Cindy's Village, July 1964
I have a pair of damaged slides for you on this Snoozer Sunday; something (probably moisture) affected the color, leaving violet blotchy areas. Whenever I see this issue, I imagine that the slides were stored in a basement.
So... we are looking at some of the buildings of Cinderella's village, perched on the rocky cliffs that are eventually topped by a magnificent castle. This first shot was likely taken from a Storybook Land Canal Boat, and admittedly it does not show much evidence of the blotchiness that I referred to earlier. One detail that's fun is the little wooden cart on the pathway, near the center of the image.
Now you can see those areas where the emulsion was affected, it makes the photo look like a piece of bruised fruit. This image was taken from a Casey Jr. Circus Train, giving a slightly more elevated view. I've always loved the arched roadway that resembles a Roman aqueduct. And the miniature buildings are full of all sorts of impressive detail. Notice Cinderella's pumpkin coach!
10 comments:
Major-
That first one's really nice. The detail is really spectacular. The only thing missing is the TV antenna.
Thanks, Major.
I can hear the photographer now (really, I can!), "Castle, schmastle. We don't need no stinkin' castle! I'll use my precious roll of film on this here village".
The pinks, lavenders, and violets are very Disney, don't you think? It's missing some electric blue and some gold leaf though.
It's actually very perceptive of the photographer to take pictures of these details; very Lou Perry of him/her. There probably are some photos of the castle, too. Maybe the family kept those?
And look, there's the pumpkin coach, up on the stone brick archway. I see that Major mentions the coach in photo #2, but it's in #1, too!
They're still nice photos, even with the shifted colors. Thanks, Major.
I’ve wondered since at least the ‘90s - so, for about ten years or so, I guess - if I were shrunk down to the scale of Cinderella’s village and tried to hike the road up to the castle if the road actually goes all the way up, or if only the parts visible from the canal boats were all that the Imagineers built. Despite my intense curiosity, I’ve never actually taken the time to sit down, design and manufacture a shrink ray to find out. My innate laziness strikes again.
I don’t mind a few stains on these pics, after all, the SB Castle has a stain and I still love it.
Photo 1 allows a leisurely look at the “natural” rock face that shows some “erosion”, just like real rock might, and the meticulous stone masonry, so tiny and yet convincing. Those tall walls would have been hard work to put up. I had been wondering where I left the cart, now I know, it’s somewhere there before the horse.
In the second view, we can see the village well in the turnaround plaza. And it looks like they just abandoned the pumpkin coach right in the middle of the bridge. Call AAA already. Major, you’re right, the bridge arches have a Roman look to them. Are we seeing some panel joints in the stone masonry?
Chuck, of course the road goes all the way to the top, how would you get to the top without a road?
JG
Nanook, thanks to your suggestion, all of the cottages in Cinderella’s village will be getting tiny satellite dishes!
JB, oh trust me, they took a photo of the Castle too. This wasn’t the best batch of Disneyland slides I’ve seen, to put it mildly! The violets would be nice except that they are mostly a result of the slides being stored in a bad environment. Like I said in the description, I’ll bet they were in a damp basement. They have that smell! Good eye on the pumpkin coach in photo #1, I really had to look for it!
Chuck, when you shrink yourself down, you should also shrink down a motorcycle so that you don’t have to hike all the way up that steep road! Or if you want a traveling pal, shrink down a horse. You can name him “Tiny Silver”. Or something. Please notify me when you have your shrink ray ready to go.
JB, I really do love the rock work on the “Cinderella’s Castle” scene, and have always wondered if the “stones” on the roadway were sculpted in place (that would have taken hours!), or if they made it in a warehouse somewhere and put it there afterwards? Probably the latter. Part of me wishes that they could make the pumpkin coach move slowly up and down the roadway, but without tiny horses, it doesn’t make a lot of sense! Are “panel joints” those raised horizontal areas? Maybe that shows that the “stones” were created with the use of a mold that was pressed into wet cement? No idea!
I think the most amazing thing about this tiny collection of villages is that they are exposed to the elements and still hold up...I'm sure with a lot of work. PLEASE do not reveal to a certain someone at WDI who LOVES "color" that StoryBookLand exists. I'm thinking because they haven't goldleaf'd and purple'd everything they just haven't realized that it's there yet. All the tiny tiny details are amazing and if this ever gets to TRE status, it will be worth a picket. I'm sad about The French Market, but not sure I would get arrested for it. This is another ride that I would like to have a little skiff to look at things longer and paddle my way through. The canal did not have the shennanigan worthy enticements of the Rivers of America or the Jungle Cruise river...where employees "fell in" from time to time. Maybe there are some Fantasyland Ops people who can share a story or two. My memory tells me that the Fantasyland people were the LEAST likely to be prone to shenanigans- despite the photos out there posting with a Yeti or two. Taking a picture is child's play. Skinny dipping in the StoryBookLand canal: well, that would be epic- as long as not a blade of grass was not harmed in the process...and please don't mention Huckleberry's again. I don't have a Huckleberry plant (Missoula is famous for them I guess (?)...so I course I had to research them and not only got a huckleberry plant but various other berries that I've never heard of, and certainly don't "need"....a huckleberry is mostly like a blueberry, and not generally commercially reproduced- FYI. Also note, I do not see any discoloration in the photos....and I rarely see the dent, and fudgie: nope. Photos look fine to me Huckleberry! I would end with "I'm off to lick doorknobs and stained glass windows" but I won't as it sounds weird if you don't get the joke. Please don't lick doorknobs or stained glass windows as apparently they are all full of lead. I'm actually not sure why you would want to lick either of those things...maybe they were covered with huckleberry jam (?)
Fred Joerger was a genius at miniature buildings AND big rock work, so I always think of Storybookland as ‘Fredland’. I think he must have carved Cinder-hill-a on site, as he was reportedly working in the park so much that Walt ‘bought him’ a helicopter to get to and from his home in Lakeview Terrace quickly enough to keep him working Constantly.
MS
Bu.....well, my huckleberry friend, lead is so gosh darn delicious and nutritious, how can one resist licking the the doorknobs and stain glass windows at DL? And, I just bet they use it in all of that hot pink and electric blue paint that they slather all over everything. Hmmmm, they should really start packaging and selling "lead paint chips"....in the shape of Mickey, of course. They could sell them at the popcorn wagons for $25 a bag, or in a special souvenir bucket, for $50.
I love the Purple Mountain Majesty, Major. Thanks for hosting today’s laughs!
Sue
Sue, it's okay to love the Purple Mountain Majesty, but just enjoy it from afar. Don't go licking it! ;-)
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