Disneyland's Matterhorn 50th Anniversary !

Believe it or not, but today is Disneyland's Matterhorn 50th birthday! No kidding. And i think that this Disneyland beloved attraction deserves a tribute with some historical pictures!

Walt Disney conceived the idea for the attraction when visiting Switzerland during filming of his film, Third Man on the Mountain. He was impressed by the beauty of the real Matterhorn, and had the thought of a bobsled ride. Here is a picture of Walt at WEd with the Matterhorn model.



Originally intended as a decorative overlay for the central pylon of the Disneyland Skyway, the concept for the Matterhorn later evolved into a full-blown, separate attraction. The attraction opened on June 14, 1959, as one of three new major attractions for Tomorrowland that year. Built by coaster builder Arrow Development and WED Imagineering, it was the first tubular steel roller coaster in the world. It consisted of a wood and steel infrastructure surrounded by manmade rock. Trees could be seen on its sides; by making the trees at higher altitudes smaller, the Imagineers used forced perspective to augment the mountain's height. Waterfalls cascaded down its sides and frequently sprayed riders. Inside was a large, open space through which the bobsleds traveled. Unlike the real Matterhorn, this peak had numerous holes in its shell through which the riders sometimes exited and re-entered. The space within was not elaborately themed, with the infrastructure being only minimally disguised as rock.



The Matterhorn was part of the famous 1959 inauguration and here is Walt Disney and Vice-president Richard Nixon and his family during this inauguration...



...where guests could enjoyed a Swiss ballet during the Matterhorn's grand opening!



LIFE photographer Ralph Crane was there when the Matterhorn opened and shoot from the top these great pictures. Note: the first picture below was reversed - you could see it when you looked at the Alice in Wonderland ride who was on the right side instead to be on the left. The picture is now turned the right way!





Here is a great video of Walt, Lilian Disney and the Shah of Iran with his wife Farah, all together in a Matterhorn bobsled!



In 1978, the imagineers worked on a refurbishment of the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn was coming down to be reinforced with steel, as it was a wood framed structure since the beginning. The new Bobsleds were being added along with new track, and better brakes too for the splash down. It was also decided to put some show in the interior mostly for the Skyway buckets that passed through the Matterhorn more slowly. The Bobsleds of course at speed could see the new icy interiors and crystals as well as what is now a very famous Disneyland figure: the abominable snowman.



Steve Kirk who will be later the show producer in chief for Tokyo Disney Sea worked on the design of it - i should say them as there is three "abominable snowmen" in the ride. The design of these Snow Men was based on Steve's artwork - the one above - which was a composite of several different contemporary depictions and his own warped imagination.



Sculptor Blaine Gibson will then sculpt the snowman mask, and the imagineers team with Legend and Matterhorn creator Fred Joerger added the interior with the new Ice Crystals. Some of the abominable snowmen AA are in fact old Jungle Cruise audio-animatronic gorillas with a new suit, now living a second life in the role of the Matterhorn's abominable snowmen!



Since then, Disneyland's Matterhorn is always one of DL guests favorite ride, and i'm ready to bet that the Matterhorn will still be there in 50 years from now, to celebrate its 100th anniversary! In the meantime, let's end with a great night picture of the Matterhorn Lagoon showing DL submarines, the monorail, and, of course, the Matterhorn.



Pictures: copyright Disney and Time-Life

Steve Kirk's artwork and abominable snowman pictures: copyright Disney.

Part of the text: copyright Wikipedia

The second life of the Jungle Cruise Gorillas

A looong time ago - more precisely 31 years ago - guests who ride the Disneyland Jungle Cruise could watch two not-so-threatening but massive audio-animatronics gorillas standing and observing you, from the banks of the "rivers of Africa".



And then, one day, the gorillas disappeared, vanished! Though, that was not without any reason. For the Imagineers, back in 1977-78, it was time for a major refurbishment of the attraction and legendary imagineer Mark Davis worked on the upgrading of this Disneyland Jungle Cruise - that was after WDW had opened with their improved show. Part of Mark's new show for Disneyland included the Gorilla Camp with the tents, overturned jeep and the family of gorillas unpacking and turning the camp inside out. That's when these older previous tenant Gorillas vacated the Disneyland Jungle Cruise.

But as they say at WDI, "good ideas never die", and as we will see, audio-animatronics too. Reemploying animation figures is common at Walt Disney imagineering, some of the AA from Natures Wonderland are now part of Big Thunder, and almost all America Sings audio-animatronics are in Splash Mountain.

Approximately at the same time, in 1978, the imagineers were also working on another major refurbishment of another Disneyland attraction: the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn was coming down to be reinforced with steel, as it was a wood framed structure since the beginning. The new Bobsleds were being added along with new track, and better brakes too for the splash down. It was also decided to put some show in the interior mostly for the Skyway buckets that passed through the Matterhorn more slowly. The Bobsleds of course at speed could see the new icy interiors and crystals as well as what is now a very famous Disneyland figure: the abominable snowman.



Steve Kirk, imagineer extraordinaire who will be later the show producer in chief for Tokyo Disney Sea worked on the design of it - i should say them as there is three "abominable snowmen" in the ride. The design of these Snow Men was based on Steve's artwork - the one above - which was a composite of several different contemporary depictions and his own warped imagination.



Sculptor Blaine Gibson will then sculpt the snowman mask, and the imagineers team with Legend and Matterhorn creator Fred Joerger added the interior with the new Ice Crystals. Now, and as i suppose you've already guessed the end of the story, yes, the old Jungle Cruise audio-animatronic gorilla put on a new suit in 1978, and is now living a second life in the role of the Matterhorn's abominable snowman!



Transforming ex gorillas into Snow Men had to have been purely for economic reasons and probably dictated also the proportions of the final generation of the simian snow men.

As there is three Abominable snow men figures in the ride, i couldn't tell you which ones exactly are the former Jungle Cruise gorillas, but next time you will ride the Matterhorn bobsleds and see the abominable snow man, have a little thought for these old Jungle Cruise gorillas, who were some of the first Disneyland audio-animatronics. I'm sure they will be sensitive to this attention, and watch out for that third abominable snowman as he may be the real one.

Many thanks to Davelandweb for the Jungle Cruise gorilla picture. Dave have an unbelievably good web site about the Jungle Cruise, with more pictures you can ever dreamed of. Be sure to have a look at it, it's HERE.

Steve Kirk's artwork and abominable snowman pictures: copyright Disney.

Some of the pictures are coming from Jason Surrell fantastic book "The Disney Mountains", full of WDI artwork. You can find it on Amazon.com from only $8.90!

LIFE Magazine at Disneyland Special Events : Prince Akihito's visit and 1959 Inauguration

LIFE photographers came also at Disneyland during special events, and today we're going to have a look at two of them: the "state visit" - if i can say - of young Prince Akihito and his wife at Disneyland in September 1960. These rare pictures should specially interest my Japanese readers!

Grey Villet, LIFE photo reporter shoot these picture above of Prince Akihito and his wife on Peter Pan's flight...or riding Autopia. Have a look to the paparazzis on the picture fighting to get a picture of the royal couple!



On this picture the Prince is talking with Walt Disney. Paparazzis are still there, right behind!



One year before, on June 1959, LIFE photographer Ralph Crane was there for the big Disneyland 1959 inauguration. Here is Walt riding to parade bleachers with his grand children.



Some minutes later, Walt Disney, Vice-president Richard Nixon and his family watching the Disneyland parade.



It's the grand opening of the Matterhorn and here is the Swiss ballet!



Richard Nixon and Radio-TV Art Linkletter ( bottom, center ) watching the Matterhorn act at Disneyland.



Same day later, on the opening of the Monorail with Nixon, his wife and daughters, and the scissors that didn't want to cut the ribbon! Remember that funny sequence?



All pictures: copyright TIME - LIFE Magazine

The second life of the Jungle Cruise Gorilla

A looong time ago - more precisely 32 years ago - guests who ride the Disneyland Jungle Cruise could watch this not-so-threatening but massive audio-animatronic gorilla standing on the banks of the "rivers of Africa".



And then, one day, the gorilla disappeared, vanished! Though, that was not without any reason. For the Imagineers, back in 1977-78, it was time for a major refurbishment of the attraction and legendary imagineer Mark Davis worked on the upgrading of this Disneyland Jungle Cruise - that was after WDW had opened with their improved show. Part of Mark's new show for Disneyland included the Gorilla Camp with the tents, overturned jeep and the family of gorillas unpacking and turning the camp inside out. That's when this older previous tenant Gorilla vacated the Disneyland Jungle Cruise.

But as they say at WDI, "good ideas never die", and as we will see, audio-animatronics too. Reemploying animation figures is common at Walt Disney imagineering, some of the AA from Natures Wonderland are now part of Big Thunder, and almost all America Sings audio-animatronics are in Splash Mountain.

Approximately at the same time, in 1978, the imagineers were also working on another major refurbishment of another Disneyland attraction: the Matterhorn Bobsleds. The Matterhorn was coming down to be reinforced with steel, as it was a wood framed structure since its opening. The new Bobsleds were being added along with new track, and better brakes too for the splash down. It was also decided to put some show in the interior mostly for the Skyway buckets that passed through the Matterhorn more slowly. The Bobsleds of course at speed could see the new icy interiors and crystals as well as what is now a very famous Disneyland figure: the abominable snowman.



Steve Kirk, imagineer extraordinaire who will be later the show producer in chief for Tokyo Disney Sea worked on the design of it - i should say them as there is three "abominable snowmen" in the ride. The design of these Snow Men was based on Steve's artwork - the one above - which was a composite of several different contemporary depictions and his own warped imagination.



Sculptor Blaine Gibson will then create the snowman mask, and the imagineers team with Legend and Matterhorn creator Fred Joerger added the interior with the new Ice Crystals. Now, and as i suppose you've already guessed the end of the story, yes, the old Jungle Cruise audio-animatronic gorilla put on a new suit in 1978, and is now living a second life in the role of the Matterhorn's abominable snowman!



Transforming ex gorillas into Snow Men had to have been purely for economic reasons and probably dictated the proportions of the final generation of the simian snow men.

As there is three snow men figures in the ride, i couldn't tell you which one exactly was the former Jungle Cruise gorilla, but next time you will ride the Matterhorn bobsleds and see the abominable snow man, have a little thought for this old Jungle Cruise gorilla who was one of the first Disneyland audio-animatronics. I'm sure he will be sensitive to this attention.

Many thanks to Davelandweb for the Jungle Cruise gorilla picture. Dave have an unbelievably good web site about the Jungle Cruise, with more pictures you can ever dreamed of. Be sure to have a look at it, it's HERE.

Steve Kirk's artwork and abominable snowman pictures: copyright Disney.