Disneyland News Newspaper for Sale

Hello, all! Just to let everyone know, I’m selling a July 1956, Vol. 2 No.1 copy of Disneyland News. It recalls Disneyland’s first anniversary and is in excellent shape. I don’t usually sell any part of my collection, but I realized I had two of these, so if anyone is interested hop on over to this link http://www.ebay.com/itm/Disneyland-News-newspaper-July-1956-Vol-2-No-1-Disneylands-First-Anniversary-/330722494270?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d0098c73e#ht_5416wt_938. The auction ends on Sunday.

72 Years of Waiting

Yes, it is April 2nd, and if any of you out there are into genealogy, you’ve been counting down to this day as I have. The 72 year long wait is over, and the 1940 United States Census has been released!

For most of you this will probably mean nothing, but I thought all would benefit from seeing the census record on Walt Disney and his family. Why not, right?

Do note the photo is very large so it might take a moment to show up.

Meet Walt.

Some of my wonderful readers have also become friends and we chat art now and then; for these people the following will be no surprise.

For those of you who don’t know, I am a fine artist, and I’ve decided to dedicate 2011 to Disney-related works. I have just finished my first for the year which is a portrait of Walt Disney from a photo shoot dated October 1949.

I am very happy to share this year’s worth of paintings with all of you and hope you enjoy the first installment:

“Walter Elias Disney, 1949” oil on canvas, 18” x 24” by Devyn Samara.

A World of Flowers! - Part 1

It’s great when your friends find fun Disney stuff for you at flea markets! One such find is a book I had been searching for for a while called Walt Disney Disneyland World of Flowers by Morgan Evans, © 1965.

Making it that much more fun was the little find that was paper clipped inside: two samples of stationery from Walt Disney Productions detailing the journey this book has been on.

Inside this book are some of my absolute favorite photographs of Disneyland in its early days. What I especially love about this book is how it brings the reader’s attention to the brilliance and importance of the landscaping in the park. I will be posting some of the photos from the book and talking a little about them throughout my next posts.

First thing’s first, though. We must begin with the introduction, signed by Walt Disney:

“This is the story of the landscape at Disneyland.

In a sense, Disneyland is a stage- a most unusual stage. Members of the Disneyland audience, unlike the audience at a motion picture or a Broadway show, do not simply look on. They participate in the drama, the adventure, or comedy. They walk onto the stage. They move through the sets. They touch the props. They examine the set dressings. And so sets, props, and dressings must be authentic.

At Disneyland, a jungle must have a jungle landscape. The Rivers of America must be banked by trees which are indigenous to American rivers. And a Living Desert must, in truth, appear as a living desert.

To achieve the right effect, our Disneyland landscape architects combined their talents with those of builders and maintenance personnel and created a believable and authentic scene of nature’s own design.

In giving credit for the landscaping at the Park, it is impossible to mention all who have contributed. Special plaudits are due to Ruth Patricia Shellhorn for her design of the formal Victorian plan for Main Street, the Town Square, and the Plaza. The trees and shrubs she selected in the spring of 1955 are still used. The late Jack Evans, to whom this book is dedicated, worked mightily to create authentic and delightful landscapes throughout the Park. Morgan Evans, a third generation horticulturist and brother of Jack Evans, has been supervising landscape architect at Disneyland since 1956.

This book by Morgan Evans is the story of the living scenery at Disneyland. It is also a guide for those who wish to take a landscape tour of the Park’s unique international botanical collection.” – Walt Disney

We will start with these two shots from Frontierland! First off is the landscaping in the area around Fowler’s Harbor/soon to be New Orleans Square area. This area is probably closer to Fowler’s Harbor which would be towards the left of the photo.  Just walking around this area, you probably wouldn’t be that aware of the color play happening around you. Remember, this was pre- New Orleans Square, so even though certain elements are in place like the exterior of the Haunted Mansion, there were still plenty of retaining walls which are not fun to look at. Not only do the bright orange, peach, and yellow daisies pump this area up with visual interest, but they brilliantly match the bold colors and shapes of the Sailing Ship Columbia as she sails by; something the average guest would be quite aware of subconsciously. The intensity of the colors match the play of shadow and light on the ship beautifully. The white flowers soften the whole effect so it’s not too “in your face”, as well. Under the bright blue Anaheim sky, the contrasting appeal is definitely a winning combination!

Moving east, just down a bit towards the bulk of the upcoming New Orleans Square area and the older New Orleans/Frontierland section comes this change in landscaping. There hasn’t been any major change in “land” as we’ve been walking, but the color switch is very evident. The  daisies have followed us on our walk and the white variety has led the way, increasing as we move east, now blending with a lighter shade of yellow and light lavender. The use of color in this area is also very interesting in that it mimics the Mark Twain in various lighting. The lavender picks up the cast shadows, the white obviously adopts the main color of the Mark Twain in the noon day sun, while the softer yellow daisies copy the highlights of color during dusk. The choice of flower is also sweetly frilly, adding to the charm of the area and details on the boat. Also note the pop of deeper reds and purples used very sparingly to break up the landscaping just enough to add a slight wild-grown quality to it and help begin the transition back up to the Fowler’s Harbor area. Fantastic!

More to come! Check back soon. :)

Disney on Ancestry… and in my own?

Ancestry.com is allowing free viewing of their newly updated 1910 US Census records through February 21. If you have not caught the genealogy bug as I have this won’t mean much to you, but as a “just for fun” I have attached the page listing Walt & family when they were living back in Marceline. It’s pretty neat to take a look at!

As a side note… in my own ancestry lives a family named Swan from Ireland and Scotland. A family of Swans lives in Walt Disney’s ancestry, too. One such Swan, Maria (who married Arundel Elias Disney), is mentioned in both of our ancestries and I’d like to find out if they are one in the same and/or to which Swan family everyone belongs. Since Ancestry.com was no help to me last year on this matter, due entirely to lack of records from Ireland and Scotland, I’m wondering if anyone out there has done some more investigative searching into Walt’s genealogy, mainly the Swan family. If you have and would not mind sharing, I would love that dearly! Shoot me an email… art (at) devynsamara.com

Have any of my readers connected their lineage to Walt’s?

A Fun Find

 

 

There are a few Disneyland photos over at Blonde Episodes- a decidedly non-Disney site (I'm a vintage loving kind of girl!), but still fun to look at. Hop on over to see the others. :)

Walt feeds a penguin

While searching through my growing list of blogs I love visiting, I came across this great photo over at Hollywood Heyday. It's an amusing shot of a young and casual Walt with what appears to be penguin snacks in hand, coaxing some audio out of the little cutie.

The post chronicles the goings on in Hollywood around April 17, 1932. It says this in the photo's caption:

"Walt Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse animated cartoons, will move his bizarre animals from Columbia lots to those of United Artists some time in the middle of July."

I must say, I'm a little curious as to which short this was used for in 1932. If anyone has any idea, do let me know.

Have a great week, everyone! :)

Walt's Macaroni Mickey Mousse

While tripping along a Disney recipe index, I came upon this, which I think is so adorable. It's from a February 1934 Better Homes & Gardens issue. I thought it was too nice to be hidden, so I wanted to bring everyone's attention to it here.

I can't figure out who the blogger is who originally posted it, but here is the source link. It was great of whomever to post it.

Now, I don't know how much cheese had to do with the creation of Mickey Mouse, but it does make for a cute read and references the mouse that scampered around Walt's Kansas City office.

I love the part that reads, "Mr. Disney often serves Macaroni Mickey Mousse to his friends who visit him at his Hollywood bungalow." The recipe variations that follow lead me to believe that perhaps he actually did.

If anyone tries this recipe out, do let me know how it goes.

And the Best Dressed is...

Victory over Vista! I have achieved success with my scanner, so I will be able to get back to posting whatever I can scan on the blog until I figure out the deal with my camera. I have discovered one very cool article that I will post in the coming days. I, myself, haven't seen it before on any other site/blog, and that's always a positive. I have to paste it all together in Photoshop because it doesn't come close to fitting my scanner bed. Anyway, on to the post!

I was chilling out the other day, going through an old Photoplay from 1938, getting a recipe from Bette Davis (ginger bread, yum!), discovering I have movie star leg measurements (sweeeet!!), when I turned the page to learn "Who's Really Who in Hollywood Society". I learned that Charlie Chaplin gave the best parties, Jimmie and Lucille Gleason gave the best garden parties, and that Walt was SNAPPY!!! Yes, dear readers, Walt was considered one of the best dressed in Hollywood (as well as one of the more athletic) and was in a class with some very sophisticated individuals, as you will see.

I have cropped out an excerpt of the article, as it is quite lengthy. If anyone is interested in the full article, just yell. Enjoy, everyone, and thanks for returning after the hiatus. More to come, keep checking back! :)

Promoting Snow White

Continuing on my whole Old Time Radio thing, which I hope everyone is enjoying...

On the Lux program, Walt Disney guest appeared twice (as I know of). I have already posted the Snow White appearance, but on December 20, 1937, he did another... a sort of promo announcing his upcoming films. It appears at the end of "Song of Songs," with Marlene Dietrich and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (For those of you who want to skip ahead, Walt's portion begins around 47:00.)

The following day after this aired was the premiere of Snow White at the Carthay Circle. Walt sounds excited and eager as he speaks with Cecil B. DeMille. I love how Walt figures making Snow White on his own would have taken him 250 years. It's also quite cute to hear him working in the sponsor, Lux Flakes, into his speech. Walt also figures that the cost of Snow White's wardrobe stands at around $100,000-clearly a huge sum for the time for any one's wardrobe (as it is now!)

Walt goes on to talk a bit about film making and the upcoming feature length films- Bambi, Pinocchio, and Fantasia - as well as the shorts.

It's a very nice little time capsule that I hope you all enjoy!

"Song of Songs", featuring Walt Disney- December 20, 1937

Vanity Fair, October 1933

Here is a great piece from this month, back in 1933. The one thing that I don't like about it, is that the article is so TINY!! So much shorter than the accompanying pieces in the magazine. However, it's a great photo of Walt and some over sized Mickeys. I have always loved vintage Hollywood photography, and this is a great example of that. I have included the easier to read version of the minuscule write-up for your convenience.

In other news, I have launched a new website based on my art. For those who have visited the old site, thank you! I have received some lovely feedback from very great people. I hope those who visit the new site will enjoy all of its upgrades. I welcome any feedback! Simply click over to "My Art" on my links column, or click here... www.DevynSamara.com

Happy weekend, everyone!

The Last Word

Today we bid aloha to selections from the Storyboard magazine. The best way to do that, of course, is with some Walt quotes. Happy reading and happy Sunday!

"May I have your autograph?"

I don't know about all of you, but being the Disney fan I am, I often phone doodle Walt's signature. I have for years. It's probably the most animated signature I've seen, and it really is quite fun to try and perfect. I love it, and I've even stolen part of it for my own signature. (Thanks, Walt! :D )
Here's a bit of info on the world's most well known autograph.

Our Uncle Walt

Work has been a bit hectic lately, so I apologize for the dry blogging week. I have some fun things that are lined up to be scanned this week, but before we get to those things, I'd like to finish off the scans from the Storyboard magazine over the next few days.

Above are some great pictures of Walt, which, like his quotes, a true Disney fan can never have enough of.

Remembering Walt - Part 2

Here is the second part of Remembering Walt. I think it speaks for itself so I will leave off the commentary and let you enjoy it!

It's not often that I'll post anything that's non-Disney related, but this is to a small extent. If you have not seen the hugely eye-opening film on Wal-Mart, put everything down and do so now here. It is worth your time, and definitely better than anything you might watch on TV today. As most of us know, Wal-Mart does carry a lot of Disney products, so it's fitting for this blog! After seeing this film, not only am I disgusted, but I will never spend a dime in a Wal-Mart store ever again. It literally brought me to tears. We all need to be responsible shoppers and care about the big picture.

In other non-Disney news... THE POLICE is back together and TOURING!!! Yes, there is a God.

Remembering Walt - Part 1

Can we remember Walt enough? It seems so many admirers of him, be it professionally or personally, always seem to want to learn more about the man who was Walt Disney. What made his mind tick? Where did all of his amazing ideas spring from? Why did he have this incredible and innate ability when it appears so few people possess this skill now? How can we get it? So many questions.
Walt is someone I've always found to be so fascinating. I think what sparks my interest stems from his uniqueness and his refusal to be like the guy down the street (while, ironically, still being like the guy down the street). He had this balance. He wasn't content with average ideas, or even good ideas. He always shot for the BEST ideas, the new, innovative, hyper-creative ideas. Yet, he could pair that innovation with something tried and true. Something classically great that we were all familiar and comfortable with.
So often it's difficult to accept something that is different even if it is innovative. There can sometimes be a foreboding aspect to it. How many of us sat blankly in front of our computers when the Internet came to be? Feeling overwhelmed, lost, yet knowing it had near limitless potential. We knew it was very cool, yet it was intimidating and it took many of us years to really be comfortable with using it. Walt knew how to get beyond these feelings.
Back in the 60s, the idea of a robot was probably (I missed the 60s!) pretty crazy. Futuristic, sterile, sci-fi, unwelcoming, and scary. In a classic sense I think it still scares me to an extent even today. But the audio-animatronic! That's a completely different story! Walt made you want them in your own homes. He fascinated you, showed you how they worked, told you stories with them, used them to entertain you and even to give you a history lesson. He packaged them up beautifully and took them to places unimagined. It's 2007, and I would never consider having a regular technological type robot in my home. As a matter of fact, I'd flat out refuse, even if it cleaned my entire house. But give me that AA Johnny Depp anytiiiiiime! It's just one example of so many.
The above article (yes, I do love my paper Disney!) is part one of two. Enjoy this beautiful weekend day reading about great people's experiences with a great man. I hope it makes you feel a bit inspired to do something new in your day!
Cheers!

Walt a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde?

We're goin' way back today folks! All the way back to 1934. After Steamboat Willie, but before Snow White. This article is from an April 1934 issue of Photoplay, and it seems even way back then Disney was creating some criticism- albeit weak.


Now, I'm no fan of the media. I like facts (researched, real, live, actual, untainted facts), I like stories free of anything one-sided, and editorials have never been my bag, but I have to say, at least this author cops to his attempt to write a one-sided article. That, in itself, is refreshing.


A rather ridiculous problem he has with Walt, in my opinion, but it makes me laugh at how his generally paranoid stance gets beaten down by parents and professionals alike; all singing the praises of Walt. I'm not entirely sure if the piece is completely serious or not, but he seems pretty adamant about his point of view.


I don't remember being scared by these cartoons as a small child. I remember being enchanted by them (especially the pigs), and loving them very much. Perhaps I wasn't a child that was easily scared, I don't know. Not much scared me... besides Bette Davis, clowns, and this cheese dish my grandmother made... so perhaps the author has a small point. You be the judge. Were any of you scared of the wolf/ogres? To refresh your memory I have included 2 stills from the cartoons below.


I have also included two praises for both the Three Little Pigs and Lullaby Land from a January 1934 issue of Photoplay (below) for a sample of the everyman's opinion of these cartoons two months before the above article was written. Happy reading!