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:

 

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

This is a follow up to my "I Was A Teenage Christmas Tree" post from December of 2010. In that post, I included some personal items that I had saved from my short stint of working in the Christmas parade at Disneyland back in 1981. Now we will take a look at the actual parade, in it's entirety.

I took all of the "backstage" pictures in today's post. The photos of the parade on Main Street were taken by my grandfather, who came to see me in one of the parade performances. I have some additional photos that were given to me by "Knott's Illustrated", who's personal collection of theme park pics just happened to include several of "Fantasy On Parade," from the very year that I was in it. Those photos will be the ones that were taken in the Plaza, with the Tomorrowland entrance and palm trees in the background. Thank you, "Knott's Illustrated"!

"Cinderella" had just been re-released in theaters for the Christmas season, so the parade started with the Cinderella unit. The photo below, shows the "Knights on Horseback" leading the parade.

Next, is the "Fanfare" section of the Cinderella unit.

Following the "Fanfare" trumpeters, was the "Pumpkin Coach". This picture shows it backstage, behind It's A Small World. I wonder if that warehouse is still standing? There were actually two "Cinderellas" that rode in this coach at the same time. There was a curtain running down the middle of the coach and there was a different Cinderella sitting on either side of the curtain. The idea behind this was so that each Cinderella could give her full attention to one side of the parade route, for the entire duration of the parade. I have seen a photo of this same coach being used back in the sixties with just one Cinderella sitting inside of it.

The "Court Dancers" followed Cinderella's coach. They are shown here getting ready to "step off" at the parade gate in Town Square. The gold colored building in the background is the Administration building which housed offices as well as the Primeval World diorama for the Disneyland railroad. The beige building next to the dancers is the side of the Main Street Opera House. I remember running into the guy in the purple costume in the employee cafeteria at Knott's a couple years later. He had been hired as a stuntman-cowboy. Or maybe he was a train robber?

Last up in this unit was the "Castle Float". This float had been used one year earlier (with a different paint job) in the Fantasyland unit of Disneyland's 25th Anniversary "Family Reunion Parade".

As a parade cast member, we had all been given schematics showing every unit of the parade. This first one shows the Cinderella unit.

Next in the parade, was the Pinocchio unit and it began with Geppetto and Pinocchio riding on the "Workbench Float". You can just make out the head of Figaro behind Geppetto. There was a puppeteer under the float that operated Figaro and next to him you can see part of the fishbowl that Cleo was swimming around in. Cleo was actually a small figure connected to a wire that allowed her to circle around inside the bowl.

Following Pinocchio and Geppetto was the "Village Float". The Blue Fairy was at the front of that float and while I don't have any photos of her, she can be seen in a video that I have provided a link for at the bottom of this post. Foulfellow/Honest John and Gideon could also be seen dancing around on this float.

The next float was "Stromboli's Wagon". The person dressed as Stromboli actually drove the float, which included several stages with dancing puppets (these characters can also be seen in the video at the end of the post). Jiminy Cricket was on the rear of the float, standing in the middle of an oversized "Official Conscience" medal.

The Pinocchio unit schematic:

The Jungle Book unit was next. Here we see Mowgli, King Louie and Baloo, along with some of Colonel Hathi's herd of elephants. Also in the distance, we can see a thatched roof of the float carrying the "Jungle Band" that played "The Bare Necessities" and "Colonel Hathi's March" on horn instruments.

Herbie, The Love Bug came next. There was a stuntman-cop that drove around on a miniature motorcycle and interacted with Herbie. One of the stunts performed, was Herbie "swallowing" the cop and then spitting him out onto the ground through one of the side doors.

The Jungle Book and Herbie schematics:

The Alice In Wonderland unit began with three large teapots surrounded by dancing "Butterflies and Flowers".

Next, came Alice and the Queen of Hearts with a "Card Drill Team" and "Card Band".

Here are Alice and the Queen right before stepping off in Town Square.

This shows the schematic for the Alice In Wonderland and Song of the South units. I don't have any pictures of the Song of the South unit, but an actor playing "Uncle Remus" rode in a wagon and sang "Zip-a-dee-do-dah", while Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox followed along behind him on foot. You would not see this in any Disney park today! I was even a little surprised to see this at Disneyland in 1981! You can see brief footage of him in the video below at the (2:30) mark.

The Dumbo unit was next, led by the Casey Jr. float. A clown in drag with a baby carriage is cut out of the picture on the right.

The Casey Jr. train was long and included a calliope, some animal cages, and a caboose. In this backstage photo, two half-dressed "monkeys" are relaxing in a cage, waiting for the parade to start. The tall white building in the background was the Global Van Lines headquarters. That is where the Team Disney building stands today. The show building for It's A Small World would have been directly behind the photographer here.

This next backstage photo has a lot going on in it. On the right is the caboose of the Casey Jr. float and right behind it is the Firehouse Float. If you look closely, you can see the head of the Dumbo costume hanging on a hook inside the window of the Firehouse. The two female cast members in the foreground were playing Mickey (on the left) and Minnie (in the plaid on the right). "Minnie" is chatting with a guy that played one of the toy soldiers in the Christmas Finale unit of the parade. In the background we can see Mrs. Claus chatting with a Monk from the Robin Hood unit, and Prince John's Royal Coach. Snow White and one of the Cinderellas are visible just beyond the coach.

Here's a shot of Dumbo riding in that Firehouse float, but this photo is from 1979's Very Merry Christmas Parade.

Following the Dumbo unit was "Goofy's Car". The concept of "Goofy and his Jalopy" had been used before in Christmas parades dating back to the 1960's and had also been used in the traveling "Disney On Parade" stage show.

The Dumbo Circus and Goofy's Car schematic:

Leading the Robin Hood unit, were Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Little John and Friar Tuck. Following behind them was Prince John in his Royal Coach, escorted by some Royal Elephants, Hippos and Rhinoceroses (Rhinoceri?).

Below is the schematic for the Robin Hood unit. Included on the same page are the "Dog Catcher's Truck" and "Peter Pan" units. I dont' have pictures of these, but the Dog Catcher's Truck was driven by Pete (without his peg leg) and carried real doggies! Pluto would follow along behind and open the door to the truck, allowing the dogs to escape and run around in the street. There was a "dog catcher" stuntman that walked around with a net and would eventually wrangle the doggies back into the truck after performing several comic stunts (including falling on the ground and having all the dogs run over him).

"Mary Poppins" was the last unit before the big "Christmas Finale" unit. Bert and the Penguins are seen here right before they step off at Town Square. (Behind them are the windows of the Mad Hatter Shop just outside of the parade gate.) Note that one of the penguins bent over to show his rear-end just as I was taking the picture.

I took this photo of Mary Poppins and the Chimney Sweeps right before the "Rooftop" float left the backstage area to begin it's way down the parade route.

Here's that float parked backstage near the Small World show building. One of Santa's Elves was climbing around on the float and "Chip and Dale" were walking by holding their "heads". We will eventually see why they are wearing aprons and chef hats. The green building on the far right is the "Roundhouse" where the Disneyland trains and monorails are kept when not in operation.

The Mary Poppins unit schematic:

The parade isn't over yet! Part two of this post will include the "Christmas Finale" unit. If you count all of the characters, dancers and musicians just in the units that we've covered so far, you can get an idea how many people were hired for the Disneyland parades back then.....not to mention all of the live horses and canines! Unfortunately, they do not do parades like this anymore! :-(

Even though we haven't finished covering the parade, I'm including the link to the parade footage below. (The Cinderella unit is missing here and the footage begins with the "Village Float" of the Pinocchio unit.) Enjoy!