For all of you fans of the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland, here are two views of The Living Desert. Ya got yer deadly, poisonous rattlesnakes (from 1962), ready to leap from their boulders to sink their fangs into some unfortunate person's throat. I seen it happen with my own two eyes!
The next photo shows a whole heap o' saguaro cactuses (cacti?), circa 1957. They look like the real thing, wonder if they sculpted each one individually, or if they were cast from actual saguaros. I like the fact that they have blossoms, since the spiel reminds us that "the desert's got 'er beauty, too".
Nice shots. I always liked the cacti that appeared to be in cartoon human shapes, a great gag from Marc Davis. I think the rattlesnakes were also a Marc Davis gag.
ReplyDeleteWere the funny cacti added in 1960? I wouldn't think that they would be there until they used Marc Davis' ideas for the "Nature's Wonderland" improvements.
ReplyDeleteHey Major- you are correct in that the human shaped did not appear until the Nature's Wonderland upgrade.
ReplyDeleteActually - all those gagas supposedly by Marc were really by Claude Coats & others who designed the original Rainbow Caverns... All the concept art you see by Marc for Nature's Wonderland were improvement suggestions, but all are dated after 1961 (I think he started at WED in 1961...).
ReplyDeletePJ - are you sure about the human shaped cacti not appearing before 1960? Because I'm pretty sure I have some pre-1960 photos of those...
ReplyDeleteTanga- not absolutely sure. I will have to see if I have any documentation.
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