Sunday, January 24, 2021

Sleeping Beauty Castle, July 1969

Ordinarily, photos posted here on Sundays can exhibit various problems, including over-or-under exposure, blurriness, or excessive nudity. But today's examples are perfectly nice! Clear, well-composed, pretty good color... what's not to like? It's just that they show Sleeping Beauty Castle, and after hundreds and hundreds of other photos, it is hard to get very enthused about these.

Yep, there it is, in all its subtle-colored glory, and it looks great! Soft, muted pinks, a variety of stone grays, slate blues, and a few tasteful gold highlights. You can see that the Disney family crest is above the archway. A red Mickey balloon is caught in the tree, I hope some kid didn't burst into tears. Or a grown man, either. A mom and her kids pose for a classic family photo, as so many thousands of people have done before them.


Might as well turn the camera and take a "landscape mode" image as well. Ivy might swallow the whole castle someday, making it look like a giant topiary. A girl to the right has an ostrich-feathered hat, so even at her age she exhibits class and dignity.


Zooming in, it's always fun to see the occasional bright spots of color on the 1969 clothing. A kid sits on his dad's shoulders while wearing his Donald Duck cap with a squeaky bill - I have one just like it from my own childhood. It still squeaks! Two girls wear similar pink dresses, though they are not twins.


17 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-
You say we're looking at the Sleeping Beauty Castle...? I'm having trouble deciphering it, as the colors are so "muted", it practically disappears into the background. What it really needs are "bold" colors, such as ultramarine blue, hot pink, intense gold, and a smattering of Pixie Dust-! (Oh yeah - and some of that 'excessive nudity' you were promising).

Thanks, Major.

K. Martinez said...

Very nice. I like the ivy on the castle. Thanks, Major.

"Lou and Sue" said...

I see Mr. Orange Balloon ain’t gonna let his balloon get caught in no tree!!

Major, these are great shots for people watching - thank you!

"Lou and Sue" said...

Nanook, all those new castle colors together make me cringe, but the use of that “intense gold” is the worst! (And I love the color gold, when used “properly.”)

JC Shannon said...

Major, Nanook, do I detect a note of sarcasm in your posts? Well, I'm not going to say anything about the garish, in-your-face, tarted up castle colors. Noooo, not me. Is that Mike Nesmith in the last photo? Maybe, maybe not. Thanks Major.

Budblade said...

We got matchy-matchy’s in both the first and second (and third) pictures. Isn’t that some sort of record?

Chuck said...

What is the red-and-white striped thing just through the castle in the second and third photo? It looks like a vertically-hung American flag, but they don't do that in Fantasyland.

Chuck said...

Question was driving me nuts. Turns out it's the King Arthur Carrousel.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, ha ha, we love those “bold” colors! I’d be willing to bet that if John Hench really said that “We’ve got to fix that color scheme” on the castle, he did not mean for it to look the way it looks today. Add more color, but do it tastefully.

K. Martinez, it looks like a Chia Castle!

Lou and Sue, since orange is the best color (everyone knows it) I don’t blame that guy for holding on to his balloon with a kung fu grip. “Don’t worry, little balloon, I’ll take care of you, and we’ll be best friends forever”.

Lou and Sue, the use of gold has to be done sparingly, and the gold paint used around the arch looks so cheap and chintzy. The castle has been “bedazzled”.

Jonathan, not me! I am as sincere as Linus’ pumpkin patch, and we all know that it was REALLY sincere. It took me a minute to find Mike Nesmith, but there he is with the white shirt! Even if he did nothing else his whole life, he should be given accolades for producing “Repo Man”.

Budblade, it’s true! I see three different people wearing thin horizontal stripes in the first photo, and of course we’ve got the pinkies in the second photo.

Chuck, I was all set to solve your mystery, but then I noticed that you already solved it yourself. Just like those meddling kids! I have to be honest, I’d never paid much attention to those cloth things before; strictly decorative as far as I can tell, at first I thought that they could be closed to protect the carrousel animals at night, but I don’t think that would work. I saw a 1955 photo without the cloth thingies.

JG said...

Major, these are very good pictures of the castle. Sharp and clear, revealing details hard to spot in some other versions.

I’ve heard controversy lately about the crest NOT being the Disney family arms. Like you, I thought they were. Any confirmation or sources one way or the other?

While I like the ivy in principle, I’m glad they cut it back, it’s hard on walls.

JG

Anonymous said...

Nanook, that nudity sounds interesting until you realize it's ducks and bears without pants.

Chuck said...

Major, I'd never even noticed that they were there before, and I know I've walked past the carrousel at least 63 times and probably looked at 113 or more photos of it (although in my defense, it appears that they have been gone for some time).

Earliest photo I've found with them (after an exhaustive - and exhausting - 38 seconds of research) is this one from March of 1956. It also puts the lie to my belief that they never hung patriotic banners in Fantasyland (although in this case, I think they were just convenient pieces of decorative cloth to dress up the temporary scaffolding). This never would have happened if Walt were still alive!

Also - it appears that at least the later, dark-gold-colored curtains were actually designed to be practical; you ca see them pulled to protect the horses from construction dirt in these 1982 photos.

Nanook said...

@ Chuck-
Gotta love the inspection "suspension bridge" floating above the canvas 'roof' of the carrousel. (Kinda puts the bridge on TSI to shame-!) Good thing they placed patriotic bunting along the base of the scaffolding - no one will ever notice it sitting there. What a great photo from Daveland.

I wonder if those "gold-colored curtains" weren't in reality purpose-made coverings designed to protect the carrousel from all the construction dust & debris-?

Thanks for the research.

Kathy! said...

Budblade, I see those matching non-twins in the first picture, with their dotted rompers. Major, I found one of those squeaky Donald hats at an estate sale and excitedly snatched it up, only to see that it was from WDW. I bought it anyway but it brings me shame that it's not a Disneyland version.

Anonymous said...

The King Arthur Carrousel weather curtains were usually drawn (and locked) when the park was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays to keep out dust and dirt. We’d have to call security to unlock them when we polished the brass on a Mon/Tue shift.

I don’t know why Attractions didn’t have a key unless they *did* but typically weren’t around when the park was closed. I also don’t know why WE didn’t have a key as we had keys to practically everything in the park. Obviously, I don’t know much!


~Huck

Major Pepperidge said...

JG, I don’t really know whether the coat of arms is actually for the Disney family or not. My understanding is that Walt wanted a coat of arms and had one designed, but I might be mistaken. I’d love to hear from anybody who knows the real story! I also would bet that the ivy on the castle was eventually banished exactly because of what you said - it can ultimately be destructive.

Stu29573, Donald Duck doesn’t wear pants! Neither does Winnie the Pooh. What gives?

Chuck, Disneyland is so rich in details that I think we can be forgiven for not noticing some (or many) of them! That photo from Daveland is fascinating; I agree, in that particular case the banners were being used to disguise the scaffolding. In spite of the stories about Walt’s wrath when he observed anything that was “bad show”, we’ve seen plenty of photos of trucks where they shouldn’t belong, or boats with outboard motors on the Rivers of America, and so on. Sometimes I think even Walt knew that sacrifices had to be made.

Nanook, I think it’s amazing that the special scaffolding, with the curve to exactly match the “tent” roof, was built. Pretty ingenious. And I’m sure that the gold curtains were there because of all the dirt and grime kicked up during the construction - just as Chuck suggested.

Kathy! they made those Donald hats for a long time! At least 15 years, relatively unchanged. Bummer that yours turned out to be from WDW, but it’s still fun. Back in the 90s, someone gave me an updated version; I still have my original from the ‘60s, but the newer one went to the thrift store long ago.

Huck, when you think of those high winds that we experienced just a week ago, it’s no surprise that they would need something that could be secured to protect those beautiful horses. And I think you know plenty! I does seem strange that they wouldn’t give keys to the people who were responsible for the maintenance of the attraction, but… you know how management can be sometimes.

Chuck said...

Thanks so much, Huck!