This is an AMAZING video. It's an hour long but features tons of lost footage on the construction and evolution of Disneyland. Lots of great facts too as one of the Disney Imagineers leads you through it. Included is a simulated tour through a ride that was never built. How one man conceived this and actually built this amusement park it is extraordinary. The logistics and amount of construction not to mention number of different parts is staggering. A tip of the mouse ears to Uncle Walt. Enjoy!
Walt has always been a true inspiration. Thank you for posting this.
ReplyDeleteI can't ever get past vintage footage of the freeways. Loved seeing the 101 near what is now Universal, and the merge just past downtown to the 5.
ReplyDeleteWhat a different time it was.
You shudda been there when the freeways had actual names.
ReplyDeleteThe French started funding al-Qaeda around the same time EuroDisney was built outside Paris.
ReplyDelete(In the event of monitoring by Prism, the above statement may not be entirely accurate.)
This was fantastic, Ken. I keep thinking about the architects, designers, craftspeople, etc. who probably thought they'd be constructing houses, office buildings, etc. and whose careers (probably) took an unexpected turn into entertainment and this fantasy world. What fun that must have been! It really is amazing. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteDon Hahn and Dave Bossert host an "Evening of Disney Rarities" at the Newport Beach Film Festival each year, with never-before-seen clips presented in a theater with their comments as in this video. Really, truly wonderful to see and hear these visionary moments from the past.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was actually afraid of a lot of rides as a little kid, I came to be especially fond of the Mark Twain, the Jungle Cruise and the late lamented Mine Train through Nature's Wonderland. With their big outdoor landscapes, you felt like you'd actually been somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThis video was fascinating. Every frame was candy.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to Disneyland in nearly 30 years, but I really loved it because it seemed as if I could feel Walt's presence in everything around me. A few years later, I went to Disney World, and it was nothing like that. Much bigger, but it seemed as if it had the same attractions, only with the charm surgically removed, spread out over a much wider area so that they could insert a few hundred souvenir stands in between. It felt like Walt's vision, as realized by a corporate committee, which I guess it was.
ReplyDeleteHaven't been back to either place since, but at least I actually want to go back to Disneyland.
I was going to watch the first 10 minutes or so and skim the rest, but ended up watching the entire video. The mermaid auditions were particularly fun. Thanks for posting this!
ReplyDeletePat, although Walt was dead by the time Walt Disney World opened, he was deeply involved in its planning. That much-larger area you complain about, you would PINE FOR on any typically over-crowded day at Disneyland these days, when it is often so packed you can barely move at all. It's one thing to stand in line for Space Mountain; it's another thing to stand in line to inch your way up Main Street.
ReplyDeleteYou may be sure that the Magic Kingdom at Disneyland is exactly as Walt wanted it. He wanted all that greater room.
Doug,
ReplyDeleteI know Walt was involved in the planning of Walt Disney World, but I have a feeling that if he were still around, all the space between the attractions would be filled with much more interesting stuff.
Also, if Walt were still around, I bet he'd put whoever built Epcot Center into a cryogenic sleep.
You'll notice I did not defend EPCOT. It is most certainly not what Walt intended. But, as you've not been to Disneyland in 30 years, you've not experienced the unbelievably crowded conditions that prevail, especially in the evenings when California Adventure closes berfore Disneyland does, and everyone in that park comes into Disneyland, and you literally can not move or get around. You would cry for the open space of Walt Disney World.
ReplyDeleteYou have to consider that Disneyland itself is on approx 95 acres, about the same size as a Super WalMart including its parking lot, and they will get 50,000 people on a big day. You take out the river, the jungle cruise, and all the other space wasting backstage areas, and you're left with a population density approaching The Black Hole of Calcutta--yet people cheerfully line up to pay a fortune to get in instead of doing the obvious thing and riot.
ReplyDeleteWhen you realize that the guys who designed it literally started from scratch, it is amazing how well designed it is and efficiently traffic flows.
There is a YouTube video showing a family at Disneyland about 1965. Not only is everyone slender, the men are well dressed, and the women all look like they're channeling Jackie Kennedy.
My favorite moment is when the family pauses for lunch at the Carnation Plaza. We see everyone enjoying a modest sized cheesburger and a little carton of milk--it's a vision Mayor Bloomberg would be proud of. Compare it to the crowds today with their giant Cokes, smoked turkey legs, churros, and all the other crap they sell there and draw your own conclusions.
I believe that if Walt Disney were alive today, Disney World-Florida would get a complete make over including the removal of selling any form of alcohol on the premises.
ReplyDeleteI further believe you would not find that all the souvenirs were "made in China" as they are now, which I also believe is disgraceful and is a statement of disrespect to Walt Disney if not the people of the rest of the world that visit his wonderful theater.
Since Walt's passing there has been some wonderfully new animation characters created, but there also has been some distasteful things inserted into these later animation films that I believe Walt would have never gone along with...showing the new characters passing gas is just one of the things I would bet he would delete.
Still, I have been to Walt Disney World-Florida some 14 times and will continue to repeat as long as I can. I actually like Disneyland better but Florida is easier to get to from Indiana.
Keithie
Keithie, you are probably right about Walt removing the sale of alcoholic beverages in any Disney park (except for in Club 33 in Disneyland and in EuroDisney, because no one would come to EuroDisney if there was no booze. It's in France).
ReplyDeleteI would hesitate to guess what Walt would or would not object to in films made since he smoked himself to death. If I could accurately read Walt's dead mind, I'd BE Walt Disney.
Wow. What a great video! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete