Rediscovering (Walt) Disney

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While professional racecar drivers have been racing at Indianapolis for 100 years, guests have been enjoying races of their own at the  Tomorrowland Speedway  since  Magic Kingdom Park  opened in 1971. But guests aren’t the only ones who like to go out for a spin at Magic Kingdom Park. Take a look at this photograph from the 1971 Christmas Parade when everyone’s favorite chipmunks had their own matching Herbie the Love Bug cars to greet guests on the parade route. Here, Chip ‘n Dale, (look closely in the back left-hand corner, you’ll see Dale driving into the photograph) are making their way through Liberty Square. Aren’t their mini Love Bug cars awesome? I’m pretty sure if we had audio to go along with this picture we’d be hearing “Chipmunks, start your engines!” all the way from the grandstands over in Tomorrowland.   Vintage Walt Disney World  Disney Parks Blog

I love these black & white construction/publicity photos from Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Here is one of the Star Tours queue area under construction in 1989. The queue area was inspired by  Return of the Jedi , with Imperial forces invading the Ewok village on the forest moon of Endor. Most impressive is the towering 35-foot Imperial All-Terrain Armored Transport Walker (AT-AT) near the attraction’s entrance.     Vintage Walt Disney World  Disney Parks Blog

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From 1956, here is "Disneyland USA". This film was part of the "Peoples & Places" series where we will take you on a tour of Disneyland including Main Street USA, Tomorrowland, Frontierland, Adventureland and Fantasyland. This film was narrated by Winston Hibler, and it was included as part of the "Walt Disney Treasures" series of DVD's entitled "Disneyland USA". http://www.youtube.com/user/DisneyVideoMagic2

Broadcasting on the Wonderful World of Disney, it is the grand opening television special of Walt Disney World in 1971. Julie Andrews hosts this celebration of the new Disney destination along with celebrity appearances by Glen Campbell, Bob Hope, Buddy Hackett and Jonathan Winters. This archival footage is a true Disney treasure mostly because of the Disney music in its 1970's style. Some highlights are the musical arrangements of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" and "It's A Small World". Enjoy this Disney classic television event! http://www.youtube.com/user/DisneyParkVideos

  This 1989 special aired on the Disney Channel and tells the story of Walt Disney and the company that he built.

From Boxoffice Magazine , January 6, 1940. The first article announces the soon to be opened Walt Disney Co. Burbank Studios. In the second, Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is sited as one of the factors in a surge of animated features going into production. Click on the images to enlarge. And in related news...

The following was written in response to my critique of ' The Great Mouse Detective .' TonyWDA Jan 16, 2012 08:00 PM So because your three-year old daughter couldn't sit through a film that wasn't in the usual Disney convention -- something you should've looked into BEFORE watching it with her -- you think it's the worst of the animated feature canon? The Great Mouse Detective was a film made to break away from the traditional Disney fairy-tale formula, so don't judge it for something you wish it was as opposed to what it is: A tale of mystery in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, NOT Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, told through artwork you should've given more credit for. Especially considering many of the people who'd worked on this film had yet to fully master their crafts. Your apathy towards the film's plot and characters is most likely the result of your disdain for the kind of story it's telling in the first place, so don...

From Boxoffice Magazine, January 1968. Blackbeard's Ghost on IMDb

[via SilverTinkerbell ] [via Photo Junction ]

So Maddy pulled 'The Great Mouse Detective' off the shelf yesterday and said she wanted to watch it. Okay I thought, we hadn't watched it yet, she was interested (it's got cute mice right?) and I vaguely remember it was supposed to be good (had not seen it in, like, forever) so we popped it in and settled back... Well, what the H*** was that!?!? This supposed Disney Classic is by far the WORST Disney animated feature I have ever seen! Right from the get-go this movie is dark, violent and frightening. Then there are all the technical problems the most glaring of which is the sub-par animation that looked about as good as say, Disney's Gummi Bears or maybe Duck Tales . On second thought it wasn't even that good. The original songs are weak, uninspiring and in one instance damn near sexually explicit! The poor voice casting and the lack-luster script weren't helping either... Why is Uncle Scrooge disguised as a mouse? At times even I had trouble following...

Boxoffice Magazine 11/9/46 - Click on Image to Enlarge Song of the South is an 1946 animated film based on the Uncle Remus stories written by Joel Chandler Harris, which were based on African-American folk tales. The film have not been released on VHS in the U.S.A. and on DVD & Blu-Ray worldwide because of accusations of racism, but the film maintains a strong following with many Disney fans. It features the song Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, which won the Academy Award for Best Song and is still a popular favorite; James Baskett's performance as Uncle Remus won him a Honorary Academy Award in 1948. The film's animated segments inspired the popular Splash Mountain ride and the 8 main characters, Sally, Toby, Favers Brothers, Mrs Favers, Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, and Brer Fox are still frequently seen at the Disney Parks. However, because many children today have not seen Song of the South due to the fact it has not been released on home video in the United States, visitors to ...

Boxoffice Magazine 1/27/45 - Click on Image to Enlarge The Three Caballeros is the seventh full-length animated feature film in the Disney canon. It is a sequel to Saludos Amigos and like that film features Donald Duck and the Brazilian parrot Jose Carioca, as well as a new character, the Mexican Panchito Pistoles. Like its predecessor, the film was part of a good will effort for South America, however, it is considered to be less propagandist than Saludos Amigos . (via The DisneyWiki )

Boxoffice Magazine 7/3/43 - Click on Image to Enlarge Victory Through Air Power is a film that was produced during World War II based on a book of the same title by Alexander P. de Seversky that urged the US Government to put more resources into aviation for the war effort. It utilized both live-action and animation. (via DisneyWiki )

The Film Daily , July 1929 The Film Daily , July 1929 The Film Daily , September 1929 The Film Daily , December 1929 The Film Daily was a daily publication that existed from 1915 to 1970 in the United States. For 55 years, Film Daily was the main source of news on the film and television industries. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, information on court cases and union difficulties, and equipment breakthroughs. - Wikipedia The images are in grayscale/300 dpi, just click on one to enlarge. I thought about leaving them RGB but the file size was getting too big and given that they were not color ads to begin with I chose to convert them. - Allen

From FILM+TV on 5/11/10 And here I was thinking the filmmakers were just writing an homage to the 1964 New York World's Fair. But Disney does sneak into the Marvel Cineverse with a familiar, catchy tune. "Make Way for Tomorrow Today", penned by Disney alum Richard Sherman, is the theme song for the 1974 Stark Expo. "It's very much a Disney-style up-tempo number," says Richard, who confirms the piece gives a wink and a nod to his 1964 composition for the Carousel of Progress. "It's the feel of 'There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.' It has the same exciting Disney quality." You can read the entire interview at the D23 site.

Another good day on eBay and we have some more amateur shots of the 20k ride, I've also included three Disney press photos of the ride under construction, so enjoy! The first two photos were shot in 1974. This photo was taken in 1985 from the Skyway ride. Here's an overhead shot of the ride, you can see the layout of the track for the subs to follow and the building that housed the dark portion of the ride. Its interesting to note that this building shares a very similar footprint to the one that was contructed for the Ariel/Little Mermaid ride in the Fantasyland expansion. Check it out HERE . Here an Imagineer is applying gold leaf to one of the underwater sculpture pieces. Interior work on one of the Nautilus submarines.

I only rode this ride a handful of times, on one visit to WDW, in the late '70's. But the skill of Disney's Imagineers, the magic of the Disney film and the Victorian steampunk sci-fi of Jules Verne has left a lasting impression. I am (almost) heart broken that Maddy will never get to experience the mysteries of the deep or the thrill of a giant squid attack for herself, good thing we have the movie for her to watch! Anyway, I made a couple of purchases on eBay this week and picked up some great vintage photos of Walt Disney World. Among them are a Disney publicity shot of the 20k lagoon and one of the Nautilus subs... I love the crew members in costume walking her deck, as if preparing to set sail from Vulcania! These next pix are by the gentleman I purchased the photos from - Bill Cotter. check out his website for more great vintage photos on sale: World's Fair Photos And here are some aerial views, shot during helicopter tours of the Magic Kingdom (I've highlight...