Mary Blair In Wonderland (Early Alice In Wonderland Artwork)

During one of my trips to Tokyo Disneyland (in 2010), the Disney Gallery was featuring an exhibit titled, "The Colors of Mary Blair."  Among the items being sold in the Gallery was this boxed set of 10 postcards, containing some of Mary Blair's early artwork for Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland.

I've attempted to put the scenes in the order that they appear within the film, with the exception of this first one.

In 2008, a three-dimensional version of Mary Blair's White Rabbit was created, and placed in Disneyland's It's A Small World attraction (along with a slew of other Disney characters).  I wonder why they gave him red eyeballs?  But then, I also wonder why they destroyed the attraction's "rainforest room" for a tacky-looking "Spirit of America" room, when there had never been a need for such a room in the attraction's 40+ year history at Disneyland?  Ah, but I digress!

For Disneyland's 70th anniversary, a special "plush" set was created, commemorating Mary Blair's versions of Alice and The White Rabbit.  The set sold for $49.99.

 

During that same 2010 Tokyo Disneyland tribute, their Disney Gallery was also selling a set of It's A Small World "mini-plush" figures, based on Mary Blair's original designs for the attraction.  (I included these images of the dolls in my "Mary Blair Dolls & Small World Days at Disneyland" post, back in 2011.)

I bought the entire set, including the cowboy (pictured above, but not below).  The doll on the far left is a copy of the "Mary Blair" doll that is featured in Disneyland's It's A Small World attraction. I'm not sure if the other Disney parks' versions of the ride include the "Mary Blair Doll" or not.

That particular doll has a different tag, with a photo of Walt Disney and Mary Blair posing with her doll.

Here's a photo that I took at Disneyland in 2011, showing Mary Blair's doll inside the attraction. She can be seen standing on the Eiffel Tower and holding a red balloon.

By the way, happy anniversary to Walt Disney's Alice In Wonderland, which was released 75 years ago this year!

Adventure Thru Inner Space at Disneyland

Disneyland's Adventure Thru Inner Space attraction opened in 1967, as a part of the park's "New Tomorrowland."  In this souvenir "Pana-Vue" slide, the ATIS signage is mostly blocked by the PeopleMover, but the Monsanto logo (the attraction's sponsor) can be seen on the right side of Tomorrowland's entrance.

Once inside the building, guests would see a giant microscope ("The Mighty Microscope"), with the attraction's vehicles, a.k.a. "Atomobiles," entering the microscope on the left side.  A glass tube was located on the right side, containing the moving vehicles and their riders in "miniaturized" form.  Those shadow boxes to the left of the elevated walkway contained previews of scenes inside the attraction.  This is another image from a set of souvenir slides that were sold at the park.

When I was in elementary school, a good friend of mine had two of these souvenir booklets, so he gave me one.  I don't remember seeing these at the park, so I don't know if they were sold or if they were given out free as an advertisement from Monsanto.  The front and back covers were actually postcards that could be torn off and mailed.

Front cover:

The back cover featured a depiction of the 1967 updated version of the "Clock of the World."  This was originally located at the exit to Adventure Thru Inner Space.  I wonder why they got rid of it?

The pages inside gave a synopsis of the attraction itself, along with some pretty cool artwork.

This drawing of the unloading and exit area, shows the Clock of the World on the back wall, and also the giant floor-to-ceiling oil lamp (far right).  Sadly, the oil lamp was turned off at some point in the early 1970s.

These last three pages are what make me wonder if this was a free handout from Monsanto.

The exit area to the attraction also included these Monsanto advertisements, which featured some limited animation.  These were similar to the Goodyear advertisements located next to the PeopleMover's entrance and exit Speedramps.

When the attraction opened in 1967, a souvenir record was included in the official Monsanto press kits.  The record contained the original theme song, "Miracles from Molecules," which used to play in both the queue and the exit/display area.

The song was written by the world-renowned Sherman Brothers!

I bought this ATIS Child/Junior ticket in a vintage clothing store, of all places!  It's dated 1968, but I'm not sure how long they continued to include these in ticket books.  I never saw them in any of the ticket books during my childhood visits.  I do remember the attraction being "free" and not requiring a ticket up until 1972.  That was the year that ATIS started requiring a "C" ticket.

Here's a "newer" ATIS souvenir item.  It's an enamel pin that came out in 1998, as part of a "Tomorrowland Attractions" series.  This was before the official "Disney Pin Trading" program began.

Unfortunately, with all of the photos that I have taken at Disneyland over the years, I never took a really good photo of the entrance to the attraction.  This was as close as I came.  (I took this one on July 17, 1981, Disneyland's 26th birthday.)

I've previously posted the following interior photos (taken in 1985), back in February of 2021.  To see that entire post, you can click here:  A Vintage Disneyland Trip Report from February 1985,:

This was my attempt to photograph the "wall of vibrating molecules."  Unfortunately, there was a mirror behind them, which reflected my camera's flash.  But we can see one of the many molecules from that scene, in the upper left corner of the photo.

The same thing happened when I tried to photograph the giant eyeball, which was "watching" guests pass by the microscope's eyepiece.  There was a plastic or glass panel in front of the eye, which reflected the flash and kept it from being captured on film.

This unloading area pic shows a pretty good view of the giant floor-to-ceiling oil lamp, but without the drops of oil running down it's strings.  Even after being permanently turned off, it remained in place until the attraction's 1985 closure.  And if you look at the back of that "Atomobile" on the far right, you can see a sticker......

 ......this sticker, which warned guests to "Please Remain Seated."  I remember a childhood friend's mom had a story about dropping her camera in this attraction, getting out of her vehicle to retrieve it, and then running back to catch up with the vehicle that her family was riding in.  Even at that young age, I knew that was not a very smart thing to do.  The vehicles traveled through most parts of the attraction, at an elevated level.  I remember being able to look down and see the floor along with an occasional "emergency exit" door, located at a level far below the track.  It was also very dark in the attraction, and there were no safety rails alongside the winding track.

The Disney Gallery in New Orleans Square used to have special themed exhibits.  In 1997, there was a "Tomorrowland" exhibit, which included this miniature Atomobile.  The miniature was just one of many that was visible to guests, while waiting in the attraction's queue.

The only other photo I took of that Tomorrowland exhibit was of this replica of the Tomorrowland "Spaceman" costume, from the 1950s.  I did videotape the entire exhibit, but I still need to digitize that footage.

Prior to that 1985 attempt that I made to photograph the giant "eyeball," I had made one earlier attempt.  I took this photo in the summer of 1978, but once again, my efforts were all in vain.  However, the reflection of the flash didn't block out quite as much of the eyeball!

Fortunately, one of View-Master's "Tomorrowland" sets included a view of the eyeball.

The caption for the image is, "Giant's Eye Studies Visitors."  The eyeball would actually shift slightly from left to right. I wish there was some footage of it available.

Adventure thru Inner space was one of my favorite Disneyland attractions.  I have very fond memories of going on it during every single childhood visit, beginning with when it was "free," and then continuing after it required a "C" ticket.  Even after all of the years that have passed since it's closure, I still miss this very unique attraction!

 

Disaster In The South Bay (Southern California) - 1960s

In 1961, less than a year after my parents were married, they moved to the "South Bay" area of Southern California.  (The South Bay encompasses multiple cities, including Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Torrance, San Pedro, and quite a few others.)  My parents lived in the South Bay for eight years, and during that time, my dad photographed multiple "newsworthy" events.

This first photo shows a shipwrecked Greek freighter, the S.S. Dominator.  The ship was originally an American liberty ship, built during World War II, and launched as the S.S. Melville Jacoby.  After the war, the ship was sold into commercial service, and changed hands and names multiple times.  She was sold one last time in 1953, with her name being changed to the S.S. Dominator.  On March 13, 1961, she was on her way from Los Angeles to Vancouver, when she ran aground off the coast of Rancho Palos Verdes.  My dad took this photo of the ship, but it's undated, so I don't know how long the ship had been out there in the water at this point.

These next two photos are from The Los Angeles Times.  This one appears to have been taken not too long after the shipwreck occurred.

I'm also not sure of the date on this one.  Incidentally, the S.S. Dominator was never completely salvaged, and pieces of the wreckage can still be found today, both in the water and on the shore.

On August 23, 1964, an airplane crashed in the 450 block (456) of Palos Verdes Boulevard, in Redondo Beach.  The plane was a "converted" P-51 World War II fighter.  Both the pilot and his one passenger, were killed instantly in the crash.

My family lived just around the corner from the site of the plane crash (on Calle Mira Mar), so it would have been within walking distance for my dad to get to the site.  The incident also attracted many other local residents.

The corresponding black and white photos in this post are from The Daily Breeze newspaper.  Reportedly, flames from the wreckage "reached as high as 20 to 30 feet in height, and burned intensely."

A repairman on a telephone pole can be seen in a couple of my dad's photos.  Maybe some of the telephone and power lines had been damaged during the crash?

 

 

One of the plane's wings took out part of a cinder block wall.  FYI, that's the Pacific Ocean we are seeing off in the distance. 

 

 

Many of the apartment buildings directly across the street from the accident (including the ones seen in my dad's first "plane crash" photo), were torn down in the 1970s, and replaced with the "Village Palos Verdes" condominiums.

My dad walked around to the street behind the crash site (Camino de Encanto), and took this next photo....apparently from someone's backyard.  I hope he asked for permission!

A reporter from The Daily Breeze newspaper also took a photo from the same backyard.  We can see the same two men from my dad's photo, hanging out in the backyard.

Just one year earlier (1963), and in the same neighborhood, a trash collection truck had crashed through a wall in the backyard of my family's home.  I guess walls just weren't safe in this neighborhood!

The road was higher on the other side of the wall.  That's why the truck came through the wall at that level.  It did not become airborne prior to hitting the wall!

The Madrona Marsh is a natural wetlands in Torrance, CA, and can be seen in this modern-day aerial photo (from The Daily Breeze).  At one time, the marsh extended further north, beyond the street that runs along it's current northern border.  Unfortunately, the city allowed the sale of that part of the marsh in the mid to late 1980s, and let developers build townhomes (the structures with the red tile roofs) on the former wetlands property.

In February of 1967, heavy rains caused the marsh to overflow onto the neighboring streets.  My dad took these photos on Madrona Avenue, at the point where Monterey Street used to intersect it.  When the north end of the marsh was destroyed for development, Monterey Street was realigned and a new street, "Plaza Del Amo," was created just to the south of it.

Those older apartment buildings visible in the distance are still standing today.

I attempted to merge the previous two photos.  It worked fairly well, but it's not perfect.  The wires between the telephone poles don't "connect."  On the far left is a building with signage on it's backside which reads, "Magic Chef."  This large building contained a Magic Chef Supermarket (which eventually became a Ralph's Supermarket) and a Thrifty Drug Store, and was a part of the original Del Amo Shopping Center built in the early 1960s.  That building still sits on the edge of the current mall property, but now appears to be mostly vacant, with the exception of a "Last Chance Store" (discount store) taking up a small portion of the space.

I decided to include this photo, even though I had already posted it back in June of 2018.  This photo of the Goodyear Blimp was taken in March of 1968, back when it used to make it's home at the Torrance Airport.  Apparently, there was a fairly large fire burning in the distance.  Not long after my dad took this photo, the blimp was relocated to it's current home in the City of Carson, alongside the 405 freeway.  

By the way.....Happy Friday the 13th, everyone!