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“Board a mine cart to travel through the scary adventures of Snow White, but look out for the Wicked Witch!” (July 17, 1955—Present) BACKSTORY: Originally titled “Snow White’s Adventures.” Imagineers designed the ride so that guests felt like they were Snow White. Few understood this and wondered why Snow White wasn’t in the ride. During 1983, all of the Fantasyland dark rides were redesigned slightly to include the main characters of the films the attractions represented. Previous reports have claimed that Snow was not added until 1983, however, photographic evidence shown below from August 1972 proves differently. Tony Baxter, Sr. VP of Creative Development at Disney Imagineering, was so afraid of messing up that he requested all dark rides be 25% longer allowing that even if they weren’t better, they’d at least be longer. The ride vehicles are mine cars named after the Seven Dwarfs. The Dwarfs in the cottage scene are: Doc on mandolin, Grumpy on organ (the organ’s pipes feature wood-carved animals that shove nuts in their mouths), Happy on accordion, Bashful on guitar, Sleepy on fiddle, and Dopey is on Sneezy’s shoulders. In the scene when the Witch offers the guests the poisoned apple, guests consistently stole the apple. When Fantasyland reopened in 1983, a hologram solved the problem.For a fantastic resource on this dark ride, click to visit KenNetti’s website. To the left, you’ll find the diagram he put together of the 1983 version of Snow White’s Scary Adventures. |
EXTERIOR |
LINE QUEUE |
 Concept art |  Line Queue Mural, July 27, 1955 |  Aug. 1955 |  Sept. 1959 |  Line Queue Mural, 1950's |  1950's |  1950's |
 1960's |
LINE QUEUE: 2000+ |
KURT RAYMOND’S RESTORATION OF A MURAL |
This amazing illustrated story came from Daveland reader Kurt Raymond. I can’t thank him enough for his generosity in taking the time to write the following paragraphs as well as sharing his collection of photos relating to his restoration of one of the murals from this beloved dark ride. Photos of the old 1955-1981 Fantasyland dark rides and accompanying murals have always eluded us Disneyland memorabilia collectors, but in recent years, the advent of the Internet and Ebay have helped ease the loss of some of Disneyland's oldest and finest. Back in 1954, Walt Disney chose to have large murals of the Disney characters approximately 8' X 40' painted on canvas and then glued to the outer wall of each of the three Fantasyland dark rides as not only a cost cutting way of bringing the stories to life, but also a teaser to what guests would find inside the rides themselves. [NOTE: Daveland reader Jordan Reichek sent in this comment: “I actually own the original smaller design painting done for this and the Dwarf's Cottage parts of the mural. They were painted by Paul Hartley for WED in early 1955. These design paintings would be projected large and traced on canvas at actual size. Disney did this as well through the technique used by Fantasyland and MM Club art director, Bruce Bushman. The comparison photos are really neat. The larger murals had much more detail than the smaller originals they were drawn from.”] Peter Pan had its Darling House, cast portrait, and trip to Never Land, Mr. Toad had its cast portrait and crazy race through the countryside, and Snow White had a cast portrait, and the rest of the wall depicted the evil Hag/Witch and her relentless pursuit of you the rider, making the ride the 'scariest one of all,' or even more accurately, the “Haunted Mansion” of Fantasyland. The wall-length murals were always enjoyed by park guests for their whimsy and beautiful depictions of the Disney characters and settings, a tradition that still stands with three of the five current dark ride façades (albeit now with less detail than their earlier counterparts). Back in the 70's as a child standing in line for “Snow White's Adventures,” I was never scared of it. Instead, I remember being amused as I noticed other children in the queue that, upon noticing the ‘Witch at the cauldron’ portion of the mural, would scream and cry that they didn't want to ride a ‘Witch Ride,’ but parents of the day would not be swayed and continued on, adding to their child’s nightmares I am sure for years to come. I used to chuckle to myself about those poor kids (even though I was their age), since I knew that Snow White was nowhere to be found inside, just scene upon scene of Diamond Mine, Vultures, Skeletons…and the Wicked Witch. Snow White didn't appear until 1983, aside from a very quickly pulled test appearance in the early 70's. Ah, the memories. Here are some scenes from the 1962 movie ‘Forty Pounds of Trouble,’ starring Tony Curtis and Suzanne Pleshette. What’s notable about this little comic trifle is that it contains a fairly lengthy sequence filmed at Disneyland. Included are some interior shots of the original ‘Snow White’s Adventures’ attraction (see collage below):  To the left (click to enlarge) is the entire art for the Snow White mural, created late 1954. It is in its original, untouched form, and as you can see, still in sections and on “rollers” at the Disney Studio. It is in black and white here, however, the art itself is in color and was auctioned or sold to collectors in pieces years ago. Alas, I never obtained the individual pieces; however, Disney still retained the color Snow White “cast portrait,” as they used it for a retail sold Snow White collector box in the mid 90's. I DO have that box at least (thank you Ebay). This art was then traced onto a larger 8' X 40' canvas in several sections, then glued and re-painted in color to the outside wall. Note the characters and scenes are the same, but after the roller image was traced onto the canvas, the “Disneyfication” of the characters was enhanced tremendously for recognition. If the images were painted directly onto the wall, the construction worker would not have been able to simply “exacto knife” the Witch image as he did back in 1981. It's possible Disney (land) thought they’d remove these murals at a later date and replace with something else.  The photo on the left is from the documentary “The History of Disneyland,” I believe. It is a screen capture of an artist painting the Dwarfs Cottage scene of the Snow White mural onto the canvas. To his left a photo of the dwarfs mine section of the art is taped on the wall. This mine section is shown here on the right from a frame from a 1980’s 8mm movie, “Fantasyland at Disneyland.”The ‘cauldron’ scene and accompanying dungeon escape of the ride’s interior was an experience I’ll never forget. Today the scene is a quite different ‘Scary Adventure,’ because prior to 1981 the castle gates actually slammed closed in front of you, forcing you through pitch-black hallways towards chained skeletons that shook and screamed at you, spiders crawling the webbed walls, and the Witch herself coming up and in your face to your car, three out of five times (much to my mom’s horror!). It was easily the most exciting portion of the Snow White ride at that time. Daveland has several awesome photos depicting the interior of this particular scene. The mural that depicted this cauldron scene on one fourth of the entire wall outside was well painted for effect and really prepared you for the evil that was ahead. All three attractions’ wall murals had a ‘black-light’ paint coating in the late 70’s, causing them to lightly glow at night under the flourescent light bulbs nailed to the wood ceiling above them, and thus attracting the guests walking by the façades. Pretty clever for Disneyland. In late 1981 and early 1982, the dark ride façades and their murals were demolished for what was to make way for a new, more improved Fantasyland. Back then, photos of the rides up close were scarce, and at the time, the shadowy canopies and the darkness indoors did not translate well to a typical amateur photograph of the day, which partially explains why the dark ride murals were not photographed often, even though all three rides contained the most beautifully rendered Disney characters in all of Disneyland. As much as I pestered him, my dad’s excuse for not taking photos of the murals in the 70’s was that he did not want to waste the camera's flash on things he didn't consider to be 'photograph worthy', like the Jungle Cruise or the Skyway sights. When I finally was able to take my own camera, that day I found via the Skyway that the “Snow White’s Adventures” and Fantasyland Theater buildings were completely demolished in a pile of debris and both Peter Pan and Mr. Toad were closed and slated to be gutted, as the lavender wall that heralded the renovation for what was to be the “New Fantasyland” was being installed around them as well. What was happening? Was the place bombed? The whole place was a complete MESS. Needless to say I was livid, and I angrily asked the first cast member I saw what was happening but her “New Fantasyland” answer didn't stop me from being angry that I didn't get pictures. It was then and there I began a long journey to obtain photos of these rides I had loved so much growing up. Jason of Disneyland Nomenclature was able to capture this image showing the destruction of the original Snow White attraction. This photo was taken just a day or so before the construction worker cut the “Witch Stirring” canvas off the wall. To the right, you can see where the mural canvas threads are just hanging there after being torn through the plywood wall. The “Witch and boulder” portion is nearly completely gone in a mess of debris on the ground, and the exit has lost its crash doors to the far right. With this picture, fans can see the interior is nothing more than scrap. Quite a sad piece. 
Nearly 30 years of obtaining photographs of these dark ride façades and accompanying murals has been tough, but my luck was to change in 2010. It recently came to light that a construction worker on the New Fantasyland project took an exacto knife and cut the 'Witch' from the cauldron scene directly from the soon-to-be-destoyed canvas glued to the wall in late 1981 or early 1982 as a present for his wife who loved Snow White, but being that the Witch was the only remaining piece of mural still standing, he took that to her instead, and she rejected it, leaving the art dormant until it fell into the hands of a collector, who kept in under wraps until recently. Snow White enthusiast Filmic Light posted a clear photo a “Snow White's Adventures” artifact after an event in early 2010 that was not well publicized, but promised an “artifact” from the original ride -the long 'thought-to-be-gone-forever' Witch canvas. I had not had the opportunity to obtain a crystal clear picture of all three dark rides' 1981 versions of the complete murals in 25+ years of collecting Disneyland memorabilia, and was both shocked and excited that someone actually saved this piece of mural from destruction. It is interesting to note that over a 27 year period, these murals were painted and repainted again and again every few years so that they would not fade and retain their colors, and each time, the artists would make minor changes to the character’s faces and clothing colors (and extremely inaccurately I might add), not to mention their backgrounds as well, so by the time they were torn down at the beginning of the Fantasyland renovation, the Disney characters of all three dark rides did not look like themselves - at all. You can compare with the photos in this story along with the 1950's Cauldron mural scene on this Snow White page to the 1981 repaint and see for yourself all the changes. I have been able to piece together, with the help of my personal photos, photos obtained from private collectors, and the recent Filmic Light photo, to construct a near perfect restoration and recreation of the Cauldron mural scene from 1981 just before it was demolished. It clearly shows that the Snow White ride of yesterday was a “fright to see.” The current “Snow White’s Scary Adventures” does not come close to the horror of 1955-1981 (and no mural either except a small one at the end to hammer in the fact that the attraction has no ‘Happy Ending’), as audience tastes have changed and it has been ‘toned down’ more than a few notches. And so in honor of the recent discovery, I present an accurate depiction of the lost Cauldron Scene mural from 1981.     To the left (click on the thumbnail photo for the full view) is a comparison of the 1956 Stamp book pic (color corrected) with the 1981 actual mural and a “color test” of the Filmic Light photo. The bottom right portion is indeed a grainy and small photo of the actual “Cauldron Scene” mural right before the 1981 demolition. To the right is a 1956 Cheerios Box back that featured the “Witch at Cauldron' Scene.” Holes were pre-punched in the fire, windows, and inside the cauldron so kids could shine a light through, and then the picture “came alive.” Note that the art is very true to what was actually built at the park. I believe the Cheerios art was adapted from the Disney Studio’s “Snow White’s Adventures” ride concept art. The 1956 Mickey Mouse Magazine featured a spread of all the concept art of the mine, through the castle, escaping the Witch to the dwarfs cottage. Occasionally you can find this magazine on Ebay. GOOF DEPARTMENT: Rarely do you find a goof at Disneyland. However, here’s one from this attraction. In repainting the murals, leaving the Disney characters a little “off model,” the artist’s inaccuracies also extended into the ride interiors, such as this Forest scene sign, originally painted “Witch's Castle” and repainted circa 1980 during a rehab “WitchES COTTAGE,” pointing to the upcoming Castle Gate.Someone was obviously asleep that day. I hope you enjoyed this little trip down “Dark Ride Memory Lane” as much I as I did writing it for Daveland. And that’s how this journey to restore the “Scariest Wall Of All” came to be. If any readers would like more vintage photos or information regarding the SWA dark ride, here are a few sources for some early vintage material. You can find these on Ebay, Amazon.com, Abebooks.com, swap meets, Disney collector shows, etc. 1). McCalls Magazine, January, 1955 Pre-opening Disneyland concept art - 2 page spread of the SWA plan (Not used for Disneyland, but very similar to Floria's WDW plan). 2). The Disneyland Stamp Book, 1956 (features two SWA mural shots, 'Witch at cauldron' and 'Dwarfs in the Mine'). 3). Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Club Magazine, Winter, 1956 (Story and several pages of SWA concept art, advertising the Snow White Disneyland attraction. 4). Viewmaster, "Disneyland #4, S3 Fantasyland". Blue packaging, 1956-late 60's (features 4 SWA shots, 3 interior shots, 1 exit queue area). 5). The Art of Animation, Bob Thomas 1958 (Page 24 features original art of SWA 'Witch dipping apple in Cauldron' concept art, also published in Mickey Mouse Club Magazine. 6) "A Christmas Adventure In Disneyland" 1958 Book and LP - Book features a trip to Disneyland, including an encounter with the SWA Witch, and a song, "Jingle Bones". 7). "Adventures In Disneyland, U.S.A., Fantasyland",8MM In Full Color, 1950s - 60s technicolor SWA exterior shots. 8). "A Day at Disneyland" 8MM 1960's - 1974 (and various other reprints thru the early 80's), features footage of SWA queue area - guests boarding a mine car and enter the mine. 9). 1963 "40 Pounds of Trouble", DVD (from Amazon.com) Tony Curtis - features SWA Interior "Cauldron' shots 10). 1982 "Fantasyland At Disneyland" and it's spanish counterpart "Tierra De Fantasia en Disneyland", Super 8MM films - Interior/exterior shots of the 1980 SWA. I would like to extend gratitude to Dave, Robert at Filmic Light, Ken at KenNetti, Jason at Disneyland Nomenclature and the folks at Disneyland, Inc. (as it was called at the time) for their help in recreating this piece.    |
INTERIOR: HOME OF THE DWARFS |
ATTRACTION INTERIOR |
THE EVIL QUEEN’S TRANSFORMATION |
THE DUNGEON & CAULDRON |
HAPPILY EVER AFTER |
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