Beautiful Fantasyland, 1973-ish
Here are two pretty views of Fantasyland! We'll begin with this shot as seen from the rail of the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship, looking down on the Mad Tea Party and the surrounding dark ride façades (Mr. Toad to the left, and Peter Pan to the right of that). It's busy but not too busy, and the late afternoon sunlight makes the colors "pop". I just noticed that we can just see the top of the Anaheim Convention Center in the upper right.
Next is an even prettier view, looking out from behind the waterfalls of the Skull Rock grotto. Gorgeous! I miss the Chicken of the Sea mermaid, but tell myself that she is enjoying her retirement in tropical reef, preferably with a few treasure chests scattered nearby.
12 comments:
Major-
These images are just lovely - especially the first one, with its differently-lit areas. Of particular note is the juxtaposition of the vertically-striped trash cans with the horizontally-striped clothing patterns-! So 1970's.
Cheers to the Skull Rock Grotto-!
Thanks, Major.
A pretty picture, indeed. But busy! A case of 'everything, everywhere, all at once'. I don't know where to look! I feel like I should be trying to find Waldo. Not sure why this picture strikes me like that. Maybe it's the lighting? Everything equally lit up and equally shadowed. Still, it IS a nice photo.
The Castle jutting up in the background adds a lot to this picture. Is that Skully's lower jaw in the upper left of the photo?
I guess I'm being curmudgeonly today. I've had a cold for the last several days and I'm achy all over... That's my excuse anyway. Nice pictures, Major. Thanks.
I miss the Chicken of the Sea mermaid, but tell myself that she is enjoying her retirement in tropical reef, preferably with a few treasure chests scattered nearby.
Major, I guess that's better than thinking that she's sharing a landfill somewhere with Uti, from the Enchanted Tiki Room entrance. :-/
Tokyo: UTI is living it up in a very nice house of a former Imagineer in Anaheim Hills!!
I know we all miss original Fantasyland …. But I think 1983 New Fantasyland is more of what Walt really wanted. We know at the Disneyland 10th studio party Walt talks how as soon as New Tomorrowland is done , a New Fantasyland is next. The Florida Project and Walt’s passing changed some of that direction.. we know by 1973 WED is working on a new and enlarged fantasyland featuring a Pinocchio’s Village and redone dark ride interiors using dimensional sets developed for WDW’s fantasyland…. But for those of us that remember old fantasyland- it was far from perfect … lots of painted canvas covered Masonite , inexpensive decorative wood cutouts - attached to painted chainlink fencing with wire …… Abs lots and lots of flat hot slurry. It was also terribly congested and noisy- all the dark ride noises crashing with King Arthur’s Carousel music wedged so close to the castle’s courtyard…
Do I miss Old Fantasyland ? Yeah … would I want it back ? No .
Mike, so that's who "pried her loose and took her home while the hand-crafted outrigger was reportedly thrown away"? Did that person just get to drive off the property with whatever the heck he wanted for his own private collection, to be viewed by only a few select eyes instead of being enjoyed by the masses?
Here's the story of Uti's demise, for anyone who's interested:
The Slow Sad Sinking of Uti
Truly lovely pics today...yes horizontal stripes were in fashion for everyone that year. But the big win here is combining castle and waterfall, two of my very favorite things. More than the tuna boat, it's the groovy grotto moat I miss most.
MS
I would gladly trade Old Fantasyland for New Fantasyland if we could have just kept the Tuna Boat and Skull Rock Grotto. There’s nothing left in Disneyland to compare to it. The ground floor of the Golden Bear in Bear Country before WookieWorld was the last.
I do love both pictures, but photo 2 is a real winner. After hearing that WED (or whatever it is called now) has all but banned fountains, waterfalls, and streams from new imagineering designs, presumably for cost reasons, pictures of the old profusions of water are more precious. The sounds of these falls with your meal were amazing.
I’m wondering how they plan to render AvatarWorld without water? All projections and physical effects like blue lights on cellophane?
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, it is well known that mixing patterns is the best thing to do! I personally like plaid with polka dots.
JB, gosh you are kind of grumpy if you don’t like these! Get some rest, drink plenty of liquids (preferably Yoo-Hoo brand chocolate drink), and watch cartoons.
TokyoMagic!, oh man, I hope that figurehead didn’t wind up in the trash! I hope that, at the very least, she’s in somebody’s man-cave tiki bar!
Mike Cozart, wow, I didn’t know that anybody knew the whereabouts of Uti. I know that the old Fantasyland was crude and built on a budget, but it had many charms because of that. The new Fantasyland is beautiful, and I really have no notes except that I hate that we lost the Pirate Ship and Skull Rock. Otherwise it is just about perfect.
TokyoMagic!, in a way I’ll bet that this person COULD just lay claim to whatever he wanted. I spoke to another Imagineer who told me about pulling all kinds of treasures out of a dumpster, and a well-known, higher-up Imagineer demanded that some of the stuff be given to him, and THEN they could take the rest. Argh.
MS, I’m with you, you can’t have too many waterfalls at Disneyland, the sound, the spray, the way they look, they always add great “value” to any scene.
JG, ha ha, great minds think alike! See my comment to Mike Cozart. I liked the upper floor of the Golden Bear/Hungry Bear restaurant, sort of “above it all”, and if you were willing to walk back, kind of away from the throng too. I’m sad to hear that waterfalls have been all but banned. A friend told me that many of the watefalls back by Galaxy’s Edge were not working the last time he was at the park, remember how they emphasized those in concept art? My guess is that James Cameron will get anything he wants, including water!
Some people are such snobs. I get that the teacups and early facades were simple, but that's no reason to look down on them.
Rereading this hours later and realizing my comment might be misinterpreted. I was not referring to Mike's comment about Old Fantasyland vs. New Fantasyland. I was actually making a silly joke based on the Major's commentary in the original post:
"We'll begin with this shot as seen from the rail of the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship, looking down on the Mad Tea Party and the surrounding dark ride façades..."
It was not my intent to sound as though I was criticizing Mike's or anyone else's comment. Just moving faster than the speed of thought in a stolen minute at lunchtime.
^ After a couple seconds I realized what you were referring to in you first post, Chuck. And besides, you don't usually troll GBD. ;-p
And yes, it was a somewhat silly joke. I'm sure we're all guilty of making silly jokes here (except Major, of course).
Hmm, it seems you have angered the Italics god. And now we must all pay for your transgression. 8-D
GDB... not GBD. Sheesh!
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