Scenes on the River
Here's a pair of "snoozers" for you, though as snoozers go, they aren't so bad, since they feature very early scenes from the Rivers of America.
This first photo was taken (I believe) as the Disneyland Railroad passed a whole lotta undeveloped frontier. It looks fantastic! And a friendly Indian on horseback waves to us - a live actor on a real pony. I assume that this was before Chief Wavy was there to do the honors.
Another great shot is this view looking toward Fowler's Harbor. Clearly Tom Sawyer Island is not yet open to guests, there's not even an old mill. There's not much to see, other than a large stack of cotton bales, and one of the original Keelboats. This pre-dated the need for rafts to the Island, and the Indian War Canoes did not debut until July 4, 1956, so things look pretty sleepy. Still... I love it!
26 comments:
Major-
"Nothing to see here, folks... keep moving along-!" You just have to know where to look.
Thanks, Major.
Well that's something new. I never knew that there was a live actor (and horse) before Chief Wavy. I bet that didn't last long... maybe 2 or 3 months after Opening Day? However long it took to construct Chief Wavy and his horse.
And what is that metal gadget sticking up out of the bushes to the left?
At first I didn't think there were any people in the second image. But there are a few. The absence of the Old Mill, most of the River traffic (and guests) and established vegetation really give these early photos an eerie look and feel. It also makes them interesting.
Like you said, Major; sleepy looking. But definitely not Snoozers! Thanks for the eerie look at (very) early Frontierland.
The friendly Indian is saying, "Welcome to the future site of Star Wars Land! I requested a tauntaun, but all they had was this lousy horse."
I love these early DL pics, Major. It's great to see the land so undeveloped.
I remember seeing the live actor and horse along the Rivers of America in old Disneyland footage either from the weekly Disney anthology TV show on Sunday evenings or the Mickey Mouse Club Newsreels.
I love Frontierland at this stage. It looks so natural and real. Nothing snoozy about it. Thanks, Major.
Chief Wavy's older brother, Keith Waverly.
The second image was taken very early in the Keelboats’ operational history; I’ve only seen one other photo that shows the Bertha Mae at Disneyland with the original, single-side-door-and two-small-side-window configuration she sported in the Disneyland TV episodes “Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race” and “Davy Crockett and the River Pirates,” and I only stumbled on that a couple of weeks ago looking for something else.
Wasn’t ‘til this morning that I realized that the hull names musta been switchified when the boats came to Disneyland. In the TV show, the Berth Mae has two doors on each side and Mike Fink’s Gullywhumper only has one. My theory is that when they opened the attraction with one boat on Christmas Day of 1955, they picked the boat with two doors to operate, reasoning that two doors would provide better viewing for the inside passengers. But since the name of the attraction was Mike Fink’s Keelboats and the TV episodes would be fresh in people’s minds, having just aired that November and December, it just wouldn’t do to be running Davy Crockett and Georgie Russell’s boat on the Rivers of America. Hence the name switch.
Then, as the attraction gained in popularity and Disneyland crowds increased, they added the other boat in March of 1956 in its movie configuration, eventually enlarging the two small windows on each side to full-sized doors. Then, as we have established previously, the Gullywhumper (or, at least a fiberglass look-alike boat named the Gullywhumper that debuted around 1958) received modifications to its superstructure around 1965 that gave it three doors on each side, same as the Bertha Mae (or rather, same as the Betha Mae’s fiberglass, pod-person replacement).
The live-action Chief Wavy is cool, but now I’m thinking through practical aspects of how that would work. How did he and the horse get into position? How long were his shifts? How boring a job would that have been? How did he take bathroom breaks? How big did the pile of meadow muffins get underneath the horse before they cleaned it up? I want answers!
Chuck, that gadget on a pole (which JB pointed out) was a solar powered meadow muffin measurer. That is how they knew when the pile was too big and when it needed tending to.
Just noticed another detail that never stood out before - the keelboats at Disneyland had masts with furled sails, while in the TV show they were strictly moved by the current and pole power.
TM!, of course - now it all makes sense. Thanks!
Wow, these are practically from opening day, Major. What a find!
Look at that steep slope by the keelboat, that grade change has been in flux since the very beginning.
I just learned recently that keelboats were manuvered by poling, and that the sailor in charge of the pole was called the "pole cat".
JG
When Frontierland was actually a Frontier. Both pics are fascinating, and although I have seen many photos of a "rural West side", these are exceptional. To know that every leaf and blade of grass was imported in is also quite amazing. What it has morphed into is also quite amazing. This looks like a real "park" as intended, which much more soil grading to come. The berm is quite steep here in these parts. I can see in today's world a 20ft high berm would be a "waste of money". The one window Keel Boat I've never seen on the actual Rivers of America. Quite the historic photo. Here is a fun link to a bunch of ex Keel Boat guys I dug up. https://daveysworld.com/disneyland-mike-fink-keel-boats-refloat/ Amazing what you will remember decades later, but those spiels were kind of etched into the hard drive of your brain. In the distance by Fowlers Harbor I see grey pants and white shirt 'ala WD. Could it be? Some nice palm trees there in the distance: possibly from former residents (?) Fowlers harbor doesn't look as crooked as it has become (?) It looks like a working dock, with skiffs and whatnots. Lot's of dirt. So very charming. Another historic moment is this is where the river crossed over into the jungle, and you can see a bit of the bridge on the right. Live guy on live horse: "cost of doing business." Would be kind of amazing to see that today as you are on the DLRR and come across it very naturally. Even if this was a Saturday Sunday thing only. Seems like the press would be worth the $$ even if it was for a short period of time. Not sure if this would remotely even be possible today. They put an updated Audio Animatronic figure on the back side of Wookie World...it's kind of cool...I'd rather see an actor on a horse. What a great place to explore if I was 50 years younger and my grandpa was Walt Disney. Getting in your own boat and getting into trouble on this river and uninhabited island seems way better than a dark ride a few steps away. Thanks for the ride down the rabbit hole Major!
Nanook, I always look where they ain’t. That’s one of my rules.
JB, yeah, for the first few months or so the friendly Indian was a real person, and the funny thing is that I believe that every photo I’ve seen shows the same guy. He must have been there a LOT. To be honest I don’t really know when Chief Wavy went in, but somewhere on this blog I have a very early photo with a very early version of Wavy, before he even had his full headdress. There are definitely not many people in that second photo!
TokyoMagic!, oh man, why didn’t they give the Indians tauntauns to ride?? What a missed opportunity. Somebody needs to be fired.
K. Martinez, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen footage of that Indian actor, but I’ve definitely seen photos of him, including in a 1955 issue of LIFE magazine.
Melissa, I guess I should probably know who Keith Waverly is…?
Chuck, yes, these two photos are from a batch that I suspect are from 1955, but they are undated (like most early slides), so I can only guess. Interesting about the switching of the names… I’m not sure I’ve ever actually seen Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, since my mom thinks it will be too violet for me. I still only watch what she approves. Using the Keelboat with two windows makes sense for the reason you state. You have done some grade-A detective work, and I’m wondering if any of the established Disneyland fan sites have ever made the same connections as you! Maybe this is a first, in which case I am expecting a large check in the mail. From whom I am not sure, but it’s on its way! Yes, that “greeter” position must have been boring as heck. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that same fellow doing essentially the same job along the Stagecoach/Conestoga Wagons route.
TokyoMagic!, I didn’t think that solar powered muffin measurers were developed until the 1960s (using NASA technology).
Chuck, I know the rafts had masts and furled sails, but I didn’t know that the Keelboats ever had them!
JG, that steep slope is a liability, since I would certainly fall down and land in the water. They should have put up a sturdy fence, not to mention many signs telling me not to fall in! How else am I to know? Man, I wish I was a pole cat.
Bu, as much as I appreciate Main Street U.S.A. (I mean “Main Stret”) I feel like the realization of a convincing frontier is a very impressive feat, especially considering the sheer size of the place. They dug out that riverbed, created the islands and undulating shoreline, added all those ramshackle buildings, and planted hundreds (thousands) of trees and shrubs. Amazing. Thank you for the link to Daveysworld, I’ll have to give it a more thorough look when I get back home later. I’d love to believe that Walt Disney is in that one photo, but I’ll need a clearer shot. I can’t get too excited! Fowler’s Harbor really does look convincing in these photos, I’m still unclear if there was ever a snack bar or anything that a guest could access there. I saw Chief Wavy not long ago, but he looked as stiff and stoic as I remembered, maybe I didn’t notice the updated subtleties. An actor on that horse would be nice, but as Chuck said… what a boring job!
Melissa, I guess I should probably know who Keith Waverly is…?
If you do, you're one step ahead of me!
Major, the old Fowler's Harbor (pre-Splash Mountain) was not accessible to guests. There was a fence and gate near the harbor opening (about at the bow of the keelboat in today's pics), you could not walk up to any of the buildings, only look in from a distance. The building interiors were all "backstage" and the scale was a bit smaller than life size, not the vaunted 5/8 or Rainbow Ridge tiny, but shorter than a real building would have been, doors etc. They were winsome and enticing to "kid me", and I always wanted to go back and explore. I think I saw the door in the main back building was open once, similar to the one on the foredeck of the CoS Pirate Ship that was usually shut. Someone working inside and needed air.
Of course, I was very happy with the Splash Mountain revisions to that area where you can now not only get right up to the Columbia in the dock, but even eat lunch there.
JG
And back then on the other side of the berm were...wait for it...orange groves...not the stark differences of today. Talk about a blank canvas to work with back then. I don't think a new park could open today in this condition. Ah...the simple times. KS
If memory is accurate "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" had three keelboats. The ones Davy and Mike raced were tough old tubs built to haul goods up and down the river. The Bertha Mae was brightly painted with decorative trim and shutters on the windows; clearly more upscale and meant for passenger trade. It was found abandoned, victim of the river pirates.
Again, if memory is accurate the two keelboats at Disneyland in the 70s-80s were one of each: a rough, Mike Fink tub and the Barbiesque Bertha Mae. From the other comments here I'm guessing neither was 50s vintage. Both were the same basic design with two big windows on each side.
The 1970s "New Mickey Mouse Club" had a glitzed-up keelboat that flew via cheesy video effects. Park surplus or movie prop?
Walt Disney World had newly designed and built Keelboats … both featuring fiberglass boat hulls. Shortly after the Disneyland keelboats were re-built .. using the Florida plans as guides. Technically towards the end of both parks operations of the Keel Boar attractions , the Walt Disney World Keelboats were an actually older than the ones Disneyland was using as anything from the old movie prop boats of the 59’s had long been replaced or newly designed.
The “keelboat” ( The Discovery) used on the DISCOVERY DAY episodes of the New Mickey Mouse Club of the 70’s was built specifically for the tv show from WDW keelboat plans … however it was of course just a prop and to my understanding had no interior whatsoever and had the Mouseketeers on its exterior only. A scale miniature used for sone of its flying effects still survives and is in the Disney Archives at the studio.
The studio’s borrowed a keelboat for the Disney film The Treasure of Metacumbe …. Which was partially filmed in waterways around Walt Disney World….. it also featured the actor Billy “Pop” Atemore … one of the New Mouseketeers.
Today none of keelboat attractions operate at Disneyland , Walt Disney World or Disneyland Paris .
Melissa, I’m going to pretend Keith Waverly is a local anchorman (with fabulous hair). ACTION NEWS!
JG, thanks for the info; I feel like there is the ghost of a memory about Fowler’s Harbor, but I think I am conflating it with the canteen on Tom Sawyer Island. I don’t really remember noticing Fowler’s Harbor when I was a kid (as I’ve mentioned, my family somehow never made it back to the Indian Village), but looking at photos definitely makes me wish I could have snuck around there! I sort of like the idea of eating in that little dining area, but for once I did not eat at the Hungry Bear - plus all the tables were taken.
KS, Orange groves?? I don’t believe it! That sounds like an urban legend to me.
DBenson, maybe I’ll have to go on Disney+ and watch “Davy Crockett and the River Pirates”, assuming that it is available. You never know. Every once in a while I’ll check to see if the Hayley Mills movie “Summer Magic” is there, since I have heard that Walt particularly liked it, and… no such luck. “Barbiesque Bertha Mae”… you mean it was made of pink plastic? ;-)
Mike Cozart, I have to say that the larger Keelboats did look pretty great, you’d never know that they were fiberglass. I personally really love the painted folk art touches that I’ve seen in photos, not to mention the interesting turquoise-green color. It looks like an antique pie safe! So in that 1970s MMC episode, a Keelboat flies?? “A scale miniature used for some of its flying effects still survives…”. I’m sorry that the Keelboats were removed, it would be fun to take a smaller craft around the Rivers of America.
I'm STILL waiting for The Three Lives of Thomasina, like an idiot.
OK...I've been searching for a photo of the one window keel boat with no such luck. This photo is definitely an anomaly. I even found one with WD, et. al with a 3 window Bertha Mae...and some two windows...but no one window. The search continues. Switching gears, down the road in Buena Park...I ordered my Boysenberry starts from the real and authenticated DNA plants that Mr. Boysen partnered with Mr. Knott. Yes...they exist! https://www.rudysoriginal.com Now...the search for a heritage Anaheim Orange tree with Disneyland DNA. (might be a taller order) I did order my Disneyland Roses, and although the DNA is only from 2002, they are quite a lovely floribunda rose with apricot and pink tones. I'm looking forward to seeing these bloom at my main entrance as well this summer.
These pictures are pretty amazing, though there's nothing particularly unusual about them; I'd have no idea they're from Disneyland if they weren't on this blog. I would easily believe they were taken somewhere in the Midwest.
Love today's pictures! From the very beginning. Doesn't look like an orange grove - and doesn't look like Disneyland, either.
Let's pick a day when we can all go to Mike's museum, then head over to Bu's place. Pretty soon there's going to be more-historic stuff at their places than at Disneyland.
I attached the site with those Disneyland roses for sale, in case anyone else is interested: Click HERE!
It had been about 15 years since I last watched Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, so Mrs. Chuck, er, I mean “Mother” and I sat down to watch it on Disney+ this evening. Thanks for the inspiration, DBenson - I didn’t remember the abandoned keelboat and was wondering what else I had forgotten. Besides - we visited Cave-in-Rock, one of the film’s principal shooting locations, about four years ago and had been wanting to watch the film again anyway.
[Warning: there be spoilers ahead. Properly warned ye be, says I...]
During the keelboat race portion of the film, Davy and Georgie are crewing the Bertha Mae, which is a plain, weather-beaten-looking boat. Mike Fink’s Gullywhumper is made to look as though it’s constructed of newer lumber but is still pretty plain.
They part ways with the Bertha Mae in New Orleans and head back up the Mississippi and Ohio aboard the Gullywhumper. Downstream from Cave-in-Rock, Illinois Territory, they encounter the attacked and abandoned Monogahela Belle, which was played by a redressed, gingerbreaded, and repainted Bertha Mae. The additional trim and paint are very reminiscent of Disneyland’s Bertha Mae. The crew salvages trim from the Monongahela Belleand uses it to disguise the Gullywhumper as the Bonanza.
The Bonanza then uses depth charges to force the Nautilus to the surface. Davy Crockett and James “Bigfoot” Mason duke it out with whaling harpoons while Kirk Douglas plays a banjo and sings to Peter Lorre about “yaller gold.” At least, I think that’s what happened; I kind of dozed off there near the end.
Major, it looks like Disneyland’s Gullywhumper had a mast from the beginning of Park operations, but we can see in your photo from today and the one I linked above that Disneyland’s Bertha Mae did not have one when it first hit the water at the Park. Every photo I could find of it in operation (with three doors or side) shows it with a mast, so I think that was added pretty quickly. Your photo shows it pretty much exactly as it appeared as the Gullywhumper in the TV show, while the other photo shows that they have added roof seating, and that lumber looks pretty raw.
The Disneyland Encyclopedia says there was a three-month gap between the opening of the attraction and when they started using the second boat. I’m going to guess that they launched the original movie prop around the time the attraction opened and then modified her to theme park operating configuration over a period of time before working her into the operating roster. They may have done some testing to see whether the single-side-door configuration worked OK with the open end doors before deciding to add two more doors to each side, or maybe that was the plan from the beginning and it just took a while to get it done. Whatever the case, this is an exceptionally rare photo.
Mike, thanks for the additional info on the keelboats. I got the 1958 date for the fiberglass replacements from The Disneyland Encyclopedia, but I’m sure your inside info placing it in the early ‘70s is more accurate. Looking at photos of the Disneyland Gullywhumper from the latter ‘50s through the point where they changed the door configuration and painted the sides of the cabin, it sure looks like the same beat-up wood cabin from the TV show.
Oh, and Major - I think your mother’s concerns about Davy Crockett and the River Pirates are misplaced. There’s hardy any purple in the film at all.
Chuck, haha. I was wondering if you were gonna take advantage of Major's typo.
Aaaah, Chuck...I hate to tell you - but there’s a typo in your typo comment. :oD
Sue
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