3D Jamboree!

This undated 1950’s shot of the Disneyland Opera House makes one yearn when the place wasn’t a victim of over-population. Zooming in, we can see that the Opera House still doesn’t have any attractions inside; instead, it touts the “3D Jamboree” movie playing over in Fantasyland. 



Its official release date is June 16, 1956, and it played at the Fantasyland Theatre (the space now occupied by the Pinocchio’s Daring Journey dark ride) until January 1964. The movie was comprised of two animated shorts, “Melody” (1953) and “Working for Peanuts” (1953), shown in 3D, presented by the Mouseketeers.



From the D23 website:

The Mickey Mouse Club Theater Theater in Fantasyland at Disneyland showed Disney cartoons; opened August 27, 1955, changed its name to Fantasyland Theater in 1964, and closed December 20, 1981. At one time, the 3D Jamboree was featured, and guests donned polarized glasses to watch Mouseketeers and Disney cartoons in 3-D.

The Mouseketeers pre-filming a sequence in front of the theater for the Opening Day telecast:



Annette is visible in the background, along with Roy Williams at center and Jimmy Dodd on the right, standing next to Minnie Mouse—the creepy version!







Back to D23:

The cartoon fare in the theater changed from time to time, and the theater itself was only open during busy periods. Before the theater was built in the Opera House as the home to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, this was the only auditorium in the park, so it was also used for press conferences and cast member events. It made way for Pinocchio’s Daring Journey in the new Fantasyland in 1983.



One important fact the article left out was the air conditioning, which helped make it a popular attraction on blazing hot summer days!



In this February 1959 shot, the movies have changed to “Pecos Bill” (1948) and “El Gaucho Goofy” (1943).



See more Disneyland Opera House photos at my main website.

1959 Disneyland Celebrities Arrive

These 1959 images are unmarked, but using my powers of deductive reasoning, I am assuming that they are showing celebrities being welcomed for the gala June 14, 1959 new attraction unveiling at Disneyland. The first shot shows scary Mickey & Minnie deboarding the Pan Am plane, with conductor Vesey Walker front and center. On the right of Vesey is actor Jock Mahoney, who played the title role in the TV western series "Yancy Derringer" on CBS from 1958-1959. Next in the lineup are Mouseketeer Roy Williams and on the far right is Dick Simmons, who played Sergeant Preston of the Yukon on CBS from September 29, 1955 to September 25, 1958.

In today's second image, John Smith is signing autographs for his adoring fans who loved watching him play Slim Sherman, the lead role on "Laramie" from 1959–1963.



See more Daveland Disneyland Behind-The-Scenes photos at my main website.

Roy Williams on Main Street

George “Moe” Collins began his career at Disneyland as a guidebook salesman back in the park’s early years, riding his bike to the park down Katella Avenue, which was only a 2 lane street back then. He would return to Disney some 20 years later, working as a staff writer at WED Imagineering, hired by and working for Marty Sklar. “Moe” was kind enough to share this great photo of Disney Legend Roy Williams. As he tells it:

“This photo was taken on Main Street in 1957, while I was on a break from selling guide books out at the front gate. The original Mickey Mouse Club format and staff had changed, and evidently Roy was not involved in TV at that time. I would venture a guess that Walt Disney, himself, hired Roy to sign autographs and make sketches for the guests. He was exactly like this photo suggests.....a big, affable, lovable 300 pound kid with mouse ears.”

Roy was initially hired by Walt Disney as an artist in 1930. He worked on animated shorts and then moved into the story department, specializing in gags. He also designed over 100 insignias for the U.S. armed forces during World War II, and is credited with designing the mouse ears worn on the Mickey Mouse Club. Roy traveled across the country to promote the re-release of such Disney films as “Cinderella,” while in 1959, he served as goodwill ambassador for The Walt Disney Studios. Later, he worked as a Disney comic strip artist, cartoonist at Disneyland (as seen in the photo posted here), and consultant on the traveling arena show, "Disney on Parade." Williams died in Burbank, California, in 1976. He was posthumously inducted as a Disney Legend in 1992.

Many thanks to “Moe” for sharing this previously unseen photo!

See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland Main Street, U.S.A. photos at my main website.