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Mad, Mobile Merriment

8/7/2014

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It’s difficult for us, in the present day, to picture what the 1920’s were like, but we all have iconic images stamped in our minds from history books and movies and PBS documentaries and, of course, cartoons.

We think of a college kid in a raccoon coat and pork pie hat, waving a pennant and saying nonsensical things like “23 Skidoo”.  We think of a flapper in strands of beads, madly dancing the Charleston on a marble-topped bar.  We think of big tin automobiles with hand-cranks, juddering and clanking along dirt roads that were even then being paved and laced with electrical and telephone wires.  We think of champagne and gin and hot jazz, a party that never seemed to end.  We think of the stock market, soaring up and up, no one dreaming it could crash so hard.

By and large, these images have truth.  You can hear the mad, mobile merriment of the age in its music, and you can hear the music on Buena Vista Street, peppy tunes like “Shake That Thing”.  We had won World War I, and everyone was dancing in the 1920’s. Progress was in full swing, and the thing to be was modern. Everyone moved to the cities and talked slang and played the market and moved fast and had unlimited confidence in the future. We were industrializing, electrifying, motorizing, refrigerating,
agitating, and animating.  Cartoons were the perfect medium to communicate the zany speed of the new age, and the possibility of the impossible that it promised.

Los Angeles was humming with endless possibility when Walt arrived in 1923.  Former ditch-digger William Mulholland had brought water to LA—seemingly all the water it would ever need—by 1913.  Dirt roads had given way to paved roads, gas to electricity, horses to automobiles—Downtown LA had installed more than 30 traffic signals by 1923.  Real estate was booming, oil was flowing, and the moving picture industry was about to explode.

Walt Disney moved to LA at a golden moment, a perfect match of personality and place.  He was an optimist among optimists, a dreamer and doer among dreamers and doers ...

[From "Buena Vista Street" in "The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2015 - DCA" - To be released Sep. 2015.]

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May 19th, 2014

5/19/2014

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Disneyland Survival Guide (May 23-24, 2014)

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This isn't a typical blog post--It's a highlight reel of survival tips & information for Disneyland's 24-hour "Rock Your Disney Side" event coming up May 23-24th.  If you're going to Disneyland/DCA for the event, give these tips a gander.  Have fun--and I might see you there!

Survival Guide for Disneyland 24-hour "Rock Your Disney Side": Going to the parks for the summer kick-off this weekend?  Some tips/info that will help you make the most of your time:

 * DL/DCA open May 23-24, 6am - 6am

 * Premium, Deluxe & SoCal Passes Valid (SoCal Select Pass BLOCKED)

 * "Know Before you Go":  Check the Website for announcements, ride closures, rules, prices, etc.  Be prepared. https://disneyland.disney.go.com/calendar/#/default/2014/05/23...

 * Grown-ups can dress like their fave Disney/Pixar/Marvel/Star Wars/etc. characters for this event, but check the rules & restrictions in advance.

* Arrive early!!  Thinking of arriving at midnight or 1 am on the 24th?  If the parks are mad-crowded, you might be in line for a long, long time before you get into the parks, even though, intuitively, you'd expect lines to be shorter at that time.

* Prepare to enjoy a lot of excellent music, all different styles, from rock to pop to swing dancing.  Disneyland goes all-out on the entertainment, even during the wee hours.  The Castle and Tomorrowland Terrace and Big Thunder Jamboree (Disneyland), and Hollywood Land and Paradise Pier (DCA), are good bets if you're looking for great bands.

* Extra performances of shows like "Fantasmic!" (Disneyland) and World of Color (DCA) are usually added during 24-hour events.

 * Don't forget to ride "Ariel's Undersea Adventure" in DCA and check out the excellent changes.

 * If you plan to stay all 24 hours:

 - Stay hydrated and remember to eat.

 - Take regular rest periods.

 - Book a hotel room in case u can't stay awake the whole 24 hrs.  #1, you don't want to drive home sleep-deprived.  #2, you can't fall asleep at the parks; to (mis)quote Principal Vernon, "This isn't a rest home".

 - Bring money, sunscreen, and a hat.  Check weather report in advance.

 - Don't nickel-and-dime yourself with pricey snacks.  Bring snacks & water; save your money for actual meals, and maybe a souvenir.  The parks will probably sell special event pins, shirts, and hats.  A free souvenir?  Your park map/guide for the event.

 - Expect heavy crowds.  Prepare to be patient.  Yes, there might be 40 minute waits for "Haunted Mansion" at 3 am, e.g., or 90 minute waits for "Space Mountain".

 - Expect that while most attractions, shows, shops and restaurants will be open, some will be closed during the night shift.  Major venues (e.g.the Matterhorn; California Screamin'; the Village Haus; the Emporium; Elias & Co.) ar more likely to be operational than minor ones. Also, some attractions (like "Finding Nemo") are down for refurbishment.

 -  Get ready to meet a ton of interesting fellow Guests and have a lot of fun!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY FROM "THE DISNEYLAND BOOK OF SECRETS"!

:)
 
 


 
 



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Mythinformation - "Snow White" Cottages

1/27/2014

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There are widespread urban legends that the Disney Studios built and/or owned the so-called “Snow White” cottages on the 2900 block of Griffith Park Avenue in L.A. These charming–but tiny–1931 dwellings were built by architect Ben Sherwood in the storybook style that was popular in Southern California during the early decades of the 1900’s–especially in Hollywood. AlthoughDisney’s Hyperion studio was located nearby (from 1926 – 1940), Disney neither built nor owned the Griffith Park Boulevard cottages. It is true (as confirmed by Dave Smith, Disney’s  Chief Archivist Emeritus, in a January 2013 D23 Fanfare column) that some Disneyanimators rented the cottages as living spaces; their proximity to the Hyperion studio was too good to pass up. Ham Luske, supervising animator of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was an occupant of one cottage.

It is possible that the whimsical storybook flavor of the Griffith Park Avenue cottages inspired some of the animators’ Snow White production designs.  It would seem impossible to live in a fairy tale cottage, among other fairy tale cottages, while working on Snow White, without the real architecture influencing the animation.  A January 2014 visit to the cottage complex by the author and her research associate revealed that the courtyard, which in recent years had fallen on hard times, seems to have been painstakingly renovated, its original charm restored. It is a gem, definitely worth a look if you’re a Disney fan and you’re in the neighborhood.  (Just remember that there are tenants in residence; quiet, please.)  The Gelson’s supermarket located nearby stands on the site of Walt’s Hyperion studio.  A plaque memorializes the significance of the site. And Walt once lived at another nearby (and privately owned) landmark, the house at Lyric and St. George. 

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    Leslie Le Mon is a Los Angeles-based author, photographer, and book midwife.

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