But It Had to Rent a Tent : Sort of Like Old Times as the Circus Rolls In

The circus came to town Tuesday, and a few local kids snuck into the tent to get a peek at the original “Greatest Show on Earth.”

Actually, this being 1987, the kids snuck into the parking lot of the Anaheim Convention Center.

And, again, this being 1987, when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus arrived in Anaheim, it actually had to rent a tent to pitch over its tigers and horses in the parking lot.

In Phoenix, from whence this wandering band had come, all its creatures had been housed in an indoor, air-conditioned auditorium.

Turned the Clock Back

But in Anaheim, for about the third time in 30 years, the Greatest Show on Earth has decided to turn the clock back to the way it used to be. Ticket holders arriving about an hour before show time will be allowed to view the animals in the outdoor tents.

On Tuesday, a lucky few got a backstage preview.

“We’re originally from Idaho,” said Marilyn Cameron, who had brought her sons Ewan, 6, and Colin, 8, from Simi Valley to meet their uncle, Alan Ard, one of the elephant handlers.

“When I was 4 years old,” she said, “I remember, when the circus came to town, getting up on a hill and watching them unload.”

Cameron’s children were seeing the circus the way their mother had seen it. So were others.

“It’s pretty neat,” said Brooke Farmer, 4, who was riding atop her father’s shoulders after getting a wide-eyed look at the elephants being washed down.

“I’d rather ride an elephant,” she said with a downward glance at Dad.

With an old-fashioned flourish Tuesday morning, a parade of clowns, acrobats, elephants, camels, dogs, llamas and ladies in leotards traveled 3 1/2 miles en masse from the train station in downtown Anaheim to the Convention Center, where they will perform for seven days beginning today.

Cheers and Applause

Children cheered and parents applauded the arrival of the show’s 117th consecutive season. Children of all ages watched from rooftops, bus stops and from atop whatever else they could climb as the procession moved through town.

However, some of the bigger Big Top attractions, namely 17 tigers and King Tusk--an imposing pachyderm billed as “The Largest Land Mammal Traveling the Face of the Earth!”--had quietly arrived the night before.

As it turns out, King Tusk, a 12 1/2-foot-tall, 15,000-pound behemoth, is too big to ride in the train. He has his own mobile home.

And the tigers, rather temperamental sorts, were immediately rushed to the Convention Center after the train arrived, according to their master, Gunther Gebel-Williams, the renowned tiger trainer.

“After 24 hours on the train, there’s always a risk” of injury to one of the animals, said Gebel-Williams, who keeps a 22-year-old Bengal tiger named “India” with him although the animal no longer performs.

Not Too Glamorous

For Gebel-Williams, in charge of the animal acts, all is not spangles and glitter.

Although the animal trainer’s face is known around the world, and he and his leopards have graced TV in ads for credit cards, on Tuesday he had to help feed his tigers and haul hay to the elephants.

What were most of the other 300 circus performers doing with a day off between travel and performing?

“Most of them are across the street at Disneyland,” circus publicist Steve Scott said.