In an episode of the classic children's series "Beany and Cecil" (and later in a comic book) the title characters learn of their creator's plans to build a theme park that bares a striking resemblance to a certain California theme park that we all know and love. Beanyland was to be an out of this world theme park built on the moon. Instead of Fantasyland, Beanyland was to feature "Castle Wall Street" where you could buy stock in the show's characters. While Disney has it's Matterhorn, Beanyland featured a whole mountain range called the "Amos and Andes." Tomorrowland became "Science-Fictionland" and in a slightly eerie bit of foreshadowing there were also plans for a section called "Thrillsville" featuring the "Rock `n' Roller Coaster".This was all in a cartoon, but in real life a struggling Santa Monica, California amusement park known as Pacific Ocean Park contacted Beany and Cecil creator Bob Clampett (also of Looney Tunes fame) in the hopes of creating some park attractions based on elements from his television series. However, Clampett's plans for converting Pacific Ocean Park into Beanyland never saw the light of day and Pacific Ocean Park went belly-up after just ten short years of operation. (Disneyland is still open.)
source:
Onosko, Tim. Fun Land U.S.A. Ballantine Books; New York. 1978
2 comments:
Great post. I've not seen this before.
I really enjoyed your comments on Beanyland! I was a huge fan of Beany & Cecil as a child. As a result, my husband and I purchased an animation cel by Bob Clampett Productions. It's title: "Beanyland"! It features Beany & Cecil in front of the entrance to Beanyland, as well as Cap'n Huffenpuff streaking across the sky with his magic wand ala Tinker Bell. Did you know that Bob Clampett worked with his aunt to design the first Mickey Mouse plush?
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