MousePlanet staff writer and Mouse Tales author David Koenig answers reader mail in response to his recent article, “The Disneyland Doodlers.” Leon M. writes:
Thanks for the article on the Disneyland Doodlers/Skiles & Henderson. When I first saw the names in the caption of the photograph, it didn’t tumble as to who they were. But when I saw them as “Skiles & Henderson” I knew immediately; using the link (thanks for including that!) to their Web site confirmed it for me. I hadn’t thought of them for years. I remember them from Hollywood Squares and also seeing them perform years ago with The Carpenters in Lake Tahoe, NV when I was in my early teens.
I enjoyed the article very much. The little bits of information always make for fascinating reading for any Disneyphile. Best wishes and good luck with the anniversary edition of your Mouse Tales book. I still have the first copy my sister-in-law loaned me some years ago. I should really get around to returning it.
Thanks for the note!
Jeff P. writes:
Your discussion of Skiles and Henderson and their early history at Disneyland brought to mind some other Disney connections. Reportedly, Bill Skiles and Pete Henderson provided the voices for some of the monkeys in The Jungle Book. A few years later, they hosted one episode of Ward Kimball’s The Mouse Factory.
Finally, for a personal memory, my brother and I attended Disneyland’s 25-hour celebration for its 25th birthday on July 17, 1980, during which Skiles and Henderson performed several shows at the Space Mountain Stage. We were already fans from seeing many of their television appearances, so we made it a point of attending two of their shows. But since we stayed in Disneyland for the entire 25 hours, I do remember nodding off while waiting for one of the shows to begin. I remember that Bill Skiles did his “flying goat” sound effects (and I can’t even explain what that means). I also recall passing Bill Skiles as he walked through Tomorrowland between performances, evidently doing some shopping since he was holding a small merchandising bag.
Thank you for your articles on Disneyland, past and present.
Thanks for sharing your memories. I was unaware of these performances.
Next, staff photographer Frank Anzalone answers readers searching for tips on how to take great photos on their Disney vacations. You can get to all the articles in Frank’s photo tips series from his author page. Bridget G. writes:
I was extremely impressed with the section of MousePlanet devoted to your tips. I am a mother of two beautiful, sweet girls and was raised myself on trips to Disney. I now am so excited to be taking my own children on a trip to Disney this June. I however don’t have the luxuries of a truly expensive camera but love photography and would love to know how to make the most of my Canon Powershot A-60 3.2 megapixels camera on our trip.
I know that I could just bite the bullet and buy a new camera with more megapixels for about the same amount that I spent on my 3.2 Canon camera three years ago but I hate to spend the money again when my camera is still working fine and I do get some good pictures (when I work with the lighting that is). Any helpful tips?
I am glad you read the photo tips on MousePlanet. If you go back to the very first photo tip series, you will see that I shot all those pictures with one of those disposable box film cameras. No megapixels, no fancy cameras—just a little point-and-shoot camera. I think the camera you have will serve you well.
I would set the camera on its highest resolution (this gives you the best digital file for pictures, but you get a fewer number of pictures per memory chip). I am sure the camera has an “outdoor” setting and a “night” setting. Use them, experiment with them… Get lots of pictures of the kids! (see my photo tips about “family and friends” at Disney).
Make sure you have enough memory chips (or bring a laptop to transfer the pictures and free up that memory chip for the next day!).
Betty L. writes:
I have a Kodak Easyshare camera (my daughter gave me so I want to keep it). I’m having trouble taking night parade pictures. If I switch to the night mode the pictures seem to get grainy and red. Is there a lens I can attach or is there a disposable camera that would be good for night pictures? Thanks for any info you can give—I do follow your “take lots of pictures” tip and I have gotten some alright pictures but I don’t remember what I did to get them.
With the Kodak Easyshare camera the best bet is to continue to put it on “night mode” for those evening shots. Find something steady to set the camera on and take the picture. The grainy look is the digital “noise” that has to do with making the camera as sensitive to light as it can be. The same thing happens with high-sensitivity film—just part of what you have to deal with/expect if you take nighttime pictures without a flash.
One of my secrets about nighttime photography is to look for subjects that are illuminated in some way—the brighter the better (the castle, Main Street, etc). Make sure to zoom in close to that subject and minimize the “dark” area of your picture. This will help the camera exposure. The greater the dark area is in the overall picture that you take—the less success you will have with the final image. Good luck!
Gina writes:
This is strictly for my own personal knowledge, since you’re a photographer perhaps you would know this. Is it okay to take Disney photographs? Is there anything stating that you can’t because of copyrights or anything like that? Thank you so much in advance, if you could get back to me, I would greatly appreciate it.
First, let me say that I do not represent the Walt Disney Company—so they might have more of a specific set of guidelines—But this is how I understand it…
You can take all the pictures you want at Disneyland or Walt Disney World as long as they are for personal use or editorial use—say for instance a newspaper article (not a newspaper advertisement). The idea of copyright is that if you take a picture of Mickey Mouse, for example, he is copyrighted; so if you sell that image without licensed permission from Disney, you can get in trouble.
Sorry I do not have more specific info for you. I hope that helps! There was actually a statistic Kodak came out with years ago (before digital), and it said five percent of all pictures taken worldwide had something to do with Disney, such as vacation pictures and such.
In a previous mailbag (link), I asked readers to write in with their reviews of the Mary Poppins musical, currently on stage in London and New York City. Both Kate and Lisa wrote in with their thoughts. Kate A. writes:
I was so excited to see a call for reviews of the Mary Poppins stage show! My husband and I just returned from a trip to the UK, and one of my must-do attractions was seeing Mary Poppins in London. I wrote up a review of my experience at the show that will be published in the next issue of the Magically Speaking newsletter, but here’s a summary of what I thought:
Overall, we both loved the show, but I have to admit that even though we knew it would be different from our beloved film, it was still strange to see plot elements happen in a different order than we expected, or were completely omitted. I most noticed the absence of all the women’s rights issues from the film; I feel “Sister Suffragette” and its themes throughout the movie add a whole other level to the story. But, I loved the dance and song for “Supercal,” and it was just incredible to hear the music from a live orchestra! Seeing it as a lavish stage show is definitely an experience I’d recommend to any Disney fan. Hope that helps. We love MousePlanet!
Lisa C. writes:
Saw the show in NYC back in January and it was fantastic! I went in with very high expectations and they were exceeded. Yes, the story is different from the movie but not in a bad way. The staging was out of this world—beautiful, bright costumes and imaginative scenery. Plus there are two show stopping moments (won’t give them away) that just leave you saying “WOW”. The two friends who came with me were equally enthusiastic. I give the show two thumbs up!
Finally, Michael Jensen of the Web site AfterElton.com responds to MousePlanet’s report on Disney’s recent decision to allow same-sex couples to participate in the Fairy Tale Weddings program:
Just wanted to thank you guys for getting the whole story right about the Disney Wedding change. Unfortunately, the AP reporter who wrote the AP story was very lazy in his research and excluded our role as opposed to the Reuters’ reporter. I actually contacted him and he was “Eh, whatever. It’s a small story so who cares.” We put a lot of work into it and are very pleased to have helped bring about this small, but still significant change.
All the best!
