Dark Scary Jungle
After one installment of "OKsles", we are right back to genuine, grade-A SNOOZLES™! It's all because I scanned 36 slides, and found that a number of them have the usual issues. A good blogger would just not post them at all, but I never claimed to be a good blogger. And so... you are stuck with them!
Both of these are from the Jungle Cruise, which is not a surprise - a large percentage of scans are from that attraction. There are so many bad photos! I'm assuming that these were taken late in the day, though it might just be a case of erroneous settings. This first one is from September, 1956, and hoo-boy, you can't see much other than the heads in the foreground, and some silhouetted trees. If there is a fearsome animal there, I sure can't spot it. To the right I see something that might be a headhunter's spear - but it might be something else.
Now it's November of '56, and we are looking at trio of hippos. It's a pretty crummy pic though - you don't have to tell me. These hippos don't even have their mouths open for a view of their disgusting teeth! What a ripoff! Any idea what those pieces of metal are, to the left? They are obviously part of the boat that our photographer was on, but I can't imagine what their purpose is.
Sorry about these terrible Snoozles!
12 comments:
Those metal things were used to hold the one seat cushion on the boat, where everyone steps on the seat to get into the boat. After all the passengers were loaded, a cast member would put the cushion down for the last people aboard to sit on!
Major-
"Any idea what those pieces of metal are..." Oh, Major - you know what those 'brackets' are - they are the custom metal bars that hold the cushions that normally occupy the seating area that's used for ingress and egress at both the bow and stern of each boat. Each set of bars is placed just in-front of the opening "steps". Those bars appear to have been added in either late 1955 or early 1956 - maybe someone here knows the exact date. See - today's images are not a total loss.
Thanks, Major.
YES! I've been craving genuine Snoozles all week! Huzzah! (That probably came across as a little bit forced, huh?)
"Hoo-boy"... Boris Badenov has said that on several occasions. Usually followed by something like, "Fearless Leader is not going to be liking that!"
I tried 'clarifying' this photo to see what I could see. The object on the right seems to be a round shield and a thatched grass roof above it. I don't know what those white things are; they look like blond wigs. Above the head of the lady on the right, there is an elongated shield with feathers attached to the top. No fearsome animals though.
These hippos are luxuriating in the Hippo Spa. And they're none too pleased about boatfuls of tourists gawking at them every few minutes. Plus, they're NAKED (the hippos, not the tourists). How embarrassing for them! Is it any wonder why they keep charging at the boats?!
As for the white things... They're albino water cobras. Quite rare. Notice how slim they are. That allows them to glide through the water with ease.
Pay no attention to Tokyo!'s and Nanook's explanation for the white things; their descriptions are waaay too far-fetched! They're albino water-cobras.
Major, when it comes to Snoozles, the terribler, the better! Thanks.
Just the kind of photos I needed to lull me back to sleep after getting up far too early on a Sunday morning!
These are pretty dark, Major. Dating from the era when the Jungle River Cruise was borderline scary instead of an excuse for stale puns.
A trio of hippos is a trippo, unless their ears are wiggling, then it’s a wiggo. Ah, I got nuthin.
Thanks for these, even Homer nods.
JG
There are days when I lament the demise of film cameras…and then I’ll see pictures like these and reconsider. And then I’ll go watch a cartoon and forget all about it.
JB, we don’t actually know that the tourists “aren’t” naked…
Those metal brackets were there to "repel boarders, repel boarders" *whistle* They were removed when all of the pirates were rounded up and contained in the Caribbean.
Congratulations! Not only are these snoozels(tm), they are beyond Snoozles(tm) or commonly referred to as the acronym "BS"(tm). I have to admit that the brackets make the whole thing and brought me back when the cushions still existed. You don't NEED cushions, but they were nice and comfy. I knew the bracket well, as I was always the last to be boarded on the boat, so I would be first out. The JC guys also used to help you physically out of the boat: another thing that is gone in the "don't touch me" generation. So: even though there is Snoozle(tm) going on: there's always a story to tell. Thanks Major.
The cushions on the jungle cruise boats were a courtesy from a time when Disneyland guests tended to dress up for visits. A similar thing used to happen at Tokyo Disneyland where rude vehicles had to be revised or completely re-designed from their American counterparts because the Japanese tended to also dress nicely for their visits to Tokyo Disneyland. A great example of this was the center tandem bar seat used on Splash Mountain at DISNEYAND and WALT DISNEY WORLD. Since it it consider rude to step where people have to sit, WDI immediately created the side-by seating arrangement for the Tokyo Splash logs. Eventually this same design was later integrated to the florida park as it proved to be faster to load and unload and also balanced the log and help prevent water loss from the flume.
Next time you are at Disneyland ca is the worst culprit ( Florida and Paris not as bad - but watch how guest step right into the the ride vehicles seat while stepping into say , the pirates of the Caribbean or it’s a small world . Californias are evolving into mannerless citizens. Notice the well mannered guests who steps onto the floor then sits , and does not use the seat as a step.
My phone changed “ride” vehicles to “rude”
TokyoMagic!, I hoped that those things were for holding slices of hot buttered toast. Oh well!
Nanook, you said the same thing that TokyoMagic! said, only with fancier words! “Ingress”, wasn’t he that famous French artist from the Napoleonic era? I am going to add similar bars to my Honda (my VERY EXPENSIVE AND LUXURIOUS Honda) because you never know when you’ll need them.
JB, these are especially crummy Snoozles, looking at them now I think I should have put them into the trash, I guess that probably is a shield, which means that there were probably “headhunters” dancing around nearby. Blond wigs? Hmmm. Hippos have no shame, and really, don’t they have the last laugh? They are comfortable in their hippo-ness. Albino water cobras? Those are even worse than Queen Snakes!
Steve DeGaetano, I just feel good knowing that I am making a difference.
JG, the bummer is that I just scanned about 20 slides yesterday, and there were a bunch of dark ones in that batch too. I threw most away, saving a few for future Snoozle posts. I’m happy to learn about “trippos” and “wiggos”!
Chuck, there is a lot to be said for the instant results of digital photography. I’m sure whoever took these photos almost 70 years ago was not happy.
Dean Finder, ha ha, I can totally hear that whistle!!
Bu, maybe science needs to come up with a new category of Mega-Snoozles? Perhaps the world isn’t ready yet. You just know that the cushions were removed because they were just “one more thing”; eliminate them and save time and money. Give that supervisor who thought of it a free churro (but not a bonus). I admit that I am in the “don’t touch me” category, though I understand that some people probably welcome a helping hand.
Mike Cozart, I’m sure you are right about the cushions, though it also seems like Walt would have probably thought about the general comfort of his “guests” as well. Nowadays, nobody expects any niceties, certainly not at a Disney park. You get what you get and if you don’t like it, you can lump it! Whatever that means. Interesting about the differences in Tokyo, I admit that I never cared for the tandem seating, especially if I went with a guy friend and wound up being a little more “cozy” than I’d prefer. I don’t think I realized that I could have asked to have my own seat. I am also guilty of stepping onto the seats of IASW and Pirates, it’s not ideal, but to step from the edge of the dock all the way down to the floor is kind of far, and I have long legs! Maybe I’ll try to be more conscientious next time.
Mike Cozart, I knew what you meant!
Remember, only the yellow cushions float.
And all the tourists are “completely naked” under their clothes.
Terrifying to contemplate.
JG
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