Happy New Year
Happy 2026! I hope that none of you has an ice bag on your head from drinking too much Yoo-Hoo chocolate-flavored drink last night. If so... you must pay your dues! I didn't really know what to share with you on this special day, so I ultimately just chose two fairly nice randos.
We will begin with this scan of a slide dated "January 8, 1958". So... not quite a New Year's Day pic, but pretty close. Christmas decor still adorns Main Street Station - I have the feeling that would be removed very soon. In the foreground, a wonderful parking lot tram, which is a tiny bit blurry. Motion blur? The station in the background is clear, as is the man to the right. With guests standing so close to the tram, motion blur doesn't make much sense to me, but I can't really explain the phenomenon otherwise. Still, it's a bright, colorful image.
Next is something kind of unusual; years ago, I bought a photo print from Howard Lowery, an animation gallery in Burbank - he used to have frequent online auctions that I usually lost. If this image had been an original transparency or negative, I have the feeling that the bidding would have been a bit more fervent, but oh well; it wasn't expensive, and now I'm kind of glad to have it. As you can see, Walt Disney himself is to the left with his good friend Mickey Mouse, while many other costumed characters (some from parades) are gathered nearby. At first I thought that the equipment in the foreground was some sort of reflectors, but they don't appear to be reflecting much.
There is a well-known postcard, and it's obvious that the photo session above was for the purpose of taking the photo below. Which is kind of cool! Are Walt's eyes closed in mid-blink??
I hope this is the beginning of a year of kindness, compassion, and happiness for everybody.
9 comments:
Major-
"... motion blur doesn't make much sense to me, but I can't really explain the phenomenon otherwise".
Once again, I blame the Coriolis effect - or perhaps the tram is just getting underway, or hadn't quite achieved a full stop yet.
"At first I thought that the equipment in the foreground was some sort of reflectors, but they don't appear to be reflecting much".
Those reflectors are, shall we say 'at ease', for the moment. Nice find from Howard.
Thanks, Major - and here's to a great 2026 for all of us-!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
What a fun start to the new year -- at Disneyland and with Mickey and Walt. (Who's that red rooster in the back, on the right, in that 2nd picture??)
Thanks, Major.
Hmm, nothing else in photo #1 is blurry, so I would say it is indeed motion blur. The foreground man on the right is probably standing still, waiting for the tram to pass by. Either that or everybody on the tram is extremely fidgety.
Photo #2 is really colorful, a bit out of focus, but colorful. Is that Kanga in the background, on the left? And a giant chicken? Like Sue, I don't recall seeing that featured prominently in a Disney cartoon. I think the 'reflectors' are early prototypes of the PeopleMover cars. ;-)
Photo #3- Oooh! Even more colorful! But a bit 'soft', like they smeared vasoline on the camera lens. (I guess this is a postcard?) We do see The Dent just a tad though. I bet the Big Bad Wolf bites his tongue a lot.
Nice photos to start 2026. Thanks, Major. Happy New Year to all. Even though, like today's photos, it's pretty much random.
Walt's suit is pressed well as always, too bad he didn't have long to go... Good to see the Hotel Tram in it's prime.
THANK YOU MAJOR and Happy New Year!
In the first pic, I like the way they outlined the clock on the train station, with green garland.
In the second pic, I recognized that particular gathering of characters right away, from the postcard. That postcard continued to be sold in the park, into the early eighties. Walt is holding something in his left hand. Maybe it's a handkerchief for him to hack into?
The rooster and chicken characters were from an early version of Fantasy On Parade, and can be seen in one of the Christmas-related episodes of The Wonderful World of Color. The parade had a "barnyard" themed unit, but I'm not sure if it was a completely original concept just for the parade, or if it was based on something from one of Disney's cartoon shorts.
Are Walt's eyes closed in mid-blink??
Major, maybe he had just "froze up" and needed a reboot. It happens
Thank you, Major! And once again, a very happy new year, to all!
Well, I was going to be all "know it all-ish" and claim the tram in first picture is blurry because of a combination of motion and depth of field, but then I noticed that the gentleman on the far right is at the same distance as the tram, but is in focus, so my whole theory went right out the window! He's now my arch-nemesis.
The family photo of Walt is fun all day and a bottle of pop, I tell you what! Bright colors, friendly characters, and America's favorite uncle! What's not to like? Thumbs up!
I remember those trams vividly. The out-facing bench seats were molded of fiberglass and were as slick as ice. When the tram started or stopped, you slid back and forth and were mashed up against the persons next to you. On turns, the centrifugal (centripetal?) force wanted to fling you off and handholds were scarce. I think the tram is moving very slowly to avoid this happening.
Cool picture, Major! Yours is more interesting than the final version. I think there’s an ostrich ballerina from Fantasia in yours!
Happy new year all!
JG
These are great photos! "Behind the scenes of the postcard" is a cool genre, kinda like Eleanor Coppola's film about the making if Apocalypse Now.
My idea of the motion blur is that the tram had just stopped, and was doing a tiny lurch backwards -- as per physics. I learned once that if animators use this effect in cartoons it helps the action look lifelike.
Love any photos of the fondly remembered tram and parking lot and ticket booth plaza!
Happy New Year, and Sleepy New Year, and the five others too!
Nanook, I guess that Coriolis effect will get you, one way or another. I thought it would be quicksand that I had to worry about. Or one of those rooms with the spikes on the walls that move closer and closer. I miss Howard Lowery’s auctions!
Lou and Sue, I don’t recognize the red rooster, he might just be a generic parade character.
JB, I was thinking that the tram was either just coming to a halt, just starting to move, or maybe the driver moved the tram a few inches for some reason (probably bugs). I wish I had the original negative for the second photo, I felt kind of dumb buying a print, since more prints can be made from a negative, if somebody has it. It’s like buying a Xerox print (which I have seen people try to sell on eBay). That postcard is a classic, it’s fun to see Walt with so many of his characters.
Anonymous, yeah, I’m sure that photo must have been taken near the last year of Walt’s life, sadly.
TokyoMagic!, I’m not sure if it’s true now, but in the 80s there were still plenty of people who’d grown up with the Disney TV show, and had memories of Walt in their living rooms. So there was a desire to buy a souvenir that had his likeness. Now they’d have a postcard with a photo of the animatronic Walt. Your favorite! It does look like he’s holding a hanky, maybe he had a cold. I like all of those old weird parade characters, sort of “fillers” between the big stars that everybody knew. And the barnyard theme feels so much like “old Disney”!
Stu29573, yeah, the stuff that is in-focus versus what is not is part of what makes that first photo a bit perplexing. “Fun all day and a bottle of pop” sounds like something you heard from your grandparents?! I always wonder if Walt mellowed with age, he was famous for his temper when younger, did he still grouse at employees when he was “America’s favorite uncle”?
JG, I guess you will get to know your neighbor when you slide against him/her on the tram! It makes me wonder why they didn’t put something with a texture on the seats to prevent sliding. Flypaper for instance. It is fun to see the “behind the scenes” in that second photo, even if it feels like it was taken by somebody who had their eyes closed.
LTL, I love that Eleanor Coppola film, if nothing else for the outtake of Marlon Brando saying, “I swallowed a bug”. You’re in the jungle, Marlon! Hey, your theory about the motion blur is as good as any, I will now make it the official explanation, and you will probably get your check in six to eight weeks. At first I thought you wrote “ticket booth pizza”, I must be hungry.
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