Many have noted how off-model and scary looking the original Disneyland costumes were for the animated characters. Shot #1 shows where they came from: The Ice Capades. For opening day, these were the costumes seen in the park and on TV sets all across the country. Yes...somewhat unsettling!





This undated shot shows some progress (the slats above the mouth are gone), but Minnie still looks extremely freakish!



By 1960, even more improvement is visible, despite the fact that Minnie appears to have had an overly agressive eye-brow lift!



This February 1962 shot of Mickey is really odd; looks like the California heat may have melted the poor guy’s face:



Minnie looks more like she stepped out of Munchkinland in this 1962 photo:



Fast forward to today, with the characters being able to blink (well, in Florida at least) and you can see just how far they have come.



See more vintage & current Disneyland photos at my regular website.

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Recently, I purchased a small batch of photos from July 1961; naturally, not too long after that, the negatives also went up for grabs. And, naturally, I went for those too. Some of you might wonder why I would bother buying the negs after I’d already gotten the photos themselves. Hopefully this post will show why and also give you a little glimpse of what goes into creating each blog entry. First up is the photo itself. What about this photo made me interested enough to collect it in the first place? Mainly the Mickey Figure; it’s an early incarnation of Mickey before he became the slick character that he is today. The early figures that walked around the park were often a little more on the scary/crazy side and not quite as accurate as the ones guests see today. The location of the photo is the second reason; just dig that Art of Animation attraction poster on the Monorail pylon! Third reason: the RETLAW Combine Car in the background. Currently in the process of being restored, photos of the Combine are somewhat rare. As you’ll note, the quality of this photo isn’t too bad...but at Daveland, I believe there’s always room for improvement!

Here’s an unretouched view of the negative scan for the same photo; scratched, somewhat faded/color shifted...not real pretty!



With a little help from Photoshop (and some knowledge gleaned from years of experience) this negative gleams like new! Having the negative also gives more image area as well; typically photo prints will cut out about 5% of the image area that was actually shot.



Because of the clarity that I can pick up from a negative, closeup detail shots are now possible, showing little things that you might not notice from just scanning a regular vintage photo print. F’rinstance...the ticket book in the little girl’s hand:



The banner hung above the underpass as well as the writing on the combine and the ticketbooth at right:



Hope you’ve enjoyed this sneak-peak of what goes on behind-the-scenes before these photos reach your home! See more vintage and current entrance photos at my website.

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Some of you might remember my post from September where I posted an unidentified (to me at least!) photo of a guest with Disneyland Marketing Director Jack Lindquist, standing at the podium at Main Street Train Station. It wasn’t long before a reader identified the mystery girl as Valerie Suldo (sorry, Major - I know you were hoping it was bachelorette #1), 100 millionth guest of Disneyland, in June 1971. I was able to get in touch with Valerie and she was kind enough to send these additional photos from that memorable day.

Here, Pluto, Mickey, and Goofy are changing the sign at the Main Street Train Station. I don’t believe this is something I’ve ever seen in a photo or in person...always wondered who changed the number, how often, and when it occurred.



Here’s Valerie in Town Square looking like a pageant winner with her sash!



Valerie looks like a celebrity being mobbed in this shot that includes the other not-so-lucky guests of the day and Mickey:



Personally, this type of thing is truly a wow. To be able to put something unknown on the web, have it identified in a matter of hours, and then be put in contact with the person in the photo (which was taken 30+ years ago!) is just amazing to me. Another reason to be thankful for this blog and my readers.

See more vintage and current Main Street Train Station photos at my website.

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Billy & Sybil get to join Walt on a ride through Frontierland atop the Pack Mules. Note the stuffed Mickey Mouse doll on the rear mule. He looks much less scary than the Mickey Mouse that was at Disneyland during the first few years! In case you haven’t seen the comments left yesterday (which were very much appreciated!), there is much more background information on Sybil & Billy’s visit at this link. See more vintage & current Frontierland photos at my regular website.

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We leave the environs of the Disneyland Hotel and finally enter the park today, starting with a shot of Mickey & Minnnie posing with a guest in Town Square. This series of photos was taken 2 months before my very first visit to Disneyland, and can you believe Minnie had the nerve to wear the same dress in her photo with me? Today, it is rare that one could have a photo taken in the park with both Mickey and Minnie; typically they pose separately. Meanwhile, over in Tomorrowland, guests have a field day shooting all of the characters, starting off with the Three Little Pigs.



Even Goofy gets a little lovin’ from the ladies (note the vintage cameras; Kodak Instamatics perhaps?). Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox can be seen on the left.



Diggin’ the mod stylings of the “new” Tomorrowland on the façade of the America the Beautiful building.



Goofy eventually makes his way over to the Carousel of Progress, with Rolly Crump’s mod ticket booth in the background.



Goofy and Pluto on stage; anybody care to guess who the entertainment is in the background?



See more vintage & current Tomorrowland photos at my regular website. “Nightmare Before Christmas” fans—this Tim Burton classic is now available on Blu-ray, and also features a way cool tour of the Haunted Mansion (NBC version). Available at Amazon.com.

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For me, the Disneyland Holy Grail was finding the negatives for my first trip to Disneyland on December 27, 1970. Although I couldn’t believe we only took 5 pictures that day, it was still cool to see the shots. The first one is from the entrance area, I was able to pose with Mickey & Minnie. How often does that happen anymore without waiting an hour or more?!? Picture two is me with my cousins near “Small World” with one of the Three Little Pigs.

I still remember riding the Mark Twain and seeing the Burning Cabin; this shot is with my brother.



My grandmother & cousins sitting by the castle.




Anybody who had an early Polaroid camera remembers having to find a trashcan to time the developing of the pictures, tear off the paper, throw it away, and then eventually “sealing” the photo with the protective coating stick. What a pain. Here are my brothers doing just that near the Castle. I am hoping they can find the pictures they took!


For more vintage & current Disneyland photos, visit my regular website.

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