Snoozers
You saw the title of today's post, so there should be no surprises. These aren't going to be great. But they should tide you over until tomorrow.
From sometime in the 1950s - since we can sort of see that sign with the map to the extreme right, I believe that this must be from '56 of so. We have Dad, Mom, Scooter, and the mother in-law, Brunhilde. They're posting in front of a little garden near Sleeping Beauty Castle, full of lovely flowers and shrubbery. The shrubbery was one of the listed attractions. "Sail a pirate ship to Neverland! Visit the 7 Dwarf's mine! Explore a tropical jungle! Ride a genuine steamboat! Enjoy shrubbery!" (the shrubbery was an "A" ticket). This picture is blurry, which makes it unworthy of prime time.
This one is from a lot that may or may not be from 1955; it's a Jungle Cruise ride, with Aunt Mimi and Uncle Fred exploring that tropical jungle that I mentioned earlier. Mimi looks apprehensive, but Fred is as cool as a cucumber. One of the "headhunters" is crouched behind that fallen tree; of course all of the natives have been removed rather recently, I'll miss them, but I get it. Notice that at this point the jungle is so wimpy that we can see through the trees to what I believe is the back of some Main Street structures.
19 comments:
Major-
The way "Brunhilde" is standing - she could easily be "Ginny's" Mom. If the first image is from 1956, it must be early in the year, as I see no sign of any Skyway 'paraphernalia'.
Thanks, Major.
Ha, ha! Shrubbery listed as an attraction. They actually did something like that when Hong Kong DL opened. The guides listed Snow White's Grotto as an actual attraction. The "Leaky Tiki" fountains in Adventureland were also listed. And because of Disney's desperation to pad out the very low number of attractions, they listed their island and the rafts to get to the island, as two separate attractions. Oh, and there were/are some gardens in Fantasyland that were also called an "attraction." Desperate!
Gee, Aunt Mimi....what a big bow you have! And big earrings, too!
I believe we can see The Dent, just a trifle. Scooter looks like one of the Von Trapp children; which would explain the Teutonic mother in-law, Brunhilde. Man, she looks stern; even with the smile; which we all know is fake; she's not fooling anybody. (I used up all of Major's semi-colons, so the rest of the junior Gorillas will have to settle for commas the rest of the day.) Except for the slight blurriness, this is a pretty nice photo.
That looks like the red bricks of the Fire Station tower above Uncle Fred. So they replaced the natives with monkeys... not sure that's the message they wanted to convey. But oh well, monkeys are fun.
They may be Snoozers, but they're fun Snoozers. Thanks, Major.
If you zoom in really closely above the central tower of the Castle, you can get a really good view of the empty sky..
Note the skull on top of the fallen log in front of the headhunter. Something else that’s not there anymore.
JB, I think you’re right about that being the backside of the Fire Station tower. I guess there were multiple points on that attraction in the early years where guests got mooned.
Just found out our local library has a copy of Chris Merritt's Marc Davis book!
I notice Scooter is wearing a nice madras button-up shirt and brown leather shoes. Before t-shirts and nikes took over the youth fashion scene.
We were a proper country once.
I read somewhere that a single actor served as the model for all the native figures in the old JC, not sure if that’s true or another exaggeration like rafts being an attraction.
I would agree that rafts could be an attraction if we could race them around the island backwards, but plain old back-and-forth is all we ever get. I wonder how fast one of those would go at full sail?
Thanks Major!
JG
I thought rafts WERE an attraction (?) No? Isn't it Tom Sawyer Island Rafts? not...the commonly used "Tom Sawyer Island?" Shrubbery is a MAIN attraction for me, and most of my time in life is photographing plants that are unable to grow on my property. I fancy myself a modern day Bill Evans...but I think I am more that kind of crazy guy who talked about plants and yards on HGTV when it the network first started: Paul James. He's smarter than me, but and I am crazier...I think...perhaps. In any case, Team Scooter is something my shrink would have a field day with and I will leave it there. Notice the un-purposeful, yet illuminating, placement of humans, and the very purposeful stance of B.H. That is training right there. Black gloves. She is some serious stuff. All I can say is "no wire hangers, ever." Jungle guys: yes...that was right across from the TG lounge. It's not the firehouse behind there but the old "Police Station" later to become many things. I'm pretty sure...I would hear these Jungle beats all day long and after a while you don't hear it anymore. There were also "vocalizations" which actually now that I remember sounded pretty accurate. While in Kenya I spent time with Masai, Samburu, and Kikuyu tribes. They did have spears and slingshots and whatnot but it was for protecting their cattle...and us. Baboons (and other creatures) get super aggressive where there is food, and the tribes obviously know the law of the jungle more than the westerners who come to experience it. Tribes do not point spears at you :) Like everyone, they are enterprising and want currency to trade for cattle: which IS their currency. They sold me really cool things made out of basically trash left from tourism: interesting uses of pop tops, and wire from old hair dryers and things that are pretty much useless out there...even when staying in a lodge (limited electricity.) Thanks for the photos Major!
Look at Little Scooter's suspenders! JG, I've heard that too about the Jungle Cruise figure model (I think they showed someone getting a plaster cast made on a Wonderful World of Disney show). I like Aunt Mimi's perfectly spaced hair bumps (maybe a braid around the crown of her head?). Snoozy but calming pics, thanks Major.
Major- The snoozers today are still nice to see, but yes it would be nice if they were in better focus.
JG- The actor is Woody Strode, who was in many movies, acting with John Wayne, Kirk Douglas & others. There are photos to support this. Hopefully this link works-
https://www.facebook.com/EnchantedTikiBar/posts/flashback-the-creation-of-trader-sam-sorta-on-disneyplus-you-can-revisit-the-pre/762608824280659/
The gentleman pictured in the suit & tie, is Harper Goff, who in addition to many other things, designed the Nautilus for the 20,000 Leagues movie.
-DW
JG: Pretty sure the documentary on Walt Disney Treasures set said that they took a body cast of Noble Johnson and used it for all the natives, although it's unclear whether they used his face.
Johnson, born in 1881, was an African-American actor whose career reached back to "Intolerance". He was one of those familiar faces who didn't always get billing but turned up everywhere. He frequently played Native Americans in westerns, cropped up in classic horror films, and played the zombie in Bob Hope's "The Ghost Breakers". During the silent era he headed his own movie company, producing and starring in films for black audiences.
Johnson retired in 1950. He would have been in his 70s when he became the model for Jungle Cruise natives, so he must have kept himself impressively fit (Did they keep using the same molds for later figures?)
Chuck, whoa, yer right! Nuthin' but blue sky! I can't believe no one ever noticed that before! Only on GDB!
Nanook, maybe Brunilde and Ginny went to the same finishing school!
TokyoMagic!, I guess the term “attraction” has a pretty elastic definition. I would have listed the benches as attractions. Tear out your C-ticket for a relaxing adventure! I mean, the Snow White Grotto is very nice, but… an attraction? Hmmm. I did not remember that they listed both the rafts AND Tom Sawyer Island as separate attractions. “I want to go to the island, but I don’t want to ride the rafts”. Aunt Mimi’s bow is hiding a roast chicken, which she will occasionally nibble on.
JB, I think I can see the dent, though it is very subtle in that soft-focus picture. I like to picture Brunhilde with a riding crop . I like it a LOT. “Somebody has been veerrry naughty!”. I bought a new case of semi-colons so feel free to go nuts. These semi-colons have Bluetooth technology! I agree, replacing human beings with monkeys does seem a bit icky, but I just try not to think about it.
Chuck, actually, that sky isn’t empty. There’s air there! And maybe even some bugs. I’m sure I’ve blown your mind, but that’s what science does sometimes. An Adventureland without skulls is like a day without trumpet practice. Hey, if that’s the Fire Station, then Walt probably used those steps that we can see!
Andrew, SWEET! Be sure to read it with melted chocolate on your fingers.
JG, if it’s hot enough, I’ll probably be one of those people wearing a t-shirt. Now that my mom has stopped picking out my clothes for me (as of one year ago). I’ve seen footage of the actor actually being greased up for a fiberglass (?) mold, once you know it, you’ll notice that they all look identical. Are you proposing a Rocket Rods-type river raft attraction? Disney might be calling you any minute now!
Bu, I’d have to go back and look at my old ticket books, but they are all in a box at my mom’s house. Free storage! Since there is that book, “Disneyland World of Flowers” (1965), you are not the first person to appreciate the shrubbery and other flora at the park. My best friend is a plant guy, but in his case he loves rare fruit trees, and has a bunch of them. We used to go to plant shows up to 90 minutes away, all in the hopes of finding something unusual. He has all kinds of guavas, papayas, jujubes, goji berries, and on and on. It’s fun to tour his yard because he’ll pick a fruit that happens to be ripe and hand it to me. I’ve heard that the jungle sounds played all night long, though I don’t understand why they didn’t shut them off at the master control switch (assuming there was such a thing). Maybe they didn’t want the night-shift to get spooked by all the silence? My mom used to buy handbags from Africa made out of some sort of plastic twine, they were actually kind of pretty. She’d give them out as stocking stuffers.
Kathy, gosh, maybe they DID use plaster for the casting process? That stuff gets HOT as it cures, which sounds very uncomfortable. Hey, I have perfectly spaced hair bumps, but you don’t hear me bragging about them. Until now.
DW, if I ever knew that the model for the natives was Woody Strode, I’d forgotten it. Thanks for the link to that Facebook page with the frame grabs. Harper Goff, I wish I could go back in time and pester him with lots of questions!
DBenson, somehow Noble Johnson seems more right, but I certainly don’t know. I think I first read about Noble Johnson because I had a book about the making of the 1933 version of King Kong (he played one of the natives, of course). As you said, it seems like he would be a bit old for the casting process, the man in the photos from DW looks to be in his 30s. I’m so confused!
Then, when you have found the shrubbery, you must place it here, beside this shrubbery, only slightly higher, so we get the two-level effect with a little path running down the middle...
CORRECTION: I WAS WRONG. ANONYMOUS IS RIGHT.
Did a bit of Googling that I shoulda dun in the first place, and confirmed it was indeed Woody Strode, NOT the much older Noble Johnson, who was immortalized on the Jungle Cruise. I just had Noble Johnson on the brain because he's been turning up in movies I've been watching. He did live into the 1970s, so at least I may have been right about his staying fit.
I do remember Woody Strode's gladiator character in "Spartacus", but had to look up the name.
Melissa, I KNEW someone was gonna go there!
Major, yes I am proposing a cross between the TSI Rafts and the Rocket Rods!
I am inspired by KS's recent comment about piloting the rafts dodging the busy river traffic resembling the "Frogger" video game, what if it went really fast! With big engines like those Tom Daniel model cars!
Although I would settle for a high-powered Keelboat revival. I saw a rendering for a high-speed/high water keelboat recently on other social media, and it seems perfect for today's thrills-and-chills Park. Hopefully it was not just fan-fic.
DW, Kathy, DBenson, thanks for the background info! Some more for me to research! I knew that story had to be true.
Major, I didn't intend any slight on t-shirts or their wearers (I love t-shirts so much I am wearing two right now), just that wearing shirts with buttons has fallen out of fashion and for some occasions still feel more appropriate for some reason. My son recently was promoted into a management position and he felt that he had no clothing suitable to the role, having worn only t-shirts for the decade after college. He immediately went out and refreshed his wardrobe. On the other hand, obviously his attire did not weigh against his promotion, so maybe it isn't as important as it used to be for old guys like me. Scooter still looks cute.
Thanks for these pics, GDB proves again that there are no pictures of Disneyland too dull to be entertaining somehow.
JG
JB, somebody had to do it!
Melissa, it!
Chuck, hahaha. Took me a few seconds to figure that one out. "Ni!"
Post a Comment