Snoozles™
Have you ever had the misfortune to eat a stale cookie? Today's photos are like stale cookies! Think about it.
Seeing this not-great picture of the plaque at the base of Town Square's flagpole makes me imagine that familiar low-fi recording of Walt reciting the dedication. "To all who come to this happy place...". I think Daveland had a number of photos that showed that this plaque had been replaced a few times over the years. Did people wear it down? Too much rubbing.
Vermin have gotten bold at Disneyland, there's a skunk and a rabbit, strolling along without a worry in the world! Is there a Disney raccoon character? I kind of think there is, but I can't pin it down at the moment. If there is, you know he had knocked over a trashcan and is feasting on the contents.
13 comments:
Major-
"Is there a Disney raccoon character?"
I believe Meeko from Pocahontas qualifies.
Thanks, Major.
One has to wonder why the photographer didn't center the plaque in the photo. We can read the inscription but its off-centered-ness bugs me. I won't be able to sleep tonight.
Cheeky vermin! Where are those feral cats when you need them!? Maybe the Park has some giant feral cats to match the giant vermin. If not, then a whole bunch of normal-sized cats will have to attack, rip, shred, draw blood. Orrrr, they could prod the vermin in the direction of the Moat and let the Killer Swans take care of 'em. I would suggest using AEDs, but the loud explosion tends to draw unwanted attention. And bits of vermin would be flung over a wide section of the Park.
Nanook, thanks for pointing out the raccoon character. I knew there was one, but like Major, I couldn't remember which movie.
I'm in a silly mood tonight. Thanks for the Snoozles, Major.
Thanks, Nanook. The only anthromopomorphicalized, cartoonificated raccoon I could think of was Ranger Rick, and I knew that wasn’t right.
Had no idea that the dedication plaque had been replaced...but worthy of a rabbit hole later. This one looks mighty shiny. You don't really need to fondle this plaque, so I'm not sure it would wear down. Brass kind of lasts forever...so I need to investigate the how's and why's of this. Nice to see Flower and Thumper...you saw them more earlier in the park history...I'm not sure now people would know who they were...or would think that Thumper is the "Easter Bunny". "Bambi, the ride"....has anyone thought of that? It seems that it would be a pastoral journey through forests and whatnot...we can leave out the sad parts and the fire...just bunnies and Bambi on the ice. "I say "Bambi on the ice" frequently when people slip and flail about...."it was like Bambi on the ice"....people DO get it, so I know the memory is pretty solid. Bambi was one of my mothers favorite movies, but always made her cry even when THINKING about it. Thumper appeared at Easter time in Disneyland for a very fun easter egg hunt...in locations throughout the park. Hosted by lovely ladies in City Hall costumes...which were in colors of pink and yellow...it was a pretty costume actually. "Thumpers Easter Egg Hunt"....but thinking about it...they used the White Rabbit costume, and a Mrs. White Rabbit costume too for press about it...I don't remember seeing this Thumper, or anything like this Thumper. More rabbit holes. (excuse the pun). Thanks Major!
And let us not forget the Disney/Marvel audio-animatronic Racoon that's in the Rod Serling room of the Guardians of the Galaxy Hotel, at Anaheim's "second park."
Bu, I remember when they used the White Rabbit costume for "Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny" at Disneyland. But at some point, they did bring back Thumper for Easter, and with a newly designed costume:
Thumper's Easter Egg Hunt at Disneyland
Back in March of 2024, I did a full post about Disneyland's "Thumper's Easter Egg Hunt" events in the 1980s!
Didn't I see Bambi in the Shooting Gallery at one time? Maybe not. I didn't even know where that plaque was and I wouldn't touch it either cause I can't bend down so easily any more. Those life size characters kind of scare me but I know you didn't mean to, Major.
Thanks for the Snoozles™, I hope you didn't pay much for them.
Zach
Zach, you could always remove one shoe and sock, and rub the plaque with your toes! I hope the Major did that while he was at Disneyland, yesterday. I also hope he watched every single performance of Fantasmic. And I do hope that he does a trip report for us!
It's too bad they didn't rename Critter Country "Vermin Country" instead of "Bayou Country".
As Thumper's father told him, "If you can't say somethin' nice.., don't say nothin' at all". So, I won't say nothin' at all about that Disneyland plaque pic. Thanks, Major.
I can’t explain the plaque picture. Maybe the photographer’s elbow was jogged by a raccoon?
I wonder if there are real-life trash pandas in the Park? Cats and raccoons get along well, as witness my cat and the raccoon that comes in the cat flap to help eat his cat food. Maybe Disney traps the raccoons and deports them.
The Bambi parody “Bumbi the Dearest Deer” in Animaniacs is pretty funny. The whole Bambi movie reminds adult me of Oscar Wilde’s criticism of Dickens; “…one must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing…”, but kid me wept like the bunny in Bumbi.
Thanks Major! Hope you’re enjoying your Park visit!
JG
“Bambi on the ice”…not to be confused with “Bambi’s mom on ice”…
The brass plaques at the park ( and anywhere else ) do wear down … from general exposure and weather … touching by humans … but MOSTLY from being wiped down and polished . They have also been stolen before. Disneyland keeps several of each on hand as backups in case of damage etc. similar situation with the 1967 Tomorrowland dedication plaques … the one that came up for auction. A few years ago is not the only one and between 1967 and 1998 had been replaced several times . At LEAST 2 are known to be in private hands and one the sign shop has kept but was given to the archives for future care.
Other examples like the Haunted Mansion entry gate plaque hade to been replaced over the years and are not the original . I fact for decades the mansion’s gate plaque hasn’t even been metal.
The foundry company Disneyland used for decades after Disneyland’s initial opening closed up shop a few years ago … they casted everything from Disneyland Railroad where truck bolsters to Town Square Plaques to Big Thunder station boiler plates ( not the big thunder builder plates - those are fiberglass )
Hortie-Van went out of business? They also cast the builder’s plates for the E.P. Ripley and the C.K.Holliday. The Gurley plates are copies I had made based on the “originals,” which actually weren’t original at all. The Kimball *may* be using one of her original plates, but also might be a replica, like the Marsh’s.
Hi guys, I’m back! Sore feet and all.
Nanook, oh yeah, I forgot about Meeko. I forget a lot about “Pocahontas”.
JB, I agree, the un-centered photo triggers my OCD. Feral cats - I know that Sue has seen them, but in all my trips to Disneyland, I have never seen a single one. I suppose they mostly stay hidden during the day? And the crowds are probably scary to our kitty friends. There are no more swans of any kind, sadly; but I saw more than a few ducks that looked right at me, and I saw their eyes turn to red glowing embers - they were calculating a laser blast, but I moved just in time.
Chuck, now that I’m thinking about it, I’m surprised that there are no cartoon raccoons from the 1930s or 40s. They did practically every other animal. Maybe the stripes made them too time-consuming?
Bu, I remember Daveland had a series of photos of the plaque, and you could see that they were not all the same. It was like a kid seeing Dad dressed as Santa! The scales fell from my eyes, which was nice because scales on eyes are very unpleasant. I saw Clarabelle on Friday, that was a nice surprise - though I expected her to be in black and white. She was full color. The park has used Thumper for Easter promotions, but I’m sure many kids have no idea who he really is. I didn’t see Bambi until perhaps my teens, or maybe even later, so I knew that “Mother” was going to die, but it’s still a chilling scene… very well directed. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen Thumper at the park, but I’d be happy to!
TokyoMagic!, oh gosh, how could I forget Rocket? I guess I still separate Disney from Marvel in my mind. I wanted to check out the Guardians of the Galaxy attraction, but the lines were way too long, ALL the time. Hey, you can’t advertise your blog on my blog! It goes against the Geneva Convention!
zach, ha ha, the Shooting Gallery should have been ALL Disney characters. The mice from Cinderella, the Blue Fairy, Maleficent… shoot ‘em all! As for touching the plaque, some people have no filters and will do stuff that I would never dream of doing.
TokyoMagic!, I saw part of a Fantasmic! performance as I walked through Frontierland! It took me a moment to realize that the odd gyrating figure on the stage was Maleficent, it was the big battle scene (no dragon).
JG, I suppose that the plaque photo was due to a camera that had a viewfinder that did not show what the lens would “see”. The closer you got to a subject, the more off-kilter it would be? I’ve somehow heard of “Bumbi the Dearest Deer”, maybe it was mentioned on this blog before - because I did not watch “Animaniacs”.
Anonymous, D’OH.
Mike Cozart, I guess I thought that a genuine brass plaque would withstand the elements, but I did not think of the daily cleaning process. They really should not use a belt sander, but that’s just my opinion. It’s funny, there are so many Disneyland items that I would love to have cool collectibles, but somehow a dedication plaque is not way up on my list. Not sure why. Still, I can understand why it would be important to others, it is Walt’s famous speech after all. I suspected that the Mansion plaque was no longer metal. Aren’t there other foundries in SoCal (or elsewhere)? Granted, a cast bronze thing would probably cost a bloody fortune today, but think how many eyeballs would see it.
Steve DeGaetano, I thought Hortie-Van just did banners and signs, I had no idea they cast metal things for the trains! When you say you made some builder’s plates, do you mean for yourself? Or are the ones you made on the actual trains?
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