48 years ago today, these images were stamped and filed, documenting the construction of my very favorite Disneyland attraction: The Haunted Mansion. Hard to believe it ever looked like this—no guests, no landscaping, no music...
Through the miracle of Photoshop, I combined the previous two images to get this lovely panorama:
Anybody know this gentleman checking out the construction work?
See more Disneyland Haunted Mansion construction photos at my main website.
25 comments:
Cool post & pictures Dave! Thanks for sharing!
Chris >:-)
!!!
Solid gold, Dave.
These are AMAZING!!!
Stellar post! WOW!!!!Thanks Dave!
That shot from the porch is dreamy!
Who is that guy, inquiring minds gotta know.
Those are very, very nice. Thanks.
There's some interesting signage on the right in that photo. Blow-up, purdy pleeze? You of all people shouldn't need much pushing in that direction!
This isn't a "person" at all; it's one of the ghosts checking out his "new" home.
Is the mystery man Dick Irvine? Check it out...
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/danolson/old%20disneyland%20bride/irv.jpg
that dude is Bill Martin.
actually, what's more amazing is that cool coming attractions sign in the foreground that's half-cut off.
do you have any shots of that? looks like the mansion and the swiss family treehouse are featured.
i'd LOVE to see the rest of that sign!
Hey Dave, if you photomerge the 2nd and 3rd photos in Photoshop, you can get a pretty cool panorama!
Fantastic photos!!
The man is Bill Martin, WED art director at the time, who in the early 70s became VP of Imagineering. One of the Tombstones behind the Mansion is dedicated to him.
INCREDIBLE! It's interesting to see ALL of the doors open...first floor and second floor, east facing and north facing. At the time it was built, did they know what the final layout of the entry was going to be, or was that still being tossed around with the rest of the plans? I'm just wondering if they always knew they would bring people in through the doors on the right or if they ever had plans to bring guests straight in through the front doors?
Do any of my regular readers really think that I would forget to include a closeup of the sign out front? You will see that in part 2! Stay tuned! Thanks Jordan & Kevin for identifying Bill Martin!
All of the images are broken for me. I've tried it in several browsers and none work. Oh noes!
Sorry Giddy Girl, but it's back up now! Just a glitch by my web host.
Dave, have you visited my blog yet today?
;-)
Now, I'm REALLY homesick.
PUT ME BACK!!!
Dave, these are extraordinary. thank you for sharing these.
Years ago, in my youth, I worked for an architect who got his start at Disney. He worked on several of the early attractions in HIS youth.
He had a full set of blueprints for the Haunted Mansion in his files, on which he had drawn many pages. Back in the days of white lines on blue paper. I remember admiring the handiwork. And now, here are construction photos of the project. Stunning.
I remember the details for the Bride and the attic, the hat-box ghost etc. I wanted to see the details for the mechanisms, but the only info in these old sheets was "Ghost by MAPO".
I asked him what MAPO meant, the response was that MAPO stood for MAry Poppins Organization, a division devoted to manufacturing animatronic mechanisms, funded by the profits from the Mary Poppins film.
I don't know if that was true, but thats what I was told.
Thank you SO MUCH for this trip to the past.
JG
Mary Poppins!?
No, my original mechanisms definitely looked MICKEY MOUSE.
Actually, it's true. "MAPO" was stenciled on my wheels.
Wonderful images, Dave. The details in the construction are fascinating in what they reveal. As always, thank you.
Wow - these are incredible!!! Where on earth did you get them?
@TheHatboxGhost: Of course it's true. Everything I post is true, except my name. LOL.
Best regards.
JG
Agree, the man in the last picture is Bill Martin, a former Imagineer.
Eddie Sotto
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