Hi Ho, November 1974
Here's a pair of Snoozles™ for you, brought to you by Pillsbury's Space Food Sticks! Want to eat like an astronaut? Just eat a whole box of Space Food Sticks. They were mostly sucrose and corn syrup, so you know that they were good. Buzz Aldrin loved the peanut butter flavor especially.
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to the Plaza we go. Just four of the seven dwarfs are marching through Tomorrowland, about to pass the metallic portals and go beneath the Peoplemover track. Where were the others? Protecting Snow White from the evil witch? Working in the mine? Scanning stuff for their blog? The folks up in the Peoplemover look mighty glad to see them.
Later that same day, they returned from whence they came. There's plenty of pep in their step, so whatever they did was not too arduous. Seeing that impressive, swoopy Peoplemover track makes me miss that ride - I feel the same way when I walk beneath the track even today.
16 comments:
Major-
"There's plenty of pep in their step...".
Of course, Major - they're wearing Spring-O-Lator pumps-!
Thanks, Major.
"Marching through Tomorrowland." I was going to set those lyrics to "Marching to Pretoria", but thought better of it; the words get a little monotonous.
1) I didn't know that Hershey Kisses came in orange, grape, apricot, and strawberry flavors! Or, that Dwarfs wore them on their heads. (Sorry, it's Snoozle Sunday and I gotta say something!)
2) Took me a while to figure out what that red thing is near the PeopleMover train...It's a mouse ear balloon stuck in a tree! Or perhaps someone in the PM train is holding on to it? Too bad this photo is a little blurry, it could have escaped being a Snoozle.
Thanks for the Dwarfs, Major.
BREAKING NEWS: Andrew has posted a trip report at his blog. Sources say that it concerns something called EPCOT.
We will have more on this story as it comes in.
It appears the people inside those costumes can move the dwarf's arms...it looks like their real hands come down to 'about' the dwarf's elbows. They're adorable characters.
I love how the dwarfs always move single-file. Sort-of like the PeopleMover cars, in the first image.
I wonder where Snow White and the other three wandered off to....
Thanks, Major.
I remember almost always seeing the full set of SEVEN DWARFS characters at Disneyland until about the mid 80’s …. At this time Eisner has drastically cut park entertainment budgets …… it probably wasn’t super noticeable by guests at the time …. But I specifically remember the newspaper talking about the anemic Christmas Parade and explaining why it was thinned our - particularly musicians.
Mike, I was thinking the same thing. I always remember seeing all seven dwarfs and Snow White, together, in Disneyland.
I can almost hear the clicking of the metal taps on their shoes, hitting the ground as they shuffle along. Do any of the park characters have those anymore? I don't think I've heard that sound in decades, but it could just be because they pretty much stand in one place and don't wander around the park anymore. Either that, or Eisner cut back on those, too!
Yeah, where are the other dwarfs? And where is Snow White. They must have liked to hang around Alpine Gardens and the entrance to Tomorrowland, because I have a couple pics from different DL visits, of my brother and I with Snow White and a Dwarf or two, at the Tomorrowland entrance, and another one that was taken over by Alpine Gardens. And then there was that GDB photo from last week, of Snow and a couple of them hanging out in Alpine Gardens. That must have been their turf. And Peter, Alice, Cinderella, and the other characters knew not to mess with them, unless they wanted to rumble!
Thank you, Major! And happy Snoozles™ Day, everyone!
These are great! I remember all Seven Dwarfs marching around the park. I've seen them march through the Tomorrowland Terrace too. Oh, the days of just watching and interacting with a park character without it being turned into a "meet and greet". For some odd reason, the Seven Dwarfs look great in Tomorrowland.
These are some great Snoozles. Thanks, Major!
I heard the tap shoes too! Especially on the "rocky" pavement that seemed to be more "clickity clack" than regular slurry coat. I preferred these costumes to the "new ones" which were more "human" in 1981. There was a lot of employee commentary on that particular costume change. This was a primary character entrance area, with the "employees only" passageway between the Plaza Inn and Inner Space. I remember seeing the whole fleet of dwarves, but I thought it was pretty rare: like during Summer and whatnot when there was more budget to spend. The characters did spend a lot of time in Alpine Gardens and the area surrounding: like the Kidney Tree (TM) area. These guys could KIND of move their arms, but more like if a human had a Pringles can tube on their arm...kind of flailing around. The new costumes I think were more articulatable. It's interesting that I remember these more than the new ones...the 1981 "new" ones, so 40 year old ones....July 2 1981...I was probably sweating it out on a Popcorn wagon, the date seems very very very familiar to me...like something "happened" that day, or it was monumental in terms of attendance, or we closed in the afternoon (absolutely unheard of unless crowds reach out of control numbers.) I will have to do some thinking on that. I was MOST DEFINITELY scheduled that day. EVERYONE was. Perhaps in '82 or '83 I had that tour that lasted 6 hours (normally 3)...and then was compelled to do another one after my 30 minute lunch....that did happen...and it was probably on July 2. Let me check my Franklin Planner to see what was going on...Thanks Major!
“The Back Side of Dwarves (TM)”.
It’s kind of weird seeing them all in step marching, but I guess that’s behavior from the movie. No minders either? Simpler times.
Were the shoe taps to warn folks of the oncoming character onslaught?
There are some odd features in both photos. Photo 1 to the left under the PM beam, we can see something through the shrubbery that looks like a guardrail on a green wall? Part of the HOTF remains?
And WHAT is that bright red thing above the PM in photo 2? Is that some night lighting fixture? The one to the left actually “in the rail” is clearly lighting, but up above in the trees? I remember those metal formed walls were lit with colored light at night, maybe that’s what we are seeing?
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, won’t those springs make their feet wet?
JB, I guess I’m deranged, because I thought of… um… something else when I saw those hats. Those are also available in colors! IS that red thing a balloon? It looks big! I thought it might be a Skyway gondola in the distance. But I’m probably wrong.
JB, Thank you!
Lou and Sue, I wonder to what degree they can move the arms? Just enough to sort of swing them? Or can they gesture vividly like somebody from Italy? The Dwarfs move single file because if one gets picked off by a wolf, the others will survive. Or something.
Mike Cozart, “If we only use four Dwarfs, think of the savings!”!
Lou and Sue, I have a few photos on GDB of just that, Snow White and her seven friends, all together as they should be.
TokyoMagic!, do just the Dwarfs have taps on their shoes? Is it so that you can really hear them marching in unison? Snow White and the other three Dwarfs did hang around Alpine Gardens, rubbing their feet and complaining a lot. You’d think that they would all be near the Grotto, but maybe there’s some reason that they don’t do that. Space issues or something?
K. Martinez, I agree with you, the spontaneous interaction with a random character was a fun surprise in the old days!
Bu, until TM mentioned it, I was not really aware of the taps on the Dwarf’s shoes. They kept the tap industry (aka “Big Tap”) in business! I guess the entrance to Tomorrowland was very roomy, and any character that hung out there would be very visible to many guests. Moving their arms - remember when a woman sued Disney, claiming that one of the Little Pigs groped her, only to be told that the Pig’s arms hung uselessly at his sides? I wish I could have been there to see the look on her face when she learned that fact. Not sure why July 2, 1981 would be stuck in your memory. Let’s look at Jason’s Disneyland Almanac! Well, it doesn’t show attendance for that period, so unfortunately it’s hard to say.
JG, I always wonder if there are “handlers” nearby, just very inconspicuous? On some podcast, a person who performed as one of the Dwarfs said that some guests could be downright abusive, kicking and hitting the characters, and in one case throwing one into the moat. I’d say “unbelievable”, but these days…. too believable. I do think that rail might be near the former location of the House of the Future. As for the bright red thing, philosophers will be talking about it for decades.
Do ou four giant dwarves take this one average-sized princess to be your seven brides for seven brothers?
Planters on poles was the only way I ever knew those entrance fountains. Talk about budget cuts, even as a kid I could tell this was a cop-out somehow, but thanks to Major, I now know what these should have looked like in their full flowing glory.
MS
Melissa, you are the third person to ask me that question this month (and it's only July 2nd)!
MS, removing fountains and replacing them with flowers is not the worst thing to happen, but I'm still grouchy about it!
The weird men-with-stooped-shoulders thing is especially strong when you see them from behind. They're a bit like the zombies in "The Black Hole".
Memory from the 80s of being at WDW's Magic Kingdom. Sitting on a bench in Fantasyland, eating ice cream, and the Dwarfs parade by, followed by a huge crowd of happy adults. I was thinking, we're surrounded by iconic rides and stuff and people are ignoring them to tag behind seven guys in costume, who aren't really performing or posing but likely just heading for one of those Cast Member Only gates.
Major, there were other characters that had the taps on their shoes. I don't think Mikey and Minnie had taps, so there were probably some that did and some that didn't. I seem to remember Pooh having taps.
As for the abuse that the characters take, I had a client who played Minnie Mouse, Pinocchio, and some other characters. She was playing Minnie one day, and a teenager came up to her, punched her in the stomach, and then ran off. I think she said the kid escaped without being caught. There are some really disgusting people out there. And they are raising children.
Bu, I remember that the summer of 1981 was the first time I saw the new Dwarf costumes. They were being used in the "Small World Character Parade." Thirteen years ago, I did a "vintage" trip report about a July 17, 1981 visit to the park, and included this pic showing two of the new Dwarf costumes:
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KyBL-2TyB34/TAGZk8QbbGI/AAAAAAAADuY/Z_oMVbTrLX4/s1600/01+July+17th,+1981+(16).jpg
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