As if the 1970s weren’t dangerous enough for kids, Magic Mountain let children pet and sit atop a heavily sedated lion inside their “Enchanted Cottage” attraction. Named Major, the lion once starred with Johnny Weissmuller in Tarzan.
Magic Mountain opened in Valencia, California (now Santa Clarita) in 1971. I was almost four-years-old and living in Hacienda Heights at the time. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to visit the amusement park once as a child and once as a teenager. I loved Disneyland more, but Magic Mountain with its Wizard and Trolls, also claimed a piece of my little kid heart forever. Remember Bleep and Bloop!?
Unfortunately, I never got my picture taken with the ferocious Major the Lion. ROAAAARRR!
Magic Mountain Animal Chatter
Major the Lion was part of a show at Magic Mountain called Animal Chatter. It featured a variety of animals including reptiles, exotic birds, elephants, cubs, and at least one king of beasts. Very little has been formally reported about Major. Most of what I was able to find were anecdotes in public posts on Facebook. According to one person, Major’s tail had been bitten off. Hopefully, not by a young Gen-Xer.
The 1970s Were Kind of Dangerous
Growing up in the 1970s, life was a dangerous adventure. For example, I never used sunscreen or bug spray until I was well into adulthood. In addition, I didn’t start wearing a seat belt until I was a teenager and I most certainly never wore a bike helmet until I had kids of my own. Most days, starting around the age of five, I ran the neighborhood until the proverbial streetlights came on and I regularly came home from school to a completely empty house.
My friend Peggy and I got lucky once scraping our knees at the same time on the gravel playground at Giberson Elementary. We promptly solidified our bond by rubbing our wounds together to become blood sisters. My dad swabbed those same scrapes with pinkish-orange Mercurochrome, which burned like hell. The amber glass bottle of antiseptic had a faded yellow label and lived inside our medicine cabinet my entire childhood and youth. I kid you not, in 1975, it was an artifact from his Korean War-era days.
Routine and Unimabinable Escapades
Ultimately, between drinking from a lead-laden garden hose to crossing a state highway with my friend Cindy to buy her mom cigarettes, my Gen-X childhood was one unimaginable escapade after another. At the same time, these events and experiences were routine. The smalltown carnival swings spun me against the dark West Texas sky. The same sky over which a young girl my age went missing. I heard about her while passing through the living room while my mom watched The Love Boat. I was 10.
There were also the hitchhikers my father picked while I slept in the back window of his old automobile. Also, the downtrodden people he brought home for dinner, all in service to the local ministerial alliance.
But, I can say this. I never sat atop a doped-up lion. Under normal circumstances, Major would have eaten all those children. Instead, he looks mostly dead in the pictures.
Sadly, there is no mention of Major, the Enchanted Cottage or Animal Farm on Magic Mountain’s Wikipedia entry. Still, we have the grainy pictures to prove that was upon a time you could go to an amusement park in America and hug a lion.
I have a pit you my mom and i from 1976 w/ Major I was 5 yrs old i would love to share it .Does anyone know when Major passed away?
Oh boy that didn’t come out right I have a picture of me and my mom from 1976 I would like to share lol
I have a picture from 1976 with Major the Lion. I was one year old and had my arm around him. As an adult I asked my dad why he put his only kid (at the time) next to a gigantic lion. His response was “we were there the entire day, that lion didn’t move at all, you weren’t going to get eaten, it was fine”. And there you have it, 44 years later, not eaten apparently it was fine.
LOL. Great story. I love it!
Dear Jennifer,
I can not express the joy your photos and story have given me!! I have told my husband about Major the Lion at Magic Mountain and that I was able to have my photograph taken with him! I still remember vividly sitting next to him with my hand on him while he slept! I so LOVE that special memory! The photo is in my family photo album at home in LA!
When I read the comment about medicating him, I was very upset? But thank goodness it was wrong information! Whew! I showed my hubbie and kids your photos and I feel so warm and bubbly!
Thank you for sharing your special memories!
Sincerely,
Sam
Hi Sam! Thank you for this sweet comment. You made my day! I love sharing old photographs of Gen-Xers and it makes me so happy when it makes people happy. It’s my favorite thing to do. When you make it to LA I’d love to add your photo of Major the Lion to this post. =) Thanks again for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment. Truly brightened my day.
Dear Jennifer,
My next trip back to LA, I will look for the photo!
Thank you for asking!
Oh, bye the bye, do you recall Fraiser the lion at the Wild Animal Park north of San Diego? He was rescued from a Mexican circus? It was astounding as he sired about 33 baby lions at the age of what a human would be…75ish? He was in the late teens age wise I think. Check it out! Very cool!
Cheers!
Sam
I’ll check it out. What a great story! I look forward to seeing your picture someday. =)
I have a picture with Major – it was a church youth group outing and we sat around Major (who was absolutely not sedated, he was quite playful as I recall!). We were older teens, and the guy said, “Want Major to roar?” We thought he was kidding – guess what? Not so much! In the picture, Major is ROARING, and I have this half shocked/half GRIN on my face. Major was very, very, very old at this time, and slept most of the time – but I wish I could upload my picture for you to see! Definitely alert & having some fun with us!
That’s a great story, Cara! I’d love to see the picture. This story of Major just amazes me. It’s just so fun and crazy. Would definitely not happen today.
My uncle was Major’s handler. That lion was NOT sedated. He was, as Cara stated, an ol’ boy. He was raised in the entertainment community and was always around humans. My Uncle would never allow the abuse of an animal through chemical or physical means. I, myself, was around Major. He was, in all senses of the term, a big pussycat.
BTW – you’ve left out the Cockatoo and Snake that were also with Major every day.
Cara – I’m glad you got to enjoy this amazing and magic experience!
Thanks for adding to the history of Major.
hello there! Just found a picture from maybe 73? fyi, Major the lion was not sedated….just very docile….
That’s what someone else said. I can’t believe he wasn’t sedated. Friendly, tired lion, I guess. LOL.
I wouldn’t let me kids into a petting zoo, and my mom had no issues throwing me on top of that sucker…..
Times have changed. Now, we’d have to worry about the lion having COVID19!
I have a picture of me sitting on top of the lion with my family from July 1972. It’s in great condition. Be happy to share.
Thank you, Suzanne! I’d love to add it to this post. My email is jenx1967 [at] gmail [dot] com. =)
The lion was not sedated. I should know, I worked there for 2 years. He was just really old. His handler was a man named Cavin Cox. The lion had a long career in the movie industry. if I’m not mistaken he was owned by a man named Marvin Downey. Marvin also managed the Animal Farm at Magic Mountain.
Thanks for sharing this information with us. I can’t believe they trusted even an old lion with young kids or adults for that matter. I guess he was to be trusted though?
Hey Jack. I know my dad was the lion handler during the summer of 72. Loves telling stories about it being the worst job he’s ever had. Did you happen to know a Mike F. Tall guy with a lot of hair. At least then.
Fascinating. Does your dad have pictures!?
Thanks for sticking up for Major, Jack! He was a fantastic animal and truly a gentle giant. I was the photographer and my husband Cavan was Major’s handler. We likely took those photos and Major was NEVER sedated. He was allowed to sleep or sit up as he chose. As lions sleep most of the day, the arrangement suited Major just fine. People were told that they could pet his mane but not his face or paws, and that we would not make him pose. He was always watched carefully because he was 500 lbs. and still had teeth and claws, but he was a very patient animal. He was especially tolerant of babies and I also witnessed an occasion when he visited a school for blind children and held his face still so a child could “see” him by touch.
He was not owned by Marvin. His owner was a man named Stuart Raffel(although I am not sure that is the correct spelling) and did appear in Tarzan movies as well as in the Disney movie Napoleon and Samantha. He was also on Let’s Make a Deal.
I remember you, Jack!
I also worked at Magic Mountain in the 70’s – and another fact about Major (I took photos and cared for him also); as a cub he had sucked the end of his tail right off and for the movies he had a “tail end” that was glued on. It was kept in a box in the kitchen at the Farm 🙂
Oh, my goodness. The stories about Major just keep coming. He was so loved. I’d love to see any photos you might have, Rhonda!
Hello….I have a picture from 75ish and it’s damaged. I would love to be able to find the original photo, but if there’s no mention of MAJOR; there’s probably no chance that the negatives of the photos are in an archive somewhere.
Poor Major! I sure hope you find the photo. It’s a treasure from a far off land. Thanks for stopping by, Ellen!