Originally Posted By oc_dean Surely .. many of you fondly remember a Disneyland construction video that played against a side wall, as you entered the Disneyland Story featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln from 1973, up to roughly 2005. Maybe they took it off earlier. I don't remember. It was rear projection .. as many Disneyland projections were then ... Had a "kinescope" quality to it. Not the best. But there's something about quirky old technologies that trigger the human memory banks in unique ways. It showed Disneyland under construction throughout 1954 .. leading up to opening day - July 17,1955. Lasted a couple minutes ... maybe slightly longer. Footage was sped up, and used a unique "quick" arrangement of "Whistle While You Work". I really liked that arrangement. The thing I don't know ... was it created when The Disneyland Story made it's debuted in the Opera House in 1973? But the arrangement has a more distinct "50s" quality to it. Perhaps it was created then. Anyone know the history to it? I haven't heard it in years. A google search turned up nothing. But I'd like to ask around the LP traps ... Who remembers it? And did it ever make it to any CD or DVD package through the Walt Disney Co. .. such as those "Walt Disney Treasures" DVD packages in the silver cans? If it exists on Youtube ... I've tried tags like - Disneyland, under construction video, Opera House. But came up nothing. Anyway .. that was a dandy of a little video .. along with that version of "Whistle while you work" .. is one important nostalgic (and I think - valuable) piece of Disneyland History ... I think there should be some corner in the Opera House playing it to this day!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I have all the Treasures DVDs and it doesn't sound familiar, so I don't think it's on any of them. Hopefully someone with better knowledge will be by here shortly (this sounds like a Dug question!)
Originally Posted By Bellella I think I have a vague memory of that video. Certainly I remember something showing the castle being built at super-speed. I could double-check on my "Disneyland: Secrets, Stories and Magic." But back when I was a kid, I didn't really give the Opera House the full attention it deserves. FerretAfros, do you really have ALL the Walt Disney Treasures DVDs? You must be loaded. I'm lucky to have the six I have, and I had to get those the hard way.
Originally Posted By TP2000 oc_dean, I remember that video! My memories of it are from the 1990's. It may have lasted into the early 2000's, but I distinctly remember it from the 1990's when I moved back to SoCal and began having an AP. And you are right, I distinctly remember the rear-projection kinescope type media. Funny how those things stick with you, especially in this age of HD digital everything where the kids assume that everything is in High Definition, from homemade movies made on a 100 dollar Best Buy special to the latest Hollywood blockbuster. When did it go away? I don't remember. But by the 50th major makeover, the Opera House had been majorly changed and rearranged. I do remember watching a DVD of Tony Baxter showing Disneyland construction videos from 1954-55 in the last few years, some sort of Special Edition somehwere. And I remember thinking "This is kind of like that film that used to play in the Opera House". That probably doesn't help you much, but at least I know my brain still kind of works. Kind of.
Originally Posted By oc_dean The Dole Pineapple story at the Tiki Room, the Disneyland Story projected against the back wall of the Opera House preshow area, from 1975 to 2004, the video I'm referring to .. they all were rear projected on a type of film that was on a loop, that resonates with me more, than a crisp video on a LED monitor! I can't explain it. And it's certainly something younger generations will never understand. (Son of a .... I'm starting to feel old ........ there's a quality that just hits a chord in me. Some antiquated forms of technology bring back more than just memories, but a feeling as well. I would love to see that presentation ... the faster version of Whistle While You Work .. and in that clunky "kinescope" type format! Would trigger more memories than the same video shown on Bluray!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>FerretAfros, do you really have ALL the Walt Disney Treasures DVDs? You must be loaded. I'm lucky to have the six I have, and I had to get those the hard way<< They really weren't that expensive if you bought them when they were first released. I got lucky and bought the first wave while it was still in stores, before anybody really knew what it was. $25 for a 2-disc DVD set (when the going rate for most films was $20) really wasn't that bad of a deal. Plus, it certainly helped that they were released every year right around Christmas! I did have to buy one secondhand off the internet, and that was really expensive. Overal though, smart planning (spread out over 8-9 years) made it pretty easy to collect them all without breaking the bank.
Originally Posted By DBitz2 >>It showed Disneyland under construction throughout 1954 .. leading up to opening day - July 17,1955. Lasted a couple minutes ... maybe slightly longer. Footage was sped up, and used a unique "quick" arrangement of "Whistle While You Work".<< I'm pretty sure that speeded up time lapse footage, along with the "peppy" rendition of "Whistle While You Work" was used in one or more of the earlier episodes of the anthology show focusing on Disneyland. There were two pre-opening "Progress Reports". I think some of the later shows from after Disneyland's opening may have included it, too. I don't remember which particular shows offhand. I would have to check my vhs tapes of them.
Originally Posted By DlandDug I remember this well. The footage was from a Disneyland TV program-- an anniversary show I believe. I just looked at the 10th anniversary and it's not there, though. Some of this footage, along with other time lapse views of Disneyland construction is on the second disc special features of the Disney Treasures set “Disneyland: Secrets, Stories and Magic.” The footage, which covers several parts of the park, features commentary by Tony Baxter. Excerpts from this are all over the internet, often not correctly identified. Just Google "Disneyland construction" and "time lapse."
Originally Posted By oc_dean thanks DL&Dug .. I saw this: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_i-Bu24AQc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...-Bu24AQc</a> With Tony B. doing some commentary. I wonder if anyone ever bothered to video tape that Disneyland construction vid in the Opera House. Sure would be nice to see .. and hear it again. Just that sped up version of "Whistle while you work" is one cute little piece of Disneyland history.
Originally Posted By oc_dean >>I'm pretty sure that speeded up time lapse footage, along with the "peppy" rendition of "Whistle While You Work" was used in one or more of the earlier episodes of the anthology show focusing on Disneyland. There were two pre-opening "Progress Reports". I think some of the later shows from after Disneyland's opening may have included it, too.<< If you ever find it ... that will be one very nice find. I'm anxious to see .. and hear it again.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA You know, it's interesting...I've mentioned this over the years. Thinking about things like that time lapse movie in the lobby of "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" -- which I remember very well, by the way, and the song. It reminded me of the smell in there... There was a very distinctive smell to that 'Mr. Lincoln' lobby space. Like old carpet combined with musty vacuum cleaner. It was clean in the Opera House lobby, always, but sort of like an old, musty house. Other smells from Disneyland... That wonderful bed of marigolds in the old entrance to Tomorrowland. I'll go into Lowe's garden center sometimes and walk past the flats of marigolds. Boom! I'm at Disneyland. The distinctive smell when walking into the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' indoor queue. The water in that ride. The old, burning match smell of the cannon smoke. The smell of fresh oranges at the Sunkist orange juice stand. Even the smell of exhaust from busses in the parking lot. Even when I'm in different places where busses are being used -- still takes me back to being at Disneyland. When we would wait for 'rope drop' at Disneyland in the mid-late 70s, it was a combination of smells -- wet asphalt, cigarette smoke and coffee -- ah Disneyland!
Originally Posted By DlandDug Musty carpet it was. And another distinctive smell: Autopia (the original).
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA ^^^Yes, the gasoline fumes were quite thick back in that section of the park near Autopia. Funny. Another smell is the steam trains. The smell of the steam being released.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I love how the Grand Canyon/PW tunnels trap the smell of the DLRR. That's a great evocative smell at any of the stations, but in the tunnels it's concentrated and it makes a beeline for your brain telling you "you're in Disneyland!!"
Originally Posted By oc_dean All your posts ... very interesting! It's funny ... how subtle things we think are so insignificant .. can actually trigger our emotions and feelings from those memories .. moreso ... than an actual visual element. We do have six senses .. and it's our other senses (aside from sight, and hearing). And for instance ... It just was not America Sings .. unless the audio was analog .. with that slight hiss sound ... the air conditioning ... producing a slight hiss of it's own .. and of course ... the rumble of the carousel .. when it was in motion. It used standard railroad lines ... on railroad wheels. And that slight bump along the way .... and I could hear the rumble across that 200 feet diameter ring .. at a low 20 to 40 hertz frequency. If they did a brand new America Sings with those elements more fine tuned .. It would not be the same thing. Interesting when we are kids and even teenagers ... We take in all these subtle elements. Think nothing of them. And take them for granted. But if certain old attractions were done exactly as they were then - It would be a "sensory" experience (re-lived) on many levels.
Originally Posted By DBitz2 >>Another smell is the steam trains. The smell of the steam being released.<< Now that they're using biodiesel, the trains smell like french fries!!!
Originally Posted By DBitz2 <<>>I'm pretty sure that speeded up time lapse footage, along with the "peppy" rendition of "Whistle While You Work" was used in one or more of the earlier episodes of the anthology show focusing on Disneyland. There were two pre-opening "Progress Reports". I think some of the later shows from after Disneyland's opening may have included it, too.<< If you ever find it ... that will be one very nice find. I'm anxious to see .. and hear it again.>> Dean, I'll try to find it and make you a copy while you're here. I'm on vacation for a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving week, so will have a little time to go through my tapes.
