Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Back to 1956, Pt. 3



Today’s post takes us to Frontierland, with a hardly seen shot of Willard P. Bounds’ office–he was the Blacksmith AND U.S. Marshall, doncha' know...and, as a tribute the extremely talented Peter Ellenshaw, I will repeat this classic shot of him working on the rendering that Walt Disney would present for the world to see on National TV. Ellenshaw passed away Monday, is probably best known for his matte paintings which created the world of Mary Poppins and many other classic Disney films.



See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland photos at my main website.

6 comments:

Tom said...

The FrontierLand buildings remind me of my parents photo's sitting on benches at old Knott's Berry Farm, taking pictures with the cowboy statues seated on those benches.

There used to be an oversized indian statue standing in Agoura off the highway a bit, guarding an old indian cave. I wonder if it's still there.

Major Pepperidge said...

Merlinsguy is going to love that shot of the blacksmith building!

Wow, I did not know that Peter Ellenshaw died...he was mentioned a number of times in the recent Walt Disney biography. What a talented man, and his son has done amazing work as well. I might add that this is one of the most amazing photos you have, I am blown away by it.

Merlinsguy said...

Dude, you made my day. I've been looking for an in context shot of the blacksmith shop for years. The Major turned me on to a postcard, but this is the first shot of seen as a store. They used to sell cowboy ropes there and am I wrong but do I see a man in a cowboy hat in the store? That would be my old pal Eddie Adamak.

Daveland said...

I will take a look at the original scan and see if I can blow it up so you can figure out if it's Eddie or not. Thanks for the comments!

Matterhorn1959 said...

Hey Dave- the lady walking by herself in the plaid outfit appears to be an employee, most likely for the Pendleton shop. She is probably on her way to work.

Anonymous said...

Hey Dave, Im trying to locate a work of Elleshaw's, its a concept painting of the CYGNUS from the BLACK HOLE movie, its actually in the movie in the captain's dining room. It shows a white concept CYGNUS with a reddish nebula backdrop, any chance you can find out what happened to this Ellenshaw piece? I was able to acquire a b/w photo but I would really love to find it in color.