Disleelandia

PROSPECTOR MICKEY Night & Flash Light

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Dis-LEE

I really didn’t know what to call this thing! Years ago I found the Mickey figure alone at a yard sale but couldn’t get it to work. Just recently I found the complete item at another yard sale and it all works perfectly.

Let’s have a look:

Mickey is a bit messy!

This is a combination ‘toy’ for a boy or a girl who might be afraid of the dark. First, the gems, treasure chest, and lantern light up to provide a nightlight. This can be battery-powered, but if you intend to leave it on all night, there is a 3 volt DC input.

Mickey’s head also moves

As you can see, Mickey can be lifted off the base and used for a flashlight for those late visits to the bathroom. Or fridge. Hey, I’m not judging!

Lights would show up better in complete darkness

Once you turn the Mickey figure on, the light shines. But when you place him on the base, a switch turns the light off until needed. And what fun can you have with Mickey’s light?

It’s a heart! (and can you see the rainbow?)

Now let’s see what we get when Mickey is closer to the wall:

It’s a smaller heart!

Or some weird interdimensional portal. We will ever see Mickey again?

Before we continue, I should mention that there is no manufacturer stamped on the base or figure. It simply says ‘Disney’ and ‘Made in China’.

Battery compartment is in the backpack (2 x AAA’s)

Oh but we’re not finished with the batteries yet!

Battery compartment (2 x C’s) and bulb compartment

This was hard to photograph well due to the flash washing out the lights. Without the flash, it wasn’t light enough to get a good shot. But I hope you get the idea!

Here is one last shot of Prospector Mickey on his base, tipped back just enough to light up his heart-shaped lantern:

Mickey will light the way!

Posted in Collectibles, Figurines | Tagged Collectibles, Figurines, Flashlight, Gem Base, Mickey Mouse, Nightlight, Prospector Mickey | Leave a comment

TUBBY the TUBA LP – Narrated by Annette

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Dis-LEE

Who is Tubby the Tuba you ask? Well, if you were into collecting very obscure Disneyland Records releases in 1963, you’d recognize this character as a one-off musical instrument used to teach children about, what else: music.

But I’m guessing that doesn’t clear anything up for you, so I think this would be a good time to show you the LP cover:

I love his socks!

This LP from Disneyland Records follows the pattern of most similar releases in that the main title is confined to the A Side, with filler or stock music of a related theme confined to the B Side. So as you may gather from that, Tubby the Tuba and his story only appears on the A Side of this LP.

Annette does a fantastic job of narrating the story doing many character voices and even singing a very funny character song for a bullfrog.

FUN FACT: Even though Walt talked her out of changing her last name, with the argument that she would be unique and remembered for it, she is often billed as simply ‘Annette’. What’s up with that?

The story of Tubby the Tuba follows, you guessed it, a tuba as he tries to be taken seriously by the snobbish instruments of the orchestra he is a part of. While they get to play beautiful melodies he only gets to go ‘Uumpa! Uumpa!’ and is shouted down if he tries to do anything else.

After a rehearsal Tubby goes off by himself and sits down beside a pond where he meets a large bullfrog. The bullfrog is a happy and courteous fellow and greets the tuba and soon they are swapping life stories which turn out to be very similar. It seems the bullfrog’s singing isn’t appreciated by his pond friends either. He sings a tune for Tubby that both cheers him up and gives him something to play for his band mates!

Tubby returns to the orchestra for another rehearsal and tries to sneak the bullfrog’s tune in but is again shouted down by the other instruments. But the Conductor hears it and asks Tubby to play it again. He does so and it is so good that all of the other instruments join in and Tubby is now a respected part of the orchestra!

NOT-SO FUN FACT: Back in 1963 society still wasn’t very sensitive to anything that was different. Movies and television were filled with stereotypical depictions of heavy-set people. Usually every plucky protagonist had an overweight friend constantly munching on junk food for comic relief. I always wondered how those (usually) younger actors felt about being hired solely to be laughed at?

My contention is with the naming of this character: Tubby the Tuba. With the root word so obvious and the tuba’s size as an instrument, it’s not hard to see why the writers took the easy way out in naming him. But although arguably not as cute, couldn’t he have been named Thomas the Tuba or Terry the Tuba or Tony the Tuba?

This may be a stretch, but it comes close to fat shaming a tuba because of its size.

Now back to 2016 and the B Side of the LP:

This was a Short from 1953 and provided a history of music through the ages, from prehistoric man to the modern symphony orchestra.
An old standard given a new musical twist.
A medley featuring five things kids might sing about.
Jimmie Dodd sings a quasi-religious song based on the Bible book of Proverbs to the Mouseketeers.
This song was written by Dodd but sung by an ensemble.

It was great to hear Jimmie Dodd again as he was such a great talent and a very good man all around. It’s always interesting to see him outside of his Mickey Mouse Club role.

FUN FACT: Did you know that Jimmie Dodd starred in live-action movies before joining the Disney family? Please see the post entitled Jimmie Dodd Meets Private Snuffy Smith for one such role where he also shows his musical side.

These old LPs are great collectors items and very inexpensive to obtain. I picked this one up a local flea market for just a dollar. The music is well done and the artwork is fun!

Posted in Music, Soundtracks | Tagged Annette Funicello, Bruce Botnick, Disneyland Records, George Kleinsinger, Jimmie Dodd, John Thomas Johnson, LP, Music, Paul Tripp, Soundtracks, Tubby the Tuba | Leave a comment

Pixar’s CARS BESSIE Diecast Model

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Dis-LEE

Well, Mater might be willing to give two of his left lug nuts for a chance to work with Bessie, but I’m only willing to pay $11.94 plus tax.

Bessie die-cast model

Cars die-cast models have been out for years in multitudinous versions but I have never seen Bessie until now. Disney/Pixar knows how to keep a cash cow alive and well!

This is a very well done piece, with a great level of detail

Equipment surface MAY be hot?

Don’t worry, she’s just taking a break

Bessie will make a fine addition to my Cars die-cast collection. And I didn’t even have to break any laws in Radiator Springs to get some time with her!

Posted in Collectibles, Pixar, Toys | Tagged Bessie, Cars, Collectibles, Diecast, Paving Machine, Pixar, Toys | Leave a comment

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse WOODEN TRACTOR Set

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Dis-LEE

So who has enjoyed the CGI Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon series? Even though I don’t have kids, I have to admit to watching it on several occasions. And just how can you get that great theme song out of your head? Hot Dog!

Not much of the merchandise from this franchise has appealed to me… until now:

Who are Melissa & Doug?

Apparently, with a little help from Google, I found that Melissa & Doug is a brand name best known for their line of educational toys. Below is a bio page from their official blog:

And now on to the particular toy that this post is dedicated to. On the bottom of the box, we are told: “Oh boy! Farmer Mickey is ready to get playtime rolling with this wooden tractor. Help pull the horse, cow, and bales of hay and send Mickey on adventures galore.”

Indeed it is!

First, we will look at Farmer Mickey, from both sides:

This is a very high quality wooden toy with many cool features. Let’s look at the whole thing all laid out for play:

Nice Mickey Hand feature on the side of the tractor

So the horse and cow are rather generic, not Disney-fied, which is fine. The two bales of hay are a nice touch. Mickey is removable. And again from the bottom of the box we read “Lift off the trailer railing to make a farm fence!“

Here is how that looks:

That is one small pen!

Hidden Mickeys abound:

Not-so Hidden Mickey

Information Sticker on bottom of toy

This is listed for children of 3 years and up, and is made for either gender.

Anyone for a rousing rendition of Old MacDonald’s Farm before we end this post? No? Well, maybe next time perhaps.

Posted in Merchandise, Toys | Tagged Farmer Mickey, Farming, Melissa & Doug, Merchandise, Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, On the Farm Wooden Tractor Set, Toys, Tractor, Wooden Toys | Leave a comment

BOOK REVIEW: The Making of King Kong

Posted on June 4, 2016 by Dis-LEE

I love reading anything about the early days of film making, especially the earliest examples of animation, whether they be hand-drawn or stop-motion as in the case of King Kong. So when I came across this old first edition published in 1975 by A. S. Barnes & Co., it didn’t take me long to fork over the purchase price!

ISBN 0-345-25134-2-395

The book starts off by telling the wild and almost unbelievable film-making escapades of the two men who brought Kong to the screen: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. They were known for getting seemingly impossible and oh-so exciting wildlife shots from around the world and putting them into jungle documentaries. These made money and proved a learning ground leading up to Kong.

The bulk of The Making of King Kong is written in a tell-all format with so many details that it is likely for the true enthusiast more so than the average reader. Although the details of the filming are fascinating, the sheer amount of detail can be daunting and dry to read through at times.

Now a word about the other less hairy star of the film:

Did you know Fay Wray was a brunette?

Playing a blonde in the film (thanks to a wig) Fay Wray was actually a brunette. She definitely provided the beauty to Kong’s beast! Don’t believe me? Check out the beast below:

Cooper admires his beast

This behind-the-scenes picture certainly helps one to appreciate the scale of one of the models used to bring Kong to life!

Hand armature that held Wray

Again, we can see the scale here. There are over 160 making-of photographs throughout the book and they are a real treat to see, as some appear for the first time in this book.

When you ask for a wake-up call in New York

Animator Buz Gibson starts Kong up the Empire State Building

There is one Disney reference in the book: “O’Brien appears to have invented the three-dimensional glass-and-miniature settings… This technique was too time-consuming to be popular with producers although O’Brien was able to use it to a lesser extent in several later pictures and Walt Disney did something rather similar without the added solid forms in his celebrated Multiplane cartoons.“

Willis H. O’Brien was the Chief Technician on King Kong and appears to be to Cooper-Schoedsack Productions what Ub Iwerks was to Walt Disney Productions. It’s not surprising that techniques invented and experimented with in 1933 would be picked up and ran with by Disney in later years!

I would give this book a 4 out of 5 Stars for the masses, but a 5 out of 5 Stars for movie geeks and vintage film enthusiasts like me.

Again, the book is amazing in its depth, giving very detailed explanations of early film techniques. But this is also a problem as these very same details can bog the book down and wear out the interest of the casual film fan.

The book concludes with a filmography of sorts detailing the movies released by Cooper-Schoedsack Productions prior to and after King Kong. By reading this section one can gain an even deeper understanding of what led up to this iconic movie, and what it led to after its colossal success.

You can buy this book on Amazon in both hardcover and paperback editions. Amazon readers/reviewers gave the book a 4.7 Stars out of 5.

Posted in Books, Movies, Reviews | Tagged A. S. Barnes & Co., Book Reviews, Books, Buz Gibson, Cooper-Schoedsack Productions, Ernest B. Schoedsack, Fay Wray, King Kong, Merian C. Cooper, Movies, The Making of King Kong, Willis H. O'Brien | Leave a comment

Disney Cruise Line Decorative Pillow

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Dis-LEE

If you’ve read our trip report about our first Disney cruise, then you know that the best part of it was getting the decorative pillow shown in this post. Click the link to read about our horror story… if you dare! Don’t worry, there are lots of good experiences too.

But we have truly enjoyed seeing this pillow on our bed each day:

Corduroy with Gold Braiding

Corduroy isn’t used much these days due to its association with that ugly decade called the 1970’s. For those unfamiliar with, or trying to forget, this fabric: Corduroy is a textile composed of twisted fibers that, when woven, lie parallel (similar to twill) to one another to form the cloth’s distinct pattern, a “cord.” Modern corduroy is most commonly composed of tufted cords, sometimes exhibiting a channel (bare to the base fabric) between the tufts. Corduroy is, in essence, a ridged form of velvet.

The detail, specifically the characters, doesn’t stand out too much at first. It takes a little closer examination to appreciate the work that went into the design. Let’s take just such a closer look:

Mickey in the spotlight

There isn’t too much detail in each character rendering due to the limitations of the thread, but would it have been more appropriate to have Mickey in his Captain uniform?

Next we see three characters each to the left and the right of Mickey. These are mirror images of each other with the exception of the first two characters, each directly next to Mickey. Here they are together:

Daisy to the left, Goofy (?) bodyboarding to the right

Daisy could be in Victorian beach wear with her parasol (literally: For the Sun). And the next character might look like Pluto at first, but it seems to be Goofy bodyboarding. And that is defined as: Bodyboarding is a water sport in which the surfer rides a bodyboard on the crest, face, and curl of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore. Bodyboarding is also referred to as Boogieboarding due to the invention of the “Boogie Board” by Tom Morey. The average bodyboard consists of a short, rectangular piece of hydrodynamic foam. Bodyboarders typically use swim fins for additional propulsion and control while riding a breaking wave.

Again, for some reason, these two characters are not mirrored. But the next two are:

Pluto romping in the waves

Mickey Mouse on a Jet Ski

I would have thought that this would have been Donald Duck, as he is one of the Fab Five and a main character used by the Disney Cruise Line. But from the ears in silouhette it certainly more closely resembles Mickey. I guess Donald wasn’t up for a day at the sea!

Oh, and if you’d like a little information about what Mickey is riding: Jet Ski is the brand name of a personal watercraft manufactured by Kawasaki. It was the “first commercially successful” personal watercraft in America, having been released in 1972 (after reaching a license agreement with the inventor of the Jet Ski, Clayton Jacobson II when his license agreement with Bombardier expired). The term is sometimes used to refer to any type of personal watercraft.

So we have a pillow with a mystery. Why are some of the characters mirrored and others not? And why is Minnie Mouse missing along with Donald Duck? We may never know.

To conclude, I’ll leave you with the inspirational saying found on the back of the pillow:

Posted in Decorations, Disney Cruise Line | Tagged Bodyboarding, Boogieboarding, Braiding, Corduroy, Daisy Duck, Decorations, Disney Cruise Line, Goofy, Jet Ski, Mickey Mouse, Pillows, Pluto | Leave a comment

Mrs. Incredible in Block Party Bash

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Dis-LEE

In 2010 we visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World and had the pleasure of seeing the Block Party Bash. It featured characters from the Pixar films, including the one in full dance mode below:

Can I get a Woot! Woot!

This was a fun interactive parade with plenty of energy. If you wanted you could join the characters in the street for some dancing. And at the end, they shot rubber balls into the air! Yup, I’m easily impressed.

To see more from this parade, check out the posts entitled Block Party Bash Acrobat and Parades: Block Party Bash.

Posted in Parades, Photography, Walt Disney World | Tagged Block Party Bash, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Mrs. Incredible, Parades, Photography, Walt Disney World | Leave a comment

BOOK REVIEW: Disney’s Wonderful World of Reading

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Dis-LEE

This series of books consisted of new stories and adventures and special adaptions of the Disney classics. Many favorite characters were used to assist youngsters in exploring the wonderful world of reading (appropriate, eh?)

By using simple vocabulary and exciting new illustrations that fully explained the text, these books were designed to encourage youngsters to read by themselves.

I have two from this series to share with you today. First is a continuation of the world created in the Devil’s Bayou for The Rescuers:

The swamp folks return

This story rewrites the ending of the original movie to leave Madame Medusa and Mr. Snoops in the Bayou, still looking for treasure.

Beautiful artwork

Let’s have a look at the story as it unfolds:

Still looking for treasure, no matter who it hurts

As the dastardly duo dig here and there, they uproot and/or bury the swamp folks! This must stop…

Evinrude flies again!

Evinrude flies to the affected folks and promises to go to The Rescuers for help. A change from the original movie is that this character can now talk…

Captain Orville at your service

So Bianca and Bernard race off to the Bayou once more to see what they can do…

“Thank you for flying Albatross Air!”

So as not to spoil the book for you and your youngsters, suffice to say that Bianca and Bernard are able to foil and chase away Madame Medusa and Mr. Snoops so that the swamp folks are safe once again. Until the next book anyway!

Time to leave

All’s well that ends well! To see more of The Rescuers, check out this earlier post featuring a read-along book.

Now let’s have a look at the second book:

Another fine mess he’s gotten himself into!

Mr. Toad just can’t help himself! He’s always getting into trouble and hurting his friends along the way. This book is about a bicycle, some hurt feelings, an apology, and maybe a new beginning for Mr. Toad…

Again, nice simplified artwork

So the story all begins with the need to mail a letter…

That’s not his bike!

Even though Mr. Toad is warned that MacBadger’s bike has no brakes, he just can’t resist the call of the open road…

And it doesn’t end well!

After having wrecked MacBadger’s bike, Mr. Toad faces the loss of his friend…

Mr. Toad tries to do his own paperwork

Soon Mr. Toad realizes just how much he needs his trusted friend…

It was a dark and stormy night

Mr. Toad heads out into the Wild Wood to find MacBadger and bring him back…

Time to apologize

Mr. Toad convinces MacBadger to come back to Toad Hall…

Will he or won’t he?

After buying MacBadger a new bike, Mr. Toad is tempted to steal it again, but he doesn’t… for now!

Both books are well done with nice artwork and simple stories that are fun and educational. I would give them a 4.5 out of 5 Stars.

There are literally dozens of these books in the series, as the lady I picked these up from (at a yard sale) said she had over 70 in her collection. These two were doubles she was selling off to buy more she didn’t have yet. You can still find these books on eBay and Amazon.

These books came from The Disney Book Club back in the day, and this club is still going. Simply click the link and you can get your youngsters started in the wonderful world of reading today!

Posted in Books, Education, Reviews | Tagged A Scare for Mr. Toad, Book Club Edition, Books, Disney Book Club, Disney's Wonderful World of Reading, Education, Mr. Toad, Random House, Reviews, The Rescuers, Trouble in Devil's Bayou | Leave a comment

Disney Bus Advertising Signs

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Dis-LEE

Walt Disney World is unique because of its size. To help guests get around there is a need for a huge network of transportation vehicles, mainly buses:

Newer design

But it’s what’s inside these buses that interests us today. As you are traveling from Resort to Theme Park, you can always find something to read on the upper walls of the bus. Things like this humorous reminder from Timon and Pumba:

That probably hurt a little bit

There are several variations of these warning signs with our hapless duo getting hurt because of ignoring the simplest of safety directions.

But you will also be subjected to movie promotions, and product pushing, like:

Mrs. Incredible captures your memories

These examples come from 2014 so likely you will find different advertisements when you next visit Walt Disney World. But one thing is certain: You. Will. See. Advertisements!

Do you like this or does it annoy you?

Posted in Humor, Promotions, Transportation, Walt Disney World | Tagged Advertising, Buses, Humor, Memory Maker, Mrs. Incredible, Promotions, Pumba, Timon, Transportation, Walt Disney World | Leave a comment

The Muppet Show Game by Parker Bros.

Posted on May 30, 2016 by Dis-LEE

It’s time to play the music, It’s time to light the lights!

It’s time to meet the Muppets, on The Muppet Show Game tonight!

OK, that was a slight variation on the original opening to the television show that had us all wondering how felt puppets could put on make-up and just what ‘dressing up right’ meant to a bunch of performers who walked around nude most of the time.

Of course, I’m talking about Jim Henson’s The Muppet Show which aired from 1976 to 1981. But the remainder of this post will deal with The Muppet Show Game that Parker Brothers produced in 1977:

Look for Jim Henson as a Muppet on the cover

Box Side

Box End

This game is set up as a theatrical production directed by Kermit the Frog, produced by Parker Brothers, and starring Jim Henson’s Muppets. Even the rule book is actually a working script.

Back of Box

At the end of the post I will include pictures of the complete rules/script so you can get the sense of the play for yourself. Also, if you have the game but have lost the rules, this will make it possible for you to play the game properly.

First, let’s look more closely at the game board by itself, and set up for play:

“It’s time to raise the curtain on The Muppet Show Game tonight!”

Just for fun, look again for Jim Henson as a Muppet in the gallery of Muppets at the bottom of the board. Now let’s have a look at the spinner and rule book/script:

So there are eight characters who play in teams of two and four set pieces, all of which must move around the board to win the game. To win, each player must get his two characters in place for the curtain call, and their set into position as well.

Let’s have a look at the character pieces first. A nice feature of this game is that the playing pieces are double-sided:

In a commercial world where game manufacturers seem to create generic artwork, it’s refreshing to go back in time (to 1977) and see this nice detail of front and back views for the character pieces!

And we can’t forget the sets. Can you match the sets to the characters?