I really like the designs that artist Henry Taylor creates for his Theme Park Preservation Society project. He devises illustrations and objects that look like perfectly authentic artifacts from the universe of Disney theme parks.
For example, this "animation cel" is for a non-existent 1970 Hanna-Barbera-style cartoon show in which Kurt Russell and Donny Osmond meet the Haunted Mansion's hatbox ghost.
Taylor even created a low-fi VHS "recording" of a snippet from the fake show.
By the way, Taylor apparently got the character voices of Donny and Kurt from this actual 1970 Disneyland promotional episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.
He created this poster for the Walt Disney World (Orlando, FL) movie attraction MuppetVision 3D that looks like it's an advertisement for a 1950s 3D movie. Taylor even added fading and folds to the image to enhance the conceit that this is an old poster.
(Unfortunately, it was announced last week that this MuppetVision 3D attraction will soon be closed to make room for a new Monsters, Inc. land.)
This framed 45rpm record is made to look exactly like it's an old 1960s artifact from the career of Sonny Eclipse, the animatronic alien lounge singer that serenades diners at the Magic Kingdom's quick service restaurant in Tomorrowland, Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe.
This is a poster for the ballroom scene in The Haunted Mansion as though presented in a Victorian advertisement. Yale Gracey is the imagineer responsible for the "Pepper's Ghost" effect in that scene.
And I especially love this WPA National Park-style poster for the Rainbow Caverns and other features of the now defunct Disneyland (Anaheim, CA) rides Rainbow Caverns Mine Train and its successor Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland.
If these interest you, I recommend poking around Taylor's website because there are so many other witty, appealing illustrations and even physical objects that he's created. Taylor told me that he alone created all these designs, which I find remarkable given the wide variation in pitch-perfect styles. And many of his designs are available for sale.
