Bailey Cat Halloween Sorcerer

This year, Bailey is dressed up for Halloween as the Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia (aka Sorcerer Mickey)

Sorcerer Bailey Cat

H A P P Y   H A L L O W E E N

Bailey Cat Halloween

Back in July, I posted some of my cat toons, some featuring my own cats and some featuring some of my favorite Disney characters, as cats.  (HERE)

Today, I am gonna stray a bit, for Halloween, and post some pics of my Bailey cat decked out in holiday costumes.

Bailey Ghost

Bailey Vampire

Tomorrow you'll get to see what Bailey dressed up as this year

Disneyland Mountains: Big Thunder Mountain

This is the drawing I am least fond of.  I love the ride.  I worked at Disneyland in 1983, when BTMRR was merely 4 years old after its 1979 opening... and the west side of the Park was very, very quiet after dark in those days.  In fact, I doubt I ever rode this in daylight the entire Summer I worked there.

Anyways, I am not fond of this image, but as part of a set it IS required... yes I have it printed out and displayed on my own walls... part of the set.  Someday I'll probably get around to redoing this image so that I am much more fond of it.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, 1979

Mickey Mouse Halloween Balloons III

For Halloween, a Mickey Mouse Balloon could be a Leopard (or a Bailey Bengal Cat)...

Mickey Mouse Leopard Balloon

Or a fancy rainbow...

Rainbow Mickey Mouse Balloon

BUT, probably the best Halloween look would be a Jack-o-lantern pumpkin...

Mickey Mouse Pumpkin Balloon

Mickey Mouse Halloween Balloons II

If you were a Mickey Mouse Balloon, you might have a costume of...

Old Glory...

Mickey Mouse American Flag Balloon

but if you wanted to be more rogue, you could make the red & white into a bandana and be a pirate balloon...argghhh

Mickey Mouse Pirate Balloon

Mickey Mouse Halloween Balloons

If you were a Mickey Mouse balloon, what would you want to be for Halloween?

Perhaps, a cow or dalmatian... but only if you had 101 spots...

Mickey Mouse Dalmatian Balloon

Maybe you'd be Jack Skellington...

Jack Skellington-Mickey Mouse Balloon

Or you might just wanna be a Mickey Ghost...

Mickey Mouse Ghost Balloon

What would you be?

Disneyland Mountains: Space Mountain

The next mountain built in Anaheim was the Tomorrowland e-ticket, Space Mountain.  I still have my Magic Kingdom Club unlimited passport Ticket from 1977, the year this opened, so I can tell you the specific date of the first time I rode it.  What I cannot tell you is how many times I have riden it over the years since then... easily over a hundred, as it is one of my favorites.  (To be fair, I have at least a dozen favorites though)

Space Mountain, 1977

Disneyland Mountains: Matterhorn

As a designer, I love creating "bigger" projects merely by duplicating a single good idea.  Perhaps you have figured that out, as I have already presented a series of graphics based on Ticket Books, Castles, and Small World Sun icons.  I have had a real world version of the clocks on the right side of this blog, representing the time at each park, in my own home for over a decade (yes, back in the days before Hong Kong, even).

So, as I was experimenting with graphic design and needed a source of inspiration, I looked toward Disneyland.  First, a small image to tease:

First let me say, this series of the Disneyland Mountain range was done years ago, in an effort to experiment with some different drawing and computer skill sets I was developing. Each are done slightly different, and three of which I love and adore... You'll figure out which is less successful in the next few weeks.

So here is Disneyland very first iconic mountain:  the 1959 classic, Matterhorn Bobsleds

Matterhorn Mountain, 1959

Disneyland Sign Update

The Disneyland Sign/Marquee has always been one of my favorite Park icons ever since my youth.  A visit inside Disneyland was at best, a once a year occurrence, but driving on Harbor Blvd past the sign was a much more frequent happening.  I posted the history of the sign in my July and August posts, my way of visiting the sign now that I live 1000 miles away.

In September, I was able to make the trek to Anaheim, and I made a point of stopping by the pedestrian sign that I have been posting on my blog... only to find it behind construction barricades.

Thanks to the web, I have found new pictures of the sign, fresh with a new coat of paint and some minor changes, ready to welcome the upcoming holidays and the major upgrades at California Adventure in 2012.

I have updated the original blog post HERE. However, here is a preview of the new look:

Disneyland Sign 2011

The confetti and balloons are gone.  The support posts are now painted green for the first time, matching the existing light posts in the area.  A blue and white line flows along the entire banner "ribbon" to match the type coloring.  This is a pretty boring look, but I think it is more appropriate for Disneyland than the previous Disney Parks hoopla.

Thank You to my Blog Visitors

In under 4 months, this blog has already had double the traffic of my other blog (which is almost 4 years old).

I have been tracking where in the world visitors to this blog have been coming from.  In order to Thank everyone for visiting, I created this little Small World inspired poster with the title flags replaced with the National Flags of the frequent visitors to my blog... so, if you see your flag, my THANKS For Visiting!

I am glad to see U.S., Japan, France and Hong Kong represented... but I especially appreciate seeing visitors from countries that don't have Disney theme parks of their own!

Bailey Cat as The Lion King

When my cat, Simba, passed away, I knew that the Circle of Life needed to kick into gear.  Simba had been born in 1994 and was named after the recently released title character in The Lion King, after all.  So when I found Bailey, he was a kitten, just a few weeks old... but he had been born on the same day as Simba's passing.  Bailey became the heir to everything Simba left behind.

My other blog is primarily about the cats... but when I do a toon of Bailey, dressed in disguise as the Disney lion, it gets posted here.

He just can't wait to be king...

"The Lion King" is being released on Blu-Ray today.

Disney Castle Parks: HalloweenTime

For October 1st, I thought I should do one more Castle in the Castle series I have been posting for the last five Saturdays.  Since I have yet to create the upcoming Shanghai Castle, a Halloween overlay of Sleeping Beauty Castle seemed like the perfect choice.

My favorite part of this image are the Ghost Mickey Balloons rising from the Castle!

HalloweenTime Castle