Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Fantasyland Snapshots, March 1974

My previous post of snapshots from 1974 were from the area around "It's a Small World", and so are today's. The photographer obviously was mighty taken with this place.

First is this look at the load area; it's nothing special, really. But I do love that mechanical clock! The façade's dimensional graphic shapes cast equally graphic shadows making for some interesting patterns.


I wonder how long this "mini Wonderland" area was there? It's very cute seeing the tiny kids there, like an Easter egg hunt. Alice is adorable as always, and the Walrus (that rascal) poses for a nice portrait.


I believe that this photo is from the same general area, though it's hard to say. You can see the Monorail track in the upper left. And what is that square red post in the foreground? In any case, this looks like the end of a parade, with a giant teapot, and the Queen and King of Hearts.


13 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

Those kids DO look as though they are having a grand time getting grass stains all over their pants and stockings.

Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

Alice looks a little knock-kneed there!

Major, that last pic appears to have been taken from the train while it was passing through the backstage area that is just inside the parade gate.

TokyoMagic! said...

I should have clarified by saying the parade gate that is to the east of It's A Small World! The train still passes over this road today.

Chuck said...

I concur with TM!'s assessment. Based on the color and thickness of the foreground post,the third photo was probably taken from the 300-series Retlaw-3 excursion car set. The "Disneyland Naval Base" sign would have been visible down the road behind the blue teapot and the Queen.

I would have loved to have played around in that Alice area at the age I was at the time. It has a very "Easter-y" feel to it. And I've always had a thing for Alice.

Note her shoes. While they have patent leather fronts appropriate to the Alice costume, the rear of the shoe has a lot more cushion than the traditional little girl's dress shoe. Kudos to the Costume Department for thinking about cast member comfort.

K. Martinez said...

Disney had it's first theatrical re-release of Alice in Wonderland in 1974. Maybe this temporary display and parade unit had something to do with that event. Sort of a promotional tie-in for the first re-release of Alice in Wonderland I mean. It's too bad the King is chopped off in the third photo. He was one of my favorite characters in the animated feature. His interaction with the Queen of Hearts was hilarious!

I like the Alice theme in today's post. Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

Chuck, I thought we had seen a pic of the "Disneyland Naval Base" sign here on GDB. I did a search last night for the photo, just for reference, but didn't come up with anything.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, boy, remember when you had to worry about grass stains?! My poor mom. I rarely get them these days!

TokyoMagic!, the knock-knees make her that much more adorable. I was thinking that the last photo might be from the train, but didn’t really recognize the background. If I ever go to the park again (!) I’ll have to look for that road.

Chuck, it sure looks like those kids are fascinated with this tiny playground - so funny considering what else Disneyland had to offer. It reminds me of when I went to the zoo, and we were all looking at a rare white rhino, but the kids were all having fits over some chipmunks nearby.

K. Martinez, I think that the Alice re-release must have had something to do with this display, for sure. And yes, you rarely see photos of the King of Hearts; he always makes me think of those old Marx “Rolykins” (even though I don’t think they ever made a Rolykin of that character).

TokyoMagic!, there was a photo of it… check it out here!

TokyoMagic! said...

Thank you, Major! I was using search words like Naval and Base. And I see I even made a comment on that post about how that road is used for the parade characters and floats to enter and exit the park.

Chuck said...

My bad, TM! My misremembered signage sent you down the wrong track. Sometimes I need to double-check the stuff I'm "sure" I remember. That may explain why I can't find any pictures of that time I went to the St Louis World's Fair with Robert Francis and May Wynn.

Thanks for the link, Major!

Nancy said...

I have always wanted to be reincarnated as either a giant mushroom....or a giant teapot!

Nice set today, Major! :-)

TokyoMagic! said...

Chuck, that wasn't your fault! I was doing that search last night before you commented this morning. I was remembering the wording on the sign being the same as you were remembering it! Wrong, but the same!

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic!, believe me, it took me a while to find it! I couldn’t remember what the sign said, exactly.

Chuck, I need to hear more about this St. Louis World’s Fair thing! I once flew in an airplane and wound up back at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. They gave us an extra packet of pretzels for the inconvenience.

Nancy, ha ha… I never thought about coming back as a piece of crockery!!

TokyoMagic!, don’t let Chuck off the hook! He was clouding your mind with microwaves. This is why you need to wear tinfoil mouse ears.

Chuck said...

That must have been quite an odyssey, Major. ;-)