Fantasy On Parade & Christmas at Disneyland - 1981

Today, I have ten photos from Disneyland's 1981 Christmas parade, "Fantasy On Parade."  These are all from the same year that I was in the parade.  I have to thank Sue B. of "Lou and Sue" fame, for giving me the heads up about these photos being listed on ebay.  She knew that I was a "Christmas Tree" in the parade, so she was initially letting me know about the listing for the photo of the "trees."  But I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the ebay seller also had nine more shots from the parade!

These first four photos are of the parade's Cinderella unit.  I have posted similar pics of this unit in the past, but I think the quality on all of these is very nice.  Plus, I feel like I could never have enough photos from the actual parade that I was a part of.

The "Knights On Horseback" led the parade.

 They were followed by the "Fanfare Musicians."

The "Court Dancers" followed Cinderella's pumpkin coach (not pictured in this post).

And last up in the Cinderella unit was, the "Castle" float.

"Geppetto's Workbench" was just one of the many floats from the Pinocchio unit.

Here are the main characters from The Jungle Book unit.  Notice Mowgli, who's pretty much hidden by Baloo's shadow.

This "Fireman Clown" from the Dumbo unit, was played by Richard Ferrin.  He also designed the parade's cast T-shirt that year, and for many summer seasons, was the calliope-playing "King Lion" in the Main Street Electrical Parade.

Prince John's coach from the Robin Hood unit, was led by four "Royal Elephants."

The Toy Soldiers from the film, Babes in Toyland, have been a staple of Disneyland's Christmas parades for many decades now.

And last up, we have the photo which Sue originally contacted me about, asking if this was the same year that I was in the parade.  Unfortunately, I was always a green Christmas tree, so I know that I am not inside one of these gold trees.  However, I am VERY glad to have the photo, either way.....and all of the other photos, as well!  Thanks again, Sue!

To see more photos from this parade, as well as some cast member paraphernalia, you can click below for some of my past "Fantasy On Parade" posts:

I Was A Teenage Christmas Tree

Fantasy On Parade 1981 - Part 1 (The Disney Classics Units) 

Fantasy On Parade 1981 - Part 2 (The Christmas Finale Units)

I want to wish all of my readers out there, a very happy holiday season! 

*****BONUS ITEMS!*****

I've decided to include three Disneyland cast member publications, from December of 1981.  I picked these up at various backstage locations, and have held onto them all these years.

This first one is the Disneyland Line, which is still in publication today (now called the Disneyland Resort Line), and will be celebrating it's 55th year, in 2024.  The image on the cover of this issue, is a reproduction of the very first Walt Disney Studios Christmas card.

Does the park still hold blood drives?  I'll give blood, but please send me to the bloodmobile at Tokyo Disneyland!  Although at that point in time, Tokyo Disneyland would have still been just a construction site, since that park did not open for another 16 months.

I wonder if the Disneyland Custodial Department still produces a "Yearbook"?

 

Wow....only $180 for half of the rent on a condo, just one mile from the park!

Next, we have somewhat of a rarity.  It's the very first issue of CastleView magazine.  Charles Boyer, the famed Disney artist, painted the image on the magazine's cover.

Dick Nunis wrote an introduction for this premier issue of the magazine.  What I don't know is, how long this magazine lasted.  I have never seen another issue of it anywhere out there.  It was stated in this first issue, that it would be published eight times annually by "Cast Communications, the Disneyland University, Disneyland."

This three-page article about getting the park ready for Christmastime, begins with a photo of the "Fanfare Musicians" from the Cinderella unit of Fantasy On Parade.

This is back in the day, when a real tree was acquired for the park.  I used to drive by the park's backstage area everyday on my way to work, and I would watch the progress being made on the tree during those weeks of prepping and decorating.

I'm guessing that all of the preparation that went into the tree (painting it?), before they even started decorating it, might be the reason why they switched to an artificial tree?  Of course it could have been because they wanted to stop killing real trees.  Nah, it was probably just to save some money by using the same tree every year.  The article also mentions the two white trees, which used to be placed in the Castle's moat every year.

There is much more to this magazine, including articles on the construction progress of EPCOT Center and Tokyo Disneyland.  Other articles include a history of Fantasyland, and the replacement of some original 25+ year-old structures at Disneyland, such as the stockade at the entrance to Frontierland, and the miniature buildings within Storybook Land.  The original elm trees along Main Street were also being replaced at this time, because they had "grown out of scale for Main Street," according to the article.  I will try to get the rest of the magazine scanned and posted in the future.

And here is something that I believe just might be as much of a rarity as that issue of CastleView magazine, if not more so.  This is a December 1981 issue of the Rainbow Ridge Clarion, which was published monthly, by and for cast members who worked on the "west side" of the park.  Again, I'm not sure how long this publication was around, but the very first issue was published in September of 1981.  As stated in that first issue, it's name was taken from the fictional newspaper office, formerly located in the little mining town of Rainbow Ridge, overlooking the loading area for the Nature's Wonderland Mine Train.

The first page begins with cast members' "wish lists" for Santa, and they continue on to page three.

The article on the next two pages, covers the history of the Christmas season at Disneyland, including such things as the park's original "Christmas Bowl" and the annual Candlelight Procession.  The Matterhorn's "Christmas star" also gets a mention.

Next, we have the listing of cast member birthdays (west side only), for the month of December.

"The Center," which is mentioned below as the place to buy tickets for various cast member activities, was located backstage, between Main Street and Space Mountain.  The mobile home-type of structure is still standing, but I don't know if it has been given a different name and/or usage for today.

A rehab schedule was included for "west side" shops, restaurants, and attractions:

And cast members shared some of their personal recipes:

 

Rest in Peace, Suzanne Somers (1946 - 2023)

This is an "in memoriam" post for actress, author, and businesswoman, Suzanne Somers, who passed away just last month.  I will be sharing a few related TV Guide covers and articles, from my personal collection.

This first one is from May 20, 1978.  I believe this was the first time she appeared on the cover of TV Guide.  Also on the cover were Joyce DeWitt and John Ritter, her costars in the classic TV show, Three's Company.  The show had debuted just about 1 year earlier.  The cover art was created by famed artist, Richard Amsel.

I didn't include the cover story article from the issue above, because it was exclusively about John Ritter (nothing against John Ritter, however!).

Just six month later, Miss Somers appeared solo, on the cover of this November 25, 1978 issue.

This time, the cover story was exclusively about her.

Here is that Newsweek Cover, that was mentioned in the article:

A little over two years later, there was a lot of coverage about her being "let go" from Three's Company, by the show's producers.  The article in this March 14, 1981 issue, covers both sides of the story.

On Tuesday of that same week, the characters "Mr. and Mrs. Roper" were making a return visit to Three's Company.  This was almost a year after their spinoff show, The Ropers, had been canceled.  Suzanne Somers' character of "Chrissy Snow," had made her final appearance on Three's Company, the previous week.  She was replaced by Jenilee Harrison (pictured below), who played "Cindy Snow," the cousin of Suzanne Somers' character.

I was able to be in the audience for a live taping of Three's Company, on January 26, 1982. However, this was about 10 months after Suzanne Somers had already left the show.  I just thought I would include the ticket, here.

Rest in peace, Suzanne Somers.

Walt Disney Productions' The Fox And The Hound - 40th Anniversary

This year marked the 40th anniversary of Walt Disney Productions' The Fox and the Hound.

Disney's 20th animated feature was released on July 10, 1981.  I clipped this ad out of The Los Angeles Times, the week the film was released.

A review of The Fox and the Hound also appeared in The Los Angeles Times.  This critic wasn't all that impressed with the film.

The 1977 Walt Disney Productions Annual Report, had projected an earlier release date for the film, of Christmas 1980.  According to Wikipedia, the delay was due to sixteen of the animators quitting before the film was finished.   One of those animators was Don Bluth.

The Winter 1980-81 issue of Disney News Magazine featured a "coming soon" advertisement for The Fox and the Hound, on it's back cover.

And the Summer 1981 issue featured an article about the film.

An updated advertisement also appeared on the back cover.

That summer, the Disneyland "Souvenir Guide" included the same advertisement.

The corresponding Disneyland Entertainment Guide featured an ad, as well.

 

 

The nighttime entertainment for July 13-17th, included Pearl Bailey performing on the River Stage, in the "Rollin' River Revue."  I remember seeing this show, and getting to hear Pearl Bailey sing, "The Best of Friends," from The Fox and the Hound.  She was wonderful!

 

That summer, the Main Street Electrical Parade included two new floats, representing The Fox and the Hound.  The first one was the Widow Tweed's car.

There was a cast member hiding among the milk cans in the back of her car, operating a puppet version of "Young Tod."  (The photo above and below, are from the blog, "Disney On Parole.")

The second float (seen below, behind Widow Tweed's car), was Amos Slade's truck.  Riding in the back of his truck, was a cast member inside of an "Adult Copper" costume.  Widow Tweed and Amos Slade's costumes had both been "repurposed," out of costumes from Disneyland's "America On Parade," from five years earlier.

Also that summer at Disneyland, scenes from the film had been recreated in miniature, and displayed in the windows of the Main Street Emporium.  In 2005, some of the scenes from past Emporium displays returned, for Disneyland's 50th anniversary. The window below, featured returning scenes for The Rescuers, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Jungle Book, and The Fox and the Hound.

Here are a couple close-ups, of the set pieces for The Fox and the Hound.

Now, we'll take a look at some vintage Fox and the Hound souvenirs, from Disneyland.

This pinback button was sold in the Main Street Emporium:

This poster was also sold in the Emporium, as well as the Character Shop in Tomorrowland:

These next four items all came from the Story Book Shop, on Main Street.

A coloring book, from Whitman:

The back cover:

A sampling of the pages inside:

A "complete picture story" book, from Golden (Little Golden Books):

 The back cover:

The pages inside were basically a "comic book" version of the film, but on a nicer quality paper than traditional comic books.  This was very similar to the "Little Golden Book" Robin Hood comics that I shared, back in May of this year.

The inside covers of the book had information about the making of the film:

A "picture disc" soundtrack album, with songs and dialogue from the film:

An LP record of songs and dialogue from the film, which included a read-along book:

Here's an item that did not come from Disneyland.  I purchased this porcelain figure of "Copper," in Port Hardy, British Columbia, in 1985:

The figurine was part of a series of porcelain Disney figures, manufactured by Wade Ceramics of England.

While searching online, I found two more Fox and the Hound figurines from Wade.

Big Mama:

And Tod:

The Fox and the Hound was released on video for the first time, in 1994.

Inside the package with the video tape, was an offer to purchase a plush "Tod" and "Copper."

 The film was released on DVD for the first time, in 2000.

A special 25th anniversary edition DVD was released in 2006.  And in 2011, a 30th anniversary edition was released on Blu-ray and DVD.  This edition was a two-movie combo pack, which included the 2006 direct-to-video sequel, The Fox and the Hound II.  This was also the first time the film was available in a 1.66:1 widescreen format.

We will end this post with a more "recent" souvenir.  This Fox and the Hound windbreaker jacket was being sold at California Adventure's Elias & Co. Department Store, in March of 2019.

The back of the jacket had both "fox" and "hound" paw prints going across it, horizontally.

Happy 40th anniversary, to Walt Disney Productions' The Fox and the Hound!