Two From July 1964
I've got some genuine SNOOZERS for you today. Starting with this view of one of my favorite Jungle Cruise scenes, the Lost Safari. Hey, they're not lost, I see them right there! Maybe they should call them the Totally Hosed Safari? I am reminded of a scan that I shared back in 2009 that showed this scene in an incomplete state. I'll link to it HERE since many of you probably haven't seen it.
While I have shared many MANY photos of the Rivers of America, and plenty from this same general vantage point, this one is fun because we have one canoe, two rafts, and even the nose of the Mark Twain peeking in from the right. Walt wanted his river to be busy, and he got it.
16 comments:
Major-
"Walt wanted his river to be busy, and he got it". I'm going to go out on a limb here, and state I'm guessing that it's not including the added mischief generated from Fantasmic...
Thanks, Major.
Dang. I keep expecting to see some genuine snoozers on these Snoozer Sundays. And you keep giving us all these perfectly acceptable photos with sharp focus and saturated colors. I demand to see some blurry, murky pics for once! We wants the redscans! ;-)
You're spoiling us, Major. Our expectations are being set higher and higher!
Thanks for these photos... even if they aren't snoozers.
It looks like there might be a raft rehab going on in Fowler's Harbor!
Nanook, didn't you know? Walt had always intended to include Fantasmic in his park, but the funds just weren't there in the early days of development, so it got cut from the final plans. At that time, he stated that it would definitely be a part of "Phase 37" for the park. And many years later, the Imagineers helped bring Walt's promise to fruition.
I’ve always loved that lean to Fowler’s Inn. Note the guys in white in front of it. They are either painters, ambulance jockeys, or angels (California Angels, that is, getting ready for a home game).
Fort Wilderness hides in the trees, hoping that future executives won’t cut the maintenance budget, let it get infested with termites, and then tear it down in favor of a bizarre-looking combination changing room and public toilet. It knows instinctively that TRE.
TM!, “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” - Walt Disney.
The Marketing folks conveniently give us only half the quote, though. The full thing is “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world, until my successors, who over time will have less and less of an understanding of my vision, keep monkeying around with it until they ruin everything.” Walt Disney, ever the visionary, even predicted TRE.
Chuck, oh, that Walt! He must have been psychotic....I mean, psychic!
TRE! I'm not a fan of acronyms but this will cut down on the character counts of my posts! Yippee...more streams of unconsciousness! I too like the lean in Fowlers Harbor...and I'm trying to put some logic to physics as to why that would be a stable structure. Perhaps the roof was cantilevered on the other side, and the posts and railing were strictly decorative. "No workmen during the day! The magic must be hidden!" I see so many painters and workmen everywhere in all the various decades...I'm not even sure a blind eye was turned...I just think they did it. Just like workmen installing an act of the Jungle Cruise with the ride running...I'm not sure that would happen today, but I've seen it before, and will probably see it again. I did question landscape workers with a supervisor once. I said it wasn't "good show". The response was that it "seemed kind of natural to see landscapers planting things at the beginning of a season." That was 40 years ago when Walt was "spinning in his grave". When people say "Walt must be spinning in his grave" I point out that we said that a very very very long time ago. In fact, a mere 14 years after his death. WMBSIHG is very much TRE. The non-Walt regime would state: "this is a business! We have stockholders we are responsible for. Walt is gone! We do not know and can't speculate what he would have done or not. We know he would have wanted the business to continue". (true response). I was a delight as an employee- I questioned a lot. For some reason I am thinking that Jungle Cruise scene was updated in the mid-80's (?) Or maybe it is gone completely? There was a "Fantasmic" before "Fantasmic" was a "Fantasmic". It was the Summer concert series. That grew into the monster it is today, however, you still could walk around it and get to the Haunted Mansion and Bear Country. Try tooling through that mess of concerts and crazy with a heavy ice cream wagon going to Tomorrowland. Those wagons had a mind of their own on the slightest grade. You learned to use your lungs: "EXCUSE ME!!!" I was "schooled" after one trip across the park. I think I said "excuse me" the wrong way, or too loud, or too something. I swear there were eyes and ears everywhere and everyone and everything was so excruciatingly scrutinized. My point at the time was that: we have two gigantic planters at the entrance of Tomorrowland that have taken days to plant. The tiny pin hole made by a name tag on my shirt is the issue here? I am grateful that I learned early in my many careers to follow after WDP that: "the devil is in the details". I was sent to wardrobe to change my shirt. On my time. I should have known better. "There are mirrors before every on-stage entrance". Not exactly 100% true- but there were a lot for the characters to check themselves out. Later in life, running retail stores, I had a mirror leading out from stockrooms to the sales floors so employees could check their makeup/teeth/etc. I was promoted soon after. There ya go. Thanks Walt.
Great anti-snoozers!
Pic one reminds me that at WDW the scene has a huge box thing on the top. Why? Rain. They needed to protect the figures from the almost daily (very short) downpours! It does look kind of stupid, though.
I can't believe you missed the keelboat on the left! Maybe you thought it HAD left. (Insert canned laughter)
And I think TRE is getting more and more universal. Or maybe I'm getting old and grumpy...
Yes, there is a Keelboat loading too! This River has Everything!
The Lost Safari is so instantly funny, classic Marc Davis humor. It’s even funny with only one porter. Everyone gets the “point” immediately.
Thanks for linking the construction pic, Major. That’s good stuff.
This scene has survived the latest refit, but the characters have changed so there’s one of everybody hanging on the tree and the Professor is at the bottom closest to the rhino. It’s still funny, and maybe even funnier in some ways than the original.
On the TRE topic, I think the JC has survived best of many updated attractions. I love the way Trader Sam is finessed in the new version. I will miss the original figure, but in an age of Perpetual Offense, the perfect solution was found.
I remember more than once watching gardeners planting the swirls in front of Tomorrowland. Right in plain sight, and no one died.
Thanks Major!
JG
Major,
Your snoozers are my caffeine. They get me going in the morning. Both pics are wonderful! You've got a classic Marc Davis scene and a river filled with activity. Great Disneyland memories, both of them.
JG, I think the Jungle Cruise overhaul was long overdue and is just fine as it is now.
Taken moments before the raft, canoe, and steamboat crashed together, leaving all the passengers waist-deep in the river. Oh, the humanity!
Nanook, GOOD POINT!
JB, don’t worry, I will put you to sleep one of these days. You have my word. The “redscans” are actually kind of fun for me to attempt to restore, though of course I burst into tears if it doesn’t work out. I am very sensitive.
TokyoMagic!, good eye on that other raft, the one in Fowler’s Harbor! How often do you see three rafts in a single picture? And we all know the story of Walt sitting on a bench eating peanuts while his daughters rode the Griffith Park merry-go-round. “I hope to have a park where a river show makes Frontierland so crowded that it ruins things for everyone!”.
Chuck, the man in white at Fowler’s Harbor is obviously a pastry chef, it’s probably so obvious to you now that I’ve mentioned it. Every time I think about what they’ve done to Fort Wilderness… why, my hide gets chapped, that’s what happens! I’m glad that you included Walt’s full quote here, I can almost hear it in that slightly tinny audio that we have all listened to 100 times.
TokyoMagic!, he was just grouchy.
Bu, we’ve seen SO many photos of workers doing their thing in the park in broad daylight that Walt must not have been that strict about “bad show”, in spite of his legendary angry outbursts. It makes sense really, not all of the work could be done at night. I’ve never bothered to track just exactly what period Disneyland was only open five days a week - I think it might have been intermittent - so it would be open every day during the peak summer season, and then when the kids headed back to school, they could close the park on Mondays and Tuesdays. I know that there was a Summer Concert Series, and there was also “Dixieland at Disneyland”, which was sometimes performed on the river. But neither of those required massive changes to Frontierland’s shore, for all of the guests who need to see “Fantasmic!” every time they go, and are happy to sit on their blankets for two hours before the performance. Now they need tiered seating. It’s just so crummy, the whole land is changed just for a brief nighttime show. And of course you can almost never ride the Mark Twain at night anymore, one of my favorite Disneyland experiences. I’m surprised that you were schooled about yelling too loud - one of my best friends went to Disneyland with her husband (who is a teacher), they were chaperones for Grad Nite. The cast members were so rude and pushy that she never EVER wants to go to Disneyland again. Unbelievable.
Stu29573, now I’ll have to look for photos of WDW’s “lost safari”, the thought of a big box at the top of the pole sounds dumb. Like a big owl house. But I like owls, let it never be said that Major Pepperidge is an owl hater. And you are right, I DID miss the Keelboat!
JG, that truly is a busy river. I still think that they should have Jet Skis, only they will look like they are made out of old weathered wood. And you’ll need to use your phone a lot while operating them, because there’s nothing better than using your phone even more. I haven’t bothered to watch any recent videos of the changes to the Jungle Cruise, but I am anxious to talk to Mr. X, who just went to the park for the first time in ages. Hopefully he can give me his thoughts!
K. Martinez, I’m glad you enjoyed these! I admit that these snoozers are a bit better than most, there are some pretty lame photos coming for future Sundays. Sorry!
Melissa, not many people know about the “Great Crash of ’64”.
@ stu29573-
Evidently, the new 'Trapped Safari' scene, which opened last June, has eliminated the "huge box thing on the top". Let the Florida downpours begin-!
I love the busy river! We just got back from Disneyland and my daughter had a blast on TSI only for the rafts to go 101 and we were stuck waiting for them to ferry us back and forth on the small rafts. We got lots of jeers from the canoes but got great views of both the Mark Twain and Columbia gliding by. Moral of the story, next time we will just make the island our permanent residence. No big deal, right? Thanks for the pics!
Celeste
Tokyo!, "Walt had always intended to include Fantasmic in his park" sounds too real to be taken as sarcasm.
Chuck, I wonder how long it'll be before that 'complete' quote starts appearing throughout the internet as the real thing?
I know that TokyoMagic! gave us "they ruin everything", but who gave us the abbreviation "TRE"? Was it Stu? I think it was sometime during the past year.
Bu, I tend to agree with your (then) supervisor. Somehow, seeing landscapers going about their earthy business would make me feel good inside.
They should come up with a way to harness Walt's grave spinning. It could supply enough power to run a good-sized metropolis.
JG, thanks for letting us know that the "Lost Safari" scene is still there; I was wondering. They might've replaced the porters, etc. with monkeys.
Melissa, and then the ducks... oh, the ducks! (I can't continue.)
Major, we enjoy seeing your before and after images.
"Disneyland will never be completed. *throws hands in the air* So go nuts, I guess."
--Some Guy or Somebody
JB, the latest refurb is very well done. A lot of outdated and insensitive scenes have been replaced with new scenes that still maintain the tension of the original. Instead of being afraid of natives attacking, you are afraid of wildlife, and examples are provided.
If you had never seen the original, you would never know the difference, it is still funny, entertaining, and mildly scary in parts. Altogether a good job.
There are video ridethroughs on youtube that show the changed version. I think you would like it. I haven't been in person.
JG
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