Buena Vista Street was themed to Los Angeles in the 1930s. Which was a beautiful thematic story flow from the entrance to Disneyland just steps away. Walt’s childhood in Missouri for Main Street USA then later when he arrived in Hollywood for Buena Vista Street. This new hub for the Park would feature the ideal planter for a large Christmas tree centerpiece.
The question we had was how to make this tree stand out on it’s own apart from Disneyland’s tree. We researched what a typical tree looked like in the 1930s and noticed the types of trees and branches that were used and how they were decorated and trimmed. Taking it a step further we discovered that Walt actually licensed a set of Mickey Mouse ornaments in the 1930’s.
They were a set of illuminated colored bells, with hand drawn images of Mickey and his friends. Based off that original art, I hand drew each bell’s design and characters. Each drawing was then applied to the light up bells.