Scenes From the 1970s
The Swiss Family Treehouse in Adventureland is one of those attractions that I always looked forward to, growing up. When it morphed into Tarzan's Treehouse, I liked (but didn't love) it, though I was glad that it was changed and not removed. Now the Swiss family is back, and the attraction is pretty different. They have so much free time on their bountiful island that they are able to build things like orreries, or nutty music machines. There's definitely more "fantasy" than there used to be, and it took me a little bit to get used to it. And as before, I'm still so glad that this was not ripped out for something less imaginative.
The Matterhorn is looking particularly rosy in this photo (not sure why), as if it is made of southwestern sandstone rather than Alpine gneiss. This is a perfectly OK photo, but I am amused by the family hurrying toward their next destination - perhaps the bobsleds! Even Dad is running. I appreciate his enthusiasm!
10 comments:
Major-
"... they are able to build things like orreries, or nutty music machines..."
So, did they build the first WurliTzer juke box-?
Seeing that family sprinting to well, somewhere in the Park, reminds me of the time (probably about 1963) following rope drop in Town Square, Billy Sammeth and I ran down Main Street on the way to the Matterhorn. (We may have been the first to ride it that day). Good times.
Thanks, Major.
Question: What does "nutty music" sound like? And what kind of nuts are we talking about? Peanuts? Walnuts? (OK, I've pretty much run this gag into the ground.)
Why, I do believe Orange Shirt Guy is none other than Frankie Yankovic, minus his accordion. Maybe he donated his accordion to the Robinsons in case their pump organ gave out. I wonder if the workers had fun putting this Treehouse together, or if it was one big headache after another? Such a wonderful piece of Imagineering! The man-made Tree alone looks great, but then we have all the stairs, rooms, railings, and gizmos... it boggles the mind.
Wow, the Matterhorn really IS rosy-colored! It looks weird and beautiful at the same time. It occurs to me that we haven't seen Hans, Fritz, or Otto in ages! Maybe they outgrew their lederhosen. The Family-on-the-Run reminds me of a publicity still for a sitcom.
Nice photos, Major. Thanks.
Once again, I just scanned a 1966 photo taken by my dad, which I will be posting next month. It shows my uncle coming down the stairs of the Swiss Family Treehouse, in the same spot as that lady in the red shirt. By the way, is she holding a beverage in her hand? Did she sneak that past the cast member with that?
My dad's shot was taken much closer to the stairs and after scanning it, I wanted to check and see if it was taken just where I thought it was.......on one of the last flights of stairs before the exit. So I looked at some of your older posts, Major. I noticed that in a 1981 photo taken by Lou Perry, the ropes below that staircase railing had been replaced with more of a "netting" of rope. Does that mean that as time went on, kids started sticking their heads through the simpler set of ropes? Or did the Disney lawyers warn that as the general public slowly gets stupider, someone was inevitably going to be doing that?
I remember when parts of the Matterhorn's rockwork looked a little "rosy." There is NO running allowed in Disneyland. All the times that I was at the park for rope drop, there were always cast members positioned every so many yards, telling people not to run. So we would just "power walk."
Since Mom and Sis have the inside track I'll bet they got there first.
The treehouse has always been a favorite of mine. It was McGyver before there was a McGyver.
Thanks, Major
Zach
Major, I agree. It’s better to have the scraps that remain of the Treehouse than to see it removed. I still don’t understand what was so wrong with the original story that we had to have whatever it is today instead? Nice pic of how it should look.
Hooray for the family running to the red Matterhorn. I don’t remember this color way at all. I do remember dashing to get in line on the Fantasyland side, much like these people are doing. There are two Tomorrowland trash cans in view since this was before the Matterhorn was relocated to Fantasyland with a very large hand truck. Also visible is the Alpine Gardens sign that Mike Cozart shared in detail some time back. Just a great picture.
Thank you for these, and happy 57th Apollo Moon Landing Anniversary!
JG
Nanook, the music machine is more of a crazy orchestreon! Since I tend to arrive at the park for rope drop, I’ve learned that I will never be the first on any ride - there are people who will sprint to be the first! I’m OK being 15th.
JB, from now on there will be no nut-related puns on GDB! I’m putting my foot down! Does orange shirt guy look like Frankie Yankovic? I have no idea, I’ve only heard of Frankie. I would imagine that building the treehouse attraction was mostly just hard work, with a bit of fun creativity for some. I wonder if fake trees were common in movies? The treehouse looks so good, it makes me think that there were folks who specialized in faux bark and leaves. The rosy look of the Matterhorn is kind of odd, I really can’t explain it. If the slide was turning red, then everything would be pink. But that’s not the case! I guess you’re right, we haven’t seen the Matterhorn climbers for a while, but I have no doubt they will be back soon.
TokyoMagic!, it sounds like you must have a whole heap of photos that belonged to your dad! Like hundreds? I’ll bet that lady with the beverage just walked right past a CM who wasn’t paying much attention. “My break is in five minutes”. I’m sure that the netting was added “just in case”, people have proven that they can get into trouble no matter how hard you try to prevent it. At least netting sort of works for “parts from a ship”. So the rockwork of the Matterhorn really was more on the reddish side? Seems like a strange decision. Can we blame Kim Irvine? I like the thought of Cast Members yelling at guests. Some mild hitting could help too.
zach, ha, sis elbowed everyone out of the way, plus she had a blade on the tip of one shoe so that she could slash their achilles tendons.
JG, I agree with you, as a kid I loved the story of the Swiss Family, and loved the idea of building and living in that big beautiful treehouse. I am guessing that the changes were yet more cases of Imagineers who wanted to fix something that wasn’t broken (see: the pirate with the skull face in Pirates of the Caribbean). After a somewhat-recent trip in which I rushed to get to some Fantasyland rides early, only to find that none of them were open yet, I will do a “power walk” like TokyoMagic, but I won’t jog. It’s undignified. Thanks for the reminder of the Moon Landing anniversary!
As a kid it never occured to me that the tree house wasn't exactly like what was in the movie. I had seen the movie, but was more focused on pirate fights, I guess!
This is from the era when the Matterhorn had a definite snow line, above which it was winter and below which it was summer. Now there's scattered snow from top to bottom, as if the spring thaw is setting in, and Pluto (the other one) has released Persephone.
TokyoMagic!, it sounds like you must have a whole heap of photos that belonged to your dad! Like hundreds?
Major, there are thousands of slides and negatives in my dad's collection! I don't know if I will ever be able to scan them all. I think he saved every single negative for every photo he ever took! But then again, I have done the same thing in my lifetime. I just didn't know that he had done that until after he passed away and I came across them.
So the rockwork of the Matterhorn really was more on the reddish side? Seems like a strange decision. Can we blame Kim Irvine? I like the thought of Cast Members yelling at guests. Some mild hitting could help too.
I have at least one similar photo of that side of the Matterhorn, that I took in the 70s. I don't have it scanned, but I'll try to remember to do that so we can compare the two images. And can we please just blame K.I., and a certain other retired "person" for everything that's wrong with the park, today? Just as Diana Scarwid said in Mommie Dearest, "I am NOT one of their FAAAAAAANS!"
In the second pic, we couldn't see that the light on the ticket booth behind us was lit - that family just cleaned out the cash register and was sprinting for the getaway car.
Post a Comment