Let's continue our long series of Big Thunder-related scans, graciously shared with us by the Mysterious Benefactor! We left off from the last installment with some photos of Big Thunder cast members, and the first three continue that trend.
As I said the last time, it's clear that the photographer thought it would be fun for these folks to have some bubble gum. Well, OK. I guess it gave them something to do besides sit there and smile. In my dad we chewed tobacco and let the juice run down our chins, but I guess that won't do now. I thought that this young woman might be a ticket-taker, but to be honest I don't know if they still used tickets when these photos were shot.
We saw this guy last time, and I swear he looks so much like actor Anthony Michael Hall (from "The Breakfast Club" among others). The Ray Bans seem like they might not work with "The Disney Look", but he's not in Disney Jail, so I guess it was OK. On a hot summer day, shades might have been needed for mere survival.
It's the gal from the first photo again - I'm posting these in the same order that they appear in the MB's folders - I just realized that gum in general was frowned upon in Disneyland (it's a pain to deal with when folks drop it on the ground), I think the photographer should have given them all switchblades to brandish instead.
We're done with gum! Here's a pretty photo of a small cascade pouring through the town of Rainbow Ridge - for some reason I thought that the town's name had changed when The Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland closed, but nope, it is still Rainbow Ridge.
A dramatic angle!
Next is this nice look at some of the theming, with mine equipment and machinery, old crates and casks, etc. I wonder if "Burke" was the name of an Imagineer?
THANK YOU, Mysterious Benefactor!
Major-
ReplyDeleteCast members and bubble gum - they go together like... they don't really go together, do they-? And Rainbow Ridge still looks grand in these images.
(I'm gonna say "Burke" stands for the [somewhat diminutive] character actor Walter Burke).
Thanks to the M B and The Major.
CMs blowing bubble gum bubbles... What a weird subject matter. I would guess that the photographer was bored with all the usual stuff and just went a little stir-crazy one day. (What does "stir-crazy" mean anyway?... OK, I just looked it up: Apparently, "stir" means "jail" in 19th century Brit Speak. Prisoners would go crazy being locked up in jail over an extended period.)
ReplyDeleteAnthony Michael Hall's name badge says "Michael". Coincidence? I don't think so!
Wow, the 'water feature' photo looks great! So many things came together just right to make a beautiful picture.
The "dramatic angle" pic demonstrates how a lot of 'old west' buildings had facades that were squared off at the top, instead of angled with the roof line (like the dormer window). Was this purely to be decorative and impressive? It doesn't really serve any purpose since there's nothing behind it. Maybe it just saved a lot of sawing?
They did a good job making that mine equipment room look really rustic and crude. I bet you're right about "Burke" being an Imagineer. The name is deliberately eye-catching.
Thanks, Major and Mysterious Ben.
I think that contraption in the last photo, was used in the 1978 Disney film, "Hot Lead & Cold Feet." I seem to remember my friend's father (who worked on the construction of the attraction) telling us that. Mike might have mentioned it in the past, too. Hopefully, he will chime in and confirm that.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Major and MB!
The crate with the name BURKE is a tribute to WED imagineer Pat Burke ( John Patrick Burke) who started at WED imagineering in the very early 70’s. Pat was instrumental in the design and construction of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad … he created many designs and built models but also as a antique railroad and old west mining expert sourced mass amounts of vintage mining equipment and implements from the American southwest primarily the Mohave desert. These props were used on all the four big thunder attractions. John Hench had remembered some abstract modern looking ceramics in Pat’s portfolio when interviewing for WED- when filming for the TV Art school and shopping channel scenes for Space Mountain’s RCA HOME OF FUTURE LIVING , WED production art directors rented some of Pat’s futuristic looking ceramics for use as ceramic class projects and merchandise being shopped on TV shopping channels ( 1973/1974). Pat Burke passed away in 2014.
ReplyDeleteThere were four “donkey engines “ used in the Disney film “Hot Lead & Cold Feet” two of each # 5 ( red smoke stack band) and #11 ( green smoke stack band) were created for outdoor filming props and indoor soundstage filming) all four were really battery powered . The designs were based on a real non mining locomotive, the American TOM THUMB vertical boiler locomotive. The props were saved for use in Big Thunder … 2 went to Disneyland ( both red #5) and one green #11 went to want Disney world ( the duplicate green band #11 exploded in the film.) why BOTH red #5’s went to DL is unknown : one is in the entry mining camp and the second is located facing the Big Thunder Trail entering a mine tunnel) the green #11 Donkey engine at WDW is seen just as the trains return to enter the underground loading station . The props are actually tagged “BLOODSHY” which was the original working name of the film HOT LEAD & COLD FEET …
ReplyDeleteSorry: I realized I mixed the donkey engine numbers up! Disneyland got (2) red #11’s and Walt Disney World received the only surving #5.
ReplyDeleteMAJOR: from 1979 - 2014 the mining town was called THUNDER RIDGE …. It was renamed RAINBOW RIDGE after the big refurbishment in 2014. It should have been left THUNDER RIDGE after… Rainbow Ridge was a different kinda town.
I wonder if the gum pics were intended for employee recruitment advertising “what a great place to work!”? Odd subject matter for The Most Gum-Free Place on Earth.
ReplyDeleteI like those crazy angled views of the town, especially with the creek flowing. In the view with the hoodoo in back, we can see what is supposed to be a shingle roof in the foreground, but there are no separate shingles, the roof is covered with long strips of wood. Maybe a quick and dirty way to imitate the look?
I wish there was a map of Rainbow Ridge naming the businesses. The newspaper is the Big Thunder Epitaph, undoubtedly modeled on the newspaper in Tombstone AZ, the appropriately named Tombstone Epitaph.
Thanks Major and MB!
JG
Nanook, I can only assume that the photographer thought that blowing bubbles was “playful”? For use in future publicity items I guess. Well, they tried!
ReplyDeleteJB, I can imagine the photographer walking around with multiple packs of Hubba Bubba. “Here, chew this!”. As somebody who has spent half my life in prison, I knew what “stir crazy” meant. Too bad you already looked it up. A nice waterfall or stream will enhance any ride, it’s a well known fact. I don’t really know the function of those facades that were larger than the actual building, except to fool the potential customer. I’m upset that they didn’t use the name “Pepperidge” on that crate.
TokyoMagic!, I’m afraid I missed “Hot Lead & Cold Feet”. I do know that it won 11 Academy Awards though. It’s like seeing Rosebud’s sled!
Mike Cozart, thanks for the information about Pat Burke. Funny about how we know some Imagineers, but so many others toiled away in obscurity. By choice? Maybe some of them were just more willing to be “out there”. I’ve admired some of that rusty old mining equipment while in line for Big Thunder. And it reminds me of being on a hike and finding a ruined machine, maybe an earth-mover. It had this HUGE gear that still spun smoothly. If I could have figured out how to get it off the machine (and how to carry it all the way back to the car) I would hav taken it!
Mike Cozart, I thought donkeys ran on alfalfa, but I guess they needed engines! I’ll have to look up “HotLead & Cold Feet”, I don’t know who was in that one. Presumably not Tim Conway and Don Knotts? I like the thriftiness of reusing those movie props in the ride, since they look great and might have otherwise had limited chances for reuse.
Mike Cozart, ah, interesting, I *thought* that it was called Thunder Ridge, but upon looking it up, saw that it was still Rainbow Ridge. Now I know why!
JG, ha, I guess a person post-high school but pre-college might think it would be pretty swell to be able to chew gum on the job! Little did they know that Disneyland actually despises all gum-based products. No “Bubblicious” allowed. You are probably right about the roof that simulated shingles. How many people even noticed? Just you! I’m kind of surprised that they never made a souvenir map of Rainbow Ridge, but it’s not too late.
No - imagineers were not being lazy in finishing the Big Thunder Epitath building’s roof. It’s called a PLANK SHINGLE and was once common on smaller structures or quickly built buildings , especially in the American West. This was faster and easier to do than a bunch of smaller “shake shingles” Board & Batt sidding - extremely popular in America was also used for roofs called wood seam roofing .. quicker to build … and quick to leak. It’s something WDI would miss today … including variations of 19th century roofing on Rainbow/Thunder Ridge … as oppose to just going for a cliche look all the time. By - the - way : The Big Thunder Epitath ( newspaper and printing office) used to have two slogans printed on its large office 4 panel windows panes : “NO NOOSE IS GOOD NEWS”
ReplyDelete& “ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS - WE PRINT” a take off of newspaper slogans “ a the news THATS FIT - we print”. The color schemes and graphics of the structures of Thunder Ridge were done by imagineer Ken Kerr who at the time of construction was the director of graphic communication at WED and oversaw graphics and signage for all Disney projects at the time. In 1978 he saved the Disney park attraction poster program when the company wanted to stop making them all together - and especially kept them as silkscreen poster art … in the late 70’s there were many attraction posters being done as painted - then lithographed as WED management was gearing up to phase out the posters - but Ken saved them!
Gum was obviously VERBOTEN....for many reasons...I get a little perturbed when I see people on TV smacking away like a cow...It wasn't allowed in college either...so very verboten: worse than Disneyland (Dance spaces, stages, costumes....etc etc)...but we could SMOKE up a storm: even in the dressing rooms. So I think it's a little bit of shenanigans going on there, and I too have my fair share of "do this while I take a picture!"....and people would...you've seen some of it. I haven't dug out the REALLY shennaniganny shenanigans....and hoping they are still on property. Yes: that Michael chap also breaks some other laws: like frosted hair. This is the one that I think did not like TG's...as he always kind of treated me like poo. And I think he would just step back and take a break while I got all my peoples into the right cars....there was a lot of eye rolling and whatnot. I could load a Pirate boat quicker than the Ride Operator though, so I always asked if I could do it. I knew who was who and who was with who...so it was so much easier for me to do it. Once we got to Small World, the tour group knew what to do and didn't split up....what was the name of that guy there: another "I hate TG's guy"....he kind of looked like Michael too. Not Jackson. Rainbow Ridge sounds like a swinging town. Tis the season! Thanks Major and MB (not Milton Bradley)....or maybe it is?!
ReplyDeleteMike Cozart, now I know who to go to with all my historic shingle knowledge! I would think that the lack of lumber (which might not have been a thing) would make those long plank shingles harder to do than regular old shingles. I always appreciate when the Imagineers go the extra mile, even if most people won’t notice. Those details are there for the real fans! I feel like I’ve heard of Ken Kerr though I’m not 100% certain. Maybe you’ve mentioned him before in relation to the posters. I’m very glad he kept the silkscreen process for at least a little while!
ReplyDeleteBu, ha, I used to be a real gum chewer. So much so that an old girlfriend gave me a tin full of all sorts of gum for my birthday. Now I rarely chew it. I’ve always thought it was odd that smoking was so accepted everywhere. For those who don’t smoke (like me), it is no fun to have to inhale other people’s stinky smoke. I’d go to rock concerts and come home smelling like an ash tray. But… that’s the way it was. The frosted hair might have been a no-no, but it isn’t outrageous. Maybe his hair did that naturally when he spent time in the sun? I wonder why he didn’t like Tour Guides. Did he think they were all snobby? Maybe the female guides didn’t go out with him. I have some old sound effects tracks from Rainbow Ridge, they are fun. Saloon fights, barbershop quartets, all sorts of lively stuff, it really helped with the illusion that there were inhabitants just out of sight.
LOVE today's pictures and comments....lots of interesting and fun stuff.
ReplyDeleteThat Rainbow Ridge cascade picture is especially nice. Sadly, I understand that we'll see less and less water features in the Disney parks, in the future. *sigh*
Thanks, MB.& MP.