Concept Art: Fantasyland

Sometimes it’s really tricky to find concept art imagery for the oldest of Disneyland’s spaces, but I had no trouble tracking down some amazing images for Fantasyland. While it’s remarkable to see how closely they resemble the final product in many cases, I think the most fun part of looking at concept art is seeing the stuff that never came to be. It’s like peeking into the imagination of the Imagineers.

First, let’s look at the concept art for Sleeping Beauty Castle.

 Source: Disneyland Postcards

Does the castle look familiar yet weirdly wrong to you somehow? That’s because the top half of the castle is flipped; what you see in the concept art is now the rear face instead of the front face. When Imagineers built a physical model of the castle, the top half somehow became switched around and was put on backward. This accident turned out to be an accidental stroke of genius, since Walt actually liked the look much better. And now, the “back” is the “front”.

The tea party is another example of life almost imitating art. In the original concept art, the cups spun around the merry unbirthday table as characters like the Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat watched on.

 Source: Progress City USA

The final product keeps the strung lanterns and teacup vehicles, but the center table and characters (not sure if they would’ve been statues or animatronics) are gone.

This concept art shows the ride path of Peter Pan’s Flight. I obviously don’t have a real-life photo as a direct comparison, but the route here is very close to the real experience. The only differences I can see are a few mirrored turns and of course the details this overview doesn’t account for.

 Source: Inventing Disneyland

This piece of concept art is the farthest removed from the final product. It depicts the central section of Fantasyland (you can see the castle in the upper center of the art). Monstro the Whale and a smaller version of the Storybook Land Canal Boats appear, as does a more dramatic coaster version of Casey Jr. I don’t know what the circular structures are – maybe carousels or dining areas? And there’s a ferris wheel next to Dumbo that never made its way into the park.

 Source: Live Auctioneers

This part of Fantasyland has gone through a lot of transformation over the years – which you can read about in my post here. But today, it’s what my friends and I call “stroller central”; the epicenter of little kid joy at the park with dark rides and non-scary, kid-friendly attractions everywhere you look.

This concept art depicts the former Skyway passing through the Matterhorn. You can see the mountain high above an Alpine village and a surrounding forest.

 Source: Walt Disney Family Museum

The Skyway closed in 1994, and Imagineers sealed up the former openings for that attraction. While no village ever really took shape at the base of the mountain, you can still see tons of trees at every angle around the base. Fun fact: the Matterhorn was originally classified as a Tomorrowland attraction, until it was absorbed by Fantasyland in 1973.

And finally, I found this piece of castle concept art fascinating. It seems to depict the castle as more of an ongoing presence, almost surrounding Fantasyland in its courtyard.

 Source: Insights and Sounds

While the castle does extend a little bit past the shape you see from the front view, the walls quickly transition into its surrounding buildings (Snow White on one side and Peter Pan on the other). The archways appear on a much smaller scale in the final product – but I still love walking through them as I make my way over to Fantasyland.