Today the Disneyland Resort is celebrating its 60th Anniversary; hard to believe since it seems just like yesterday I was basking in the nostalgia of the 50th. Oh how time flies.
This black and white shot of Walt standing outside the Jungle Cruise attraction talking to two young lads has been in my collection for awhile now.
Recently, I was able to acquire a color shot from the same scene. You can just imagine Walt grilling the boys, asking them what they liked and didn't like about his beloved theme park.
This may be a publicity shot, but I guarantee you that those frown lines are real; the boys are probably telling him that once you ride the Jungle Cruise, you don't need to do so again.
This color image has an extra detail that helps date it. Note the back of the souvenir guide book from 1956:
It's a match!
This other recently acquire image makes my heart warm, seeing how happy Walt is to show off Disneyland in his Horseless Carriage.
Continue the 60th Celebration by checking out a gigawatt more vintage & current photos of Disneyland at my main website.
6 comments:
What a pleasure to see these shots of Walt in his park, enjoying himself and talking to the fans. It's so rare to see shots like this with the Daveland stamp not intentionally edited out for reposting elsewhere.
Wow, very neat to see that color shot of the more-familiar black and white photo. I am sure that the young woman next to Walt is his daughter Sharon. Imagine just bumping in to Walt at the park, and being able to chat with him... he was probably asking their opinions about the park.
I've seen the b&w image of Walt standing outside the Jungle Cruise in publications before, but that color shot is something else. Yet the people in the same scene are in different positions meaning these two images were taken moments apart. Great find, Dave!
I was also thinking that the 50th didn't seem all that long ago. Time flies when you're having fun. Heck! At my age, time flies whether I'm having fun or not.
Happy 60th Birthday, Disneyland.
Thank you Dave for sharing your photos. I love that on this, Disneyland's 60th Birthday, you have chosen to share both Walt photos AND Jungle Cruise photos... This is shaping up to be a GREAT DAY!
Always your pal,
Amazon Belle
By the way Walt is purposefully touching that young man's finger, I believe Walt is the one giving advice. I hope that very fortunate lad was paying full attention! Such a moment.
Have wondered if the photo of Walt in Adventureland was taken the same day as this one of Walt and Sharon with Owen Pope, manager of the Pony Farm as seen here: http://www.matterhorn1959.com/blog1/ponyfarm.jpg
Both Sharon and Walt, with his coat removed, look to be dressed in the same clothes. There are also a number of other photos with Walt in that striped shirt in different locations of Disneyland with family memebers, including the famous "Walt walking through the castle" shot. I know a person usually wears the same clothes a number of times, but still, curious if they were all the same day and what the story is behind all the pictures.
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