What Castles Did the Imagineers Look at to Create Cinderella's Castle?

profscottraynor

profscottraynor

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I've gotten lot of positive feedback from this article that I wrote about the architectural history of Cinderella's Castle. I am an Art and Design professor and I have a real interest in the Design history of WDW.

I also take students to Europe each summer to study art and architecture so this grew out of a lot trips and photos!

Hope everyone enjoys it and I love any feedback or other elements I can add to the article to make it better.

http://www.itats.org/how-did-european-castles-made-their-way-to-walt-disney-world/

Cinderella_Castle-with-Ref-818x1024.jpg
 
unkadug

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
profscottraynor said:
I've gotten lot of positive feedback from this article that I wrote about the architectural history of Cinderella's Castle. I am an Art and Design professor and I have a real interest in the Design history of WDW.

I also take students to Europe each summer to study art and architecture so this grew out of a lot trips and photos!

Hope everyone enjoys it and I love any feedback or other elements I can add to the article to make it better.

http://www.itats.org/how-did-european-castles-made-their-way-to-walt-disney-world/

View attachment 34436
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I loved your article.
 
profscottraynor

profscottraynor

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
JillC LI said:
Fascinating. I always thought it was based on Castle Neuschwanstein only. But I've been to many of the castles in your article, and I see what you are saying.
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I based a lot of it on the Herb Ryman sketches and by observing pieces of the various castles. A lot is obviously educated guesswork but if people have more info then I would love for them to share.
 
profscottraynor

profscottraynor

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
mweier said:
curious if you are able to pinpoint the origins of the gothic spires... they seem reminiscent of gothic cathedrals throughout Europe, but with less of the... "fiddly bits"

http://tinyurl.com/n9ax5oh
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That's the thing about Disney Architecture...it swims around and the styles are very fluid and hard to pinpoint. Chartres was one of the earliest Gothic spires but Disney always wants the 'fairy tale' quality.

There is an early inspirational painting from the early development of the original Cinderella that shows a structure that has a lot of aspects of WDW's castle...I've always wondered if the imagineers were digging around in the archives and found that one.
 
profscottraynor

profscottraynor

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ok...To show you all how geeked out I really am about architectural history and Cinderella's castle. I've drawn this and I'm going to get it printed as a t-shirt. I tried to print it for me and the wife +kids at zazzle but they said the 'font' was suspicious. I need to find a t-shirt printer who will make this for me.

Then I'm going to wear it to WDW during our Dec. Trip
Castle Shirt Final II.jpg

Thoughts?
 
JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
profscottraynor said:
Ok...To show you all how geeked out I really am about architectural history and Cinderella's castle. I've drawn this and I'm going to get it printed as a t-shirt. I tried to print it for me and the wife +kids at zazzle but they said the 'font' was suspicious. I need to find a t-shirt printer who will make this for me.

Then I'm going to wear it to WDW during our Dec. Trip
View attachment 34508
Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Hey, why not?! If that's your thing and it makes you happy, go for it! It's unique and I'll bet you start many a conversation with it.
 
rsoxguy

rsoxguy

Well-Known Member
profscottraynor said:
Ok...To show you all how geeked out I really am about architectural history and Cinderella's castle. I've drawn this and I'm going to get it printed as a t-shirt. I tried to print it for me and the wife +kids at zazzle but they said the 'font' was suspicious. I need to find a t-shirt printer who will make this for me.

Then I'm going to wear it to WDW during our Dec. Trip
View attachment 34508
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
While I would say that yes, the t-shirt would be a bit geeky, truth be told I own a Pinky and The Brain t-shirt. I say wear it with pride.
 
profscottraynor

profscottraynor

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Soarin' Over Pgh said:
try Cafepress. They might be able to...


I liked the article, and the one linked in it- http://www.itats.org/hauntingly-bea...tar-wars-set-photos-from-tunisia-and-morocco/
I had to post that on my Facebook account... too many Star Wars junkies not to :)
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Thanks! I was really intrigued by the Star Wars photos. Hard to believe that Lucas just left the sets in the Tunisian dessert.
http://www.itats.org/hauntingly-bea...tar-wars-set-photos-from-tunisia-and-morocco/
http://www.itats.org/hauntingly-bea...tar-wars-set-photos-from-tunisia-and-morocco/

Screen-shot-2013-04-14-at-10.16.51-PM1.jpg
 
Soarin' Over Pgh

Soarin' Over Pgh

Well-Known Member
Really IS amazing, considering how that franchise took off. Hard to believe these were simply left alone.

If that were America, they would be on ebay so fast your head would spin clear off your shoulders. LOL

I've used Cafepress in the past, they quality is good. You can always get iron on t-shirt transfers and print the design on them (as long as you have a color printer! :) ) and then simply iron them onto t-shirts. They will hold up for a few washes, but aren't typically "made to last" material. Its another option.
 
Soarin' Over Pgh

Soarin' Over Pgh

Well-Known Member
Or, HURRRR. I totally should mention that my avatar is a Lion King (broadway) logo on a tank top that I made specifically for the show. If you're a creative person, you can make the shirts yourself using a stencil, a printout of your design, lots of tape (to tape stencil to shirt) and paints.

I used a new black tank top from Old Navy, acrylic paints (I have on hand, because Im an artist and have.. err. Let's not count how much paint I'll confess to owning) and sponge brushes to apply and layer the paint.

The shirt has washed very nicely- at first it was stiff from the paint, but after one washing it was softer. Now, after about a half dozen washes, it's just as soft as any other shirt and hasn't faded or chipped or anything.

There's a few more photos here- http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/lion-king-on-broadway-pittsburgh-omg.863791/page-2 if you're interested. It took maybe 5 hours total, and this shirt will last a long time.


I can't believe I didn't even think of this the first time I posted on this thread. Haha! I feel like an idiot.
 

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