Not to be outdone by my recent post featuring a vintage shot of the queue mural for Mr. Toad, good ol’ Snow White pulled through be hooking me up with a "new" old shot from HER line queue mural. Take that, Toady! Dating back to February 1965, you are looking at Walt & Ethel. Yes...that's what was written on the back.
Here’s the section of the mural that their Mine Cart was caught in front of:
See more Disneyland Snow White's Scary Adventures attraction photos at my main website.
Walt and Ethel have come from Grant Wood territory.
ReplyDeleteThe mural gave fair warning of what kids could expect on the ride. The witch's pupils were painted fluorescent red, and had a black light shone on them for fiendish effect. This original version scared the H--- out of me when I was I tot ,the first dark ride I went on. Now that's a happy memory! Too bad the '83 redo lightened it; how many frightened kids were permanently traumatized by the '55 edition? Or by the still scary "Snow White" movie?
And from the less is more files: in this first Snow White ride, trapped in the witch's castle and between gruesome scenes, the mine cars would twist around several corners in complete darkness, which was scary in itself and heightened anxiety for the next shock. Very canny staging.
Thanks Dave for this reminder of classy Disneyland!
I was one of those kids traumatized by the original version! I didn't revisit that ride for years and my mother was very upset (not with me but Disney) that it scared me so much.
ReplyDeleteWalt and Ethel, these are the names I would assign them in my head, if no one knew their names.
ReplyDeleteOddly, I don't recall being scared by the Snow White ride. I know I rode it as a kid, but it just seemed fun.
The movie was a huge deal in it's time, a blockbuster on the order of the original Star Wars. It was not meant as a kid movie and had scary parts that were not toned down. Of course, we are hardened now, and find it tame, but not to the audience when it was new.
Mom told me the story that Dad took her to the film on a date before they were married, she thought it was scary. Both of them always had a soft spot for the ride and Snow White's Grotto.
Thanks for the fun picture, Dave.
JG
Thanks to all three of you for sharing your memories of the original attraction! I love details like this!
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