General

Wednesdays with Wade: A guided tour of Disneyland circa 1963

Wade Sampson unearths a “Vacationland” article about what it was like to take a guided tour of the “Happiest Place on Earth” back in the early 1960s. Which he now shares with JHM readers.

Published

19 years ago

August 9, 2005

Jim Korkis

When I was asking David Koenig when we were going to get the next installment in his MousePlanet column describing the first guided tours at Disneyland, he shared with me the great news that Cicely Rigdon is supposedly writing a book about her experiences.

Some Disney fans may know Cicely as the “Keeper of the Keys” to Walt’s apartment above the firehouse on Disneyland’s Main Street.

“When Disneyland first opened the Park, I made five attempts to get a job. The fifth time I was finally hired and I was so excited I came home and drove my car through the garage,” she admitted.

She started as a part time ticket seller and then became a tour guide when that program started the following summer. She quickly became a Lead and then a supervisor and was instrumental in developing the Tour Guide program. Later, she became the Manager of the Disney Ambassador Program.

She not only was in charge of the tour guides at Disneyland but trained the Disney tour hostesses for the 1964 New York World’s Fair and trained the tour guides for the Magic Kingdom in Florida when it opened in 1971.

“Try and imagine Mary Poppins. Very strict and proper but still nice,” remembered one of her Magic Kingdom trainees.

She has a window on Main Street but is not yet a “Disney Legend” although the National Fantasy Fan Club has honored her in 1997 with their “Disney Legends” roster.

“I worked very hard to make the Tour Guide program successful. We had eleven different languages and one hundred and twenty tour guides during the summertime. We would sell as many as four thousand tickets on a given day,” she shared with “Disney Magazine.”

The girls would hide their cigarettes and makeup in those tall hats since they weren’t allowed to carry purses. (At the Magic Kingdom in Florida, one African-American girl made the mistake of hiding a chocolate bar in her hat for a quick snack. In the Florida heat, it melted and dripped down her face prompting a young visitor to yell to his mother: “Mommy! That woman is melting!”)

Those riding crops were the perfect device not only to point (before the two fingered or open handed point was required of cast members) but also helped politely keep at bay amorous gentlemen who got too close.

The new tour guides were assigned a “big sister” to help them and were expected to memorize verbatim an eleven page tour spiel. If they talked with another cast member while on tour, they were subject to reprimand because they were ignoring their guests.

So while we anxiously await Cicely’s book (or at least another installment by David of early Disneyland tours), here is old article describing one of the Disneyland tours while Walt still walked the Park.

The following excerpt is from “Vacationland” magazine (Winter/Spring 1963 Vol. VII, No. 1) published by Disneyland with Walt Disney as the “honorary editor-in-chief” but Don Andersen as the actual editor:

“Tour Guide’s Day”

The time: 9:30 a.m.
The place: Backstage, Disneyland
The setting: A lounge-type room. Lockers line one wall, mirrors on another. On the wall hangs a sign: “Smile, you’re on television.” Several attractive young women are making last-minute adjustments in hair styles, shoeshines, and hat straightening.

These are Disneyland Tour Guides, starting a typical day in the Magic Kingdom. They are preparing to go “on stage” to make your visit to Disneyland a never-to-be-forgotten one.

The time: 10:15 a.m.

The place: Tour Guide Headquarters, Town Square, Disneyland.

The setting: You have entered Disneyland, and with this being your first visit to the Magic Kingdom you decide that a personally conducted tour would be the best way to see everything in a limited amount of time. So you have purchased your Guided Tour Ticket and are now with a small group of other visitors who have also decided on a tour.

Enter guides: “Welcome to Disneyland…my name is Jan and I’ll be your guide on your tour through the Magic Kingdom. We’ll be visiting each of the four lands, ending our tour in Tomorrowland. If you have any questions about the Park along the way, please feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to answer them for you. Now if you’re all ready, we’re first going to board the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad for an exciting trip encircling the entire Park.”

And with that you’re off on your tour of the Magic Kingdom. Your tour will last about two hours and during that time you will visit, as Jan said, each of the “lands”, take a walk down Main Street, U.S.A., as it appeared around the turn of the century, and thrill to adventures on many of Disneyland’s famous attractions.

Upon returning from your Park-encircling trip on board the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad (on which you see the world’s longest diorama, the Grand Canyon at Disneyland) you journey up Main Street, pausing along the way to reminisce as you pass the Cinema, where six silent pictures are being shown continually. You also spot the apothecary, Swift’s Market House, the Emporium, and all the other shops that Walt Disney and his artisans have re-created in authentic early 1900 fashion.

From Main Street, your tour heads toward Adventureland where you are told: “Although our smallest land, Adventureland is also one of the most exciting, with its exotic plants and flowers…the unique big game shooting gallery…and the crocodile-infested waters of the Jungle River Cruise.

“And now, new to Adventureland is the Swiss Family Treehouse, inspired by the Walt Disney motion picture ‘Swiss Family Robinson’. Here you climb to adventure in the lofty branches of the treehouse getting a unique and exciting view of other parts of the Magic Kingdom.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE FROM WADE: Unfortunately, the guides never shared with their tour, the real facts of the newly build Treehouse that towered more than seventy feet above a cascading stream. Those are the type of facts that would fascinate today’s tour groups. Concrete “roots” penetrated forty-two feet into the earth and steel beams assisted with the stabilization. The exterior of the tree was covered with bark from more than two thousand manzanita trees brought to Disneyland to be grafted on the main branches. The broad branches spanned eighty feet in width with more than 300,000 green leaves of vinyl designed by Disney artists and each “chemically treated as a protection against weather and other hazards”. The muskets, ship lanterns and other items actually once occupied a schooner or galleon and that was a genuine antique sewing chest that held the needles and threads. When the Treehouse was dedicated, Mr. Max Robbi, the Swiss Consul from Los Angeles presented Walt with a Swiss Flag that was raised high above the treehouse. You can glimpse the dedication ceremony on the extra features in the “Swiss Family Robinson” DVD that features John and Hayley Mills exploring the different levels.

Okay. That’s enough with the asdditional trivia. Let’s get to the original article, shall we?)

Your guide then takes you to Frontierland for a trip through Nature’s Wonderland; across the Sleeping Beauty Castle drawbridge into Fantasyland, land of hopes and dreams and imagination and the mighty Matterhorn Mountain.

All along the way, Jan is keeping you well informed about happenings in Disneyland. You learn that the Park is a 20 year dream-come-true for Walt Disney. That it took exactly one year to build, but that it will never be completed, as Walt says “as long as there is imagination left in the world”.

You learn that more than 32,000,000 visitors have been guests in Disneyland since opening day, that cars on the Disneyland Autopia travel 850,000 miles each year, and hundreds of other interesting and unusual facts about the Magic Kingdom.

If, by chance, your guide is unable to answer a question, she will do one of two things: 1) she’ll try to find out the answer somewhere along the way or 2) she’ll find out after you leave and send you the answer by mail.

Well, your tour is now approaching Tomorrowland and following a trip on the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail and the Submarines, Jan leaves you with these thoughts:

“Disneyland is dedicated to the dreams, the ideals, and the hard facts that have created America with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world. We sincerely hope that through your tour today you have shared in a part of this spirit.”

Then you’re off…to enjoy many of the free attractions and exhibits that you saw on your tour, to take an “extra” ride on an adventure of your choice (part of your ticket price), or to re-visit some of the attractions that you saw on your guided tour of the Magic Kingdom.

But what about Jan? Well, she’s back at the lounge, combing her hair, or polishing her shoes, or chatting with the girls, or looking for the answer to one of your questions.

But she won’t be gone long because after a quick break for lunch, she’ll be back at Town Square, ready to meet and greet new visitors to this land of Magic Enchantment.

And as you think back on your tour of Disneyland, you not only remember Main Street, and Fantasyland and Adventureland, but also your Guide.

You recall her enthusiasm, her politeness, her knowledge of this fabulous place, and of course, her ever-present smile, that has in some way helped to make your stay in the Magic Kingdom one that will never be forgotten.

General

Seward Johnson bronzes add a surreal, artistic touch to NYC’s Garment District

Published

9 years ago

June 23, 2015

Jim Hill

Greetings from NYC. Nancy and I drove down from New
Hampshire yesterday because we'll be checking out
Disney Consumer Products' annual Holiday Showcase later today.

Anyway … After checking into our hotel (i.e., The Paul.
Which is located down in NYC's NoMad district), we decided to grab some dinner.
Which is how we wound up at the Melt Shop.

Photo by Jim Hill

Which is this restaurant that only sells grilled cheese sandwiches.
This comfort food was delicious, but kind of on the heavy side.

Photo by Jim Hill

Which is why — given that it was a beautiful summer night
— we'd then try and walk off our meals. We started our stroll down by the Empire
State Building
…

Photo by Jim Hill

… and eventually wound up just below Times
Square (right behind where the Waterford Crystal Times Square New
Year's Eve Ball is kept).

Photo by Jim Hill

But you know what we discovered en route? Right in the heart
of Manhattan's Garment District
along Broadway between 36th and 41st? This incredibly cool series of life-like
and life-sized sculptures that Seward
Johnson has created.

Photo by Jim Hill

And — yes — that is Abraham Lincoln (who seems to have
slipped out of WDW's Hall of Presidents when no one was looking and is now
leading tourists around Times Square). These 18 painted
bronze pieces (which were just installed late this past Sunday night / early
Monday morning) range from the surreal to the all-too-real.

Photo by Jim Hill

Some of these pieces look like typical New Yorkers. Like the
business woman planning out her day …

Photo by Jim Hill

… the postman delivering the mail …

Photo by Jim Hill

… the hot dog vendor working at his cart …

Photo by Jim Hill

… the street musician playing for tourists …

Photo by Jim Hill

Not to mention the tourists themselves.

Photo by Jim Hill

But right alongside the bronze businessmen …

Photo by Jim Hill

… and the tired grandmother hauling her groceries home …

Photo by Jim Hill

… there were also statues representing people who were
from out-of-town …

Photo by Jim Hill

… or — for that matter — out-of-time.

Photo by Jim Hill

These were the Seward Johnson pieces that genuinely beguiled. Famous impressionist paintings brought to life in three dimensions.

Note the out-of-period water bottle that some tourist left
behind. Photo by Jim Hill

Some of them so lifelike that you actually had to pause for
a moment (especially as day gave way to night in the city) and say to yourself
"Is that one of the bronzes? Or just someone pretending to be one of these
bronzes?"

Mind you, for those of you who aren't big fans of the
impressionists …

Photo by Jim Hill

… there's also an array of American icons. Among them
Marilyn Monroe …

Photo by Jim Hill

… and that farmer couple from Grant Wood's "American
Gothic."

Photo by Jim Hill

But for those of you who know your NYC history, it's hard to
beat that piece which recreates Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous photograph of V-J Day in Times Square.

Photo by Jim Hill

By the way, a 25-foot-tall version of this particular Seward
Johnson piece ( which — FYI — is entitled "Embracing Peace") will actually
be placed in Times Square for a few days on or around August 14th to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of Victory Over Japan Day (V-J Day).

Photo by Jim Hill

By the way, if you'd like to check these Seward Johnson bronzes in
person (which — it should be noted — are part of the part of the Garment
District Alliance's new public art offering) — you'd best schedule a trip to
the City sometime over the next three months. For these pieces will only be on
display now through September 15th.

General

Wondering what you should “Boldly Go” see at the movies next year? The 2015 Licensing Expo offers you some clues

Published

9 years ago

June 10, 2015

Jim Hill

Greeting from the 2015 Licensing Expo, which is being held
at the Mandalay Bay
Convention Center in Las
Vegas.

Photo by Jim Hill

I have to admit that I enjoy covering the Licensing Expo.
Mostly becomes it allows bloggers & entertainment writers like myself to
get a peek over the horizon. Scope out some of the major motion pictures &
TV shows that today's vertically integrated entertainment conglomerates
(Remember when these companies used to be called movie studios?) will be
sending our way over the next two years or so.

Photo by Jim Hill

Take — for example — all of "The Secret Life of
Pets" banners that greeted Expo attendees as they made their way to the
show floor today. I actually got to see some footage from this new Illumination
Entertainment production (which will hit theaters on July 8, 2016) the last time I was in Vegas. Which
was for CinemaCon back in April. And the five or so minutes of film that I viewed
suggested that "The Secret Life of Pets" will be a really funny
animated feature.

Photo by Jim Hill

Mind you, Universal Pictures wanted to make sure that Expo
attendees remembered that there was another Illumination Entertainment production
coming-to-a-theater-near-them before "The Secret Life of Pets" (And
that's "Minions," the "Despicable Me" prequel. Which
premieres at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival next week but
won't be screened stateside 'til July 10th of this year). Which is why they had
three minions who were made entirely out of LEGOS loitering out in the lobby.

Photo by Jim Hill

And Warner Bros. — because they wanted "Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice" to start trending on Twitter today — brought
the Batmobile to Las Vegas.

Photo by Jim Hill

Not to mention full-sized macquettes of Batman, Superman and
Wonder Woman. Just so conventioneers could then see what these DC superheroes
would actually look like in this eagerly anticipated, March 25, 2016 release.

Photo by Jim Hill

That's the thing that can sometimes be a wee bit frustrating
about the Licensing Expo. It's all about delayed gratification. You'll come
around a corner and see this 100 foot-long ad for "The Peanuts Movie"
and think "Hey, that looks great. I want to see that Blue Sky Studios production
right now." It's only then that you notice the fine print and realize that
"The Peanuts Movie" doesn't actually open in theaters 'til November
6th of this year.

Photo by Jim Hill

And fan of Blue Sky's "Ice Age" film franchise are in for an even
longer wait. Given that the latest installment in that top grossing series
doesn't arrive in theaters 'til July
15, 2016.

Photo by Jim Hill

Of course, if you're one of those people who needs immediate
gratification when it comes to your entertainment, there was stuff like that to
be found at this year's Licensing Expo. Take — for example — how the WWE
booth was actually shaped like a wrestling ring. Which — I'm guessing — meant
that if the executives of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. didn't like
the offer that you were making, they were then allowed to toss you out over the
top rope, Royal Rumble-style.

Photo by Jim Hill

I also have to admit that — as a longtime Star Trek fan —
it was cool to see the enormous Starship Enterprise that hung in place over the
CBS booth. Not to mention getting a glimpse of the official Star Trek 50th
Anniversary logo.

Photo by Jim Hill

I was also pleased to see lots of activity in The Jim Henson
Company booth. Which suggests that JHC has actually finally carved out a
post-Muppets identity for itself.

Photo by Jim Hill

Likewise for all of us who were getting a little concerned
about DreamWorks Animation (what with all the layoffs & write-downs &
projects that were put into turnaround or outright cancelled last year), it was
nice to see that booth bustling.

Photo by Jim Hill

Every so often, you'd come across some people who were
promoting a movie that you weren't entirely sure that you actually wanted to
see (EX: "Angry Birds," which Sony Pictures Entertainment / Columbia
Pictures will be releasing to theaters on May 20, 2016). But then you remembered that Clay Kaytis —
who's this hugely talented former Walt Disney Animation Studios animator — is
riding herd on "Angry Birds" with Fergal Reilly. And you'd think
"Well, if Clay's working on 'Angry Birds,' I'm sure this animated feature
will turn out fine."

Photo by Jim Hill

Mind you, there were reminders at this year's Licensing Expo
of great animated features that we're never going to get to see now. I still
can't believe — especially after that brilliant proof-of-concept footage
popped up online last year — that Sony execs decided not to go forward
with production of Genndy Tartakovsky's
"Popeye" movie. But that's the
cruel thing about the entertainment business, folks. It will sometime break
your heart.

Photo by Jim Hill

And make no mistake about this. The Licensing Expo is all
about business. That point was clearly driven home at this year's show when —
as you walked through the doors of the Mandalay
Bay Convention Center
— the first thing that you saw was the Hasbros Booth. Which was this gleaming,
sleek two story-tall affair full of people who were negotiating deals &
signing contracts for all of the would-be summer blockbusters that have already
announced release dates for 2019 & beyond.

Photo by Jim Hill

"But what about The Walt Disney Company?," you
ask. "Weren't they represented on the show floor at this year's Licensing
Expo?" Not really, not. I mean, sure. There were a few companies there hyping
Disney-related products. Take — for example — the Disney Wikkeez people.

Photo by Jim Hill

I'm assuming that some Disney Consumer Products exec is
hoping that Wikkeez will eventually become the new Tsum Tsum. But to be blunt,
these little hard plastic figures don't seem to have the same huggable charm
that those stackable plush do. But I've been wrong before. So let's see what
happens with Disney Wikkeez once they start showing up on the shelves of the
Company's North American retail partners.

Photo by Jim Hill

And speaking of Disney's retail partners … They were
meeting with Mouse House executives behind closed doors one floor down from the
official show floor for this year's Licensing Expo.

Photo by Jim Hill

And the theme for this year's invitation-only Disney shindig? "Timeless
Stories" involving the Disney, Pixar, Marvel & Lucasfilm brands that
would then appeal to "tomorrow's consumer."

Photo by Jim Hill

And just to sort of hammer home the idea that Disney is no
longer the Company which cornered the market when it comes to little girls
(i.e., its Disney Princess and Disney Fairies franchises), check out this
wall-sized Star Wars-related image that DCP put up just outside of one of its
many private meeting rooms. "See?," this carefully crafted photo
screams. "It isn't just little boys who want to wield the Force. Little
girls also want to grow up and be Lords of the Sith."

Photo by Jim Hill

One final, kind-of-ironic note: According to this banner,
Paramount Pictures will be releasing a movie called "Amusement Park"
to theaters sometime in 2017.

Photo by Jim Hill

Well, given all the "Blackfish" -related issues
that have been dogged SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment over the past two years, I'm
just hoping that they'll still be in the amusement park business come 2017.

Your thoughts?

General

It takes more than three circles to craft a Classic version of Mickey Mouse

Published

9 years ago

June 9, 2015

Jim Hill

You know what Mickey Mouse looks like, right? Little guy,
big ears?

Truth be told, Disney's corporate symbol has a lot of
different looks. If Mickey's interacting with Guests at Disneyland
Park (especially this summer, when
the Happiest Place on Earth
is celebrating its 60th anniversary), he looks & dresses like this.

Or when he's appearing in one of those Emmy Award-winning shorts that Disney
Television Animation has produced (EX: "Bronco Busted," which debuts
on the Disney Channel tonight at 8 p.m. ET / PT), Mickey is drawn in a such a
way that he looks hip, cool, edgy & retro all at the same time.

Looking ahead to 2017 now, when Disney Junior rolls out "Mickey and the
Roadster Racers," this brand-new animated series will feature a sportier version
of Disney's corporate symbol. One that Mouse House managers hope will persuade
preschool boys to more fully embrace this now 86 year-old character.

That's what most people don't realize about the Mouse. The
Walt Disney Company deliberately tailors Mickey's look, even his style of
movement, depending on what sort of project / production he's appearing in.

Take — for example — Disney
California Adventure
Park's "World of Color:
Celebrate!" Because Disney's main mouse would be co-hosting this new
nighttime lagoon show with ace emcee Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Goldberg really had
to step up Mickey's game. Which is why this master Disney animator created
several minutes of all-new Mouse animation which then showed that Mickey was
just as skilled a showman as Neil was.

Better yet, let's take a look at what the folks at Avalanche Studios just went
through as they attempted to create a Classic version of Mickey & Minnie.
One that would then allow this popular pair to become part of Disney Infinity
3.0.

"I won't lie to you. We were under a lot of pressure to
get the look of this particular version of Mickey — he's called Red Pants
Mickey around here — just right," said Jeff Bunker, the VP of Art
Development at Avalanche Studios, during a recent phone interview. "When
we brought Sorcerer Mickey into Disney Infinity 1.0 back in January of 2014,
that one was relatively easy because … Well, everyone knows what Mickey Mouse
looked like when he appeared in 'Fantasia.' "

"But this time around, we were being asked to design
THE Mickey & Minnie," Bunker continued. "And given that these Classic
Disney characters have been around in various different forms for the better
part of the last century … Well, which look was the right look?"

Which is why Jeff and his team at Avalanche Studios began watching hours &
hours of Mickey Mouse shorts. As they tried to get a handle on which look would
work best for these characters in Disney Infinity 3.0.

"And we went all the way back to the very start of Mickey's career. We began
with 'Steamboat Willie' and then watched all of those black & white Mickey shorts
that Walt made back in the late 1920s & early 1930s. From there, we
transitioned to his Technicolor shorts. Which is when Mickey went from being
this pie-eyed, really feisty character to more of a well-behaved leading
man," Bunker recalled. "We then finished out our Mouse marathon by
watching all of those new Mickey shorts that Paul Rudish & his team have
been creating for Disney Television Animation. Those cartoons really recapture
a lot of the spirit and wild slapstick fun that Mickey's early, black &
white shorts had."

But given that the specific assignment that Avalanche Studios had been handed
was to create the most appealing looking, likeable version of Mickey Mouse
possible … In the end, Jeff and his team wound up borrowing bits & pieces
from a lot of different versions of the world's most famous mouse. So that
Classic Mickey would then look & move in a way that best fit the sort of
gameplay which people would soon be able to experience with Disney Infinity
3.0.

"That — in a lot of ways — was actually the toughest
part of the Classic Mickey design project. You have to remember that one of the
key creative conceits of Disney Infinity
is that all the characters which appear in this game are toys," Bunker
stated. "Okay. So they're beautifully detailed, highly stylized toy
versions of beloved Disney, Pixar, Marvel & Lucasfilm characters. But
they're still supposed to be toys. So our Classic versions of Mickey &
Minnie have the same sort of thickness & sturdiness to them that toys have.
So that they'll then be able to fit right in with all of the rest of the
characters that Avalanche Studios had previously designed for Disney Infinity."

And then there was the matter of coming up with just the
right pose for Classic Mickey & Minnie. Which — to hear Jeff tell the
story — involved input from a lot of Disney upper management.

"Everyone within the Company seemed to have an opinion
about how Mickey & Minnie should be posed. More to the point, if you Google
Mickey, you then discover that there are literally thousands of poses out there
for these two. Though — truth be told — a lot of those kind of play off the
way Mickey poses when he's being Disney's corporate symbol," Bunker said.
"But what I was most concerned about was that Mickey's pose had to work
with Minnie's pose. Because we were bringing the Classic versions of these
characters up into Disney Infinity 3.0 at the exact same time. And we wanted to
make sure — especially for those fans who like to put their Disney Infinity
figures on display — that Mickey's pose would then complement Minnie.

Which is why Jeff & the crew at Avalanche Studios
decided — when it came to Classic Mickey & Minnie's pose — that they
should go all the way back to the beginning. Which is why these two Disney icons
are sculpted in such a way that it almost seems as though you're witnessing the
very first time Mickey set eyes on Minnie.

"And what was really great about that was — as soon as
we began showing people within the Company this pose — everyone at Disney
quickly got on board with the idea. I mean, the Classic Mickey that we sculpted
for Disney Infinity 3.0 is clearly a very playful, spunky character. But at the
same time, he's obviously got eyes for Minnie," Bunker concluded. "So
in the end, we were able to come up with Classic versions of these characters
that will work well within the creative confines of Disney Infinity 3.0 but at
the same time please those Disney fans who just collect these figures because
they like the way the Disney Infinity characters look."

So now that this particular design project is over, does
Jeff regret that Mouse House upper management was so hands-on when it came to
making sure that the Classic versions of Mickey & Minnie were specifically
tailored to fit the look & style of gameplay found in Disney Infinity 3.0?

"To be blunt, we go through this every time we add a new character to the
game. The folks at Lucasfilm were just as hands-on when we were designing the
versions of Darth Vader and Yoda that will also soon be appearing in Disney
Infinity 3.0," Bunker laughed. "So in the end, if the character's
creators AND the fans are happy, then I'm happy."

This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Tuesday, June 9, 2015