A few vintage shots of the little town of Rainbow Ridge dating back to December 1964. Zooming in for a closeup of the Pack Mules, it shows how forced perspective was used on the buildings to make them look bigger. Seeing people next to them kind of blows the effect.
Another shot of Rainbow Ridge from the same batch:
and a detailed view of the Frontierland Ticket booth:
Going back in time a few more years gives us this April 1962 Rainbow Ridge image:
Followed by an undated view of the Nature's Wonderland attraction itself. Notice the Fantasyland Skyway Station peaking out in the distance.
58 years ago today the Carnation Plaza Gardens opened; here's an August 1959 image showing Vesey Walker conducting a concert for some of the younger guests. Love the hats!
This beautiful little spot became an unfortunate victim to "progress" a few years back and was replaced by a Princess meet-and-greet called Fantasy Faire.
See more Daveland Rainbow Ridge Disneyland photos at my main website.
Seeing the Pack Mules and people near the Rainbow Ridge buildings doesn't really blow the effect for me, as I never thought of Rainbow Ridge as realistic or trying to be. I've always thought of Rainbow Ridge as more of a façade for Nature's Wonderland doused in "western-storybook charm". It's not literal.
ReplyDeleteRainbow Ridge's scale is small even close up when loading into the Mine train and it's much smaller in scale when compared to all other Frontierland buildings. That's just my opinion of course.
Yep, that's sad about Carnation Plaza Gardens. Rip out the most romantic spot in Disneyland. Way to go, Disney.
I'm in awe of your collection of Nature's Wonderland images. Thanks for sharing them, Dave.
@Ken M. I agree, even as a kid, I always thought RR was just a backdrop, not quite as abstract as IASW, but not meant to be taken as reality either, even though the sound effects were great.
ReplyDeleteThe whole Nature's Wonderland experience was something of the same kind, as opposed to the Jungle Cruise, which always felt more immersively real to me.
I don't know if that was intentional design, it's just how those attractions affected me.
Cool pics, Dave. Thank you.
JG