To celebrate the #Disneyland60 Diamond Celebration, D23 took members on a retrospective look at the place where the magic started. The first half of the event included Q&A panel with Disney Imagineers, Disney archivists, and other special guests.
The second half included a chat with Tony Baxter who talked a little about the park and unveiled some never-before-seen color footage of the park on July 17, 1955. The event ended with a screening of the restored 1956 featurette Disneyland, U.S.A.
As is typical for special D23 events, there was a gift! The offering included a special Disneyland opening day ticket pin and a replica fan that featured vintage artwork promoting the various areas of the park.
The Gift
The Panel
Becky Cline, Director Walt Disney Archives, moderated a fun panel discussion with a historic group of people including Jim Cora (who held many positions including VP, Disneyland International), Kim Irvine (Art Director for Disneyland), Jack Lindquist (executive in various Marketing positions for the parks), Marty Sklar (previous exec and current Ambassador for Imagineering), and Tom Nabbe (attractions manager and former Tom Sawyer character).
Pre-show Slideshow
Panel Discussion
Presentation
Tony Baxter then took to the stage briefly to showcase some Archiving treasures including original preview day passes from July 17, 1955 and a few other treasures.
Before the screening of the restored Disneyland, U.S.A., he shared some great footage that had recently been recombined into a new 6-minute clip showcasing various pieces of archival footage from July 17, 1955. It was synced together with the audio from the actual familiar black and white broadcasts giving a more behind the scenes look at the hub-bub going on for the official preview day of the park.
