POTC: Everything Old Is New Again

Disneyland and the classic Pirates of the Caribbean attraction made headlines lately when it reopened:

Disneyland reveals high-tech upgrade to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’

One of Disneyland’s most popular classic rides has reopened after refurbishment, with a new feature that brings an iconic scene to life using modern technology. Pirates of the Caribbean in New Orleans Square was the last attraction personally overseen by Walt Disney before his death in 1966. It opened 59 years ago, telling the tale of marauding pirates, swashbuckling sailors and cursed treasure. The dark ride reopened Friday after a nearly two-month refurbishment, and Disneyland is revealing the major update. The classic scene depicting the skeleton of a greedy pirate sitting atop a pile of cursed gold is no longer – just a skeleton. We now see his story unfold. Thanks to patented technology involving projections and robotics, riders now see the pirate as a living soul transform into a skeleton after picking up a cursed gold coin. “When he lifts and picks it up and looks at it, it casts a spell over him that freezes him in time,” Alfredo Ayala, a Disneyland Imagineer, explains in an official video released Friday. “And then, the weight of his arm after he turns into a skeleton drops the coin, releasing him from the cursed treasure.” But the short story, of course, doesn’t end there. The greedy pirate picks up the coin again and-this time- becomes frozen forever as a skeleton. The magic is accomplished through what Disney Imagineers call “hybrid front projection technology,” an extension of traditional animatronics seen throughout the park. What’s different here is that the animatronic figure moves, so the projection has to move with it. “It opens up a whole new level of engagement with our beloved guests,” Ayala said.



How the scene looked, a few years after opening, in the September 1969 image below:



How it looked in 2015; not too dissimilar:



While the “hybrid front projection technology” may be a new term, the concept is not anything new. Exhibit A: Madame Leota in the Haunted Mansion:



Granted, the actual head is a stationary sculpt, the special effect still works and has been amazing guests since that attraction opened in 1969. The original film frames that were projected on the matching sculpted head:



The photographer who shot this blurry 1972 image used a flash, which canceled out the film projection and revealed the blank sculpted head:



Exhibit B: The same effect was used on the Singing Ghosts in the graveyard:



With the lights on, you can see the sculpts without the projection:



Exhibit C: In 2007 when Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer Island opened, they used projection effects in the Dead Man’s Grotto area; these were not quite as effective as the ones in the Mansion:



When Pirates of the Caribbean was being put together, it was brought up that the overlapping scenes and dialogue might be difficult for guests to understand and comprehend as the boats sailed by. Walt Disney’s response was that the attraction was akin to a cocktail party, where guests would hear bits and pieces of conversation as they walked through the room. He figured that each time guests would ride the attraction they would see new details or hear different bits of convo that they had missed before. It was important for Walt that guests would want to come back and ride the same attractions over and over again.



The “new” technology has been lambasted by fans, who say it is incongruent with the other scenes of the attraction. A missed detail from the “upgrade” is that the face changes back and forth from skeleton to living human, but the hand stays the same. I’ve said it before and I will probably say it again, but just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD. To me, this screams “Look at what we can do” rather than a true improvement. Below is a fan-made video about the changes:



If I had to make an edjumacated guess as to why this is a big deal for the Disney Corporation it would be (as always) because of cost. A projection effect is going to be a lot cheaper than upgrading and maintaining a mechanical audioanimatronic figure that has to work around the clock on a daily basis. What are your thoughts?

See more Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean photos at my main website.

Dying to get in

This July 1967 photo of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion looks as if the iconic attraction is ready for business. Not so. It would be over two years before it opened for anxious guests. Zooming in, you can see the teaser sign that was posted outside the closed gates.



A better look at the sign from April 1968:



1966 publicity images taken with the gates slightly ajar and a bicycle just out of view on the right.



Want to apply?



The exit area in 1966:





The earliest shot in my collection showing the sign is from June 1965. This mother was so nervous about the ghosts that she had to light up in front of her kid.



See more Disneyland Haunted Mansion photos at my main website.

New Orleans at Disneyland

When Disneyland first opened, New Orleans Square was not part of the footprint. Instead, the fabled city in Louisiana got a street: New Orleans Street on the border of Frontierland and Adventureland. This lady and her son are sitting on the patio of New Orleans Street, circa 1955. The Casa de Fritos restaurant was located here briefly from August 1955 until July 1957 when it moved over to Frontierland.



This is the same row of buildings as it looked in October 2010. Obviously there were some changes over the years and the lovely half-circle window was lost with the expansion.



This shot from February 1956 shows a little girl in her Mousketeer hat sitting in the same area, outside the Aunt Jemima restaurant:



This July 1966 image shows the construction of New Orleans Square:



A detailed view of the ornate grillework on the balcony:



Because nothing at Disneyland is subtle anymore, a bit of gold paint shows that the grillework includes the initials for Walt and his brother Roy.



The last image for today shows the Court of Angels, July 1976;



Today, only guests of Club 33 have access to this area. Once again, subtlety at Disneyland has flown the coup:



See more Disneyland New Orleans Square photos at my main website.

Hump Day at Disneyland, September 1968

A few gems from Disneyland today, circa September 1968, starting off with an exterior shot of the Tahitian Terrace Restaurant in Adventureland. How about that little cutie hanging over the Aloha sign?



In case you want to order something, here’s what’s on the menu situated outside the entrance:



This guest is vogue-ing for the camera in New Orleans Square:



I have no idea where these steps were/are located. I need to do a deep dive. And another “new” to me is this shot of Le Forgeron shop exterior, also in New Orleans Square:



Apparently from January 1966 to January 1974 the shop sold old-fashioned metal and leaded-glass objects for the home, as seen in the closeup below:



See more Disneyland photos at my main website.

Pollyanna and the Blue Bayou

The 1960 Disney live-action classic, “Pollyanna” first brought the charms of Hayley Mills to audiences in the U.S. when it premiered in New York City on May 19, 1960.



In one of the sequences, Pollyanna and the townspeople hold a charity bazaar to help build a new orphanage for the town of Harrington.



Notice anything in these screenshots?



In this vintage shot of the Blue Bayou Restaurant at Disneyland, you can see the very same style of Japanese Lanterns hanging overhead.



The Blue Bayou opened six years after the release of “Pollyanna”; is it possible that Disney re-used these beautiful lanterns that still hang overhead today?



I checked with a source at the Disney Archives who responded:

They very well could have been sourced from the same manufacturer or inspired the look/design of the lanterns used in the restaurant since it was only about seven years from film production to the construction of the restaurant space.



You can guess which way I want the answer to go.



In another screenshot from the film, you can see a variety of shapes:



The Bayou only has one style hanging overhead.



Even if they aren’t the same, where the heck can I get something like this for MY backyard?

See more Disneyland Blue Bayou restaurant photos at my main website.

Changes at the Depot

The above image shows one of my favorite Disneyland structures, the Frontierland Depot, circa July 1959. The below June 1963 image shows what guests saw once they exited the Depot and stood on the platform waiting for the train.



By September 1964, the Depot was moved across the tracks, becoming inaccessible to guests.



August 1966 marked the debut of New Orleans Square, and the scenery around the Depot reflected the addition. None of the buildings you see were accessible to guests, but they sure did add to the immersive experience of feeling like you were in New Orleans.



On the second floor balcony of The New Orleans Trading Company building, you can see this trio of flags representing France, The United States, and Spain. These flags spoke to New Orleans being founded by French Colonists in 1718, transferred to Spain in 1763, and finally becoming part of the U.S. with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.



In this July 1968 shot, the flags are gone. What happened?



The flag holder is still there, as is the rest of the decor.



August 1971, the flag holder is still empty:



November 1978:



A little more decor/clutter on the balcony (how about that birdcage?) and some maturing landscaping, but the flags do not appear to have returned.



Flash forward to January 2006 (yes, I do have gaps in my collection!) and holder is not only empty, but you can see the cascading rust trail on the light pink paint:



A miracle occurred at some point between the previous photo and this January 2007 shot; the flags returned! Barrels must have been on sale, as there are plenty to be found now at the Trading Company.



May 2007:



May 2011:



An evening shot from October 2011 for variety:





Sadly, by March 2012 they had been removed again.



Just the holder, some rust stains, and those durn barrels.



June 2013:



May 2015, which is the last shot I took of this area before my final visit in December 2016:



No flags.



If anyone has background info on the flag removal, let me know! Just another detail at Disneyland that I’m sure has gone unnoticed by most over the years.

See more Disneyland Railroad Frontierland Depot photos at my main website.