Little Golden Book Monday #184

 Mickey's Walt Disney World Adventure has been repurposed 25 years later as Walt Disney World celebrates its 50th anniversary. 25 years ago in 1997, Little Golden Books released Mickey's Walt Disney World Adventure in conjunction with WDW's 25th Anniversary.  Although most of the book has remained the same, some things in the park have changed in the past 25 years, and those changes are reflected in updated artwork as you will see below.

Cover to the 1997 Little Golden Book release

Cover to the 2022 Little Golden Book release

Inside cover of the 1997 release

Inside cover of the 2022 release

1997 artwork showing the new entrance to Tomorrowland

2022 showing the Tomorrowland Transit Authority

1997 artwork showing an arial view of Fantasyland from the defunct Skyway

2022 artwork highlighting the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Original 1997 artwork 

2022 slightly altered artwork altering the Main Street Cinema marquee

Moana Mickey's Arcade

My wife gave me a stack of stuff the other day that she had received from a friend who works at a travel agency. There was tons of Disney brochures, DVDs, posters etc. There were a few 11 x 14 inch cards with info on Adventures by Disney and a 2009 Wald Disney Word Product Reference Guide. These didn't interest me and I was going to toss them out, but I noticed this great picture on one of them for Moana Mickey's Arcade located at the Polynesian Resort in Walt Disney World. I decided to scan this image for myself before tossing out the cards, and I thought I would share it with you!

Walt Disney World Pop Up Book

Here is the 1972 Walt Disney World with Mickey Mouse Hallmark Pop Up Book. This most recent copy of the book brings my collection of these to three. This one cost just 20 cents and is in very good condition with all of the pop up pieces still in tack and in working order.
Here is the text on the back cover: Mickey Mouse will take you through the pages of this pop-up edition. Along the way you will twirl in a magic teacup ride and visit a haunted mansion. You will submerge in the Submarine Nautilus and view the clouds from Cinderella's Castle. Colorful illustrations and a happy text make a Fun-Filled Visit To Walt Disney World the next best thing to being there.
Hallmark Children's Editions are created in consultation with Dr. Edith M. Dowley, Director of the Bing Nursery School, Stanford University. Every title has been tested to make certain of its interest. You can be sure that a Hallmark children's book will be a happy and healthy experience for young people.
Along with the cover, here are a few scans and photos including, the inside front cover with a pop up of the paddle wheeler that takes you to the entrance of WDW. There is a scan of the Monorial page which has a door you can "life" open to slide Mickey inside the Monorail. There is a scan of the Mad Tea Party where you can "pull" the tab to spin Mickey in his tea cup. And lastly a photo of the Jungle Cruise page which features a great 3D pop up of a Jungle Cruise boat being skippered by Mickey.

Little Golden Book Monday #41

Today's Little Golden Book is Walt Disney's Surprise for Mickey Mouse. This is the second printing from 1972.
This story has a cavalcade of characters in it including: Mickey's nephews Fredie and Morty Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Horace Horse, the Three Little Pigs, Geppetto and Pinocchio, Figaro the kitten., Cleo the goldfish, Donald Duck and Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Dumbo and Timothy, Daisy Duck, and Pluto.
The story ends when Mickey, Fredie, Morty and Pluto end up at Wald Disney World at the Mickey Mouse Revue. Turns out that all of Mickey's pals are part of the Mickey Mouse Revue orchestra. Mickey had never been so happy. His musical revue was wonderful. The audience clapped and cheered, and Mickey's orchestra took twenty-seven bows. They would have taken twenty-eight, but Donald Duck got so excited that he fell into a bass drum.

The Mickey Mouse Revue was an attraction that opened on October 1, 1971 in Walt Disney World, Florida. It played from 1971 - 1980, and moved to Tokyo Disneyland to continue to this day. This attraction was a musical Animatronic show much like the Country Bears and America Sings. The show started with the Audio-Animatronic orchestra figures conducted by Mickey Mouse rising up from the stage while playing cartoony warm up music. Mickey then laughed and counted an intro and the characters began an instrumental medley of various Disney songs including: Heigh Ho, Whistle While You Work, When You Wish Upon a Star, and Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life for Me).

Even with the large number of characters that appeared in this Little Golden Book, there were a ton that had to be left out due to lack of pages/space. If all 81 characters from the Mickey Mouse Revue had been included, this would not have been a "Little" Golden Book.



This is a list of the characters that perform in Mickey's orchestra:
1. Mickey Mouse - baton
2. Mad Hatter - bass clarinet
3. March Hare - helps with bass clarinet
4. Dormouse
5. Winnie the Pooh - kazoo
6. Rabbit - slide whistle
7. Piglet - harmonica
8. Minnie Mouse - violin
9. Daisy Duck - cello
10. Uncle Scrooge - ukulele
11. Monty (city mouse) - clarinet
12. Abner (country mouse) - saxophone
13. Pluto - high-hat cymbal
14. Huey - trumpet
15. Dewey - trumpet
16. Louie - trumpet
17. Gus - trombone
18. Jaq - helps with trombone
19. Goofy - bass viola
20. Dumbo - tuba
21. Timothy - helps with tuba
22. Kaa - his own tail!
23. King Louie - xylophone, wood blocks, timpani, etc.
24. Baloo - flute
25. Practical Pig - brick organ
26. Fifer Pig - accordion
27. Fiddler Pig - fiddle
28. Snow White
29. Bluebird
30. Doe
31. Fawn
32. & 33. Squirrels
34. & 35. Quail
36. through 40. Rabbits
41. Raccoon
42. Sneezy - oboe
43. Dopey - flute
44. Grumpy - pipe organ
45. Doc - lute
46. Bashful - accordion
47. Happy - mandolin
48. Sleepy - fiddle
49. Alice
50. through 52. Pansies
53. Daffodil
54. & 55. Tulips
56. & 57. Shy Little Violets
58. White Rose
59. Red Rose
60. Iris
61. & 62. Morning Glories
63. Dandelion
64. Tiger Lily
65. Donald Duck - maracas
66. Panchito - pistols
67. Jose Carioca - guitar
68. Donald #2
69. Panchito #2
70. Jose #2
71. Donald #3
72. Panchito #3
73. Jose #3
74. Fairy Godmother
75. Cinderella - workmaid
76. Cinderella #2 - ballgown
77. Cinderella #3 - ballgown
78. Prince Charming
79. Brer Fox
80. Brer Rabbit
81. Brer Bear

The original date for the first printing of Surprise for Mickey Mouse, was 1971, the same year that the Mickey Mouse Revue attraction opened at WDW. So, it would seem that even back then, the Mouse was king when it came to promotional tie-ins and promotion for their new parks and attractions.

Little Golden Book Monday #23

Today's Little Golden book is a great Walt Disney World 25th Anniversary collectible. It's from 1997 and called Disney's Special Collectors Edition Mickey's Walt Disney Wold Adventure. I picked this book up this weekend at a local thrift shop. The strange thing is that I had never seen this book before, but ended up finding two copies at two separate thrift shops on the same day. I bought both.
The book shows Mickey and Minnie Mouse touring around WDW, and riding all the rides. At one point in the story when they are on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, Huey, Dewey and Louie show up in the boat with them. And at the end of the book, Goofy shows up to give Mickey his brand new drum major's hat that he had misplaced.