The Purple Trash Can

Although it doesn’t show the Fantasia mural, I still yelped when I saw this interior shot of the Welch’s Juice Bar in Fantasyland from March 1965. Pluto poses with these two chaps (Doug on the left, can’t read the name on the hat for the boy on the right) who can’t wait to have a 15¢ Welch’s Frozen Grape Bar! Note the themed purple bullet-style trash cans on the right and the left. I’m assuming the “W” visible on the left can is for “Welch’s. That’s a pretty safe bet! This little refreshment shop was where Pinocchio’s Daring Journey is currently located.



Zooming in to this August 1964 shot you can see the exterior:



See more Disneyland Fantasyland photos at my main website.

Tony Curtis Takes A Wild Ride

In 1962, Tony Curtis starred in the comedy “40 Pounds of Trouble.” This lackluster remake of Shirley Temple’s “Little Miss Marker” (1934) has at least one redeeming feature: beautiful color footage of Disneyland, shot with permission from Walt himself (albeit with minor script changes that he suggested first). Here’s Tony attempting to escape a detective (Tom Reese) hot on his trail as he dashes through the Teacup attraction. I wonder if there was any eye makeup left for costar Suzanne Pleshette after Tony was finished prepping for the film?



In between takes, Tony took his daughter Kelly (left) and costar Claire Wilcox (who played the Shirley Temple role) on Mr. Toad’s wild adventure.



Maybe Tony enjoyed the drag makeup from “Some Like It Hot” (1959) and decided to keep it.



A few screenshots from the movie that give rare interior views of Mr. Toad:





See more Disneyland Mr. Toad photos at my main website.

Melinda Goes to Disneyland, Pt. 2!

Today, Melinda shares photos from Fantasyland, taken during her family’s 1980 trip to Disneyland. In case you weren’t aware, the banners in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle should clue you in to the fact that it was the Park’s 25th Anniversary. Note the extremely faded color of the Castle. Obviously before Kim Irvine got her paint brush on it.

These photos show Fantasyland in its original Tournament Festival design state, albeit with a few 1970’s touches of ornamentation.



The arches around the Mad Tea Party attraction went up some time around 1969 and lasted until it was moved during the 1983 Fantasyland remodel.



Before Pinocchio moved in, The Fantasyland Theatre occupied that real estate:



The family takes a spin on the Tea Cups:







Zooming in to see the Dumbo ticket booth in the background:



Dumbo, with his ears firmly attached to his head:



An overhead shot of the Alice attraction, taken from the Skyway:



The intersecting Casey Jr. and Storybook Land attractions:



The favorite car of most kids on the Casey Jr. attraction:





Another Skyway shot, this time showing the it’s a small world attraction:



From Melinda:

it’s a small world was, and is still, one of my most favorite rides to this day. I listened to the record and read the storybook that went with it probably hundreds of times. I worked hard to learn all of the words to that song, and all of the others that went with the many Disney records I had. “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” was another of my particular favorites. I just adore the colors and styling of Mary Blair’s small world to this day, and I would have ridden it as many times as I could. 



This picture of my sister and I shows us sitting in the boat headed into small world and waving. I noticed that neither of our parents is in the boat with us, and when I asked my mom about it she said that they wouldn’t have had a problem putting us on the ride by ourselves so they didn't have to go in and listen to the song again! So, despite the disclaimer on the back of the ticket book about kids not being able to ride that one without a parent, it did happen at least on occasion!



More Melinda at Disneyland to come! See more Disneyland photos at my main website.

Monday with Mansfield

With my latest Jayne Mansfield at Disneyland in 1957 acquisition, I can now put together a fairly comprehensive pictorial representation of her tour of Fantasyland. Here she is with her daughter in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle; note that the crest is still not on the Castle at this point. Husband Mickey Hargitay is on the left side of the shot in a dark suit. I love the expressions of the other guests as they see this bonafide movie star strolling right by them.



Perhaps next she went to the Carrousel, which was directly on the other side of the Castle:



…followed by a spin on the teacups:



A flight over Fantasyland via Dumbo. Note the hinged ears:
 


Some “adult” time on the dark rides with husband Mickey, first at Peter Pan:



…followed by Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride:



Will there be more Mansfield in the future? Only time will tell!

See more celebrities at Disneyland photos at my main website.

Alice in Fantasyland September 1964

This September 1964 image shows The Mad Hatter, The White Rabbit, and Alice in Wonderland interacting with a few guests in Fantasyland. The oval netting in the band of the Mad Hatter’s hat is so that the cast member inside the costume can see out.



While we’re in Fantasyland, how about a 1956 shot of the Mad Tea Party? Fantasyland looks so different with its original façades meant to resemble medieval traveling tournament tents.



See more Disneyland Fantasyland photos at my main website.

Steve Allen at Disneyland

Steve Allen was big. HUGE. Everyone thinks of the Ed Sullivan Show when it comes to Elvis Presley's TV debut, when in fact, Elvis appeared on the Steve Allen Comedy Show first. Allen himself was an accomplished musician, composer, actor, writer, and comedian who was very well known back in the day; today, those under 30 have probably never heard of him. How some people and remembered and how others are forgotten always baffles me. Nevertheless, Allen and his family visited Disneyland in December 1957.

According the accompanying press blurb:

Steve Allen's three sons, eleven year=old Brian; Steve Jr., 13; and David, seven, leave Fantasyland for Frontierland during a recent visit to Disneyland.

Please…any Disneyland Geek knows that the Casey Jr. Circus Train would never take ANYONE out of Fantasyland. Who wrote this stuff?!?



On the Teacup attraction:



Here they are aboard the Mark Twain:



The accompanying Autopia blurb is just as bland:

Steve Allen gets some advice from son David, seven, as they prepare to drive Autopia's freeway during a recent trip to Disneyland. Steve's other sons, Steve Jr., 13; and Brian, 11, accompanied their father also.



More vintage and current Disneyland photos at my main website.

Playing Hooky, Pt. 2

Welcome to Mickey's Toontown, circa April 2000. The bright colors of Mickey's House are right up my alley. We all had a blast posing inside.



Even doing the laundry can be fun with Mickey.



The reward at the end: meeting Mickey himself!



Another rarity: riding the Teacups!





the cups start swirling…



with a little help from us, as we furiously turned the inner wheel.





Once again I must have handed off my camera; what the heck was I thinking.



This shot truly sums up my thoughts on this attraction.



On Peter Pan, apparently I completely lost control of the camera, and most likely my friend Arlette had it. With a flash, the magical details of this scene are lost. You can see why cast members caution against using one.



Being helped from my vehicle, I am sure I was anxious to get my camera back!



Arlette looks sassy with her princess hat from the nearby Mad Hatter Shop.



If my friends look pissed off, they aren't. They are focusing on a game we were playing called "Hot Lava." We couldn't let our feet touch the ground because it was molten lava. These are the things we came up with to pass the time in the queue.



Safe and sound, we made it on the attraction!



Wrapping our day up, we posed in Central Plaza with some of the mini statues that surrounded the Partners Statue.





Arlette posed with her Ginormous Mickey Hands as we exited Main Street, U.S.A.



The last one for the day was us exiting the park on the Tram.



Of the four of us, I am the only one left in San Diego, but we all still keep in touch. When we returned to work, the CEO's assistant said she was sorry she didn't get a chance to talk to us the day before. We hadn't even been missed!

See more Daveland vintage & current Disneyland photos at my main website.