Snoozers
It's time once again for me to single out some scans. You know, the scans with the orange dot next to them. And orange dot means "SNOOZER". Perfect for Sundays, when my readership goes from 12 people down to five.
Both of these are from 1956; this first one, if it was in focus, would be a beauty, with the last rays of the sun catching the topmost parts of the teepees, and the scraggly trees on the berm. The Passenger Train is passing by (CHOO CHOO!), the Canoes have been tucked in for the night (after getting a kiss on the cheek), and we can even see the birch bark house.
This is a decent photo of Sleeping Beauty Castle, taken a bit earlier than the previous image, but once again things could be sharper and clearer. The poles on the bridge that normally hold colorful banners are bare for some reason. Maybe the nation was still suffering from the Great Banner Crisis of 1956. I see no evidence of a dent on that turret, but it might just be the angle of the light.
24 comments:
It's too bad the first pic suffers from outoffocitis. I really like the almost surreal lighting. Major, you forgot to mention Space Mountain peeking over the berm on the left.
I don't see any Dent either. But that's probably due to the soft focus and, like you said, the lighting angle. I don't see any slate tiles on that turret either, but they must be there, just like the Dent.
Cinderella's wicked stepmother ordered her to take the banners down and give them a good cleaning. Also, there's a giant spider climbing up the Castle wall on the left. Probably an escapee from the Jungle Cruise.
Thanks for the BlurryVision photos, Major.
I've stated that blurry photos don't appear blurry to me...the world is blurry and I like it :) The Indian Village scene could come out of real life Proof that you don't need neon, psychedelic colors, or other "weenie" to engage people. (Note to WDI: please refrain from mouse ear branding canoes, and take the silly off the Monorails. Thanks.) ( I like Mickey, but not everywhere.) Now that that is over.... The castle is etherial, and in perfect scale regardless of the lack of festooning. You can see the Skyway tower at the back, all shiny new. Dresses and white shirts. How nice. Controlled and serene and the kiddie winks walking stroller free. Who knew? Kids have legs! I do understand the enwranglement (new word) of the children, but I do not have to like stroller parking lots. I don't understand the "I'M TIRED!"...you are a kid...you are in Disneyland...really? you are tired? Somebody needs to write their gratitude list today....the slightest complaint would result in strong looks in my world. I do remember complaining once...in of all places Trinidad...It was photographed...It was hot...so very hot...so I was served a warm Coca Cola...back to the gratitude list. If I had known I was that close to the real Swiss Family Treehouse perhaps I wouldn't have been so hot and grumpy. Just an Island away. In my memory, it was the hottest place I had ever been to in life...decades later, going to a place on the equator: that was hot...very very very hot...but in my memory, did not match up to the misery of hot Trinidad+ warm Coke. I can hear the steel drums. I enjoy steel drum bands to this day. I am grateful this morning for GDB. Thanks Major.
I just got an email from Bob Iger with a Super Bowl preview commercial...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg69VWvHGOA
Thanks Bob for letting me know the Super Bowl was today...really had no idea...probably a good time to hit Home Depot without the crowds.
JB, yeah, I get all excited when I hold a slide up to the light and think “This is a good one!”, only to find that it is flawed. Unfortunately that happens a lot! Hence the “Sunday Snoozers”, a chance to use those slides that aren’t really worth posting on an ordinary day. I see that giant spider, and am surprised that the guests aren’t more freaked out about it.
Bu, you have to admit that those teepees would look better with a little bedazzling. And some of those LED lights that turn every color of the rainbow. And I agree, I am pretty weary of lazy mouse ears added to things, it might have been amusing 25 years ago, but by now… seen it. Remember when every movie poster added Santa hats to characters around Christmas? The Terminator with a Santa Hat. Captain Kirk with a Santa Hat. “We’re out of ideas!”. I do understand how a small child could be overwhelmed by Disneyland, it’s a sensory overload. And parents can drive their young ones pretty hard without a rest. That being said, the sound of a shrieking child doesn’t improve my disposition! When I first went to Europe many years ago, I was warned that a drink with ice in it would be a rarity, and that did seem to be the case. But you just had to go with it. “American champagne!”, the waiters would exclaim as they handed us a Coke.
Bu, my sister came out to visit my mom last weekend and told me that the Superbowl was this weekend. I honestly had no idea! Guess what I won’t be watching later?
The Superbowl is today? Good day to visit Disneyland?
As Bu says, these look like Disneyland with my glasses off. Which is fine.
I’m enjoying the Indian Village perspective as it helps show everything “where it was”, which closeups don’t always do. I see the bark house. Originally, these structures were made of meat loaf, which was a temporary material. Disney pioneered the bark version as more durable and weathertight.
And any picture of SBC is worth studying for new details.
I remember sitting in one of the brick planters in front of Creole Cafe, holding my little son on my lap while he slept. Disneyland can be overwhelming for the littlest ones. But I am out of patience with “tweenies” who should know better.
Major, I agree, all these media companies, not just Disney, are out of ideas. Our societal cognitive decline will eventually reach a point where we won’t recognize anything original since there will no longer be a frame of reference to discuss it. We will be like the Star Trek aliens who conversed only in quotations from their literature, and abstract concepts could no longer be discussed if you didn’t know the legends.
“Shaka, When the Walls Fell.”
Thanks!
JG
Behold, the hard-working brilliance of the Berm! Literally setting this scene. 100 acres of asphalt just wouldn’t have the same je ne sais quoi now would it? Let alone having the Sierra tower soon looming over teepees.
My next guess supposes this Beauty is pre-dent! The how and when remain in the future here, let along with the mystery of why it remained for decades.
Haha, a newspaper once interviewed me at a laundromat, wondering why I was there instead of watching the super bowl? Because I’d rather schlep and fold!
MS
Major, I'll join you in not watching the Super Bowl.
JG, "meat loaf"... interesting. I'm guessing the Plains Indians used primarily bison for their meat loaf houses. Maybe a little bit of deer, bear, or elk added for variety. When the bison were scarce I imagine they substituted prairie dog, rabbit, and jackalope.
That Star Trek:TNG episode ("Darmok") is one of my favorites.
Sunday Night has the right idea...Disneyland today! We’ll have to see the park attendance numbers and compare to other days. I wish I lived close by, l’d love to plan a DL-bowl party there, tonight, with everyone.
MS, I’m going to fold some laundry now.
Sue
MS, that berm certainly did its job well. While I know cognitively that there was a parking lot just on the other side of that dirt pile, I rarely remember it’s there when I look at photos.
Mrs. Chuck and I went to Disneyland on Super Bowl Sunday in 1995, and there seemed to be a noticeable difference in crowd size. I’m not even sure we realized it was Super Bowl Sunday until after we’d been there a while and were trying to figure out where the crowds were.
Disneyland With Your Glasses Off pictures give you 100% of your RDA of You Are There. I can see a sharp, professional picture of Sleeping Beauty Castle anywhere, but I can tell right off these are pictures taken by some everyday person who has stood where I have stood and saw what was there before I was born, using technology that's rarely used today. It's a great feeling.
I was going to try to be all highbrow and stuff and quote poetry, but I think it's enough to just say these are nice and I like them.
JG, I speak primarily in Simpsons and Futurama quotations, so I don't see a problem with that.
Hey, look at me! I’m not watching the Super Bowl!
Sunday Night, my theory is that too many Disneyland fans have already guessed that the park will be uncrowded, and so it will be even MORE crowded.
JG, I’m afraid that if I take my glasses off, Disneyland looks even more blurry. I think that a quality meat loaf makes a fine building material, it was good enough for the Romans after all, and the Pantheon still stands (90% meat loaf). I try to remind myself that kids can’t help how they feel, and to not let their shrieks get on my nerves too much. But it isn’t easy! I watched a tiny girl hitting her mom, who was trying to calm her down. Not sure what her problem was, but I felt really bad for the mother. It amazes me that a company like the Walt Disney Company, theoretically founded on creativity, storytelling, and artistry, can’t come up with better ideas. Of course they often leave those problems to marketing people, or worse, executives. Hey, I get your Star Trek reference!
MS, I do love that berm, and think that it doesn’t normally get the credit that it deserves. I wonder which Disney employee had that idea? We’ll probably never know. I’d like to say “Walt thought of it”, but I don’t think that’s the case. Funny how your presence at a laundromat was so incredible that you actually got interviewed by a newspaper. I just went to the grocery store, and while the streets seemed a bit less busy, the store itself was packed!
Sue, yes, wouldn’t it be fun if we could have somehow done a big party with the Junior Gorillas?
Chuck, they even put a sort of berm between Frontierland and Galaxy’s Edge, but it isn’t quite adequate, you can see the lit spires of Wookie World at night. Maybe someday trees will block those out. Hopefully. I work for a newspaper and I’d like to interview you and your wife about going to Disneyland on Super Bowl Sunday. It’s abnormal behavior and you are now “on the list”. YOU know what I mean. THE LIST.
Melissa, I like to imagine that these photos were taken by my grandfather, who only took focused pictures by accident. It’s like a stopped clock being right twice a day! No need to do poetry, but an “Oklahoma!” reference is always welcome.
Dean Finder, my only regret is that I have boneitis.
I'll just offer my one spoken line from Oklahoma!: "Let's have three cheers fer the happy couple!" I'm sure there's a happy couple in the trees somewhere. Gosh-darn smoochers!
Also, on a note unrelated to today's pictures but related to GDB in general, I've been fighting COVID for about a week and a half, sleeping a lot more than usual, and having incredibly vivid dreams, especially when I have a fever. Last night I kept dreaming I was in a theme park under construction and its early years, wandering around and trying to figure out where I was. The best I could figure was that it was a combination of Disneyland, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Knott's Berry Farm. And I wouldn't have know what the latter two looked like without GDB.
It was much less scary than the Haunted Magic Kingdom dreams I had as a kid, where the Carousel came off its moorings at night and followed me around the park like a spinning top.
Melissa, I hope you get better quick! And look for me and the other Jr. Gorillas in your Disneyland dreams.
Sue
Melissa, I’d like to think that there were LOTS of happy couples in Disneyland on that day!
Melissa, oh my gosh, I’m sorry you got COVID, and hope that it hasn’t been too horrible. I’ve been lucky so far, but am just waiting until it’s my turn. Your dream sounds kind of cool, though definitely kind of spooky too. Hey, I don’t know what Disney’s Hollywood Studios looks like AT ALL! I don’t have a feel for the place at all. The Carousel followed you around?!?
Sue, I think Melissa will have to make up likenesses for a lot of the Jr. Gorillas!
Yeah, I listed the parks in the wrong order so it sounds like I learned about DHS from GDB. Those proofreading skills are the second thing to go!
Melissa, best wishes for a speedy recovery! Hope you get well soon! Remember, a dream is a wish your heart makes…
Dean Finder, since I barely know those shows we might have trouble communicating, ha!
“ Picard and Dathon… at El-Adrel." “Dean and JG at GDB.”
JB, prairie dog meat loaf sounds oddly appetizing. Wait, what am I saying…
Major, you’re right, most notable Roman monuments were fabricated of a blend of meat loaf, pozzolanic cement, and lightweight aggregates. Very durable, and yet tasty as aperitivo served with a glass of cold wine.
JG
Tasty, but rough on the teeth.
The berm was a stroke of genius, and it would probably be an interesting tale to learn exactly how the idea arose. There was plenty of dirt to pile up, of course, given the excavations of all the assorted lakes and waterways of the park.
Among the people who designed the park were folks with backgrounds in set design. These people knew how to do a lot with a little. They knew a thing or two about a thing or two, and they knew that a berm, properly landscaped, could turn Disneyland into another world, almost completely separate from mundane existence.
The shot of the Indian Village is absolutely beautiful - late afternoon - just about sunset, I think. One of my favorite times of day in southern California; it's often hazy, and the low sun and encroaching night call up adventure to me.
What a beautiful thing the Disney team made. Hats off.
Get well soon Melissa….isn’t the carrousel unmooring and coming at you a scene from Something Wicked This Way Comes?
Speaking of Disney live action movies, there is (or rather mostly was) a berm that embraced the tiny backlot at the Walt Disney Studios. The north-east view from Walt’s office would have looked directly into it (the Frank Wells building and erasure of that backlot was when most of it was lost). Most other Hollywood studios do not have this feature. Bill Evans, landscape genius of Disney parks, began working with Walt at his home in Holmby Hills in 1950, terraforming it for the Carolwood Pacific Railway - it might have been his idea to screen out views with dirt, but I don’t think we really know this. Maybe Tom Morris can illuminate this corner of Dis-tory when his book comes out?! If I am not mistaken, EuroDisneyland is the only other park built this way, and he knows ALL about that project.
Woooops,
MS
Ok. The new book ‘From Hollywood to Disneyland’ points out that the berm at the studio was built AFTER the one at the park.
MS
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