Character Spotlight: The Florida Orange Bird

[TheTwins]

With the opening of EPCOT’s Flower and Garden Festival, it means that we’ve just added some fun new event pins to the PinPics database. At the same time, I thought it'd be fun to take a look at one of Disney’s most unique characters (who just happens to appear on some of the cutest pins you’ll find) – The Florida Orange Bird.

 

 

There are more than 125 Orange Bird pins in the database, and thanks to his current popularity, that number is always growing. Here are a few for starters:

 

 

Animation has a way of changing your perspective. I mean, in real life, most of us are afraid of a mouse, but everybody loves Mickey! If a lion walked up and started speaking in a voice that sounds uncannily like Darth Vader, we’d probably all turn and run the other way as fast as possible. But animated characters have a way of transcending reality and letting our imaginations soar. Take the Orange Bird, for example; he’s a bird who doesn’t sing, has a head made of a Florida orange, and wings made of green leaves. These days he’s closely associated with the Flower and Garden Festival, but he’s actually been around for a long time.

 

Take a look at this set of Hidden Mickey pins which most pin traders will recognize. These cuties have been appearing on CM lanyards for a long time, and it's easy to overlook them now, since they were released back in 2011 during the 40th Anniversary of Walt Disney World. They’ve been scrapped and faked many times, but the original pins are absolutely beautiful -- definitely worth searching out for your collection! The full set includes five common pins, a plain silver chaser, and an orange heart completer.

 

 

These pins were the last set that Steven Miller (Project Manager for Disney Pin Trading) developed for the Hidden Mickey collection, and it was also one of his very favorites. Inspiration for pin designs can come from all kinds of places, and he got the artwork for these from the 1971Orange Bird LP record album featuring a 10-page storybook narrated and sung by singer, Anita Bryant. While the Orange Bird himself can’t sing, all of his fans can sing along with The Orange Bird Song, a musical masterpiece by none other than the Sherman Brothers.

 

 

Notice how this art from the storybook is exactly what was used on PP#82369:

 

For the last ten or twelve years, the Orange Bird has enjoyed a boost in popularity, but only after spending decades in obscurity. He made his first official appearance with the grand opening of Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971, as one of the “featured faces” of Walt Disney World, but there’d been a lot of work going on to bring this cute fellow to life.

 

“The Orange Bird, created by Walt Disney Productions for exclusive use of the Florida citrus industry, hopped out of a meeting with Disney marketing people after Department of Citrus advertising materials were placed on a table with a request for recommendations on how to blend the advertising with the promotional promise of Walt Disney World.” (Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar 1972)

 

It all started back on 3 Jul 1967,  when the Florida Department of Citrus (aka Florida Citrus Commission) entered into negotiations for the sponsorship of an upcoming attraction at the Walt Disney Productions coming park, Magic Kingdom. Over two years later, and only after hours of conferences and many trips to California, a contract was signed, making the Florida Citrus Industry the first entity to sign an agreement to participate in the development of Disney World. They agreed to underwrite a “tropical bird show” at the cost of $3,000,000. Thus was born the Sunshine Pavilion (or the Tiki Birds’ Tropical Serenade), now operating “Under New Management” as the Enchanted Tiki Room.

 

The original Tropical Serenade was actually featured on one of the 50th Anniversary Attraction Crest pins:

 

One of the most important features of the Pavilion was the Sunshine Tree Terrace, through which the audience exited the animatronic show. Everything from Orange and Grapefruit juices to Tangerine Cheesecake and Jellied Citrus Salad graced the menu of the Terrace, and the Orange Bird himself sometimes appeared to play the silent host. (The original Terrace occupied the building now known as Aloha Isle, but the two eateries swapped spots in 2015.)

 

 

While it's been a long time since the Orange Bird was out signing autograph books in the park, there is still a figure of him on display inside the current Sunshine Tree Terrace dining area! And that figure actually has quite a story. It’s the original figure that was mounted in the Terrace in 1971 for the park opening, having been replaced quite soon by an “improved” animatronic version. Thankfully, this first version had been socked away in a drawer at the WDI Sculpture Studio, where it lay forgotten for decades.

 

 

 

One of the brand-new Flower & Garden event pins this year gives off a very similar vibe to this decoration, as well as incorporating the iconic Citrus Swirl – the signature treat of our little Orange friend. It’s a delicious blend of frozen orange juice and vanilla softserve, often mistaken for Pineapple Dole Whip on pins . . .Wait, stop the presses! I’m a little blown away right now, having just found out that Citrus Swirl was discontinued two years ago and replaced by a new treat called Orange Swirl (a combo of Orange Dole Whip and vanilla softserve). The classic treat that’s been a staple since the 1970s is no more?! This is almost too much to take in. We’ll just enjoy the two new pins this year and think of them as good old Citrus Swirl. Okey dokey?

 

 

 

Today, the Orange Bird can be found on a LOT of memorabilia and souvenirs around the Parks, including some fun fashion accessories. In fact, we got some cool “Squeeze the Day” hats at the Disney Outlet across from Disney Springs a number of years ago and wear them a lot. I’ll never know why Disney didn’t keep this design in constant production. More people have offered to buy our hats, and it doesn’t matter whether we’re at Disney, in the grocery store, or in the airport. Let’s just say, pair the hats with matching Spirit Jersey shirts, and any dreams of walking around incognito fly out the window. Okay, so being identical twins probably doesn’t help, right?! Here we are paying tribute to our little orange friend while enjoying coffee at Riverside Resort.

 

 

Hmmm . . . now that I’ve officially bunnytrailed to include our favorite Disney treat (coffee at Riverside), let’s get back to the Orange Bird . . .

 

Sometimes, a lot of thought goes into pin designs, and even sets that look simple (like the Hidden Mickey pins shown above) can have a neat story behind them. Next time you pass a pin of this unique Florida bird, just think of his theme song and hum along (if you know the tune)!

“With his beautiful orange feathers,
And beautiful leafy wings,
He’s a fluffy little puffy sight to see,
He can turn your frown around,
When you see him looking down,
The little Orange Bird up in the Sunshine Tree.”

 

 

And remember to “squeeze the day”, like the Orange Bird hats say!

~ Sarah

 

 

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Does anyone remember when the Orange Bird was actually a park character roaming Adventureland in the 1970s? Unfortunately, Sis and I never got to meet him in the park, since he was not appearing in the early 1990s. If you’ve got a picture with him, please share it, because we’d love to see it!

 

[ViciousLady]

Being Californian I never got to really even see Orange Bird anything until my first WDW trip in 2012, but being the Disney history fan that I was, I did know about him and figment years prior, and I think it's wonderful that the little guy has so many fans for being such a niche character! I also got to try the citrus swirl, delicious, but a tiki room pineapple dole whip always wins out for me lol 

 

Thanks for sharing the cute art and lyrics, and of course the pins (I've never seen the heart chaser for that set!)