A Table Lamp of Nostalgic Adventure
This is my own design and creation for personal use. I wanted a table lamp that provided a similar ambiance to what is experienced in Adventureland at Disneyland. The tiki torch flame effect LED bulb and bamboo structure lamp I purchased provided just the starting point I needed. I then created my own abstract art images of iconic attractions in Adventureland. The front facing panel has the Adventureland entrance sign over the “Adventurers Club” logo of which I have always been a fan. While originally a club within Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney, Walt Disney World, the concept and imagery was then utilized for an interactive game at the D23 Expo back in the summer of 2013 when they playtested the Jungle Trading Company interactive game, and then again the following summer in 2014 for the actual interactive in-park game in Adventureland, Disneyland, known as the Adventure Trading Company. As prizes, small tiki tokens on leather lanyards called “JuJu” were given out. There is actually quite a collector’s market for these “JuJu” prizes even today. The last picture in the slideshow below shows some of the JuJu I won at the D23 Expo that year, still hanging proudly along with my Expo badge lanyard. These different iterations of the Adventurers Club and Adventureland themed interactive games all had the same greeting - Kungaloosh! Now, back to the lamp. Going to the left, you’ll see the god, Mara, within the Temple of Forbidden Eye, from the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction. The back panel has an iconic Jungle Cruise image with elephant, hippo in the water (lower left), and boat (lower right). Then back around to the right is the the Goddess of Fire and Volcanoes, Pele, from the Enchanted Tiki Room. For the top panel, I designed this lamp to have a system of interchangeable inserts, so I can change the image to my liking day-to-day. My favorite insert is the Bengal Barbecue insert. An oft underappreciated signage, yet super iconic in that everyone who has been to Adventureland has at the very least a vague familiarity with it. Then I decided to pay homage to WED Imagineering by including an insert with their vintage logo. Walter Elias Disney and Imagineering - there was no question I wanted this to be a part of my creation. The last insert has the logo I designed for this very website, nostalgicdisney.com, of which I am extremely proud, even though I still consider it to be in its “infancy” and most definitely a work in progress. Many hours, trial, and error were put in to the creation of this lamp, but the results are simply astounding. At the flip of a switch, I can daydream and experience an identical ambiance to what is felt in Adventureland. As with most things, seeing this lamp in person is on another level compared to the images below. Nonetheless, I hope the images and video below captures the nostalgic Disney magic of this lamp!
