Sleeping Beauty Castle Fun Facts
# The architecture of Sleeping Beauty Castle is a composite of French and
Bavarian castles from the Middle Ages.
Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland is actually modeled after "Neuschwanstein",
the Bavarian castle built by King Ludwig II from 1869- 1886. It is not a
"composite" of french and german architecture as indicated. Check it out, the
resemblance is both uncanny and easily identifiable.
# The Castle features a real, working drawbridge, though it's only been lowered
twice -- Disneyland Park's opening day, July 17, 1955, and again in 1983 to
unveil the newly remodeled Fantasyland.
The draw bridge on the castle really does work. It was used twice: once at the
opening ceremonies and once more at the re-opening of fantasyland.
# To make the castle spires sparkle, Walt Disney wanted them plated with
22-karat gold. His brother, Roy, was opposed. So Walt sent him away on a
business trip and had it done while he was gone!
# One of the spires on the castle was not plated in gold, like the others. I was
told that Walt Disney did this to serve as a reminder of his famous quote that
Disneyland would never be completed as long as there was imagination left in the
world.
If you look at the castle from the front, just left of center there is a spire
that is a brownish color. It is easy to identify if you look for the blue roofed
tower that is like square-shaped instead of circular.
# If you look closely, the top of the Disneyland castle is on backwards. Here's
the story my cast family member told me: When they were constructing the castle,
the workers were messing around, and they took the top off. When they heard that
Walt was on his way, they quickly put the top of the castle back, but they
accidently put it on backwards. Walt said the castle looked great. To this day,
the top of the castle remains backwards.
I have found a different story of why the castle was backwards. Walt was looking
thru the designs for it and he found one that he liked, but it looked too real
to be put into the park. His soultion was to turn it around andlet everybody see
the back side. I have read this in many different books.
# In one of Walt Disney's early TV shows showing the construction of Disneyland,
Walt called the Sleeping Beauty Castle, Snow White's Castle.
# There is a second "Time Capsule" at Disneyland other than the official "Time
Castle" buried in the Sleeping Beauty Castle Courtyard for the 40th anniversary.
During the first renovation of the Emporium a few years back, a newspaper from
1955 was found inside one of the walls in the stock room for the Emporium. The
way it was carefully folded made everyone certain that it was intended to be
found years later. When the new Emporium was almost ready to open a ceremony was
held to bury a new time capsule in the office areas backstage in the Emporium.
It was reported in the "Disneyland Line" a few years ago, I have the issue and
will research the date and more details for you later.
pict from hiddenmickeys.org Also, as to the "Time Castle" in the forecourt of
the castle, the park announced that a "replica" of the time castle would be on
display in the Opera House along with copies of the contents buried on July 17,
1995. Well, in fact, the "Time Castle" on display was the actual one used for
the ceremony. The container that was actually buried with the contents was a
special generic plastic container used to bury hazardous waste material. Let's
hope that the Cast Members of the future aren't to scared to open it 40 years
from now!
# The crest above the drawbridge of Sleeping Beauty's Castle is the Disney
Family crest.
# The castle has windows in the shape of shields and all the shapes on the
windows are different because all of them are the last name shield for each
Imagineer... and the one in the middle is Disney's shield.
REPORTED: MR DAMIEN L CORRELL 21 MAY 96 pict from hiddenmickeys.org
# This gargoyle is on Sleeping Beauty's castle. Pretty horrible, huh? But a side
view shows it's nothing more than a fuzzy-tailed squirrel!
On the outside of the Sleeping Beauty Castle, there is a gargoyle on the side of
the wall. Someone mentioned that the gargoyle looked scary and that they
discovered that from a side view, it was actually a bushy-tailed squirrel. While
looking at the picture on the website, my friend and I noticed that one way, it
looked like a little rabbit holding two eggs. And in a another perspective it
just looked like a rabbit face (an interesting one I might add).
# In the courtyard, just behind Sleeping Beauty's castle, there is a brass spike
driven into the ground. It is not marked. This was the exact geographical center
of Disneyland before expansion.
The brass spike is there but it's no longer the center of Disneyland, not since
Toontown was added.
When you walk through the castle toward the carrousel if you look down right as
you come out that gold thing in the ground, it's a rail road spike, is actually
the very center of the park before ToonTown opened. It's usually overlooked as a
pole hole like the ones in Main Street used for the parades.
On the Fantasyland side of the main archway of Sleeping Beauty's Castle there is
a copper colored stake that has been driven into the ground. This copper stake
is the exact center of the Disneyland park.
this is a popular notion (often perpetuated by cast-members). However, it is
neither the center of the park nor is it a spike. It's a survey marker. This
particular one designates the centerline of Main Street. As far as the park
center is concerned; using the DLRR as a perimeter boundary the 1955 center
would have been located nearer to the central plaza, a few meters west of where
the 'Partners' stand today.
If you walk directly in the to Sleeping Beauty's Castle, look down and you can
see a spike. It marks the exact center of Disneyland.
# The Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough exhibit used to require an "A" ticket.
# One is able to walk inside Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland. Inside the
castle, you walk through a series of partialy animitronic displays that show the
basic storyline of Sleeping Beauty. Unfortunately, the entrance to this part of
the Castle is a bit difficult to find, and is not always open.
The stairs on the right (as you are walking up to the castle from the Carrousel
pointing back towards Main Street) lead directly into and through the castle. It
isn't that obvious unless you know what you're looking for. It's a very small
opening that has a simple yellow "Sleeping Beauty's Castle" sign over it. You
walk along corridors and up, down and around winding stiarcases. All along the
way, from beginning to end, the story of Sleeping Beauty is told both in giant
books in glass cases and in diorama-style scenes behind glass 'windows' with
puppet-type characters from the movie. The exit is on the left when you are
facing the same way as above and only has a small yellow "Exit" sign above it. I
have known many people who grew up going to Disneyland frequently and never knew
the you could go into the castle and had never even noticed the door to the
stairs. As an added surprise one day as I walked through with my two little
children, there was a pigeon that had somehow gotten into one of the scenes from
the outside. It was pretty funny to see what looked like a GIANT pigeon in with
all the small figures - Pidgezilla!!! Run for your lives!!
Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle Trivia
Swans
The two original swans, one white and one black, were a gift to Walt Disney
from the Hollywood Turf Club and was presented by the President of MGM Studios
Dore Schary and Mervyn LeRoy. LeRoy had been the producer on the 1939 film "The
Wizard of Oz" which MGM put into production after the success of Walt Disney's
1937 film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"
Golden Spike
There are two urban legends associated with Sleeping Beauty Castle. The
first concerns a bronze spike hammered into the stonework just past the
breezeway. It’s often said that this marks the center of Disneyland (or perhaps
the center of Disneyland as measured in 1955). In fact, neither statement is
true. The center of Disneyland originally was the Central Plaza, and even with
the introduction of Mickey’s Toontown, the virtual center has only crept toward
the castle but not quite reached it.
Golden Spire
The second rumor concerns the gilded spires atop the turrets. One of the
spires appears unpainted today, and it is said that this is meant as a physical
manifestation of Walt’s credo that “Disneyland will never be complete as long as
there is imagination left in the world.” A nice idea, perhaps, but this was
never the intent of this spire! Designer Kim Irvine, who oversaw the repainting
of the castle in the early 1990s (the bricks in the castle walls became
multicolored at this point), replies that this spire was painted a darker color
just to look different, and the effects of time and weather have given this
spire a quite unintentional unpainted appearance.
More Golden Spires
The spires atop Sleeping Beauty Castle are covered with 22-karat gold leaf
to give off just the right luster in all weather conditions. Walt insisted on
this touch, but Roy, who found the financing to get Disneyland built,
balked at the expense. Walt therefore waited until Roy was in New York on
business before ordered the gold leaf to be installed on the castle.
Colors
Until the 1983 refurbishment of Fantasyland, Sleeping Beauty Castle was
painted a different color scheme: white with blue spires. Walt Disney World's
castle, built in 1971, went for a different look by opting for gray and blue, a
color scheme that continues to this day. After 1983, though, Sleeping Beauty
Castle switched to the now-familiar pink and blue, generating an arguably warmer
and more comfortable atmosphere. Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant at
Disneyland Paris, built in 1989, mimicked the new look of Sleeping Beauty Castle
and its pink and blue color scheme.
The Moat
This “lake” of water is actually part of the Disneyland darkwater system.
Many attractions at the park that use artificially dyed water share the same
water system, which travels slowly downhill from the former Motorboat Lagoon and
Storybook Land Canal Boats, across the castle moat, down a stream to the Tiki
Room and Jungle Cruise, and then through an underground pipe over to the Rivers
of America (where it is pumped back up to the Motoboat Lagoon). On occasion the
moat has been drained, interrupting the normal flow in the darkwater system.
The Christmas Trees
This moat has been the home in years past to a pair of large Christmas
trees, one on each side of the causeway. On December 6, 1998, both of these
trees fell over into the causeway during high wind, one of them grazing a
visitor in the head. As one might expect, this marked the end of Christmas trees
in the moat!
The Castle Disappears!
In 1989 magicians Siegfried and Roy came to Disneyland for an NBC television
special titled "Magic in the Magic Kingdom." The show featured several magicians
such as Harry Anderson and Lance Burton and concluded as Siegfried and Roy made
Sleeping Beauty Castle disappear.
The Disney Coat of Arms
Located above the portcullis is the Disney Family coat of arms. But it wasn't
always up there. In this picture from the 1960s, you can clearly see the missing
coat of arms.
SLEEPING BEAUTY CASTLE TO BE THE CENTERPIECE OF ‘THE HAPPIEST HOMECOMING ON
EARTH’ CELEBRATION
Since its drawbridge first welcomed guests in 1955 Sleeping Beauty Castle at
Disneyland has become an international symbol of Disney magic –an adored
Fantasyland landmark of hopes and dreams, becoming one of the most photographed
icons of the 20th century. On May 5, 2005, as Disneyland kicks-off its 50th
anniversary “The Happiest Homecoming on Earth” celebration, the park will
officially unveil a whole new look for Sleeping Beauty Castle; a transformation
into a breathtaking centerpiece for this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Gowned in swaths of richly colored royal banners, bejeweled with precious
stones, trimmed in gold and topped by five regal turret “crowns,” representing
each Disneyland decade, Sleeping Beauty Castle will glow with magic as never
before. By day, this majestic showpiece will be the stage for numerous fanciful
celebratory moments.
“Sleeping Beauty Castle is the crown jewel of Disneyland and it’s our desire to
highlight it with a new, regal décor treatment befitting such a milestone
anniversary,” said Kim Irvine-Allison, Art Director, Walt Disney Imagineering,
who is overseeing the Castle’s makeover. “We’re not altering the castle, it will
still be very recognizable, but we are enhancing its look by adding a festive
and elegant overlay that will dress the Castle in even finer glory.”
As night falls the Castle will be transformed into an animated, kaleidoscopic
canvas of ever-changing whimsical colors and charming imagery, creating an
all-new evening spectacle never before seen in a Disney Theme Park . The Castle
will experience different looks and depictions throughout the evening, beginning
at dusk and extending through the new “Remember . . . Dreams Come True”
fireworks spectacular and then continuing until the close of the park.
“By using state-of-the-art, high powered and precise projection systems we can
turn the Castle to shimmering gold, make it appear to be wrapped with a big bow
or we
can have animation of 101 Dalmatian puppies running across the face of the
Castle,
leaving behind their black spots on every tower and turret,” said Scott Givens,
vice president of entertainment, Disneyland Resort. “It is simply going to be an
amazing visual, an experience wholly unique to Disneyland .”
For 50 years Sleeping Beauty Castle has stood as the symbol of Disneyland and,
in a larger context, a symbol of “Disney” overall. Beginning with the “
Disneyland ” TV series in 1954, Sleeping Beauty Castle has been the gateway
title graphic to various incarnations of the Disney anthology TV series
including the present “Wonderful World of Disney.” The imagery of Sleeping
Beauty Castle is so symbolic of Disney that it is also part of the logos for
Walt Disney Home Video, Walt Disney Pictures and the Walt Disney Parks & Resorts
division of The Walt Disney Company.
The pinks and blues of the regal, Germanic-style castle (designed by Disney
Imagineer Herb Ryman and inspired, in part, by Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria
) are a nod to the princess for whom the castle is named. Sharp eyes will notice
such details as Walt Disney’s family crest above the entrance, 22-karat
gold-leafing adorning the spires, “squirrel” water spouts inspired by Princess
Aurora’s woodland friends and hand-rendered fresco paintings depicting scenes
from the Disney animated masterpiece Sleeping Beauty (considered by many to be
the most beautifully rendered of all Disney animated films).
Sleeping Beauty Castle is more akin to a real castle than any of its Disney
counterparts around the world due to its real functioning drawbridge (only
utilized twice – on the opening day of Disneyland and the rededication of
Fantasyland in 1983).
Another notable difference between the castles is in regards to height and size.
Sleeping Beauty Castle is significantly smaller (77 feet from moat to tallest
tower) than its sister castles because during its construction Walt Disney had
recalled stories concerning the building of European castles. Often, the huge
castles were built to intimidate the peasants. Walt believed a smaller castle
would appear friendlier and more appealing. So as the other Disney castles may
be spectacular in their height and scale, the stature of Sleeping Beauty Castle
is charming and elegant.
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