The Mickey Mouse Club and the Mouseketeers were a highly visible part of early Disneyland history. The Mouseketeers were in parades and the MMC Circus, and there was the "3-D Jamboree" movie in the Mickey Mouse Club Theater. So it was fun to find this photo of Roy Williams (aka "The Big Mooseketeer") in a lot of otherwise boring slides! Roy was a "gag man" for Disney for years, and I can only imagine how much he enjoyed being beloved by millions of kids. Did you know that the iconic Mouse Ears (still sold at the park over 50 years later) were his idea? Here are two of his fans, receiving quick sketches of Disney characters. The boy's sketch is Mickey, and it looks like the girl might have Pluto (or Goofy!). That's some stack of paper, Roy's going to be there for a while! Notice the rejected sketch crumpled on the ground.
This was taken in Frontierland, you can see the water tower to the right. Seems like an out-of-the-way place for such a big celebrity!
I heard tell (today!) that he spent time in the 1960s and 1970s (well, not past November 7, 1976!) in the Central Plaza drawing Mickey Mouse for Guests.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone out there have the 3D Jamboree film on DVD? Even in a non-3D format? REALLY want to see it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for jogging our memory, Progressland - we do indeed have a few shots of Roy drawing characters in the Plaza in the mid60s. Let's see if we can find them...
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