Monday, April 04, 2022

Fantasyland Scenes, April 1980

Fantasyland has undergone many changes over the years; for the first few decades those changes were a bit more subtle than the ones that came post-1983. Sure, some rides were added, like "it's a small world" in 1965, and some beautiful landmarks such as Skull Rock in 1960, and the old "medieval faire" façades seemed to last and last. 

However, today's photo, taken from the Pirate Ship, shows things like the decorative "fence" (that seems like the wrong word, but my brain can't come up with anything better) that now surrounded the Mad Tea Party - it didn't really seem necessary, but it was a good place to ad lighting, which looked great at night. The graphic design and color scheme of the dark ride buildings façades changed a lot too. Take a look here, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is in shades of pumpkin-orange, deep crimson, yellow, and pink.


You can see how the outside of "Toad" looked just four years earlier.


Another vintage view (1960) from almost the same vantage point as the first photo. You can see that the Peter Pan façade is also different, and the tent over the Carrousel is striped here. 


Also from 1980 comes this unusual (and maybe not-great?) view, also from the Pirate Ship, looking at the area more eastward rather than southward; the photographer was standing way up on the ship's poop deck (heh heh) looking toward Skull Rock. This is such a strange angle that we are almost behind the big skull. And as you know, being behind a big skull is good luck. Probably.

24 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-
It's 'compare and contrast day' here at GDB-!

That 'decorative fencing' [incorporating the festoon lighting] is very reminiscent of old amusement parks - especially Luna Park at Coney island. (I wonder if it was any sort of inspiration-?

Thanks, Major.

JB said...

In #1: Normally I would say that the foreground Pirate Ship rigging adds visual interest to the photo. But in this case, I wanna see Fantasyland uninterrupted; with no rigging. Somebody should bulldoze that old eyesore-of-a-ship. ;-) The lighting is ideal here. And I like the decorative arches. Gives it sort of a formal English garden look. Perfect for giant teacups that spin wildly and cause people to loose their lunch.
Looks like the photographer took this picture as the guests were still boarding their teacups.
I like those medallions on the Carousel canopy.

Last photo: Ironically, I like seeing the rigging in this photo. The Pirate Ship is an integral part of the composition, so the rigging looks appropriate and adds excitement. Skully looks like he's old and in pain here. I think he senses his days are numbered.

Thanks, Major. The two 1980 photos have perfect focus, lighting, and exposure.

JB said...

That's "lose" their lunch.

Chuck said...

I think I remember somebody (either Mike or Andrew, or maybe both of them) telling us that the dark ride facades and carrousel tent received a WDW-inspired makeover around 1976. It’s like my estates in Malibu and Kennebunkport - I can’t decide which one I like more. I guess I can like them both.

That Skull Rock photo is an outstanding piece of reference work

JB, I think you had it right for most of us the first time. The teacups never made me lose my lunch, but it did knock it loose a couple of times.

Chuck said...

Whoa! That posted unexpectedly, right in the middle of typing the second paragraph. I guess my iPad is trying to tell me I need to get a move on and get ready for work.

That Skull Rock photo is an outstanding piece of reference work. I have never seen a photo from that angle before, probably because most people took pictures of specific set pieces at the angles that the imagineers intended for optimum viewing, which is why it’s exceptionally hard to find a shot of the Jolly Roger from the port side. In this image, we can see the spatial relationships between the stern of the pirate ship, Skull Rock, Monstro, the lighthouse, the ticket booth at the entrance to the Small World Concourse, and the Monorail. While you can use aerial photos to see how it all fit together, this shows it as a guest would have seen it. And it’s a great shot of Skully’s right ear being irrigated, too.

JG said...

Yes indeed, these are excellent reference photos, as well as being enjoyable in their own right. That last one will help 3D modelers quite a bit.

Each of my English gardens have giant teacups. I’ve thought about those arches a bit in the past. I think they were added sometime in the mid-70’s, but I never settled on a year. An update to match WDW makes sense.

Can’t say I care for the orange color scheme on Toad, but it’s only paint and easily changed. I would never have noticed IRL.

Thanks Major for showing us these minor differences.

JG

DrGoat said...

I'll agree. All of them are noteworthy. Each of them is complete. Even love the shadow of kids Mom in the 2nd pic.
The Skull Rock photo is so unusual and wonderful and I seem to all agree it's a beauty. Almost as if the Pirate ship was setting sail and the photographer wanted one last shot before sailing away.
Even have the uninterrupted shot JB is partial to in pic 3.
Don't care for the orange theme on Toady either. It doesn't even work with the green. Just plain red would work better. I'd need to look at other versions to find my personal favorite. My memory isn't that specific anymore. It was 1980, I guess they thought they needed to change it up.
Thanks for these exceptionally cool photos Major.

Bu said...

There seems to be a flurry of non-Mickey balloons floating through the scene in photo 3....and perhaps it's odd that there seems to be scads of humans around...but no one in line for the tea cups (?) I do see the obligatory male employee in his grey slacks and white shirt. If there were females working this ride they would sure to be in a complete Alice in Wonderland costume with wig. Unless you were selling balloons as Pinocchio, the guys got gipped in the costume dept. In the "Tivoli Gardens" version of Tea Cups (this is a prime example of ADDING but not RUINING) the crests on the Carrousel top are the same as when the closed Fantasyland later on. I have photos of the demo (Major: I found these today and am sending to you) and those crests are there. Talk about dents! Its nice to ALMOST see the backside of dent on the castle. I hope those guests don't leap out of their buckets without a complete sealed in glass bubble enclosure and harness restraints! The view of Skull Rock is superb...I had to look at it squint eyed to finally see the skull. In the distance there is a ticket booth...I think that is the one they moved like it was on a pallet. If they had a ticket booth at every ride, did they need a central ticket booth too? I guess more booths more money. Tea cups are like tap dancing: you can't do it without smiling. Even without moving those kids are exploding. I have boxwoods like that in my English Garden...now I have to think about Tea Cups in them...might be weird. Some people have fountains where a teapot is floating pouring water down into a series of teacups. Seems a bit fanciful. Will keep that on the back burner.

Grant said...

I love all the photos. Especially the second one with the boys in the teacup, Mr. Toad in all its medieval glory behind them and the Matterhorn overseeing everything.

Or is it Billy the Mountain getting ready to crush Fantasyland? Zappa would have liked that scene. ;)

K. Martinez said...

I enjoyed the short-lived repaint of Fantasyland. I remember it really contrasted if you took The Skyway and passed through the Matterhorn from the sleek white Tomorrowland into Fantasyland swirling in brilliant colors. Two different worlds. Thanks, Major.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, “compare and contrast”, and write one page (single-spaced). Cite your sources! I never thought about it, but you’re right, that decorative fencing does have a “Luna Park” look to it.

JB, yes, foreground elements can add interest, until they just get in the way. I’m glad that they got rid of that ugly pirate ship and replaced it with nothing. I hope somebody got a big raise for that one. I’m undecided about the arches… I don’t hate them, but they feel a bit “busy” to me sometimes. And because I am lazy, I don’t care for busy-ness. I don’t like the idea of Skully being old and in pain, maybe just had a case of the whim-whams. You know what I mean.

JB, at least you didn’t say “loose THEY’RE lunch”.

Chuck, I know what you mean, it is so hard to decide on which estate is the best. Do I prefer a sandy tropical beach? Or the sparkling white snows of Aspen? Or there’s always the charm of my estate in Tuscany. It’s like choosing between my lab-created children - I love them all equally.

Chuck II, are you saying that your iPad is possessed by the spirit of Pazuzu? Time to dunk it in holy water - it will be fine, holy water never hurt anything. You make many good points about why that last photo is interesting. And with so many “same old same old” photos, I have to appreciate any photos that are different, even if they might not be instantly dazzling. I like the view of the waterfalls next to Skully! Don’t we all need to irrigate our ears? That’s not a rhetorical question.

JG, I always kind of wish I’d taken a class in Maya, maybe I could have rendered that 3D version of Skull Rock myself. Then I’d have all of the world leaders wanting to talk to me, and I’d have to tell all of the Hollywood starlets that there is only so much Major Pepperidge to go around. THE DREAM. Maybe I’m so used to the original classic patterns and colors of Fantasyland that the later versions look wrong to me; they aren’t bad exactly, I just find them to be odd.

DrGoat, yes, somehow the Mom managed to get into her own picture, a pretty neat trick (pre-“selfie”). I’m sure that people who never saw Skull Rock wonder why folks like us miss it so much. After all, it wasn’t a ride, and it didn’t “do anything”. You didn’t need a ticket for it, it was just a part of the landscape. AND YET… it was so much more than that, as you and I both know. The colors used in the repainted Fantasyland remind me of the kind that we saw in so many “postmodern” 1980s situations, from architecture to graphic design. It’s no surprise that the colors are “of their time”, I suppose.

Bu, I think those “balloons” are actually some sort of lights that surrounded the Mad Tea Party back then. Sort of an early version of the “paper lanterns” that we see today. I didn’t know the female employees dressed as Alice as late as the 1980s, but I’m not complaining. Wow, I am excited to see the photos you mentioned! You make a joke about guests not leaping out of their buckets, but at least one time, a scammer did “fall” out of his bucket. In an area where he would land in the branches of a tree, conveniently. Who wants to die doing a stupid prank?? Since the individual ride ticket booths (like the lighthouse and the mushroom) no longer served as such, I assume that this is why they had to add the stand-alone booths. I’m a big fan of the Teacups, though I know that many people think of them as a kind of torture device, designed only to make them gravely nauseous. I guess I should be thankful that I don’t suffer from motion sickness.

Grant, oh no, I don’t get your Zappa reference! My brother is an avid (to put it mildly) Frank Zappa fan, he has hundreds of hours of live shows that he plays over and over. I appreciate Frank more than I love his music, but admit that I am probably an uneducated troglodyte.

Major Pepperidge said...

K. Martinez, I’m sure that the repaint was appreciated by many as a much-needed update and “refresh” of that land that hadn’t changed appreciably in 25 years or so. Hey, if you like it, I’m not going to tell you that you are wrong! I’m glad you do.

"Lou and Sue" said...

Bu, did you ever have to wear that Pinocchio balloon vendor outfit?

Nice pictures, Major.

Melissa said...

I’m no archimatect, but I think the columns and arches around the Tea Party would count as s colonnade.

Love the photographer’s shadow in the second picture. Like an accidental selfie.

JB said...

Writing "loose" or "lose" always makes me hesitate for a second; which one to use? Not sure why. After thinking about it a bit, I end up using the right one. In this case, I don't think I thought about it at all. I just wrote "loose"; which turned out to be wrong... or right, according to Chuck.
Now, aren't you glad you used up time from your life, that you'll never get back, to read this?

Chuck, BAD iPad, BAD!... or good, if it kept you from being late. I think your iPad caught the same eDisease that Sue's cell phone had (maybe, still has?).

JG, "Each of my English gardens have giant teacups." Lucky you. I only have the one.

Anonymous said...

WATERFALLS.

Bu said...

To answer Sue's question: As a balloon vendor we wore the following costumes (none of which were Pinocchio...) Tomorrowland/Fantasyland: "Yellows" Main St: Main St. Merchandise, Frontierland/New Orleans: Frontierland Merchandise, Bear Country: Bear Country Merchandise, Front of Castle: Main St. Merchandise. Relief/Leads: all Yellows. Balloon Room: Yellows. Most of the time....you were in yellows :) I was happy I wasn't dressed like a marionette. I thought it was odd in Fantasyland we did not wear Fantasyland Merchandise, but perhaps the yellows worked all the same.

"Lou and Sue" said...

Bu, thank you for sharing. Just curious: Do you now own anything yellow, or did you get tired of it?

Grant said...

Major, and any other curious Jr. Gorillas, Billy the Mountain was a character in the somewhat obscure Frank Zappa song... Billy the Mountain. A parody of rock operas of the day. It takes up a whole side of the Mothers of Invention live album Just Another Band from LA (recorded at UCLA in 1971). The general story line is Billy the Mountain and his wife, Ethel (a tree growing off of his shoulder) decide to take a vacation. Of course, Billy is so big that when he moves he crushes everything in his path.

So if Billy and Ethel decided to go to Disneyland, well, so much Fantasyland, et all. LOL

(BTW, I'm a big Zappa fan like your brother!)

Nanook said...

@ Bu-
Those "balloons" are indeed 'lanterns' of some sort. LOOK HERE.

Anonymous said...

@Grant, "Fantasyland is closed."

(h/t Bu.)


Melissa, LOL. I am an archimateck and I approve this message.

JB, when I need a clean cup, I just move to the next garden.

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

Lou and Sue, it’s the question that everyone is asking!

Melissa, your theory sounds good, though I never thought of a cast iron colonnade. But that just demonstrates my small thinking.

JB, seeing “loose” in place of “lose” is not uncommon. It’s also entertaining to see how many ways people spell “tongue” (usually “tounge”). I certainly misspell and mis-type things all the time, so I can’t snicker like Mutley the dog.

Anonymous, don’t go chasing them.

Bu, it doesn’t sound like the costumes were too exciting in the ‘80s. Maybe that’s for the best, with that balloon vendor outfit as one example of what NOT to do. I guess yellow is highly visible, and “happy”. If I was in charge, I’d have everyone dress in a greenish brown, which often goes by a name that I shan’t say here. Because greenish brown is funny.

Lou and Sue, I personally have rarely owned any yellow clothing. How about you? I mean besides that Century 21 jacket that you loved so much!

Grant, I guarantee that my brother knows the song you are referring to. My brother goes for late afternoon walks, and then takes his shower afterwards. He has some sort of iPod player in the bathroom, and he ALWAYS blasts Zappa tunes. I think he especially likes versions of “Chunga’s Revenge”. He can talk to you all day about bootlegs of various Zappa concerts, of which he has MANY.

Nanook, there they are, and there are even a few that are more “paper lantern” shaped!

JG, do archimatecks play saxomophones?

Chuck said...

Seriously, Major? You’d dress everyone in Voldemort green?

"Lou and Sue" said...

Major, I do love yellow. That C-21 jacket was more of a dark mustard color. It isn’t a bad color, but I got so sick of wearing it hundreds of times (5-6 days a week) over 3+ years—and having to coordinate outfits to match it.

JB, my cellphone has been good lately. The reward treats seem to be working.