Tom and I are pretty much sure at this point that our days in Grey Gardens are numbered...er...uh...our time in New York City is limited. We had been going back and forth between moving to Southern California to be near some of his loved ones (and Disneyland) or to Central Florida to be near some of my loved ones (and Walt Disney World) and have come to an almost officially official decision. In the meantime, we have started a sort of informal bucket list of things we want to do here before the wind changes and take us elsewhere. There are many experiences and opportunities that are easy to take for granted as someone living in New York City.
Memorabilia in the Queens Museum of Art.
One of these bucket list items has been to make it out to the theater more. We have avoided it more often than not lately because a) it's expensive, 2) it's not usually very good, and we don't want to waste our time, energy and money on mediocre, unexciting productions that purport to be the pulse of the American theatrical heart when in truth they are are actually just lifeless. Exuent rant stage left. In our effort to give more theatre a shot, which has yielded mixed results, uncovering a few keepers and more than a few that we'd like to toss back, we decided to see a new musical in Queens, which shall remain nameless to protect the innocent. Because it was atrocious.
Disney and Moses in the Queens Museum of Art.
Thankfully, however, it was far from a wasted trip since one of the major reasons we decided to see it was the fact that it was at the Queens Theater in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. In other words, it was an excuse to check another item of the bucket list- visit the site of the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, which was a major event in Disney history. It was a controversial fair, since it wasn't officially recognized by the committee that recognizes such things. Robert Moses, the powerful New Yorker who willed the fair into being, decided to break rules left and right, charging rent for the pavilions, running the fair for two years instead of only one, and hosting it before enough time had passed between it and the last fair held in the U.S. Regulations be damned, Moses plowed ahead, wanting to celebrate the 300th anniversary of New York's founding and atone for the losses his previous fair in the same spot accrued in 1939-1940. The result was that many governments couldn't officially participate, leaving industries to pick up the slack and people to claim that the fair was too commercial.
Entrance Plaza. You can see the Unisphere
in the center of the shot. It's omnipresent.
As the fair was being planned, Disneyland, designed and executed by WED Enterprises (later Imagineering) under Walt Disney's guidance, was a bit more then five years old and a certifiable smash, so it was inevitable that he would be sought out to design attractions for the event. Disneyland was put into a holding pattern for several years as Walt had the foresight to see that WED could use corporate money to develop new technologies and rides, test them out on the east coast and get a feel for how his entertainment would be welcomed there, and then bring a good chunk of that work back with them to Disneyland after the fair closed. And that's exactly what he did.
Another shot near the entrance.
I cropped out the homeless guy.
It was here that Disney introduced technologies and concepts that would allow his imagineers to take theme park attractions to whole new levels. WED was brought on to create four attractions and we can still see at the very least remnants of all of them in the parks. For Ford they created the Magic Skyway, which took people on a trip through time from the age of the dinosaurs to the present in a Ford convertible and resulted in the Omnimover ride system in place in attractions such as "The Haunted Mansion". You can also still visit the dinosaurs from the ride at Disneyland if you take the train between Tomorrowland and Main Street. The amazing Marc Davis cave people, however, have been lost to time. While you were in the queue, there were also detailed miniature representations of distant lands to peruse.
Unisphere + rainbow = happy gay photographer.
The Illinois State Pavilion featured the most advanced audio-animatronic figure created up to that point in Abraham Lincoln. People were mesmerized during the presentation, which managed to piece together an incredibly moving speech from bits of several others without sounding like a greatest hits montage. The figure ran into technical difficulties here and there (it was apparently inclined to give its audience the finger now and again) but for the most part, people were so convinced that it was a real actor up there, they would throw things at him to get a reaction. The show can still be seen at Disneyland in its original form and later spawned "The Hall of Presidents" at Walt Disney World.
The former Fountains of the Fairs are now a skate park.
For General Electric, Disney created Progressland with "The Carousel of Progress" as its centerpiece. The rise still exists in WDW in an updated form as the only attraction in that park that could literally be dusted for Walt's fingerprints. The theatrical show, using audio-animatronic actors (and pup), moved the audience from scene to scene while the stages stood still. Since it still exists, it is the best remembered piece of the exhibit, but after the show, the audience saw the Skydome Spectacular, which was a show that was projected onto the inside of the domed roof of the pavilion. Disney also developed a show using two A-A birds to help the audience understand electricity. It all owed a great deal to the unrealized Edison Square concept developed for Disneyland.
Vegetation on the bottom of the Unisphere.
Pepsi was the last company the approached Walt, asking him to create a show for UNICEF in less than a year start to finish. Even up to his neck in the three other projects for the fair, he agreed, and the classic "it's a small world" attraction was born. The major contributor was Mary Blair, who designed the look of the ride, which was a charming boat ride through the nations as we meet the children of the world. Other major contributors were the Sherman Brothers, who gave us the ubiquitous song, Alice Davis, who handled the costuming, Blaine Gibson, who designed the dolls, Claude Coats, who gave the ride its layout, and Rolly Crump, who added other touches to the design and designed the gorgeous "Tower of the Four Winds" kinetic sculpture that adorned the outside of the otherwise plainly designed show building. Along with the classic attraction that is now in every Disney destination, the boat ride gave the imagineers a new method of moving crowds through a large capacity attraction. They would later use it in "The Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Splash Mountain".
The Panorama is huge and amazing. It's the entire city
in miniature at the Queens Museum of Art.
It was hard for me to wrap my head around the way the a World's Fair works. I was born in 1980, so there have been no major World's Fairs in the U.S. since I was four years old. To be honest, to my generation Epcot in Disney has always been our World's Fair, showcasing both foreign cultures and the promise of tomorrow. The thing that is really beyond me is the ephemeral nature of the fair. It seems like such a shame that all of this amazing architecture and history is built just to be unceremoniously torn down. Even Rolly Crump's spectacular "Tower of the Four Winds" was destroyed and just dumped into the river because of the prohibitive cost of moving it. On the whole, though, it is said that Walt felt the same way I do- What a waste.
I found these vintage Disney/fair souvenirs
at the Museum gift shop.
What started as a piqued interest in the fair because of Disney has grown. It has become my latest obsession (like I need another one). I am fascinated by the time it encapsulates, when America was still full of a kind of innocence and promise that has all but evaporated in the ensuing decades. I look at the future of the world and our nation and often feel a knot of helplessness in the pit of my stomach. Such is the legacy of the generations since the Space Age. The fair captured the last gasp of a hopeful nation before it was buried beneath a pile of endless foreign conflict, cultural schisms, governmental ineptitude and rampant corporate greed.
The period of time that it represents, the fascinating architecture, the theme of "Peace Through Understanding", the grandeur to the brink of camp. All of it has captured my imagination the way it did for my parent's generation. My Mama still remembers her visit. A friend of mine (shout out to Bart!) tells of his trip with a glow in his eyes, recounting how at the end of their trip his mother told him that she would let him choose one last thing to see again before they left. He, of course, chose "it's a small world". He's a gay after my own heart. The fair has created it's own mythology and it is one that I am just starting to peel the layers back to see.
Looking towards the Fountains.
As much of a success as it may have been in some respects, the fair was a financial failure. Attendance fell well below expected numbers. Some exhibitors couldn't even afford to stay open through the end of the fair, leaving it up to the fair itself to keep them running rather than deal with the PR mess of having closed exhibitions. Robert Moses had planned to use profits from the fair to turn Flushing Meadows-Corona Park into a public space to rival Central Park. With the fair finishing in the red, that was an impossibility. Within months, the site was razed, leaving behind a few pieces of art and architecture and a shell of a space waiting to be transformed into a proper park. Time, though, was not kind. New York's finances in the late 60's and 70's were not in the greatest shape. Most of the few remnants that were left to be preserved were untended and fell prey to the elements and disrespectful humans. It is a pretty sad end to the story.
My favorite statue from the fair-
The Rocket Thrower. Hubba hubba.
Walking through the park today is an interesting experience. Pieces of the fair still exist. The Unisphere still stands and the fountains around it still flow sometimes, while empty pools that used to contain jumping fountains remain devoid of water. Some of the gorgeous statues still stand. The New York Pavilion now contains the Queens Museum of Art, with the Panorama of New York City intact and a circa-rama theater has been converted into the gorgeous theater that we went to the park to see a show in. The Observation Towers and Tent of Tomorrow with the large scale terrazzo map of New York on the floor, though landmarked, are in complete disrepair. Gotham Plaza, the entrance, is quite run down. Skateboarders have taken over every concrete surface and soccer matches the green spaces. Kids play hide and seek in overgrown bushes and race remote control cars down the walkways. Almost none of them, I would venture to bet, have a sense of history regarding the ground they're standing on.
What's left of the Observation Towers and
Tent of Tomorrow.
Today, the fair seems almost all but forgotten on its former site. I was surprised about the sense of sadness that I had walking around before we went to the show and I have spent the weeks since trying erase that feeling by diving headfirst into the history of what stood there. New York is a strange city. There is so much history here that they have to pick and choose what they are able to respectfully preserve. The 64-65 World's Fair is one of those pieces of history that has largely managed to fall through the cracks. Little of those two amazing years remains. But a trip to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park on a Saturday afternoon was enough to set my mind ablaze in respect for and fascination with this incredible slice of the past- both Disney's and America's.
Of course, I scoured YouTube for interesting videos of the 64-65 Fair for you guys, since y'all are so awesomesauce. Here are the ones that really churned my butter. I hope you enjoy them!
This first one was made by Ford and shows a complete ride-through of the Magic Skyway, which otherwise might have been completely lost. Unfortunately, it doesn't contain Walt's original narration.
This is the famous "Disney Goes to the World's Fair" episode of The Wonderful World of Color. It is one of my favorite episodes and was released on a now out of print DVD in the Walt Disney treasures line. It shows Walt and his imagineers in preparation for the event. This is the first part of five.
This is a very cool special from NBC that I found where a host takes you on an overview of the entire fair. It is well-shot and the host has a dry sense of humor. It's a great way to get a taste of things that aren't Disney from the fair, and there were many. It's nice to see more of the scope. This is part one of six.
This is a commercial from the time for the subway extension that was done specifically to give people access to the fair. It's the very same 7 line that I took out to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park a few weeks ago. And it was not nearly this much fun. I wish it had been, though.
I would be remiss if I did not mention a few amazing sources of information for this entry and for the brain expansion that this journey into the 64-65 New York World's Fair has become and will continue to be for me. First is the amazing 5 CD set Walt Disney and the 1964 World's Fair. It contains ride-throughs with alternate versions, music, demos, show recordings and studio outtakes and is beautifully packaged with informative liner notes, which are really more like a short book. I have listened to the Ford Pavilion CD so many times that most of the tracks have slowly crept up into my iPod's most played playlist. Also, there is a fantastic book by Bill Cotter and Bill Young called Images of America: The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair. It has tons of great information and black and white photos of the fair. I have been slowly digesting each morsel on the subway every day for a week, trying to soak it all in. If you are interested in more in-depth information on the fair, especially Disney's influence there, I cannot recommend these highly enough.
The back side of the good ole U. S. of A. on the Unisphere.
I'm just at the beginning of my journey of discovery with the fair and I feel lucky that this came onto my radar while I was still living close enough to dig a little deeper in person. If you are in the area and have a passion for Disney history, it is well worth the trip to the Park. Despite the lack of buildings and landmarks, there is still a palpable sense of what was there. Though I'm sad about what was lost and will no doubt spend plenty of time trying to wrap my brain around the whole affair, I must say that I'm grateful that Walt saved so much of it and that Disney has kept it alive in one form or another. Disney has a respect for its history that even the city of New York doesn't and/or isn't able to have. I may not be able to ride a Ferris wheel housed in a giant tire, see the dancing fountains or shows, or even take a trip on the Magic Skyway, but I am able to ride "it's a small world" and the "Carousel of Progress" and be transported to a time when the idea of "a smile mean(ing) friendship to everyone" in "a great, big beautiful tomorrow" was not completely doused in irony, if only for a few minutes. In today's world that experience is not only nice but necessary. And I am extremely grateful to Disney for making it possible.
Just to catch y'all up, I took a pre-wedding trip to California in September to spend some time with my now-husband's friends and family in San Diego and to take a trip to Disneyland. We timed our excursion specifically so that we would be able to visit the amazing "Colors of Mary Blair" exhibit at the Disney Gallery, since we are both huge fans of her work. (Why is there no name for us Mary Blair fanatics yet? Blairvoyants? Blairmasters? Blairstylists? Hrm. I'll keep percolating and get back to you.) So far, I have shared photos of Mary's inspirational art for Disney films and for her masterpiece, "it's a small world". Now, I will share with you her work for other attractions and lands in the parks. Mary has quite a presence in Disneyland and Walt Disney World outside of "the happiest cruise that ever sailed".
These paintings were done for the never built "Western River Expedition", which is one of the saddest coulda-woulda-shouldas of all the abandoned Disney park attractions. Originally there was no plan to bring "Pirates of the Caribbean" to WDW. At the time, there was still the residual aspiration towards something new and better left over from Walt, rather than constant rehashing of what was already popular. In lieu of that ride, there was to be a boat ride through scenes of America's expansion West, designed by the amazing Marc Davis. The area was also to have a runaway mine train coaster, which eventually was built as "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad". It was to be the most expensive attraction area ever up to that point. When the park opened and there were no pirates stem to stern, people got miffed and complained. In yet another case of giving the people what they think they want rather than what they don't yet know that they want, the executives caved, hastily adding the pirate attraction and shelving the "Western River Expedition". I still bemoan the decision to this day. The Mary Blair paintings are gorgeous, suggesting a more playful, less literal use of colors in the scenes. In the end, they were quite influential on the look of a future Disney project, the vastly underrated film Home on the Range.
The following is Mary's concept work for Tomorrowland. There were big plans for a "new" Tomorrowland to open in 1967 and Walt wanted Mary, who had done so beautifully with "it's a small world" just a few years before, to create murals to adorn it. She obliged, creating some beautiful pieces that were executed in tile (the ones in a similar vein to "small world" which incorporate the children, collectively titled "The Spirit of Creative Energies Among Children") and some that never were (the more abstract ones). The tile murals stayed up until they were covered up in the late 80's and late 90's. There is some controversy surrounding whether the murals were destroyed or merely covered up. I hope that those in charge had the good sense not to destroy her gorgeous artwork to slap on a generic "Star Tours" fast-moving ride vehicle picture, and that the works are still there, waiting to be rediscovered.
You all know that I have a bit of a past with the murals at the Contemporary Hotel in WDW. They are absolutely stunning. Until you get off of the Monorail and stand at the bottom, though, you have scant concept of the true size and scale of these massive and beautiful pieces of art. They also include one of my favorite Disney icons- the five-legged goat. I have sort of adopted the little dude as a personal guiding symbol for the acceptance of variance and imperfection in life and art because that is what makes and keeps it interesting. Not only should imperfection be embraced, but sometimes it can be by design. (Future tattoo? Most likely.) Here is some of her fantastic concept art for the murals, known as "The Grand Canyon Concourse".
And that brings us to the end of the exhibit proper, but while we are at it, I thought I'd share a few pics from elsewhere in the park. Just for kicks. Y'all with me? Awesome! First, here are the standard shots of the sign, the incredible facade, and the clock from "it's a small world". I will never not get a little misty-eyed walking towards it. There is magic in that facade, let me tell you.
I wanted to include some pictures of the rest of the area of Fantasyland that surrounds "it's a small world" because before I went to Disneyland for the first time almost a year ago I had absolutely no idea that there was a mini Mary Blair land in that corner of the park. People (understandably) focus so much on showing the facade of the ride itself that they forget to share that almost every inch is Mary Blair themed, from the gift shops,
to the trash cans,
to the speakers and lighting fixtures for the parades,
to the gate that the parade emerges from behind,
to even the churro and pretzel stands!
Inside the Toy Shop they have a framed classic poster attraction. And I want it. Sigh.
And of course, even the cast members get in on the action with their costumes. Carolyn was kind enough to let me distract her from her boat supervision duties long enough to snap a shot. I wanted to really feature the embroidered "small world" boat on the pocket, but I didn't want her to feel like I was some masher trying to snap a pic of her cleavage. In the end, I'm glad I got a shot of her lovely smile. And that fabulous hat.
Every time I go towards that section of the park, I get all giddy. The colors and the geometric shapes, the 60's-liciousness of the whole affair, the joy of it all. It is quite possibly one of my favorite places on this Earth. Now those of you Mary Blair fans that have not yet visit Disneyland have been fairly warned. You may want to carry a box of tissues when you approach the attraction. It's a bit overwhelming in the best possible way. Gird your loins, kiddos.
I also have mentioned that there is a tribute to Mary Blair within the ride itself. One of the doll figures is actually modeled to look like Mary. I try every time to get a good shot of her, but because there is no light shining on her and she is behind the boat as you move through, it's always a challenge. This is the best shot I could get of her from the last trip. She's standing on the back side of the Eiffel Tower in the France section of the ride, wearing yellow and green and holding on to a red balloon.
Even outside the area of Fantasyland that houses "it's a small world" Mary's influence can be felt. This singing flower is in the queue for the Alice in Wonderland dark ride. It's not surprising that you would find a touch of the Blair all over this ride, since it is the film that hews closest to her style onscreen.
Even across the way in Disney's California Adventure you see how influential Mary's aesthetic still is on Imagineers. This is from the facade for the (fully awesome) "Monsters Inc.- Mike and Sulley to the Rescue!" dark ride. The fantastic use of color, the simple shapes, and the joyful exuberance are all a tip of the hat to Mary's work.
In the Art of Animation building, Mary's artwork for Alice in Wonderland is featured prominently during that films onscreen representation. By the way, if you've never been inside this building figuring that it's not worth your time because of a lack of shiny things that move fast, get your keister in there ASAP. I stood in this room, which surrounds you with sounds, art and stills from Disney and Pixar animated movies, as it cycled from one film to the next until I had seen all of them. It was one of my favorite experiences in the park.
Even beyond the berm, Mary Blair is there! This last shot was taken of a window display in the amazing and humongous to the point of overwhelming Amoeba Music in L.A. Tom and I caught up with one of my best friends from college and stopped here on the way back. I don't know if this is a permanent display or I was just at the right place at the right time, but I think it illustrates just how far Mary's cultural reach extends. I love this window. It's just a great big, bright, non-ironic splash of joy on the side of a hipster-ish music store (remember those, kids?) in a cooler-than-thou city. It makes my heart sing.
Well folks, that brings us to the end of our journey through the Wonderful World of my favorite Disney artist, Mary Blair. Thank you all for indulging me and I hope that these entries have brought a fraction of the pure happiness to you that revisiting all of these memories has brought to me! Do me a favor, will ya? Next time you are floating through "it's a small world" and you come upon the Eiffel Tower, take a second to spot Mary and give a quick thanks to the immensely talented lady whose singular artistic vision inspired it all. I always do.
The iconic "it's a small world" facade concept art.
Last week I showed you pictures I took of inspirational art for Disney films from the awesomesauce Colors of Mary Blair exhibit in the Disney Gallery. This week, we're moving into the next room and showing some of the art she made as inspiration for fellow Imagineers in creating attractions for the parks. I decided to focus this entry on the art that she did for "it's a small world", which deservedly got the lion's share of the wall space since it is such an icon for Disneyland. Apologies for not getting more closeups on the informational cards. I was too dazzled by the colors and fabulousness in front of me.
I absolutely adore the fancy detailing that they added to the corners of the mattes for these pieces. Perfect, subtle, whimsical touch.
One of the cool discoveries about her work was how often she used the collage technique. She used everything from wrapping paper to lighting gels.
The experience of seeing these pieces inspired by different regions and countries side by side in this way was fantastic. She was really able to boil each place down to signifying colors and patterns while keeping it all unified by her own visual style. You can see how each piece has its own unique color palette and how much of each piece actually comes alive in the attraction. They really incorporated not just the feel, but many specifics from Mary's work.
The following shots are of maquettes for some of the figures from "it's a small world" which were in the display cases in the center of the room. It really amazes me how wonderfully the people who collaborated on the attraction were able to take the very singular style of Mary and make it fully dimensional without losing her spirit. It was one of the great challenges of film artists working from her inspiration and was never fully realized, much to Walt's dismay. Turns out, her ultimate artistic statement would be "it's a small world" after all.
Next door to the Disney Gallery is "The Disneyland Story featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln", which I visited for the first time. Both are fantastic, by the way, and sadly passed up on all too often by people undoubtedly dashing madly towards something that moves more quickly. Tucked into a corner in a display case was a bit more "it's a small world". These folks are from the clock in the facade of the attraction.
Sorry bout the flashmark, mini Carmen Miranda.
So much Mary Blair, so little time! I will post one more set of pictures soon that show Mary Blair in the rest of the park. Until then, I leave you with a picture of some very questionable merch from a shop right next to "it's a small world". Now I'm sure that if you asked a cast member what these little dojobbers are, they would have a cutesy-wootsy answer like "Happy Jolly Mini-Cups of Joy". But come on. Look at them. You can't tell me that they didn't produce "it's a small world" shot glasses. I guess they finally answered the call of all the folks who said that they'd have to get drunk to make it through the ride without wanting to bang their heads against a wall.
"its a world of tears", not "a world of beers", y'all.
