“I Call the Big One Bitey”

WDWNT on August 9, 2011

Ok, so I quoted Homer Simpson before Mr. Disney… but come on! That episode was hilarious.

The Disneyland Monorail was the first transportation system of its kind in America. It was based on a system built by the Alweg company and discovered by Walt Disney while traveling in Germany. It first appeared in Disneyland Park in 1959 with its “Googie” architecture, a space age look that was enormously popular during the 1950s. The Monorail celebrated its 50th anniversary on June 14, 2009! – Disney’s Official Disneyland Website

The fifth and final Disneyland 55th Anniversary 9″ Attraction Poster figure will be out exclusively in Disneyland on Friday, August 26. The Monorail, like the DL posters before is designed by Alex Maher and is limited to only 550 pieces. It will retail for $44.95.

In 1957, Walt Disney first saw the monorails that a German company, Alweg was developing. On June 14, 1959, the Disneyland Alweg Monorail System was dedicated with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Vice President Richard M. Nixon. It was the first Monorail in the US, and Walt Disney believed it was the future of urban transportation. The Disneyland monorail began as a sightseeing tour above Disneyland, but quickly expanded its purpose to serve Disney hotels and today, stops at the Downtown Disney District.
This Vinylmation, Disney admits, took some time in development as the wrapping of the design took longer than expected. I see what they mean. Take a look at the poster below and picture the many different ways this figure could have worked.
You really have to expand the poster to a 3D image in your mind and follow it around the Vinylmation’s body. Artist Alex Maher could have just slapped the 2D poster image on the front and put the words or a mirror image on the back. But he instead gave the poster a 3D feel were the monorail wraps around the side. I’m sure the Matterhorn and the Tomorrowland Rocket proved difficult to place. In the poster they are both flat and off in the distance. But Alex took the approach that this is a 3D image, frozen in time. And took a different “camera angle” on the scene. Think those 360 camera shots they show in football games. So by moving the angle slightly and wrapping it, he is able to position the landmarks in a way that makes sense. The words on top, were put into the face and words on bottom (which changed over the years) where stuck on the back of the head.
Upon first look, this figure wasn’t impressive, but like the It’s a Small World ride, I am more impressed knowing what went into the design… and it became a favorite.
So what are your thoughts? The entire set is out. Do you like the 5 piece Disneyland Attraction Poster set? Which one is your favorite? Leave your comments below.

A Tribute to the Pioneers of America

WDWNT on January 28, 2011

“Here we experience the story of our country’s past…
the colorful drama of frontier America in the exciting days of the covered wagon and the stage coach, the advent of the railroad and the romantic riverboat. Frontierland is a tribute to the faith, courage and ingenuity of the pioneers who blazed the trails across America.” – Walt Disney

On Friday, the 4th in a 5 piece 9″ Vinylmation set depicting vintage Disneyland Attraction Posters will be released exclusively at Disneyland. The Frontierland Poster depicts three attractions that are no longer in operation at Disneyland.
First is the Stagecoach ride. Guests were able to sit on top or inside a stagecoach and take a ride through Frontierland in this opening day attraction. The theming was fantastic as guest were truly transported into a time and place long gone. The ride was short-lived, as it closed forever in 1959 to make way for construction of Nature’s Wonderland. (thank you to www.yesterland.com for some great pictures)

In the middle of the poster is the Mine Train Ride. This attraction opened in 1956 as Rainbow Caverns Mine Train. After a change in Frontierland theming in 1959, this attraction became Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland. This was a slow paced attraction through the wild frontier full of great scenery, animatronic animals, and puns… think Jungle Cruise on a train. The attraction closed in 1977 to make way for the faster paced Big Thunder Mountain.



On the bottom of the poster is the Mule Pack Ride. Real mules, simulated desert. This attraction stuck around until 1973.

As far as the Vinylmation itself, this design, although minor, shows more changes from poster to Vinylmation than any of the previous releases. These changes are due to the style of the original poster. The top is a straight forward copy of the Stage Coach Ride scene from the poster. On the back, artist Alex Maher had to use up what would be empty space… so he finished off the partial horse with the Indian you see in the poster below and added three extra horses onto the back. A great touch! Finishing off a scene with the extra canvas he had, that the poster’s artist did not. The middle is a perfect depiction of the Mine Train Ride. I can’t wait to see this one up close to check out the detail. (on the poster, one of the children is wearing a Mickey Ear Hat!) On the back, is an empty mine, which is not on the poster. Next, Alex had to move the position of the “Mine Train Ride” label to the bottom left of the scene, or else it would have ended up in the neck of the figure. That decision forced the “Mule Pack Ride” label to be moved to the back of the figure. The only design move I question is wrapping the Mule Pack scene around the side. This hides two of the mules from view and leaves some empty space on the front. Also, “Frontierland” was moved to the back instead of placing it in the feet on the front.

Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Adventureland will all be out as of Friday… we await the 5th and final piece to this Disneyland 55th Anniversary 9″ set, The Monorail.

Dedicated to the young at heart

WDWNT on January 22, 2011

“Fantasyland is dedicated to the young at heart and to those who believe that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.” – Walt Disney

Another wonderful depiction of a vintage Disneyland poster has been released in Vinylmation form. Fantasyland is the 3rd in a 5 figure 9″ series released to celebrate Disneyland’s 55th anniversary. 
360 view
Three attractions are depicted on this poster. First is the famous Dumbo Flying Elephants ride. This Dumbo ride appears in all 5 Disney Theme Parks around the world, but the original is in Disneyland and was an opening day attraction in 1955.
The attraction on the stomach is King Arthur’s Carousel. Inspired by the Griffith Park carousel, Walt Disney wanted something similar for his new theme park. Therefore, a Dentzel park model carousel which had operated since 1932 at Sunnyside Amusement Park in Toronto, Ontario was purchased from Sunnyside and moved to Disneyland in 1954.

On the back, is the Mad Tea Party attraction. How fast do you like to spin your tea cup?

So far, the Disneyland vintage posters are well adapted to the 9″ Vinylmation, but they all need minor tweaks to effectively use the space. In Fantasyland’s case, artist Alex Maher turned the carousel to be directly under Dumbo. This minor change allows the carousel to take up the stomach and the Mad Tea Party to take up the back. If this change was not done, but attractions would end up in the armpits. And again, as with Adventureland, Alex chose to put the word “Fantasyland” on the back of the head instead of the front on the feet, where it would be if the poster was taken literally. One other notable difference is the absence of people in the tea cups on the Vinylmation. A great job was done depicting the children on Dumbo and the people walking around the carousel, so I wonder what the thought behind not putting people into the tea cups was.
Fantasyland is a Disneyland exclusive and is limited to 555 pieces. Tomorrowland and Adventureland have already been released and we look forward to the January 28th release of the Frontierland Poster Vinylmation.