A Cutout A Day: Dopey

From a fantastic batch of 1956 images comes this shot of a young tot at Disneyland posing behind one of the many cutouts located near Central Plaza. Guests could stick their heads in and pretend they were one of many famous Disney characters. This one is Dopey. Literally? I can't say.

More vintage Disneyland cutout fun at my main website.

July 1961 Duo

In this July 1961 you see the Horseless Carriage at Central Plaza; this fringed vehicle was last seen on this blog as a photo ops for Walt and his lovely wife, Lillian.



Here's the Snow White Wishing Well, barely a few months old:



Back in the day, Dopey once carried a fishing pole.



Today he just imitates The Fonz.



A vintage closeup of Snow White:



More vintage Disneyland photos at my main website.

Gone Fishing

I have added a "new" vintage cutout to my collection. Located near the Plaza Inn during the 1950s, guests of Disneyland could poke their heads through the holes and create their own photographic souvenirs. Here are some of the other previously posted ones that guests could choose from:











More Central Plaza images at my main website.

Fantasyland Snow White Mural

Today's vintage March 1966 photo is somewhat of a Holy Grail for me. This is probably the best image I have of the original Fantasyland Snow White's Adventures Dark Ride queue mural. Ok, ok…before the fanatics crucify me, yes, I am aware that by 1966 there were probably a few layers of retouch paint that covered up the Claude Coats original, but it's still amazing that a guest would take a shot like this during that time period.

Compare with this black and white 1955 shot:



A closeup of the 1966 version:



Get more Disneyland Snow White at my main website.

Disneyland Pre-Selfie

Back in the day before you saw people connected to their phones, selfless and selfie-sticks were not even a blip on the radar. "Fun" had to be low-tech. These painted cutouts in Central Plaza were about as low-tech as you could get…but the guests loved 'em! First up from this batch of 1950's black and white images are one of a little boy who wants to be Captain Nemo from 20k Leagues Under the Sea.

Davy Crockett (this one spells the Davy with an "e"; somebody forgot to proof this one!) was another popular Disney "character" at the time:



My very favorite Disney character: Dopey!



Last shot for today is a stray one from this batch of an unidentified beach.



See more Disneyland cutout fun at my main website.

Indian Village Signage & Back to Barbie

As I was updating the pages of my site, I realized I hadn't posted this Indian Village photo from the 1960's yet. Check out that signage! Think of what a thrill this was for this little boy—Cowboys and Indians come to life!

Back to the 1991 Sleeping Beauty Diorama: Even though I prefer the artistry of the original and the 2008 versions, R. Potter brings up a good point about how the narrative of the 1991 version is much more cohesive and actually tells a full story. Some of the "flat" look to the 1991 Diorama that you might notice has to do with the use of a flash to capture these extremely rare images. In particular, the scene of Aurora climbing the stairs, following a glowing orb, was much more interesting in person as R. Potter describes for us:

I had read your commentary about this scene and there was actually more to it than my picture shows—unfortunately the flash blurs the more interesting aspect of this scene so I'll have to describe it. Along with Aurora climbing the stairs, there was a glowing ball of light that was seen near the top of the landing. There was also a small figure of Maleficent that would come slowly out of the doorway onto the landing which made this scene more dramatic. But you can't see this from my picture, unfortunately.

Flash or not, it's still amazing to have this colorful record of the 1991 version. Thanks again!







As a bonus, here's a January 1961 photo of the entrance to the Diorama. At left is Dopey, and cut-off at the far right edge is Christopher Fair, Disneyland jester from 1960-1963.



Zooming in for a better look at the Band uniforms and the cast member working the door of the Diorama.



See more vintage and current Disneyland photos on my Disneyland web page.

Dopey Loses His Rod

Recently, I was scanning a batch of images from April 1963 and actually noticed a detail at the park that had previously escaped me. As you can see from this first shot and the following closeup, Dopey at the Snow White Wishing Well is clearly holding a large fishing rod.



4 years later on April 26, 1976, Dopey is still fishing.





Over 4 years later than that, we have entered the 70’s and Dopey still has his rod...



which although Dopey isn't in the shot, you can still see the fishing rod when you zoom in.



However, by October 1995, the rod was gone. Somewhere in between 1971 and the shot I took in 1995, Dopey stopped fishing.





Still gone in 2006:



and in June 2010:



It doesn’t appear to be a temporary refurbishment issue, so I am baffled as to why it disappeared. Any of you know what happened to it?

See more Disneyland Snow White Wishing Welling photos at my main website.

The Disney Studio in Burbank

In a semi-related topic, today’s post features some photos from the Walt Disney Studio in Burbank, which dates back to 1939. It has the look and feel of a college campus, and thanks to the preservation of the buildings and signage, can almost make you feel like you are back in the 1940’s. It is cool to wander around and see the employees driving customized bikes around the lot, too...very green!

I couldn’t resist zooming in for a closeup of one of my favorite Disney characters:







One of the highlights of seeing the Studio is to be able to view the multiplane camera that created so many breathtaking shots in early Disney animation:







More to come tomorrow! See more Walt Disney Studio photos at my website.

Getting Mod, Part 4

The final post in this series is a mix of Main Street & Adventureland. First shot is those lovely girls at the Tahitian Terrace, shaking it for all its worth while guests eat their Polynesian Combo Platters and drink a few Planters Punch Tahitians. Meanwhile, over on Main Street near the Coca Cola Corner, guests are enjoying some parade action featuring Mickey, the Dwarves, and of course the 3 Little Pigs. Dopey has always been my fave; go figure.







For you experts out there, this 1960’s beauty is from a batch that had both Knotts and Disneyland; the building doesn’t look like Main Street to me, but maybe someone could shed some light and confirm if it’s Knotts or not. Knotts or not...I love it. I think I should go back to bed.



See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland photos at my main website.