You Don't Look a Day Over Forty . . .

Explore the 2719 Hyperion Archives:

Souvenirs: Pennant Magic and Adventure

The Toontown Field Guide

Snapshot: Disneyland!
Donald Duck Goes to Disneyland

The Disneyland (Four Color) Birthday Party

On this day, Disneyland's 53rd Birthday, we commemorate the 50th Anniversary of a comic book the celebrated the third birthday of the Happiest Place on Earth.

Walt Disney's Disneyland Birthday Party was a Dell Giant comic book published during the summer of 1958.

Out of Town for the Holiday

I'm spending the holiday weekend in Passammaquoddy for the big 4th of July Cookout. Many of my fellow Disney bloggers will also be there so be sure to check out the festivities. In the meantime, jump into the 2719 Hyperion Archives for some Independence Day-themed fun:

America on Parade

Souvenirs: License to Collect

Lost Imagineering: A Happy, Fun American Adventure

Lost Imagineering: Liberty Street

Lost Imagineering: Disney's America

The Animal Kingdom Anniversary Desktop

Honoring ten years of Disney's Animal Kingdom, Nick Nitsch brings us another in his series of stunning Disney desktops. Celebrate a decade of exploration and a future of discovery with this beautiful design. Thanks, Nick!

(800 x 600)

(640 x 480)

A Decade of Exploration and Discovery

When the Walt Disney Company announced their intentions in the mid-1990s to build a zoological-based theme park as its fourth gate at Walt Disney World, I must admit I was sufficiently underwhelmed. It wasn't exactly an original idea. Busch Gardens Dark Continent was just a hop, skip and a jump down I-4. But I kept a good thought nonetheless.

When I first visited the newly opened Disney's Animal Kingdom in the fall of 1998, my disappointment was tangible. While lushly landscaped and exquisitely themed, it remained sadly insubstantial in many ways. The Asia area was still months away from completion and the Beastly Kingdom had fallen tragically under the budget ax of a very short sighted Michael Eisner.

Years passed, and like the denizens it represents, Disney's Animal Kingdom has evolved and grown into now what I consider to be one of the shining gems of Disney theme parks. Some of my initial problems with DAK were my own decidedly misguided perceptions and expectations. It is truly a very non-traditional park that is ill served by the high speed touring plans and the uber stimulation that guests typically associate with Disney theme park experiences. E-Tickets like Expedition Everest and Dinosaur not withstanding, the central tenants of DAK are exploration and discovery. It is a place that requires a slower, more deliberate pace, for so many of its treasures are subtle in both their designs and execution. Faux-history and story permeate nearly every corner of the park, from the history and culture of Harambe, to the more light-hearted yet equally entertaining backstory of Dinoland USA.

Nearly a decade ago I found myself rushing quickly from Kilimanjaro Safaris to Countdown to Extinction to Festival of the Lion King, with little heed of the many less celebrated but still equally worthwhile features of the park. Typically by mid afternoon, my family and I were on our way to adventures in EPCOT, the Studios or the Magic Kingdom. Today I linger in places like the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and the Maharajah Jungle Trek. I relish rather than dread a thirty minute wait for Expedition Everest so to better enjoy a true masterpiece of queue area design. I walk the Cretaceous Trail and then later note the antics of the Dino Institute interns within the walls of Restaurantosaurus. Even the much maligned Chester and Hester and their Dino-Rama tell a story both humorous and fascinating. Every visit can be an amazing journey requiring only a gentler pace and a more eager eye.

Its been a wonderful ten years of exploration. I personally look forward to a future filled with more adventure and discovery. Jambo!

Merry Christmas!

And in despair I bowed my head, there is no peace on earth I said.
For hate is strong and mocks the song, of peace on earth goodwill to men.

But hear the bells more loud and deep, God is not dead nor does he sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.

To all the readers of 2719 Hyperion, my deepest thanks for all the support and encouragement you have given me over the past year. I want to wish you all the happiest of holiday seasons, and a safe and prosperous new year.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Walt's Photo

In my rush to MouseFest, I was only able to post the photo for Walt Disney's birthday on Wednesday. Jim Korkis sent on the following background on that particular image that I selected:

I am sure you realize that the Walt photo you posted yesterday was the last official photo ever taken of Walt Disney. There are actually a couple in the series including one of Mickey waving. In this one, Mickey is pulling on his tie to be "neat and pretty" just like he did on the Mickey Mouse Club television show. I believe that may be Paul Castle under the Mouse head. You will also notice the gloves that Mickey is wearing. Mickey has four fingers and a thumb. This photo (and the others in this series) were staged by veteran Disney publicist Charlie Ridgway. Charlie told me a while ago that he believed the photo shoot was the end of August or early September. Unfortunately about three months later, Walt passed away.

Walt's daughter Diane, when she was interviewed by writer Pete Martin for Walt's biography that was published in the Saturday Evening Post in the 1950s, said that "(Dad's) not sentimental about Christmas. He's more sentimental about family relationships like birthdays... about his own birthday. He feels very sentimental about that and you don't dare slight him or forget because he would be very deeply hurt. If you mention it, he's fairly assured you will remember. But if he thinks that you don't remember, when it has arrived he just feels a little bit slighted."

December 5, 1901

Happy Birthday Walt Disney!

November 18, 1928

But believe it or not, November 18, 1928 has not always been the recognized birthday of Mickey Mouse. In the recent book Mickey Mouse Treasures, author and Disney Archives manager Robert Tieman explains:

Walt Disney always said that Mickey's birthday was the day Steamboat Willie premiered, but the exact date had been lost to history. For the early birthday commemorations, the studio routinely picked a convenient day in the fall—generally a Saturday so movie theaters could schedule kiddie matinees, and generally in September (even though Steamboat Willie was nowhere near finished that early in 1928). Over the years, September 28 became known as Mickey's birthday, even making it into print in several reference books—until the establishment of the Walt Disney Archives in 1970.

One of the first things archivist Dave Smith tracked down was a vintage program from New York's Colony Theatre, the site of Mickey's debut. Inside was conclusive documentation at last of the debut of Steamboat Willie on November 18, 1928. This discovery allowed for Mickey's actual birthday to be recognized for his golden anniversary in 1978.

52 Years Young at Heart

"The idea of Disneyland is a simple one. It will be a place for people to find happiness and knowledge. It will be a place for parents and children to share pleasant times in one another's company; a place for teachers and pupils to discover greater ways of understanding and education. Here the older generation can recapture the nostalgia of days gone by, and the younger generation can savor the challenge of the future. Here will be the wonders of Nature and Man for all to see and understand. Disneyland will be based upon and dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and hard facts that have created America. And it will be uniquely equipped to dramatize these dreams and facts and send them forth as a source of courage and inspiration to all the world. Disneyland will be sometimes a fair, an exhibition, a playground, a community center, a museum of living facts, and a showplace of beauty and magic. It will be filled with accomplishments, the joys and hopes of the world we live in. And it will remind us and show us how to make these wonders part of our own lives."

-Walt Disney

Happy Fathers Day!

A big Happy Fathers Day to all my fellow dads out there. If you are in possession of the Disney Treasures Complete Goofy DVD set, today's the perfect day to pop disc 2 in the player and kick back and enjoy the adventures of George Geef. Its animated fatherhood at its finest.

Happy Birthday Donald!

Wow, I almost let this one slip past me. Thanks to Rob Richards for sending on this happy reminder:

Couldn't let this important day go by without celebrating!

Donald's full name is Donald Fauntleroy Duck. He debuted in the cartoon "The Wise Little Hen" on June 9, 1934, so... today is his birthday. Donald lives in Duckburg with his three nephews; Huey, Dewey and Louie. He is the son of Uncle $crooge's older sister Hortense and her husband, Quackmore, but he and his twin sister, Della, were raised by Grandma Duck. He has a cousin, Gladstone, a pet St. Bernard named Bolivar and a long-term girlfriend, Daisy.

Happy Birthday, Donald!

Rob Richards
House Organist
El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood, CA

Thanks again Rob. I guess things just got a little too goofy around here lately.

It's Been a Goofy 75 Years

It appears that another major milestone of the Disney Company is going unrecognized and uncelebrated. Seventy-five years ago this month, Goofy appeared for the first time, albeit in the form of Dippy Dawg, in the 1932 Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey’s Revue.

Goofy is especially unique among his famous costars in that his performances were not limited to the intellectually-challenged but always good natured personality he came to embody . His range extended to his now famous Sport Goofy and “How To” roles, and then ultimately to the post-war character of Mr. Geef, who was essentially a cartoon counterpart to the likes of television icons Ozzie Nelson and Ward Cleaver.

From the black and white shaggy persona of Dippy Dawg to his upcoming and hopeful return to glory later this year in How to Hook Up Your Home Theater, it is time to celebrate 75 years of Goofy-ness. That’s exactly what we plan on doing here over the next few weeks. There’s a lot of potential ground to cover so stay tuned.

Happy 78th Birthday, Mickey!

Dumbo - October 23, 1941

Happy 65th!

The Pumpkin King is Now 13

In the case of The Nightmare Before Christmas, thirteen is a very appropriate number to celebrate. On October 13, 1993, the film opened in New York City. I dusted off my DAZ Studio software to create this design to commemorate the occasion.

Happy 35th Birthday Walt Disney World!

35 years ago today, Walt Disney World opened in central Florida. As I said in my original post, for me, it all started with a map. Here is the Magic Kingdom as it was at the beginning.