Funky Frontierland
As I have mentioned before, I recently scanned a rather large lot of 1950s Disneyland slides. And while most of them were A-OK, some were mysteriously murky. Perhaps our visitor went to the park on more than one day, and experienced some extreme June Gloom? One can only speculate.
This first one is still worthwhile, mostly because we can see one of the short-lived Conestoga Wagons ("Westward Ho") and a Stagecoach (equally short-lived) as they rumbled along the shores of Frontierland (our photographer was standing at the river's edge on Tom Sawyer Island).
Next is this view from up in Tom's Treehouse, looking north. There's the Canoe landing, and a Raft landing, and we can just see part of Fort Wilderness, but Frontierland was still pretty wild and undeveloped at this stage. Some of the elk and deer that populated the shores can be seen, since the landscaping hadn't had time to flourish yet.
10 comments:
Major-
A Conestoga wagon AND a stagecoach. Both were gone by September 13, 1959.
"Westward roll the wagons, always westward roll.
Westward roll the wagons, for Oregon's our goal".
Thanks, Major.
Major, you ain't kiddin'... dreeeary! Almost monochromatic. But it is what it is, so I shall endeavor to "man up" and deal with it.
There's not much traffic on the Rivers of America. Lots of people on the shore but nothing on the River itself. Except for a couple of VICIOUS, TERRIFYING, ANIMATRONIC DUCKS WITH RAZOR-SHARP TEETH! I guess that's why there is no river traffic; the CMs and guests have gotten wise to the nasty waterfowl and refuse to embark upon the river.
In the first pic, are those just white (probably fake) boulders along the shore? The two on the left look like giant swans. They have their heads down, hissing at the covered wagon as it passes. The drivers of the coaches and wagons know from experience not to stop or slow down too much in that vicinity, lest the giant swans scramble up the bank and make short work of the guests.
Thanks, Major. Not exactly Sunday Snoozers (nor did you advertise them as such), just weirdly dreary.
The Conestoga Wagon and Stagecoach drivers are "playing chicken" with one another.
The animatronic animals still have that freshly-waxed shine!
Notice how the canoes are drawn up on shore, as one would do with real canoes, no fancy queue or load platform. Probably no lawsuits either.
Also loving the glimpse of the neighborhood beyond, complete with power lines and tall trees, more eucalyptus. All of this is paved over with billions of dollars of resort development now, of course, but interesting to see the rural community before it changed forever.
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, I wonder if the Disneyland stagecoaches ever appeared in episodes of Zorro? They could have trucked them up to Burbank! Or maybe they just borrowed some from the Warner lot.
JB, I really don’t understand why some of these slides turned such a dark, slightly greenish tone. It’s kind of unpleasant, but… what can ya do. I also don’t understand why the Disney folks allowed such bloodthirsty animals to live on their river. Those ducks don’t kill for food, they kill for FUN! I’m not sure what’s up with those boulders. Are they fakes made out of chicken wire and concrete? Or were they found on site during earthmoving? There’s a field near my mom’s house that is being turned into apartments (oh joy), and the number of gigantic boulders that they have dug up is pretty amazing.
TokyoMagic!, you mean they preen their feathers and lay eggs?!?
JG, it’s important to keep your meese and elk cleaned and waxed at all times to increase their longevity. It’s all there in the manual. I believe that the canoes are in their usual “slips” (or whatever they’re called), it’s just hard to tell in that slightly blurry photo. In photo #2, doesn’t it appear that the parking lot extends all the way around the west side of the park, and into the “northwest”? I could look at an aerial map, but that would require effort. You know me!
Tokyo!, Ha! I didn't notice the game of 'chicken' going on. I guess I assumed they were both going in the same direction. OH! So that's why the giant swans are in that location; they know there's about to be a horrendous crash with horses and people scattered everywhere! Feast time!
Major, "Those ducks don’t kill for food, they kill for FUN!" Wow. The ducks are even more vicious and terrible than I thought! I think the blood-thirsty ducks are Stu's invention, yes? I believe he also made them Animatronic, because regular blood-thirsty ducks just weren't enough.
There is something to be said for "humility" in these photos. So simple, the canoes dragged up on shore is perfect. Not everything needs to be so very technologically organized. I saw little barricades that are now on the Pirates of the Caribbean and other rides. Really? Don't fall into the water? People are spending too much time chewing on churros and those awful rice crispy mouse ear things hanging out with their ambulance chaser lawyers. Back in my day the park was "self-insured". We had people back then calling about this and that, but most of the time it was "YOUR fireworks landed in MY yard..." my thought was...your house was built after the year of fireworks...and this is the first time you've had fallout? It was a summertime spectacular- all occurring around 9:45pm...but most of the time it was cars that got their paint singed a bit. I suppose at the time it was less expensive to pay people off than deal with lawyers and insurance companies and the likes. That was the line we were given anyway...I'm sure there were various levels of insurances for all sorts of calamity. The mind boggles. That looks like quite a crowd on Tom Sawyer's Island. Or is it Tom Sawyer Island. It's not Sleeping Beauty's Castle- it's Sleeping Beauty Castle. (I looked it up-It's Tom Sawyer Island.) I can understand how the stage coaches were tippy, but the Westward Ho wagon? I'm not sure if we can say "playing chicken" anymore...I'm not sure why...but it sounds like something that might be on a list. Perhaps the Tysons or Purdue family list of "no no's"
Bu, if saying "playing chicken" is on Tyson's or Purdue's list then we can expect a Constitutional Amendment prohibiting it any day now.
JB, for an extra thrill, Walt decided to run the Frontierland vehicles in both directions. Will they collide? Who knows? HARD FACTS, baby! I don’t know if Stu invented the bloodthirsty ducks, but if he did, he must be stopped. He has meddled in things in which man must not…er… meddle.
Bu, I know what you mean about the “humility” of these photos. And yet… it’s possible (or even likely) that today’s audiences would find the old Disneyland to be a boring place, for the most part. Where are the thrills? Where are the saturated colors? “Rice Krispy mouse ear things”, I don’t even know what you mean! Do they make Rice Krispy treats in the shape of mouse ears? Why am I even asking, of course they do. The whole idea of moving within hearing-distance of Disneyland and then complaining that you can hear it is idiotic, and yet… that’s how things are. Tom’s island doesn’t belong to him, but it was named after him. Quite an honor. As far as I know, “playing chicken” is not offensive. Chickens of the world, let me know.
JB, since we eat chickens, I don’t think we can be too precious about insulting them!
Major;
Were there any stagecoaches Depicted in any ZORRO episodes? During the ZORRO period there were no stage lines in California or Mexico . There would have been private coaches belonging to the wealthy and rancheros …. But these would not have resembled Celerity type coaches. The Disneyland stagecoaches are all based on 1860 - 1880 prototypes and would not be appropriate to g the 1790 - 1820 “ZORRO” era ….
A Disneyland stagecoach in a ZORRO episode would be like seeing a GMC fishbowl new look city bus from 1959 in HELLO DOLLY!! And knowing all the episodes and lead-ins to The Wonderful World of color …. Regarding the Disney studio’s research for historical accuracy… I bet Disney would not have made that kind of error.
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