Two From August 23, 1962
Continuing with the wonderful photos that have been sent in by Junior Gorillas, I have this fun example from Ken Martinez (from 1982). I'm sure all of you remember when that gorilla escaped from the zoo. Well, the enraged ape stormed into Ken's workplace and nearly ate Ken in one gulp (I've seen it happen!). Luckily, Ken was able to give it a banana, which no gorilla can resist. Then Ken grabbed his handy cello and played Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, lulling the beast into a deep slumber. Crisis averted.
Thanks Ken!
ON TO THE REGULAR POST!
I have some oversized slide scans for you today - they ain't half bad! They are hand-dated "August 23, 1962". "You have the exact date?? What does Jason's Disneyland Almanac have to say about that day?". Glad you asked!
August 23 was a Thursday, the park was open from 9:00 AM until midnight, the high temperature was 83º and the low was 61º, and the attendance was 36,279. Hooray!
We've seen plenty of photos of the Burning Settler's Cabin, and our good buddy, Dead Settler Sam. But this one is very nice, the roaring flames are very apparent even in bright daylight. That thing must have been built from genuine old-growth Dura-flame logs. The Settler was running with an arrow in his hand, and... well, you know the story. How many times did his teachers warn him?
Because of the way these slides were mounted, it was hard for me to tell which side was the right one to scan. In other words, is this view flopped? Or not? The dead settler slide is easy because we are all so familiar with that view, but this look at the fascinating waterwheels on the Swiss Family Treehouse is harder for me to judge. Maybe YOU know! Admittedly there is not much in the way of clues.
23 comments:
@ Ken-
It's nice to see you come out from the shadows-! (I hope my 'wild pants' helped you overcome your hesitation allowing you to share this image of both you and your gorilla-!)
Major-
That image of the Swiss Family Treehouse isn't flopped - it's just upside down-!
Thanks, Major.
Haha! How can you not laugh at such a humorously fake gorilla? Thanks for the great photo, Ken.
The Dead Settler's pants and shirt look quite shiny here. I never noticed that from other photos. I suppose they (and he) are made of fiberglass or some other durable substance.
Major, in my effort to determine if the slide was flopped, I tried to see if that guy's shirt was buttoned correctly. But after much sharpening, clarifying, and digital voodoo... I couldn't tell. Sorry. Someone who's much more familiar with the Treehouse than I am (like a member of the Robinson family) can probably tell at a glance if it's flopped or not.
Thanks for the oversized scans, Major.
Nanook beat me to it about the first slide being upside down! ;-) But I also agree that it is not reversed.
Judging from the grindstone out in front of the settler's cabin.....and the fact that someone has set fire to his home, I'd say that he definitely has an axe to grind.
That's a great picture, Ken! Is there a backstory to it....other than the part about the Gorilla escaping from the zoo? Thanks for sharing the photo with us!
I’m assuming if there was something wrong with the treehouse waterwheel slide it’s been fixed. The waterwheel frame head ( the tall part) is closest to the foot bridge - I think the photographer is standing at the start of the bridge … but not on the bridge . In the distance you can see guests and umbrellas where the advevtureland cantina/ sunkist I presume area. That waterwheel system was its own attraction within an attraction!!
Ken’s association with non-blogging gorillas apparently predates this website. Love that photo! I’m curious about the backstory, too. The banana is a nice touch; it certainly has a peel. Thanks for sharing, Ken!
At least the settler wasn’t running with scissors.
I agree that the photo isn’t reversed. You can see the umbrellas outside Aunt Jemima’s through the foliage to the left and the Dominguez Palm through the foliage to the right.
Mike, you’re right - If the Dominguez Palm is visible in the shot, those umbrellas would have to be in front of Sunkist, I Presume.
I will take the waterwheel in any incarnation: reversed, black and white, upside down, inside out, or dipped in chocolate...which wouldn't be a bad thing. Do they make chocolate covered bamboo shoots? They have to. I don't remember the burning settler looking so..well...stiff...his head is not touching the ground...looks like the guy had terrific posture before being "offed". I like that a cabin in still there, but I would like to see flames once again. If I had all the time in the world I would build a water wheel on the side of a burning cabin in my backyard. It would be troublesome. Every time I smoke meat out there during the summer one of the neighbors calls the fire department. I wish they would check with me first. Oye! The 100% volunteer department shows up with hook and ladders and axes ready to "get in it!"...and there's me...hunched over the BBQ: "ummm....want some brisket?" Small town zany. Regarding yesterday's "adequateburger TM": I agree that all the burgers seem to have been AB's as B's have been TRE'd. A good B is easy to make, and can be made in quantity, so I don't get it....HOWEVER: I recently had a burger at Hungry Bear that was a beef patty in-between two McDonalds type hash brown patties, and then covered with like velveta/pepper sauce (not spicy, just flavor), and I will say it's probably the best thing I've ever had in those 76 acres ever. The old "Magic Burgers" at Coke Terrace are a close second (cheese burger with grilled ham). The onion rings at Hungry Bear were also passable...but I can take a onion ring in any form...and the best fast food version is Culver's, who also carry many delicious fast food offerings when you are doing those such things (like deep fried cheese curds.) Here is another good burger: United Airlines....as odd as that sounds, I will tell you it was absolutely yummy...generally burgers on a plane are like a dog chew toy, but currently...it was a surprising "oh"..."this is good". Too bad they don't have deep fryers on planes then my life would be absolutely complete. Final note: it may be that everyone on this blog is a hippie...myself included. Perhaps it was the time and place. Nice pic Ken, the guy in plaid aint bad either.
Bu, I want to see deep fryers on an airplane, during extreme turbulence! Okay, maybe I don't. During my time at Knott's, we had two different employees slip and fall into the fryer filtration machines. It wasn't pretty.
Bu : the burning settlers cabin was removed back when the railroad and river were re-routed because of WOOKIE activity . A new MIKE FIINK cabin was added up on a bluff looking down on the concrete sculpted Keel Boat prop ( it might look like a keelboat but it’s a actually a building)
Sadly sculpted concrete is WAY OVERDONE at Disneyland … it’s quick and cheap to maintain… and it also always looks like ….. SCULPTED CONCRETE!! Everything because saggy and cartoonish. The worst example is the Spanish Galleon wreck on Tom Sawyer Island …. It looks like something a dad would make for his kids in the backyard within no sculpting or design experience …. So it’s embarrassing it was designed and built by Walt Disney Imagineering …..
Now I understand how Enoch felt on “Land of the Lost” when he found out the Slestacks were not his ancestors but the future of his species…… ( Taylor on planet of the apes! )
Mike, regarding the Disney company of today....it's a M-A-A-A-A-A-D HOUSE!
“I see ol’ Sam is wearing his new Arrow shirt…”
Sam and Shiny Boy have the same tailor.
Ken, that’s a great picture, thanks for sharing!
Major, I think the waterwheel is correctly oriented. What a great picture!
Thank you!
JG
Thanks Ken, always good to see affection among the primates. This is Queen Kong , soon to star in a Dino De Laurentiis sequel, and just on the verge here of singing "Banana My Dreams".
The gorilla is similar to the original Jungle Cruise models. The chests on those were so realistically sculpted, and so prominent, that for the 3-D View- Master close up slide, a fern was placed over the offending bosom.
Nanook, I thought there was something funny about that SWT photo!
JB, wait, FAKE? I think not. That gorilla is right from the mountains of Rwanda. I think the shiny appearance of the Settler’s pants is an illusion, they have that typical blue jean wear. Heck, mine look like that. And I hardly ever wet my pants anymore. I’m feeling about 80% good about the way I positioned theTreehouse slide, but I’ve been wrong many times before.
TokyoMagic!, I’m glad you think the slide is not reversed, that means something. Did you really have to say that “axe to grind” remark? Now I am in pain. I hope you are happy. I hope Ken chimes in about the photo!
Mike Cozart, I didn’t change anything, it’s just that these slides appear to have been mounted by the photographer rather than by a commercial developer, so the mounts are blank on each side. This makes it a bit trickier to determine which side is “correct”! Sounds like you think that it looks OK though.
Chuck, maybe Ken got a “gorilla-gram”? It sang “Happy Birthday”, and took off the head to reveal that it was actually a beautiful woman? I can dream. Chuck, those umbrellas look the same left to right or right to left! Also, they don’t have scale. ;-)
Bu, removing those waterwheels was one of the biggest blunders. All the engineering had already been figured out for them. I guess the problem was that Tarzan’s family did not build their treehouse with plumbing (though it did have a soft-serve ice cream machine). I think rigor mortis has set in on the Settler, I’ve watched enough TV (or HAVE I?) to know that the corpse will start to stiffen up. The current cabin is a snore. I guess it’s better than nothing, but not by much. Sounds like you have some real nervous neighbors, and the trouble is, if your house ever does catch fire, they will finally decide that you must be smoking meat at 3 o’clock in the morning. If I was a fireman and I showed up to a false alarm, but was offered brisket, I’d be OK with it. Whoa, that burger sounds pretty good, those McDonald’s hash browns are delicious. You can buy something like them at Trader Joe’s, but I don’t think I use enough grease to cook them, so they aren’t as flavorful. I wish we had Culver’s out here, I’ve heard a lot about them (on the Food Network). And who doesn’t like frozen custard? We had a place that served frozen custard near us (the restaurant was called “Freddie’s”, and it was quite good, but it closed. I find it hard to believe that an airline burger could be any good, but you said so, so I’ll believe you!
TokyoMagic!, I will now make it my life’s goal to develop a deep fryer that will work on a commercial airline. We’ll put it up in First Class.
Mike Cozart, you mean the NON-burning cabin was removed! I’m also not crazy about that Keelboat, it just looks kind of sterile and “unused”. Give it some wear and tear, and put some antlers on it, like they used to put on everything in Frontierland! I agree, that galleon wreck on TSI is not very good. I’m sure part of the issue is that it has to be something “safe”. Slestacks, I have a few who live up in the hills, they are not very friendly, but we don’t bother each other.
TokyoMagic!, even that makes it sound more exciting than it is.
JG, maybe the Settler should be wearing sparkly clothing. You know, just like the actual pioneers. The sparkles would dazzle buffalo, which made them easy to catch. I think the consensus is unanimous, the waterwheel picture is OK!
Stefano, there is a movie called “Queen Kong”, you can watch it on YouTube! I won’t say it’s the greatest movie ever… but it probably is! Sorry, Stanley Kubrick. Thank goodness we were protected from seeing plastic gorilla bosoms.
Ken, what a FUN picture—and great photo of you! Thanks for sharing it.
Sue
Ken...Looks like you crashed the Banana Ball to me! That Gorilla must have been my JC foreman from the day! We had different names for him depending upon his mood. Appears you survived intact! KS
Hey, isn't that Herby from The Beverly Hillbillies? (Deep dive there)
The hardest pill to swallow from the 73 energy crises was the de-flaming of our cabin! Sure, people will argue, but they're wrong.
FYI: Stu just posted a postcard super-post.
Sue
Yeah the current cabin has issues : it’s over designed ….and over decorated and staged poorly. There’s even a doe and its mother standing between the cabin and the keelboat… WAY too much stuff going on! Yes over time the burning settlers cabin went through many minor changes …. First it was the result of unfriendly Indians …. Then irritated Indians … then no Indians at all but a moonshine still fire …. Then no moonshine … just a careless settle …. Then the cabin fire was set by a mother eagle to entertain her chicks in a nearby nest….. then it was a settlers cabin painted a unapproved home owners association color with an angry notice of violation on the cabin door. Then the cabin was quiet…. With a cut down freight wagon out front …. No smoke … No flames no signs of the settlers . What passing guests in the river didn’t understand was that the settlers identity had been stolen and they didn’t realize it yet!!! Probably careless with their PIN number at the Farmers Grange Hall or Mercantile ….. or the Indian Casino up river…
The whole re-theme of Tom Sawyer Island is an example of DREADFUL IMAGINEERING…. It was done only to take financial advantage of the increased interest of pirates two decades ago … ( like Knott’s removing Beary tales to replace it with kingdom of the dinosaurs during the big Dino craze in the mid 80’s) anyway … the theme of TOM SAWYERS ISLAND - PIRATES LAIR to confusing and convoluted…. Tom & Huck’s imaginary pirate play has become real?? Or are we wrapped up in their fantasy ?? And slapping all the names and characters and Caribbean details from the pirate movies … onto structures and landscapes of 1840’s - 1850’s American river scapes and towns … it’s confusing and sloppy Imagineering….. it was a early step of turning Disneyland into DUMP PARK …. Where you dump anything into it ….
Always enjoy a burning cabin pic. Especially with the slain settler. I miss the "hard facts that created America" at Disneyland.
Nice pics today! Thanks, Major.
TokyoMagic! & Chuck, two wonderful gals (friends) that I worked with who were from Whittier and La Habra surprised me with this gorilla gram. I think it was the funniest surprise I ever had.
Nanook, yes, it actually was your pic that inspired me to share. I still think those flares are kickin'.
Bu, glad you recognized me. The guy in the plaid is okay. ;-)
Sue, and to think that I - Major Pepperidge - don’t have a single photo of myself with a gorilla!
KS, ha ha “We had different names for him depending upon his mood”, the mind reels with possibilities. I assume that “Snuggly Bunny” was never in the mix.
Stu29573, I am ashamed that I don’t remember Herby from the Beverly Hillbillies. Was he one of Ellie May’s “critters”? Ah, Ellie May. Who in the world was happy that the cabin flames went out? I’ve seen photos of it when they attempted the fire effect from Pirates (with clear sheets of plastic and orange lights), it was embarrassing.
Sue, I’ll check it out later! Thanks!
Mike Cozart, I guess I feel like there must be a way to include a cabin that would still tell a story - a different story depending on who was looking, because everybody picks up on different details - without bringing “unfriendly Indians” or “exploding stills” into it. “The cabin fire was set by a mother eagle to entertain her chicks…” ha ha. Those eagles, always causing trouble! I think they should have a cabin with the smell of Tollhouse cookies coming out of it, and fiddle music. And a motorcycle made entirely of pine. And those are just off the top of my head! Say, this Imagineering stuff is easy. I always assume that many people like the “Pirates Lair” makeover, but man, I DO NOT. For many of the reasons you listed, and just because it is lame. I’m afraid that the “dump park” thing is for real.
K. Martinez, thanks again for sharing your fun photo! I actually do think that they could have the sound of a fiddle coming from inside the cabin, and “smoke” (probably steam, actually) coming out of the chimney. And maybe the horses could be swishing their tails, or at least twitching their ears (the way I do). So nice of those girls to send you a gorilla gram!
Thanks for the shoutout, Sue!
@Tokyo, DL Anaheim Critter Country will be renamed "Bayou's Edge".
JG, I really wouldn't be surprised, at this point! ;-)
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