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!

 

Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians - 65th Anniversary

This month marks the 65th anniversary of Walt Disney's "One Hundred and One Dalmatians," which was released on January 25, 1961.

Today, we will be taking a look at some memorabilia from this classic animated film.  We'll start with some personal items from my childhood.

This "Golden Shape Book" was published by Golden Press, which was a part of the Western Publishing Company, Inc.

And this comic book adaptation of the film was published by "Gold Key Comics," which was also a branch of the Western Publishing Company.  (This item actually belonged to my brother.)

I received this 101 Dalmatians Colorforms kit for one of my birthdays.

The board:

The pieces:

The instruction booklet:

My brother and I also had the "View-Master" version of the film:

A booklet came with the View-Master reels, so you could follow along with the story while viewing the "stereo pictures."

This postcard was from one of my childhood visits to Disneyland.  It was part of a series of "squeaker" postcards.  Theses postcards were sort of "fat" or "puffy," because they were made of two separate layers, with a little "squeaker" device in the middle.

Also during a childhood visit to Disneyland, my parents purchased this 101 Dalmatians record album for my brother and me.  I have a clear memory of this being purchased in the Main Street Emporium, on our way out of the park that day.

Even though the inside cover has a copyright date of 1965, the record was purchased during a 1970 visit to the park.  My mom even wrote our names and the date on the inside.

Inside cover:

Page one of the illustrated storybook:

The back cover showed all of the pages from the storybook:

I purchased this pinback button in Disneyland's Main Street Emporium, during the film's 1979 re-release.

These ceramic figurines were also sold at Disneyland, back in the 1970s and 1980s.  They could be found in the Character Shop in Tomorrowland, as well as in the Emporium and the China Closet on Main Street.

In the 1990s, they "updated" the look of the figurines.

 A Cruella figurine was created around this same time.

Also available in the 1990s, was a series of head-shaped villain mugs.  The mugs that were available were, Cruella, the Wicked Witch, Ursula, and Captain Hook.

Here are some other items that were sold in the park, back in the 1990s.

A Cruella pin:

 A Cruella pinback button:

A tin/container, filled with chocolate chip cookies:

All of the Cruella items above, were available in the Villains Shop in Fantasyland.  The shop also featured this permanent Cruella display.

When One Hundred and One Dalmatians was re-released in 1969, three-dimensional scenes from the film were created and displayed in the windows of the Main Street Emporium, at Disneyland. Those scenes are my earliest memories of the Emporium's window displays.  In 2005, some of the scenes from past Emporium displays made a return for the park's 50th anniversary. This window contained scenes from The Rescuers, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Fox and the Hound, and The Jungle Book.

Next, we'll take a look at some film-related advertisements, from various issues of Disney News Magazine.

This ad is from the back cover of the Winter 1969-'70 issue of Disney News Magazine, and was for the film's first theatrical re-release.

The Spring 1979 issue of Disney News Magazine featured an ad on it's back cover, for the film's second theatrical re-release.

The back cover of the following issue (Summer of 1979) was still advertising the film's second re-release, along with two new "live-action" film releases from Walt Disney Productions.

This ad was inside the Winter 1985 issue of Disney News Magazine, and was for the film's third theatrical re-release.

And this ad from inside of the Spring 1993 issue of Disney News Magazine, was advertising the film's premiere on The Disney Channel.

This poster was for the film's re-release in France, in the 1990s.  Note the mention of "Euro Disneyland Paris" in the lower left corner.  This is actually a postcard, which I purchased during a 2005 visit to Disneyland Paris.

 

 The film had it's first release on videotape, in 1992:

A refund offer was included inside the video's packaging.

Customers could receive $3 back, by sending in the proof of purchase for the video, and the "brand seal" from three Nabisco products, along with the receipts for those products.

In 1999, the film was released on DVD for the very first time.  And in 2008, it was re-released as a special 2-Disc "Platinum Edition" DVD set, following a full digital restoration of the film.

In 1996, Disney released a "live action" film, based on the 1961 animated film:

That same year, the Christmas Decor on Disneyland's Main Street was promoting the release of the live-action film.

There were 101 dalmatian figures that could be found in various locations on Main Street......

 ......and in Town Square.

The next two photos were taken inside the Main Street Emporium.  The Emporium use to have a central "hub" of registers, with an elevated turntable in the center.  The displays on this turntable would often change for the various seasons, or to promote whichever Disney film was playing in theaters at the time.

And these painted plywood displays were located next door to the Disney Showcase shop, in the patio area of the former Hills Brothers Coffee House/Town Square Cafe/American Egg House restaurant.

It's difficult to make out in this photo, but the "basket full of puppies" was a separate plywood cutout, in front of the larger backdrop.  This allowed guests to stand behind the basket, and appear as if they were sitting inside it, along with the puppies.

Also at the time of the 1996 "live action" release, there was a Cruella de Vil "walk-around" character, who resembled Glenn Close's version of the character.  I only shot video footage of her, but I still need to locate that.  In October of 2005, I took this pic of the traditional Cruella "walk-around" character.

Getting back to merchandising....in the 1980s and 1990s, a company called, "PopShots Inc.", made a series of 3-D "pop-up" greeting cards.  Many of these were Disney-themed, including this 101 Dalmatians birthday card.

 

 

In 2000, McDonald's ran a "100 Years of Magic" promotion.  It was supposed to celebrate the 100th birthday of Walt Disney (even though he was born in 1901).  For the promotion, they released 100 figures of various Disney characters.  The dalmatian pup, "Lucky," was included in the series.

 

A Cruella De Vil figure was also available.

In June of 2003, the Bradford Exchange released a limited edition "plate and figurine" combination piece of Cruella De Vil.  The Cruella figurine stands in front of an oval plate, which has several images of her painted on it.  The piece is titled, "I Have an Attitude and I Know How to Use It."  This was the third issue in a "Disney's Legendary Villains" series, which began in 2002.  The series also included Maleficent, Ursula, Lady Tremaine (from Cinderella), and the Evil Queen and Wicked Witch (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs).  This piece was a gift from a friend!

Each edition of the Villains series was limited to 295 casting days, and every piece was numbered and came with a certificate of authenticity.

In 2020, Hallmark created a Christmas ornament featuring one of the dalmatian puppies in front of a television set, while the "Kanine Krunchies" commercial is playing.  This ornament was a gift from my brother.

You can insert a light bulb from a string of Christmas lights, into the bottom of the ornament to make the TV screen "light up."

The following year (2021), Loungefly created a large lenticular pin with the same "television set" theme.  This pin was also a gift from my brother.

The television "screen" is the lenticular part of the pin.

And last up for today, is this 2014 photo I took of a "generic" dalmatian statue, inside Disneyland's Fortuosity Shop.  I can't remember now if it was for sale, or if it was just being used as shop decor.

I couldn't help but wonder if this was a leftover item from the park's "One Of A Kind Shop," which closed in 1996.  For many years, the shop's inventory included a collection of ceramic "sentry-type" dogs, which were usually on display outside in the adjoining Royal Courtyard.

**BONUS**

I scanned every page of my 101 Dalmatians "Golden Shape Book," so here it is in it's entirety:

Happy 65th anniversary, to Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians!

***UPDATE***

This is a page out of the January 24, 2016 edition of "Parade" magazine, which was a Sunday supplement to The Los Angeles Times for years, until it went completely digital in 2022.  Five "fun facts" were listed about 101 Dalmatians, in honor of the film's 55th anniversary.