Fantasyland Scenes, April 1973
Here are two classic scans from Fantasyland, circa 1973.
First up is this shot that features Dumbo's Flying Elephants and the Skyway (and the Chalet, which kind of vanishes in the shadows). This is obviously the simpler early version of "Dumbo" with only 10 elephants - the ride was later upgraded in 1983, and then replaced with a bigger version that has 16 elephants. I like the general 1970s vibe here. And look at those trees towering above the Chalet! They look impressive, though one might argue that they were getting a bit too big.
And, surprise surprise, it's the ol' tuna boat, now known as "Captain Hook's Galley" (after Chicken of the Sea ended its sponsorship in 1969). In spite of the pain of losing the mermaid figurehead, who always inspired joy and happiness, the Pirate Ship still looked impressive. Naturally eroded stone (amazing how that worked!) turned out to serve as comfy benches for those with aching feet.
14 comments:
In the first pic, we're seeing the backside of... no, not water, but Timothy Q. Mouse; atop his mirrored disco ball. Seems like we almost always see him from the front or side for some reason.
The young woman on the right is wearing one of those glossy, flimsy vinyl pleather jackets. Red; always red. Or so it seemed at the time. I don't think I saw them in any other color. Is that a park map she's carrying? Looks like more than one item.
Second pic, I think the lady in the pink blouse is the one posing for the photographer; she's looking right at us, and smiling. Say "tuna sandwich", dear! [click!]
The boy on the right in the stripey blue shirt has a purple snake wrapped around his waist. Or maybe they just left "Alice" and he came away with a little souvenir; the pelt of the Cheshire Cat! His brother acquired a different souvenir; he is gnawing on Cheshire Cat jerky! Sure, they look innocent and harmless but don't be fooled. The killer swans have nothing on these two hellions!
Thanks for the fun Fantasyland pics, Major.
- Johnny jump up Bouquet (a type of pansy. He was always getting picked on at school.)
Forget that girl’s red pleather jacket - check out that map she’s carrying. Odd that it’s partially unfolded and not in a bag; I hope the poor girl’s not lost.
The first pic is great. Always loved that backdrop of trees with the Alpine Skyway Chalet tucked in. I can imagine a wonderful "living desert" on the other side of that "hill".
Thanks, Major.
How much you want to bet that the boy in the striped shirt with the striped sweater tied around his waist is also wearing a striped undershirt over his striped skin and it's all stripes down to his striped little soul?
I can't find my 12 year old self in any of these photos. Foiled again.
JB, I liked Timothy Mouse in “Dumbo”, but he has picked up some bad habits since 1941. What’s with the whip, dude! Don’t be a jerk. Or as he would say it, “joik”. It’s true about the red pleather jackets, was there some technical reason why red was always the one we saw? Maybe it was just the most popular. Nobody wanted the brownish-green one. I’m not 100% sure if the lady in pink is posing for our photographer, as far as I can recall she doesn’t show up in any other pictures from this batch. But that might just mean that her husband or boyfriend only took the one photo of her! “Listen, honey, you’re great, but do you know how expensive film is?”. It’s funny how some people are bundled up, and others are in short sleeves… a typical cool SoCal day I guess.
Chuck, yeah, I love those maps! Not sure I have a copy of the one that has that Country Bears graphic in the lower left corner… at one point I thought I’d try to get all of the souvenir wall maps, and I got a bunch, but I did not get them all.
K. Martinez, those trees really grew, it’s sort of a shame that they swallowed the Skyway Chalet, though it does give that “old European forest” look to the hill. I hope no witches live in gingerbread houses in that forest.
Melissa, whoa, that’s a lot of stripes. Your comment reminds me of the Harvey comic book character “Little Dot”. As far as I can recall, her whole gimmick was that she liked polka dots. Hey, dots made Yayoi Kusama world-famous!
Mraymond, you were probably right behind the lady with the red pleather!
I make it a practice never to travel with fewer than ten elephants.
MRaymond, I thought I saw my Dad in the first pic, but also foiled again.
JG
Chuck, funny how that 1972 map shows Space Mountain so prominently, when it would be another 5 years before it would be built.
Melissa, haha! It's his mom's fault. She's the one who's crazy about stripes and she buys the clothes. Although, the striped soul is a bit of a puzzler.
Major, Timothy is into all sorts of kinky stuff now; hence the whip.
JG, that must be interesting at the baggage carousel.
Major, wow - I never thought about collecting all of them. I'd settle for finding my original 1975 map, crease tears and all. Heck - I'd be happy if I could find my 1995 map!
JB, that Space Mountain art was on Disneyland maps beginning in 1966, back when the Space Mountain complex was going to be even bigger, with a four-track roller coaster and a next-generation flying saucers in the basement. What I think is even funnier is that they didn't change the Space mountain artwork on the map from the 1966 concept until the 1978 maps, which are copyrighted a the year after DL's Space Mountain opened.
JG, everyone knows that a group of elephants is referred to as a “posse”.
JB, I believe that they first put Space Mountain on the 1966 map, imagine how many kids were champing at the bit for that attraction, which wouldn’t open for 11 years! As for the boy’s crazy patterns, it was 1973 after all, I’m surprised people look as clean-cut and conservative as they do. The less I know about Timothy’s personal life, the happier I’ll be!
Chuck, not only was I trying to find them all, but I really wanted rolled (rather than folded) versions of those Sam McKim maps. I succeeded in finding some without folds, but I think some were never sold any way but folded. And yes, I think they list Space Mountain as the “Space Port”, it’s always so intriguing to imagine what it would have been like if they’d managed to build the thing with ALL of their ideas. But costs usually wind up whittling the thing down considerably.
JB, I also bring my own carousel, it’s a tremendous time saver.
Chuck, thanks fo that link, I think my maps are each different dates than I thought.
Major, I was craving Space Mountain for my whole youth and got it just before I stopped visiting the Park for 20 years. Those maps set an unreasonable expectation for me, but I got to ride once with my Dad on what turned out to be his last trip.
Sad, but sweet memory.
JG
Thats an amazingly short line for Dumbo...must have been early, or a low attendance day! The trees made the chalet so nice and cool and shaded. I've been told that trees have no scale so it's impossible for them to be too big. Why do we need a sign that says Captain Hooks Galley...it's kind of obvious...right? Not sure that is where I would put the sign...but that is just me. Too bad they couldn't leave the mermaid, or maybe just replace her with another mermaid, or if Disneyland was slightly progressive a merman...or Ethel Merman? I would take any of those three over a big bag of nothing, but I suppose nothing cost nothing..so nothing was done. In any case, it's an impressive structure, you can barely see the mythical termites holding it together. That's all I got....my work life has taken over...I have a lot to say about Beautiful Downtown Burbank, Bob Hope and river creatures...but for another day!
"...you can barely see the mythical termites holding it together."
I sense a little sarcasm, Bu. ;o)
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