Sunday, May 03, 2015

She-Elk (not She-Hulk) and Paint Pots, August 1969

Those male elk are battling it out for the attention of those ladies nearby. Boys will be boys! Seconds after this photo was snapped, the switchblades came out. The best thing is that the females couldn't look less interested. I recently listened to a recording of the Mine Train spiel, and when I heard the sound of the fighting elk, I could just picture Disney sound man Jimmy MacDonald snorting into an empty water glass (something he did for other animals noises)!


The Devil's Paint Pots bubbled in bright primary colors. The hues should have changed with the times! Sea foam green; harvest gold; turquoise; avocado. Add a few throw pillows and some adorable drapes for a homey look. A garden gnome is optional.


12 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

Regarding the first pic, Major...does getting three women folk mean your the winner or the loser?

Nanook said...

Major-

Garden gnomes are never optional-! They are a must-!

Thanks, Major.

K. Martinez said...

Now if only they had She-Hulk instead of the she-elk in Nature's Wonderland, the Mine Train might've still been around.

Ah, my favorite! The Devil's Paint Pots and Old Unfaithful with a side of elbow and arm. Thanks, Major.

MRaymond said...

Mine Train goodness.

Chuck said...

Nice way to start a Sunday. Thanks, Major!

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic!, please let me think of a good Mother In-Law joke, and I’ll get back to you!

Nano, I meant a REAL gnome that happens to live in a garden. Not those cement things!

K. Martinez, part of me would get a kick out of something so weirdly incongruous as seeing She-Hulk in Nature’s Wonderland. I love the Paint Pots and Old Unfaithful, but man… people sure took a lot of pictures of them. As for the elbow and arm, I am more of a fan of the “blurry head in the foreground”!

Raymond, I think it’s so interesting that there are certain scenes from this ride that practically demanded a photograph (or at least it seems that way).

Chuck, I’m glad you liked these! I know they’re not the most exciting things ever, but they are better than a poke in the eye, as they say.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the mountain lion sitting in the rocks behind the paint pots!

Unknown said...

Sheesh, you sleep in one Sunday morning and you end up posting last! You guys be fast.

Major, I think these two shots are way better than a poke in the eye! There are some unusual gaps (lacunae if you will) in the photographic record of Disneyland. Pictures of the Olympic Elk are certainly one of those gaps. Along with Beaver Valley the number of good pictures on the Web can be counted on my fingers.

You had another good shot of the elk back in May 2011. It, along with today's, shows the two sites where the bulls fought it out. The first site was on the right-hand side, just past the end of the Bear Country trestle. Your photo today shows the site I remember which was across the water from the tracks and is a terrific shot: a little off-center but gorgeous light in full sunshine and frames up the vignette nicely.

The paint pot shot reminds me of a fact I had forgotten: the paint was just water! Maybe it was all of the film views of real mud pots in the intervening years but I, until today, would have remembered the Paint Pots as being filled with some kind of thick mud like substance. Nope. Probably just a bunch of tempera paint in water.

Great stuff, and thanks as always.

Major Pepperidge said...

Anonymous, those mountain lions are crafty!

Patrick Devlin, according to a 1957 issue of Popular Mechanics, the Paint Pots were filled with a mixture of “bubbling soft clay”, rather than just water with paint. In my memory, the stuff in the pots was definitely more viscous and mud-like. I really need to look at all of the “battling elk” scenes to see the two different versions!

Unknown said...

Ah, thank you, Major. My memory is kind of confused. The waves in the paint pot pictures online looked pretty thin but it turns out my recollection can't be counted on for some things...

For quick reference it was your 21 May, 2011 shot w/ the elk on the near side.

Major Pepperidge said...

Thanks Patrick! I'm just about to head out for the rest of the day, but I will take a look when I get back later tonight.

Anonymous said...

Good catch on the Mountain Lions anonymous. That was back in the day when their mountain lions (and other animals) actually moved! Imagine what they could do today?

Oh that's right... we don't have to imagine... they upgraded the river in 2010 to include some wonderful STATIC mountain lions... and other static figures. Glad to know where my money is going. ;-)