  These 1954 costume designs for Disneyland cast members were drawn by Renié Conley, an accomplished Hollywood costume designer. Walt Disney knew appropriate costumes for his themed lands were essential to the show he was presenting to his guests. According to Imagineer John Hench, Walt’s philosophy, which became ingrained in the Imagineering ethos, was “attention to infinite detail, the little things, the minor picky points that other companies just don’t want to take the time, the money, the effort, to do right.” Conley had been a costume designer with RKO Pictures since 1937, which worked together with the Disney Studio to produce and distribute a number of films. In 1954, she was asked to develop costume concepts for Disneyland. These early drawings would provide the creative foundation for the thousands of costumes needed for the park’s cast members. A window on Main Street, USA above the Carnation Cafe is dedicated to Conley in recognition of her significant contribution. In a newspaper interview years later, Conley said “Walt Disney was wonderful to work with. He is the only director with whom I worked who had the absolute last word. All of us could talk for days...but when the decision was made, Walt was the one to do it." In 1963, Conley won an Academy Award for her costume designs for the movie Cleopatra.   Decades later, cast member costumes remain a subtle contributor to the Disneyland show. In an interview with Walt Disney biographer Bob Thomas former President of WED, Bill Cottrell, explained why focusing on costumes and other thematic elements were such a priority for Walt: “He knew that they were not going to make money because they couldn’t carry enough people. But they were part of the concept that the main gate establishes a certain show for people. And not everything has to make money. You pay to get in the place and so what do you see? Everyone’s in costume. And the streets are clean. And you have flowers. And you have these vehicles that a few people can ride and so forth.”   Disney Legend Ken Anderson is mostly known for his incredible animation portfolio, he was one of the many Disney Studio artists tapped by Walt Disney to work on Disneyland before it opened in 1955. Anderson was selected to work with Walt on what was known as "Project Little Man” in the early 1950s. The project explored how to create a physical animated figure, a technological exploration that would lead to Disney’s innovative audio-animatronics that would become a critical component of Disney theme parks. As that project transitioned into more substantive work on Disneyland Anderson was moved off the project (replaced by Harper Goff) and went to work on the Sleeping Beauty movie. Later, Anderson was put in charge of overseeing the building of the Fantasyland dark rides. In a 1973 interview with Disney biographer Bob Thomas, Anderson explained that as the Disneyland team worked on the first dark rides ever built “Walt wanted me to do it because I had an architectural background, and also I had been a part of each feature and he wanted to use features as a basis for the black rides. So I was building these things and boy, we were really sweating it out. We were right in the middle of the last week of working nights to get this thing ready and we were real nervous.” Anderson also had to deal with labor union tensions. He explained to Thomas: “I had to be the one that was in contact with the subcontractors: The carpenters, the painters and all these people…And these were the Orange County people who were counter to the unions up here. The first ride I got built up here was the Mr. Toad ride which was built right here in the back [of the Studio]. They took it down to install it. Those people were still members of the same union A.F. of L. They resented the Hollywood craft unions having developed these things. They scraped all the paint off of the little car and the little circus train and painted it over again with their own guys not nearly so well. There would be guys doing all sorts of tricks to prevent and to sabotage.”    These incredible early concept drawings for the Mad Tea Party attraction by artist Bruce Bushman include a number of features that were ultimately not included in the final attraction. Of course, the attraction is inspired by the animated movie Alice in Wonderland which was released by the Disney Studio in 1951, just a few years before the park opened. In the first artwork you will notice the concept includes large characters from the movie, including the Mad Hatter and March Hare enjoying a cup of tea on top of a table, as well as Chesire Cat and Caterpillar. In the second drawing, the teacup ride vehicles were set to spin on a platform designed like a tablecloth with doilies alongside a number of items you would expect to find on a table during a tea party, including a teapot, creamer, and a sugar bowl. The final image shows the attraction in its original form when Disneyland opened in 1955. The ride was plagued early on with mechanical problems and was soon reengineered within the park’s first year of operation. In 1983, Fantasyland received a major overhaul and the attraction was moved to the location where it sits now next to the Alice in Wonderland attraction.    Swift’s Chicken Plantation House was one of the original Disneyland restaurants when the park opened in 1955. It stood on the banks on the Rivers of America, just west of where the entrance to the Pirates of Carribean attraction is now. Walt Disney, like many people, was a big fan of Knott’s Berry Farm’s chicken restaurant and thought something similar would be a great addition to Disneyland. Like all restaurants in the early days of the park, the Plantation House was operated by a lessee. Swift & Company, a large Chicago-based meat processing company, operated both the Plantation House and the Red Wagon Inn restaurant on Main Street. As you can see by comparing both pictures, the restaurants exterior design featured two different architecture themes. On the side of the building facing the Rivers of America the restaurant has the look of an antebellum mansion from the South. The other side, which faced the train station, has the style of a Spanish colonial home. Notice the similarities of the Blue Bayou restaurant’s interior, on the last image, with the mansion styling of the Plantation House. On January 7, 1962, the restaurant was closed to make room for the New Orleans Square addition.    October 1954, Walt Disney’s Disneyland television show debuted on ABC with its first episode - The Disneyland Story. The episode gave American viewers their first preview of Disneyland and allowed Walt to share with them his big, magical plans for the land he recently purchased in Anaheim. The Disneyland television show was a key component of a deal struck by Roy Disney that was essential for financing Walt’s theme park project. Under the terms of that deal, Disney agreed to produce a weekly show for ABC and in exchange for a 35% ownership stake in Disneyland, ABC would invest $500,000 in the park as well as guarantee loans up to $4.5 million. The premiere of the Disneyland show aired on a Wednesday night between 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. Around 30 million American households, roughly half of all televisions in the country at the time, tuned in to watch the debut episode. In the episode, Walt gives viewers an overview of his vision for Disneyland then proceeds to provide greater details about each of the four themed lands. After a description of each land, a related themed production film is shown. To give viewers a glimpse of what Disneyland held in store for them the show included a mixture of scale models and concept art. Disneyland would open less than 10 months later with a live broadcast on ABC.  The Wonderful World of Color aired on NBC with Tinkerbell.
|
My Story
Growing up in Los Angeles in the 70s/80s we visited Disneyland on a regular basis and often after school, before "Annual Passes". 
Categories
All
Archives
January 2023
|
RSS Feed
