Souvenirs: Pleasure Island Memories

Souvenir buttons of bygone days.

This collection of buttons dates from the inaugural days of Pleasure Island back in the spring of 1989. While both Comedy Warehouse and Adventurers Club have survived the past two decades, Avigators Supply and the Neon Armadillo have sadly faded into Walt Disney World obscura.

Avigators Supply was easily one of my most favorite shopping experiences in Walt Disney World. A companion store of sorts to the Adventurers Club, it was a very cool aviation themed establishment that was reminiscent of Banana Republic in its pre-Gap days.

A 1990 edition of the Birnbaum guide provided this description of the Neon Armadillo, PI's original country music venue:

"Once a greenhouse for exotic plants collected during Pleasure's endless world travels, the Neon Armadillo now features live country & western music nightly. Southwestern decor is highlighted by a wonderful brass chandelier in the shape of a spur and inlaid wood tabletops decorated in Navajo blanket patterns. In keeping with the Southwestern theme, two fajitas bars offer freshly made chicken, beef, or seafood fajitas. Specialty drinks, beer, and wine are also served."

How to Hook Up Your Home Theater

If we can go on the assumption that Goofy has some degree of canine genetics in his biology, then the new cartoon How to Hook Up Your Home Theater proves that you can in fact, teach an old dog new tricks.

Currently showing in theaters with National Treasure: Book of Secrets, this new animated vignette is the first in a series of new cartoon short subjects that were commissioned by John Lasseter and Ed Catmull shortly after taking the reins at Walt Disney Feature Animation. It is wonderful marriage of nostalgia to contemporary popular culture, applying the formula from the classic 1940s and 1950s era Goofy "How-To" cartoons to digital age home electronics. It's a fun and very often hilarious combination.

Like its predecessors such as How to Be a Detective, How to Swim or Home Made Home, How to Hook Up Your Home Theater comes out of the gate fast and never slows down until the end credits. It pays immediate homage to the original Sport Goofy films with a direct connection to How to Play Football, by utilizing the original stadium background from that 1944 production and expounding similar pratfall-filled gameplay. But the shorts contemporary sensibilities soon emerge. For, while the mid-20th century everyman clearly loved football, his early 21st century counterpart loves it equally as well but just translated to a mammoth television screen with all the accompanying home theater bells and whistles.

With his ever present off-screen narrator, the Goof explores the world of home entertainment via both sharp witticisms and broad physical comedy. The moment Goofy walks into the Shiny Stuff superstore and subsequently (and hilariously) professes his love for a wall-sized television, you realize that this animation golden age superstar has definitely embraced the modern age. The short pokes fun at numerous home theater conventions, including delivery windows, instruction manuals, tangled cables and universal remotes.

And for the quintessential Disney geek such as myself, there are plenty of hidden details and inside jokes. References can be found to Mickey Mouse, Dopey and even a supporting character from Pinocchio. In addition, quick but distinct homages are paid to both John Lasseter and Walt Disney himself. But especially notable was use of the original early era design styles of both the opening title cards and the end credits. It is both a testament to, and a celebration of, the Disney Studio's legacy of cartoon shorts, of which How to Hook Up Your Home Theater is a most welcome addition.

Snapshot! - Reserving the Bali Bumper Car

If you're a part of that tour group from Ohio, the Bali Bumper Car is awaiting your arrival. This blackboard at Kali River Rapids in Disney's Animal Kingdom is similar to the one at the Jungle Cruise in both style and sense of humor. The board's funniest play on words also pays tribute to a certain bear that calls that area of the world his home.

"The Sounds of Air Blowers and Wind Blowing Upwards"

2719 Hyperion reader Mike Bronstein recently contacted me and to share some of his early Disneyland memories. I was especially excited when Mike described his experiences with the Tomorrowland Flying Saucers attraction.

The Flying Saucers opened in August 1961,and while popular, the attraction was not without problems. Randy Bright discussed the Saucers in his book Disneyland: Inside Story:

When the Flying Saucers debuted at Disneyland, the complicated system sputtered its way to operational readiness. Giant fans located underground blew huge amounts of air up through little openings in the Saucer arena. The force of the air lifted the saucers a few inches above the floor, and held them there. Employees were "volunteered" to act as the first test pilots, and as they shifted their weight to the left or right, the saucers started careening crazily across the arena.

Despite the attraction's ongoing maintenance issues, it still was able to impress one young Disneyland guest. Mike relates:

". . . and then the Flying Saucers. This was fantastic. I have never seen anything like this since. It's really hard to explain what they did to pull this one off.

I remember blue--the color of the air baffled area, the sounds of air blowers and wind blowing upwards. White Saucers floating on an air jet with jet sounds all around from the air machine. They would move this rolling gantry across the rectangular area corralling saucers into the loading area. In this part of the 'space' the air baffles were closed and the cars were stationary. You would climb in and hook your waist belt on a protruding metal pin. Then when it was your time, the gantry would move the saucers that were skidding around over on the other side to the edge where the air ducts would close, causing the saucers to stop floating. I remember sitting in a saucer and trying to get it to move. I was a skinny kid and the damn things moved by throwing your weight one direction or another. They had hand holds that helped to control you body, but I just couldn't get them to go the right way!"

According to Randy Bright, ". . . the system that made the saucers fly continued to be a maintenance nightmare. Finally, in 1966, the saucers disappeared, never to be seen again."

Thanks to Mike for generously sharing his memories of Tomorrowland with us, and a big thank you also to Dave from Davelandweb for providing the accompanying photographs.

Merry Christmas!

And in despair I bowed my head, there is no peace on earth I said.
For hate is strong and mocks the song, of peace on earth goodwill to men.

But hear the bells more loud and deep, God is not dead nor does he sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.

To all the readers of 2719 Hyperion, my deepest thanks for all the support and encouragement you have given me over the past year. I want to wish you all the happiest of holiday seasons, and a safe and prosperous new year.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Greetings from Winter Summerland!

A little slice of Christmas can be found year round in Walt Disney World at the Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Course. The elves have set up camp in their Elfstream trailers in this vacationland of skiing and surfing and fishing and skating. These thirty-six holes of mini golf are a testament to 1950s retro as well as the various Santa Land roadside attractions scattered throughout the USA. Join us for a slightly more unconventional celebration of the holidays!

Snapshot! - Christmas from the 1950s

Bad wallpaper, a red flamingo and "Father Knows Best" on an old black and white television--it all adds up to a Christmas living room straight out of the 1950s. This holiday time capsule comes courtesy of the Tune In Lounge in Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World.

Snapshot! - A Surprise Under the Tree

The scale of the Christmas tree that sits in the center of town square in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom is enormous, as is the toy train that encircles it. And not just any toy train at that. This caboose proudly bears the name of the Carolwood Pacific, Walt Disney's famous backyard railroad that he built and maintained during the last two decades of his life.

How the Mice Saved Christmas

Disney's "Studio Mice" that were prevalent in many different types of media during the 1950s, made an interesting Christmas-related appearance in the December 1957 issue of Walt Disney's Magazine. The story "How the Mice Saved Christmas" featured a narrator by the name of Grover Cleveland Mouse whose ancestry related directly to the studio's 1953 cartoon featurette Ben and Me.

Perhaps I should identify myself. I am Grover Cleveland Mouse. My lineage dates all the way back to Amos Mouse. My great-great-greatgrandfather George was Amos' brother, and lived in that small Philadelphia church.

My brothers and I live at the North Pole. Father migrated here many years ago. He read what Horace Greeley wrote about "Go West, Young Man," but he got his directions mixed. Before you could wink twice, he was heading north.

Passing through a small town called Detroit, he gave some advice to a young man named Ford who was working on a horseless carriage. He continued through Michigan, but he was nearsighted—when he crossed the Straits of Mackinac, he thought he was swimming the Mississippi. On reaching Hudson Bay he realized his mistake. It was too late to turn back, so he continued to the North Pole, where he became special advisor to Santa Claus.

The story details the efforts of Grover and his brothers--James Madison, John Adams, Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt--to help a sick Santa Claus complete his rounds on Christmas Eve 1907.

Studio veteran X Atencio had a hand in the illustration (pictured above) that accompanied the story.

Snapshot! - When a Chimney Isn't Handy . . .

. . . the Man with the Bag is forced to find alternate means of holiday-related breaking and entering. In this case, he very appropriately makes use of the fire escape to bring the fire fighters of Engine Company No. 1 their Christmas presents. This particular scene is just around the corner from Pizza Planet and Muppet*Vision at Disney-MGM Studios.

Snapshot! - An Enlightened Snowman

One of the more subtle elements (relatively speaking) of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney-MGM Studios is this Mickey Mouse-themed snowman. He stands in a quieter area of the Streets of America, proudly displaying a stove top hat and a carrot nose and two eyes made out of . . . well, blue shiny lights.

Las Posadas

December 16th marks the beginning of Las Posadas, the holiday tradition celebrated in many Latin American countries. The nine-day celebration symbolizes the search for shelter by Mary and Joseph and culminates on December 24, Noche Buena, meaning "Holy Night."

The story of Las Posadas was featured in one of the Disney Studio's most underrated animated feature films, The Three Caballeros, released in 1944. It is a simple, brief, yet incredibly beautiful sequence told through a series of pastel-styled illustrations conceived by the film's art director, the renowned Mary Blair. The images would distinctly foreshadow Blair's conceptual designs for It's a Small World some twenty years later.

Likely due to its brevity, the Las Posadas sequence remains one of Disney's least recognized Christmas-related efforts. It is a more quiet and sincere segment of an otherwise high energy production, and truly showcases the unique talents of one of Disney's most notable legends.

Snapshot: Disneyland! - Service With a Smile

We remain in Mickey's Toontown for our next Disneyland Snapshot! There's something fishy about those gas pumps at Goofy's Gas, and the occupants bear a striking resemblance to a certain Henry Limpet. The Walt Disney World counterpart to Goofy's Gas is Pete's Garage. Pete's pump trades fish for a restroom key. And let me just say, for a gas station, Pete's has some very clean restrooms.

Disneyland Photos taken by davelandweb.com

1950s Christmas Fun

This insert appeared over the table of contents page in the December 1957 issue of Walt Disney's Magazine. Used to promote a subscription premium offer, the artwork of Mickey, Pluto, Huey, Dewie and Louie had actually been recycled from the 1955 studio Christmas card. A television set featuring Donald Duck on the screen was replaced with an official Mickey Mouse phonograph to tie in with the subscription card's offer of a free Mickey Mouse Club record. Instead of Christmas songs, the nephews were originally reading a copy of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Snaphot! - SantaSAURUS

As regular readers here know, Dinoland in Disney's Animal Kingdom is one of our favorite Snapshot! locations. The propensity to "saurus-ize" anything is a distinct visual dynamic of the area, relating to the mischievous antics of the Dino Institute's young and free spirited interns. Chester and Hester make their own contribution to the cause within their Dinosaur Treasures store, giving one of the shop's denizens a happy and wacky holiday makeover.

Disneyland U.S.A.

The latest wave of Disney Treasures DVDs, Disneyland: Secrets, Stories & Magic, The Chronological Donald Volume Three and The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, were released yesterday. I will leave it to others in the Disney online community to do more extended reviews of each of the volumes, especially in regard to their technical specifications and presentations; I would much rather address some of the great items included in these releases more specifically than in just the context of a general review.

While I was certainly anxious to see those early restored Oswald cartoons and also revisit Donald Duck in one of his most celebrated periods, I instead first unwrapped the Disneyland set and immediately went searching for what I consider to be the real gem of the three volumes -- the 1956 People and Places short subject Disneyland U.S.A., restored to its original glorious wide screen Cinemascope presentation.

It is a revelation. I had previously seen a pan-and-scan version of the film about a decade ago on the Disney Channel's overnight Vault Disney programming, and to say that cropped edition did not do the film justice would be a severe understatement. For Disneyland U.S.A.'s wide angle panoramas of the park during its earliest of days are true marvels to behold.

Having never visited Anaheim until 1989, I have always longed to get some type of visual sense of 1950s era Disneyland. It is often very difficult to ascertain size, scale, scope and placement from even the best of photographs, but it is in those areas where Disneyland U.S.A. succeeds so dramatically. The film provides all of these perspectives almost immediately; an opening aerial flyover quickly establishes the geography of the park during those early years. In one continuous shot the camera travels counter-clockwise around the park and provides an amazing visual reference of what once was. It is breathtaking.

Before heading into the park proper, our guide and narrator, the oh-so-easy-to-listen-to Winston Hibler takes us for a quick tour of the nearby Disneyland Hotel. The brief few minutes spent there is still a revealing encapsulation of 1950s culture, from candy stores and beauty salons to shuffleboard courts and poolside fashions.

Upon arriving in Disneyland, we are taken on a leisurely land-by-land tour that alternates between the aforementioned spectacular aerial panoramas and more intimate guest's eye viewpoints. Nearly every corner of the park, no matter how remote, seems to be touched in some way by the camera's eye.

More than anything, viewing the film is most akin to watching a long challenging jigsaw puzzle being assembled before your eyes. Disparate images you may have previously seen in books, photos, other films and on television programs suddenly are brought together in context to form a greater picture of the park as it existed in 1956. One shining example of this is brought to bear through the film's overview of Frontierland. I had long wondered how all the various ride components of Nature's Wonderland coexisted; via bird's eye views and first person perspectives, we see how the mine trains, pack mules, Conestoga wagons and stagecoaches all departed the little town of Rainbow Ridge and navigated the faux-desert landscape. Vignettes in other areas of the park reveal other geographic mappings. In similar fashion, the various vehicle components associated with Storybookland in Fantasyland are also demonstrated.

What is also especially enjoyable is seeing things that were largely innocuous in 1956 that have since become iconic. Guests pay little attention as they walk past many of the now-famous attraction posters displayed near the park entrance. In another scene, a young child clutches her ticket book, which today is considered a collectors item emblematic of not only Disneyland, but to some extent, American popular culture as well.

Disneyland U.S.A. is a vibrant and extremely colorful trip back in time that simply mesmerizes. It is a 42 minute time capsule that you'll likely want to revisit again and again.

And a great compliment to Disneyland U.S.A. are three of my favorite Disney blogs-- Daveland, Gorillas Don't Blog and Stuff from the Park. Their collective collections of vintage Disneyland photographs are Disney Treasures in their own rights. Just remember to come up for air every few hours or so.

Snapshot: Disneyland! - Calling Toontown

For our next Snapshot from Disneyland, Dave brings us a peek of a very toony version of a what is quickly becoming a theme park rarity -- the pay telephone. Fortunately they are still in use (relatively speaking) at Mickey's Toontown.

Photo taken by davelandweb.com

The Studio Christmas Cards

Our series featuring many of the Disney Studio Christmas cards was very popular during the holiday season last year. The readership of 2719 Hyperion has grown dramatically since then so we thought it would be a good idea to point out that particular category to those folks who might not have previously checked it out.

Enjoy!

Snapshot! - Gingerbread on the Boardwalk

2120 gingerbread pieces; 200 pounds of chocolate; 300 sugar and gum paste flowers; and five hidden Mickeys.

It all equals the Gingerbread House at Disney's Boardwalk, one of Walt Disney World's fun holiday traditions.

Walt's Photo

In my rush to MouseFest, I was only able to post the photo for Walt Disney's birthday on Wednesday. Jim Korkis sent on the following background on that particular image that I selected:

I am sure you realize that the Walt photo you posted yesterday was the last official photo ever taken of Walt Disney. There are actually a couple in the series including one of Mickey waving. In this one, Mickey is pulling on his tie to be "neat and pretty" just like he did on the Mickey Mouse Club television show. I believe that may be Paul Castle under the Mouse head. You will also notice the gloves that Mickey is wearing. Mickey has four fingers and a thumb. This photo (and the others in this series) were staged by veteran Disney publicist Charlie Ridgway. Charlie told me a while ago that he believed the photo shoot was the end of August or early September. Unfortunately about three months later, Walt passed away.

Walt's daughter Diane, when she was interviewed by writer Pete Martin for Walt's biography that was published in the Saturday Evening Post in the 1950s, said that "(Dad's) not sentimental about Christmas. He's more sentimental about family relationships like birthdays... about his own birthday. He feels very sentimental about that and you don't dare slight him or forget because he would be very deeply hurt. If you mention it, he's fairly assured you will remember. But if he thinks that you don't remember, when it has arrived he just feels a little bit slighted."