Iago: She's got diorama? I bet she caught a bug. She's gonna need that Pepto-Bismol. It always works for me when I eat a bad taco.
Iago: Hey Zazu, I just got back from seeing "It's Tough to Be a Bug" at Animal Kingdom.
Zazu: And did you enjoy it?
Iago: It was pretty good, except now I feel itchy. All those bugs!
Zazu: Well, it certainly isn't the first time that a Disney attraction has been filled with bugs.
Iago: Huh? Oh, you must be talking about the ant in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground, or Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio's Daring Journey at Disneyland.
Zazu: No, I'm talking about Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland.
Iago: What!? I guess Princess Aurora didn't have time to say, "Don't let the bed bugs bite," before she dozed off.
Zazu: I'm afraid she had some rather undesirable guests who were responsible for the problem. You see, many years ago, Walt Disney, with imagineers Ken Anderson and Emile Kuri, climbed to the attic of the newly built castle to see if there was room for an attraction in that space. The attic was filled with two things: construction debris and cats -- wild cats who didn't much like having their territory invaded. Kuri, perhaps fearing for his nice white suit, picked up a gunny sack from a box to shoo the cats away, when suddenly his white suit seemed to turn dark gray. The laughter of the other two was cut short when they also darkened, and discovered the cause was the largest collection of fleas ever seen by man! It seems the cats who had taken up residence had some unwanted boarders of their own. Walt insisted that both cats and fleas be removed at once, and that the cats all be given flea baths and found homes. No word on whether Walt accorded the same happy fate to the fleas.
Iago: Leave it to you to tell a story about a royal Disney household filled with wild cats and fleas. How is Pride Rock these days, anyway?
Zazu: A lot cleaner than your place, I can tell you that. And that story reminds me, the film "Sleeping Beauty" opened on 29 January 1959. It will celebrate its fortieth birthday in just a few days!
Iago: Oh goody. Maybe they'll turn the castle into a cake. That would be original.
Zazu: Hmmmm. Perhaps they could use some of the leftover Pepto-Bismol pink paint from Cinderella Castle. After all, Sleeping Beauty Castle only rises 77 feet above the moat. It would require far less frosting.
Iago: 77 feet? I always thought it was taller.
Zazu: Ah, the wonders of forced perspective! You've heard about Sleeping Beauty's diorama, haven't you?
Iago: She's got diorama? I bet she caught a bug. She's gonna need that Pepto-Bismol. It always works for me when I eat a bad taco.
Zazu: Not diarrhea, you parasite! Diorama!
Iago: Oh, yeah. I heard of that. L. Ron Hubbard, right?
Zazu: No, that's Dianetics!
Iago: What was I thinking? Diorama was that kids' show with Sonny Fox.
Zazu: No, that was Wonderama! A diorama is an exhibit consisting of modeled figures set in a naturalistic foreground blended into a painted background. The Sleeping Beauty walk-through attraction (well, climb-through, actually) within the castle opened 28 April 1957 -- two years before the film's release. It contains eleven scenes, including a two-story tall dragon. It was designed by imagineer Ken Anderson. The attraction was expanded in 1968 and redesigned in November 1977.
Iago: You mean the castle was open two years before the movie? Wow, talk about hype.
Zazu: Actually, The Disneyland castle opened with the park in July of 1955 --nearly four years before the film was released. But that was nothing compared to the 15 years it took Mad King Ludwig to move into Neuschwanstein.
Iago: Well, I don't blame him for being mad. I've never heard of a moving company taking that long. By the way, what was wrong with old Schwanstein?
Zazu: No, no, Iago. Neuschwanstein is a castle in Bavaria built by mad (as in "insane") King Ludwig II. There is no old Schwanstein.
Iago: Oh. So what does Crazy King Beer Stein or whatever have to do with Sleeping Beauty Castle?
Zazu: Neuschwanstein was the inspiration for the design of Sleeping Beauty castle. Interestingly, because the top half of a model of the castle was separate, it once was put on backwards. Walt saw it, decided it was better, thus the top half faces the opposite direction in Anaheim than it does in Bavaria.
Iago: One time I experimented and put my Speedo on backwards. But I decided I didn't want anyone to see my bottom half facing a different direction than my top half.
Zazu: Yes, well I've decided I don't want to see your bottom half, PERIOD! It's not your best feature. Not that you have a best feature. Speaking of which, some design features on the castle come from other medieval designs.
Iago: I like the drawbridge myself. Wish I had one of those. I'd pull it up every month when Mrs. Robinson comes around to collect the rent.
Zazu: That would be more often than the Disneyland drawbridge. That one has (officially) only been operated twice. First during the opening ceremonies in 1955, and again during the dedication ceremony for the "New Fantasyland" in 1983.
Iago: So, what do you know about our castle?
Zazu: Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom also borrows design elements from Neuschwanstein, as well as the style of the castle in the 1950 film "Cinderella." It's based on 12th and 13th century neo-romantic architecture, like Ludwig's creation, which was begun in 1869 and first occupied by the king in 1884.
Iago: How tall is Cindy's house? It's gotta be bigger than 77 feet.
Zazu: It rises 180 feet. Coincidentally, that's one foot for each day that King Ludwig lived at Neuschwanstein before his mysterious death in 1886. He and his doctor were apparently murdered, though no one knows exactly how it happened.
Iago: You sure know a lot about this guy. It's "stein" this and "stein" that. Makes me wanna head over to the Germany pavilion for Oktoberfest.
Zazu: Believe it or not, Mad King Ludwig's grandfather, Ludwig I, was responsible for the first Oktoberfest. He was wed to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on 12 October 1810. The citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities, which were held on the fields in front of the city gates. This was the first Oktoberfest.
Iago: Maybe Ludwig II died from an overdose of bratwurst. I bet he ate too much and blew a gasket trying to play one of those alpenhorns.
Zazu: Iago, that is quite preposterous.
Iago: Have you ever eaten too much bratwurst? Believe me, it can feel like you're gonna die. And for some reason, I'm really hungry now.
Zazu: If you behave yourself, you might be invited to dine with Cinderella at her Royal Table. Though our castle does not have an attraction per se, it does have a lovely restaurant that convincingly replicates a medieval banquet hall. There are also elaborate mosaic murals in the Castle entryway that tell the story of Cinderella and the glass slipper. Appropriately, a million bits of glass were used. Perhaps some came from the famous shattered shoe.
Iago: I won't be walking barefoot through there anytime soon, I can tell you that. So what's in Cindy's attic? More cats?
Zazu: No, just an apartment that was built for members of the Disney family, but never occupied. It's been used for storage, a telephone switchboard, and occasionally as a dressing room for castle forecourt performers. Oh, and Tinker Bell's lair in the high tower.
Iago: Well, that's pretty boring. There must be something more interesting in the dungeon, right?
Zazu: There is no dungeon.
Iago: Whaddya mean, there's no dungeon? The Sultan had a dungeon in his palace. I thought all those royal houses had dungeons.
Zazu: Cinderella and Prince Charming aren't in the habit of keeping prisoners and torturing them. Why on earth would they need a dungeon? They've got Utilidors instead.
Iago: You mean those plain old tunnels that the cast members use to get around the park?
Zazu: Precisely.
Iago: Blah! I was hoping for something a little more exciting.
Zazu: Then you might want to visit Disneyland Paris. "Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant," or Sleeping Beauty's Castle, has a dragon in the basement. "La Taniere du Dragon" (Dragon's Lair) is where the great beast sleeps, occasionally waking to roar and scare the unwary guest.
Iago: Now you're talking! Does that castle look like Princess Aurora's original place in Disneyland?
Zazu: No, the French version has its own unique design. In Japan, though, Tokyo Disneyland has a copy of our Cinderella Castle. The original blueprints were trashed after the construction of Walt Disney World, so they had to be redone. The Tokyo version is 51 meters high.
Iago: That's 167.3225 feet.
Zazu: That works out to 167 -- Iago, how in the world did you figure that out so quickly?
Iago: I dunno. My math teacher said I was an idiot savant.
Zazu: Well ... half of that is true. And listen to this, Rain Man: there's a villains attraction in the Tokyo castle, called "Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour." It opened on 11 July 1986. Thirty guests are led by a guide, dressed like Taran from "The Black Cauldron" through the castle, which is ruled by villains like the Wicked Queen and Maleficent. Finally, the guests meet the Horned King. One is chosen during the tour to destroy the Black Cauldron, and Fantasyland is recovered.
Iago: Oooh! Oooh! Pick me! Pick me!
Zazu: You'd better learn how to say that in Japanese before you go, as there is a Japanese guide only. No English translation.
Iago: Oh, forget it then. Maybe I'll just go to Disneyland Paris instead. I'm sure I can find a pretty French tour guide to show me around the dragon's lair. After all, the language of l'amour is universal. <wink, wink, nudge, nudge>
Zazu: Good luck, dragon breath.
Iago: I'll even buy you a T-shirt that reads: "My pal went to Disneyland Paris, and all I got was this stupid T-shirt."
Zazu: No, don't bother. Just send me some French postcards.
The music chosen to accompany this page is "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" by Elton John and Tim Rice from the film The Lion King.