Two From Fantasyland, June 1969
Today's photos are not super-exciting, but they feature a Disneyland that is from around the time that I fell in love with the place, so they get a star sticker and a smiley face.
As you know, Sleeping Beauty Castle will be replaced with Tiana's Bayou Starbase (cleverly combining two IPs), and I am not sure how I feel about that. Look at SBC! It has ivy and everything. This has some choice people-watching, like the lady to the right who is from outer space. She is analyzing us to see if we have enough nutritional content for her home planet. "Ugh! Too much sugar!". We're safe. FOR NOW.
After walking through the Castle, you'll find yourself in a courtyard. There's a Carrousel directly in front of you, and to the right, Merlin's Magic Shop. One of the few Fantasyland buildings that was given the full treatment, not the "medieval faire" look with painted plywood. And of course Merlins contained magic tricks, practical jokes, and rubber monster masks (perfect for any anniversary).
7 comments:
Major-
I'm trying to figure out where our 'outer space gal' obtained her 'wicker handbags. (I wonder if she has some lovely earth-bound goodies stashed in the large one-?)
Thanks, Major.
The first thing I looked for was The Dent... and there it is! Well... I can see a smudge anyway... I guess that's The Dent. Not a very good example, but I'll take it.
I CAN'T NOT LOOK AT THE LADY FROM OUTER SPACE!!! I think she is wearing Time Goggles, and she's looking at us, here and now, in the year 2025!
Meanwhile, the older lady in blue seems to be experiencing a very localized earthquake, the ground is trembling only where she is standing. And you just know that the Killer Swans are down below, salivating, waiting for that guy sitting on the wall to fall backwards into the moat.
"After walking through the Castle, you'll find yourself in a courtyard. There's a Carrousel directly in front of you, and to the right, Merlin's Magic Shop."
> Enter Magic Shop
[JB waits for Major's text adventure game to respond to his input.] Hmm, nothing's happening. Maybe I used the wrong words.
> Open door
Still nothing.
> Ent Mer mag sho
OK, I give up. Major, what are the rules in this game of yours, anyway?
More people watching! Young Luke Skywalker is trying to use the Force to make his lightsaber come to him from 50+ years in the future in Galaxy's Edge.
These are nice pics, Major. I seem to have made fun of them, all over the place. But it's your fault you know, for setting the tone with your wacky opening commentary. ;-) Thanks. And I forgot to thank the Mysterious Benefactor yesterday, so thank you, MB.
Outer Space Lady is misunderstood. She only wants To Serve Man.
You can tell the castle has been naughty. It looks rather gilty.
Those benches in front of Merlin's are especially colorful, just like that shopping bag next to the gentleman sitting there. The woman in the elegant red coat is a stark contrast to the fella behind her in a white t-shirt and cowboy hat. To the left of them, a young lad hangs his head in shame over his fashion choices.
Meanwhile, a dark-suited man from the Atomic Energy Commission stands in front of Merlin's entrance, checking his Geiger counter. He's hot on the trail of Outer Space Lady, who is still slightly radioactive from her trip in her neutron-powered flying saucer. What follows is a series of rapid cuts of Dutch angles and close-up shots of briskly-walking feet, tense faces, happy, oblivious crowds, and Mickey-eared balloons, all to the accompaniment of ironically incongruous diegetic music as the carrousel calliope plays "Some Day My Prince Will Come." Will he catch her or will she escape? Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of tonight's episode!
I want to play JB's text adventure as soon as the show's over.
For anyone who says the Matterhorn doesn't belong in Fantasyland, just show them the second picture.
Nanook, weren’t wicker handbags a thing for a while? I’m sure we’ve seen those before her on GDB.
JB, the roof of the Castle looks a little bit dirty, how do they get up there to Swiffer it? Space Ladies are even more scary than Lunch Ladies, no wonder you are feeling so discombobulated. Do swans salivate? A question for the ages. You gave up on the text adventure game too quickly, as part of the fun there is an 11 hour wait between “moves”. Also, “Mer mag sho”. “Luke” has lightsaber-proof windbreaker on, smart move. I don’t know what you mean about wacky opening commentary, some say I am the Edward R. Murrow of bloggers.
TokyoMagic!, she wants to serve man… with tartar sauce!
Chuck, if you think the Castle looks gilty here, just wait until the 50th anniversary. Somebody once had one of those colorful benches on eBay, it was pretty worn, but it definitely looked like a genuine Fantasyland example (though the benches themselves are surely “off-the-shelf”). Somehow that guy with the cowboy hat looks completely at ease, he knows that he is OK. Speaking of geiger counters, I always kind of wanted one. Just in case! I remember seeing one from the 1950s for sale at an antiques shop, it was so cool. Now I think you can buy them relatively cheap and small. I’ll take it to the grocery store and see how who or what is contaminated. Your drama about the dark-suited man sounds exciting; a Quinn Martin production!
Steve DeGaetano, nice!
Yes, wicker bags were a thing. Somehow my Mom’s wicker bag made it into of my guest post pictures for last Fathers Day. Space Lady has two (!) and in the second pic, the lady in yellow has a big one. Maybe these are radiation-proof? Or duck-repellent.
I always wanted one of the rubber masks from Merlin’s. This location makes more sense for a magic shop than Main Street, always seemed odd that there were two.
I have to run off now and count some geigers.
Peak Park today, Major, thank you!
JG
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