First up in Cory F. Who writes in to say:
Dear Jim:
I’ve really been enjoying Jeff Lange’s photos this week of Disneyland’s 50th anniversary celebration. I was wondering if Jeff attended the Space Mountain rededication back in July. And if he did, does he have any pictures of that ceremony to share?
Thanks,
Cory F.
I also keep hearing about this tribute to John Hench that’s supposedly hidden somewhere inside of Space Mountain. Would you or Jeff know where I should look to find this?
Dear Cory F.
Sorry. But Jeff doesn’t have any shots of the Space Mountain rededication ceremony to share with JHM. You see, back in July, Disneyland’s Publicity Department was somewhat stingy when it came to awarding press credentials to those websites that really wanted to cover the various events surrounding the theme park’s 50th birthday. And — since JHM wasn’t one of the four sites chosen — we missed out on getting decent pictures of the Space Mountain rededication ceremony, astronaut Mickey’s appearance with Neil Armstrong, etc.
But the upside is … I do know what you’re talking about when it comes to that John Hench tribute that the Imagineers have supposedly put into the recently renovated Space Mountain.
To be honest, I think that it’s great that the guys at WDI decided to honor John’s memory in this way. After all, if it hadn’t been for the late Mr. Hench, there might not even have been a Space Mountain.
Copyright The Walt Disney Company
You see, it was John who — back in the mid-1960s — actually came up with the idea of the “cartilaginous” (That’s Hench’s word for describing the extreme of Space Mountain, not mine) structure rising up out of the center of Tomorrowland. This vast building that — thanks to its size and shape — hinted at the future & space travel.
So — in honor of John’s contribution to this projection — the Imagineers honored his memory by hiding his name in plain site. You know those stark white faux future structures that you find scattered along the queue?
Photo by Jeff Lange
Sometimes it pays to pay close attention to what’s written inside of these things.
Photo by Jeff Lange
Next up, Liz E. writes in to say that:
Jim —
I love all of the Disneyland 50th photo montages that Jeff & Nancy put together for this week. You should make those available to JHM readers so that they can then use those images as wallpaper on their computers.
There was one shot from Wednesday’s article that I was particularly interested in. It showed Casey Jr. rolling past that large patchwork quilt-like flower garden you see toward the back of the Storybook Canal ride. Years ago, I had a friend who actually worked at Disneyland tell that there was a reason that that garden looked the way it did. That Walt had specific plans for that part of Fantasyland but never got around to building what it was he wanted to build back there.
Do you have any idea what Disney wanted to do with this part of the Storybook Canal ride?
Liz E.
Dear Liz E.
Yeah, I do know what your friend was actually talking about. And it’s always seemed a shame to me that the Imagineers have never actually gone forward with adding this proposed addition to the Storybook Canal boat ride.
The giveaway of what Walt wanted to do back here is the flower bed itself. Which — as you can see from this photograph of the greenery behind the miniature version of Agrabah– is deliberately designed to look like a giant patchwork quilt.
Photo by Jeff Lange
Well, who better to sleep under a giant patchwork quilt than a giant?
Photo by Jeff Lange
What Disney wanted to do in this part of this Fantasyland attraction was recreate a gag toward the end of the 1938 Mickey Mouse short, “The Brave Little Tailor.” Where the breath of this unconcious giant (who’s been knocked out by the Mouse in an epic battle) is now being used to spin the arms of a windmill. Which — in turn — is then being used to power a merry-go-round that Mickey & Princess Minnie are riding.
That’s why that windmill in this concept painting has been placed so close to the giant’s mouth. So that — each time a snore would echo out of his enormous mouth — the arms of the windmill on his chest would spin just a little bit faster. Neat gag, don’t you think?
Photo by Jeff Lange
Of course, the hostesses in the canal boats were also supposed to get in on the act. As they approached the sleeping giant, they’d have asked everyone in their boat to please be quiet. So as not to awake the sleeping behemoth.
Given that Disneyland’s landscaping department has faithfully maintained the patchwork quilt portion of the Storybook Canal ride, I have always hoped that — at some point — the Anaheim theme park would eventually get around to installing that oversized giant’s head. So that they could then finally pay off a joke that Walt himself had set up nearly 50 years ago.
Mind you, Disney had a number of things that he wanted to eventually have installed in Disneyland’s Storybook Canal ride. Like the Big Rock Candy Mountain (Which was to have featured a miniature version of the Emerald City from “The Wizard of Oz” inside). But — as the late 1950s gave way to the early 1960s — Walt’s attention was drawn to other things. Like the creation of Audio Animatronics as well as the development of “Project Sunshine” for Florida.
Still, given that more than half the work for this particular addition to the Storybook Canal ride has been done for decades now, I keep hoping that someday I’ll see a sleeping giant’s head poking out from under that enormous patchwork quilt. So who knows? It may happen yet, Liz.
And — finally — Cookie S. drops me a line to say:
Mr. Hill
My family and I just got back from our vacation to Disneyland. Where we really enjoyed that historic display in the lobby of the Main Street Opera House.
When we got back home to Tulsa, I was telling my uncle about our visit and all the memorabilia that was on display. And he recalled that, when he visited that same building at Disneyland back in the 1960s, that there was a different sort of display in there. One that supposedly promoted some Santa Claus movie.
Do you know anything about this other Opera House exhibit? Or is my uncle just having a “senior moment”?
Many thanks for your help,
Cookie S.
Dear Cookie —
Actually, your uncle is right. From December of 1961 through September of 1963, Disneyland’s Main Street Opera House was home to a pretty elaborate display of the props & sets from Walt Disney Productions’ 1961 release, “Babes in Toyland.” And given that this Jack Donohue film does rather prominently feature the home of the Toymaker (I.E. A character played by Disney favorite Ed Wynn, who supposedly made all of the toys that Santa then distributed on December 24th), it’s easy to understand why your uncle might have remembered this particular display as being about some ” … Santa Claus movie.”
Disneyland’s Main Street Opera House actually has a very interesting history. It was one of the very first structures to rise up out of the orange groves in the Ball Road development. You see, the Opera House was Disneyland’s lumber mill. So much of the wood that was used to build the rest of this theme park started out in this structure. Where it was then cut to length, then plained.
Mind you, the Imagineers didn’t envision the Main Street Opera House as always being Disneyland’s lumber mill. As you can see from this late 1954 / early 1955 era map for the theme park’s Main Street U.S.A. area, you can see that the wizards of WED are already toying with the idea of building International Street.
Photo by Jeff Lange
But if you’ll look closely toward the bottom of this drawing, you’ll see that Disneyland’s Opera House …
Photo by Jeff Lange
… was where the Imagineers initially thought about setting up a display of sets & props from “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” From this concept drawing, you can also see that Disney toyed with the idea of putting a cartoon studio inside of this building. Along with an “M.P. Museum.”
“And what’s an ‘M.P. Museum?,” you ask. Well, if you were to jump to the obvious conclusion — a “Mary Poppins” museum — think again. Walt Disney Productions’ wouldn’t actually acquire the rights to make any movies based on the P.L. Travers books for another five years yet. So if he didn’t have the rights to those characters yet, why then would Walt build a “Mary Poppins” museum?
So you see that theory doesn’t really pan out … Which brings us back to Square One and that most important of questions: What exactly is an “M.P. museum”? “Motion Picture”? “Movie Production”?
Do you folks have any suggestions? If so, drop me a line okay and we’ll then share your ideas with JHM readers next week.
Speaking of next week … In honor of the Labor Day Weekend, JHM won’t be updating again ’til this coming Tuesday morning. So that the staff at this site can take a well-deserved break.
So you folks have a great three-day-weekend, okay? And we’ll see you all again here again, bright & early, on Tuesday morning.
Til then, you take care, alright?
jrh