Category Archives: Book

BELLE: Bonjour Gaston. Gaston, may I have my book, please?
GASTON: How can you read this? There’s no pictures!
BELLE: Well, some people use their imaginations.
GASTON: Belle, it’s about time you got your head out of those books and paid attention to more important things…like me! The whole town’s talking about it. It’s not right for a woman to read–soon she starts getting ideas…and thinking.
BELLE: Gaston, you are positively primeval.
GASTON: Why thank you, Belle.
—
Source: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991)
http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Scripts/BeautyAndTheBeast.txt

Judge orders RunDisney The Animated Series to release an official timeline

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7 Technological Wonders Predicted by Disney Theme Park Attractions – D23 Fun! Kind of silly, but still! RUMOR: RunDisney Cancels All Future Race Events, Half Marathons at the Disneyland Resort – WDW News Today Innnnteresting. Some friends were having a discussion recently about some sort of RunDisney hub-bub, and I wonder if some (any) of the concerns are addressed/explained by this rumor. UPDATE – 18th October 2017 My wife reminded me that there is some additional, political context to this issue in the current battle between Disney and the Anaheim City Council. The L.A. Times did a good job breaking down the situation in their two-part article here: Is Disney paying its share in Anaheim? The money battle outside the Happiest Place on Earth – Los Angeles Times Marvel will release an official timeline for MCU after Spider-Man: Homecoming fiasco – Polygon Um….okay? I didn’t know this was such a … Continue reading →

11.22.63 (2016)

11.22.63 (2016)

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OOOH! I just found out that this adaptation is being made. I *really* enjoyed the book and since this is technically a TV adaptation, I have high hopes for it not sucking like Dreamcatcher did (especially since I also really enjoyed the TV adaptation of Dead Zone). And that J.J. guy does good work, too. :-p

[My Reaction To Empire’s] 40 Movies You (Probably) Didn’t Know Were Comic Books

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Original Article on Empire.com So after a friend posted this article and I started reading it, I almost immediately knew I wanted to tally my scores. But then above and beyond that, my wifey and I actually started arguing about the authenticity of this list! She started questioning it at “Over The Hedge” (comic strip vs. comic book) but it really got crazy at “The Fountain” (she felt that if it was always intended to be a movie, then what’s to keep this list from saying that “you probably didn’t know that Pride & Prejudice was a comic book” (which it is)). Being a pig-headed boy, it took me a while to understand her argument, but when I finally did get it, I heartily agreed with her. But I still wanted to tally my scores, so, without further ado: the categories for scoring and the numbers on the list! Films … Continue reading →

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

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Started: 3 Dec 2013 Finished: 6 Dec 2013 I know, I know. I shouldn’t have. But I felt oddly compelled when I found it in the library. Like I needed to find out what all the fuss was about. And surprisingly I rather enjoyed it. It was difficult to put down and I’m intrigued enough to check out the rest of the series. Not sure about the movies though; we’ll have to see. 😉 The only frustrating thing was that while reading it I couldn’t get out of my head the way someone else had described the book to me: that it was like reading about two kids not having sex. :-p Anyways: on to the bits from the book that I enjoyed, made me think, and (in one case) frustrated me. Throughout the vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure so terrible, no figure so … Continue reading →

I’m a Jim Dale Fan

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I loved Pete’s Dragon growing up, then come to find that Doc Terminus also portrayed Barnum in Cy Coleman’s musical biography of Phineas Taylor was almost too much. And then he goes and narrates Pushing Daisies (one of my favorite cancelled shows of all time)! And he’s the audio book reader for the Harry Potter books? Get out. Just get out! So when I stumbled across Scott Kurtz’ tribute to Pete’s Dragon, I couldn’t help but squeal. 🙂 Every Little Piece – PVPOnline by Scott Kurtz For further enjoyment, here’s the original song that Scott is referencing.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – AMC 12 DownTown Disney, Anaheim, CA

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I like Bofur, Balin, and maybe Dwalin. Possibly Ori’s face. 😉 Love, love, LOVE the Misty Mountains! Love that its the prequel trilogy theme. Also love the restrained callbacks to the original trilogy (only when it fits PERFECTLY). Add to this the fact that the songs are coming 99% directly from the text and I’m pleased as punch (that 1% is for making the song structures more palatable to human ears *wink*). Blunt the knives also makes me grin. Yay Lee Pace as Thranduril! Love seeing the Piemaker not interacting with stupid talking dogs. I also love how Peter Jackson is bringing in all these disparate pieces from Tolkien’s mythology (instead of Gandalf just going away and returning with a one sentence summary of what he did). It’s like he’s trying to construct the prequel trilogy that our generation deserves! Yay Andy Serkis as the second unit director! I mean … Continue reading →

Kingdom Keepers IV: Power Play by Ridley Pearson

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Started: 27 November 2012 Finished: 28th November 2012 Excellent continuation of the overall story, but…I had some definite “Disney” issues with this one. On the front cover of the book (hardcover edition at least) is a picture depicting a scene from the book (starts somewhere around page 128). This image depicts Judge Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame threatening one of the Kingdom Keepers. But when he actually makes his debut in that scene…it’s really weird. He is described as wearing clothes that sound more like something Captain Hook would wear. And then he’s speaking in a French accent! How is that a realization of the character Disney created (voiced by the phenomenally talented Tony Jay)?!? On page 290, the Keepers are back in EPCOT and are splitting up into teams to get to two pavilions: China and Morroco. But as we follow them past the pavilions: they’re … Continue reading →

Kingdom Keepers III: Disney in Shadow by Ridley Pearson

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Started: 31 October, 2012 Finished: 3 November, 2012 Another excellent addition to the saga, although it was a bit like leaving us waiting for the other shoe to drop at the end. Thankfully the other book was already available and we were able to move right along to it! And as far as I can remember, nothing really “wrong”, at least not that this Disney nerd noticed.

Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn by Ridley Pearson

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Started 29 October 2012 Finished 31 October 2012 Great/quick/fun read and an excellent sequel/second book in the saga. Just as solid story/character-wise as the last book, and very fun to explore the backstage areas of Animal Kingdom this time around. Of course though, it once again comes with it’s share of Disney nerd problems that are puzzling and frustrating to endure. The biggest one (to wit) is this: Page 369: “…while black webbing formed under the thing’s arms like…bat wings” Excuse me? Chernabog doesn’t have glider wings like Lexington from Gargoyles. Click for full size. He’s got giant black wings on his back! Click for full size. Sad panda!

Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson

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Started 9/10/2012 Finishes 11/10/2012 Heck of a good story. So much fun to have the worlds of Disney and technology merged and to hear so many exciting background details around Disney World! Makes me want to go re-read Cory Doctorow’s Down and Out In The Magic Kingdom. Laura brought up an interesting point in comparing this teen series with the beloved teen series of my youth (K.A. Applegate’s Animorphs) – the teenage protagonists feel much more real here. The things they say, the way they react to events, the choices they make; she find them more believable. My friend Nik (Disneyland Cast Member / fellow Disney nerd) brought up an interesting point as well: how could Walt have placed the quill clues in attractions that weren’t built until years after his passing (to be even more exacting, the Magic Kingdom was just a gleam in his eye when he passed)? … Continue reading →