAD to have and not "Jolly Roger"...perhaps they didn't want to say that because they it would have been connected to the ever popular chain of restaurants (?) I think I would name it something more fancy like "Queen Camilla"...just my .O2. The bean counters would have named it some Star Wars name, like "Princess Leah"...or is it "Lea" or Layah? Someone here definitely knows the answer to that. Thanks to Keith, Ed and Major!
Bu, it's Leia, but it's Organa if you're nasty.
I guess I shouldn't have responded so soon after listening to Janet Jackson.
By the way, it almost looks like the mermaid has suspenders. Are those cracks in the paint or the wood?
I vote naming the ship the Ruth Anne Buzzi.
No worries TM. After all, we are part of a rhythm nation. Is that the RMS Ruth Anne Buzzi, or the SS Ruth Anne Buzzi, the SV Ruth Anne Buzzi, or the FV Ruth Anne Buzzi....probably FV: all that tuna....
Mike and Bu, if they reject that one, please submit the name, the "Sandra Kay Duncan." Then they could fill all of the treasure chests with solid gold yolks!
The ship was actually called the Sandra Kay Duncan for a very short time … the ship served wheat thins …. One right after the other ! …… straight outta the box!!
One time at a party we got Bill Rodgers - the current voice of Disneyland to do fake Disneyland announcements. Mine was that Disneyland had to close early because Sandy Duncan’s eye popped out!
I find it shocking that they had evidence of a race of rock giants and they destroyed it all! Conspiracy anyone? I hear it was the Exploding Animatronic Ducks that did the Rock Giants in. (They haven't gotten a nod lately)
I looked at the stern of my rereleased Revell Disney Pirate ship model and instead of a mermaid, it has a rather boring skull and crossbones. I would have rather had a AED. (That's two mentions!)
Bu, I'm surprised that someone didn't take splinters of the wood and sell them for 20 bucks a pop with a COA. They could have let the ducks do the demo (...and that's three! My work here is done.)
Mike, I suppose next you're going to tell me that prior to construction of Videopolis, there were plans to convert the Small World meadow into a wheat field, with an animatronic Sandy Duncan standing in the middle of it. Of course, that would have led guests to ask the question, "What's Sandy Duncan doing standing in the middle of a wheat field.....?"
Poor Sandy! When my brother and I were in Seattle, back in 1989, we noticed a poster in the window of a bar. It was advertising an upcoming performance by a punk band with the name, "Sandy Duncan's Eye." Again, poor Sandy!
Thank you Keith, Ed and Major for pics of my most favorite spot in the old Park. I can hear the waterfalls now.
I never missed going through and only once did not have lunch here (high school friends didn’t want tuna). Pure magic and a devastating loss IMHO. And I rarely eat tuna fish, but I always want some after these GDB posts…
It’s interesting that there was no menu change after the sponsorship change. They could have switched to egg salad, or even ham and cheese. There’s also a ham salad I’ve had in the South which would be wonderful. Also wondering if they kept buying the same brand or if the later tuna came from Charlie?
Speaking of band names, “Later Tuna” has a certain ring, like the one around a bathtub. I can see the poster on the Tomorrowland Terrace Stage.
Cheers All!
JG
I have seen photographic evidence that they actually did try to save the stern artwork. It was dropped while being moved and, being plaster, that was that. They were horrifying pictures.
Growing up, I could have sworn my dad had a cannon on his backside.
TM!, odd - I was just thinking about that album this morning. I mean…before I read your comment.
Guys, not to ruin the jokes, but Sandy Duncan is blind in her left eye, but it’s not glass. She still has her factory-standard Mk I eyebulbs. One of them just doesn’t work as designed anymore.
Thanks again, Keith and Major! A trip to Skull Rock Cove is just what I needed after being locked out of the office this morning.
"The most exciting attraction since Space Mountain!!! The Million Dollar Duck! The Ride!" "It's not a ride...it's a riiiiiiiiiiiiidddde". THAT is something I would fly across the country for! Can we still take down Hideopolis and build the Sandy Duncan Memorial Wheat Field? Sponsored by Nabisco, and Wheat Thins. I can't wait to ride "The Cat from Outerspace", the attraction!" Or perhaps it's kind of a petting zoo with live Disneyland cats, in space suits, nibbling on organic cat treats that emulate the look, feel and taste of wheat thins? I can eat a whole box of wheat thins. I don't know why they say thin. They didn't make me thin....I don't want to think about Sandy Duncans eye...kind of freaks me out...like Tuna Sandwiches do. Can "the Fox and the Hound the ride" also be in Duncan's Field? Is there a Dunkin Donuts in Duncan's Field? Is Debbie Field selling cookies in Duncan's Field? I could go on, however, I will stop.
Thanks Keith & Major for the photos today.
I've collected a good amount of pictures of the Pirate Ship from the internet & there were changes thru the years about how the stern (or fantail) appeared. Early on & up to around 1959, it was all one color (the yellow ochre, that the windows, etc. are painted). From that time on thru the 1960s, it was painted in multiple colors. When the ship was changed to Captain Hook's, there were some minor sculptural changes- the nameplate, mermaid's outfit & no more hair bun. The mermaid also became a redhead, after being a blonde for many years. At some point (as TM pointed out) everything was painted gold (or gold leafed) with some red accents. That is how things remained until the ship's unfortunate demise.
On a side note, I recall reading someone mentioning that the mermaid is sitting on a stylized sea turtle & that when the sculpture was painted in full color, the turtle's head should have been a greenish tone like the rest of the turtle, not the yellow ochre color of the scrollwork around the nameplate. The shell is what the mermaid is sitting on & the front flippers are to the left & right.
-DW
Stu: your Revell model was accurate for the ship as built. Pre opening Disneyland Revell dealer marketing flyers announced that Revell was going to be releasing several kits featuring Disneyland subjects …. But only “the Jolly Roger” we’ve appeared . There was a Disney’s Perri The Squirrel ….
Incidentally the Revell Disneyland pirate ship - until very recently has never been out of production. Its last release as a Disneyland model was 1969 …. But then was sold as a generic Peter Pan galleon in the USA, CANADA, EUROPE and JAPAN in several packing variations into the 1980’s . In the 1990’s REVELL Germany (the new company that bought all the tooling when Revell USA of Venice california went bankrupt … reissued the kit as a glow in the dark pirate ghost ship ( different than the 1976 revell pirate ghost ship) and the Disneyland pirate ship was released again as a general pirate ship just a few years ago. That was probably the last hurrah as the vintage revell - Venice Californian 1955 tooling is pretty much worn out and can no longer produce clean crisp plastic parts .
At a recent Van Eaton Disney auction a 40 or so blueprint drawing set for the development of a STROMBECKER scale model Disneyland MARK TWAIN RIVERBOAT kit and tooling estimating sheets showed up for sale! This kit was sadly never released … but STROMBECKER did do model kits of the Rocket to the Moon Moonliner and a Frontierland Stagecoach.
Both the REVELL and STROMBECKER Disneyland based models were designed from actual WED Disneyland blueprints so they were pretty accurate for their time.
I dunno , like Sammy Davis Jr., I never really saw eye-to-eye with Sandy Duncan ….
By the way in the MILLION DOLLAR DUCK, during the required early 70’s Disney movie chase scenes , you will see the 1401 Flower Street Lobby WED enterprises building several times ….
Dean Jones : “the duck ate your applesauce recipe then walked thru the radiation chamber and NOW it’s laying eggs! Gold eggs!!”
Sandy Duncan : “ ah , that’s not the way MY parents explained the birds and the bees to me …..”
I forgot about the Perri the Squirrel model! With real fur! Lol!
IIRC, one of the “regulars” here at the Virtual Market House (TM!, maybe?) owns a Perri kit.
Keith, thank you for sharing more excellent images taken by your father-in-law. I especially love the one of Skull Rock. What a beauty! Looks like a professional postcard.
DW, thanks for pointing-out the turtle - I had never noticed it before.
Thanks to you, too, Major.
......one of the “regulars” here at the Virtual Market House (TM!, maybe?) owns a Perri kit.
Chuck, it wasn't me. But I do remember someone saying that they had one. Maybe it was Major? I do have a Little Golden Book, which tells the story of "Perri."
And I did know about Sandy Duncan's "condition." She's very fortunate that her surgery went as well as it did, considering.
I saw Sandy Duncan perform in "Peter Pan" live, at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. She was incredible. And I agree with Bu, there needs to be a land devoted to her and all of her Disney credits. They could call it Sandyland.
....post script: TM I ALSO saw Sandy Duncan at the Pantages in the early 80's! and I agree, she was incredible...especially the last scene where she flew out into the audience during curtain call...thanks for the memory...I totally forgot. Joan Van Ark was in the audience :)
…and I saw Sandy Duncan live in Peter Pan at the Muny in St. Louis in 1980 or 81. I feel as though I am in privileged company. Peter Pan rig on an outdoor stage. Marlin Perkins was in the audience. Totally forgot as well.
TM!, I think I was remembering this post regarding Perri the Squirrel (some assembly required).
Chuck, thanks for that link to the Perri model post! When you saw Marlin Perkins in person, did he try to sell you a Mutual of Omaha insurance policy?
Bu, I still have my program from Sandy Duncan's performance at the Pantages. I keep thinking that I'm going to post it, and then I never get around to it. Christopher Hewett played Captain Hook in that production. That was before he was "Mr. Belvedere" on TV. And yes, her curtain call using that special "over the audience" cable was incredible. We had seats that were pretty close to the stage, so we got to see her "fly" out over our heads. I used to joke with friends, when telling them about seeing the show. I would tell them that Sandy Duncan threw handfuls of Wheat Thins down to the audience below. Then I would say that when Cathy Rigby took over the role of Peter Pan, she threw handfuls of her "commercial product" down to the audience below. Tacky, I know. But hey, I was a teenager!
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