Color Correction! 1960s
I had a pair of slides that had faded to an unpleasant pinkish hue; it's always kind of a bummer, but it's also kind of fun to see if I can use the magic of Photoshop to restore the slides to at least some semblance of their former glory. Looking at both of the red versions, you can see that there is still some color information beneath all of the pink, so I was feeling pretty good about my chances.
Here's the first one. Kind of a nice photo, except... the PINK. Folks are just starting to board a raft from Tom Sawyer Island back to the "mainland". I assume that's a cast member with the greenish shirt, he's raising the mizzen mast and battening down the hatches. A Keelboat passes on the river. But yikes, I can't take the pink anymore!
Here’s my restoration attempt. It's not perfect, but I'm happy enough. Perhaps I could have lightened it up a bit more, but I'm too lazy to go back and work on it any further. Is that trashcan actually aboard the raft? If so... weird. Im wondering if the man to the right is a painter, perhaps he was sprucing up some signs on the island.
Next is this look at the queue (or lack thereof) for Storybook Land, with Monstro's toothy mouth reminding me of H.R. Giger's Xenomorph a little bit. The young boy closest to us is transfixed!
Most of the pink has been rinsed away, leaving things looking a little cold (maybe it's too cyan now?), but I still feel OK about it. Notice that there is a male host aboard the canal boat, I honestly did not know that men had filled that position as early as the 1960s (I am guessing that these photos are from before 1965).
21 comments:
Major-
That's got to be a painter on the TSI Raft. The only question I have is - did Tom 'commandeer' this painter to paint Tom's fence-??!! And... is that a second painter hanging around Storybook Land-??
Thanks, Major, for the ColorCorrection.
I think those people are standing on the dock, in that first pic. The girls are hanging onto the rope, which would be removed by the cast member, for guests to board the raft. The little boy seems to be hanging on the opposite side of the railing. If I were his mom, I think I'd give him a quick swift elbow to the face, causing him to fall backwards into the water....just to teach him not to fool around like that. I would have made such a great parent.
Great color correction job, Major!
I always like these transformations, Major. It's magic!
1) Hard to believe that 'beet soup' caterpillar turned into that Technicolor butterfly.
This particular shade of reddish pink looks like the tinting done to certain scenes of old silent movies to convey a time of day or indoor/outdoor.
I think you're right about the guy in the white painter's cap and white painter's pants being a painter. ;-) His toolbox contains jars of (probably) paint. I also think you're right about him touching up some signs.
2) Huh! Yer right. I never noticed how Monstro looks like an Alien. Knowing that, makes Monstro even scarier looking!
I'm trying to decide if the host is more like Mr. Rogers, giving a friendly description of the miniature scenes, or more like a NASA guy, giving dry, just the facts, info about the scenes.
I was about the same age (four) as the transfixed kid when I rode this ride in 1957. I too, remember looking at all those big nasty sharp teeth and wondering "Is a ride I want to go on?"
Nanook, no. That's not a painter in the second photo; he isn't wearing a white cap. It's the law.
Tokyo!, as soon as the kid hit the water, the AEDs would swarm all over him and blow everything up real good!
Thanks for the photo magic, Major.
I have to agree with TM! - those folks are on the dock rather than a raft. There is a raft there - you can see the mast, a red “XXXX DYNAMITE” barrel, and the raft’s safety railing outside of the dock’s safety railing - but it’s not quite in the loading position yet. I think Mr. Greenshirt (Mr. Greenjeans’ island cousin, which helps explain the presence of Dennis the Painter) is helping pull the raft into load position. Here’s what that dock looked like with a raft in load/unload position (I’ll pick up the tab for that photo, Major).
Note the Gullywhumper is only sporting two windows and four passengers today. Mike Fink must’ve throwed the others overboard. That rascal…
I really like the story the second photo tells. The boy’s position and relative size to Monstro says it all. I’m just not quite sure what it’s saying. This darned ear blockage!
JB, that canal boat skipper does look an awful lot like Fred Rogers, doesn’t he?
Beautiful job Major. Like night and day.
Thanks!
Another bang-up job of depinkification. Bravo Major! What strikes me about old Disneyland photos, is the lack of crowds. Sign me up for a day like that. Call me crazy, but I much prefer the female boat captains to Mr. Rogers there. Thanks Major.
Painters, Painters everywhere...has been an inspiration to me this morning. There's one looming in "Canal Boats of the Dirt mounds of the World"....but possibly...it was Storybook Land at this time...or Story Book Land...or Storybookland. Back at the ranch in "BuLand" (L is capitalized): I think that is the dock...it didn't make sense to me that a trashcan was taking a ride...unless Peter Painter was taking it over there to be with his brothers...then I remembered that Tom Sawyer Island had the log trashcans...so it didn't make sense. NCIS SVU is complete. It is the dock...on Tom Sawyer Island. I first thought it was the mainland as I am so used to a 70's version of where you board. Now I'm seeing the fishy dock, et al. The Gullywhumper: everyone on top. I suppose I would be up there as a small lad, but as an old lad, I'd want to be downstairs where the floor show is and an espresso machine. Still think they should do Mark Twain as a dinner venue when Sandblastic reaches it's expiration date. More ideas from me that cost a fortune. Eliminating that experience of light and color and magic and (trying to me nice here...) might be like eliminating the Main Street Electrical parade at this juncture in time. When the "FRIGHTS of Fantasy" parade replaced the Electrical Parade there was strong and global dissent: worthy of pitchforks and torches. City Hall shift anyone? No. Thank. You. I thought I heard "Walt must be spinning in his grave" more times than I really need to hear in my lifetime. Walt had nothing to do with the Electrical Parade other than a inspirational force a decade plus beforehand, but thanks for the feedback guests from far off places and I'm very sorry that we have "RUINED YOUR ENTIRE VACATION." And please don't scream that as loud as you are...it is hurting my inner child, and scaring those around you. I did not like City Hall shifts...and City I called something else...that sounds like City....but isn't... Fantastic work on the color correction. I've been doing it all morning for work...I got done, stepped away, and looked at it again...eeeshh...it was terrible...I started from scratch again. Artists lament: never satisfied. Thanks for the inspiration this AM Major!!!
@ Bu-
You should've 'suggested' those dissatisfied folks head over to WDW to "enjoy" SpectroMagic... Isn't that a sufficient consolation prize-?
Bu, LOL!
Btw, I LOVE your idea of the Mark Twain as a dinner venue! I’ll make my reservations now.
Thanks, Major.
Sue
Nanook, did you like SpectroMagic? I recall it being a bit strange...but my memory could be ‘off.’
Sue
It can be tough getting a good color balance to shots taken in Fantasyland in the '50s, since the pavement itself was painted a sort of unnatural greenish aqua. [I guess to make it "feel" like grass?]
I use a setup of three "curves" adjustment layers, using one for the darkest point, one for the highlights, and the most important one for the gray point. [These are the three eyedropper tools in the curves dialog box].
I also use a Threshold adjustment layer to find the dark and brightest points, so I know where to apply the eyedropper. To find the grey point, throw in a neutral grey layer, set it to "difference" mode, and then the Threshold adjustment layer will help you find the grey point, since anything neutral grey will show up as black.
Gah - this is hard to explain in a comment!
At any rate, nice work!
Nanook, why, painting a fence is probably the funnest thing a boy can do! I’ll bet that painter was glad to have the chance. That other guy might be a painter, it’s hard to say for sure because maintenance men generally seemed to wear all-white back then.
TokyoMagic!, d’oh, you are right, they ARE on the dock. And yes, I see the rope, developed by Dupont for the space program. Giving kids a swift elbow to the face teaches them an important lesson. I’m not sure what the lesson is, but still.
JB, the first few times I color-corrected pink slides, it seemed like a miracle. And it still does, a bit! Go into Photoshop’s “curves”, and reduce the overall red. Then go into “selective color” and reduce more red in specific hues. Then… well you get the idea. Now that you mention that reddish-pink being in silent movies, my mind goes to D.W. Griffith’s “Intolerance”. I’m surprised that I never made the Xenomorph connection before, but from now on I think it’s going to stick. I kind of love it! Monstro needs more drool (made with KY jelly like in the movie). I could see that maybe some sprucing up was being done around the park if it happened to be the off season.
Chuck, yes, I now concur that they are on the dock and not the raft. Sometimes this area is called a “daft”. I only report the facts. When I was a kid I wondered about Mr. Greenjeans. Did any company ever make green jeans? Did he get them dirty and never washed them? As Seinfeld said, “What’s the deal?”. Love the old Keelboats, they just feel more antique and “real”. To me, anyway. And I agree, I kind of love the juxtaposition of the lone little boy with the big scary whale!
DrGoat, thanks!
Jonathan, you ain’t kidding… Sue has been sending me some previews of her dad’s photos, and it is sometimes unbelievable how uncrowded the park is in the pictures. It looks wonderful!
Bu, I’m not sure if this was the era when Disneyland was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but it still surprises me to see maintenance being done out in the open like that. Walt supposedly considered it to be “bad show”… but I get it, sometimes there’s just no other option. Some painting can’t be done at night. There used to be at least three landings for rafts to Tom Sawyer Island, I guess they used whichever ones suited their needs at that time. Not sure if they ever used all three at once. I like the idea of dining aboard the Mark Twain, though a trip around the river is perhaps 10 minutes. I can eat a hotdog in 10 minutes! There are some bugs to be ironed out (is that mixing metaphors?). I assume you mean “Light Magic” for the parade that caused so much chaos? I remember reading about long lines of folks who complained. Was it really that bad? TokyoMagic saw it I believe, he can tell us. It’s true, an artist is never satisfied!
Nanook, I don’t know anything about SpectroMagic!, was that another disastrous parade?
Sue, just don’t be surprised when the bill comes! $$$$
@ Sue-
It was a bit 'strange'. On the other hand I really liked the musical theme to the parade, but HATED the insipid lyrics, and the [now standard] Patented, Castrated Disney Chorus - bringing embarrassment to all those who enjoy great singing and anything musical.
Major-
After exhaustive sleuthing, and consultation with 'the highest authorities', I believe the image of Storybook Land was taken in early 1960, or really does date from the 1950's - possibly as early as 1956. From a number of clues, Skull Rock is clearly not there, and with male CM's as 'pilots', it really confuses dating the image.
Hogarth, I used some of the same techniques as you… Photoshop is one of the programs where you can often achieve the same results using different methods. And you’re right about the blue-green slurry making it hard to judge what’s “correct”. Your method was a bit more involved than mine, and I’m sure it would have resulted in a better final photo! But… sometimes I just want to get it done. I noticed a few days ago that I somehow did not have a post ready to go for today, so I kind of had to rush to put something together.
I always enjoyed the river traffic ballet when riding over to Tom Sawyer Island. It may or may not be true that the developer of Frogger™ used it as inspiration.
Trash cans just want to have fun, Major.
I've had many a crush on the canal boat hostesses.
Thanks, Major
Addendum: Parade which I (and others) referred to as "Frights" of Fantasy was FLIGHTS of Fantasy...inflated balloon floats...all very puffy...all very...well...puffy...with an even more unmemorable puffier soundtrack. Nothing compared, and probably nothing will ever compare to, the Electrical Parade. Not a gigantical fan of parades, or that one, but it does stir up quite nostalgic memories, even for a giant grump such as myself. Flights of Fantasy lasted one season, then was retired. The floats never appeared again either as they were probably too specifically puffy to be integrated into other parades. I'm sure all the "guts" were rehashed into the next thing...and they were probably rehashed from the previous thing. "Blast to the Past" also had puffy plastic "neon" tubing snaking all through Main Street...was again one of those things that was so "off" that we all thought it was a test until the "real one" showed up. Nope...wasn't a test...it was "it". It was a good promotion though...I enjoyed it and I don't like anything. We gave away fuzzy dice from the pre-existing "Guest grabber extraordinaire". And who doesn't like fuzzy dice? They smelled like a Chinese Fuzzy Dice Factory. Essence of fake fur...but not like Elmo or Cookie Monster...more like...melted plastic :) Fuzzy Dice for everyone!
Major, I actually had a pair of green Toughskins when I was a kid. I thought they were so cool because of Mr. Green Jeans.
Bu, I never saw Flights of Fantasy (I was in the Witless Protection Program for the entirety of the 1980s), but TM! did a post a few years ago that did a pretty good job of documenting it.
Nanook, I personally like insipid lyrics, and hate cleverness. Eat it, Stephen Sondheim! I’m tired of your smarty-pants songs! Hey, if you think that the Storybook Land photo is from the 1950s, I’m not going to argue. I’m too busy ranting at Sondheim, after all. Don’t get me started again!
zach, now I want to see a Pixar movie about sentient trash cans. It can be called “Waste Please”. Or just “Waste”? I’m just spitballing right now, but I’m sure I’ll come up with a story that will bring laughs, tears, and lots of merchandise to people’s homes. And yes, some of those Storybook Land hostesses were easy on the eyes!
Bu, somehow I thought that “Flights of Fantasy” was a ride at Walt Disney World, but clearly I am wrong. I’ll have to look for photos of the parade, is that the one with the giant inflatable genie from “Aladdin”? I guarantee that the guts of that parade were reused in some way, apparently floats are very expensive, and nobody’s going to waste a thing. Did you ever hear a rumor that Main Street was going to be rethemed to a 1950s themed street, a la “Back to the Future”? I don’t hate the idea in concept, but… hands off my original Main Street! I like fuzzy dice, and gear shifts that look like eight balls or skulls.
Chuck, good old Sears, they delivered. Literally! “Toughskins” was such a good name. As if they used dragon leather (which is hard to come by these days). Thank you for the link to TM’s post for the Flights of Fantasy parade! I guess that’s not the one I was thinking of. It doesn’t look so bad to me, but like Bu, I’m generally not a big parade guy.
DEPINKIFICATION!
I love the composition of the second picture, with that pint-size Ahab staring down the Great Whale.
I also had green Toughskins from Sears! And red ones, too!
Mike Cozart mentioned having socks with the Liberty Bell on them, in 1976. About a year before that, I had socks with images of Mickey Mouse playing various sports on them. I believe those were also from Sears. And yes, I still have them, today. I need to find those and see how difficult it would be to photograph or scan the images on them.
Chuck, thanks for the shout out on my "Flights of Fantasy" post. I did like that parade. I wouldn't have liked it if it had permanently replaced the Main Street Electrical Parade, but I don't think that was the intention (unlike with Light Magic) and the MSEP did come back the following summer. But maybe that was only due to the complaints that Bu was describing. And I believe that the spirit of Walt Disney came to the Imagineers one day, and told them to create the Main Street Electrical Parade. Just as he did with California Adventure and Star Wars Land.
Major, yes...I did see Light Magic, and it was tragic. Hey, I made a little rhyme! For anyone who's interested, and who might have missed it, I did a post on that "parade," as well:
https://meettheworldinprogressland.blogspot.com/2017/04/what-were-they-thinking-light-magic-at.html
Major, when I see these originals, I hear a Henry Mancini soundtrack.
Thanks for your hard work restoring these, and to the Jr. Gorillas for research and background.
My typical routine is disrupted for a few more days, but back to normal soon.
JG
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