Sunday, February 20, 2022

The Original Disneyland Game!

 This week we're moving west and back in time almost 20 years from last week's post! The year was 1954 and Disneyland (the place) was coming together because of Disneyland (the TV show). The funding was secured and construction would soon begin. Exciting times to say the least!

Now Walt well knew the art of marketing. He was doing "synergy" before anyone knew what it was. Therefore, he knew the more ways he could get the park into the public's mind, the better off he was. And what better way than through books, games, and tv aimed at kids?

What we have is a game by Transogram simply called "Walt Disney's Disneyland Game." I think this and a Peter Pan game were the only Disney games Transogram made. They are more famous for games like Green Ghost and Ka'bala. Still, they did it well!


The side of the box sums up what the game is all about.


The really great thing about this game is the incredible artwork. Here are examples from the box and the board.











Now some of these illustrations are pretty close to what was eventually built, but some (I'm looking at YOU Tomorrowland!) are not really close. Ok, the monorail in the Tomorrowland illustration is certainly cool, but the one that was eventually there looks little like it. Actually, in all of the lands, there is not much that made it to the park exactly like the pictures. 

Want to know what's in the box? Here ya go!



Now, this is what you do with that stuff...





Now, this is sort of like the Walt Disney World game from last week in that you travel to each part of the park, but for some reason this game is actually more fun. Of course there are more rules to this game, but that makes it interesting.

As a side note, the Disneyland Railroad is called Casey Jr. in the instructions. Of course, in some places Tomorrowland is called "Land of Tomorrow" so things were obviously not nailed down quite yet. 

Yes, I have played this game, and I enjoyed it in a simple way. For some reason it mirrors the feel of the early park very well! I would certainly consider it a "treasure!"

So, until next time, keep looking for treasure...and play with it when you find it!

2 comments:

  1. Another Disney game I never had.

    I’m looking forward to that game night, Stu, and I want to be the Space Repairman. Little did they know, at the time, but a flying saucer repairman is what they really needed.

    BTW, I had Green Ghost and played it - glowing - in my dark basement with friends. To this day, some of my friends still talk about how scared they were (I ‘played it up good.’)

    Thanks for sharing, Stu!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would be a ton of fun!
      Yeah, I thought it was interesting that they included flying saucers, that wouldn't be there for a few years!
      I had Green Ghost as a kid, and have it again as an adult! Having played it as an adult, I must say it lost a lot of it's appeal, lol! Still, the design holds up great!

      Delete

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