Thursday, April 07, 2016

Cowboy vs. Spaceman



This undated photo shows the "New" Tomorrowland, the favorite Tomorrowland of most vintage Disneyland geeks. The Spaceman survived the transition but not for very long. Here he is, model ready for his female admirer.



Could this little boy in the red cowboy hat actually be snubbing the future? I am sure mom would have scolded him if she'd seen the face he was making at the Spaceman.



More of the beloved Disneyland Spaceman my main website.

5 comments:

DrGoat said...

Is that kid giving the Spaceman the finger or is he
just being contemplative. I hope that's just a shadow
on Mom's posterior.

beachgal said...

I guess I'm and 'older' Disneyland fan. I was already grown up by the time the 'new' Tomorrowland opened, and have to admit, I missed the old layout of Tomorrowland. It never had that younger persons memory for me after it was all revamped. When I started to reminisce about Disneyland a number of years back, I found 'Geeks' were talking about things like the People Mover that I really never had paid much attention to because they happened long after my childhood memories of Disneyland.

Anonymous said...

Dave, this looks like the same CM Spaceman with whom I had my photo taken, your link >>

http://davelandweb.com/tomorrowland/images/spaceman/2_68_JG_Spaceman.jpg

The location is exactly the same, he put us little boys up on the planter and stood next to us so we were closer up in the picture frame. I know that my date of February 1968 is correct because we went over Presidents' Day break from school, written on the back of the old photo.

Your pic might be a few months older since the flowers look like the same variety but newly planted, but they are almost knee high in my pic.

I'm bummed because after the 1997 Tomorrowland remodeling, this exact spot is in an awkward place inside the AstroJets queue and you can't really replicate the pose anymore.

Very cool to see this same guy again. Thank you.

JG

K. Martinez said...

The 1950's TV westerns and space age. Definitely the inspiration for two of Disneyland's original "lands" and Toy Story's Buzz and Woody. Great image of old and "new" co-existing. Thanks, Dave.

beachgal, That's how it is for me with the 1983 Fantasyland. While I think it's technically superior, my heart is with the original since it existed during my entire childhood and I was already well into early adulthood by the time the "new" Fantasyland arrived.

Daveland said...

Dr. Goat - Hard to tell!

JG - Thanks for taking the time to compare - great find!