Florida Orange Bird [Part 2]

Just under a month ago we posted some never-before-shared images of the fan-favorite Florida Orange Bird. It was said that we doubled the number of Orange Bird photos on the web. Even if that were true, today all of that changed. Not only has Disney been generous enough to share lots of un-seen history... they returned the original Orange Bird figure to its home in Magic Kingdom's Sunshine Tree Terrace!

Photo courtesy of Chief and Fresh Roasted Corn.

A D23 mini-event was held this morning and fans were not disappointed. Disney could have released a plastic Orange Bird button and we fans would have been pleased. But they went much further. SADLY none of us here were able to attend. We invited friend of the blog Chief to go in our place. Great images and details from Chief are found over at Fresh Roasted Corn. Something to note: The word "Florida" doesn't seem to be used anymore as part of the "Orange Bird" title.

To add to the killer merchandise and beautiful new Sunshine Tree Terrace decor, a great video was released about how the return of all this orange goodness came about. From this "D23 Presents Armchair Archivists: The Orange Bird" video (watch below), we bring you the following images.

Video of the costumed Orange Bird interacting with guest... EATING CITRUS SWIRL.

Look in the background!! A shot of the animatronic bird. Until hours ago only one other photo existed online. 

How wonderful is this old photo of a Sunshine Tree Terrace cast member. Check out the Orange Bird cups and those great old cash registers. Is that a Florida Orange Juice logo on his shirt?? The same one seen on the sticker above? Fun.

Oh those wonderful yellow and orange umbrellas, tables, and chairs. Hey Baloo. Who's that on the far left? King Louie? Check out the "Traders of Timbuktu" sign on the right.

The animatronic Orange Bird!!! In speaking with my pal Hoot Gibson a number of times in the last couple of days I learned a many things about this. Apparently the original 1971 figure was static but stood on a moving swing. This is the same figure restored and reinstalled as part of today's event. Shortly after, a robotic version on a "perch" (below) replaced the swinging bird. This version moved his little leaf wings and his head. Soooo... could there be another Orange Bird out there collecting dust?? Let's hope Hoot shares more on the subject. (Did you know Hoot is largely responsible for increased Orange Bird awareness in recent years? Along with Mike Lee of Widen Your World).

Our Twitter pal Jason Grandt played a huge part in the whole project. Here he shares a little about the restoration of that cute little 1971 original Orange Bird figure which was discovered in a drawer at WDI Glendale!

I believe Kevin Kidney found these shots of the original sculpt. How great is this??

And some behind-the-scenes scenic work. Looks like the scenic shop at the Hollywood Studios backlot.

Even legend Richard Sherman joined in on the action, helping the "MeloD23 Singers" sing a couple of Orange Bird songs that he and his late brother wrote. He also shares some history.

Thanks Melody Dale for hosting. Thanks Steven Vagnini for the history lessons.

Hooray for Becky Cline (Walt Disney Archives Director).

Special contributors the the video include: Richard Sherman, Kevin Kidney, Walt Disney Imagineering, Diego Parras, Jason Grant, Dave Hoffman, the MeloD23 Singers, Jim Wilber, Marshall Bowen, and others. Thanks gang.

Sticker image from Sam Howzit. 

Video footage of today's event by Lou Mongello can be found here.

Images ©Disney.

Related posts:

Florida Orange Bir [Part 1]
THEN AND NOW: MK Adventureland [Part 1]
Frito Kid and Deeee-licious Fritos!
Frito Kid Mysteries Continue
Swiss Family Treehouse Model
Magic Kingdom at Night
Magic Kingdom Map Found in a Main Street Wall

Signs of the Times: Tomorrowland

Let's look at some wonderful old signs in Tomorrowland that are no longer with us. Some of these signs rarely, if ever, show up in photos anywhere. Each of these photos were sent to us through our Photo Hunt. Thanks everyone for sharing!

Magic Kingdom

Above, Katherine Amante shares this great Space Mountain entrance sign taken sometime between 1982 and 1985. Look at those rad 80s stripes and colors.

This next photo from Shaun Ortolano shows the same sign with an earlier paint design on the wall behind it. This was taken in 1982.

Here Ryan Rewasiewicz shares a similar view that includes that great RCA signage on the pillar with the astronauts.

I was thrilled when Dan Zuccarelli sent in this 1985 photo of the Space Bar Hosted by Wise sign. I've never seen a close-up photo of this sign. Today the location is called the Launching Pad. Disney by Mark (great blog) shares an early look at Disneyland's Space Bar. The two Space Bars were very different in design but served similar purposes.

I was ecstatic when David West Reynolds sent this Flight to the Moon/Mission to Mars photo. It's always exciting to see both the old and new versions of a ride featured in the same photograph. Flight to the Moon closed and Mission to Mars took its place during the summer of 1975, just a few months after Space Mountain opened. Making this photo even more priceless, the story of the 11-year-old lad in the photo. He ended up working on Mars probe missions for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

©DWR This photo is not authorized for free general public use by request of its owner.

Remember Mickey's Mart in Tomorrowland? Today it's Mickey’s Star Traders and couldn't look more different. Mexsana makes sun car products and medicated powders and such. You'll notice Coppertone got equal billing on this sign.

Next we get four old signs in one photo. A large WEDWay PeopleMover sign (left), the classy white Carousel of Progress sign (center), part of the If You could Fly sign with a seagull on it (right) and the Space Bar sign we saw earlier (lower left)– this time with a different face and sponsor. Anyone know the sponsor?

Disneyland

Anna-Marie Villegas shares this beautiful Disneyland PeopleMover shot. The rotating blue sign had the Goodyear logo on one side and the PeopleMover logo on the other. It's said that the PeopleMover logo was designed to resemble that of Goodyear, using a similar typeface.

Ray Osburn sends this view of both rotating Goodyear signs– one in front of the tower, one in back. Notice the one in back is hanging. Then there's one of the Coca-Cola signs that adorned Tomorrowland for so many years.

At some point the diamondy-shaped rotating signs became rectangles. I'm not certain as to why. You'll see this in the following two photos from Connie Moreno. It looks like this first one was taken form a Skyway bucket.

Related post:

THEN AND NOW: MK Tomorrowland [Part 1]
Carousel of Progress Like You’ve Never Seen It
A Look at the Progress City Model- Then and Now
THEN AND NOW: Disneyland [Part 1]
Revisiting Early Space Mountain... Sort Of
America Sings
Disneyland Skyway in Your Backyard?

Mechanizing a Miniature Main Street Electrical Parade

We are excited to bring to you this stunning example of "Backyard Imagineering". Alex George, a reader of our blog, engineered a way to bring these miniature Main Street Electrical Parade floats to life. He also takes us on a behind-the-scenes look at his innovative two-year process.

  

Alex shares:

It was the fall of 2009 when I decided to mechanize a miniature Main Street Electrical Parade. I was collecting the Olszewski Main Street miniatures, including the Electrical Parade floats, when I thought how neat it would be to see the floats traveling down Main Street. I soon realized though, that simply moving the floats wouldn't be enough. There should be a sense of “show”, and so the parade would need to enter and exit Main Street to its musical score, then remain queued off stage until the next performance.

Thus began a two-year trek of attraction design and construction of miniature proportion. I'm an artist, not an engineer – so there was a lot of research needed to design the mechanics. I considered a number of ways to transport the floats using preexisting toy tracks and even motorized curtain rails, but ultimately I settled on a chain and sprocket system of my own design. Adding to the complexity was an electrical contact system to light the floats, and new computer-controlled LEDs that make the floats twinkle and cycle through designated colors.

The completed production resides in a low-sitting table which hides the mechanics as well as the parade when it's between shows. It's a lot of fun putting on the parade for guests, and even those who aren't dedicated Disneyland fans seem genuinely charmed by the show. In my own small way, I think I might know the pleasure felt by the creators of the actual parade when they saw their work enjoyed by audiences at Disneyland.

So take a glimpse at the Main Street Electrical Parade in Miniature, and check out the making-of short for highlights of how it came together.
 

Behind-the-Scenes

The chain system

Adding building supports

Several mock ups of the road, made from painstaking measurements, ensured that the slot defining the parade path would be perfectly aligned with the chain below.

Partial landscaping

After months of testing, the wiring that powers the floats began to break from flexing. The chain has been pulled here, and completely refitted with a far more flexible wire specifically designed for robotics and animatronics. There are four wires: two for power and two for network communication to the LEDs.

A backstage view as the floats make their way up to Main Street.

 
More on the artist at: By George, I Think You've Got It.

A huge thanks to Alex George for contacting us with his spectacular achievement. This is the kind of thing that excites us to no end. Tell your friends!

Related posts:

Swiss Family Treehouse Model
Disneyland Skyway in Your Backyard?
Buena Vista Street Model
The Wonders of Nature's Wonderland [ PART 2 ]
Mars and Beyond Robot
Disneyland 1955 Model Close-ups
A Look at the Progress City Model- Then and Now