I wanted to post some kind of souvenir thingy today. But what? I decided to take some photos of an old record album (the inside has a date of 1957) entitled "A Day at Disneyland". I love the album artwork featuring a very skinny Walt Disney, dressed as an engineer, and oiling up the E.P. Ripley. Was this just a coincidence, or did the illustrator know of Walt's love of trains?
As you can see, Jiminy Cricket is the co-star here - he's my favorite Disney character!
"A Day at Disneyland" is a re-edited version of the album pictured below, "Walt Disney Takes You To Disneyland". While this version seems to be aimed primarily at adults, "A Day at Disneyland" is clearly for the younger set, with the addition of Jiminy's color commentary.
Of course we begin our visit to the park on Main Street U.S.A. The illustrations aren't amazing, but I don't think most 8 year-olds were too discriminating. Walt's narration is pretty stilted, which is odd because he came across as quite comfortable and ingratiating on TV. But I love it anyway.
More Main Street. Yo, Jiminy! An umbrella is not a musical instrument.
SO... I have tried something new. I put the album tracks and the album artwork together for a YouTube video version. Let's just say I didn't know what I was doing. But it came out OK. Here's the Main Street track:
Next we move on to Adventureland. Clockwise, eh? Jiminy, you sly dog. I think you're going to zig, and you zag!
What would the Jungle Cruise be without angry natives and hungry crocodiles?
Here is the Adventureland track:
Frontierland is next of course. The Conestoga Wagons wouldn't be around for much longer.
Ah, the burning settler's cabin. I miss it.
Here's the Frontierland track:
For some reason Tomorrowland only warranted a single page, but it is chock full of fun stuff.
Here's the Tomorrowland track:
And, strangely, Fantasyland also only gets one page of illustrations, in spite of the many attractions.
Here's the Fantasyland track!
And just for fun, here's the back cover. Ever since I first heard this album (or rather, the original "Walt Disney Takes You to Disneyland" version) I have been very fond of the lush orchestral tracks created by Tutti Camarata, George Bruns, and Oliver Wallace. They provide an aural impression of the park rather than a literal recording of what would be heard by visitors.
I hope you have enjoyed this vintage album!
Outstanding! What a bunch of memories come crowding in with that first picture. That album stood us as children countless times in place of a visit to the Park. Major, I saw that cover shot and thought, "I've got to go see if someone has put this recording up on You Tube!" Hee!
ReplyDeleteI had a quick flashback of Mr. Cricket saying how Slewfoot Sue was dancing up a storm. Why would dancing cause clouds and rain? Never did figure that out as a kid. Now do I carefully listen to these over a few days or just binge listen? Hmmm.
Major-
ReplyDeleteEven though I have this album, and the set of "Musical Tour" 45's, I haven't listened to them in forever. This was a fun distraction.
You ain't kidding about Walt's delivery sounding a bit distracted and leaning towards "stentorian tones", rather than his usual very familiar and chatty delivery. It's especially noticeable when compared to Jiminy Cricket, who seems excited enough to jump out of his shell. (I swear during his description of the Rivers of America, he says American-!)
Thanks, Major for bringing out these memories in both sight and sound.
Major, I have both a vinyl and CD copy of "Walt Disney Takes You to Disneyland," but I had never heard of this album before. Born too late, I suppose, because this would have been worn smooth from repeated playing had I had it as a kid.
ReplyDeleteI have the same feelings about the orchestration on the original album, and I've been known to put the album on, sit on the couch, close my eyes, and let the music take me away. I played this once in the ops shop on my first Iraq tour, and you could actually feel the tension leaving the room.
My boss really enjoyed it. This was a supreme compliment from a man who had pop music running almost constantly on his iPod. We actually had to throw it in a drawer one morning and pule papers on top of it because he had set it on a Lionel Ritchie playlist, then left unexpectedly for four hours and we didn't have the password to the device. Lionel Ritchie is cool, but after three hours of the same 7 or 8 songs, our feelings about his music were probably about how Teacup workers feel about the Unbirthday Song. Except it was infinitely more dangerous, because we were armed.
Thanks for the YouTube treats!
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ReplyDeleteMajor, This is really great! Is this the first time you've done a post in sight and sound on your blog?
ReplyDeleteChuck, As always, you write about moments in your life wonderfully and humorously. I can almost imagine I'm there.
When I was 11 years old, a friend of my brother's was going to sell his copy of the "Walt Disney Takes You To Disneyland" version to me and brought it along on a trip we were all taking to Disneyland. Unfortunately, it was July and we left it in the car where it warped from the heat. I was only 11 and I didn't know about records warping! It still played after that, but with some distortion on the tracks near the outer edge of the record. He ended up just giving the album to me. Fortunately, I was able to get the re-issue of it on CD a few years back. I found the Jiminy Cricket version in a comics and collectibles shop when I was about 18 years old. I don't remember how much I paid for it, but it wasn't very much because the cover had water damage. The pages inside however, were in perfect condition and so was the vinyl. Now that I think of it, it's interesting that I have both of these and that they are both damaged in one way or another, but I never attempted to replace them.....well, other than buying the CD re-issue many years later!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Thanks for sharing this, Major!!!!
ReplyDeleteWOW! This post is PURE GOLD! Sorry I missed it day of, but I had been busy today (yesterday). Anyway, GREAT STUFF! Very nicely put together, and lots of material. I think you could’ve made it a two day post and none of us would’ve been the wiser.
ReplyDeleteAs always, thank you Major for all the hard work you do just to keep us entertained on a daily basis!
Patrick Devlin, listening to this album really is a nostalgia blast. The Sluefoot Sue line reminds me of the Pecos Bill cartoon, I could almost see them having Sue literally "dancing up a storm".
ReplyDeleteNanook, a fun distraction is all I could hope for! Whoever was directing Walt should have had him do another take (or three), but then again, it must have been intimidating to say, "Uh, hey Walt, I think we need to do that again, and this time don't sound so wooden".
Chuck, you are braver than I am… I would never play this in front of co-workers. What if they laughed at me and said I was a NERD? Meanwhile, Lionel Ritchie… not my cup of tea. A hitmaker for sure, but I don't need to hear him on heavy rotation. YES, I have always wondered if that Unbirthday Song drives the Teacup workers bananas!
K. Martinez, yep, this is a first for me. I am unschooled in the ways of iMovie. I've only used it once before to make the animated gif of the Matterhorn star rotating.
TokyoMagic! wow, you have a long history with this album! It's weird to think back on the days when you couldn't just wait for something to show up on eBay… you actually had to go to a STORE. Scary! I had a similar tale with the Ron Howard "Haunted Mansion" album… I must have had three of those through the years, and they've all vanished due to different reasons. And you're welcome!
Monkey Cage Kurt, what could you possibly have been doing that was more important than looking at this blog? NOTHING! I thought about stretching it out into a two day post, but changed my mind at the last minute. That way the whole thing is all together. Glad you enjoyed this!
Many thanks for this great post!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff Major.
ReplyDeleteI have been known to put Disney Park sound tracks on my office muzak, including the second album. Makes my staff nuts, so I don't do it often.
So very wonderful. thank you.
JG