Book Review: “3D Disneyland: Like You’ve Never Seen It Before”

Hi everyone!

Back in July, I interviewed author Dave Bossert about his upcoming book, 3D Disneyland: Like You’ve Never Seen It Before. We ordered and received the book last month and I finally sat down with it to write up a review. 3D Disneyland: Like You’ve Never Seen It Before can be ordered on Amazon and there are limited autographed copies at Old Mill Press still as of this writing. No matter where you order it from, this is a wonderful book for Disneyland fans. The photos come from the Ted Kierscey collection, I had the opportunity to speak with him as well. As a boy in the 1950s, he brought his 3D camera to Disneyland about two weeks after the park opened.

Retired Imagineer Tom Morris handles the foreward, and impresses upon the reader how the book is one to be experienced. He also gives a few tips on what to look for, including Snow White’s Grotto before she and the Seven Dwarfs arrived.

Dave Bossert writes the introduction. He talks about his first introduction to 3D photography being a Viewmaster (which is what the photos in the book remind me of). He discusses the history of Stereoscopic photography and about how it works. The book itself has very little text except for captions next to each photo, so really the introduction is the text. Bossert continues with how he worked with master special effects animator Ted Kierscey at Walt Disney Animation Studios, and there is a little bio of Kierscey within that. Bossert first suggested to Kierscey 25 years ago that there should be a book of his photos. The book photos are from 1955-1958, then in 1980 and there are more contemporary photos from Patrick Swinnea, who also helped “convert the left and right eye views of Ted’s collection to the anaglyph images needed for the book.”

There is a pair of paper 3D glasses tucked into the book, which is a nice size for a coffee table at 9.25 x 1 x 12.25 inches and 200 pages. Some of the photos in the book are worth the price of it alone. To see the Moonliner (which it says was taller than Sleeping Beauty Castle) in 1958 and then the Monsanto House of the Future in 3D is incredible. I owned a Viewmaster as a kid, and this is what the book is like for me. It makes me feel like I am there. The book makes me wish I visited when the Skyway was still a thing there (I rode the Walt Disney World one often).

When I look at the 1980 photos, I think of them as current because I was a teenager at the time – yet it is 40 years ago now and only 3 years after I started visiting Walt Disney World. To see the difference in clothes guests wear is very interesting. Back in the 1950s, guests dressed up to go to Disneyland. There is a beautiful photo on page 123 of Sleeping Beauty Castle and I would not guess it was from 1955 except for the clothing guests have on. There are 3D Jungle Cruise photos from 1955, 1980 and 2019. Bossert had told me that there were some photos that wouldn’t have as strong a 3D look to them and that is true, but most of the photos have wonderful depth to them.

 3D Disneyland: Like You’ve Never Seen It Before will be one of my favorite books of 2020 and overall one of my favorite Disneyland books.

Official information: 3D Disneyland: Like You’ve Never Seen It Before showcases a rare, never-before-seen collection of 3D photographs of Walt Disney’s theme park in all its glory. Disneyland is captured in “time and space” from opening week in July 1955 through the 25th Anniversary in 1980 and beyond. See attractions that no longer exist like the Skyway to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, the original Submarine Voyage, Conestoga Wagons, and more along with vantage points that have changed drastically over the decades. 3D Disneyland: Like You’ve Never Seen It Before is full of memories for some and a glimpse into the past for those too young to have visited Disneyland at its beginnings. It will enthrall theme park fans of all ages with its stunning three-dimensional views of a bygone era at the original Disneyland park. 3D Glasses Included!

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