I wish I had a time machine. I would have loved to be in Anaheim, California, on July 17, 1955 (some of you reading this blog may be saying, “Hey! I was there.”). For the rest of us, however, there is no way (yet) to turn back the clock. That could be one reason why I’m looking forward to the upcoming Dateline: Disneyland 1955 – Pin-vited Press Event. This will be a great opportunity for Guests to pretend like it is the opening day “press event” for the Happiest Place on Earth.
This hard-ticket, Disney Pin event will be held on Saturday, July 10, at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. There are 55 unique items created for especially for this event ranging from individual pins to boxed sets to framed sets. Guests who attend the event will have the first opportunity to purchase these items, enjoy a continental breakfast and participate in trading activities.
I talked with Disney Design Group Artist Monty Maldovan, who along with Chris Chapman, is one of the art champions for this event. We discussed the design inspiration behind the event merchandise.
“We wanted a ‘modern retro’ look for this event,” explained Monty. “We wanted Guests to pretend they found a trunk containing all of these wonderfully nostalgic items from the opening day of Disneyland in 1955.”
To achieve this vibe, Monty and Chris used mid-Century pastel colors and those great geometric shapes from the 1950s in many of the designs. Those elements created a distinct difference from the other 55th Anniversary merchandise that currently exists at Disneyland Resort (see Michelle Harker’s blog entry).
Disney Design Group Artist Alex Maher created these amazing sculpts that will be released at the event. There will be 500 created in full color and 55 will be done in black and white. Each sculpt will contain two pins – the Disneyland dedication plaque and a replica of the Reporter Mickey sculpt.
“It took me a little over two weeks to sculpt and paint these items by hand,” said Alex. “I made four ‘paint master’ sculpts –- two color and two black and white. I sent one set to the manufacturer and kept a set to compare the final samples they create. I love Disneyland and anything retro Disney so it was wonderful to work on these unique items.”
Jeanne Lewis, product developer for this event, came running down to our office the other day holding this pin pictured below:
She was so excited to share this sample. We must admit - it looks awesome in person. It is a replica of the original Disneyland® Cast Member nametag. How we wish we could have been a Cast Member on opening day in 1955. This is about the closest thing to having the real thing we guess. This nametag will be part of a specially designed Time Capsule set that will be released at the pin event in July.
