#disneyhistoryinstitute

[walt-at-disneyland]

Walt fishing off the dock of Tom Sawyer Island. For a short time, these waters were stocked with real fish for guests to catch and keep. Picture probably taken during the opening ceremony for Tom Sawyer's Island in 1956, from the great people at DisneyHistoryInstitute.com #walt #disney #waltdisney #vintagedisneyland #disneyland #frontierland #tomsawyerisland #fishing #happiestplaceonearth #riversofamerica #tomsawyer #annualpassholder #castmember #disneygram #disneyhistoryinstitute (at Disneyland) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg01BQluAGw/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[funfirststudios]

Walt Disney’s “Confucius”

During the late 50′s and the early 60′s, Walt Disney and his Imagineers were hard at work developing their new Audio-Animatronic technology, blending animation and robotics to create something the world had never seen. The first full-scale, working humanoid Audio-Animatronic was that of President Lincoln, who premiered at the 1964 World’s Fair in a show entitled Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln, and subsequently blew America away.

In 1963, the year before the World’s Fair, and eight years after the park’s initial opening, Disneyland debuted one of its most classic and beloved attractions: The Enchanted Tiki Room. The history of The Enchanted Tiki Room is both long and complex, but perhaps the most interesting thing about it is that it was originally intended to be a Chinese restaurant, which was Walt’s idea of integrating different cultures into the park.  

Harriet Burns, the first female Imagineer, explained the original idea in a quote from disneyhistoryinstitue.com:  “Originally we were going to have a Chinatown, so we had all this Chinatown planned and a restaurant… always a restaurant.” During that time, Walt Disney had an idea to incorporate animatronics into the restaurant. The Walt Disney Company had begun the process of mastering Audio-Animatronic technology shortly beforehand by working with a mechanical head said to be modeled after a Chinese man. Walt thought that by combining this with the restaurant in Chinatown, he could introduce an animatronic Confucius which would speak wisdom to the patrons as they dined. Shortly afterwards, the Imagineers planned for an animatronic dragon as well. 

Chinatown and its restaurant never came to fruition, but as technology was not the most advanced at the time, the idea was reworked into something more feasible - it morphed into what is now called The Enchanted Tiki Room. This attraction proved much easier to build and program, and was very popular following its opening in the early 1960′s. 

This is the only photograph of Confucius I could find on the net, thanks to DisneyHistoryInstitute. I linked the article above, give it a read! 

[walt-at-disneyland]

Walt fishing off the dock of Tom Sawyer Island. For a short time, these waters were stocked with real fish for guests to catch and keep. Picture probably taken during the opening ceremony for Tom Sawyer's Island in 1956, from the great people at DisneyHistoryInstitute.com Visit the site for great history of the park and Walt's legacy! #walt #disney #waltdisney #vintagedisneyland #disneyland #frontierland #tomsawyerisland #fishing #happiestplaceonearth #riversofamerica #tomsawyer #annualpassholder #castmember #disneygram #disneyhistoryinstitute (at Disneyland) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz0rfgbJabS/?igshid=xrwyx9nx869u