Beautiful Tomorrowland, January 1st, 1971
Hello, New Year's Day, 1971! On the rare instances where I have an exact date, I like to refer to "Jason's Disneyland Almanac" for a few fun facts. January 1st was a Friday; the park was open from 10:00 to 7:00, and the high temperature was 63º Fahrenheit, with a low of 46º. Bring a coat! There were no attendance numbers listed for this day, but it was obviously busy. I really like this photo of a bustling Tomorrowland, and am trying to figure out where our photographer was standing. Maybe at the Tomorrowland Terrace?
Next, another pretty photo looking at the entrance to Tomorrowland, taken from a Peoplemover train. The Matterhorn has its Christmas star, which would only be used for one or two more years (I found different dates for on different websites, but one said that 1973 was the last year for the star). We also have "America The Beautiful", and those nutty fountains.
26 comments:
I'll let someone more familiar with the Park figure out where the photographer was standing. Major, I was gonna say "Disneyland" (again), but the way you worded your sentence it doesn't quite work this time.
Seems freakishly odd to not see any Skyway buckets in these photos. I thought it was mandatory. There are only aqua and red PeopleMover trains in both pics. I think it's an alien message, like crop circles.
There's a white blob on the ground, on the left, in the last photo... did somebody accidently drop their baby? So waddya think, JG, three trashcans?
Very Disneyland. Very Tomorrowland. Thanks, Major.
Yay! More versions of the 1967 New Tomorrowland! I'm pretty sure that first pic was taken while standing in the exit area of America The Beautiful. The row of Chatterbox telephone booths would be located just to the right of the photographer. They had large windows that looked out onto the main Tomorrowland corridor.
JB, that white blob and your comment reminds me of the Roy Lichtenstein artwork of the lady grabbing her head and saying, "Oh my god! I left the baby on the bus!"
Now I want a T-shirt that says, "Oh my god! I left the baby at Disneyland!"
Great big beautiful tomorrow shots!! It appears the first image is taken from the Bell pavilion exit lobby ….that returns you to Tomorrowland.
In the second photo : while yes it is a theme park , the designers have treated it with very serious and sophisticated design that could have held its own in any contemporary city center or civic venue of the day. ; no low brow cartoon aliens bolted to the facades or desperate Vacation Club sales kiosks blocking the walkways ….
And remember; if you are traveling across town or across the county , rely on the tires all Disneyland relies on : GO! GO! GOODYEAR!!!
Thanks for these Major!!
46-63, or, as we call it in the Northeast, shorts weather!
I love the lone red Mickey balloon hovering above the crowd in the first picture. And there are some nice splashes of bold stripes and plaids in the sea of dark outerwear.
TM! I want one of those t-shirts, too!
The first photo is full of fun details, but I’ll only point out two. On the right-hand side, an elderly woman is being helped along by a younger person, possibly a teen-aged grandchild. I think that’s very sweet.
The other detail is the girl in the left foreground, wearing an orange-and-yellow striped shirt and red pants. What’s caught my attention is her hat - what the heck is that thing? It almost looks like maybe it’s supposed to be a lion, with a mane across the crown and a tail hanging down the back. It reminds me of the Little Golden Book, The Tawny, Scrawny Lion. And that has its own Disney tie-in, as it was illustrated by Gustaf Tengren.
Second photo - nutty fountains - my favorite flavor! Note the woman to the left of the watermark checking the Disneyland app on her cell phone. She is probably ordering breakfast for the following Wednesday, the first available slot. Tracking to the left, a woman elegantly holding her cigarette enjoys the Golden Hour view of the Plaza, wondering when they will get around to filling that empty space in with a statue.
I guess I never really looked at this side of the pointed end of the America the Beautiful building. Most shots focus on the shiny front. Never noticed the beveling or whatever it’s called to the left of the Saul Bass masterpiece, but it really stands out in this lighting. I like it.
Melissa, that solitary red balloon makes me think of the Academy-Award-winning film The Red Balloon. I haven’t seen it since probably first grade (which is a very long time ago now, about last Friday), but it definitely made an impression.
The older PeopleMover sign is the best. The newer, newer one...that said "Through Tron Tunnel" is prominently displayed at the Disney Archive. I'd rather see the Goodyear one please. I'd also like to see the GO GO GOODYEAR little animated dioramas, which were so delightful. In the end, they could have done just nothing here, but nothing was not acceptable..and I agree. Behind the red balloon there is a pretty tree that I don't remember seeing in other photos, but will have to look. You can see the bottom left edge of the Character Shop sign as well. I agree with MC that this view could be translated to an actual cityscape. Century City had some overpasses akin to this design and "feel" that was seen in one of the last Planet of the Ape movies...or was it the TV series? Anyhoo...the new Peoplemover system at LAX could have been stylized this way...but isn't. My last trip there: that entire thing is just a mess. I do look forward to it however as I avoid LAX at all costs as it is such a pain to get off airport property, and somewhere else. There are now busses that take you to an "Uber" "Lyft" lot...to get all the traffic away from the airport. The rental car places: same thing...except worse. Hasn't changed since I was a kid. Smart idea..it just needs the Peoplemover to get you there...not a clunky bus...Here's a link. It might be a game changer- jury is out. They call it People Mover: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/lax-los-angeles-airport-people-mover-construction-project-images/1966538/ The star on the Matterhorn is always nice to see, and I've always marveled at the engineering needed to keep it on it's little stick, and the drama to actually get it on and off. Again...they could have done nothing, but nothing was unacceptable. Bring back the Tomorrowland fountains please. Planters are OK...but just looks like we don't care. Haven't fountains in Europe been operating for hundreds of years? Just saying. The tiles beyond the signage of America the Beautiful and Adventure Through Inner Space at the end of their lives did get a little shopworn...probably due to changing signs out and whatnot. It seemed like some tiles aged more than others. This is a very colorful area now. And by colorful, I don't mean "in spirit", I mean like in the cartoon world. Not the animation world. The cartoon world. Tomorrowland at it's finest was neat, tidy, organized, balanced, and metered. This is from a design perspective, not just because I like it. People often say..."oh...you just like it because you were there...and blah blah blah." No. I like it because it was good, interesting, creative, innovative design. "So, there!" Thanks for the morning rant-makers Major!
Best. Tomorrowland. Ever.
Yes, the Bell exhibit exit lobby, a good vantage for lots of things to see, including the crowd in 70’s brown fashions, and the elegant concrete work of those PeopleMover pylons. “Pylons”, that’s a good solid futuristic word. I’m gonna use it today in many sentences.
JB, agree, three silver trash cans in photo 2. I also notice how the purple flowers in the pylon planter follow the shape of the PM track overhead.
Bu, I agree, airport transit pods are sadly lacking style. The train in the Detroit airport has the best Star Trek ambiance I’ve seen, but LAX and SFO both look like they were assembled from leftovers dumped out on the ground, and inelegant pylons. Opportunity missed. At least I won’t have to suffer with the appearance of the CA high speed rail since it won’t be completed in my lifetime.
Thanks Major for these splendid views of pylons… …and other things.
JG
The second picture is all sorts of fantastic. Like Chuck, I'm not used to seeing the America the Beautiful building from this angle, so it's cool to see how the iridescent entry walls sweep up to support another pointy roofline. And the purple flowers mirror the design on the Peoplemover track right above them! Thanks, Major.
Just over five weeks after these pictures were taken, the Sylmar earthquake ripped through Southern California. And three days after that, I was at Disneyland! It was Lincoln's Birthday, the park was open late, all the rides were operating, and a record high temperature was recorded for the date (not yet surpassed). And there were no crowds! It was like a private party for family and a few friends.
Major, I think '72 was the last year for the Christmas star. '73 was the big energy crunch, and my parents even told me that Disneyland was doing its part by turning off inessential lights. My weisenheimer next door neighbor displayed just 3 lit Xmas bulbs on the typical string of dozens which people dress their roofs with.
And a squeaky-clean start to 1971. New Year's Day. Operating hours 10 to 7. Not anymore. It allowed many CMs to have the day off. Hours were similar on Christmas, Christmas Eve and Thanksgiving Day back then. That would give me time to work a shift and be home for the family holiday dinner. Notice in the second picture the stroller parking in front of the Bell attraction. Lightly used. Kids apparently walked a lot more then and those that didn't weren't in SUVs. KS
JB, are you SURE these were taken in Disneyland? Have you considered the multiverse? Ourangle (in photo #2) is just not quite right to see any Skyway gondolas, but you’re right, it does feel a bit weird. The white blob is a chunk of ambergris.
TokyoMagic!, ah, somehow “the exit area of America the Beautiful” seems right. Sort of what we are looking at in the second photo? Maybe beneath the red Peoplemover train? I don’t know that particular Roy Lichtenstein painting, but I can picture it anyway!
TokyoMagic!, just a shirt? Why not a JUMPSUIT?
Mike Cozart, somehow everything looks perfect in these photos, as much as I loved the earlier versions of Tomorrowland, the Imagineers managed to top themselves with the ’67 version. Has it ever been surpassed? Let’s poll the readers of “Parade” magazine! And I will GO GO GOODYEAR!
Melissa, yes, folks who live where it gets cold have thicker skin. That red Mickey balloon is so lonely, it needs a friend.
Chuck, it looks like three people in a row are holding hands, like kids on a field trip! “We don’t want anybody to get lost!”. That poor young girl is wearing a terrible toupee. Back in those days toupee technology was primitive. As for The Tawny, Scrawny Lion, I am more of a Poky Little Puppy man myself. The drama! The romance! The intrigue! It has it all. In 1971 all cell phones were made of wood. Sure, plastic and metal were readily available, hey, I didn’t design the things. I do love that unusual angle on the America the Beautiful building, I think it is unique among photos in my collection. “The Red Balloon”, gosh I saw that multiple times in grade school. I think you can watch it on YouTube too. I don’t care for the remake with Tom Cruise as the balloon.
Bu, you mean the “Tron Tunnel” poster is prominently displayed at the archives? I love the old silkscreened posters best, so the Goodyear version would be my preference too. I’m not sure how the Imagineers decided how much was “enough, but not too much”. The Mary Blair tile murals might have been overboard in some hands. “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” is the one that was filmed in brand-new Century City. I am interested in the People Mover being built at LAX, but nothing is going to make me love going to LAX! Though I am very glad that I did eat at the “Encounters” restaurant in the Theme Building many years ago. Bummer that they did not opt for a fun, futuristic design. Yes, make it functional, but make it beautiful too? There was a short while when I thought we might get the Matterhorn star back (with new LED lights), but it’s possible that the Anaheim locals would complain. I understand that the fountains sometimes caused problems when the days were windy… can’t they just shut them off on those days? I’m glad if people like the current Tomorrowland, but they don’t know what they missed.
JG, maybe brown clothing will make a comeback. I have a brown hoodie with an orange lining that I am very fond of. “Pylons” is a good word. So is “lozenge”. I never noticed how the purple flowers echoed the shape of the pylons! I miss the days when Disney would actually be in the mix for designing peoplemovers for airports and other places. Those were the days.
Andrew, this is one of those cases where I took one look at these photos and knew that they were special! Definitely “Friday post-worthy”. I’m glad you like them!
Stefano, interesting, I never thought about how the Sylmar quake might have affected Disneyland. I lived in Huntington Beach at the time, and it sure shook us up! My brother and I slept in bunk beds, I had the upper bunk. I still remember the WWII model airplanes hanging from our ceiling waving crazily. Does your neighbor work for Disney? ;-)
KS, it really did surprise me that the park closed at 7:00 on New Year’s Day, I assume that was in consideration of the employees. No doubt they could have stayed open until midnight or 1:00 AM. I’m glad that you could get home for the family dinner! I honestly don’t understand why there are SO many strollers today compared to years ago. Except that the parents like to use them as storage.
Major, Disney is planning a re-make of the Red Balloon, with Johnny Depp in the title role.
Also, "pylons".
JG
The Disney Studios Archives has on display one side ( it was doubled sided ) the PEOPLEMOVER THRU THE WORLD OF TRON entry marquee…it’s the blue molded plexiglass sign insert with white and yellow letters ….. the one from the above the attraction turnstile. It was saved by a gentleman from marketing who had intended (hoped) he could hang it in his office one day. It was kept in an office /break room inside the carousel theater. The marketing employee was a big PeopleMover fan and he met his wife at tge PeopleMover - she was a PeopleMover castmember. He and his wife were actually given one side of the plexi sign inserts to one of the rotating PeopleMover signs , but Disneyland spray painted it gold!!! Oh well - better to have a good painted PeopleMover sign than not at all!!!! The gold PeopleMover sign was presented to this couple in a salute to married DL employee couples who met at Disneyland for a Valentines Day cast thing.
Sadly none of the 1967 large marquee or rotating signs are known to exist. But there are other PeopleMover signs in private collections.
One problem today is that public and mass transportation doesn’t get the exciting or futuristic designs to help draw excitement and ridership is the political bureaucracies that exist in state and city governments. All the collected tax monies or bond funds collected for these projects are usually squandered on other things … payoffs …. Bribes … political pet projects …. Payment to family members “hired” as consultants…. So there ends up being little money for left for design and innovation…. Often no money for the system at all! A PERFECT EXAMPLE of this is California’s High Speed Train ( Jerry Brown’s wacky train) no living california today will EVER ride such a train …. As the whole project suffers from EVERY example I listed ….. both the German and Japananese advisors who constructed successful highspeed rail in their own countries all quit complaining of the exact issues.
In large dying American cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco ( those are just the California examples) rampant crime also scares away ridership. The futurist and amazing designer Syd Mead said that cities need to guarantee passengers of such mass transit system certain conditions… obviously function and efficiently…. It has to be BETER than what the alternative is. The other guarantee has to be public safety …. And that is NOT being met such as the high amount of killing and rapes on the LA transits and the San Francisco BART system !!
Incidentally Syd Mead was brought on to WDI to work on plans for the 1998 New Tomorrowland - he with his WDI team developed beautiful and fantastic designs for a new Tomorrowland …. “Eisner said … “we’re not building any of this stuff!!” And had him regulated to the new carousel theater mural design : it was BEAUTIFUL!!! And the construction delay was long and budget was low his project was abandoned for the god awful mural “Innoventions” received thst almost looked like “art deco graffiti “
…… “there once was a great big beautiful tomorrow”
JG, what kind of accent would red balloon have? Would it sound like Keith Richards?
Mike Cozart, I have to admit that the molded plexiglass sign for THE WORLD OF TRON sounds pretty cool. I’m glad that the marketing guy saved it! Otherwise it surely would have been smashed to bits and fed to school children. (It’s too good for ‘em if you ask me!). Meeting a cute female Peoplemover and then marrying her? The dream! Ugh, that gold spray paint. WHY? Let’s spray paint Michelangelo’s “Pieta” with gold spray paint! Yes, they are equal in importance, leave me alone. I’m sure those rotating signs were very large, no surprise that they aren’t in a rumpus room somewhere.
Mike Cozart, how can I get in on these bribes? Nobody bribes me for anything. Ever. I’m easily corruptible! Try me! I’d love to see a transit system designed by Syd Mead (yes, I know he is no longer with us, but still). He knew how to make stuff look amazing. I’d love to see his concept for the carousel theater mural, is it “out there” anywhere?
Major, I think that balloon would have a French accent, like the soldiers in the Holy Grail movie,except high and squeaky because of the helium.
I am not surprised the People Mover signs were coated with gold spray paint. After all, these are the same people that put Nightmare Before Christmas into the Haunted Mansion, which is like putting a crayon mustache on the Mona Lisa.
The leftover gold paint got used up on the Castle.
At least the pylons are still there. Pylons.
JG
Wow! The top side of those funky fountains! Always loved them, but never quite understood how they worked. Can now see that they were not so much open overflowing bowls, but enclosed ceramic sculpture blobs with holes and slots, sprinkles and pour spouts. LOVE. Sophisticated stuff like to rest of Tomorrowland in this photo.
I’ll never get over this “we can’t keep up with the future “ excuse for ugly cluttered crap. Sleek design is not rocket science.
MS
Major: I’ve never seen any of the Syd Mead Tomorrowland artwork outside of WDI …. It was really beautiful and bright …. Not like his blade runner futures but like his famous United Steel concept portfolios . I don’t know why Disney hides it other than the fact if you saw what was being imagined and the 1998 crap sandwich Disneyland got … you’d be shocked!
Clarification : what was built for Tomorrowland 1998 was a crap sandwich …. Not the Syd Mead concepts …
Also, so into the flowering planter surrounding the “cartilaginous” PM supports. Some could call them a waste of space, yet it is actually seating for dozens of people…fragrant from marigolds, with bits of shade. Sob TRE.
Damn strollers.
MS
JG, just thinking about a squeaky French balloon is enough for me to award the Oscar to that film right now. (Now you know that I am the person who actually decides who gets Academy Awards. Don’t tell anybody!).
MS, I agree with you, a good design has a timeless appeal, just look at mid-century modern furniture and homes that are still pleasing after 50 or 60 years. If only Syd Mead had been in charge of making Tomorrowland futuristic and cool! (Maybe not so “Blade Runner” though).
Mike Cozart, ha ha, hey, I just mentioned Blade Runner! I’ve seen plenty of optimistic Syd Mead artwork, the guy was a genius. He came and spoke at my school (so did Saul Bass), I felt so lucky!
Mike Cozart, I knew what you meant!
MS, “cartilaginous” is a $3 word. At LEAST! Is it better than “mucilaginous”? I love that built-in seating, brilliant, as was so much of that Tomorrowland.
Also, those seating planters were in the plan view shape of the Goodyear logo “lozenge”…
With pylons in the center…
Major & MS, how about “oleaginous”?
JG
Cartilaginous is John Hench’s word for that design, used right up the sides of Space Mountain.
Chuck, I thought of The Red Balloon, too! I also saw it in the first grade.
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