A SYMPOSIUM ON PAPER PERSONALITIES

Recently, as gifts for a few of our friends who are also cool enough to appreciate such stuff, Jody Daily and I went to work with x-actos in hand and recreated several of the paper animation puppets from the 1962 Disney featurette "A Symposium On Popular Songs." Though not widely known today, it was included on last year's silver box DVD release "Disney Rarities."


A fun parody of one of the Andrews Sisters
(Patty, no doubt, with that blonde hair.)
This was a gift to our dearest blonde friend in the whole wide world Stacia Martin.



Ever since I had two eyes, I've admired the rare stop-motion animation done by the Disney Studio in the 1960s, especially the fanciful opening title sequences to "The Parent Trap" and "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones" (starring Tommy Kirk and Annette!)
I think these brief animated moments are every bit as fun as -if not even more fun than -the live-action stories that follow.


"I'm Blue For You....Boo, Boo, Boo, Boo, Boo..."
Why, it's a little paper Bing, with a body of string!



The Fortune Cookie Bakery Man!


The genius animation duo of Bill Justice and X. Atencio, the guys who originally came up with all these terrific character designs. Here they are in 1962 working on the "Red Hot Rutabaga Rag" sequence performed by vegetables. It's no wonder these fellas are my heroes.

Of course in the film, Professor Ludwig Von Drake modestly accepts all the credit for the paper animation sequences. Though he is a genius (make no mistake), we know the truth...


I suspect by now, you're curious to see some of the original paper animation in "A Symposium On Popular Songs."

Well, Here you go...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=G6mH_4Kzyzc&feature=related

PAPER EXOTICA

"Sound of Tiki" CD Art by Kevin Kidney 2008
Originally uploaded by Miehana

Here is my original paper sculpture for an upcoming CD of rare music recordings compiled by Taschen's "Book of Tiki" author Sven Kirsten. The album is being produced in Germany by Bear Family Records.

I'd like to mention that not one bit of this image was accomplished with digital trickery. This is 100% hand-embossed, hand-cut and assembled paper, photographed just as you see it here.

Everyday, people walk right up to me on the street and say, "Dude, why are you so HAPPY all the time??"

To them, I just smile and shrug.
But to YOU, I'll let you know my secret to eternal youth and happiness:

I'm a vegetarian
(mostly),
I don't smoke,
my close friends are all top quality people,
and I listen to LUXURIAMUSIC.COM

Go to their website and click on "listen" in the menu.
(I prefer to enjoy listening through the modern miracle of iTunes.)

MAN OF LA MUNCHA

Last year I must’ve devoured more Fritos, um, than usual, thanks in great part to the corn chips’ special 75th Anniversary packaging with vintage character art of the Frito Kid. I mean, just look at him. How in the world could I resist?!

Looking a lot like the blonde cousin to Bob’s Big Boy and sporting a gigantic wave of hair that resembles (perhaps unintentionally) a great big Frito, to me the Frito Kid is all that and a bag of you know what.



To clarify, the Kid himself was not celebrating his 75th last year, having merely reached the salty age of 54 by 2007. After tirelessly promoting "the best corn chips made" for 14 years, the Kid was sacked in 1967 and his spokesman duties were simultaneously taken up by the controversial – though equally ADORED by me - Frito Bandito (voiced hysterically on TV spots by Mel Blanc.)



But the name “Frito Kid” would hardly pass our hydrogenated oil-slicked lips today had he not managed to corral himself into a little patch of Walt Disney’s theme park heaven.

The first Casa de Fritos location opened on August 19th, 1955 next door to Aunt Jemima's Pancake House. The Frito Kid chip-dispensing machine stood just inside the door as you walked to the counter, and was not visible from outside, which explains why photos are scarce.



Here's how it worked. Put a nickel in the cash box on the fence, and the Frito Kid came to life. While rolling his eyes, licking his lips, and turning his head, he'd holler back to his unseen partner Klondike inside the mountain to send down some more of those "golden chips of corn," and before you knew it, a wax-paper bag of dee-licious Fritos came sliding out right down the chute.
Wha-hoo!



Always heard but never seen, Klondike remains a mystery. What did he look like anyway? I picture him the Yukon Cornelius-type, while Jody likes to imagine Klondike was a friendly chip-mining bear!

In the 1967 publicity photo below, the Frito Kid is shown whooping it up with the Golden Horsehoe cast. Klondike is nowhere to be seen, naturally, as a bear has no place inside a saloon.



"You always expect to find FRITOS, “America’s Favorite Corn Chips,” where there’s GOOD EATING, FUN and EXCITEMENT! Sure enough, you’ll find them in Disneyland, too, along with other delicious food products."



VISIT “FRITO HOUSE” IN FRONTIERLAND
"Enjoy “Fritos” with savory Mexican foods…chili, tamales, and a brand new taste treat “Ta-Cups.” See the “Frito Kid” in action amid a gala atmosphere of authentic “Old Mexico.”

I know you'll forgive the redness with a real rarity such as the next photo. When Casa de Fritos moved to a bigger location on July 1, 1957 (to the one-story adobe structure which became Casa Mexicana - and currently Rancho del Zocalo) the chip dispensing machine was relocated to a fenced-in area just outside the entrance.



You can see the Golden Chips Mine and mountain were completely redesigned, and the Kid has been moved to the left of the chute.



And now, here's a bit of Frito Kid trivia I'll bet you didn't know, and probably won't forget:
According to a 1955 premium Frito Comic Book, the Frito Kid has a horse.
And his horse's name is Maize!

(You call it corn.)

BOING!

Hayley Mills!
Originally uploaded by Miehana

A friend just wrote in to let us know we were recently featured on Boingboing. How cool!

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/04/01/disneylands-tiki-roo.html

THE TIME IS 2:34. THE YEAR IS 1986.  

More wonderful original pencil sketches for a 1955 newspaper section presenting some of the "many delights and wonders that are yours to enjoy at Disneyland."
The text for this page:

"1955 becomes 1986 as you enter the new era - Tomorrowland where our hopes and dreams for the future become today's realities. Symbolizing the time transition is Tomorrowland's futuristic clock. At a glance, this elaborate chronometer tells you the exact minute and hour anywhere on the face of the planet Earth.
Dramatizing future outer space travel is TWA's moon rocket --poised for blast-off. In Tomorrowland you'll marvel at the astounding exhibits of advanced science, developments presented by many of America's leading industrial firms, all housed in buildings keynoted to futuristic architectural design. "

"Welcome aboard Trans World Airlines' Rocket to the Moon! In Tomorrowland's world of 1986 you'll zoom through space at speeds of over 172 thousand miles an hour! Actually experience the "feel" of space travel!--see Earth below and Heavens above as you pass space station Terra, coast around the Moon and return! An eight-hour flight in ten thrilling minutes -- all without ever leaving the ground."

"In Tomorrowland, aluminum spheres on 20 foot tripods accurately forecast future techniques in outdoor illumination."

"Towering high above all else in Tomorrowland, the 172-foot TWA Moon Rocket symbolizes Trans World Airlines' interest in future air travel and planned scientific progress. Today, TWA serves 60 U.S. cities, and 21 world centers abroad."

Hubba Blubba

Original gouache on illustration board for

WALT DISNEY MAGAZINE
Volume 4, Number 5, August 1959
Pgs. 8/9
TALE OF AN AILING WHALE
Artist: Paul Hartley 

A whale seems to have coughed up his chewing gum (actually ambergris!) in this original illustration.  A favorite...this was my screensaver for about 5 months.

Time Gallops On...
A terrific circus-themed paper collage created for Walt Disney Magazine in the 1950s.

CHICKEN OF THE SEA TUNA PIRATE SHIP RESTAURANT
One of the world's most unique restaurants, Fantasyland's landmark galleon is wonderfully rendered - as an initial concept sketch and finished watercolor painting- for a 1955 newspaper publicity insert.

What I found fascinating is that this artwork was re-purposed as one of the Park's earliest souvenir postcards. If you happen to have handy a copy of the book "The Nickel Tour" by Imagineers Bruce Gordon and David Mumford, flip to page 21, card #0015. A shocker, isn't it!

The newspaper caption that accompanied this illustration reads:
"Riding gently at anchor in the heart of Fantasyland, the CHICKEN OF THE SEA TUNA PIRATE SHIP RESTAURANT is a magic must for meals and snacks, when you visit Disneyland. Here in the world's most colorful cafeteria, designed by Walt Disney, you will enjoy both the food and fun offered by the greatest name in sea foods, CHICKEN OF THE SEA."

Disneyland Billboard Design 1955

Disneyland Billboard Design 1955
Originally uploaded by Miehana

A fabulous concept for a freeway billboard promoting Walt Disney's new playland in Anaheim. Pastel and gouache. Artist unknown.

Note the proposed Monstro the Whale water slide attraction, and the knights dukin' it out in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle! One of the most fun pieces of original Disneyland artwork I've ever seen.

GUTEN TAG!

We just returned from a two-week adventure throughout Germany with our dear friend, American folk artist Debbee Thibault. An incredible trip, and I'll share some of it soon.

In the meantime, while I'm coping with the jet lag, here are a couple fantastic mid-century illustrations of jets by artists Herb Ryman and Paul Wenzel. Tschüss!

Disneyland Chemitron Illustration in Color, 1955
Originally uploaded by Miehana

THE WORLD IS A CHEMITRON OF COLOR

Whoa, déjà vu! 

Well, here we are, back together again 'round the ol' Chemitron enjoying Monsanto's Hall of Chemistry at Disneyland!

 This is the finished color artwork for a 1955 newspaper supplement describing the attractions in Walt Disney's brand new showplace.

If you're joining us for the first time, please scroll down a few posts to see the original pencil layout sketches for these very same paintings.

Something I had not noticed before: the Eight Basic Elements appear to be holding hands! Perhaps Monsanto intended to portray the Elements as a group of old chums, a team of friends working hand-in-hand for the benefit of modern man.  Or maybe they're challenging Tomorrowland visitors to a game of Red Rover.

I'll be sharing more original art from this series in the weeks to come, so drop by again soon, won't you?

Learning New Vices

Where is my wandering boy tonight?

Down in the licensed saloon.

Learning new vices all the night long,

Tempted to all that's sinful and wrong,

List'ning to the sirens' old song

Down in the licensed saloon...

A Happy Easter Quiz!
Originally uploaded by Miehana

LISTENING TO THE SIRENS' OLD SONG

I'll raise a mug to anyone who can identify where this "wandering" robotic rabbit once resided.

Happy Easter!

UNBOTTLED GENIES -- THE CHEMITRON AT DISNEYLAND

I'm absolutely fascinated by many of the early exhibits at Disneyland that I've only read about, whether it be desert rocks glowing like colorful gemstones under black light, a giant model of a human blood cell, a monumental clock of the world, or even an aluminum pig. Many intriguing dioramas, murals, and models - the work of anonymous artists funded by some of America's most formidable corporations- are barely a footnote in the Park's history, overshadowed by today's less ambitious delights of churros and fast-passes.

Some of the displays were so "high concept" it's difficult to imagine that they ever managed to get their point across. Take for instance the "CHEMITRON" - the all but forgotten centerpiece of Monsanto's Hall of Chemistry attraction in mid-century Tomorrowland.

“Upon entering Monsanto’s Hall of Chemistry, you will see the CHEMITRON…huge shining test tubes of the eight basic materials found in nature, from which countless chemicals and plastics can be made: Salt, coal, air, oil, sulfur, phosphate rock, water, and limestone -- but from those eight common substances come almost 500 different Monasanto chemicals and plastics. "



Artistically the Chemitron was a knock-out. Oddly art-deco in its design, the "eight basic materials" are depicted as imposing human figures - male and female - silently rising up above their glass cylinders like unbottled genies. Each a mythological god or goddess of the supernatural chemical world, standing waist deep in colored "liquid" -like an assortment of pancake syrups at IHOP.

"Air", for example, was embodied as an ethereal female with her hair floating up toward the ceiling. The crystalline sculpture of "Salt" had an almost cubistic nature, and glossy "Oil" was sleek and fluid. Figures representing translucent properties were internally lit and staggered between more opaque figures, like coal or sulfur.



"In the ceiling above the “Chemitron” spreads the arm of chemistry which transforms these eight basic materials into hundreds of chemicals and thousands of products we use and enjoy. In the hand is a ball of fire, symbol of the complex processes necessary for this transformation. Through the arm's arteries of industry, the chemicals are formed into products that affect our everyday lives.”



So. Whatever became of the Chemitron, I wonder? In contrast to the juvenile marketing of today's Disneyland, it's difficult to imagine it could really have ever existed at all.

Perhaps somewhere in this world there's a vaguely female-ish figure that once represented "phosphate rock" to perplexed Disneyland guests - now dusty and forgotten behind the water heater in someone's garage. A genie waiting to be freed...

New Pixar Play Parade Designed by Jody Daily

New Pixar Play Parade Designed by Jody Daily
Originally uploaded by Miehana

Yeah, I know I've been bragging about this new parade a lot lately, but I'm genuinely excited about it --and not just because I know the guy who designed it! It's fun, funny, and full of charming details that will require repeat viewings to appreciate them all. Pixar's characters get the royal treatment for this elaborate spectacle that hearkens back to the wonderful parades I remember seeing at Disneyland as a kid.

This rendering is the opening unit featuring the Monsters Inc. gang, sluggishly led by baton-twirling majorette Roz. Jody's idea to have the parade begin with a fanfare by a "big bass drum" is a heartfelt tribute to the classic Disneyland parades of the past which were led by Mickey Mouse banging a similar oversized instrument.

"Soft opening" for the parade begins TODAY, MARCH 10, although the official advertised debut is this Friday. The parade steps off at 5:15 every day this week at Disney's California Adventure Theme Park, and will run regularly throughout the summer!

More of Jody's parade designs have surfaced on this site:
http://blueskydisney.blogspot.com/2008/03/pixarification-nation.html

WALT DISNEY'S "SKY CROWN" - A Logo For All Seasons
More eye-grabbing logo concepts for Walt Disney's proposed ski resort in California's Mineral King Valley. Early 1960s.

These miniature works of art (the artist is unknown by me) were done with colored pencils, crayons, and gouache on pieces of white paper mounted onto matte board. The 40 year-old contact cement appears to have absorbed into the paper on some of them, leaving a yellowish patina.

Despite their obvious historical significance, the originals were sold off to the public through Disney's online auctions in 2006. I wasn't able to buy any of them unfortunately, but I'm very grateful for these incredible jpegs to share and enjoy.

Walt Disney's "Sky Crown" Logo
Originally uploaded by Miehana

In the early 1960s Walt Disney famously proposed building a commercial ski resort in the Mineral King Valley near California's High Sierra. The ambitious plans called for the construction of 14 ski lifts, serving an expected 2 million visitors annually by 1973.

Protests by a coalition of preservationists, led by the Sierra Club and the National Park Service, stopped the ski resort from being built, and in 1978 an act of Congress annexed the Mineral King Valley into Sequoia National Park. Happily, the area remains remote and wild today.

Not much is known about Disney's specific plans for the project, but several terrific logo concepts for "Sky Crown" Resort were sold to the public by Disney Auctions in 2006.

This small-ish art piece, in paint and colored pencil, depicts a sunny snowflake icon extolling year-round vacation opportunities in all kinds of weather. The graphic is by an unknown artist.

There is currently a webcam set up in Mineral King, if you'd like to "visit" and see how the area appears right now! www.mk-webcam.net

A TIP OF THE KAP!

To celebrate fellow "keeper of the flame" Major Pepperidge's 600th incredible post on his site "Gorillas Don't Blog", I'm sharing a few pieces of, possibly never before seen, art from Disneyland's past. The Kaiser "Aluminum Hall of Fame" is about as obscure as you can get when talking about Disneyland's extinct exhibits and attractions. Very few images exist out in the wild today, and the color pictures currently on the good Major's blog are an especially rare treat. Make sure you check them out!

This week's images are part of an original pencil layout created in 1955 for a full-color newspaper section previewing some of the " many delights and wonders that are yours to enjoy at Disneyland."

"KAP, THE KAISER ALUMINUM PIG," will be your friendly host as he entertains you with his amazingly versatile antics. By pushing buttons or pulling handles you can make "KAP" flat as a pancake, light as a feather, round as a pole, strong as an ox, twisted like yarn, colored like a rainbow. He'll show you how he can get sizzling hot, dazzling bright, electrically shocking and will perform in many other ways useful to you."

"A giant telescope, a massive structure made of Aluminum and a symbol of man's scientific achievement is the introduction to your adventure in "Kaiser Aluminum-Land." An exciting peek through this brilliantly reflective Aluminum tube focuses your attention on the birth of the "brightest star in the world of metals" Aluminum! In this celestial setting you will see and hear the first chapter of the story of Aluminum's abundance, versatility and beauty.

"A KNIGHT IN ARMOR, a foil clad fire-fighter and a future spaceman each will tell stories of how Aluminum benefits themselves and you."

Disneyland Kaiser Aluminum Venus Sketch, 1955
Originally uploaded by Miehana

"VENUS, HISTORIC SYMBOL OF BEAUTY, is re-created life-size in a futuristic setting of dazzling glamour to represent the welding of Art and Industry, and the inherent beauty of ALUMINUM. The famed statue, draped in Aluminum yarns and bathed in colored lights, is surrounded by a huge multi-colored Aluminum star, beneath which are fanciful settings of possible future uses of Kaiser Aluminum for your benefit.

Another Hercules Parade Model, 1997

Disneyland Hercules Parade Model, 1997
Originally uploaded by Miehana

I'm not a huge fan of the movie, but working on the Disneyland parade which debuted at the time of the film's release is a fond memory.

Here is my original plastic and wood model based on Jody's concept for a float in the "Hercules Victory Parade" which ran at Disneyland in 1997. Jody's idea was for a deadly carnival ride, with Hades' henchmen Pain and Panic careening around on a rickety roller coaster track, in and out of metal doors at the front and rear of the float. Medusa's gaping mouth conjured a fun-house tunnel, while a giant rusted iron figure of Hades had spinning saw blades on the ends of its arms. A costumed performer as the "real" Hades stood on a pedestal overlooking the scene.

All of us working on the parade particularly loved the soundtrack for this unit, which consisted of psychotic circus music and the unending screaming of the characters riding the little roller-coaster.

Does anybody out there have decent pictures of the final float? I didn't take a single shot of the parade when it was running, and I've been kicking myself over it for a whole decade.