Skull Rock and Snow White Grotto, November 1974
I'm going through a big batch of slide scans, circa November, 1974. Some of them are really nice! Others, like today's examples, are perfectly nice, but they will not increase anybody's heart rate.
Yikes, a big drooling skull! I didn't expect to see that in the otherwise-beautiful tropical lagoon. But... you never know with Disneyland. In this warm sunlight, he almost looks friendly, like he's glad to see us. And honestly, when I'm glad to see someone, I drool a lot too. If Skully was still around today, I'd paint him pink, and give him a gold tooth. And Jabba's Pirate Ship would serve slug burgers. Hire me, Disney!
Elsewhere in Fantasyland, there's another grotto. You can't have too many! This grotto is lacking in skulls. Instead, it has the lovely Snow White (and the little fawn, "Chomper") rendered in marble; she's standing at the top of a merry waterfall, while all seven dwarfs loiter down below. Some say that at night, during a full moon, the dwarf statues move. I believe it!
15 comments:
Major-
It's still hard to believe Skull Rock was given the heave-ho; but some times things go 'the way of all flesh' just a bit too soon.
Thanks, Major.
Ha! Skully does look kinda friendly here, Major. And drooly... very drooly. About 2 ft. to the right of Skully there is the head of a furless cat, and he also looks friendly. It must have been Friendly Day at the Park. I bet even Monstro managed a big toothy smile.
This is one of the best photos of the Snow White Grotto I've seen. Perfect lighting, sharp focus, all the characters are in frame. Even the fountain fish are on the surface, spitting water. Really nice photo; I kept this one.
Two extra nice pictures, Major. Thanks!
JB, I see the head of the cat. I can also see part of a body, below. It almost looks like it could be a giant bunny. Whether it's a bunny or a cat, I am going to name him Mulder. Mulder and Skully will eventually have a baby together, but they will have to send it away to be secretly raised by others, when they discover that the baby is half-alien.
Thanks for the dueling grottos post, Major!
In the bright, even lighting, Skull Rock looks a lot smaller. I still miss it, but this view is less atmospheric than some.
Not sure I agree that you can’t have too many grottos. I think there’s a point where they just become grottoitous.
JB, that cat head will haunt my dreams, just like Aldo Ray (don’t ask).
TM!, I’d never noticed the resemblance between Skull Rock and Gillian Anderson before. In fact,I still don’t see it.
The pond at Skull Rock: the biggest drool bucket this side of the Mississippi. I miss it, but don't lament it too harshly as others. Of all the thing to demolish, that wouldn't be the one I would pick. Captain Hook's...clear that it is Captain Hook's. That is quite the font. Not sure it needs to be soooo prominent, as a big giant ship in the middle should be clear that it's something (?) No? What is the actual name of the ship? Jolly Roger I think. I don't know if the bow is the place for the name. Captain Hook's...what? Boat? Sandwich? Tuna Fleet? Mayo? I am completely confused and will leave it there. Snow Whites Grotto: very lovely and serene. Please don't TRE this. Thanks or the morning thoughts Major.
Two of the best views in the Park. I probably have a hundred of both, or at least a dozen. But I don’t care, I love these too.
Major, there are lots of skulls in Snow White’s Grotto, they are all just covered with skin, meat and hair.
Chuck, I see what you did there.
Thanks Major, top content today!
JG
"If Skully was still around today, I'd paint him pink, and give him a gold tooth."
And pipe in gargling noises!
@ Chuck-
You must be a charter member of the Aldo Ray Fan Club-! You were evidently among the 10 people who saw Haunts - and that didn't include me.
Nanook, getting rid of Skull Rock was my idea. “Let’s tear it down!”. “What’ll we replace it with?”. “Nothing, that’s what! You’re fired!”.
JB, does that cat know Fudgie? They might be acquainted. Furless cats are kind of gross if you ask me, but people love Mr. Bigglesworth. I wonder if Snow White and all the Dwarfs were ever in the full sun? It seems as if the surrounding trees got so big that at least some shadows were cast, except for perhaps later in the day.
TokyoMagic!, giant bunnies, hairless cats, animatronic exploding ducks… Disneyland has so much unusual wildlife. Mulder and Skully will have a baby? Say, where DO babies come from, anyway?
Chuck, in my memory, Skull Rock was two or three stories tall. So when I started looking at old slides, I was surprised to find that it was maybe six feet tall. Shoot, my skull is practically that big, I’m not impressed! I’m not going to ask about Aldo Ray. If you watched season 3 of “The X-Files”, you might remember that Gillian Anderson drooled a lot, it was part of the “big conspiracy”.
Bu, you make a good point about the “Captain Hook’s” lettering, it doesn’t seem to be that necessary. I’d get it if the boat was still sponsored by “Chicken of the Sea” (for instance) and they were paying good money. I do think that in later years that lettering was removed, but I don’t have time to research that right now. It might have been replaced by some decorative gold scrollwork. Did Captain Hook’s boat have a name in “Peter Pan”? If so I sure don’t remember it. I thought the Jolly Roger was the flag. It was also a motel on Harbor Boulevard. After Chicken of the Sea left, the boat served hard tack (full of real weevils), salt pork, and grog.
JG, “there are lots of skulls in Snow White’s Grotto, they are all just covered with skin, meat and hair.”, ha ha!
Melissa, at least it’s not puking noises.
Nanook, Not only have I not seen “Haunts”, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an Aldo Ray movie. Unless he was in Star Wars.
Tokyo!, hahaha, "Mulder and Skully". Poifect! Now we can add Mulder to our menagerie along with Fudgie.
Chuck, "grottoitous". I tried to laugh at that pun, I really did. I tried real hard... I'm still trying. ;-)
I agree, the cat head (Mulder) is not what you would call "cute". It looks like one of those mummified cats you see on the National Geographic Channel's Egypt shows.
Major, oh yes, furless cats are definitely gross! Well, they look gross. I'm sure their personalities vary, just like other cats.
Babies come from rock animals; obviously.
I have to admit, “Aldo Ray” does sound like a character name out of the Star Wars universe.
Aldo Ray, prolific actor, Alejandro Rey "Flying Nun" actor. Aldo Ray: grew up in Crockett, CA and dad worked for C and H Sugar. Alejandro appeared in an episode of "The All New Adventures of Herbie the Love Bug", which lasted less than a month in the 80's. Starring (yes) Dean Jones. (oh dear...)
I especially love the spitting fish and frogs. Too bad Skully wasn’t made to do the same.
Thank, Major.
Sue
I could go for some hardtack, weevils and salt pork right now, as long as it came with grog, and a last walkthrough of Skull Rock and the Pirate Ship.
JG
I didn't know who Aldo Ray was, so I looked him up. Apparently, he starred opposite Lucille Ball in an episode of The Desilu Playhouse, so he must have been a huge star!
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