PETER PAN'S FLIGHT |
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MAIN STREET U.S.A. | ADVENTURELAND | FRONTIERLAND | NEW ORLEANS SQUARE | CRITTER COUNTRY | FANTASYLAND | TOONTOWN | TOMORROWLAND | DCA | WDW |
) “Soar high above the rooftops of London aboard a pirate galleon
on an adventure to Neverland.” (July 17, 1955—Present) BACKSTORY: In 1983, during Fantasyland’s remodel, an AA Peter Pan was added to reduce the confusion of why Peter Pan himself was not on his own ride. Features ride vehicles (a pirate ship suspended from a track on the ceiling above to enhance the sensation of flying) soaring through the nursery, out over London, onward to Never Land, and finally through Skull Rock, where riders saw Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Princess Tiger Lily and the Crocodile before unloading. The exterior had a medieval design with the queue being outside. In 1982, Fantasyland was remodeled. Some rides were relocated to make room for expanded dark rides. The retheming of Fantasyland resembled a rustic European Alpine village rather than a Medieval Faire. Mr. Toad & Snow White’s dark rides moved their respective loading areas (and partial murals) indoors, but the Peter Pan ride still featured a colorful mural, depicting the characters from the film. As part of the new remodel, scenes from the Florida ride were added to Disneyland, including the pirate ship deck. The new version opened as part of the new Fantasyland in May 1983. |
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) Concept art |
) Clay model |
) Clay model |
) Clay model |
) Clay model |
) Clay model |
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| This amazing story and the accompanying photos came from Daveland reader Kurt Raymond. I can’t thank him enough for his generosity in taking the time to write the following text as well as sharing his collection of photos relating to his restoration of one of the murals from this beloved dark ride. Be sure to check out his work on the Snow White attraction as well. Here is the Peter Pan cast portrait, created especially for the entrance mural of the “Peter Pan Flight” at Disneyland. Over the years, artists re-painted this art to preserve the colors and keep the canvas fresh-looking over the 27 year period these paintings were featured on the outer all of the dark ride facades. In 1976, Disney artist Bill Justice was commisioned to re-paint all three dark ride cast portraits as a way of updating the “look”of the Disney characters. Though the “pose” is correct, he painted several of the main characters “off-model” and it strayed from the originals quite a bit. In 1977-1978 during a rehab, all three rides’ outer façades were repainted (red color scheme for “Mr, Toad,” blue for “Snow White,” and green for “Peter Pan.” In addition, all three rides’ entire queue murals were re-painted over, with Toad and Snow White retaining some of their original color 1955 scheme (but with the Witch’s face re-painted grey in the cast portrait and green in the other two portrayals, very inconsistent from one scene to the next). Peter Pan’s mural received most of the Bill Justice re-coloring but retained the original 1955 characterizations.  To continue with my restoration of these classic “lost” murals, I present the “Peter Pan Flight” cast portrait. This art is an composite of the 1955-1978 version with a little of the 1976 Bill Justice re-paint thrown in for good measure. I have used several of the photos featured here on Daveland to make sure the characters and poses are correct, and his Peter Pan page includes photos of areas that were previously hard to see. For added accuracy, I also took from a page from Adrian Bailey’s book “Walt Disney’s World of Fantasy,” 1984, as there is a very tiny photo of the Peter Pan mural cast portrait circa 1977, and then two of my own personal photos. There were about three entire mural re-paintings between 1955-1981, and they all seemed fairly consistent with one another, but this is the version I remember best as a kid in the early 1970’s.  |
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) Feb. 2006 |
) Jan. 2007 |
) Feb. 2009 |
) 2005 |
) Jan. 2007 |
) Jan. 2007 |
) 2006 |
) The Nursery, Jan. 2007 |
) 2006 |
) June 2009 |
) June 2009 |
) June 2009 |
) Sept. 2010 |
) Nov. 2010 |
) Nov. 2010 |
) May 2012 |
) May 2012 |
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) Soaring over London, June 2008 |
) Soaring over London, Jan. 2007 |
) Soaring over London, Jan. 2007 |
) 2006 |
) 2006 |
) June 2008 |
) Sept. 2009 |
) May 2011 |
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