November 28, 2012

Rare Characters From 1983's Flights of Fantasy

In a recent post we watched the giant Fantasia brooms march by, and now we're taking a look at some more rarely-seen characters who grabbed the spotlight in Disneyland's 1983 Flights of Fantasy parade. We've got a dozen photos today, starting with the best armored oddballs ever:
The Trumpeter, Hippo Knight and Rhino Guards from Robin Hood show up! Check out the rhino on the far right menacing the crowd.
Disney Heffalumps Woozles Disneyland Flights Fantasy Parade
Heffalumps and Woozles. Hide the honey!

Disney Snow White Scary Evil Trees Flights Parade Disneyland
The scary trees from Snow White get their moment in the sun.
Disney Stromboli Disneyland Flights Fantasy Parade
 The Great Stromboli.


Disney Alligator Crocodile Fantasia Hippo Flights Parade Disneyland
Walt Disney World got a lot more Fantasia love during SpectroMagic's run. Here in Disneyland, the crowd loved this crew. I'm looking at the gator and wondering how on earth he didn't fall off that tiny ledge!
Disney Fantasia Alligator Crocodile Flights Parade Disneyland
"Dance of the Hours" is my second-favorite part of Fantasia.
Disney Ostriches Fantasia Parade Flights Fantasy Disneyland
I wonder if some of these costumes came from the traveling Disney on Parade arena shows. I love that the ostriches aren't all identical.
Disney Wonderland Dee Dum Walrus Flights Parade Disneyland
Nothing rare here, but the Walrus doesn't get enough park time. Did you know J. Pat O'Malley did the voices of Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, the Walrus and the Carpenter? And, come to think of it, why has the poor Carpenter never appeared with the Walrus in the parks? How hard is it to stick a white paper hat on a Cast Member?
Disney Caterpillar float Daffodils Parade Flights Disneyland
They're rare and meaner than they look -- The Dizzy Daffodils!
Disney Disneyland Cheshire Cat Flights Fantasy Parade teapot
Rarely seen in a teapot.
Disneyland Disney Cards Alice Parade Flights Fantasy Wonderland
A good attempt at a difficult concept.

One last shot -- and I apologize about the poor image quality. There's certainly nothing rare about Maleficent in either Fairy or Dragon form...
Maleficent Dragon Disney Disneyland parade goon Flights
...but how many times do you see her escorted by one of her Goons? (For a slightly better look at the dragon, please see our recent post on Disney's Favorite Way To Bump Off a Villain).

I hope you enjoyed this trip back in time to Flights of Fantasy, Disneyland's celebration of the 1983 Fantasyland renovation. I remember enjoying the parade, but being a bit impatient for it to end; I just wanted to get back to Fantasyland to check out the improved Mr. Toad's Wild Ride several more times!



17 comments:

  1. I was one of the rhinos in that parade. Patrick W. Vance

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  2. Maleficent was accompanied by "Ghouls", not Goons...

    I should know, I was inside one...

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  3. You left out photos of perhaps the single most manly, least graceful, unit ever to grace a Disney parade - The Brooms from the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment of Fantasia.

    With costumes so tall (15-16 feet), so heavy (50-60 pounds of metal frame AND a leaf blower on your back), and so awkward, the first time we tried on our costumes WE (Yes, "we"...I was their leader...) could do little more than simply march and serpentine our way down Matterhorn Way onto Main Street.

    Even after our "choreography" had been abandoned by the higher-ups, we practiced our never-forgotten routine in secret, until one day we unveiled our big surprise! Had you been listening on the Entertainment communications channels that day, you would have heard "What the heck are the brooms doing....?" "Ummm...I think they're doing they're routine!"

    It was also quite easy to fall down in a broom costume...and MORE than a little bit fun. Especially when all 12 of us went down domino style late in our parade's run!

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    1. Anonymous, no worries, we've got a whole post dedicated to you guys!

      http://mousetroop.blogspot.com/2012/11/march-of-brooms-1983s-flights-of-fantasy.html

      Thank you for your awesome memories! I totally loved the brooms--would have loved to see you do your routine!!! (and the domino thing!) :)

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    2. I was one of those brooms too -- and remember the day that all 12 of us took a dive on one of those last days -- right in the middle of Main Street, as I recall. Those praise captains freaking out trying to get all of us back up so the parade could continue...

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    3. Stuart? Scott? Steven? Sean? If Thomas is your last name...I'm not remembering it...

      It's me, Axel. Broom Brethren...

      It WAS the middle of Main Street. I turned around...yelled at the broom behind me...and then just fell forward into him...down we all went. As I was the first "domino" on top of everybody...I was the first one up...and as each one was helped up (we could NOT get up on our own...) we started jumping up and down and acting a bit crazier than the brooms ever had to date...

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  4. I found the list of floats and units on Micechat.

    Here they are:
    1. Bumble Boogie - 1 small float (The first float of the parade)
    2. Mickey & Friends - 1 small float (Mickey and Minnie riding on the hot air balloon)
    3. Taran and Eilonwy - 1 large float (A magical Wind-up Toy, with Chip ‘n’ Dale as passengers)
    4. Pinocchio - 1 large and 1 small float (With Pleasure Island and Donkey)
    5. The Little Mermaid - 1 large float (The tunes of Under the Sea)
    6. Sleeping Beauty - 1 large float (With Spinning Wheel)
    7. Brave - 1 large float (The this giant bagpipe float)
    8. Aladdin 1 large float (The this Magical Flying float)
    9. Peter Pan - 1 large float (Boat swings float)
    10. Tangled - 1 large float (three larger swings from Pixar Play Parade)
    11. Dumbo - 1 large and 1 small float

    There will be 9 UNITS of floats in the parade.
    U1 Bumble Boogie (opening) + Mickey's and Minnie hot air balloon (mickey & friends) + Taran and Eilonwy Magical Wind-up Toy
    U2 Pinocchio's Pleasure Island Fun
    U3 Ariel’s Sea of Party
    U4 Aurora Magical Fantasy
    U5 Merida of Bagpipe
    U6 Aladdin Flying Magic
    U7 Peter Pan Neverland Rainbow
    U8 Rapunzel’s Magical Lights (like A Bug’s Life from Pixar Play Parade)
    U9 Casey Junior’s Train of Circus (acrobatic acts for clowns; two floats)

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  7. Disney’s World of Wonder parade as part of the Diamond Celebration, celebrating the 60th anniversary of Disneyland in California. as a part of bringing the stories of Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Adventureland throughout the park. The parade celebrates the festival from Disney's films. The parade takes two floats and themes from Tokyo Disneyland's former daytime parade named Disney Dream on Parade, which ran until early 2005, at which point it was replaced by Walt Disney’s Parade of Dreams.
    Parade Unit
    -Magical of Dreams-
    •Mickey Mouse
    •Minnie Mouse
    •Donald Duck
    •Goofy
    •Pluto
    •Chip ‘n’ Dale
    •Spring Sprite float
    -Pirate of Fun-
    •Pirates of the Caribbean float
    -Worlds of Around-
    •-Toy Story Unit-
    •Woody Cow-Boy
    •Buzz Space Jam
    -Fantasy of Daydreams-
    •Pinocchio float
    -Wonderland of Music-
    •Alice in Wonderland float
    -Power of Spell-
    •-Disney Villains Unit-
    •Spooky Forest float
    •Firebirds float
    -A Dreams Come True-
    •White Castle Float
    •Snow White and Prince Charming
    •Anna and Elsa
    •Princess Aurora and Prince Philip
    •The Seven Dwarves (besides Dopey)
    •Cinderella and her Prince

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  8. Why no tick-tock croc?

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