The Happiest Faces on Earth was a series of photo collages around the Disneyland Resort to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Disneyland Park. In summer and fall 2004, Disney encouraged guests to send in their family pictures from Disney vacations. They could be turned in online, through the mail, and in special mailboxes located around the Disneyland Resort. The pictures were then taken and used to create mosaics of Disney characters, attractions, and art. The mosaics are located in Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. There are kiosks on Main Street, U.S.A. where guests can find the location of their photos.
Although Disney did not release the exact number of photos collected, it is believed to have been over 200,000. The series of mosaics—created by Californian artist Roy Feinson—included the first example of a tri-level mosaic in which a giant black and white mosaic of Steamboat Willie was created using 600 Disney cast member portraits. In turn, each of the portraits was made up of hundreds of guest submitted pictures. With a total of over half a million pictures it holds the record for the most complex photo collage ever created.
In mid September 2006, as the Happiest Homecoming on Earth was winding down, most of the mosaics were removed.
Famous quotes containing the words happiest, faces and/or earth:
“The happiest two-job marriages I saw during my research were ones in which men and women shared the housework and parenting. What couples called good communication often meant that they were good at saying thanks to one another for small aspects of taking care of the family. Making it to the school play, helping a child read, cooking dinner in good spirit, remembering the grocery list,... these were silver and gold of the marital exchange.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)
“Every morning I woke in dread, waiting for the day nurse to go on her rounds and announce from the list of names in her hand whether or not I was for shock treatment, the new and fashionable means of quieting people and of making them realize that orders are to be obeyed and floors are to be polished without anyone protesting and faces are to be made to be fixed into smiles and weeping is a crime.”
—Janet Frame (b. 1924)
“It is, I think, an indisputable fact that Americans are, as Americans, the most self-conscious people in the world, and the most addicted to the belief that the other nations of the earth are in a conspiracy to under value them.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)