Submarine Lagoon, January 1960
We've seen plenty of photos of Tomorrowland's Submarine Lagoon, but I can't think of any others quite like this one. As a rule, if a photo provides a bird's-eye view, it was taken from the Skyway. But notice that we are actually looking down on the Skyway! Which can only mean that this picture was taken from a speeding Matterhorn bobsled. In the foreground we can see just a bit of an icy waterfall, and one of the little fir trees that grow on the sides of the faux mountain. The 3-car blue Monorail is also in the picture.
Maybe I'm overdoing it, but I think this is a pretty great photo!
And now for a more standard (but still lovely) view.
And now for a more standard (but still lovely) view.
19 comments:
Nope I think that's a "crackin'" pic! Marvellous perspective that adds dimensions to the scene plus there is so much movement - Mr. & Mrs. 50s in the Tomato Red Skyway bucket, Monorail blue, Subs, Autopia freeway, falling water (the rarely seen right hand rear side of water at that) and a bit of motion blur of the tree to show we are in motion.
I'm a bit shocked this could turn out! Clearly they were expert at compensating for bobsled shift.
Actually I'm desktoppin' both of these. The 2nd is also super. Look at them "coral" outcrops, lonely isles just waitin' for a mermaid. The color of the water on these is really lovely too!
Gosh I'd have loved to have one of those homes in the background back then, right near there. :)
gorgeous!!! Chiana said all the good stuff....and i wholeheartedly agree!
i esp love the bit of pine tree which adds so much for me to the scene, warms it up so nicely :-)
Amazing! Yes, I want to know how these pics came out so clear!
Are those houses in the background still there today or is that where the Howard Johnson's is now? I'm trying to figure where the freeway would be in that pic.
Those are very nice; and yes, the one from the mountain went straight to the desktop.
@TokyoMagic! indeed, that look out over So. Harbor Blvd. is rather keen isn't it? Howard Johnson's is out there in the future, if I remember correctly, there was an IHOP somewhere in that view in the 60's.
One of two things happened when these pictures were taken from the bobsleds.
1. The camera the person was using was set at 1/1000 of a second for shutter speed. Most cameras were only capable of 1/500 then. Perhaps this person had a brand new 35mm with that shutter speed capability. I will have to check to see if cameras in 1960 were capable of 1/1000 shutter speed.
or
2. The bobsleds broke down and the person was stopped and they decided to take a picture or two.
Nice photographs with a different perspective that has not been duplicated.
Didn't Walt once say that Disneyland was "the world's biggest model train layout," or something like that? The first photo proves it, because of all the attention to detail in this scaled-down world. The Imagineers must have really enjoyed putting all this together, and it still looks great!
Chiana, don't forget the little tomato-red Autopia car! Those small homes look like the kind you see today, no yards to speak of. Still, a small home is better than no home!
Nancy, I will Photoshop in a bit of pine tree into every future photo on my blog, just for you! ;-)
TM!, I have no idea how this picture came out. Maybe the bobsled was going relatively slow at that point - if it was just released from the chain lift? Still, kind of amazing.
Thufer, I thought that HoJo's was a bit more to the right, where those hotels (or apartment builidngs?) are. Not sure though.
OC Native, aka Mr. Camera Aficionado, this photo was actually taken with a pinhole camera!
Hojo's Anaheim would appear right of centre frame in 1965. What we are seeing is S Palm St as it parallels I-5. The blue rancher left of centre is the corner of S Lane and W Guinida Ln. All those boxy shapes from there to the right are more or less still there. They're all 2 storey walk ups, and were at the the time newly built on recently cleared orange groves.
Sorry, I meant to write The blue rancher left of centre is the corner of S Palm St and W Guinida Ln.
Also those lines of trees at the top of frame were probably windbreaks for the orchards, and are today the approximate location of acres of tilt up concrete warehouses.
D ticket, you sure know your Anaheim! So are the little cars that we can see near the blue ranch house on S. Palm, or is that the 5?
I just got a telegram from Mary Poppins, who pronounces this picture practically perfect in every way.
aww, you are too kind... ;-)
Looking closely at the first photo, I believe it was taken with a "normal" 35mm of the day from a moving bobsled.
Although some things are obviously blurred, if you zoom in on the photo, everything is somewhat soft to one degree or another, suggesting a moving camera. The foreground tree especially reinforces this with a discernible horizontal blur to its needles.
The objects in sharpest focus (but still slightly soft) are the red Skyway bucket and its passengers. I'm going to suggest that that's probably due to the fact that the bobsled and the bucket, while not moving at the same speed, were travelling parallel to each other while the ground, water, buildings, and support structures stood still.
If this were taken with ASA 64 at 1/400 of a second (a real setting on the Kodak Signet 40 my mom got as a graduation present in 1959) on a really bright Anaheim afternoon (note the shadows - and the fact that folks were in shirtsleeves, suggesting this may have been taken in warmer weather in 1959 and processed in January 1960), this photo was definitely possible from a moving bobsled.
Those silvery cars are definitely on the 5 since it rises up from right to left to pass over Harbor Blvd out of frame on the far left.
I try to help and all I get is sarcasm. Pinhole camera.
Chuck. What you say is very probable. I haven't attempted to take a picture on the bobsleds. It always seemed like a rather improbable proposition even with my Nikon FM2 with 1/4000 of a sec speed. Yes. I am still using film cameras.
Katella, the king of Siam sent a telegram, that said wop-bop-a-loo-bop a-lop-boom-bam!
Chuck, I am quite sure that the photo was taken from a moving bobsled. And yes, you do see some softness in many areas. We'll just have to guess about how the picture was taken, but the fact that it exists shows that it was possible!
D-ticket, thanks for clearing that up for me.
OC Native, I'm surprised you haven't switched to the wonders of digital photography yet. Do you still think that film is superior? It might be, for all I know. But the convenience of digital is so appealing.
Such beautiful and sharp colors. Clean, crisp, and pristine are some words that come to mind. Just gorgeous!
Now you've got me wanting to ride the Matterhorn and how come I never get any telegrams?
OC Native - glad to hear there are still some of us dinosaurs still around.
Although I will admit I shot most of this summer's vacation on a Nikon D7000 (and to be perfectly honest I did enjoy the ability to shoot more than 2000 frames in two weeks without reloading), I still prefer the thought process that goes into taking a properly-composed-and-exposed shot and the satisfaction I get when I get the results back from the processor. And I really enjoy breaking out the darkroom gear and processing and printing my own B&W imagery. And let's face it - there's no way to really enjoy antique cameras like my Kodak Medalist II, my Kodak Reflex II, my mom's Signet 40, or my grandfather's Fujica 35 without running a roll of film through them.
Long live the wet process!
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