Guests next pass a Native American village, complete with princess Tiger Lilly and her father, the Chief. A Native American to the far left and two Native Americans to the far right of the camp play drums.
As guests pass the ominous Skull Rock (complete with a crow squawking in the skull’s right eye), they see that Captain Hook and his crew have captured the Darlings and the Lost Boys. Wendy stands at the end of a plank, while several other pirates guard John, Michael, and the Lost Boys. Up above, Captain Hook and Peter Pan duel on the ship’s mast. Peter wields his signature dagger, while Hook threatens with his hook and a drawn sword. The Tick-Tock Croc can be heard lurking in the water below.
As the ride vehicles turn a corner, guests see that Peter Pan has once again prevailed over Captain Hook. Peter stands at the captain’s wheel directing the ship, as Wendy, John and Michael (holding a teddy bear) stand at his side. A large sail stamped with a skull and crossbones provides a dramatic backdrop. Incapacitated pirates lay sprawled about on the ship’s deck.
Ahead, guests see poor Captain Hook perilously standing in the jaws of the Tick-Tock Croc, screaming for help from Mr. Smee, who sits in a nearby rowboat:
Captain Hook: Help me Mr. Smee! Help me!
Mr. Smee: I’m coming, Captain!
The final scene of the attraction is a large mural of a flying pirate ship departing Never Land for London.
More Magical Secrets of Peter Pan’s Flight
In the Mermaid Lagoon scene, one of the mermaids is very familiar…she’s almost a perfect twin of Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989).
If guests look closely in the Native American village scene, they will see that the shadows of the Native Americans are painted on the teepees.
A wooden barrel near the exit of is labeled:
Fire Chief
Richard LePere Jr.
Lost Boys Fire Brigade
(Richard LePere is the chief of the Reedy Creek Improvement District fire department, the quasi-governmental entity that governs much of Walt Disney World’s infrastructure obligations, include fire protection.)
Real History
On the Magic Kingdom’s opening day, October 1, 1971, Fantasyland featured a wide variety of attractions that the whole family could enjoy together, including Dumbo the Flying Elephant, the Mad Tea Party, Cinderella’s Golden Carousel (now known as the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel), and “it’s a small world.” Fantasyland also included three very popular dark rides: Snow White’s Adventures (which would later become known as Snow White’s Scary Adventures), Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and Peter Pan’s Flight.
Unbeknownst to most Disney fans, initial plans for Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland called for a completely different set of dark rides than what eventually opened with the Magic Kingdom in 1971. In lieu of Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Disney considered adding an attraction based on the 1959 Disney animated film Sleeping Beauty. Likewise, Disney considered adding a Sleepy Hollow-themed attraction in lieu of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. And yes, as strange as it may seem looking back from today’s perspective, Imagineers also considered developing an attraction based on Mary Poppins (1964) instead of the Fantasyland fan-favorite Peter Pan’s Flight.
Given the child-centered story of Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, a Pan-based attraction in Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland made perfect sense. However, a Peter Pan attraction already existed in Disneyland. Not wanting to merely copy the attractions in Disneyland, Imagineers considered incorporating an attraction based on the film Mary Poppins.
Mary Poppins was released in 1964 and is considered by many to be the greatest Disney movie ever made. Based on the book series by P.L. Travers, Mary Poppins combined live-action actors, animated characters, and a series of upbeat and memorable songs to create a classic family film that endures even today. The film featured incredible performances by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. It received an impressive 13 Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture. The film won five of those Academy Awards, including a Best Actress nod for Andrews and Best Original Song for “Chim Chim Cher-ee.”
The proposed Mary Poppins attraction would have recreated one of the more memorable scenes from the film, as guests would have ridden turn-of-the century style merry-go-round horses through Bert’s chalk drawings en route to a joyous journey through various dioramas of English landscapes, including a fox hunt and a horserace. The attraction would have been a “jolly holiday” experience including appearances by the stars of the film, Mary Poppins and Bert.
An alternate version of the proposed Mary Poppins attraction called for umbrella-style ride vehicles that would take guests across numerous London rooftops. Regardless of the particular iteration of the proposed attraction, one can only imagine how wonderful the theme music would have been with so many beautiful options available from the film including “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Jolly Holliday,” and my personal favorite, “Chim Chim Cher-ee.”
As is the case with many grand ideas that never came to be, financial pressures eventually led to the cancellation of the Mary Poppins concept. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Walt Disney World was the largest private construction project in the world. As both the scope and the costs for the Florida Project soared, executives, and in particular Roy O. Disney, began looking for ways to save money. In his letter to shareholders entitled “A WORD FROM ROY O. DISNEY” that accompanied the 1970 Annual Report for Walt Disney Productions, Roy explained the growing costs for the Florida Project:
In the beginning, we planned for the [Magic Kingdom] to accommodate 8 million guests annually, but we now feel that estimate was too conservative, and we are planning the park to handle a 10 million visitor load. This increased scope has necessitated the addition of several rides and the expansion of others, which, in turn, has given rise to some substantial additional costs.
For these reasons, it now appears that our early estimate of corporate investment is going to be substantially exceeded.
Because of this financial pressure, Disney executives made the decision to save the increased cost and expense that would be required to develop new attraction concepts. Instead, Disney knew that it already had an attraction that was very popular with theme park guests in Disneyland. Disney executives also believed that Disney World guests would expect to see familiar rides from Disneyland when they visited the Magic Kingdom, which made the decision to shelve the new attraction proposal even easier. As a result, Disney ultimately decided to replicate Peter Pan’s Flight (as well as Snow White’s Adventures and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride) in Disney World. Today, Peter Pan’s Flight is the only one of those dark rides still in operation in the Magic Kingdom.
Peter Pan’s Flight opened with the Magic Kingdom on the park’s opening day, October 1, 1971, and was based on the original version of Peter Pan’s Flight that opened in Disneyland on July 17, 1955. The attraction has remained largely unchanged since that time. However, in January of 2015, the attraction’s queue did undergo a significant refurbishment to incorporate the interactive elements discussed above.
chapter ten
Sir Mickey’s
Has anybody seen anything of a teensy-weensy, little mouse?
—Willie the Giant, Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
Sir Mickey’s is a quaint retail establishment that sits quietly behind the majestic towers of Cinderella Castle in Fantasyland. The shop is one of the most well-themed areas in the Magic Kingdom and is filled with props that pay homage to not just one, but two classic pieces of Disney animation from the 1930s and 1940s, respectively. Unfortunately, the very existence of Sir Mickey’s goes unnoticed by many guests as they rush toward headliner Fantasyland attractions like the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Peter Pan’s Flight. As such, they don’t realize that Sir Mickey’s is filled from floor to ceiling with Imagineering details that immerse guests in a story about a brave little tailor, a dangerous giant, and a magical beanstalk.
Backstory
Brave Little Tailor
The st
ory behind Sir Mickey’s begins in 1938 when Disney released Brave Little Tailor. This nine-minute short film provided a retelling of “The Valiant Little Tailor,” a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 17th century. In the Disney version, Mickey Mouse plays the lead role of a peasant tailor who finds himself in the middle of a giant-sized misunderstanding.
As Brave Little Tailor begins, a poster with the following warning is displayed:
CITIZENS
BEWARE!
Giant
at
large
REWARD
DEAD OR ALIVE
We soon learn that a giant is threatening the safety of a peaceful kingdom and its residents. The only citizen who is not worried about the giant is Mickey Mouse, a peasant tailor who seems oblivious to the fact that a giant is terrorizing the kingdom. Instead, Mickey is being terrorized by a much smaller problem: seven flies that pester the tailor as he attempts to sew a piece of clothing. Our hero uses two fly swatters to deal with the pests, and is able to dispatch all seven flies with a single swing.
As Mickey is dealing with his pest problem, a group of concerned townspeople are gathered outside of the tailor’s window. One of those citizens asks, “Say, did you ever kill a giant?” Proud of his accomplishment and completely unaware of the question just asked outside of his store, Mickey suddenly bursts opens the shutters and proudly proclaims, “I killed seven with one blow.” The townspeople mistakenly think that Mickey has killed seven giants, not seven flies. This fantastical misunderstanding quickly spreads throughout the kingdom, with everyone amazed that a peasant tailor has killed seven giants with one blow!
News of this grand accomplishment soon reaches the king, who insists that the brave tailor be brought to the castle immediately. When the king asks Mickey if he killed “seven with one blow,” Mickey proudly responds, “Yes, and how!” Mickey is petrified when the King then appoints him as the “Royal High Killer of the giant.” Just as Mickey is about to clarify that he killed flies, not giants, the king makes the tailor an offer he cannot refuse: golden “pazoozas” and, more importantly, the hand of Princess Minnie!
A love smitten Mickey tracks down the massive giant, who is portrayed as clumsy, gluttonous, and angry. The anointed “Royal High Killer” does indeed defeat the giant by using his scissors, needle, thread, and skills as a tailor to trap the giant in his own clothes. In grand Disney fashion, a theme park is even erected around the incapacitated Giant, powered by a windmill that is turned by wind from the sleeping giant’s snoring! And yes…Mickey does get to kiss Princess Minnie!
Brave Little Tailor featured the work of several noted Disney animators and Imagineers. Three of Walt Disney’s famed “9 Old Men” served as animators on the project: Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and Les Clark. Fred Moore also worked on Brave Little Tailor’s animation, as did Bill Tytla. Moore was the directing animator for Disney’s first full-length animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Moore also brought several other noted Disney animated characters to life, including Lampwick in Pinocchio (1940) and Timothy Q. Mouse in Dumbo (1941). Tytla is most well known for animating Grumpy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Stromboli in Pinocchio (1940), and Dumbo in the 1941 film of the same name. Walt Disney himself provided the voice of Mickey Mouse in Brave Little Tailor.
When viewed from today’s perspective, Brave Little Tailor does include a controversial scene where the giant rolls a haystack (with Mickey stuffed therein) and smokes it like a cigarette. The giant even uses a full-size stove from a house to light that massive cigarette.
The film was released on September 23, 1938. Hindsight controversy aside, Brave Little Tailor is a joyful piece of early Disney animation. It remains one of the most beloved Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts ever created. The film did receive critical acclaim and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1939 for the Best Animated Short Film. However, it lost the award to another Disney short film, Ferdinand the Bull.
Fun and Fancy Free
During World War II, the Disney company faced numerous challenges. Like many other businesses during that era, Disney had numerous employees drafted into military service, leaving the company short-handed from an employee perspective. This employee shortage combined with corporate financial constraints and pressures to force Disney to temporarily back away from production of full-length animated films that it had become famous for, as these features were both labor and cost intensive. In order to address these issues, Disney began releasing “packaged” films in the early 1940s that combined multiple short animation features into a single film. These package films required less money and fewer artists to create.
On September 27, 1947, Disney released its ninth animated feature film and fourth package film, Fun and Fancy Free. Fun and Fancy Free followed Disney’s initial package films Saludos Amigos (1942), The Three Caballeros (1945), and Make Mine Music (1946), and was followed by two more package films, Melody Time, (1948), and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949).
Fun and Fancy Free was divided into two segments that each featured colorful animation set to charming musical scores: Bongo, which told the story of a circus bear who wants to return to nature, and Mickey and the Beanstalk. The Mickey and the Beanstalk segment provided a retelling of the classic Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale from the 18th century, with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy serving as the stars of the Disney version.
Mickey and the Beanstalk is set in mythical “Happy Valley,” an enchanted location that is kept “happy” by a magical singing harp. Happy Valley consists of beautiful pastures, a flowing stream, and prosperous farms. When the magical harp is stolen by a mischievous giant, the valley becomes…well…unhappy. Without the magic of the harp, the bountiful land dried up, the crops died, and the families located therein struggled to survive.
Having fallen on hard times, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy sell their last worldly possession, a cow, for something to eat. Although Donald and Goofy have grand dreams about what Mickey will get in return for the cow, they are upset when Mickey returns with a few “magical” beans. As you probably guessed, those beans grow into a large beanstalk that leads Mickey and friends to the massive thief behind the harp’s disappearance, Willie the Giant.
Willie has a different appearance than his Brave Little Tailor counterpart. Instead of a giant with black hair and a black mustache and beard as depicted in Brave Little Tailor, Willie the Giant has striking red hair and no facial fair. Willie also has magical powers and is able to transform himself into any object. Mickey and the Beanstalk includes a couple of different nods to Brave Little Tailor. First, Mickey almost tricks Willie into transforming into a small housefly. Mickey also uses a very large needle and thread in his effort to help Donald and Goofy escape. Mickey and the crew ultimately re-steal the harp and return it to Happy Valley, sawing down the massive beanstalk and defeating Willie the Giant in the process.
At the end of the film, Willie the Giant lifts the roof of the live-action narrator’s house, asking those inside if they have seen Mickey Mouse. This is an important scene that provided the inspiration for one of the best thematic details in Sir Mickey’s discussed below.
Mickey and the Beanstalk was narrated by actor Edgar Bergen through live-action segments interspersed with the animation. Bergen was a good friend of Walt Disney and was the star of one of the most popular comedic radio shows in the country at that time. Bergen was best known for his talents as a ventriloquist, and Mickey and the Beanstalk includes two of Bergen’s most famous friends (and character dummies): hillbilly Mortimer Snerd and wisecracking Charlie McCarthy. Bergen received an honorary Academy Award for creating Charlie McCarthy. The Oscar itself was very fitting, as it was composed of wood and even had a hinged jaw!
Bergen narrates the story to a young Luana Patten. Patten was a child actress who played roles in several Disney films including Song of the South (1946), the Pecos Bill segment of the 1948 Disney package film Melody Time, So Dear to
My Heart (1948), Johnny Tremain (1957), and Follow Me, Boys! (1966).
Willie the Giant was voiced by Billy Gilbert, who played roles in several classic comedies including A Night at the Opera (1935) alongside the Marx Brothers and The Great Dictator (1940) with Charlie Chaplin. His most famous role, however, came in 1937 when he was cast as Sneezy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Gilbert would go on to use his amazing sneezing routine in other films. Because of that, Walt Disney made sure that Willie the Giant had a big sneezing scene in Mickey and the Beanstalk.
Donald Duck and Goofy were voiced by their original voice artists, Clarence “Ducky” Nash and Pinto Colvig, respectively. Mickey, however, was actually voiced by two different people. The reason is that Disney originally planned for Mickey and the Beanstalk to be a full-length feature film, and Disney animators began working toward that goal in the late 1930s. The storyline for the full-length version would have been a little different than what was presented in Mickey and the Beanstalk, as Minnie would have been the queen of Happy Valley. Queen Minnie would have also been the person who traded the magic beans for the cow, whereas the Fun and Fancy Free version does not address exactly where Mickey got the beans. Production on the project was stopped by the start of World War II. Once the war ended, Disney started to revive projects that had been postponed during the war. Mickey and the Beanstalk was at the top of that list for a very important reason: Mickey Mouse, Disney’s biggest star, had not been part of a theatrical release since the early 1940s. Disney assigned some of his top animators, including Woolie Reitherman and Fred Moore, to the project. That team combined the animation footage completed before work on the project halted with new animation to finish the project.
Before work on the full-length film version of Mickey and the Beanstalk was halted, Walt recorded several pieces of dialog for Mickey. When production on the package film version resumed in 1946, Walt was just too busy to finish the work. As such, Disney sound effects guru Jimmy Macdonald was brought in to finish the project. The voice of Mickey heard in Mickey in the Beanstalk is a combination of the work of Walt and Macdonald. Macdonald moved into the voice role for Mickey Mouse from that point through 1977.
Adventureland, Tomorrowland, and Fantasyland Page 25
