A Pair From February, 1977
Here are two scans from a batch dated "February 1977". The first one is fairly standard, a pretty mom (I wonder if she was an actress?) with her two denim-clad kids in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Too bad it was such a gray day, it gives the scene a bit of an oppressive feeling.
This next one is a mystery to me! It looks like the two kids are entering a backstage area of some kind. How they managed to do that, I'll never know. "I'm Walt Disney's grandson, and you better let me in or you're going to get fired!". That's how I would have attempted it, anyway. Mickey's smiling face is painted on the door; "Head (something)". Is this where characters put on their giant heads and costumes?
21 comments:
Looks like one of the times the boys had to see their cool but crazy mom...
Thanks always Major!
Major-
Cute family. Clearly, the 2nd shot indicates this group travelled all the way to WDW and Junior and Sis are standing in the utilidors. (No-?)
Thanks, Major.
I was trying to figure out what famous actress that lady resembled. Kim Novak, perhaps?
Major, I think you are right about that second pic being where the character heads and costumes are stored. We can see a droopy Pooh costume hanging in the background. The head would have been stored apart from the costume, but I am wondering what that thing is that looks like a large gray wig, where the head of the costume would be if someone was wearing it at the time.
Maybe the kids' mom worked in wardrobe and was able to bring her kids backstage to see where she worked? My friend's father worked on the construction of Big Thunder, and he was able to bring us backstage and into his office, which was inside one of the trailers on the construction site.
Mom and her kids, a pleasant picture. Hmm, if Mom's an actress, she isn't ringing any bells for me. I can't even say who she reminds me of. She has some serious bling on her fingers though. Her son, Charlie Bucket, looks like he just spent his last bit of money on a Wonka bar and didn't find any golden ticket inside. Sorry Charlie.
Backstage: Hey! Maybe Charlie DID find a golden ticket! And this is him touring Willy Wonka's factory. It sure does look like a costume shop of some kind. Clothing wrapped in plastic, hanging on guide rails like a dry cleaner. Ordinary fluorescent lights overhead. So this wouldn't be anywhere open to the public. Maybe he IS Walt Disney's grandson! Could this be part of a guided Tour?
Nanook, hmm, I hadn't thought of the utilidors at WDW. Could be. Although, there must be places like this in Disneyland, right? Maybe Bu or one of our other former CMs will know.
Tokyo!, Kim Novak... sorta. Or one of many Hitchcock women. I thought the "large gray wig" was a separate costume wrapped in plastic?
A nice family photo and a puzzle. Thanks, Major.
The “mother” looks like actress Pamela Austin. She was a staple on tv in the 60’s and 70’s and was in that famous twilight zone where there’s only 4 style females and 4 style males and they are all
Perfect “ isn’t it great Val!! …. I look JUST LIKE YOU””. Pamela had one child … a boy. Maybe she was performing that evening on the Tomorrowland SPACE STAGE …. And Mr Gridley is letting Pamela and her son and niece play in the park before the show !
Unusual photos. Mom is kind of creeping me out. Her eyes aren’t smiling along with her mouth. Are those really her kids?
The “large gray wig” looks to me like a full black plastic garbage bag, with an unrolled but not unfolded one laying on top of it. Note the boy seems to be standing in front of a Dutch door, the one with the word “head” on it. I was fascinated by Dutch doors as a kid, probably because they were different. Odd that they aren’t even mentioned in a list of primary exports from the Netherlands.
Thanks, Major!
Guys, it's obvious what's going on here! "Mom" is actually a child-catcher for the Small World attraction and the bottom picture is Charlie in the "Doll Processing Room" realizing he made a bad choice. All in a happy, magical way, of course...
Weird pics today, Major. Creepy Mom, creepy kids, in places where they don’t belong.
Pretty sure I dated the girl with her back to us in photo 1, she looks really familiar.
Thanks!
JG
The young blonde lady doesn't look old enough to be the mom of those children. She could be an older sister, but there isn't a resemblance to the kids, who do look similar. I think she was a cast member who could have played Cinderella or Aurora, and brought the kids backstage for a peek at how the magic is made.
My actress double vote is for Mylene Demongeot, a French film beauty in occasional American movies like "Bonjour Tristesse" ( which was filmed in France).
Merci, Major!
walterworld, “cool but crazy mom”, ha ha!
Nanook, don’t tell me you don’t know about Disneyland’s 3 square miles of utilidors!
TokyoMagic!, “droopy Pooh” is my rap name! I thought that “large gray wig” was a trash bag?? It is possible that the kid’s mom worked in wardrobe, I guess we’ll never know. Wow, very cool about you being able to see the Big Thunder construction site!
JB, of course there are hundreds (thousands?) of actors and actresses who get minor roles on TV shows and movies who never become household names. I just get an “actress” vibe from seeing her in some of the other photos from this batch as well, you’ll see those over the next few months. Ha, the boy DOES look like Charlie Bucket. Her’s got a golden ticket! I have no photos of these people at WDW, so it has to be Disneyland.
Mike Cozart, I know that Twilight Zone episode well (though it’s funny, my brother often describes episodes that I *must* have seen, but don’t ring any bells at all!); I think today’s mom has that slightly generic “pretty young woman” look that would have worked on TZ or so many other shows.
Chuck, the eyes went kind of black, maybe that’s what’s so unsettling? I know that I often feel foolish smiling for a photo, just because, for that short while, it’s an act! I’m normally very miserable. I guess you’ve never worn a plastic garbage bag as a wig, that much is clear. Dutch doors? What’s wrong with AMERICAN doors??
St29573, I guess I didn’t pick up on any sinister vibes from Mom, she looked fine to me! Tell us all about the girl in photo #1, including her SSN and phone number!
Stefano, huh, I thought that the woman looked old enough to have those kids, but what do I know? That’s a great thought about her possibly playing one of the princesses, and would explain her access to the backstage costume area. Mylene Demongeot! I don’t believe I’ve heard of her before, I’ll have to look her up to see the resemblance.
The family in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle strayed from the Overlook Hotel. The husband/father of this family was caretaker of the hotel during a harsh winter, back in the early 1970's. It was quite a mess to clean up afterwards.
Creepy pictures perfect for October. Thanks, Major.
Hi all... sorry for no posts in a while. But this is a wild guess on the Backstage area and the mom. Could it be she is a can-can dancer at the Golden Horseshoe and they are backstage there. I was truly Backstage at the Golden Horseshoe a few times during my time there in Adventure/Frontierland Attractions, and have a vague memory of where they put wigs on in that location. If not, I would agree with @TokyoMagic! and it is Disneyland Wardrobe Dept.
Whoops... I forgot to add my old sign off
Always your pal,
Amazon Belle
Matthew, you’re right— she sure does look like one of the pretty showgirls! We’ll need to look at other pictures from that same timeframe at the Golden Horseshoe Review, to see if we can spot her. (Matthew, it’s great to see you’re still on GDB with us!)
K. Martinez, the husband has always been the caretaker!
Matthew, nice to hear fro you! I like your theory about the mom being a can-can dancer. I’ve only seen a photo of Betty Taylor’s dressing room back when she was still with us, and it was much lighter and brighter, so I couldn’t say if the other dancers had to change in a dark scary room!
Matthew, the classic sign-off!
Lou and Sue, once Matthew offered up that suggestion, I could totally see the mom in pink frilly petticoats and a feathered headdress, dancing up a storm!
Ugh, my typing (or lack thereof)
KS—where are you??
(I recall KS mentioning a lot about the GHS folks and backstage area….and he worked at DL during this era…I bet HE knows this pretty gal!)
Lou and Sue along with our beloved Major... thanks for your kind words. I'm always around... it's just that work keeps me pretty busy from posting (but never from reading your comments). I truly appreciate all of you! I will try to add a comment here and there more often. Also, I too recall our friend @KS working Frontierland so I hope he can "chime in" here to this mystery (Am I using that @ symbol correctly... or is it a #?).
Always your pal,
Amazon Belle
I'm late, but for those that go back and read additions: here ya go! #1: possibly the creepiest GDB ever :) ! This is like the Sunday afternoon TV "Creature Features" GDB. The "Head Room" is the Head Room...and yes: where are the heads are...different, but next to "The Zoo"...another Character "dressing room" of sorts, and underneath the lockers on the back side of the Grand Canyon. If a "normie" were to read that sentence, I think it would not make sense...but...it makes sense to all of us. I also vote that the odd lady is a can can dancer...but between a show or two, so still had her hair do on....could possibly also be a wig. She has a cute Mickey necklace on as well...and her rings look like "wardrobe" rather than "I'll tooling about the park". The can can girls did not have dressing rooms like Betty or Wally or Fulton.....their "dressing room" was a basically open space on the right side of the stage. Regarding the creepy vibe of the Head Room: this part of the backstage area rarely got natural light...so those rooms: and the locker rooms above all had really bad florescent lights...the locker rooms were a bit better as we had high windows...that you couldn't see out of...but let some "Tomorrowland" light in. In some old photos you can see the building...which looks like it does exist today as well. These kids were probably the can can dancers friends kids....or another dancer. Side note: it was VERY VERY odd to have kids ANYWHERE near decapitated characters...regardless of being "insiders" or not....often times kids who were so excited would chase characters who would exit by the Egg House and go backstage...at which point...any decapitated character would scatter to avoid "breaking the fourth wall". So these kids being taken back there is really kind of odd.. Hope this adds some color to these bizarre photos. And the "smile" on the dancer is the basically the same type of smile I would...and still have...in photos...When you get your picture taken frequently you basically can give a relatively "natural look"....but to me: it always looked staged....like celebrities in front of press walls...or in today's world: selfies. Now everyone is an entertainer....
Bu, you brought up a good point…that pretty gal could be wearing a wig for her part, as THE real 1977 hair style for young gals was feathered hair (Farah style), not the above pictured style.
Hi Folks. Well, we are going back a long time ago. But she looks familiar and the second photo is definitely backstage. I would say this is not Betty's dressing room which was reserved strictly for her and was definitely smaller and brighter with the lighted mirror on the wall. It was above AJs. This is much larger and I would think it was the costuming/changing area for the dancers which had to have been backstage to the GHR. KS
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