Twainapalooza, Pt. 2

This Twainapalooza post takes place in the 1950s, beginning with this early shot of the Twain. Most likely 1955...perhaps even before the park was open. Wonder what the D.L. Kissell Refrigeration Company was doing here?



1956:



I can't read the sign board; perhaps for the Indian Village?



A great shot of the dock, also from 1956:



A closer look at the guests, most wearing matching red sweaters:



Two shots from March 1956:





Two undated shots:





How about this gorgeous night shot from 1956?



Even in closeup it's a beauty!



May 1956:



Tom Sawyer Island appears to still be under construction; it opened one month later.



October 27, 1956 yielded the next three:







Is that an engineer or just a nosey guest?



More shots of everyone's favorite riverboat at my main website.

Twainapalooza

Today we celebrate the Mark Twain with a random assortment of vintage shots of the venerable riverboat at Disneyland. First up are a few from April 1960. Zooming in we can see a raft at Tom Sawyer Island as well as some guests paddling away their churros on a canoe. I wonder how many of those hats ended up in the river?



A lovely shot of the Twain, also from April 1960.



Know anybody?



A July 1967 shot:



Although it was a few years away from being opened, the Haunted Mansion was completely built by this time:



This closeup shows a nearby ticket booth. For the rafts to Tom Sawyer Island, perhaps?



Another gem from July 1967:



Here we see the ticket booth for Nature's Wonderland as well as the festive umbrellas for Casa de Fritos:



In November 1968 the Disneyland Marching Band was at the Mark Twain dock:



The leader does not appear to be Vesey Walker, though:



Actor and game show host John Davidson visited the park while he was filming "The Happiest Millionaire" (1967):



Last one has been posted before, but you know how much I love those FauxD© shots; this one from July 17, 1968 shows the Young Men from New Orleans playing their hearts out aboard the Mark Twain:



Get your Mark Twain fix at my main website.

Unproduced Shirley

Shirley Temple is best remembered as the curly-haired singing and dancing moppet who helped cheer up a Depression-weary nation in the 1930s. Here she is with one of her favorite costars, James Dunn in 1934's "Bright Eyes." Like most little tykes, Shirley had to grow up. A mere four years later, she was teetering on the brink of box office disaster as her number one position was beginning to crumble. This photo is from 1938's "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm," co-starring Gloria Stuart.



This list from October 1938 on 20th Century-Fox stationery shows that studio chief Darryl Zanuck and team were looking hard for future properties for Shirley. None of these came to fruition, although "Lady Jane" probably came the closest to being produced.



In the end, Shirley cranked out a few more films before "retiring" from Fox at the ripe old age of 12.

More Shirley at my main website.

Behind The Scenes on The Blue Bird

This publicity shot from October 1939 shows filming of "The Blue Bird" with Shirley Temple. Here's the accompanying text from the back of the photo:

ROYAL SLIDE - For Shirley Temple and Johnny Russell (behind are light, center) one of the high spots of "The Blue Bird", now under production in Technicolor at 20th Century-Fox, came when they got to slide down the impressive balustrades of a baroque palace. Behind Gale Sondergaard (at foot of balustrade) is one of the big satin pillows into which Shirley and Johnny plumped. Even Laura Hope Crews (left of camera) as well as Nigel Bruce (not shown) got the rare privilege of sliding down the banister. The scene is from "The Palace of Luxury", which occupied an entire sound stage at the Westwood studio.



In this still, you can see the aforementioned bannister. However, I am guessing that stunt doubles were used for most (if not all) the actors!



More Shirley Temple in "The Blue Bird" photos at my main website.

Storyland in New Orleans

I still have a number of posts sitting in the queue from trips long ago, like this one about Storyland in New Orleans from over a year ago. I had never heard of this section of City Park until the Executive Director at UCDA clued me into it. What a kitschy gem this place turned out to be! At the entrance you find no less than Humpty Dumpty himself!



While it may lack the sophistication and polish of a Disney Park, it is every bit as charming, and judging by the plethora of happy squealing kids running through while I was there, it was just as entertaining. In fact, maybe even a little more so because of its simplicity and the ability to interact with fewer rules and regulations.



You can climb aboard Peter Pan/Captain Hook's pirate ship yourself, and see them forever frozen in a duel high up in the crow's nest:



This fortress/castle makes a beautiful centerpiece to the park:



Some of the characters in Storyland are patterned after the Disney interpretations; some are less obvious, like this tribute to the Little Mermaid:



The cottage of the Seven Dwarfs:



Snow White:



Her "makeup" has seen better days:



Inside this little structure, it would appear that the artists of Storyland are much less worried about the reach of the Mouse's attorneys. These paintings of the characters from Alice in Wonderland are spot-on to their Disney counterparts.





Rapunzel:



Cute to see Jack in the Beanstalk on an actual fence:



Grandma's House:



The frightful sight you see when you open her door!



This is the cow that stepped over the moon.



Loved this dragon slide; it took a long time to get this shot without the tiny little varmints who were gleefully playing here.



The permanent home of Three Little Pigs:



The pigs themselves:



The home of brick (complete with the Big Bad Wolf about to get burned up in the chimney!):



The house of wood:



and the house of straw:



Mother Goose watches over the proceedings from overhead:



Not too far from the old woman who lived in the shoe:



There's even a Monstro here:



Complete with Pinocchio (still in puppet form) sitting on top:



While this place may not exactly be compliant with all the rules that the Mouse House adheres too, it is still a very cool place for the young and young at heart.

More Storyland at my main website.