Life Falls From Tiki Room's Tangaroa

I'm a day late for The Enchanted Tiki Room's 50th birthday, but there's no time like the present for celebrating with a tribute to a Disneyland character you don't want to tick off.

Walt Disney's willingness to stretch the boundaries of what the public would accept as popular entertainment was a lot bolder than most people assume. Exhibit A: Tangaroa, Father of All Gods and Goddesses, standing guard at the Tiki Room.

He isn't just a talking tree. He isn't just a talking tree with a unique nose. Voiced by the incomparable Thurl Ravenscroft, he's a male tree who gives birth in front of the waiting crowd!

"Oh, Mystic Powers, hear my call! From my limbs, let new life fall!"

"BOO-YAH!"

He doesn't actually say, "Boo-yah." But he has every right to. This happy blooming has been taking place many times a day, nearly every day for fifty years. That's a lot of offspring, and just one of the many ways in which Disneyland takes guests further off the beaten path of everyday expectations than most people would ever guess.

A Pair of Rolly Crump Tikis

I enjoy the Tiki Room's outdoor pre-show nearly as much as the main event. Pele's a big attention-getter as she spouts real fire. Until recently, I hadn't realized that these wonderful tikis had been designed and sculpted by Rolly Crump, one of Disney's most imaginative and innovative artists.

Ngendei is one of my favorite characters in the entire park. Even though he sounds frazzled as he reveals the sad truth about his job, there's something incredibly jolly about the way he rocks to and fro.

Did you know Rolly Crump sculpted these tikis in the Imagineering parking lot--using a plastic cafeteria fork? Book mini-review time!

I'm certainly not the first Disney blogger to recommend this book, but--seriously--Rolly Crump's It's Kind of a Cute Story is one of the most delightful, eye-opening and entertaining behind-the-scenes books I've ever read. His blunt, good-natured, down-to-earth recollections of his work on some of Disneyland's most famous attractions make this a must-read for all Disney fans.

It's available right now on Kindle and iBooks, and it's a gem.