Sunday, September 22, 2019

Under the Sea, July 1976

It's Snoozy Sunday, and that means that it's time to unload some lame photos. Both of today's 1976 scans were taken through a Submarine porthole.

The sunlight that filters down through those tropical waters is reduced to a lovely turquoise blue-green. If you look at various photos, the lagoon's water sometimes appears to be crystal clear, and other times (like today's) it is a bit turbid. Somebody forgot to change the pool filter. In any case, it's still a pretty view, with corals aplenty, and one my favorite ridiculous scenes of an octopus attacking a shark.


Or maybe it's not so ridiculous?! This octopus is about to chow down on what I believe is a dogfish (dogfish are a family of sharks).


Gentle sea turtles are kind of magical, the way they travel thousands of miles to the beaches from which they were hatched so that they can lay their leathery eggs in the sand and start the cycle all over. This is a rare shot of two turtles discussing their next meet-up (who speaks Turtle-ese?). In my memory at least one of them bobbed up and down a little bit, as if to say, "Uh-huh, yep, gotcha...".


12 comments:

Lou and Sue said...

Not lame, at all! - these are fun pictures. "Uh-huh, yep!" Love the commentary, too, Major!

Nanook said...

Major-

'Turbidity' is one of my favorite words; not as great as, say, 'intrauterine', but a close second. I do love all the turquoise blue-green of liquid space.

Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

Yikes! I would have never expected to see such violence between Squiddly Diddly and Jabberjaw!

Chuck said...

I know it's sacrilege in this context, but I can't help myself - that last slide reminds me of this.

Andrew said...

I guess it isn't as classic as the original Submarines, but Finding Nemo is still better than no Submarine Voyage, right?! I'm just surprised that it's still going in some form 60 years after it originally opened.

K. Martinez said...

Love the non-Disney pic. It's a real true-life adventure. I remember watching Disney TV programning back in the day and seeing real octopus and real fish in Disneyland's Submarine Voyage. We all know that wasn't true.

TokyoMagic!, Squiddly Diddly from Jabberjaws in a violent embrace! Ha, ha! Squiddly Diddly was a favorite of mine as a kid. I liked the name of the sea life park he resided in "Bubbleland".

Chuck, I was thinking the exact same thing about the turtles being Crush and Squirt.

Andrew, Agreed! Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is better than the empty lagoon it was with trash collecting in it for many years.

JC Shannon said...

I vividly remember my first Sub Voyage, craning my neck to see it all. Ya gotta watch out for those octopi, they will attack without warning and steal candy bars out of your pocket while distracting you with ink jets. Sneaky. Thanks to Major P. for the great memories.

stu29573 said...

I remember my first sub voyage at Disneyland. I was convinced that we were really diving! A few years later I rode the subs at WDW and figured out the truth. The effect was exactly the same, but being a bit older messed up the illusion. I would love to experience Disney as a child again...

Major Pepperidge said...

Lou and Sue, I prefer these kinds of sub photos to be less murky and milky, but I suppose they could be worse!

Nanook, I had to look up “intrauterine”, not picking up on the “uterine” part somehow. I do love the experience of the subs taking you under water, even if it’s only a few feet below the surface… you still get a wonderful view.

TokyoMagic!, it reminds me of my gang years.

Chuck, it IS sacrilege!!

Penna. Andrew, yes, the Nemo subs are better than no subs, but it is such a shame that they took a ride full of cool imaginative ideas and turned it into “scenes from a hit movie”.

K. Martinez, I remember that too! So crazy. I always wondered if that was footage taken for the film “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”. I somehow missed Jabberjaw as a kid, maybe he came along as I was aging out of Saturday morning cartoons? I sure watched Squiddly Diddly and all those other HB characters though.

Jonathan, I’m sure it helped to experience the subs as a child, when the imagination is so powerful - it all seemed so real. And there was so much going on - sunken treasure, Atlantis, underwater volcanos, mermaids, sea monsters… what a ride!

stu29573, they used bubbles as a transition device a number of times, and it is pretty ingenious. I also loved the erupting volcanos… just bubbles and a red light, but it was very cool. People who rode the subs as jaded teens or adults certainly did not get the same effect as those who saw it as youngsters.

"Lou and Sue" said...

Major, the murkiness and milkiness make these pictures look real - not like you're on a Disneyland attraction. I hope you have more of these to share.

Someone in a past post mentioned the cool air that was blown at your face while you were looking out the windows of these subs (which I had forgotten about) and now, everytime I see pictures like these - I'm reminded of that blast of refreshing cool air and the start of this exciting adventure (as seen through a little kid's eyes).

Sue

Melissa said...

In the restaurant kitchen where my sister worked, whenever they had to make a crabmeat sandwich they'd sing,
"Under the C,
Under the C,
Under the C,
There is an R, an A, and a B!"

One time they made eyestalks on one with long cocktail toothpicks and black olives, but chickened out and changed it back to normal before sending it out. I don't think I still have the picture.

JG said...

Loved the old subs. The Nemo overlay is lame, but as you say, better than nothing.

JG