Last Parade Scans From 1980
Here are the last scans that mostly feature a parade from 1980. These are tiny transparencies mounted in a standard 2" X 2" slide mount, and the quality does suffer a bit, but they're still fun.
Normally there are four dancers onstage at the Golden Horseshoe Revue, but there are at least six participating in the parade. The stars and their understudies?
I don't recognize these characters, but if you do, I'd love to know who they are! Miss Bianca from "The Rescuers" is to the left, I'm always happy to see her and/or Bernard.
Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox were always fun to see around the park. I assume that we'll never see them again, which makes me a bit sad. Things change, whether I like it or not!
And finally, the one non-parade image in this entire batch! A familiar view of Monstro The Way-Out Whale. I was wondering what the colorful shapes were, just above his nose, and realized that it is Casey Junior, chugging down the track.
5 comments:
1) I can hear the rustling of their taffeta dresses even now. The red and black of the gals' dresses tells me that they are in league with THE DEVIL!... SINFUL!... And that's OK with me. Definitely a colorful pic!
2) Perhaps these bears are from "Bongo the Circus Bear"? I've never seen the cartoon, but he (Bongo) was always on the back of Little Golden Books riding a unicycle, I think.
3) They did a good job on Br'er Bear's costume, especially the head. He looks very much like his 'toon self.
4) Wow. Like you said, the horse tack looks very fancy! The silver and black compliments the dark colored horses. Looks like there are at least four matching horses. Maybe 16!... Or 64!!!
5) Just like 1967 Tomorrowland was the best, this black and white (pale blue?) Monstro was also the best. This color scheme makes him look fierce. The sun glinting of his hide allows us to see a lot of the support 'skeleton' that gives him his shape.
This has been a nice series of pics, Major. Thanks.
Major, those characters in your second image are Bongo and Lulubelle, from 1947's Fun and Fancy Free!
Major, just FYI.....Bongo and Lulubelle also appeared in the circus segment of the Disneyland stage show, "Showbiz Is" which debuted the following year (in 1981), and was a 30 minute show presented on the Space Stage. I posted a picture of the two characters on the stage, back in February of 2018.
You are right about those black horses pulling the circus calliope in the parade. In Part 1 or 2 of this series, I left a comment with information about the antique calliope. I transcribed that info from a Winter 1979 Disney News article. But here is the entire article, which explains that the 6 black Percheron horses in the parade, were blue ribbon winners at the L.A. County Fair the previous Fall, and were also going to be appearing in the Rose Parade. I don't know if anyone remembers this, but the 1980 Tournament of Roses Parade was preceded by the debut of Disneyland's 25th Birthday/Family Reunion Parade.
The article includes pics of the horses backstage, but they are pulling another vehicle, instead of the antique calliope. I'm sure they didn't want to use the actual calliope for "rehearsing" the horses. However, the guy driving the horses is wearing the outfit that would be worn by the drivers in the actual parade. (Reminder....scroll down to the second image!)
These Gentle Giants Love A Parade - Disney News Magazine
Nothing like saloon girls to brighten up a parade. Would those have been the players for the saloon show, or other dancers engaged just for the parade?
Like JB, I vaguely remember Bongo from the back illustrations of other books, but never knew his name or story until much later. I think the original cartoon might have run on the Disney Channel at some point.
Thanks Tokyo for the background on those magnificent horses. Maybe this photo can be placed beside the calliope picture from the earlier post?
I’m always in the mood for a good Monstro pic, and this is a good one. That rock planter and border has seen a lot of realignments over the years, but here we can stand quite near the water, close enough to smell his breath, sardine and onions, I believe.
I just noticed the boxwood hedge along Casey’s track, just like the one at Main Street station for DLRR. Did Casey skip wheel day too?
Thanks Major!
JG
JB, it is true, there is nothing more sinful than a saloon gal. But what if they have hearts of gold?? Now I’m all confused. I actually thought of Bongo (and whatever his girlfriend’s name is), but that cartoon seems so obscure, even in 1980. Anything is possible though - I actually wish they’d pull more obscure characters from their history, instead of JUST using the latest hot IP. I remember a Disney News article about how they made all of the horse tack at the park, a skill that is probably almost extinct now. I never understood why they made Monstro so blue, except that it was MORE COLOR. Sometimes less is more!
TokyoMagic!, aha, so JB was right, I am surprised that they used Bongo and Lulubelle; like I said to JB, I do like that they brought out these relatively unknown characters, though!
TokyoMagic!, I guess if you’re going to have a circus-themed show at Disneyland, it makes sense to find circus characters from Disney’s vast animation library. Thanks for the information on “Showbiz Is”. Thanks also for the link to the 1979 Disney News article, I probably still have that issue someplace - I really need to go through my collection, get rid of duplicates, put everything in order, and find missing issues so that I have the whole bunch!
JG, on a complete side note, my brother was watching “Gunsmoke” on MeTV, and they were showing the very first episode. He had the volume very low, and I saw a very beautiful saloon gal, and realized that it was a young Amanda Blake. Holy moly, she was truly gorgeous! I guess I was so accustomed to the later color episodes, when she was quite a bit more “mature”. Not to be unkind. I love the days when Disneyland would have six black Percherons just for parade use, presumably their stable of horses is considerably smaller than it once was. Different values for different times. “Sardine and onion”… sounds fragrant!
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