Special Guest Photos!
It's time to get a little of that Christmas spirit here on GDB, thanks to reader Scott Heinz. Those of you who read the comments will know him as "Alonzo P. Hawk"! He sent me scans of a bunch of his personal photos, from various years - mostly Disneyland, but some Knott's Berry Farm as well. With Christmas less than two weeks away, I wanted to start sharing his pictures of a parade from sometime in the late 1990's - I believe that this was the "Christmas Fantasy Parade". If only I could figure out a way to make Disneyland parade Christmas music automatically play along with a blog post!
Tigger and Eeyore are in their jammies, complete with pink fuzzy slippers. Hey, is that a smile I see on Eeyore's face? I like him best when he's glum. Tigger seems to be accompanied by a tiny child in a striped robe, but we can't see too much of him/her.
Pretty girls dressed as snowflakes skate down the street; I hope they don't get stuck in the streetcar tracks. I noticed that both of these snowflakes are different, which is a nice detail.
Wheeeeeeee! If only they pelted small children with real snowballs.
Is it getting warmer in here, or is it just me?
I think that's Dale (of "Chip and…" fame)… I'm wondering if that fence isn't surrounding a genuine ice rink on wheels. Or is he wearing "wheelie" shoes? I've learned from cartoons that chipmunks wreak havoc on Christmas trees.
Jasmin, Prince Ali, and the Genie were surely a popular sight, since "Aladdin" was a huge hit only a few years before this parade took place.
Mmmmm, iced gingerbread cookies! One of them should have a bit out of its head. That's how I roll.
Daisy Duck and Clarabelle Cow appear to be cooking up something delicious. I love that Clarabelle was used… the early Disney short cartoons are among my favorites, as are the characters. Let's have Pegleg Pete! Or Clara Cluck!
There's Belle and the Beast… isn't Belle pretty? They are accompanied by two footman who probably used to be kitchen utensils.
Mickey and Minnie are in a horse-drawn carriage; I think they are in their "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1983) costumes.
Speaking of Mickey's Christmas Carol, here's Scrooge McDuck. He hates Christmas and sentimentality and poor people. He probably doesn't even like Tom Hanks movies, that's how shriveled his heart is.
That was a lot of pictures, but there's a Part Two on its way! Many thanks to Scott Heinz for sharing these photos with us.
9 comments:
Major & Scott-
What a wealth of riches-! I feel so Christmas-y-!! Add as for gingerbread men, Major - I'm with you: "Off with their heads-!!"
Thanks, Scott for sharing.
Tigger's polka-dot jammies are giving me horrific "Light Magic" flashbacks. I wonder if they were reusing some of the character costumes from that debacle?
I enjoyed seeing these pics from the Christmas Parade! Thank you Scott/Alonzo for sharing them and Major for posting them!
They have reused many costumes over the years. I heard that the marching tin soldiers have been used in just about every Christmas Parade since "Babes in Toyland" came out in the 60's.
Hope you enjoy these, I enjoyed taking them.
Thanks so much for sharing your photographic treasures, Scott! Disney Christmas parades are a great memory for many of us, and honestly - THIS is the first thing I've seen this year that has started to put me in the Christmas spirit.
Honey? Let's drag out the Christmas stuff...
Thanks for letting the Major show these. I remember this parade well...I have always enjoyed the Christmas Parades at Disneyland.
Nanook, I dunno, it's always fun to bite off an arm or a leg too. Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum!
TokyoMagic! did Tigger wear those same jammies in the Light Magic parade? I never saw it, only heard about the debacle.
Alonzo, thank you so much for sharing these!
Chuck, this has been a pretty crummy holiday season (long story), but I agree, these photos do give me some of that much-welcomed holiday spirit.
Matterhorn1959, I keep thinking that I must have seen this parade, but I also know that I would use the parades as an excuse to find shorter lines at the attractions.
Alonzo, These photos are fantastic! I love the image of Tigger and Eeyore in their jammies. It has a dreamlike quality to it. I'm looking forward to your other photos that Major mentioned. Thanks for sharing these.
Thank you, Major and Alonzo, these are a lot of fun and all new to me. Photos from the years I couldn't visit are always welcome.
JG
K. Martinez, I couldn't help thinking of your photos of a similar parade (or maybe the exact same one). Somebody put one of them on the Vintage Disneyland Facebook page, and (presumably because of the watermark), they did thank you by name.
JG, it's funny to see photos of earlier parades that seem so low-key (no elaborate floats); they really outdid themselves on the Christmas Fantasy parade!
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