Through witchcraft and other dark arts, I have resurrected some old slides that were not ready for this world.
Like this first one, showing Sleeping Beauty Castle circa 1958. The original slide had turned very red, and I was able to restore it fairly well. The foreground area feels a little barren, though I'm not immediately aware of what's missing.
Hey, there's Italian legend Marcello Mastroianni (to the left)! Soon he'll see all sorts of weird things in Fellini movies.
Also from 1958 (and also from a red slide) comes this unusual photo, taken aboard a horse-drawn surrey (see the fringe?). A warp in space-time allows us to pass ourselves coming the other direction! Notice the lamp-post signs for the Grand Canyon Diorama. There are so many, surely they can spare one for little old me.
Major-
ReplyDeleteThe only thing "missing" from the first image is the 'excessive use of color', if you get my drift... This version appears 'real'; as opposed to the vacuform version of the present day.
Thanks for your restorative efforts.
Major, congrats on the successful restoration job for both slides! That first one is simply beautiful. And why can't the Castle look like this today? What's wrong with this look? I certainly prefer it over the new "painted lady" look.
ReplyDeleteWith today’s second photo of Main Street USA , I’m sure most you you have seen in person or on line images of the fate of the last existing MAIN STREET CINEMA ( Disneyland USA) has now been converted to a store - at least two screen remain..... as some of the new signage reads “come in for cartoons and collectibles”
ReplyDeleteI hope the merchandise manager who pushed this forward falls down a 6 landing flight of stairs to the music of “Rides , Rapes & Rescues” ; (the former Main Street Cinema background music)!
Disneyland management is so damn concerned with “ guest flow “ with the pending opening of STARWARS-VILLE they have decimated planters , gardens , flowerbeds, benches and other details but certainly have had no concerns about thinning out the crap glow-in-the dark junk vending carts and other desperate tacky “squeeze the last bit of cash “ from our guests crap wagons — that seriously block guest flow around the park!! And for God’s sake Disneyland .... enough with the Disney Vacation Club displays around the park!! - trnobody’s interested!!!! Try and maintain a tad bit of class!!!
Nanook, I agree with your comment about the color of the castle. It's something that instantly stands out in an old picture when I've seen so many pictures of the current version.
ReplyDeleteLooking closely, there appears to be two attendants per surrrey? One to drive, and one to load guests, I guess. Possibly a reason that they met their early demise, as vehicles such as the fire truck and whatnot only require one CM.
La Vita is Dolce, and so are your restorations, Major.
ReplyDeleteThe castle tampering began before the recent tarting up, when those squirrel water spouts and other animal carvings were added: just a little too cute.
When we went through that warp in time, our horses changed color! Weird! Also, apparently, we work at Disneyland. I don't remember that, but time warps are curious things. Kind of like hamsters in little suits. What was I talking about again? Potato.
ReplyDeleteWatch that fringe and see how it flutters
ReplyDeleteWhen I drive them high steppin' strutters.
Nosey pokes'll peek thru their shutters
And their eyes will pop!
Agreed about the carts and kiosks, Mike - they block traffic and spoil the atmosphere. Kind of hard to get lost in the theming with a souvenir stand or ice cream cart every few feet.
Glorious castle.
Nice restorations of a Main Street where most people stayed on the sidewalk. I kinda like today's Castle- please don't hate me.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely taking the more sporty 2-horsepower surrey next time.
dz
That Castle shot is perfection. And it didn't take bold and splashy colors or bling to make it beautiful. Thanks, Major.
ReplyDeleteMIKE COZART, I hear you. Every bit of news that comes out of Disneyland these days is dreadful. It gets even worse with management's obsession of wanting to apply IP where ever they can by removing or altering classic attractions to achieve it. Disneyland was a place I couldn't wait to return to, but not so much anymore.
Photo 2 is surreyreal.
ReplyDeleteI love the POV, you-are-there feeling. All we need now is the clip-clop and the faint odor of burned hay.
Modern life is poorer with limited access to horses. These big beasts are our natural companions, much like dogs.
This is the only castle worth mentioning.
The current zombie colorized version is not as bad as I feared, but not as good as I had hoped.
Thanks Major.
JG
dzacher, No hate here. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I appreciate honesty and sincerity above all else.
ReplyDelete@ dzacher-
ReplyDeleteAll opinions are welcome here. Just remember... one man’s Chardonnay is another man’s cough syrup.
Would you look at those two hoodlums walking in the street???!!! Serves them right if they step on a road apple.
ReplyDeleteKen & Mike, with everything I keep hearing about crowds and the desecrations that have been inflicted on the Park to accommodate them, I'm not sure I'll ever return. I live too far away, it costs too much, and I'm afraid it will hurt too much to see what's there today in relation to what we've lost. Man, that sucks to think about. I think I'm officially old.
Penna. Andrew, good observation. I think that they required two CMs back in the day for safety reasons - one to take tickets and one to make sure the horses didn't bolt. They can run the streetcars with only one CM today since there aren't individual ride tickets anymore. Anyone know if the surreys were discontinued as ride vehicles before they stopped taking tickets?
Melissa, I've always thought Curly was completely irresponsible by driving that thing around, especially when he knows the impact it will have on others. Why, he practically gloats about exploding eyeballs!
Thanks for some great restoration work, Major. These pictures make me smile.
Nanook, well to be honest, some of the lack of color is probably due to the faded slide I was restoring, but I definitely get your point!
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic! nearly every comment that I’ve read regarding the new colors on the castle has been overwhelmingly positive, which just goes to show you. Something. The gold paint on the stone arch is especially egregious, and yet, people “love it”.
Mike Cozart, it really does feel like they are taking every space that doesn’t “make money” and either removing it (planters, benches, etc), or making into a crass grab for cash. I’m sure the sight of that Main Street Cinema rankled the accountants. After all, there’s nowhere to buy merchandise on Main Street!! :-/ It really does feel like, in trying to compete with Universal Studios, they’ve given in and just decided to become a Disney version of those parks. The fans will eat it up no matter what, apparently. As I said to some friends recently, it’s “death by 1000 cuts”.
Penna. Andrew, when you consider somebody with as much knowledge and experience as John Hench, and how carefully he must have chosen the castle colors, it is clear that whatever rules he followed are right out the window.
Stefano, interesting that you mentioned the water spouts, I’d never noticed them really, until looking at some photos. “What are those??”.
stu29573, ah, good observation, clearly this was a warp in time AND space. The other surrey is from another dimension - you can’t see it, but the driver has a goatee a la “Evil Spock”.
Melissa, I am imagining the gore of popping eyes. Yuck. It’s nice to be able to grab a bottle of water or an apple, but they have overdone it, IMO.
dzacher, I kind of like the castle in the photo too! Maybe it’s the small trees and shrubs. 2 horsepower? What are you, nuts?
K. Martinez, it’s a very weird phenomenon to listen to (or watch) accounts of Galaxy’s Edge and feel pretty “meh” about it. In my case I think it’s because I can’t think of Star Wars as “Disney” - yes, they paid $4 billion for Lucasfilm. For some people that’s good enough, I guess. I even sort of like Star Wars, but it didn’t change my life the way it did for others.
JG, I haven’t spent much time around horses in my lifetime, though I have had a few opportunities to ride. I mostly feel like a city boy who doesn’t know what he’s doing!
K. Martinez, hear hear.
Nanook, well, I don’t know about ALL opinions! It’s the Internet, after all…
Chuck, those three “hoodlums” were walking in the street to rescue a baby duck, I’ll have you know! My friend Mr. X has always been a Disneyland guy, but at least for now he is looking forward to going to Florida’s Magic Kingdom to see their relatively unsullied Frontierland. Mike Cozart has mentioned rumors about the removal of some of our original dark rides - maybe Snow White and Pinocchio? - for a Beauty and the Beast ride. Sigh. I tried to find out when they stopped running the Surreys, but couldn’t find anything.
Major, I haven't had much time with horses in my life. The farm was all tractors by the time I arrived. Dad started with horse-drawn equipment and often talked about how he enjoyed having them, and the sorrow of letting them go.
ReplyDeleteWe sent our kids to a "Horse Camp" when they were young so they would experience riding and caring for horses, and those were good experiences, both for them and for my wife and I when we visited. There's a natural affinity between horses and (some) people. Some horses seem to understand that we need them and they enjoy their work. They really are the friends of humanity, much like dogs.
JG
JG, my mom grew up with a horse - back when the San Fernando Valley was all farms and orchards. The old stable remained on my grandparent's property for decades, used for random storage. As a kid we would go riding when we went to the Sierra's each summer, which was nice, but I always seemed to get the spiritedd horse that wanted to bolt and rear. Then, one summer, we stayed at my aunt's farm in Wisconsin, and to keep us occupied, they signed us up for riding lessons for a few weeks. It just never "took" somehow, while others looked so natural and comfortable.
ReplyDelete"The gold paint on the stone arch is especially egregious"
ReplyDeleteYes! I'm so glad to hear someone else say that and know it's not just me. That bothers me more than the sparkly roof. The experience of going under that arch and through the castle was so cool because it was like going under a real castle's archway. The only place golden arches are appropriate is at a hamburger joint.
Chuck, I can't give you an exact year that the Surreys stopped running but it was definitely before they eliminated the "ticket" system. I want to say they got rid of the Surreys in the early seventies, if not the late sixties. Maybe Mike Cozart will know. I mean, I bet he does know, but maybe he see this and respond. I hope....because now I want to know, too!
ReplyDeleteMajor and Melissa, those darn golden stones around the archway also bother me more than any other part of the new color scheme....even though I hate the rest of it too. But the gold sticks out like a HUGE ugly sore thumb! I just can't imagine who would say, "Let's paint the arch gold!" and who would actually agree that it was a good idea. It doesn't make any sense to me, whatsoever. But that is just my opinion and I agree with Ken, Nanook and Major, that we are all entitled to our opinions!