A Pair From July 1962
Here are two slide scans, both date-stamped "July 1962", though they are not from the same batch.
Huggable Pluto stands in front of the turnstiles to greet guests (but only after they have purchased their tickets); he strikes a Napoleonic pose, if only he had a bicorne hat. He would have looked like he escaped from Elba, or perhaps the Funny Farm. Could it be that our guest was just showing up at almost 5:30? It is beyond comprehension. Perhaps they were there to watch one of the great Big Bands at the Plaza Gardens, such as Snoot Doodle and his Kit and Caboodle.
Next is this nice photo taken from the Indian Village - the one that guests could visit, and where they could watch performances of traditional dances, and where they could get a look at the kinds of arts, crafts, and dwellings that some tribes enjoyed. The passing Columbia sailing ship is packed with guests standing at the rail, possibly due to sea sickness as they began their exciting voyage. TO DEVIL'S ISLAND!
17 comments:
Major-
Pluto’s my favorite-! It doesn’t appear as though he’s wearing his collar with nametag. I had no idea so many folks wished to go to Devil’s Island. But, to each his own.
Thanks, Major.
"Who let the dogs out!" "Able was I ere I saw Elba". This is gonna be an "all quotes" comment.... Dang it, I already ruined it!... Oh well.
"Snoot Doodle and his Kit and Caboodle". Hahahaha. (and LOL). It looks like Pluto, aka Dwarf Planet (didn't Chuck already use that joke?), is about to take a bow, or maybe a bow wow. Or maybe he just took a bow. Seems strange to see The Pup all by his lonesome with no kids swarming around him. Really nice picture of him! Looks like the floral Mickey is still in its larval stage.
This one is a quintessential Disney pic. The elaborate Columbia, which you would never see in any other theme park because of the attention to detail (and the expense), loaded with guests. Plus, the Indian dance circle and all the bright colors. Hmm, that looks like a Sasquatch mask up there on that pole. Or maybe it's a yeti.
A perfectly presentable pair of pics. Thanks, Major.
Huggable Pluto stands in front of the turnstiles to greet guests (but only after they have purchased their tickets)
I wonder what happened if a guest ran up to hug Pluto BEFORE they had purchased their tickets? Did Pluto give them a good beat down?
JB, how can we tell the difference between the floral Mickey's larval stage and it's pupa stage? ;-)
In that second pic, there is a girl wearing red pedal pushers and sitting on a rock. It doesn't seem like it would take much for her to fall over backwards and off of the rock. I wonder if there was water directly below, or if there was a bit of a river bank that we can't see. Of course, the Disney lawyers of today would never allow this. I think we can also see Cascade Peak hiding behind some trees and those masks hanging on a pole.
Thanks for the trip back to July of 1962, Major!
Logos and posters and trains, Oh my!
That side-cheek sneak in the second photo isn't fooling anyone.
It was an amateur mistake to get off on Devil's Island instead of Tom Sawyer Island.
Thanks Major
Zach
Pluto: "Ow, my tummy hurts! I shouldn't have eaten all those kids!"
The girl in the red pedal pushers looks like she's doing a Little Mermaid impression. (The statue in Copenhagen that would go on to be referenced in the 1980s movie.)
(that anonymous comment was from me; not sure what went wrong with my sign in.)
Interesting to see characters outside the gates. Now you have to pay to see them. Pluto is just being a dog.
The Columbia has a crowd today, I wish I was one of them.
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, the trick is that you don’t tell them that they are going to Devil’s Island. You tell them that they are going to Donut Island!
JB, palindromes. Tricks made by Beelzebub! Pluto will always be a real planet to me. And a real dog (not a cartoon). I also believe in Leprechauns. I’m assuming that by the late afternoon, there were not a ton of people filing in to the park, which might explain Pluto’s lack of popularity. That, and his powerful aroma. ‘Nuff said. Other parks made steamboats (though usually not as beautiful as the Mark Twain), I wonder, is it true that no other park tried to make an old-timey sailing ship?
TokyoMagic!, he just ignored the kids, turning away from them. It seems cruel, and it was, but those kids need to learn that MONEY TALKS. Why are those shoes called “pedal pushers”? I’ve never known. Are they good for riding bikes? The water just below that girl had broken bottles pointing upward. Again, kids need to learn important lessons.
zach, I wasn’t sure what you meant by “side-cheek sneak” (I don’t get out much), but looking at the photo, I now know. I wish I didn’t know.
Anonymous, Pluto often eats too much when he goes to Taco Bell, and he also tends to eat too many children. All that saturated fat! There was a movie about the Little Mermaid? ;-)
Melissa, I should have known.
JG, we see characters outside the gates pretty regularly in those early days - even Mickey and Minnie, the king and queen of characters! But I doubt it ever happens now.
How great to see characters outside the paid realm...it completely makes sense....and it looks like Pluto doesn't have 3 handlers and a photographer....which: that's what it seems to look like now. I hear about people waiting hours in line at official "meet and greets" at WDW....how absolutely painful for the guests and the the performers. I had to do that when I worked at Medieval Times before the show...and I can guarantee you: it is incredibly painful...and people DO grab you in places only for GDB After Dark...the patrons thought it was hilarious. Anyway: that fever dream only lasted 6 months to the day and that's all I'll say about that. Let's move on to the NASA guys at the gate. How very scrubbed they look. This is what Walt was talking about when he didn't want unsavories working at the Park. Things have changed. They aren't even nice at the gate and just want to assault you with taking your photo and getting your fingerprints, etc. I asked once if they wanted any other "samples" because I'm such a sarcastic little brat, and the joke fell super flat. I don't think they actually were paying attention to me, however I'm used to that. Maybe that's why I was followed around that day by security (?)....in any case...the Columbia!: and you are correct JB, I do not think they would even attempt to build a Columbia today. Although I am not a fan of the "melting dragon show", I will say when I passed by the river one night, when the Columbia was sailing around, and lit very dramatically as a "Pirate Ship" it really is a sight at night....the Mark Twain and the Columbia have a different scale when lit and night. I also had a different scale when lit, but that was thankfully a long time ago. I like guests sitting on random rocks, and I also like that they were put there for guests to sit and climb randomly. And correct: not sure the lawyers would allow that. What have we all become? Regarding "Abu Dhabi" Disneyland....yes Major: this is real, and I read an article this morning that there will be a documentary about it on August 20th. I was happy to hear that it is more "Tokyo": otherwise known as "other peoples money"....so all the financing comes from over there, and they pay for the creative, licensing, etc. I'm actually kind of curious, but given it's description from Bob Iger it sounds like "IP LAND"....hmmmm....What I do know, is whatever it is, it will be the most elaborate and expensive park in the world. Deeeeep pockets, and in a seaside resort town with other Theme Park Mega Monsters. I'm kind of excited to see how it all will evolve...Thanks Major for the morning rabbit hole.
Major-
"Why are those shoes called “pedal pushers”? I’ve never known. Are they good for riding bikes?"
NOT the shoes, Major... the pants-! I get it - it does kinda make it in the literal sense. The pants [slacks] did get its name from cyclists who commonly wear non pedal-interfering pants of some sort.
In my childhood years we had a couple dogs, and one was a lovable mutt that LOVED to roam the neighborhood if the backyard gate was accidentally left open. It would sometimes take hours to locate him and get him back home...he was part hunting-dog and enjoyed sniffing and exploring. I wonder how long it took the Cast Members to get Pluto back inside the fence? (We solved our problem by putting a lock on the gate.)
Fun pictures, thank you, Major.
JB, I’m sure I used that gag. It practically wrote itself.
Adventureland in Kansas City had a full-sized sailing ship, but they didn’t build it - they bought it at the 1970 MGM auction. Just saw it a couple of nights ago in the 1955 Revolutionary War snoozebuckler The Scarlet Coat, which was more interesting as an exercise in star and set spotting than as entertaining filmmaking. My dad literally started snoring partway through it. I had to fight to stay awake.
Thanks, Major!
Sue, you reminded me of two hunting dogs we had when I was a kid.
Pippi the English Springer Spaniel was given to my uncle by a girl he was dating, whose family bred and sold them. But Pippi was the runt of her litter and so not saleable, I guess. I'm not sure why, but she lived with us for a while. With nothing to hunt, she turned all those smarts to eccentricity and crime. If you told her "Go take a bath, you stink," she would find the nearest body of water and jump into it. (Luckily we lived near a creek.) One time she stuck her head in the and stole the Christmas goose off the sideboard. Grandma cut off the teeth marks and hid them with parsley, and it was fine. Another time she came home with a really nice Corningware casserole, and went back for the lid the next day. We used it for many years.
King the Chocolate Lab was practically perfect in every way. One of my Mom's friends bred and trained gun dogs, and King was Mom's favorite, so when they had to move cross-country she gave him to us. But it was really hard to find a fence (or collar, or harness) that could hold him, and one day he came home with one of the neighbor's prize French Lop show rabbits. Not a mark on the bunny - that soft mouth training was impeccable - but it was, as they say, pining for the fjords. We ended up paying for a new rabbit, a new and improved latch for the hutch, and better fence latches for both us and the neighbor.
Chuck, I'm so glad to hear about that ship from the MGM auction going to an amusement park and making people happy! Usually, any thoughts about the MGM "yard sale" just bum me out. And I try not to think about WDW's Rivers of America at all.
Tokyo!, the floral Mickey's pupa stage would just be bare dirt, nothing growing in it. The larval stage has itty-bitty plants just starting to grow... now you know! ;-p
Major, maybe it rained a little earlier while Pluto was cavorting out there beyong the gates. The "aroma" is wet dog smell. (Ugh!) If the planet Pluto isn't a real planet then neither are those bloated gas giants! At least Pluto has a rocky interior, unlike Jupiter, Saturn, etal.
Sue, it wasn't hard to get Pluto back inside the fence. They just left a trail of Beggin' Strips for him to follow.... and then chained him in the Churro Mines. "Bad dog! Bad dog!"
Chuck, the joke sounded awfully familiar when I was typing it. And I knew no one else would make a 2¢ joke like that except you (and me). :-p
Melissa, Ha! I love how your grandma cut away the toothmarks and stuffed them with parsley! Waste not, want not. The whole comment, with the dogs, the kitchenware, the rabbit "pining for the fjords", was hilarious!
Bu, I would imagine that there is somebody out of frame who is keeping an eye on Pluto, making sure the cast member is safe, and making sure that guests don’t get weird. Although this was 1962, so presumably guests were better-behaved? Oh my gosh, Medieval Times, I can’t remember if you mentioned that you worked there. Amazing! I’ve never been, but there was a movie (The Cable Guy, I think) where they go to a Medieval Times type place, and it was hilarious. The CMs at the gate now wear some sort of costume, by that I mean more of a uniform, and it’s not very neat and tidy, just sort of there. “We’re all dressed the same!”. I’ve found that the folks at the gate are generally pretty nice, maybe I’ve just been lucky. I’m sure your joke fell flat because they thought, “Dude, I only work here, and am getting minimum wage! I don’t make the rules!”. Fantasmic! does look impressive if you happen to be passing through Frontierland while it is going. But I never stop, in fact I walk as fast as I can. I guess I’m glad that people like it, but I still hate the way Frontierland was transformed for that show. Gosh I’ll have to look up Abu Dhabi Disneyland. Money will be no object for them, that’s for sure. And you know what? Anaheim will still have the best park!
Nanook, ha ha, shows what I know about women’s fashions! I guess I always called “pedal pushers” Capri pants, maybe they aren’t really the same.
Lou and Sue, even yesterday I noticed a neighbor dog just walking down the sidewalk unattended. I guess his owners just let him loose to poop on somebody’s lawn, and then he comes home. Seems irresponsible, if you ask me.
Chuck, does it ever feel weird that we know you so well?? Hmm, I’ll have to go back and look at those MGM backlot photos that I shared years ago, I can’t remember if there was a full-sized sailing ship, or maybe just a very large miniature.
Melissa, I’m glad Pippi had a loving home, though she sounds like a troublemaker. Hilarious that you could tell her that she stunk and she’d jump in a creek. Some soap might have helped too! And a nice spritz of Elizabeth Taylor’s “White Diamonds”. I like the idea of Christmas goose, but the few times my mom made it (for my grandpa), I thought it was way too oily/fatty. But gramps loved it. Now I have to wonder if that ship that Chuck mentioned still exists, or if it was scrapped in the 1980s (or whenever).
JB, oh trust me, Pluto had way more aromas than just “wet dog”. But this isn’t the “Stinky Dog Blog”, though I know many people wish that it was. I’ve heard that Jupiter has a core of metallic hydrogen, which is pretty cool. I want some of that for my next hotrod. Beggin’ Strips? I prefer Snausages! What else was grandma supposed to do with that darn goose? Store were closed! I was a persnickety kid though, I probably would have just loaded up on stuffing and mashed potatoes, and avoided the goose.
”Lou and Sue, even yesterday I noticed a neighbor dog just walking down the sidewalk unattended. I guess his owners just let him loose to poop on somebody’s lawn, and then he comes home. Seems irresponsible, if you ask me.”
Major, maybe that’s why they let Pluto out.
Melissa, I love your dog stories.
Major-
"I guess I always called “pedal pushers” Capri pants, maybe they aren’t really the same".
Almost - 'pedal pushers tend to fit tight to the leg and hit right at or just below the knee...'
@ Chuck / Melissa / Major-
"Adventureland in Kansas City had a full-sized sailing ship, but they didn’t build it - they bought it at the 1970 MGM auction".
Make that Worlds of Fun, Chuck. Turns out both the Mayflower (the full-size sailing ship), originally constructed for the 1952 film Plymouth Adventure, and the Cotton Blossom, originally constructed for the 1951 remake of Showboat, ended up at Worlds of Fun, for its May 26, 1973.
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