Birds of a Feather...or I mean Leaf.

Welcome back Utilidorians! Today I was walking around the Kingdom and noticed they moved the Sunshine Terrace with Aloha Isle! This is probably a logistical move due to the Dole Whip line in front of Aloha Isle being crunched by walkway and the entrance to the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. Anyways I was looking at the new Sunshine Terrace and noticed something missing. The Orange Bird was missing from his new home. This is not the first time he has gone missing, but let’s start this from the beginning.

Orange Bird came up as an exchange between Disney and the Florida Citrus Commission. In 1970 the Florida Citrus Commission wanted a mascot, so naturally they knew Disney was opening in Florida so who better to give them a mascot. Walt Disney needed a sponsor for his Magic Kingdom Tropical Serenade  attraction,  which was a copy of his Enchanted Tiki Room from Disneyland, so they worked out a deal and poof  in 1970 the Orange Bird was born. He was an amalgamation of orange and bird with a big orange for a head an orange body with green leaf like wings.  The Orange Bird took flight quickly.

  

 Anita Bryant a singer of the times who was the spokeswoman for the Florida Citrus Commission sang songs for orange juice commercials with the Orange Bird. Orange Bird does not speak, he communicates with orange thought bubbles. Do to this Anita Bryant made a record that depicted the Orange Birds story. The Orange Bird even had a walk around character at the Magic Kingdom.

  

In 1977 Anita Bryant tried to repeal an ordinance that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. It was a very well publicized protest that lasted many months even to the point of Ms. Bryant being publicly pied in the face on a October 1977 press conference. This was the beginning of the end for old Orange Bird. In 1979 Anita’s contract with the Florida Citrus Commission was let lapse due to controversy and the negative publicity her political campaign had done. The Orange Bird lasted another couple of years and faded into obscurity. In 1987 the Florida Citrus Commission and Disney severed ties and the Orange Bird flew his coop.

Flash forward and in 2004 in Tokyo Disney who should raise his big orange head but the Orange Bird. Leave it to Tokyo home of Godzilla and anything cute to coax him back out. The Asian community took him in as they did Duffy bear. The Orange Bird was not only liked he was loved by the Japanese and received a lot of coinciding merchandise. He is also depicted on a lot of Japans Orange Day festival which happens in April. Eventually he made it back to Walt Disney World and was welcomed with open arms and wallets, as he also got tons of merchandise in the US also.

 Eventually on April 17^th of 2012, the Orange Bird made a proper return to the Sunshine Terrace.

So this brings me back to the new move and the Orange Birds absence. Hopefully this is just a transitional misplacement I hope. So there you have it that is my story of the Orange Bird. Well time to get back to work, until next time keep moving forward.