Winter at Disneyland, 1964/65: Adventureland

Last day for this series which wraps up in Adventureland. First two shots are of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, home to approximately 300,000 artificial leaves.



Naturally, our next attraction in A-Land is the Jungle Cruise. Can you believe this batch didn’t have any hippo shots?!?







The “star” of the elephant wading pool has changed very little over the years, as these comparison photos demonstrate:





Is this the Bull Elephant or its angry mother-in-law?



Ah, the not-so-friendly natives, doing the hokey-pokey:



See more vintage & current Adventureland photos at my website.

Winter at Disneyland, 1964/65: Fantasyland Pt. 2

This Fantasyland post today is 100% Storybook Land, starting with a closeup shot of Monstro, the whale from Pinocchio. Here is a contemporary shot of Monstro for comparison:



The rest of the images are presented in the order that they were taken. Here’s one of the homes of The Three Little Pigs, paired with a contemporary view:





Cinderella’s Castle & The Patchwork Quilt of succulents:



The village below Cindy’s Castle and its contemporary pairing:





The Millhouse near Alice’s Village:





One of the three windmills:





Last one for today is Pinocchio’s Village:





See more vintage & current Disneyland Storybook photos at my website.

Winter at Disneyland, 1964/65: Fantasyland Pt. 1

Skull Rock: what an icon. One of the best places in the park to relax and enjoy your lunch or a snack while listening to the cascading sounds of the waterfalls. And where better to get your noon-time meal than the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship Restaurant?



After filling up your belly, a few spins on Dumbo ought to help make sure your meal has settled properly in your stomach.



Our photographer loved the Three Little Pigs and especially the Big Bad Wolf; here are some of his glorious shots:









See more vintage & current Fantasyland photos at my website.

Winter at Disneyland, 1964/65: Frontierland Batch

Ah, the Golden Horseshoe. Home to Wally Boag, Betty Taylor, and Pepsi-Cola. Today’s batch finishes off the Frontierland portion of this series. Shot #2 shows the Columbia as well as the Haunted Mansion in the background; although the exterior is finished, it would still be quite some time before the attraction was open to guests.



Look at the guests just lining up along the banks of the Rivers of America to snap a photo of the Mark Twain:



Last one for today shows The Old Mill on Tom Sawyer Island, draped with a little festive garland.



About a week or so ago I had mentioned the building of a Mount Rushmore sand castle in Venice Beach to commemorate the release of "National Treasure 2" on DVD. Here is a time-lapse video of its construction:

See more vintage & current Disneyland photos at my website.

Winter at Disneyland, 1964/65: Nature’s Wonderland

Today’s post is a “You-Are-There” post, with selections from Nature’s Wonderland, presented in the order they were shot, beginning with a nice close-up of Pat Casey’s Last Chance Saloon. Have a drink, dull the pain, and then go visit the Dentist upstairs for an extraction - what a combo! Next up is the last batch of Rainbow Ridge buildings before entering the tunnel and seeing the splendor of Nature’s Audio-Animatronic wonders.



This view of the Indian Village was taken from the Mine Train:



“Where the deer, and the antelope play..."



Here’s one of the train itself:



And what better for the grand finale than Old Unfaithful?



Meanwhile, flashing forward to present day, Indiana Jones is back at Disneyland with a vengeance now that the fourth installment of the series has hit the big screens. Aladdin’s Oasis has now become the home of a new Indiana Jones show, and he is also seen throughout Adventureland performing his heroic stunts.



I have seen the new Indiana Jones movie, and have to admit I was somewhat underwhelmed. The chase scenes were amazing, but overall, the film itself was kind of a snoozer. Still, it was good to see Harrison Ford & Karen Allen together again. In DVD news, the 3rd Season of the Muppets is now available, and as before, I highly recommend this installment. Guest stars on this one include Sylvester Stallone, Liberace, Gilda Radner, Jean Stapleton, Cheryl Ladd, Raquel Welch, and Danny Kaye.

See more vintage & current Disneyland photos at my website.

Dial M for Madonna: World of Wonder Opening

Although I used to exhibit on a VERY frequent basis when I lived in Indiana, ever since I moved to California 9 years ago, my output of art has slowed down to a trickle. Too many other distractions. So, it was awesome to be contacted by the World of Wonder Gallery in Hollywood about having a few of my pieces in their exhibit, "Dial M for Madonna,” from 5/23-6/23 (6650 Hollywood Blvd., corner of Hollywood Blvd. & Cherokee). This is the kind of thing I need more of to get my ass in gear and back to the canvas with the paints. Here are some photos from opening night:









A cuff from Madge’s Drowned World Tour:



And the installation wouldn’t have been complete with M’s videos being shown on the wall:



Ru Paul and Norman Kopi were also on hand:





Everyone seemed to be having lots of fun, socializing, voguing, and sucking down their Kabbalah water:







Many thanks to Steven Corfe for contacting me to part of this exhibit. To see more of my art, visit my regular website.