Friday, January 01, 2016

Wonderful Tomorrowland, September 1971

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Today I have two colorful photos of Tomorrowland, circa 1971. It was quite a place in those days, with the Peoplemover, Adventure Thru Inner Space, Rocket Jets, the original Submarine Voyage, and the Carousel of Progress.

First we have a lovely shot of the Rocket Jets, gleaming against a manganese-blue sky. Rows of Peoplemover cars of various hues glide along the elevated track. If you look carefully you can see two low-to-the-ground Skyway buckets to the left. Even a photograph conveys the sense of kinetic movement and vitality that was so much in evidence.


Was this next one taken from the upper level of the Carousel of Progress? Or perhaps even the Peoplemover? In any case, it's a giraffe's-eye view of Tomorrowland looking toward the Matterhorn.


This slide was missing some chunks of emulsion - presumably it was stored in a less-than-ideal environment. I did some clumsy Photoshop "cloning" over to the left where the planter is. Can you see the other place I did it? You'll see the same people in two places as once - though I at least tried to change the clothing to make it less obvious. Let's make it a game!


15 comments:

Nanook said...

Oh Major-

I'm baffled as to where your Photoshop handiwork is put into action. Perhaps it's the excitement of the New Year fogging my thinking. Yeah, sure.

Happy New Year, Major.

Unknown said...

Happy New Year!!!

The second picture is my favorite from today; I love how many attractions you can spot. And I especially love the bright colors.

K. Martinez said...

Happy New Year everyone!

Beautiful! Tomorrowland at its peak. For Disney futurism, it doesn't get any better than this.

Major, from 3rd image(zoom-in) it's the group of three in two different places against the flowerbed plantings of the Submarine Voyage/Monorail queue area. One group (which I think is the clone) is at the right edge of the image, vertically centered. The kid has a white cap, purple-ish shirt and black shorts. The other group is in front of the monorail pylon just to the left of the "MONORAIL" sign. The same kid has a white shirt instead of purple.

Nancy said...

Happy New Year!

Tomorrowland.....say no more!! This one is a place I could live quite happily for a looong time! My fave image here is number 3, because of the yellow Peoplemover train and the Tomorrowland Terrace Stage; open or closed, its one of my favorite features of Disneyland. (unfortunately, not so much today as back then)

Thanks Major, for these extra-nice, sunny pictures to start the new year! :-)

MRaymond said...

Memories. This is the Tomorrowland of my youth. I can't resist scanning the images looking for a goofy ten year old and his family (I didn't find me anywhere). The people who wanted to turn TL into SWL or Marvelland have never experienced what a wonderful place TL of the 70' and 80's was. Great photos spawned some fun memories. Happy New Year everyone.

Monkey Cage Kurt said...

These are REALLY GREAT! I really love the first one in particular. What an awesome way to start off the new year, with a great big beautiful tomorrow.

Thank you so much Major.

Many blessings this new year to all GDB folk!

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, no worries… I am terrible at those “Where’s Waldo?” things! I see that Ken has figured it out, so check out his comment.

Medley, Happy New Year to you as well.

K. Martinez, you are correct! That little group of people was just the right size to clone into the area to the right.

Nancy, as I’ve said before, it would be hard for me to choose my favorite Tomorrowland, but September 1971 would have been an amazing time to be there.

MRaymond, I would probably have a heart attack if I found a random photo with my (or anyone from my family) in it! The odds are pretty huge.

Monkey Cage Kurt, I thought folks would like these! Might as well start out the year with a bang. You are very welcome!

Mark H. Besotted said...

Last week, I typed up a long, heartfelt comment that somehow got lost. It went something like this: My 2015 was measurably happier and brighter thanks to this blog, and its community of commenters. Major, and everyone else down here in the peanut gallery, thanks. The Disneyplaces, and the people who love them, make the world feel safer and more fun.

I hope all of you in reading distance of these pixels have an outstandingly wonderful year! Here's to our own, real-life, Great Big Beautiful Today.

TokyoMagic! said...

Ken, I'm glad that you found the people that were cloned because I couldn't do it. It was sort of like a Find Waldo Wearing Different Clothing game. Major, you could work other games into your pics as well....or even subliminal messages!

By the way, I think the lady on the far right (in mid-stride) is holding her ticket book in her mouth!

Happy New Year, Major....and EVERYONE!

Major Pepperidge said...

Mark H. Besotted, wow, thank you for the very nice comment! That (and all the other comments that the GDB regulars leave) really helps to keep me going when I feel a case of burnout coming. I still have some good stuff for everybody for 2016, so keep checking in!

TokyoMagic!, maybe that should be my April Fools thing, since, once again, my current concept is turning out to be much harder than I thought it would be. Part of me wants to go back and redesign that Viewliner poster, since I sort of banged that one out at the last minute and have never been happy with it.

Unknown said...

Happy New Year to all and sundry.

Wonderful stuff, Major. I thought I was an ace at seeing cloning and other Photoshop artifacts but I had to eventually rely on Mr. Martinez's clue to find it. I felt like I'd find Waldo before I was going to find your handiwork.

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, I liked your Viewliner poster! All of your April Fool's Day postings have been a special treat and I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with this year.....but NO pressure or anything like that! I still like my subliminal message idea. You could end up controlling the minds of all of your readers!

Major Pepperidge said...

Patrick Devlin, well, I wanted the fix to be subtle, so I guess I did an OK job! Not sure I would have spotted it if I didn’t already know.

TokyoMagic!, when I compare my Viewliner poster to real posters, my composition is too boring, and I think I could have been a lot more creative with the typography. As I said before, I had an idea for this coming April, but so far it is not turning out the way I want. Arg!

K. Martinez said...

Major, you did a great job! It took me a while to spot it and only because you alerted readers to it was I able too.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Major. Agreeing with MRaymond and Mark H.

Great pics of a favorite place, fun comments. Happy New Year to all.

JG