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 (April 29, 1957–Present) BACKSTORY: Shirley Temple Black served as the hostess for the 1957 unveiling. Both the entrance and exit areas of the Diorama at the back of the Castle had fanciful canopies that matched the Midieval Faire look of the original Fantasyland. Eyvind Earle, the man responsible for the look of “Sleeping Beauty” was also the inspiration for this attraction. Ken Anderson was in charge of designing the Dioramas to be located inside of the Castle. Using concept art by Earle, Ken and his team completed 11 dioramas based on the film that had been completed up to that point. For 20¢, guests walked through the interior of the castle and were amazed by each detailed scene, including The Good Fairies’ Blessing, The Burning Spinning Wheels, Maleficent’s Curse Fulfilled, and True Love Conquers All. A commemorative souvenir booklet was given to each person who toured through the scenes of the Diorama.In 1977, the walk-through Diorama was drastically changed and unofficially dubbed the “Barbie & Ken” version, as it used dolls similar to what could be seen in the Main Street window displays. By 2001, the attraction was run down and dated and guest counts had droppped, thereby causing it to be closed until something could be done with it. Inspired by the release of “Sleeping Beauty” on Blu-ray, a virtual recreation of the 1957 diorama was created by the Imagineers (spearheaded by Tony Baxter and Chris Merritt) to add to the disc as one of the extras. In the park’s architectural archive, the original Ken Anderson drawings were found as used as inspiration. The results were so fantastic that an official restoration was green-lit and completed by November 2008, with an official re-opening date of December 5, 2008. For the True Love Conquers All finale, Tony Baxter felt that the flat painted roses would not work well with the side mirror reflections of this particular diorama; a craft supply house supplied white roses that Tony’s team labored at the 11th hour to paint red in time for the opening. Now guests can tour the inside of the castle again and see some of Eyvind Earle’s original concepts. Most photos available for purchase as enlargements; email your request. To view photos, please allow popups in your web browser & click thumbnails below. |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama History |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Exterior, 2008 Version |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Interior, 2008 Version |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) June 2009 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) March 2009 |
) Sept. 2009 |
) Nov. 2009 |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Interior, 2008 Version: The Burning Spinning Wheels |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Scene 2 Art, Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) March 2009 |
) March 2009 |
) March 2009 |
) May 2009 |
) May 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Nov. 2009 |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Interior, 2008 Version: The Good Fairies’ Blessing |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
Dec. 2008 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) March 2009 |
) March 2009 |
) May 2009 |
) May 2009 |
) May 2009 |
) June 2009 |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Interior, 2008 Version: Touching the Spindle |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) March 2009 |
) March 2009 |
) March 2009 |
) May 2009 |
) May 2009 |
) March 2010 |
) March 2010 |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Interior, 2008 Version: Sleeping Kingdom |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Interior, 2008 Version: Waiting for True Love’s Kiss |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) March 2009 |
) March 2010 |
) March 2010 |
) March 2010 |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Interior, 2008 Version: Corridor of Goons |
Carol Remembers The Sleeping Beauty Diorama |
| “When you’re preschool age there is only today, having fun in the moment, basic needs to be met (potty, something to eat, naps, what's
next, sleep), and an imagination that is beginning to bud. Your earliest
memories are getting formed, especially the ones that are wonderful-branding-iron-on-the-brain-magically-super-special!
Who knows why first memories get remembered as
such? “My earliest memories include a trip through the Disneyland Castle Walk-Through, which opened before ‘Sleeping Beauty’ premiered in theaters. That would put me and the two trips my parents took me on from Mobile, Alabama to California’s Disneyland within the right period for a fairly new Castle Walk-Through to have been open to the public, around 1957–1958 (when I was 3 1⁄2 or 4 1⁄2 years old). “Having seen the Sunday night Walt Disney TV show on ABC back in the 1950s, I guess my parents thought Disneyland would be a nice, decent, fun place to take their little daughter to. No interstate highways back in the 1950s, just a long drive in a Chevrolet Impala of the era from Alabama to California and back home again. The trip took days back then (just one-way), with a longer driving time than it would today. “My memories and images of the Castle Walk-Through are wispy and hard to grasp onto. A few family photos are in an album I got from my parents house after they both died. Back in the late 1950's, I wore a plaid dress with a petticoat to Disneyland and little black patent leather shoes with white socks. With manners of dress being more casual now than they were in the 50’s, it's hard to realize that people dressed up nicely to attend places out in public like Disneyland. No Disney marketing or merchandise about princesses then as now, so I was not dressed in a little girl’s Disney princess gown to tour Disney royalty’s house as many little girls do today. I did have a battery operated magic wand like Tinker Bell’s at home though which I dearly loved, but taking things like this into public places where it might be lost was not an option back then. “I kind of remember stepping up the stairs. I definitely remember Aurora lying there on a bed in her castle with beautiful colors around her and how she was drawn, enchantingly asleep. I definitely remember a stack of burning spinning wheels! In hindsight, seeing that meant all the story elements in the castle were really happening! I remember a prince bending over to give Aurora the wake-up kiss. I remember that to see these windows I had to either be on tiptoes or lifted up. I also remember that it was dark and that the walls were made of stone and I remember stained glass-like windows which lit the hallway so that guests could see where they were going. And I remember that even though I was seeing still images, my mind was telling me that I was in the castle where all these events took place and that I was actually seeing those events happen. It was a strange blend of thinking on my part at the time, considering that I was only 3 1/2–4 1/2 years old! Captain Kangaroo and all the characters he interacted with on his TV shows were still real to me at that time, too. The Storybook Canal Boats were real to me as well. All the characters of these Disney fairy tale stories really lived in those tiny cottages, castles and buildings—so thrilling! I was buying into all this Imagineering stuff hook, line and sinker, and seeing where the characters really lived—well that was supremely wonderful! “That would have been the extent of my wispy memories, but the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ Blu-Ray/DVD released October 2008 triggered two more. The first one was one of the DVD’s Easter Eggs (hidden bonus material) of a special book handed out after park guests toured the Walk-Through attraction. Somehow, I remember that book! In later years, meaning well, my parents must have tossed it out. Oh, the pain of not having a Disneyana dealer’s appraisal on it today! ;-) “But the other memory that was triggered by viewing the Blu-ray's bonus materials was to look through some peepholes, and the castle's gargoyles looked back at you via an Imagineering trick of using mirrors on the other side of the peepholes. Wow—I remember seeing blinking eyeballs! That could be why I have an emotional memory of the attraction being so foreboding…it was Imagineered that way! And seeing eyeballs blinking back at me—really scary! I remember just being in ‘shock and awe’-type of scared. I don't think I screamed or cried; maybe it was a closer emotion to being impressionably scared and nearly frozen, but not terrified. Disney, as I learned in adult Disney fandom, always puts a ‘wink’ into his works to let audiences know not to take things too seriously. After a short lifetime of watching Walt’s Sunday evening ABC TV series, I knew that maybe on an emotional instinctive childlike level that Walt would never petrify or terrify me, but just ‘kinda scare’ me. Strangely enough I didn't remember the mirrored wall of eyes for most of my lifetime until I watched the bonus material on the “Sleeping Beauty” Blu-Ray. The repressed memory was released by emotion! “Despite that little scare, I enjoyed my first visit to Disneyland at age 3 1⁄2. Back at the motel on the night we were to pack and drive back home to Alabama, apparently I told my parents ‘I sure did have fun today. I wish I could have fun again, someday.’ This ‘cuteism’ prompted my parents to book another day’s motel stay, another day of park tickets, and another trip back to Disneyland. I don't think I was being knowingly manipulative; I didn't know how long the drive back home to Alabama would be. It was just a simple statement of how I felt, that’s all; nothing wrong with that! ;-) “In 2008, the proceeds of the sale of my late parents’ house financed two vacations to Disneyland which had been postponed when hurricane Katrina closed the nearby New Orleans airport. A dream of mine came to fruition that year: to show my son his first Disney park, just as my parents had done for me. Son is a veteran of WDW; now he's also a veteran of Disneyland, having seen the places I had seen at ages 3 1/2 and 4 1/2. I was able to share with him family history as well as another unique Disney park. Sadly for me, the Castle Walk-Through was closed at the time of both visits; gladly for son though, since Disney princesses were a source of embarrassment to be around at that ripe old age of 12. However, I hope someday there will be a return visit by us to Disneyland, and he can go through (at least once) one of my most memorable and long-lived Disney memories, and experience some family history and legacy from his mom and the Imagineers and management who so graciously reopened the Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-Through this past year.” |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Interior, 2008 Version: Summoning Demons |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Interior, 2008 Version: Spewing Dragon |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Interior, 2008 Version: True Love’s Kiss |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) May 2009 |
) May 2009 |
) May 2009 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Nov. 2009 |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Interior, 2008 Version: The End |
) Dec. 2008 |
) Dec. 2008 |
) March 2009 |
) June 2009 |
) June 2009 |
) May 2009 |
Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama, Accessible Experience Room |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
) Jan. 2009 |
Jay Remembers The Sleeping Beauty Diorama |
“My recollection of the Sleeping Beauty Diorama goes back to my 1st visit when I believe it required either an A or B ticket. Later on my parents bought the unlimited ride package where my brother and I wore red wrist bands. I remember entering on the right side of the building coming from Main Street. Upon entering, it had a stone-like appearance on the floor and walls lit by a soft greenish light. The walls were lined with pictures of the Sleeping Beauty story as one climbed the stairs. Once at the top of the stairs, there was Sleeping Beauty lying under a glass enclosed casing. If you looked closely, you could see her chest move as if she were breathing. Then as you passed by, you’d walk down another set of stairs with more pictures of the story, and you came out on the left side of the castle.” NOTE: I have received a number of emails clarifying Jay’s story. Most likely, the Diorama he refers to is the “Barbie & Ken” version because it used dolls instead of stylized painted backdrops and characters. A number of readers have also questioned whether Sleeping Beauty’s chest actually moved as if she were breathing. |
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