ANA’s highly successful Marine Jumbo, unveiled in 1993, pushed JAL to react with a strong marketing campaign. JAL’s partnership with Disney started in 1994 when the airline teamed up with Oriental Land which runs the Tokyo theme park with a license from The Walt Disney Company. The aim was to promote the Tokyo Disney Resort (opened 1983) as a leisure destination to be reached with JAL’s planes via the nearby Haneda Airport.
The first Disney planes were unveiled on August 1,1994 and started flying between Haneda, Sapporo and Fukuoka. The livery background was made of clouds with Mickey Mouse and friends seemingly leaving the Disney Castle in the usual mess, carrying heavy luggage. The characters featured were Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck, Daisy as well as Huey, Dewey and Louie. Note both sides were different, with the same set of characters in a different set up.
Note JA8170 was one of only two 747-100 that had been modified with a stretched upper deck, making it look like a -300. The scheme was almost identical on 767s and 747s, and the thinner routes served by the 767s permitted to increase the impact of the campaign countrywide. The cabins of these planes were fitted with customized "Disney on Tour" headrest covers and Disney-branded glassware.
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