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:

 

Walt Disney Productions' Robin Hood (Toys, Comics, Disneyland, & More!)

Back in November of 2010, I wrote a post titled,  Robin Hood is Alive and Well, and Living in Tokyo Disneyland.  More than 10 years have passed now, but that continues to be one of my "most viewed" posts.  So, I thought maybe it was time to do a "follow-up" post!

Walt Disney Productions' Robin Hood was released on November 8, 1973.  Below, is the film's original "one sheet" theatrical poster.  I found this in a "movie memorabilia" shop on  Hollywood Boulevard, back in the 1980s.

The Fall 1973 issue of Disney News Magazine, featured Robin Hood on the cover.

The magazine also included two articles about the upcoming film.

This first article talks about the actors who voiced the characters.

This article tells the story of Robin Hood, or at least, the "animals' version."

In the Spring of 1982, the film was re-released in theaters.  (This 1982 newspaper ad is from my original "Robin Hood" post, back in 2010.)

 

The Spring 1982 Disneyland Souvenir Guide included an ad for the film's re-release, on the inside of the back cover.

The park's entertainment guide from April of 1982, also featured a Robin Hood ad on it's back cover.

Robin Hood was released on video tape for the first time, in 1984.  It was re-released on video, in 1991.  This is the 1991 label.

The film was first released on DVD, in 2000.  A remastered edition, ("Most Wanted Edition") was released in 2006, and included a never-before-seen alternate ending.

Now we will take a look at some personal items from my childhood.  Two years ago, we saw my "Herbie, The Love Bug" model (made by Revell), which came from the toy aisle of our neighborhood "Lucky's" grocery store.  The same store sold these two "Robin Hood" model kits (also made by Revell), at the same time as the Herbie model.

Set #1 included models of the main characters.

The model pieces "snapped" together, so no glue was needed.

This backdrop was included with the models.

I also saved the assembly instructions.

 

Set #2 was Prince John's "Royal Coach."

 

The Royal Coach model included this backdrop.

And here are the instructions.

 

I also had the Robin Hood Colorforms set, however, this was the very last of the Colorforms sets I received.  At this point, I was just about at the age where I would have been getting too old for Colorforms, and I actually don't even remember playing with this particular set.  It is pretty much in mint condition and contains all of it's pieces.  In January of 2020, I posted pics of my Doctor Dolittle Colorforms set, but it definitely got played with, and as a result, was missing some of it's pieces.

The board:

The pieces:

The instructions:

For a short time (1974-1975), Gold Key Comics published a comic book series titled, The Adventures of Robin Hood.  I only bought two of the issues, but from what I have seen online, it appears that were seven issues altogether.  These comics did not retell the original story from the film.  As stated on the covers, the stories were "Based on the All-New Disney Cartoon Feature Movie."

Issue #2, from May of 1974:

Issue #3, from July of 1974:

Golden Books, which was owned by the same parent company as Gold Key Comics, released a much nicer "book" version of four of the comics.

The back cover showed three other books that were available.  I purchased all four of these at Pic 'N' Save, shortly after the movie was released.

These "soft-cover" books all used a better quality of paper and ink, than traditional comic books.  Here's a comparison of the two versions.

Golden Book version:

Gold Key comic book version:

This Robin Hood Valentine was from a boxed set of Disney Valentines, circa 1974-1976.   I often chose Disney-themed Valentines to give to fellow classmates, and I always kept any of the leftover ones.

In my previous Robin Hood post, I included pictures of the film's costumed characters at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Tokyo Disneyland, but these two photos were not used in that post:

This December 1973 photo, shows the first use of the Robin Hood characters, in a Disneyland Christmas parade (Fantasy On Parade).  This same float was used again 8 years later (and also a few other years in between), in the 1981 version of Fantasy On Parade.

And here, Robin Hood is greeting guests in Disneyland's Fantasyland, circa 1979.

 

In 2012, Disney's California Adventure held a dance party called, "Dancin' With Disney," in the park's former "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" building.   This event used costumed characters which were rarely seen in the parks anymore.....characters like the Big Bad Wolf, and Robin Hood's Prince John and Sheriff of Nottingham.

We'll end this post with a more "current" Robin Hood item.  Back in 2013, this ceramic figure was being sold in DCA's "Off The Page" shop, for $95.

To view my previous Robin Hood post from 2010, click here: Robin Hood Is Alive & Well & Living In Tokyo Disneyland.