Storybook Land is one of the most beloved attractions at Disneyland. It allows guests to see all of the homes, villages, and towns inhabited by the stable of Disney animated characters. What also makes it unique is that you do not see a single one of them; you only see their environments, carefully crafted in detailed miniature. This week, you will journey through Storybook, using a 1968 narration script as the guide. For those of you who have always dreamed about being a Storybook Land Tour Guide, now is your chance to live that dream! I will use photos from 1968 (or thereabouts) to illustrate your guided tour. Along the way, I'll add a few notes about the photos and put them in italics. Here goes...
WELCOME TO STORYBOOK LAND EVERYONE. MY NAME IS (insert name here!) AND WE ARE ABOARD THE (insert boat name here). (PLEASE KEEP YOUR HANDS AND ARMS INSIDE THE BOAT.)
Note: If you can't make up your own name for a boat, feel free to use either Tinkerbell or Bold Lochinvar, both illustrated in this vintage September 1969 photo:
TOGETHER WE ARE GOING TO VISIT A MINIATURE WORLD OF FAIRY TALES RECREATED FROM SOME OF WALT DISNEY'S MOST FAMOUS MOTION PICTURE CLASSICS.
OH! WE'VE JUST BEEN SWALLOWED BY MONSTRO...THE VERY SAME WHALE THAT SWALLOWED PINOCCHIO. THE DARKENED AREA ABOVE US IS WHERE PINOCCHIO BUILT THE FIRE THAT MADE MONSTRO SNEEZE... AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED? MONSTRO SNEEZED SO HARD HE BLEW HIS TAIL OFF!
ON OUR RIGHT IS GEPETTO'S VILLAGE FROM "PINOCCHIO." WE WILL VISIT IT LATER, ON OUR TOUR OF STORYBOOK LAND. AROUND THE BEND ON YOUR LEFT IS THE CAVE OF THE BIG BAD WOLF. SEE HIS CHOPPING BLOCK OUT IN FRONT?
ON THE ISLAND ARE THE HOMES OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS...ONE MADE OF STRAW...
(sorry, had to use contemporary shots for the first two homes!)
ONE OF STICKS...
AND ONE OF WOLF-PROOF BRICKS.
HEAR THE LITTLE PIGS SINGING INSIDE?
Come back on Wednesday to continue your vintage trip through Storybook Land!
See more vintage & current Disneyland Storybook Land attraction photos on my Storybook Land web page.
Thanks for posting these. This has become my favorite Fantasyland attraction.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that there are no characters on the landscape actually adds to the charm and magic of Storybook Land. It allows one to use their own imagination to fill in where the characters might be at the moment.
This was one of the charms of the original "Swiss Family Treehouse" as well. One could imagine the Robinsons were away looking for food on the island while your were dropping in on their home. The use of imagination was eliminated when the static characters were added to its replacement "Tarzan's Treehouse".