Lights, Camera... Toons!

At the other end of Production Courtyard from the action-packed Backlot is the largest area of Walt Disney Studios Park, Toon Studio. This is the place where Disney animated films are brought to life and your favorite characters can be found on the lot, shooting iconic scenes from the movies or just greeting their fans.

One of the original attractions here is the Art of Disney Animation, a Streamline Moderne-styled building capped off with a giant Sorcerer's Hat. Visitors to Walt Disney World might recognize the golden statues of Peter Pan, Wendy Darling and Tinker Bell flying around the hat. They graced the turrets of Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom during the "Happiest Celebration on Earth" event in 2005 and were moved here afterward.

Other statuary nearby pays homage to Disney animated creations both classic and contemporary, from Fantasia's Bacchus and Jacchus (1940) to the title character of 1999's Tarzan.

Inside, the Art of Disney Animation experience is similar to the interactive exhibits found at Disney California Adventure and Disney's Hollywood Studios. There's even an Animation Academy (using assets from the now-defunct Chicago DisneyQuest location), where Guests can learn how to draw a favorite character.

Across the plaza from Art of Disney Animation is the Studio 3 Theatre, home to the live entertainment spectacle "Animagique." The "Animagique" show opens with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck working in an animation studio. Mickey warns Donald (and us) not to open a door at the far end of the studio. As soon as Mickey steps out, though, guess what happens. Donald finds himself sucked into the Disney film vault for wild, musical encounters with characters and "black light" sequences from The Jungle Book, The Lion King, Dumbo and The Little Mermaid, all before Mickey returns to save the day.

Outside Studio 3, we find a bit of a set from the Disney-Pixar film Monsters, Inc. Mike Wazowski is standing alongside Boo's door, ready for his close-up. From time to time, even big blue James P. Sullivan stops by for some photos and hugs. What's great, though, is there are so many fun details and things to see in this little corner, Guests are entertained even when the characters aren't around.

This security gate is where toons from Hollywood or nearby Toontown check in to go to work on the lot. It also marks something of a delineation between the production facilities of Toon Studio and the Toon Backlot area, where outdoor sets can be found from films like Cars and Toy Story.

There are several films in production at Toon Studio at the moment. We'll be taking an in-depth look at them next week, so be sure to check back.

Character Camp

Camp Minnie-Mickey isn't just a nostalgic reminder of the summer camps of our youth, it's also a place where the Disney characters love to go for hiking, fishing and all sorts of other outdoorsy fun. Just look around, and you're sure to spot some of them. Down by the stream, that's Daisy Duck leading the nephews along a nature trail. Huey, Dewey and Louie are no doubt working on another Junior Woodchuck badge.

Around the bend, Mickey and Pluto have cast a line into the pond hoping to catch some fish, while Goofy is more interested in catching some Zs! As for Donald, well... he got the boot. That's okay, pal. One time when I was a kid, I went fishing with my Grandpa and didn't catch anything but the motor of his boat!

When the characters aren't engaged in activities, they're happy to stop by one of the camp's Greeting Trails to say, "Hi!" and make some new friends.

Look closely, and you'll notice the kiosks at the end of each of the trails sport different designs. The original intent was that Mickey and the gang would appear under the Adirondack kiosk (where Minnie is pictured above). The woodland kiosk would be home to Pocahontas and Meeko. Characters from the "Winnie the Pooh" films would appear under the storybook kiosk, and the jungle-style kiosk (below) would be the place to meet characters from The Lion King or The Jungle Book.

Over the years, those other characters have found their own homes around the park, allowing Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale to spread out a bit. Of course, if one of them isn't around when you stop by, they're probably just out getting some well-deserved R&R.

A "No Worries" Lunch

The centerpiece of the Africa section of Adventureland at Disneyland Paris is Restaurant Hakuna Matata, where Guests may dine in authentic African-inspired surroundings with bit of character and song from Disney's hit film The Lion King thrown in for good measure.

Once you get your food from Restaurant Hakuna Matata's service counter, you have a choice to head toward dining rooms to the left or right, labeled Place Pumbaa and Terrasse Timon. Don't worry about them eating any of your grub, though. They're really just interested in rooting for bugs, especially the little cream-filled kind.

On your way to the dining room, be sure to look up to appreciate the interior of the thatched roof, the thick jungle vines strung through the space and the flower boats dripping with orchids.

Once you get to your table, you may notice that The Lion King references fade away in favor of more traditional African art and architecture. In fact, since most of the film- and character-related pieces are painted flats, you might even think the movie overlay was an afterthought. Well... you'd be right!

When Disneyland Paris opened in 1992, this location was known as Aux Epices Enchantées (Enchanted Spices). In spite of its beautiful setting and authentic, African-inspired menu, the restaurant struggled in those early years. With the successful release of The Lion King in 1994, the park saw an opportunity to change the restaurant's name and menu and inject a little more of the "hakuna matata" lifestyle, turning everything around.

We certainly enjoyed Restaurant Hakuna Matata on our recent visit. Their chicken and veal kebab sandwich with lightly-spiced Hakuna Fries was probably the tastiest quick service meal we had in the park!

The weather was so nice during our time in the park, we actually chose to dine outside, and it was a lucky thing, too. Look who wandered by:

Hakuna matata, indeed!

Cottonwood Creek Ranch

After the excitement of the Gold Rush dried out, large swaths of land around Thunder Mesa was turned over to agriculture. One such farm is the Cottonwood Creek Ranch. The whole community is invited to come over today for the big Cowboy Cookout Barbecue being hosted in the main barn on the ranch. Inside, it's clear several families have pitched in by bringing tables and chairs from home. None of them match!

If you head out to Cottonwood Creek Ranch, come for the barbecue, but stay for the details. The ranch gets its name from the cottonwood trees growing along the banks of the creek. Cottonwood is a variety of poplar tree that produces fluffy, cotton-like tufts on which to carry its seeds.

Also along the creek is the ranch's old windmill. It may look like an appropriately aged Disney prop, but this is actually an authentic piece from about 1880. Frontierland's chief designer, Imagineer Pat Burke, acquired it from a gentleman in exchange for nothing less than a new TV!

Throughout the farm, you'll find loads of real equipment, gained during scouting trips across the west. Collectively, these antique props not only fill the scene, but give a setting like Cottonwood Creek Ranch a sense of believability. This looks and feels like a real, working farm (with the possible exception of the outhouse, which thankfully is a modern reproduction).

When Disneyland Paris opened back in 1992, Cottonwood Creek Ranch featured the Critter Corral, a small petting farm with real animals. The pigs, goats, rabbits and other critters moved on in 2007, when the area became Woody's Roundup Village.

Today, the horse stables are still there, but most of the critters you'll find wandering the ranch are of the animated variety.

Not far from Cottonwood Creek Ranch is the Chaparral Stage, where local cowboys might gather to put on a rodeo and show off their skills. It's another venue in this stretch of Frontierland which hasn't always been in use. Recently, though, the Chaparral Stage has come back to life with a production of "The Tarzan Encounter" (yes... Tarzan... in Frontierland... well, it is kinda close to Adventureland).

No Foolin'

Today is Friday, April 1 - April Fool's Day - a day when many a Disney website or blog runs phony stories about developments in and around the Walt Disney Company. Well... I won't be doing that. Instead, I present to you this week's final series of vintage Disney Parks photos. Each tells a story that, if not for the photographic evidence, might seem just as far fetched as an actual April Fool's Day prank. Enjoy.

Epcot replaces Disney Characters with

Larger-than-Life People of the World

When EPCOT Center opened in 1982, it was the first Disney Park designed outside the Disneyland mold. To help further differentiate the park from the Magic Kingdom, it was decided the traditional Disney characters would not appear in EPCOT Center (it was actually this decision that led to the first wide-spread use of "Hidden Mickeys"). Instead, the new park would feature a cast of characters all its own, from Dreamfinder and Figment in Future World to the People of the World in World Showcase. These oversize, doll-headed characters were adapted from America on Parade, which ran at the Magic Kingdom in the mid-70s. Brought to EPCOT Center, they were dressed in international costumes and set out to pose with guests around the World Showcase Lagoon. It wasn't long, though, before visitors to the park expressed their expectation that Mickey and friends would be on hand, and the People of the World were retired in favor of the Fab Five in "futuristic" silver jumpsuits.

"Three Little Pigs" Musical Added in Expansion

of Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom Park

As part of an early effort to add extra offerings to the Magic Kingdom (significantly more modest than the current park expansion), the Fantasy Faire Stage was created in the back of Fantasyland to host musical performances starring popular Disney characters. Various shows telling stories ranging from "Winnie the Pooh" to the "Three Little Pigs" graced the stage over the years. Even as recently as the mid-90s, this spot was home to Disney Magic Music Days guest performers and Miss Minnie's Country Christmas during holiday events. The Fantasy Faire Stage closed for good in 1996, to be replaced by Ariel's Grotto, and the site is now being transformed once again into part of Belle's village for New Fantasyland.

Disneyland Rivers of America Run Dry

You're not seeing things. This is the dry riverbed of the Rivers of America in Frontierland at Disneyland, with the guide rail for the Columbia and Mark Twain visible on the ground. This level of refurbishment on the park's main river has only been undertaken a handful of times. This particular photograph is from early-1992, when the original infrastructure was added for a new Disneyland nighttime spectacular set to debut that spring - Fantasmic!

Goofy Seen Water Skiing on Seven Seas Lagoon

In the early years of the Walt Disney World Resort, when the Magic Kingdom was the only park to visit, guests crossing Seven Seas Lagoon were often treated to surprise appearances by the Disney characters. Favorites like Goofy and Mr. Smee could be seen water skiing alongside the ferries on their way to the park. More than just entertainment value, these stunts also served as a promotion of sorts of the resort's varied recreation offerings, something new that had never been available at Disneyland.

Replica of Mos Eisley Cantina Built at Entrance

to Star Tours at Disney's Hollywood Studios

It's true! Full disclosure, though: The cantina structure was temporary, only built for the official grand opening ceremonies for Star Tours held on January 14, 1990. Look closely at the photo, and you can see the band playing (that's Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes for you die-hard Star Wars fans out there). Michael Eisner and George Lucas presided over the day's events. Star Wars stars Mark Hammill and Carrie Fisher were also in attendance. Even though Darth Vader and his Imperial Guard made an appearance atop the attraction building to try and stop the proceedings, everything opened according to plan. Now, twenty-one years later, we await the debut of the next chapter with Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, opening May 20.

Meeting Some Real (and rare) Characters

Continuing our series of vintage Disney Parks photos this week, today we take a different perspective and look at some shots of characters rarely seen in the parks these days. DisneyShawn blog reader Katherine Sanders from Saskatchewan, Canada, contributed this series taken on her first visit to Disneyland in 1994. That's her with Roger Rabbit, near the Carnation Plaza Gardens. Following the 1988 release of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Roger became a regular fixture in the Disney Parks, nearly as ubiquitous as Mickey Mouse.

I find this next shot interesting for a couple of reasons. Goofy's son, Max, can still occasionally be seen in the parks, but this is a rare instance of Goofy himself in his "Dad" outfit as seen on the "Goof Troop" TV series and in A Goofy Movie (released in 1995). He's much more commonly spotted wearing his traditional yellow vest and green hat. Click on the photo for a closer look, and you're sure to also get a kick out of the enormous video camera and fanny pack the fella in the red shirt is sporting!

These next pictures were taken in Mickey's Toontown, a fairly new addition to Disneyland at the time, having just opened in 1993. During that period, the Disney Afternoon TV programming block was very popular. In fact, this back corner of Disneyland had hosted Disney Afternoon Avenue a couple years earlier, so it's no surprise that on her visit young Katherine was able to meet stars like Launchpad McQuack from "DuckTales" and "Tale Spin" or Gadget (the inspiration for Gadget's Go-Coaster in Toontown) from "Chip 'n' Dale's Rescue Rangers."

Katherine's rarest find of all that day, though, was probably this guy: Bonkers D. Bobcat. Bonkers, of the Hollywood Police Department - Toon Division, was introduced in segments of the short-lived 1992 Saturday morning series "Raw Toonage." In 1993, Bonkers was spun off into his own, self-titled series on Disney Channel and in syndication, but he made very few appearances in the parks.

So what about you? Anyone else out there have some great vintage photos from your early Disney Parks vacations? If so, I'd love to feature them here on the blog. Maybe you captured something long gone or forgotten. Maybe you have a picture you just can't place or don't know anything about. Send them my way, and I'll do my best to help shed some light.

What's This?

Over the past week, we've visited with several Disney characters not seen regularly in the parks for various reasons. Some fall out of favor over time, while others are linked to special promotions. In the case of today's characters, they appear seasonally along with other characters or character costume overlays tied to specific holidays.

Right now at Disneyland Park, Haunted Mansion Holiday has brought the story of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas to the popular New Orleans Square attraction. Haunted Mansion Holiday runs from mid-September through early January. During this period, Jack Skellington and Sally can be found nearby, greeting their fans. You'll have to catch them soon, though, before they return to Halloweentown.

Rarest of the Rare

Some Disney characters appear in the Parks so infrequently, most Guests would assume they never leave the silver screen at all. Take Dumbo, for example. Apart from flying in the Magical fireworks spectacular at Disneyland or making a cameo appearance in the Main Street Electrical Parade, he's been a rather shy little elephant. Several years ago, though, when the Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction in the Magic Kingdom was closed for refurbishment, Dumbo came in for a landing to meet his fans and allay some of their disappointment. With a face that cute, how could anyone be upset about the ride being down?

Chip-Chip-Chip Chip & Dale

Today, we continue our look at characters rarely seen in the Disney Parks these days. Chip and Dale, of course, are fairly ubiquitous, but one might be hard pressed to find them as their alter egos, the Rescue Rangers. These outfits, inspired by the "Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers" TV series of the early '90s, were a staple of the chipmunks' appearances back in the time of Mickey's Starland. This photo, taken in early 2005, captured the duo in a rare appearance trekking through the jungles of Adventureland at the Magic Kingdom Park.

Alternative themed costumes, known as overlays, are commonly made for some of Disney's classic characters. Personalities like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Chip & Dale, Goofy and Pluto can easily appear in a variety of settings throughout the Parks, simply by changing what they wear.