The Walt Disney Archives is celebrating the Orange Bird’s 55th anniversary by sharing rare historical photos of the Orange Bird costume, recently digitized from the Walt Disney World photography collections. The Orange Bird was created especially for Walt Disney World and debuted with the resort in 1971, so he is celebrating 55 years right alongside Walt Disney World, which turned 55 on October 1.
If you thought these photos were taken last week, you are not alone. We did too. The Archives says they are historical photos, and the new scans make every detail pop: the round orange head with its green leaf sprout, the big eyes and yellow beak, the green wing sleeves, the yellow belly and the matching yellow shoes. In one shot he has his hands behind his head, in another he covers his beak, and in the third he spreads his wings wide.
“Think orange!” the Archives wrote, calling him “the sun-shiniest resident of the Sunshine Tree Terrace.” The character was designed by veteran publicity artist and Disney Legend Bob Moore. The Orange Bird does not sing, chirp or whistle. He talks through pictures that pop up in orange clouds above his head. The Archives says photos like these capture some of the ways he has met guests over the years, including early character greetings at Magic Kingdom.
He started out as the mascot for the Florida Citrus Commission, which sponsored the Sunshine Tree Terrace and the Enchanted Tiki Room in Adventureland. Anita Bryant narrated his 1971 record, and the Sherman Brothers wrote “The Orange Bird Song.” He later became a fan favorite in Japan, where Tokyo Disneyland featured him in 2004, and he came home to a restored Sunshine Tree Terrace at Magic Kingdom in April 2012.
Fans have found new ways to connect with him since then, from comic stories to his own Little Golden Book, The Orange Bird, written by Imagineer Jason Grandt and illustrated by Scott Tilley. It is fitting that a character made just for the Florida resort gets a moment in the spotlight during the resort’s own anniversary year.
Looking at these photos, our first question was whether that costume is still around and still in this kind of shape. The Archives did not say, but we are betting it is. Disney holds on to its history. At the D23 Spotlight Series: 55 Magical Years of Storytelling earlier this month, with Becky Cline of the Walt Disney Archives on stage, Imagineers revealed that every piece of the old Carousel of Progress was saved, with some of those artifacts already headed to the Archives. We would love to see the Orange Bird costume in person someday, and we will let you know if Disney ever puts it on display.
The Walt Disney Archives shared the Orange Bird photos this week to mark his 55th anniversary. For more Walt Disney World history and news, stay with Fantasy Land News.
