Enchanted Tiki Room Tikis - Is this for real?

I saw these two auctions on ebay with this description:

Original 1962 ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM Disneyland TIKI ROOM TIKI # 3

This is an ORIGINAL 1962 TIKI # 3 from DISNEYLAND's ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM Attraction. This is one of the TIKIS that descend from the Tree in THE ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM GARDENS Show. This TIKI DESIGN is also featured in the NEW SHAG TIKI ROOM ART PRINTS. This Original TIKI has stamped in the clay on the backside "C 1962 WED ENTERPRISES" This HAND PAINTED TIKI is 12 inches tall and in GOOD CONDITION. Buyer pays $90.00 for INSURED FIRST CLASS OVERNITE MAIL.

ARE THESE FOR REAL???

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=3974643286&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=3974645025&rd=1

it looks real enough. You got to wonder where this came from. WHo had it all this time. Look at that shipping price alone. And only a buy it now.

it looks real enough. You got to wonder where this came from. WHo had it all this time. Look at that shipping price alone. And only a buy it now. opps

look at the prints under it, kinda cool. says shag.

[ Edited by: teaKEY on 2005-05-13 07:29 ]

On 2005-05-13 07:28, teaKEY wrote:
look at the prints under it, kinda cool. says shag.

I've never seen shag art that looks like that.

We must send out the Tangaroa-signal. He can save the day.

hey all...

the seller, Tikidug is a long time collector of disneyland and tiki stuff. his collection is pretty amazing. i believe he found those at a antique show in LA many years ago.

i have one myself, so i know they're real:

these are actually from the exterior of the building as opposed to Tangaroa babies. i haven't been to the 'new' tiki room yet, but up until a few years ago, some of these still adorned the lanai area along the roof of the Dole Whip entry way and some of the bamboo poles on the outside of the entrance.

the pics in his auction don't do them justice though. whether they're worth $21,000...well, who knows.

start breakin' open those piggy banks!

Paying $100-300 a foot for a carving is one thing, $500-600 an inch is another!

well swank, as a wise ol' drunk once said, 'it's not the size of the ship, but...' :wink:

well swank, as a wise ol' drunk once said, 'it's not the size of the ship, but...' :wink:

I have bought many things from Konacat. He use to work at Disneyland for many many years. Something happened (not sure of the details) but he left "the happiest place on earth" and was so disgusted he moved to Hawaii. He has been a collector for (I believe he said) 20+ years, you can trust this guy, he's a good guy.

Doug is an ex-Imagineer. He designed the little short film tag that was added to the Flavor of Hawaii film that plays in the Tiki Room pre-show. He is trust worthy and has an AMAZING collection of Disneyland props and memorabilia.
Regarding the SHAG artwork, yes, Shag did use these 2 designs on his Tangaroa print. That's the one with the tree in case you are not familiar. These 2 tikis are hanging from the tree on Shag's print. They are 2 out of 3 "Tiki babies" designs. If you go to the Tiki Room today, all the Tiki's hanging from the building have been removed, and the Tangaroa Tikis have been reduced to 2 different designs.
Your friend,
Louis

Hey all - sorry - I was camping!

Tiki1963 - my opinion is.....
well - 1st I need to know - does your Tangaroa baby have that WED stamp on the back?

Because (as Doug & I discussed at one point) these may have been for sale to the public - why else would it have the WED 1963 copyright in the back?

Still - very cool & I'm amazed that Doug is selling them... Wish I had endless $$$$!

hey tang...

hmmm..are you sure you're not speaking of the smaller retail versions that were for sale? i have a few of them that do have a 'walt disney productions' stamp but i don't think the larger ones did. they measure around 6 inches tall or sumpthin like that.

my larger baby was definitely hanging somewhere at the tiki room as the rope is all original from how it was displayed. there's no question they are rare...especially with dug's dr. evil prices!

new e-ticket yesterday. what a surprise...didn't expect another for a while. tang, you have to start doing covers for jack...yipes!

I guess I am confusing them with the smaller ones - sorry bout that! But why did they stamp them on the back? I mean - why would they if they were just castings used as decoration only in the lanai?

Yeah - new "E" Ticket this month - I updated the website last week too:
http://www.the-e-ticket.com/

i checked out his auction and it does seem that they are marked. he also sez they are clay?..mabey these were for sale as the small ones are a cermaic type material too.

the large one i have is fiberglass and isn't marked so your theory sounds right.

they probably sold them in the tiki/trader hut. how'd you like to go back in time and pick a few of these off the shelf?......

No doubt! You start the financing - and I'll research it....

Actually - looks like these guys beat us to it:
http://web.mit.edu/adorai/timetraveler/

On 2005-05-17 15:42, tiki1963 wrote:
they probably sold them in the tiki/trader hut.

tiki1963, Is that image from an old postcard? Did they sell those tall black Tikis in the picture at Disney? I have one of those and never knew where it came from. I'm going to go look at it right now and check it again for any marks.
-Duke

hey boutiki...

apparently, they carried them although i don't know if disney produced them. the pic is from a slide dating from the mid-sixties.

about 15-17 years ago i bought some really cool coco joe's style tiki masks from that hut that were made for disney so who knows.

here's a pic of one of the 'mini-me' tiki babies...these were also sold at the hut. i was told that these were all hand painted by a lady that was hired by walt personally. she worked out of her house in anaheim painting tiki god souviners full time! gotta love that disney sponsored slave-labor!

tang...

why not cut out the middle man on that one and time travel with tikibong? :wink:

tiki1963, that little guy has haunted us for years. Back in '98 we were driving on route 30 through central Pennsylvania when we stopped in a little antique shop. There was one of those priced at $25. We thought it was too much money and not really THAT cool. We asked it they'd do better on the price, and when they said no, we walked. A year or two later, we were in the area again and decided we wanted that little Tiki after all, but of course he was gone. We regret having let that one go as we've never come across another.

I checked our tall black Tiki, and there are two marks on the bottom, but I can't make anything out. Still a cool piece with nice detail– and it's quite heavy. I like it even more now knowing it made the trip all the way from Disney to the Maxwell Street market in Chicago where we picked him up for five bucks.

-Duke

oh man! if i had a tiki for every tiki that got away!

what is yours made of? the ones in the pic look like they're from some type of mold as they all have the same crack on the base. the masks i bought were some type of painted chalkware.

btw, i didn't realize i'm speaking with duke carter! man, your book is the best! i love the art direction especially. really shows the whole field of mug collecting as a fine art field. great stuff!

here's some pics of other disney tikis from that hut. the first is of another of the 'mini-me' tikis:

the next is of those masks:

here's another one from the hut! prob 60s....

and Tang, here's the posterior of my tang baby...as you can see, this kids arse is clean!

On 2005-05-17 21:11, tiki1963 wrote:
and Tang, here's the posterior of my tang baby...as you can see, this kids arse is clean!

Yes - a clean arse denotes a true DL prop, and not one for sale in my book.....

On 2005-05-17 21:11, tiki1963 wrote:
what is yours made of? the ones in the pic look like they're from some type of mold as they all have the same crack on the base. the masks i bought were some type of painted chalkware.

Our tall black Tiki is very heavy, but it has fantastic detail so I'd guess it's a dense plaster. It's identical to the ones in your photo, has the "crack" and everything. I'll try to get a picture and post it.

Thanks for the kind words about Tiki Quest. It's nice to hear that the book accomplishes what we wanted it to do.

Your vintage Disney Tiki stuff is all very cool. Those of you who have a bunch of the old Disney stuff should compile photos and post them all on one thread in the collecting forum. I'd love to see all the different Tikis they offered and I'm sure others would as well.

-Duke

On 2005-05-18 09:31, boutiki wrote:

Your vintage Disney Tiki stuff is all very cool. Those of you who have a bunch of the old Disney stuff should compile photos and post them all on one thread in the collecting forum. I'd love to see all the different Tikis they offered and I'm sure others would as well.

-Duke

Some of my (and tiki1963's) stuff was offered... and erm....some of it wasn't....! Do you want to see things that were for sale only?

Do you want to see things that were for sale only?

Hell no. Show us everything you got.

-Duke

you buy, i'll fly.....

Ha! OK - but I will have to take some photos...... I can't speak for tiki1963 - but I will be happy to share some of my collection with TC.

well, sure...i'd be happy to join in!

When the Enchanted Tiki Room first opened it actually didn't belong to Disneyland, but was owned by WED Enterprises. Guests to Disneyland even had to pay an extra $0.75 to see the show.

Could these tikis that are stamped "C 1962 WED ENTERPRISES" be souvenirs sold by WED vice Disneyland when the Tiki Room first opened?

On 2005-05-18 12:35, TikiPhil wrote:
When the Enchanted Tiki Room first opened it actually didn't belong to Disneyland, but was owned by WED Enterprises. Guests to Disneyland even had to pay an extra $0.75 to see the show.

Hi TikiPhil -
I was about to contridict you - but a quick check of 'The Nickel Tour' turns out you are correct! WED operated the Monorail too for a time I believe... I wonder when it was that rights reverted to the park itself?

nerd alert!!

...actually, these were all owned/operated by RETLAW. WED was also a peronally held company by walt, thus the funky acronyms. the difference was the trains were actually leased by disneyland from walt where the tiki room leased space from disneyland. that's why you had to buy seperate tickets for the first couple of years. the dough went straight to WED/RETLAW.

it must have been a fiasco because United Airlines used "disneyland" in their advertising even though they sponsored the Tiki Room owned by WED.

basically, every time Walt was impatient for the Disney board to support his experiments, he just did it himself and charged 'em for it. man, i love Walt!

i'm sure Roy Disney just loved the end-runs his feisty young brother would pull!

TikiPhil- i wondered about that copyright issue myself since Tiki Room items from that period go back and forth between Walt Disney Productions copyrights and WED copyrights. the small tikis have WDP on them but the original attraction poster and even the Tiki Room clothing fabric are all copyright WED.

go figure...

Tangaroa and tiki1963 - you guys should write a book on the Tiki Room. I'm sure Duke would help if you asked him :)

A couple of years ago Disney Editions put out a book on the Haunted Mansion to coincide with the movie. As hot as tiki is now, I'm sure an Enchanted Tiki Room book would be a big hit.

Maybe Disney has already thought of this but they're waiting for the Tiki Room Movie to be produced first :)

O Todd Hackett to'u i'oa.
As a former employee of Disneyland and r.o. at the Enchanted Tiki Room presented by our friends at Dole Pineapple, this is what I learned at the turnstyle -

WED designed and operated the Tiki Room for the first three years of its operation. Sometime in late 1965 the studio - flushed with Poppins dough, acquired WED and created MAPO. The Tiki Room was part of the deal. BTW, The Tiki Room didn't become an "E" Coupon attraction until 1966. The copyright on the Tiki Room Poster was changed to WDP when they printed the '67 version.

Retlaw was separate from WED and created when Disneyland was merged into WDP sometime in the early 60s. Disneyland, Inc. was not a subsidary of the studio when created. It was a separate enterprise (at Roy's insistence- in case in went $$ belly up) with ABC/Paramount, Walt Disney and Western Printing each owning about 33% of the Park. The studio bought ABC/Par & Western Printing out and most of Walt's share. Walt retained ownership of the Sante Fe Trains and the tracks (!) and created Retlaw to run them. In 1959 he added the Monorail trains to Retlaw. Retlaw never owned or ran the Tiki Room.

When I worked there in the 70s Retlaw employees we're considered working personally for the Walt Disney Family and a cut above us low rent jungle boys. Retlaw kept all receipts from the trains, which was around 4 million a year. Retlaw sold the Trains, the Monorail and Walt's name to WDP right before Eisner took over in 1983 for around 44 million.

Retlaw family members Lillian and Diane then in turn gave a big chunk of the money to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. BTW, Retlaw still exists today mainly to manage Walt's family investments.
Nana.

Ia Orana Tiki1963 and Tangaroa! O Todd Hackett to'u i'oa.

I forgot to add that I have known KonaCat/Tiki Dug for over 20 years, and if he says they're real, they are. BTW, I do remember seeing in the Bazaar the smaller Tikis for sale when I worked there.

Tahuwai la a tahuwai wai la, Ehu hene la a pili koo lua la, Pututui lua ite toe la, Hanu lipo ita paalai. Au we ta hua la. Au we ta hua la.

Hey Todd!

You know tiki1963 & I know Dug too - I don't think we are saying they aren't "real" - I'm just not personally sure if they came off the Tangaroa tree in the attraction.... What that means I dunno - I just don't know why something would be stamped "©WED" if it was a prop in the show. Something for sale makes more sense to me - but once again, I don't really know - I'm just speculating!

My Maui "Sun God" isn't stamped "©WED" - and I know it came from the Tahitian Terrace A Frame...

Dug also mentioned that Shag has some of these (or did he mean the small ones tiki1963 mentioned earlier?) Maybe he wants to weigh in?

In any case - these are full size, hand painted "Tangaroa babies" - and very very rare. Which probably makes them worth the prices Dug is asking!

Tiki Room collectors - now is your chance!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=3974642136&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=3974643286&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=3974645025&rd=1

P.S. Todd Hackett - nice info on the WED/RETLAW details! Geez - next you'll be telling us about tickets or something!

in the words of my hero, Gabriel Koerner, i think we should chalk these up as real and rare and forget about this whole, "trekkies/trekker debacle"!

word.

Until I get some photos taken of my collection (which pales sadly in comparison to tiki1963's) here's a repost of thsoe pics I posted earlier, buried deep in the Tiki Room rehab thread.....

On 2005-02-07 20:20, Tangaroa wrote:
Tikicutie - a lot of that audio (both Anaheim & Florida) is available through traders for free - try not to pay for it if you can help it, as most Disneyland audio traders gladly help for free...

Barker Bird got me thinking about that A-Frame, and how it really took away from a great entrance icon once it fell down. So I thought I'd dig in my archives a little and show some photographic evidence of what it once looked like, plus some other fun collectables...

Here's a United Airlines children's menu, for California-bound passengers - circa 1963. The Enchanted Tiki Room was a huge promotional deal for Disneyland, being the first true audio-animatronics show they had done for the public...

It was advertised heavily within the park - gracing the cover of this 1963 gate flyer. I love the original Tiki Room font - very similar to the new Ed Benquiat font 'Interlock', put out by House Industries:
http://houseind.com/house.php?kit=EDFONT-FO

In the first year of operation, the ETR was considered such a special attraction, you couldn't even use an "E" Ticket on it - you had to purchase a special separate one!

This early sign leading to the entrance was wonderfully hand-lettered...

detail...

But looking at these photos, I really realized how much the now-missing A-Frame was a strong icon for the entrance. I mean - it is easy to miss the entryway as you truck along into Adventureland!

Detail - the God Uti stood on top of the outrigger canoe, housed inside the A-Frame. At night his torch would be lit. Eagle eyed TC'ers may see the 'Cargoes By Carter' tiki from a previous post in the background.

Another view - today's entrance really doesn't have the same impact it once did. I know I'm nit picking - sorry! I'm very glad they are spending the money to rehab it as thoroughly as they are!

The flowers in the outrigger were a nice touch.

Here's a kinda moody shot, without any people around. It doesn't show the A-Frame well, but I still like it. Disneyland really is more magical without the crowds.

Tikicutie - here's the Barker Bird in his original location, you can show your boss if he's unsure of which bird he was!

The information from the back of that publicity shot. How many of you knew his name was 'Juan'? I had always thought he was Jose - talking to us prior to the show. Wally Boag used the same voice, so you'd think they were the same bird...

Speaking of Jose - here's an opening year glossy of him. I can't wait to see the interior again without the years of caked-on dust!

Finally - here's a couple of opening day shots of Walt showing off the show. He looks very proud here - I'm sure he'd be very happy to know that it made it to Disneyland's 50th!

"Ya know - someday they'll figure out how to keep these darn things from clacking so loud.. Maybe some sort of futuristic fiber... yeah - that's it..."

Juan is Jose's cousin Tangaroa.

Here's the first E Coupon to the Enchanted Tiki Room from 1966.

Tahuwai la a tahuwai wai la, Ehu hene la a pili koo lua la, Pututui lua ite toe la, Hanu lipo ita paalai. Au we ta hua la. Au we ta hua la.

Cool! Thanks for sharing Mr. T!