Visitors to Space Mountain today, with its Buck Rogers, sci-fi-inspired trappings, might be excused for forgetting the over-the-top NASA awesomeness that was the style back when the ride opened in 1975. (Does anyone else miss this statue out front?) Hopefully I can jog some memories with my attempt at a Space Mountain poster, a ride whose previous posters have always seemed like afterthoughts.
Design-wise, I was on shaky ground: the style is Disneyland serigraph circa 1958, yet this ride didn’t open until 1975, an era in which 1) Disney produced few posters, and 2) those that they did exhibited little in the way of style, silk-screened or otherwise. Ultimately, I decided to live with the ’50s/’70s contradiction. (And if I ever come up with an idea on how to do a good ’70s-era Space Mountain poster, I’ll give it a try.)
As I did with my earlier posters, I’ve provided versions that you can download yourself, print out, decorate your wall, etc. The only thing I ask is that if you like it enough to download it, please either leave a comment below or drop me a note and let me know what you think.
Anyone wanting to take a deeper dive into retro Space Mountain should absolutely read show producer George McGinnis’ take on the design of the ride (part 1 and part 2). And to learn more about the actual experience of Space Mountain, check out the great Space Mountain page at Widen Your World.
Hope you enjoy the poster! (And a shameless plug: if you haven’t already checked it out, please visit the web site for my documentary TILT: The Battle to Save Pinball, just released this past week. If you’re the kind of person that enjoys this poster, you might just be the kind of person that’ll like my film. Thanks!)
On to the downloads!
There are two versions of the poster: a 4 x 6 inch version with no bleed (the color “stops” right at the border of the image), and a 36 x 54 inch version with a 0.5 inch bleed (the color leaks over the edge, so if it’s trimmed you won’t see any white edges.) Since either version can be scaled by your print driver to be any size you’d like, the version you pick has less to do with the size you want the poster to be than whether you want the bleed or not. To scale the image, on the Mac, just specify the appropriate percentage in the Page Setup… dialog. On Windows I’m not sure, but there’s got to be a similar way to do it.
- 4 x 6 inch PDF, no bleed [download, right-click/ctrl-click to save]
- 36 x 54 inch PDF, 0.5 inch bleed [download, right-click/ctrl-click to save]
- 400 pixel height PNG [download, right-click/ctrl-click to save]
- 1000 pixel height PNG [download, right-click/ctrl-click to save]
30 Comments
That is brilliant! I’m going to have to find some creative way to enjoy it. Wow–great work.
Very nice! Thank you.
That is a beautiful piece of work – thanks for sharing!
Excellent! Thanks much. Found the poster via popurls via boing boing.
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/04/12/space-mountain-fanpo.html
Love what you did with the 50s/70s mix, great poster!
too cool! I think that I’m going to print this out for a gift. I’ll mention you.
Nice retro populuxe look, sleek and optimistic, beautiful sense of movement and speed. Reminds me of the Jetson’s too. Kudos!
Oh wow. You can bet your life I will download these. These are Beautiful! Thank you very much. I would love to see your version of the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, People Mover, etc al la Disneyland California.
Again, thank you very much!
My husband and I collect poster art for our walls and are planning on doing a transition sometime soon, and are planning to add this to our new collection! Thanks! Found you on boing boing -
This on a shirt would be awesome. In the meantime, I’ll definitely download and use it to decorate my desktop.
Awesome as usual Greg! These just keep getting better and better. I agree the 70’s posters, while far more complex, usually lack all the spontaniety and boldness of the earlier posters. I think the 70’s RR posters are the only ones that really work well. Keep up the great work!
Great work!…and I like that you describe you reasoning of the graphic style and the aknowelgment of the decade style contradictions. The mid 70’s actually saw the “window style” attracton poster brought about by Mim Michaelson, Rudy Lord, Ken Kerr…by the mid 70’s the simple crisp graphic stylings of th 50′ & 60’s were long out-of-style. During the 1975-78 period most of WDW’s original posters were redesigned (the first series were almost ideantical to the Disneyland style—some used direct artwork with text changes like 1971 WDW Skyway(this showed the long out of use DL round buckets and the airboats) but had graphic changes –same as the WDW RR 1971–used the Disneyland “pink” station poster-but the locomotive has corrected lettering. Some have more modifications like WDW Monorail 1971 (redone in 1978)Grand Prix Raceway 1971 (redone in 1978) It’s A Small World 1971(redone in 1978) Crytal Palace 1971 (redone in 1980)WDW RR 1971(redone in 1977) and the list goes on…
Space Mountain at WDW didn’t get a attraction poster till after Disneyland’s was opened in 1977.
Some Early WDW posters affected redesigns at Disneyland…like the 1971 Tropical Sernade poster (small wdw size) this design was used in a very rare 1972/3 Disneyland attraction psoter for the Enchanted Tiki Room when United Airlines changed there corporate logo …this was the VERY last orginal silkscreen Disneyland poster done in the 36″x54″ size. The Country Bear Jamboree poster for WDW in 1971 featured lithoed artwork (like Hall of Presidents * Mickey Mouse Revue)…WDW had “Frontierland” printed along th enter bottom–the Disneyland
1972 version was the 36″x54″ large size with a silkscreen panel-banner & “Bear Country” skcreened right over the lithoed print.
So Greg…what would a Walt Disney World 1973 Pirates of The Caribbean poster look like………OR a 1974 “Western River Expedition” attraction poster? A 1975 Carousel of Progress….1973 Richard F Irvine Riverboat~~~~~
Mike Cozart
Wow, Mike; I thought I knew attraction posters, but compared to you I’m a complete moron. Would you mind providing links to any of the posters you’re talking about? I’m not sure if I know what you mean by the “window style” poster, and would be curious to find out.
By the mid 1970’s graphic patterns became very popular in architecture, interior design, and general art and advertising. The “window” style posters begane with the Country Bear Jamboree…then The 1976 Disneyland RR Bicentennial Special….These posters tend to have a central opening or frame in the center often with the attraction vehicle protruding out of the frame or window (Disneyland RR, Big Thunder Mt Railroad, The WDW RR Reverse Route, 1983 Goldenhorseshow revue, 1982 Pirates of the Caribbean etc) Others are just windows focusing on a scene or image..(Jungle Cruise 1976, Snow Whites Scary Adventures)
Almost all the attraction posters were scheduled to be redone. Even classc posters like “Mattern Bobsleds” “Haunted Mansion” “Alice in Wonderland” had concept done to do more elaborate serigraph posters.
The Matterhorn 1978 poster production was put on the backburner as it was determined that the attraction was not at WDW and Tokyo Disneyland’s had been abandoned in final revisions so the poster costs couldn’t be justified for just Disneyland and no sponsor. So the New Matterhorn poster designed by Ken Kerr and Jim Michaelson never came to be. The response to the overly elaborate 1982 Pirates of the Caribbean poster (screened for Disneyland * WDW* and Tokyo Disneyland) was not well liked Disneyland decoratind manager said “it looked like a cereal box. We didn’t display them for very long” . So the new Haunted Mansion”window” style poster was canceled (you can see the concept sketch for that HM poster in the Haunted Mansion book by jason Surrel.
The Peoplemover Thru Supper Speed Tunnel done in 1976/77 by request of Goodyear, still went over budget….the final detail outline screen was left off. This actually please the designers because they felt it was remeniscant of the 1960’s posters.
I’ll try and get some images up.
Greg,
Not to step on Mike’s toes, but if you just google “attraction poster” and “Jungle Cruise” “Bear Jamboree” or “Mad Tea Party” you’ll see the window style he’s referring to. It’s wierd, because I never even noticed that trend until Mike pointed it out, but yes, most of the posters around that era use a window of some sort.
nice work – - very talented…
Good lord, you learn something new every day. Mike, I didn’t know one tenth of that information in your post – this is really something that needs to be written about at length! I’d love to blog about it myself but obviously I was unaware of the entire process, and I’ve been a Disney obsessive for quite a while. I’d love to see images, though.
Greg, fantastic job as always. The poster is fab. Keep up the great work!
And I would second the call for a Western River Expedition poster… that would just be swell
Love the poster!
Thanks for making it available.
Love the poster! Thanks for your generosity in making it available. I’ve wanted, for years, to get my hands on attraction posters like the ones gracing the tunnels beneath the Walt Disney World Railroad Station as you enter the Magic Kingdom. I’ll hang this in my house with pride!
well, I’ve been researching the posters for some time and have interviewd many of the designers and silkscreeners and graphic artist who work on these.I’ve been compiling a great deal of information with the intent of a book. I’ve got information on poster variations-inside jokes (like imagineers and designers appearing in the posters) and other storys on production and design changes..for all the parks. Did any of you know Wally Boag (of Tiki Room and Golden Horshoe Revue fame had a guest bathroom wallpapered in cut-up attraction posters!! Or some attraction posters were done at WED facilites at each park? for example—-The the Walt Disney World Reverse Route at WDW, or PeopleMover Thru Tron and America Sings-Del Monte (post 1974 opening) at Disneyland!
Thanks for the great Tomorrowland poster! Great work!
I’m speechless. It is awsome!
Awesome!
Very nice poster! I agree this is much better than the other Space Mountain posters I’ve seen that don’t quite fit in with the other Tomorrowland attraction posters. Thank you so much!
Great, thanks
Nice Work!
A really great poster…it’s almost too good…too profound a fusion of design elements from the period(s) – hope someone is paying you for your talents!
I found you after searching for Disney vintage posters. Thanks so much for sharing your fantastic illustration. I’m going to frame it and hang it in my office.
very cool thanks
dg
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