Today features photos from the Fantasyland portion of the Opening Day Parade, as witnessed by the banner in shot #1, following the vintage autos down Main Street U.S.A.
Cinderella’s Coach is front and center in shot #2. Who says pumpkins can’t go on to another life? Look at those little kids hanging onto the windows at Upjohn. They could never get away with those shenanigans today!
Some random and scarily costumed Disney classic animated characters in this one: Pinocchio, Chip & Dale, the Mad Hatter, Alice, Dumbo, The March Hare, and Donald Duck.
Snow White is just entering the frame, surrounded by her dwarves. Not sure where the design for this costume came from, as it looks nothing like the Disney Snow that we are accustomed to.
Last but not least, Scary Minnie & Minnie accompany Peter Pan and friends, skipping down Main Street.
From yesterday’s post where I questioned the kiosk-looking things at the Upjohn Pharmacy, Boxcar Mike emailed with a little history:
“When the park was built, these were not kiosks but rather oversized display windows; very similar to the "bay" windows that we see in many homes today. The Upjohn Company used them to display their items. Also back then, there were two planters for some type of decorative plantings located below these windows. This was what the guest was standing on. I have another picture that somebody sent me of this same area taken from another angle and in it you can see the planters as well as the windows, complete with the guest standing on the planter. The planters were an early removal as guests used them for trash cans, and they were a tripping hazard. The windows remain but they are much smaller today.”
Thanks for the info, Mike - much appreciated. Here is a semi-current photo of these windows:
See more Disneyland Opening Day photos at my website.
8 comments:
These are truly amazing....I've never seen color photos of those character costumes. Is that Mary Martin? And why is Chip wearing an apron? Or is that Dale?
Man these are amazing! All in living color! Thanks Dave! Hey, Pinocchio is going to haunt my dreams, but that's ok... Great "semi-current" photo.
The costumes were borrowed from the Ice Capades for the opening day parade. That is part of the reason for the off model is that Disney had not yet developed their costumed character expertise.
Patrick - thanks for the Ice Capades info. Now it makes sense why they look so different!
So amazing to see these in such vivid color...!
Walt's friend owned the Ice Capades. I believe Walt gave him the rights to the characters for his show was a personal favor and he reciprocated by lending Walt the ice show's costumes (& performers?) for the opening of DL, since Disney had no such costumes prepared (and, apparently no intention of creating any for the time being).
Since Walt found Paul Castle working for an ice show, I think it's safe to assume that this group may have included Paul in his first-ever appearance as MM, a role he (and his offspring) would be associated with for many years.
Congratulations on the 1000th post, Dave. Live the new look too.
Hey that changing banner wasn't there this morning! I like it....it's too cool for words!!!
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