Kirby sez,
Our friend "waltsentme" over at webjay links us to the 1956 film "People and Places – Disneyland U.S.A.". A Disney made film to promote the less than one year old park!
Part one starts with a flyover of the park that is fascinating in what is NOT there. The film is narrated by the laconic narrator that Disney used a lot then. The hill they eventually built the Matterhorn on is clearly visible. Visit the Disneyland MOTEL. No tower. A trip up Main Street on a streetcar, America at the turn of the (20th) century with lots of people in the fashion of 1956. After a brief stop at the hub we visit Frontierland. More aerial views of the newly planted Disneyland. Tom Sawyer's Island had just opened in 1956. You could fish and "keep what you caught". That didn't last long. Gunslingers in Rainbow Ridge threw the perspective of the buildings off. (These buildings are still visible in the queue of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.). There is some footage of "The Indian Village is a permanent and popular attraction here". How many times did they move that?
Part 2 starts in Adventurland and has footage of the Jungle Cruise when it was serious and populated with very primitive animatronic figures. No "back side of water". They do shoot the hippos, though! Tomorrowland in 1956 was mainly Autopia. You can see the short lived Phantom Boats in an aerial shot. Fantasyland has no footage of the interior of the dark rides, but lots of reaction shots of people entering and exiting them. Storybookland had just opened when the film was made. Long section of footage of it. The footage of the Disneyland Band in the Mad Tea Party is classic. "Tempo in a Tea Cup". Views of various parades end the film, including Walt and Fess Parker on horseback.
Be aware that both videos are over 77MB in size. No slow connection here.
This is an absolute classic. I don't know how long it will last a boingboing hit, so grab it now.
(Thanks, Kirby!)
Update: Lucas Emery's got a torrent of these up.
