'Disney and mid-century Feminine Stereotypes' or 'Daisy Duck used to be Pink'

Recently, whilst combing throughout the vast labyrinth of imagery on tumblr, I came across an image of Daisy that struck me as both odd and awesome. It was a still from a 1954 short called Donald's Diary that chronicles Daisy and Donald's courtship and subsequent marriage. Unfortunately the short revolves around somewhat unsavory stereotypes related to women and dating. In the cartoon, Daisy is seen spraying on scents labeled Bothered, Bewitched, and Bewildered, reading a book called How to Catch a Man, and it is insinuated that she let herself go after she and Donald got hitched.

After watching the short, it struck me that the cartoon might be offensive to some. For me, not so much. I accept that different periods of time will produce art, media, music and culture, and that popular perception of those things will change across history. No, what struck me about this image had nothing to do with my somewhat latent feminist self…

It had to do with the fact that Daisy Duck was PINK!:

WHAT? And she is clearly pink. Check out this image of her and Donald, who is clearly white:

I generally enjoy things more when they are pink, and ducks are no exception. Paired with those killer bangs and little red number, I think I may have found a new style icon. I'll take this Daisy over the current iteration any day.

Film Friday: Landscape at Pop Century!

One thing I love about the Diana mini is that it provides the opportunity for happy accidents.  I took these snaps whilst walking around the 50s courtyard at Pop Century, and I had no idea until I received my film back that it had not wound completely… or maybe I forgot to wind it! Who knows, the important thing is that it resulted in this unique panorama and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Disneyland's Monsanto House of the Future!

Awhile back, I wrote a post about the time Imagineers tarted up Cinderella's Castle to look like a birthday cake for the park's 25th anniversary, and how every Disnerd keeps at least a mental list (mine may be a hard copy!) of extinct events and attractions that they are super bummed to not have been around for.  The Monsanto House of the future is next on my list.

Developed as a collaboration between Walt Disney, Monsanto, and MIT Scientists, the house existed as a walk-through attraction in Disneyland's Tomorrowland between 1957 and 1967.  With all its components made of the brand-spanking new consumer product, plastic! (HA!), the house was set up to show visitors what domestic life in (the then far-off year) 1986 would look like.

One thing I can say is that between Space Mountain, Spaceship Earth, the Contemporary, and this, Disney sure has a way with white, 'futuristic' buildings.  That sounds like a post in and of itself.  Enjoy these images from a 1954 issue of Life Magazine:

Film Friday: Decades at Pop!

The subject of today's Film Friday is a set of photos I took at Pop Century, one of the hotels on Disney property.  Even though Pop is classed as a value record, I still love the themeing here.  Its bright color scheme lends itself well to lomography, and I love the way this set of photos of the large decade sculptures turned out.  These were shot on 35mm with my Diana mini! Enjoy!