Hanna-Barbera Land

In September 1985 I spent my 3rd birthday at Hanna-Barbera Land.  I think it's pretty safe to say that no one reading this ever had a chance to visit.  Im sure that most Houstonians don't even remember it, probably because it was only open from 84-85.

Im not going to pretend that I remember everything that happened on my third birthday but I do remember the riding this mini train.

Look at this lady killer

Hanna-Barbera Land only had a few attractions which probably explains why it only made it one year, but here's some of the my party guest were able to experience:

A Carousel, Scooby's Ghost Coaster ( I wish I had pictures of that!), Silly Sitx Jungle Jim, Bumper Boats, Water Body Slides, Puppet Show, Papa Smurf's Forest Restaurant, and a band that played Hanna Barbera theme songs! (Thanks Wikipedia)

This is part one of three posts I have of "Birthday Party 85" pictures.  I have too many pictures for one post so this one is a little bleak but do not worry my friends next week you will get to see some shots of the Hanna-Barbera character carousel!

We Played Here!

Did everyone read this article on Cartoon Brew last week about Ward Kimball's house being sold?

Hopefully his house will not suffer the same fate as Walt's Carolwood house which was torn down.  So in memory of Ward today I'm going to share one of my favorite pieces of memorabilia.

Check out this postcard:

We played here! How exciting, but what does that mean?  Well if you didn't know, Ward Kimball was the leader of the Dixieland Jazz Band The Firehouse Five Plus Two.  The group was made up of Disney artist including Frank Thomas.  They even made an appearance in the Goofy cartoon "How to Dance."

There is a great Firehouse Five reference in The Princess and the Frog too.  At the end of the film when Lou is playing in Tiana's restaurant the name of his band is "The Fireflies Five Plus Lou."  How awesome is that!

Stay tuned for some more Firehouse Five related post because I love this band!