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 17th 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.
