Snoozles™
I have a pair of Snoozles™ for you today, but they aren't that bad. Think of them as "Snoozles Lite", with a lemony flavor. Both of these are from May, 1960.
This is one of those familiar views that we've seen over and over; perhaps there was a Kodak Picture Spot sign on shore? In a way I can understand why somebody would want to take this photo; "Would you believe that this is an amusement park??". The Old (and Haunted!) Mill looks convincingly antique, as does the Keelboat. Why the Keelboat is moored at the raft landing, I can't say. Is it possible that Tom Sawyer Island was closed? Up on top of the hill to the left; is that Tom's Treehouse? It looks to be too low, but I don't know what else it could be.
I'm sorry that this next photo is a bit blurry, because the headhunter scenes from the Jungle Cruise are now gone. You can see some warriors dancing in a circle. Are they celebrating a successful hunt (note the sleeping lion hanging to the right)? Or are they looking forward to a successful hunt - FOR YOUR HEAD?!
7 comments:
Major-
"Up on top of the hill to the left; is that Tom's Treehouse?"
No; that would be part of Fort Wilderness. Tom's Treehouse can be seen in the upper right corner of the image.
Thanks, Major.
Maybe they closed the Island because there were too many AEDs, as seen in the water in front of the Mill. I don't recall the roof of Fort Wilderness looking so freshly hewn. I'm pretty sure that house up in the treetops was built by the Little Pig, who built his house of sticks. He also built the Old Mill, but that proved to be too easy for the Big Bad Wolf to gain access. Then he got wise and built Fort Wilderness, which had excellent Wolf repelling properties. And of course, he built the Keelboat to make a quick getaway in case the Wolf managed to penetrate his other structures. That Little Pig had a way with sticks! (He owned a lumber mill.)
The lion may be sleeping, but I'm guessing that he was having lower back trouble, and the natives kindly made this contraption to alleviate his pain.
The native facing us looks a lot like Woody Strode. ;-)
"Snoozles Lite" is a good name for these images; which may or may not be Snoozles. Thanks, Major.
I don't think that lion is actually sleeping. I think he's really just hanging around.....and looking for a handout. But he's not gnu.....even though most people take him for granite.
Happy Snoozle Sunday, Major!
The first photo definitely qualifies as "EPIC" Vintage Disneyland....so very authentic, and a contrast to the "cleaned up, and colorful world" of today's Disneyland. I've never seen the Keel Boat docked there...and it really adds to the mood, and the Keel Boat looks exceptionally authentic. I never really realized that Tom's treehouse, there to the right was so very high up...and Fort Wilderness looks like it's in the final stages of construction. I am enjoying that the mill has a "bent" chimney....and the antlers...bleached by sun....and that tiny window....the roof that is slightly caved in....this scene really is wonderful. And unfortunately now: not even a shell of it's former self. Onto the head hunters...OK...it's not popular...I like the headhunters....and they could have been just "dancing" ceremoniously....and the shrunken heads....well kids do love that stuff...spiders, and lizards and shrunken heads and skulls and pirates...etc etc. That's all I got...thanks for the un-snoozles today Major!
The first picture was taken during that brief period when the blockhouses at Fort Wilderness had copper-clad roofs.
Actually, something is obviously going on with that blockhouse. If you look closely, you can see some piping coming out of the upper left walls of the blockhouse about where a rifle loophole would be and another one coming around the corner. II have not been able to find a photo that shows that feature. It almost looks like a temporary air conditioning duct.
It is a nice photo.
Speaking of copper cladding, does anyone else find “Coppertone” to be an odd brand name for a suntan lotion? Not sure I would trust a skin product that evokes images of either a shiny, metallic penny or an oxidized green.
I always thought the restless natives were some of the more convincing human animatronics from the era in which they were made. Their movement just worked for me, and the secondary animation from their costumes added to the effect. Of course, it helped that you couldn’t see their feet.
Classic TSI, no snoozing here. The keelboat is pulled over because a passenger needed to use the outhouse. The Fort does look like it has a new roof, and the tree house is right where Nanook notes it, on top of the hill where the mill stream originates.
The headhunters are dancing because they all have six-figure job offers and are moving to Wall Street to become corporate headhunters.
That’s some lyin’ too.
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, argh, I’ve had another one of my “left-right dyslexia” moments. Even as I read the post (after writing it many months ago) I thought, “LEFT? It’s RIGHT!”. Ugh, why? It’s fun to confirm that my brain is somewhat scrambled.
JB, the park released feral cats to control the population of the AED’s, but that’s like releasing mice to fight a horde of dragons. On to the roof of Fort Wilderness, which looks like it was put on earlier that morning - the wood hasn’t had time to oxidize. I wonder if it had problems with leaks during rains? Your story about the Little Pig was actually made into a short cartoon, one of Walt’s more obscure productions (you know, wartime and all that). My old roommate used to have back problems, and he would hang from one of those chin-up bars that you can put in a doorway. I guess it helped?
TokoMagic! YOU’RE HIRED!
Bu, early Frontierland photos like today’s are some of my favorites, exactly for the reasons you listed. It looks so authentic, or at least “movie authentic”, which could be pretty great. The land looks so big and open and really is a convincing depiction of a western frontier - all in the middle of Anaheim. The bent chimney is a great detail, and one that was surely discussed. The whole mill looks like it’s been there 100 years, down to the sagging roof and odd little window. I like the headhunters too, but am not super bent out of shape that they are gone. I do kind of wish they’d come up with something more interesting than “rampaging chimpanzees” to replace them, but oh well.
Chuck, it really does look like a freshly-clad copper roof on the fort! What in the world could that piping be for? I can’t come up with a likely reason, since as far as I know there wasn’t much up there except for guns for people to point. You could be right about air conditioning, but that seems pretty deluxe for those days. Maybe “Coppertone” was more of a reference to the red-brown that copper can sometimes turn. Like so many old pennies! Just mentioning pennies makes me imagine the smell of digging through my giant jar of change hoping to find a 1909 S “VDB” Lincoln cent! That metallic aroma. I agree, the natives looked pretty real, and if I remember, maybe their limbs moved a bit, in a rubbery way?
JG, I always assumed that, to a keelboat pilot, the world was their toilet! But I appreciate the nicety of looking for a proper outhouse. You’d think that standard cedar shake shingles would have lasted from 1956 (when the Fort was built) to 1960, so something was clearly up. I blame teenagers. I’d be dancing too if I had a six-figure job offer.
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