Hard to believe that the ol’ Island has survived this long. First up we see a vintage 1957 map showing all of the way-cool attractions available to guests on the Island. Keep in mind this was before all those pesky attorney-types had their way with things!
From opening day, we have Walt Disney posing with two children from Hannibal, Missouri, Chris Winkler and Perva Lou Smith portraying Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher. The trio is taking a raft over to the Island; in the background you can see the edge of the Chicken Plantation Restaurant.
“Chris and Perva Lou read a proclamation from the Governor of Missouri that officially annexed the Island to the state of Missouri. Following the ceremony the invited guests journeyed back across the river for a catfish luncheon at the Plantation House and the Island was declared open to the public.” (from the Disneyland News)
Glad to see you’re still around, TSI...even if Pirates have invaded your shores!
Meanwhile, back to present-day Disneyland: on Saturday, I did a quick stop at the park (as quick as I can be...I always get lulled into staying longer than I plan) to pick up some pins for one of my other Disneyland-geek friends. Taking the Monorail in, I got a few shots of the park from the open windows:
It’s been awhile since I took new pictures of one of my favorite quiet spots (there aren’t too many left anymore), so I wandered over to Snow White’s Wishing Well. I noticed that somewhere along the line, this area had been added to. Compare this shot from 2008 with the one from last weekend:
Dopey almost seems to be saying "Pull my finger!"
This could buy a few Premium Annual Passes!
Chris from Meet the World showed pics of the Sleeping Beauty Mural that has just gone inside the Castle gift shop, The Enchated Chamber; naturally, I had to check it out myself! These figures were part of the "Barbie & Ken" version of the Sleeping Beauty Diorama from the 1970’s.
Saturday, The Olszewski crew rolled out the prototype for their Fantasyland platform in front of Disneyana on Main Street. Nice to see that they are trying to appeal to us nostalgia nuts by including the Skyway and the possibility of The Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship:
My last stop was the Disney Gallery now located in Town Square. Their current exhibit features some of the original concept art for the park as well as current art inspired by the classics.
Some of my faves included Eyvind Earle’s art for the original concept of the façade for the Snow White attraction:
As well as art for the entrance to the 20,000 Leagues Exhibit in Tomorrowland, artist unknown:
It’s great that the Disney Gallery team is labeling these pieces so that browsers can learn about what they are seeing. Some of the current art on display included this piece by one of my fave artists, Jimmy Pickering:
This one I shot for Connie; please, no tears!
Then it was up to LA, where I shot some photos for tomorrow’s post. See more Disneyland Tom Sawyer Island photos at my regular website.
Loads of great pics.
ReplyDeleteCarousel shot...just super!
Eyvind Earle...he does it again. Love the work he did.
Dopey's "thumbs up"...he must be referring to all that "pirate booty" in the wishing well.
Never heard of Jimmy Pickering, what else has he done? Love that 20K entrance artwork. Also, I keep hearing that those grotto figures are copies, but if so, they are excellent copies. AND they look like marble, not cast resin or whatever.
ReplyDeleteMajor - You can find a link to his blog on the right hand side of my blog. His stuff is really fantastic!
ReplyDeleteTerrific shots! The cast member mentioned that more stuff would be added to the Sleeping Beauty display. It looks like they have added the red and yellow birds.... and they fixed the boot that had fallen over! I just love that these figures have made a return...even if they are from 1970's "Barbie & Ken" redo of the attraction!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing where you're taking us tomorrow.
Dave, I love your DL trip reports!!!
ReplyDeletewhat a post! whew
ReplyDeleteHappy 54th to TSI - and I wonder what the financial & legal depts of Disney, Anaheim, LA Co, CA and Missouri could make of TSI being officially a part of Missouri...
Cute addys to the grotto and they even changed the statues again from blue to gold vein marble.
Barbie wistfully wishes she were the Princess Aurora.
What a great post! I ALWAYS love seeing your pictures. I am a day late in wishing Tom Sawyer Island a happy birthday! My friend Jose, who was lucky enough to have his picture taken with Walt when he was a little boy recently gave me his old Tom Sawyer Island brochure from years a go. I was so tickled to get it!
ReplyDeleteHeidi - what a treasure! Very cool! Did he give you the photo, too?
ReplyDelete