Customer Reviews

Disney Years Seen Through a Photographer's Lens

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This is Volume Three in a series by the author Carlene Thie, which are collections of photographs from her grandfathers professional collection he took during the construction of Disneyland and continuing through the years. The photos are clear and full page. They are all photos that I have not seen in any other book. The first book in the series, or Volume I, was called "A Photographer's Life With Disney Under Construction". Volume two is "Disney's Early Years Through the Eyes of a Photographer", and this book is volume 3. The title should probably replace Disney with Disneyland, because while there are occasional and candid shots of Walt, it is all about Disneyland.

The pictures in this volume are really special, it includes the opening of Tom Sawyer's Island and Cat Fish Cove (mistakenly called cat foot cove in the book). It has terrific pictures from the construction of the Matterhorn, Monorail, and Submarine Voyage. THe author included manyu of the arial photos from the collection. I will post a couple of pics above. THis is my personal favorite of the 3 volumes, it starts out slow but goes on to show pics of construction of the Mark Twain Riverboat, the Columbia, and later the Monorail, Submarine Voyage, and Matterhorn.
Celebrities are visiting such as the Andrews Sisters chatting it up with Wally Boag. Opening day ceremony of Alice in Wonderland. The christening of the Mark Twain by Irene Dunn.
There are a number of features of Disneyland that are long gone but preserved here in photo including the Mike Fink Keelboats, the Mickey Mouse Circus and Parade, Skull Rock and the pirate ship restaurant in Fantasyland. This book is truly a treasure for those interested in vintage Disneyland and its history, or lovers of nostalgia. The first editions of the three volumes from this author were limited to only 1,000 copies each. Those 1st editions are numbered and signed, so if you plan on buying one check closely to see what you are getting to see if it is one of those rare copies.

A Photographers Life with Disneyland Under Construction. 70 pages. 2002.

This book is a wonderful addition to any Disneyland enthusiast's collection. It is volume one of a three book series of photographs taken by Mell Kilpatrick. Mell was the chief photographer of the Santa Ana Register until his passing in 1962. His granddaughter, Carlene Thie, was given all of Mell's photos and negatives by her grandmother, Mell's widow. Carlene has published 5 books altogether and sells prints of the photos through the Ape Pen Publishing site.

Mell had the unique opportunity to be able to photograph Disneyland during the first year of construction.

Mell worked relentlessly to capture on film Walt Disney's dream. He climbed atop scaffolding, crawled into tunnels, even hung out of a light plane 5,000 feet above Disneyland to snap the perfect shot. Like any momentous project, Disneyland under construction was sometimes chaotic and many of the features, such as a darkroom, were low priority. When Mell found out that Walt needed a local place to develop staff photos, he opened his darkroom to official Disney photographers. The park's first images were developed in Mell's Santa Ana darkroom.

Walt often called Mell to photograph special days during construction, as well as granting him unlimited access to Disneyland. Along with dozens of the nation's photographers, Mell was invited to Disneyland's press premiere on July 17, 1955, as well as Disneyland's golden opening day, July 18, 1955. History buff that he was, Mell saved every piece of memorabilia from that day, including the official Disneyland Press Kit. --Ape Pen Publishing Website.
Disneyland Under Construction is a 70-page volume with more than 60 black & white photographs. Each photo is captioned with an accompanying date. The minimal text included shares facts and figures about opening day, July 17, 1955--like attractions (number of boats on the Jungle Cruise, number of pack mules), shops and restaurants.

The real star of the show is the fabulous photography.

The black & white photography is very clear and lends itself well to the time period. When you peruse the title, you do feel like you are viewing a family scrapbook--many of the shots are candid and lack a publicist's eye. The photographs are wonderful and you are presented with views that you don't often see: half-built attractions, footprints of buildings we've come to love and pictures from angles that will make you scratch your head. A majority of the photos are pre-opening. There are also several behind-the-scenes shots, as well. My favorites are the aerial shots and the familiar scenes under construction. One can only imagine what thoughts were going through Mell's head as he walked the unfinished park and snapped images most of us can only dream of seeing.

If you are a Disneyland fan, then you need to own this book.