Disneyland Helicopter Service

Here are a few more publicity stills from the 50's in glorious black and white.

I can't think of too many things that would be cooler than arriving at Disneyland via helicopter! Not only would you avoid those Southern California freeways, but you get to enjoy an aerial view of the park. I wonder if lucky guests were treated to a quick flyover to take it all in?

I'd love to know who these V.I.P's are...Walt himself is meeting them at the heliport (or rather, the parking lot). This is obviously an early photo, could this be from opening day? Perhaps these are just a few of the many specially invited guests.


This next one appears to have been taken at the dedication of the Columbia sailing ship, judging by the colonial costumes and striped-shirted sailors. Could that be Vesey Walker conducting the band? There's Art Linkletter at the lecturn, with Walt right behind him. They're surrounded by plenty of naval officers and their wives. At the moment everyone is listening to the music, my guess is that the band is playing, "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean", or maybe "Hail Columbia" (I know, those songs are not about the ship, but they still seem kind of appropriate).

Was this dedication ceremony televised? If so, has anybody seen it?

Alice In Wonderland

Dad wanted at least one nice portrait of mom during this 1962 trip to Disneyland. Well, he did take one next to some flowers, but that's kind of boring. Those oversized leaves in front of the Alice In Wonderland attraction will make a nice backdrop! Better yet, he timed it just right so that the kids are passing by in their snooty caterpillar...junior is flashing his Colgate smile, but big brother is at that awkward age when it's uncool to look like your enjoying yourself.


Here's an aerial view, cropped for your viewing enjoyment.

Disneyland Entrance, July 1960

Please to enjoy with much smilings these photo for lookings at. Entrances to Disneyland are happy fluffy funs! You go in now to buy ticket? I too, with pleasureable sensation. May you enter upon amazing cheerfuls.

See you with many fantasy!

Frontierland Viewmaster, 1956 (revisited)

As you can see from these vintage Viewmaster images, Frontierland used to feature a lot more guns than you might see today. Now that I think of it, I can't think of ANY guns in Frontierland. Can you?

If you hung around the front of the Golden Horseshoe for very long, you might be lucky enough to catch the sherrif (Sheriff Lucky?) blasting a bad guy full of lead. The low down, yellow bellied sidewinder deserved everything he got! Somebody better fetch the undertaker, 'cause that thievin' coyote is going to be in a narrow grave up on Boot Hill.


Hmm, where was the Sheriff's Office? Was this photo taken over at Rainbow Ridge? This desperado is sportin' a fancy rig, I reckon he was a gamblin' man. Or maybe he stole the payroll from the Stage Coach. Those kids are learnin' that crime don't pay!

Frontierland Stagecoach

A friend sent me copies of these two photo prints (new prints from vintage negatives). I believe that they are from 1955, and they feature the short-lived Stagecoach rattling its way through an early Frontierland.

In this first shot, the coach is crossing a treacherous pool of water left behind after one of the desert's deadly flash floods. The heat and dehydration play tricks on the mind, in this photo you can see a mirage that looks suspiciously like the back side of a Bavarian castle. That's just plain crazy! A friendly indian is there to reassure us that there will be no war parties today. A tupperware party will be later.


Whut the....there's that indian agin! He's everywhere at once, like Droopy the dog in Tex Avery's cartoons. Perhaps he is a helpful spirit guide. Or he has a twin brother. Whichever the case, he's freaking me out.

Sunday Assortment

It's become a time-worn Sunday tradition here at Gorilla Industries. No, not hot dogs for breakfast...it's the day we feature a random assortment of whatever tickles our fancy.

Like this view of Fantasyland taken from the Monorail in 1964. I know it looks kind of Tomorrowlandish, but the Motor Boat Cruise was a Fantasyland attraction, after all.


It's still 1964...November this time. This stereo slide shows the Columbia at drydock (as usual), as well as a raft and a Keelboat that appear to be out of commission. In the foreground there is a stage, perhaps a temporary platform for the many big bands that performed at Disneyland back in those days. Walt obviously loved the big bands, swing and Dixieland jazz, which says something about his personality.


Streetcar #2 is heading back towards Main Street Station. How many streetcars were there? At least 3, I would think. These would be much more popular if they were pirate-themed.


It seems that at least one gorilla does blog, this angry fella who terrorized folks on the Jungle Cruise! There's always a troublemaker.

Ford's "Magic Skyway", 1964

The Ford exhibit was one of the highlights of the 1964/65 New York World's Fair, due in large part to Walt Disney's "Magic Skyway". "Seated in late-model Fords, visitors are carried along a track on the rotunda's exterior for a sweeping view of the Fair, then on to the spectacular scenes in the main exhibit hall."

Here's a quote from the VIP souvenir book: "Bringing the prehistoric world to "life" was achieved by Mr. Disney and his WED Enterprises staff by developing a remarkable technique called "Audio-Animatronics" -- animation powered by sound and controlled by electronics. Movements and sounds of the cavemen and animals are programmed onto magnetic tape. As the tape sends signals into a caveman's body, for example, each sound impulse triggers an air valve, shooting highly compressed air through plastic tubes connected to an intricate system of springs and levers that act like muscles, thereby controlling actual movements.

One final touch of realism. The chemically processed "skin" of the cavemen has the touch of human skin, "perspires" as a human and even "bruises!"

Back to me again! The plastic skin "perspires" and "bruises"? I'm sorry I never got to see these sweaty, contused cavemen in person.


This next scene is reminiscent of the one that you still view from the Disneyland Railroad as you pass through the "Primeval World" segment. The World's Fair version is tropical, while Disneyland's shows a land that has turned into a vast desert (much like the scenes from Fantasia's "Rite of Spring"). These dinos look pretty crude, even compared to the ones at Disneyland that barely move (or don't move at all, in my recent experience).

Disneyland Trip, June 1956

It's always fun to find vintage family snapshots of Disneyland, especially these great black and white images. Even though I have no connection to this little girl and her mom, the photos resemble the zillions of pictures recording my own family's history. I can't help thinking of rainy days when I would dig through the boxes and see pictures from long ago, of people I didn't know. These are from 1956, when the park was less than a year old.

The princess is standing next to a classic Tomorrowland icon, the Clock of the World. We can't see what time it is from this angle, but judging from the shadows, it must be around high noon!


Of course a ride on a flying elephant is mandatory when you have a kid this age. The lines for this simple attraction can still be surprisingly long on a crowded day...it might be a 50 year old ride, but to the kids it is brand new! Behind them, the recently-added Skyway can be seen. It doesn't look like the buckets have any people in them yet, maybe it hadn't opened yet.


And no visit (or collection of photos) would be complete without at least one picture of the castle.

Burning Settler's Cabin

There's nothing like the spectacle of a good old fashioned frontier slaughter for sheer entertainment! It's definitely an example of the "hard facts" that Walt mentioned in his opening day speech. Here we see an early photo of this tableau...the settler is slumped over on his side, obviously he was trying to get away. He never had a prayer, the unlucky cuss.


Here we are six or seven years later. I always liked riding the Mark Twain at twilight (pre-Fantasmic)..the cabin really blazed as it got dark. Note the considerable growth of the trees and shrubs. I think I've read that, at one point, the fire effects were simulated in the same way they are in Pirates of the Caribbean. Does anybody know if that's true?


How's this for a almost-unnoticeable detail? The star that topped the Matterhorn during the Christmas season is just visible above the trees.

The Living Desert, September 1971

Today's photos are shared courtesy of my friend Mike and the Graziano family. Mike's mom Alexadra took these pictures back in 1971.

Here are some great images of some of the critters from the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland...by many accounts, one of the "most missed" extinct attractions. First up is this photo, which is full of fun details! A bunch of wild pigs have cornered a bobcat, who has taken refuge at the top of a saguaro cactus. ..."he's in kind of a sticky situation."


Next is a nice photo of a coyote howling (or yipping!)..."the voice of the desert". You'd see him just as you entered the "tumbling rocks" portion of the ride.


And lastly, here's a menacing mountain lion...he was visible above the entrance to Rainbow Caverns. "Yuh know, last trip a mountain lion showed up right over that tunnel... Oh... there's one now, so yuh better all be real quiet."


"Now to find the exit, folks, just head right fer the front of the train. And if yuh got a mountain lion sittin' next to yuh, don't feed him... just tell 'em to hop out, 'n hightail it back to his own stompin' ground! Heh, heh."

Thanks once again to the Graziano family for sharing these photos. Heh heh!