Add Some Sumptuous Silence to Your Halloween Watchlists with Lon Chaney’s ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ September 20, 2021
Witness the Birth and Evolution of a Genius: Three Early Makoto Shinkai Films Land on Blu-ray June 16, 2022
ShareTweet 1 With the biennial D23 Expo coming up later this summer – and the wealth of exciting panels and presentations on tap – we thought it would be good time to look back at previous expos and get even more excited than we already are. In addition to regular panel programming, D23 also dedicates space to some truly impressive walkthrough exhibits. In 2015, the absolute highlight was the Walt Disney Archives’ unprecedented display celebrating the 60th anniversary of Disneyland. At this year’s show, the exhibit will be “Walt Disney Archives Presents Heroes and Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume.” Get a sneak peek here: In 2015, though, the Disneyland exhibit was 12,000 square feet and included themed areas that honored the park’s history, attractions, parades, and entertainment over the past six decades, including the construction of Disneyland, some of the park’s most famous attractions (past and present), Club 33, collectible merchandise, and each of the park’s iconic lands. (As a quick aside, I suggest listening to this episode of The Great Big Beautiful Podcast, which features Becky Cline, the director of the Walt Disney Archives, and focuses on the development of that museum-quality exhibit.) This was also the first time the exhibit was located on the show floor rather than some distant and confining room. The line was reliably long all weekend, but it was absolutely worth waiting for. I ended up waiting about 45 minutes to get in, and it was worth every minute. If you’re a fan of Disney/Disneyland history, this was a true treasure trove of amazingness not to found anywhere else. More than 300 items were on display, and they ranged from the small (Jungle Cruise models) to the large (a dragon head from Fantasmic!), from the extraordinary (Walt Disney’s employee badge) to the extremely rare (Disneyland ticket #1). My favorite items were the larger pieces that have been removed from various attractions. Among the many: Captain Rex from the original Star Tours, a vehicle from Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (my all-time favorite ride), and the Yeti from the Matterhorn Bobsleds. So without further ado, here’s your chance to step back in time and take a virtual stroll through the exhibit. A portion of the exhibit Disneyland ticket #1, sold to Roy Disney Disneyland ticket #1, sold to Roy Disney Original cover art for ‘The Little Man of Disneyland’ ‘The Little Man of Disneyland’ Original brass survey markers for Disneyland Brass survey marker for Disneyland Original illustration for the layout of Disneyland Invitational press preview ticket to the grand opening of Disneyland Parking pass for the grand opening of Disneyland Employee badge #1, issued to Walt Disney (1955) Ticket to the Mickey Mouse Club Circus Menus for Club 33 Entrance and attraction tickets Entrance and attraction tickets Entrance and attraction tickets Mousketeer costumes worn by Annette Funicello and Cubby O’Brien (1955) Mickey Mouse Club Circus, Bob-O The Clown costume (1955) Pirates of the Caribbean Pirates of the Caribbean animatronics Pirates of the Caribbean animatronics Pirates of the Caribbean animatronics Prototype ride vehicle for Alice in Wonderland Alice statue from the Alice in Wonderland attraction Current ride vehicle for Alice in Wonderland Country Bear Jamboree Country Bear Jamboree, Oscar animatronic Country Bear Jamboree, Big Al Country Bear Jamboree model Jungle Cruise, Congo Queen model (1955) Jungle Cruise, Cambodian Temple Ruins model (c. 1962) Autopia Mark VII vehicle (1967) Original Star Tours attraction sign (1987) Star Tours, StarSpeeder 3000 shooting model (1987) Star Tours, Captain Rex Star Tours, Captain Rex Peter Pan’s Flight, ride vehicle Peter Pan’s Flight, animatronics Matterhorn Bobsleds, ride vehicle and Yeti Matterhorn Bobsleds, Yeti Matterhorn Bobsleds, Yeti Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, ride vehicle America Sings collage America Sings prop America Sings signage America Sings display case America Sings animatronic America Sings, Sam the Eagle animatronic America Sings animatronic Disneyland Main Street vehicle Cheshire Cat float from the Main Street Electrical Parade Vinyl recording of the Main Street Electrical Parade music Adventure Thru Inner Space, model ride vehicles Costume art for the monkeys in Fantasmic! Monkey costumes from Fantasmic! Maleficent costume from Fantasmic! Dragon head prop from Fantasmic! Parade costumes Ben Franklin costume from America on Parade (1975-1976) Soldier costume from Mulan parade (1998-1999) Christmas parade costumes, Snowflake (1994) Reindeer costume from 1971 Christmas parade The Osmond Brothers, After Dark at Disneyland signage and costume Commemorative patches Guest pass to the premiere of The Lion King Celebration (1994) You Might Also Like... Jamie GreeneJamie is a publishing/book nerd who makes a living by wrangling words together into some sense of coherence. Away from The Roarbots, Jamie is a road trip aficionado and an obsessed traveler who has made his way through 33 countries (and counting). Elsewhere on the interwebs, he's a contributor to SYFY Wire and StarWars.com and hosted The Great Big Beautiful Podcast for more than five years. Watch The Roarbots on Youtube Twitter Youtube
Witness the Birth and Evolution of a Genius: Three Early Makoto Shinkai Films Land on Blu-ray By Jamie Greene Animation
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Add Some Sumptuous Silence to Your Halloween Watchlists with Lon Chaney’s ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ September 20, 2021
Witness the Birth and Evolution of a Genius: Three Early Makoto Shinkai Films Land on Blu-ray June 16, 2022
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