Rare Night Scenes, 1958
I've noticed something weird about the night. It gets really dark! When did this happen? Why wasn't I alerted? Anyway, one of the problems with darkness is that it makes picture-taking a challenge. But one man was up to that challenge - Lou Perry! When his daughter Sue B. sent these to me, I was pretty excited to see them. Night photos from 1958, for gosh sakes.
First up is this picture of Great Moments With Mr. Toad. It looks a little spooky at night, but then again, the ride itself is a little spooky. Just weird, man! A toad, driving a car? While doing his best to heal a nation torn asunder by civil war? Well I never. I wonder if there really were very few people about (there's two sitting at the counter of "Fan 2" in the distance) or if they were just rendered invisible by the long exposure? The highlight (for me) is seeing the wonderful mural, with Toad and his cohorts posing jubilantly, and vignettes of his car as it broke through fences and bales of hay, eventually winding up in HELL.
Next is this photo of the "Peter Pan Goes Bananas" attraction, practically next-door to Toady. I've always loved the simple-but-genius idea of having the little pirate ship vehicles suspended from an overhead monorail, enhancing the illusion of flight over Rio de Janeiro and around Corcovado mountain. I also love the song, "You Can Fly, Cha Cha Cha!".
This last one turned out to be largely black, with almost abstract points and globes of light, with only Main Street Station being identifiable. As if it was all floating in the vastness of space! Looks like Lou was standing at the Plaza, more or less. I still love this photo like it was my own child.
THANK YOU to Lou and Sue!
20 comments:
Major-
No lines-! Let's go.
Thanks to Lou & Sue.
Night = dark... huh! Yet another Pepperidge Effect. I don't know where we'd be without you to point these things out to us, Major.
Are we sure the park was open? It really looks like everything has shut down and gone to bed for the night.
I don't think I've ever noticed the clouds above the Peter Pan loading area. Ingenious way to block the view of the ride track and other mechanisms up there.
Thanks Lou & Sue & Major, too. It's kind of amazing to have night shots from 1958. Practically nobody did that then.
- Joyous Beheading
Wow! Great nighttime shots of the dark rides!
I can see Bu's popcorn wagon, in that last shot!
Thank you, Lou, Sue and Major!
- Tokyo Morlock! (Not an Eloi, like WEEEEEEEEEEEENA!)
@ JB-
If you zoom-in on that pirate galleon, you can see a couple of folks about to fly above the streets of London, on the way to Neverland.
The clouds are a clever and easy way to maintain the illusion of make believe. Of course, once I was seated, I couldn't help looking up to see the large, three phase motor, with the electric brake assembly appended onto the rear end of it, along with the three pole circuit breaker feeding power to the motor assembly. (Hey... I couldn't help it - the clicking of the electric brake would distract me. I had to look up).
Nanook, we can also see the ride operator (sans head) and his control panel!
Major, I think you’ve hit on some brilliant holiday overlays for the Fantasyland dark rides. Great Moments With Mr. Toad is perfect for the joyous Presidents’ Day season, while Peter Pan Goes Bananas is ideal for April, its Headless Ride Operator seamlessly pairing National Banana Day with Tiradentes Day, which I’ve always thought just naturally go together, sort of like Thanksgiving and Guy Fawkes Day.
And you touch on a deep truth - aren’t we all rendered invisible by long exposure, fading into the background as others take us for granted, not even bothering to learn our names?
Great photos as always, Lou! Thanks, Sue! And you, too, um, sport!
Major, step away from the cough syrup....
Actually, your comments on these are pretty good, so feel free to take another shot!
Night time
Is the Right Time
For Disney Twinkle
Light Time!
You can use that if you want.
If you ride a dark ride in the dark, does it get so dark you go back in time?
People have wondered for...well a couple of seconds now anyway.
Thanks Lou, Sue and Major Too
S-uccint T-una U-tensils (ok, I got nothin')
Nowadays Peter Pan goes Panini.
I always thought the mechanics of Peter Pan looked horsey. There was a very specific "click...click" sound it made at the loading dock- that was accompanied by a bit of a whiplash effect which we all enjoyed! I would like to see a longer Peter Pan ride...it was never long enough for me...flying is fun and does not have to be a roller coastery high tech trackless virtual reality 4D IMAX experience. Mr. Toad was my least favorite of the dark rides, but I loved the Hell scene! Very irreverent for a young Catholic boy. I felt like I was being naughty. We were not allowed...ever...to say that word. Tokyo Marauder, I DO see MY popcorn wagon! Although, that was Gene's wagon- the "PFT A" in the department. (Permanent Full Time, Classification "A" 40 hours per week.) I did do many many night shifts there. That was a crazy location and I would pull in a VAST amount of cash during Summer nights. When we got "boxed in" due to the crowds, guests would help out each other and pass the money to me like a firemans brigade, and then pass the popcorn back. Or guests would crawl into the lawn and creep up behind me...which was super creepy...and then Security would be allllll over them. I'm sure they have stanchions or some sort of crowd control now...good heavens...to lose all that precious cash because the crowds are too much...or maybe there is an app where you order it and pick it up somewhere else (?) Thanks for the spooky photos!
Booooo-----Buuuuuuu----
Great photos. Moments you actually see when you are in the park at night but you never stop and take a picture. But Lou did, and it's a treat to see them. They fill in those spots between the memories you do remember of those times long ago. I do like that last one too. Very ethereal.
Thanks Lou and Sue and thanks Major! You probably won't see images like this anywhere else.
Peter Pan has such staying popularity, I love it. I still remember my first flight over London and into Neverland. Nice dream-like quality to these photos. The parks at night are something special.
Celeste
GDB and Lou/Sue Perry never fail to deliver.
These are prime rarities, should I say museum-worthy?
Photo 1, in addition to all the wonder of the night-time scene, has captured the Disney version of "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper, now at the Chicago Art Institute.
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/111628/nighthawks
Photo 2, I can hear the "Here We Goooo" already. Major, I think a Samba version of Peter Pan is a terrific idea, I can see Wendy and Tinkerbelle with Carmen Miranda headdresses. Mr. Toad could get a "Fast and Furious" overlay, and Snow White should get a "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" overlay so the dwarfs work to the tune of "The Power of Gold". Sheer genius, I say.
Photo 3 is clearly the inspiration for the forthcoming Adventure Through Inner Space. So early in the Park lifespan that the tiny bulbs were not yet placed in the trees by the Light Fairies.
JG
Nanook, can you imagine being at the park when it was this empty?!
JB, I consider myself a scientist. Or is it a naturalist? Which one doesn’t like to wear clothes? Because that’s me. I doubt Lou was allowed to be in the park when it wasn’t open to the public, maybe Sue can say for sure. I have noticed the clouds, mostly because at some point they were repainted and I think they were poorly airbrushed. I guess Ken Anderson was busy or something.
TokyoMagic!, your nickname reminds me that my brother was watching a movie - I can’t remember the name - but they obviously reused the morlock costumes from “The Time Machine”, with some very minor alterations. It was shocking!
Nanook, yes, there are a few kids in that one galleon, the lucky ducks. So, when you were, say, 10 years old, you observed all of that technical stuff about the three phase motor, etc?!
TokyoMagic!, headless ride operators are the DREAM.
Chuck, I keep trying to call Disney to share my great ideas with them, but I can’t seem to get through. Remember when we used to get Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday as two separate holidays? I sure loved that. Peter Pan seems like the sort who would love going to Rio during Carnival, and who knows what Tink would get up to. And thanks to your paragraph on how we are rendered invisible, you are officially hired as a staff writer for American Art Magazine.
Stu29573, but I LIKE cough syrup. It makes me feel all dizzy! Are those lyrics from a Disneyland commerical? Why no mention of income taxes, that’s what I want to know. I don’t think you go back in time so much as sideways. I’d explain it to you, but the science is very complex.
Melissa, who doesn’t love a nice hot sandwich on crispy bread?
Bu, the mechanics look “horsey”? I’m not sure what you mean, but once we got underway, I was too focused on the beautiful blacklight scenery to be concerned with the mechanics. I did love that swaying sensation that was a result of the vehicles suspended beneath the track, a great side benefit. I always loved Mr. Toad, for many scenes. I particularly liked the effect of almost getting nailed by a locomotive, and I especially liked the jiggly devils at the end of the ride, laughing at our misfortune. It’s so “un-Disney”! I’d love to know how much money a busy popcorn wagon can bring in on a crowded night. Thousands?
DrGoat, I used to stay at the park until the latest possible moment, and it was always cool to walk through the lands as everything was closing, and most people were gone. It’s been a while since I’ve done that! Of course I was always tempted to hide in some bushes. Just bring a generic hard hat and some rolled up paper, people would assume I was working!
Celeste, I don’t know if I remember my first flight over London, but (like most people) I do love that part of “Peter Pan”. I also love flying around Neverland, with its pirate cove, rainbow, and waterfalls. So beautiful!
JG, ha ha, I guess if Edward Hopper was going to paint Disneyland, he’d definitely do a scene like this. Only there needs to be a lonely ride operator looking miserable. I’m telling you, “Peter Pan Goes Bananas” is a great idea! In 3D! Captain Hook can wear a Darth Vader helmet, what the heck. If I see these ideas implemented at the park, I will be at peace because the public will have such a great ride to enjoy.
"Horsey" means not streamlined, clunky, big and chunky, etc. Popcorn on a Summer night: yes...thousands- mostly in $1 bills. Super busy nights (4th of July, Christmas, etc.) they would do "pre-pop" back in the "garage" (Outdoor Vending HQ behind America Screams). We couldn't keep up with the popping on stage. The bag would come out on stage and all the guests would go "noooooo!!!!!!!"....in reality...it was just as fresh, and just popped and was still warm...the guests would feel the bag and then be OK with it. But if they wanted the "fresh" (old) crumbs (we called that "sift") from the bottom of the wagon, I was happy to serve that up for them. Those were the same people demanding butter..which we didn't do of course...and demanding "more salt"...which we had..BUT...we would rip off the metal pourer because it slowed down the salt pouring...so when a guest went to put it on their popcorn, it would put a GIANT blob of salt onto their Orville box rendering it inedible. We'd have to pour it out and give them another. "People"...the popcorn is pre-salted (and I used more than the average bear)....please taste before you ruin your box with hasty-ness. Another use for salt is to clean up popcorn oil spills. Very handy and practical!
Major-
I'm afraid I was several years removed from '10 years old' before I began paying attention to such things as three pole circuit breakers, etc.
And I HAVE been in the Park when it was that empty-! It was during a private party, and I was told by a CM the party attendance was originally planned for 10,000 folks; but the expected attendance was going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 - 7,000-! This would've probably been back around 1979-1985.
Yes, the experience was great.
TM! How cool that you noticed Bu's popcorn cart. There it is, in all its glory, and Bu wasn't even a popcorn kernel in his parents' eyes, yet. At least, I don't think he was, yet.
Bu, I love your popcorn stories.
Nanook, I haven't looked up at the workings on Peter Pan, but I looked up at the ceiling in Its a Small World, recently, and it sort-of ruined the "feel" of the ride.
JG, you aren't kidding - Mr. Toad's ("Night-toads") looks a lot like "Nighthawks." Cool!
I doubt Lou was allowed to be in the park when it wasn’t open to the public, maybe Sue can say for sure.
Major, the only time [that I know of] that my dad entered a Park, that was closed, was at WDW - Disney's MGM Studios. During the wee hours of the morning (5:00 a.m. or so), because of my dad's dealings with OTIS Elevator in Illinois, a WDW OTIS employee was able to sneak my dad in, to see the inner workings of the elevators on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. I guess it is/was proprietary info, as OTIS had "invented" the system for Tower of Terror and didn't want anyone knowing 'their secrets.' My dad wore an OTIS employee mechanic's or inspector's outfit and got a private tour - sans cameras, though.
JB, you still haven't used Junkyard Bulldog, Jack-of-all-trades Bamboozler, Jittery Bloodsucker, Juvenile Brain-cell or Jim-dandy Belch, yet. You only have two more days.
I see it's 11:10 on the train station clock. A nice late night in Disneyland. Does everyone remember where they parked their cars?
Thanks for everyone's nice comments!
Bu, hey, I’ll take thousands in $1 bills any day. I once had someone ask me if I’d take a million dollars if it was in one-dollar bills. Um, is that a difficult decision?? Pre-pop, that’s a new term for me! It’s funny how particular people are about their popcorn. I like the stuff OK, but rarely buy it. I’d rather get a soft pretzel!
Nanook, I was pulling your leg about you being 10 years old! And I do believe that back in those days, the park really could be wonderfully empty. It was before all the locals decided that Disneyland was their three times a week “happy place”. I don’t think Walt ever imagined that people would go that often.
Lou and Sue, ha ha, “Bu wasn’t even a popcorn kernel”. Maybe he was one, but sitting on a cloud in heaven? I’m sure I looked up at the mechanical stuff in “Peter Pan”, but only for a moment. OH very cool that Lou was able to get into Disney’s MGM Studios. I’m sure it was fascinating to see the behind the scenes workings of “Tower of Terror”. No surprise that they didn’t allow photos, but… BOOO! “Juvenile Brain”, ha ha! 11:10, if that was summer we still had two full hours of park time!
Sue, those are all very good JB names. I particularly like Jittery Bloodsucker. I had thought of Jittery, but couldn't think of anything to go with it. And Major's version of Juvenile Brain (without the Cell) seems especially appropriate for me.
A few days ago I did my homework and came up with a few more names. Enough to get me through All Hallows Eve. They may not be good names, but at least they're not as desperate-sounding as Stu's have been lately. ;-)
- Joyous Beheading
Heeeeey now!
you're right..
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