RETURN TO DISNEYLAND

Here I am, back at Disneyland! Many thanks to my anonymous friend whose employee pass made this possible! 

Here's (above) my tram which connected the parking structure with the park. Yikes, half the people hid their faces in a panic when I snapped the picture. I felt terrible. Everyone was so jovial only a moment before. I'll have to be more discreet when I take pictures of crowds.

Once in the park we headed for the Cars ride, which was great. They set it up so you appear to be racing the car beside you. 

Above, the line for the Pinocchio ride. I love taking crowd shots close up but as I said, I'll have to be more discreet. 

Above, the Pinocchio attraction again. This wall painting is the first thing you see at the start of the ride.  How do you like the idea of the dual proscenium, one within the other? 

No trip to Disneyland is complete for me without a visit to The Golden Horseshoe. I love the architecture. It's small scale, but succeeds in being grand at the same time. 

Traffic in Disneyland is handled beautifully. The people in the lower left are in a sunken, elliptical line leading to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. On the bridge above them (our level) is the walking traffic from Adventureland. Above that is a staircase leading to a V.I.P. restaurant, and above that (in the distance) is a rope bridge that leads to Tarzan's Treehouse. 

I love the way traffic flows in and out, up and down and all around in this part of the park. The people watching opportunities are endless!

Above, another view of the treehouse bridge.

On the way up the treehouse (above) what you see mostly is a beautiful tangle of Burne Hogarth-type branches. Even in the tree you become aware of the human traffic going on in all directions around you. I marked the passageways with red arrows.

Going down (above) you're treated to great views of the park. 

Stunning! Views like this took my breath away!

Above, the treehouse bottom. Seeing this reminds me of how important it is for our era to plant lots of exotic, slow-growing "old-growth-type" trees so our successors will have something to look at besides pine. 

Here's (above) the caricature nook in Adventureland. I hate to say it, but the talent wasn't that impressive. 

Here's the silhouette shop. The caricatures were okay, but not very imaginative.

Here's an exhibit showing a real animator working at a traditional animation desk. I can't convey how strange it was to see the ordinary, everyday tools of my trade in a museum setting behind velvet ropes. I felt like a time traveler in a future era where my own time was regarded as quaint and old-fashioned.  

The live entertainment at the park (above) was unbelievable. The dancers were as good as ones you'd find on Broadway. The front row of the crowd was devoted to the handicapped so I couldn't get close enough to get a good picture.

When it was time to go home I had to stop at a souvenir shop to try on one of the new Oswald hats. Nice, huh? Expensive, though...16 bucks!

A VISIT TO THE GETTY VILLA

I just spent a large part of the day at The Getty Villa in The Pacific Palisades. If you live in LA you know that this recreation of a Roman villa houses one of the best collections of Greek and Roman art in the United States.

My favorite room is the one containing the busts. This Roman bronze (above) is extraordinary when you see it up close. The face shows a man full of grit, someone who spits in the face of adversity and refuses to buckle under. 

Yikes! I'm paying the price for not reading the inscriptions. Who is this man? Alexander? Maybe it's nobody well-known, but he dominates the room.

This (above) is simply a highly individuated balding man.

A fascinating likeness (above)! Who is this man?

Above, the emperor Nerva. He looks like Lawrence Olivier in "Spartacus."

This is Commodus, the dissolute son of Marcus Aurelius. I thought Bernini invented this ultra-smooth, beautifully mannered technique, but I guess he didn't.

I've seen this face (above) many times on modern men in present day Los Angeles, yet here it is, on a bust more than 2,000 years old. 

Here's (above) "The Charioteer," which celebrates the victory in a race of Rome's most popular charioteer. 

I'm wondering if the real life charioteer paid for this sculpture (above) out of his own pocket. How else to account for the obvious "Chick Magnet" appeal of the shapes? You should have seen how the women in the museum reacted to this statue.

Above, another bearded man. 

Here's (above) a stunningly charming female face. The sculptor must have admired his subject, maybe he even fell in love with her. It looks like something Carpeaux would have done 1500 years later.

This statue (above) blew my mind. The fluid, quirky style reminds me of Donatello's "David." I thought Donatello invented this technique, but this sculpture pre-dates David by at least 1500 years.

Here's (above) a musician or a poet being visited by the muses. An easily grasped concept, right?

Wrong. What the heck is that (above) fish tail on their backs? I wish I'd taken the time to read the inscription.

Above, a couple of artifacts from Greek theater. The Getty has more painted items like this, but photography in those rooms was forbidden. 

T. HEE DRAWS EDDIE

This'll have to be a hastily done post. Workers are in the house tearing down a wall and with the din I can't think straight. Fortunately Milt recently gave me a couple of Xeroxes that readers might be interested in, so I don't have to appear empty-handed. 

Okay, here's (above) the first Xerox. It appears to be a caricature of me drawn by renowned Disney caricaturist, T. Hee. Wow, it's terrific! T. Hee really nailed me...but, huh? Wait a minute...how can that be? The inscription says it's George Manuel, who was a story artist in the 30s and 40s. Holy Mackerel! That could only mean one thing...there was another me all those years ago...and he called himself George Manuel!

Sure, it could be a coincidence, but the likeness is so striking that I'm forced to consider another possibility, ie., that I'm a vampire who holds on to life by sucking the blood of others. I don't recall having done anything like that but, who knows?

Milt also gave me a copy (above) of Marlena Dietrich's scathing review of Snow White from 1937.  He got it from a site called "Animation Anecdotes," which I bookmarked as soon as I got home. I don't agree with Dietrich's evaluation of the film, but you have to admit that it's funny.

Milt reminded me that caricaturist Al Hirschfeld also wrote a negative review of that film and I include it below.

Okay, that's it! I've gotta get out of the house!

MY TRIP TO DISNEYLAND

I've seen lots of vintage photos of The Mad Hatter (above) and I wanted to have my picture taken with him. Alas, he was nowhere to be seen.

Horace Horsecollar's girlfriend (above) was there....

....as was Grumpy (above). It wouldn't be Disneyland without Grumpy.

There's a new attraction in Disneyland called Pixie Hollow, and it's pretty well done. It even has a Don Martin-type frog pond, but I wasn't able to get a picture of it.

The Hollow is the home of the Five Princesses (above). Little girls wearing princess costumes flock to the Hollow to pal around with beautiful grown-up princesses.

 When I was there the The Five were on a lunch break and the little girls were going nuts with waiting.

Later I made my way to Fantasyland.

Disneyland excels at handling crowds. People in this picture (above) are almost shoulder to shoulder yet they remain even-tempered. The sights and sounds are no doubt diverting, and so are the people watching opportunities, but above all for me is the fascinating use of architectural space. I couldn't take my eyes off it!

I got some dirty looks when I took shots of the crowd. Sheesh! What was that about? Was everybody there on the lamb from the law? Maybe I stumbled into some kind of felons convention.

I stopped at some stores and was impressed by the props on the shelves along the walls. 

You can't buy these props, they're for display only.

How'd you like to have that crawling monster (above) on your wall?

I wish I'd gotten more shots of Adventureland. 

Here I am (above) in Minnie Mouse's house. Boy, Minnie has good taste in architecture!

  

I want to live in this house! I hope the designer got some sort of prize.

I've gotta go back to Disneyland soon. It's a photographer's dream!