December 3, 2010: The Largest Ceramic Mural in the World

[Werner Weiss]

Yester California Adventure is the only theme park that you enter by walking into a post card—a huge post card. The mountains on the post card are actually the Largest Ceramic Mural in the World.

Link to The Largest Ceramic Mural in the World at Yesterland.

Please discuss the ceramic mural and the entrance to Disney's California Adventure here.

[BassBone]

Great article. I've always loved the tile mural. It didn't fit in a Disney park at all, but it was beautiful. I wanted the otter section, because I love otters.

However, there is an error in your article. You state there was a drive through tree in CA, but it doesn't exist anymore. That one may not exist, but there are several more extant in California as evidenced by this website: Big Tree Drive-Thru, Avenue of the Giants, California

I know from firsthand experience that the Shrine tree exists because I drove through it this year.

[Scarlet Lark]

I already miss the mural... It was one of my favorite elements in California Adventure. It was beautiful, huge, and unique.

I've been cringing my way through all the news of development. It's all too much like WDW's Hollywood Studios (which is great, by the way, but we don't need another one over here, too!!). It's only a matter of time before those iconic letters are destroyed, too. :'(

[Scarlet Lark]

(Really great article, however.)

[The Shadoe]

Are the tiles too fragile to be removed carefully, numbered, and installed elsewhere?

While environmentally sensitive, it doesn't seem like terrazzo is the best use for this one-of-a-kind mural. It *IS* beautiful. Why not donate it or install it somewhere like Walt Disney did with the old Autopia and various other elements he did not use anymore.

[danyoung]

Excellent article, Werner! I also enjoyed the mural, but I've never looked at it in close detail like your article did. I thought the mural and letters were pretty nice - my main problem with the DCA entryway was with the big sun icon. A medium-sized hunk of reflecting metal taking center stage? When other Disney theme parks had castles, Spaceship Earth and the Chinese Theater? Really really lame!

[VeganPrincess]

Is there a picture of what the entrance looks like now? I must have missed this in a previous article.

[danyoung]

Yes - just look in the article from Werner.

[Werner Weiss]

You state there was a drive through tree in CA, but it doesn't exist anymore. That one may not exist, but there are several more extant in California as evidenced by this website: Big Tree Drive-Thru, Avenue of the Giants, California

Good point.

I made a minor edit to specify just Yosemite.

[BassBone]

Are the tiles too fragile to be removed carefully, numbered, and installed elsewhere?

While environmentally sensitive, it doesn't seem like terrazzo is the best use for this one-of-a-kind mural. It *IS* beautiful. Why not donate it or install it somewhere like Walt Disney did with the old Autopia and various other elements he did not use anymore.

There is lead paint used in the tiles for purposes of durability. For that reason it's probably not safe to use and resell the tiles, but it is safe to use them in a sealed bit of flooring.

[funtobfree]

I doubt that it is proper to say that the tunnel through the tree was for "automobiles" - more likely horse drawn carriages at that time, automobiles later.

[Matterhorn]

The ceramic mural at DCA was one of the few things I liked when the park opened. Could they have designed a more compelling entrance to the park? Probably. However, the colors were vibrant and the design was amazing. Its too bad it was at the entrance to "Disney's On-The-Cheap Adventure." Even if they had transfered the Victorian train station and berm to DCA, it wouldn't have hidden the fact that Disney had worked real hard to bring you the county fair with interesting facades.

[sweaty]

One of the better things about former DCA. Too bad it has to go...

Being born on Catalina, I was so thrilled to see the Casino in the tiles.

[Werner Weiss]

I doubt that it is proper to say that the tunnel through the tree was for "automobiles" - more likely horse drawn carriages at that time, automobiles later.

Good point. Although it served as an automobile tunnel as cars became popular, that was not the case in 1881.

Now the sentence simply reads, "The mighty sequoia was over 2,000 years old in 1881 when a 7-foot-wide tunnel was built through it as tourist attraction."

[Werner Weiss]

Are the tiles too fragile to be removed carefully, numbered, and installed elsewhere?

Think of the little 4" x 4" ceramic tiles that you might have in your shower. They're cemented place and difficult to remove without breaking them.

Now imagine a mural that's not made of ceramic tiles, but of huge, oddly-shaped ceramic pieces, each several feet wide. They were cemented in place and not designed to be removed.

If the DCA entrance mural had been something that could be disassembled and reassembled somewhere else, I sure that would have happened.