Category Archives: Disney

What this? This collection of Disney-related articles is just a glimmer of my passion for the empire Walt created. The real amazingness is over here.

Flashback 2007

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I’ve been duped! Huckstered! Flim flamed! Deceived! They told me there was a dress rehearsal on the dvd, but there’s just a dress rehearsal video with audio commentary! I assured myself that I didn’t need to film the entire performance! Damn my eyes! Well I’ll know better next year. That’s right Disney…you just try and stop me next year. Anyways. The show was lots of fun! I was rooting for the red team, and although it’s some form of nepotism I really enjoyed the Red Team’s show best. It was the most cogent with the clearest story line and very impressive utilization of talents. The only reason Green Team won was because they’re all from the Entertainment department…oh and their show looked really sharp and crisp (although I have been told they went so far as to lift entire choreography from … something). Before I knew they were all Entertainment, … Continue reading →

Something To Feel Guilty About and (Re)Learning Spanish

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Anybody feel bad about stepping on a bug? I’m obviously not talking to anybody who took a magnifying glass to an ant, but I recently was walking back into my house and it’s dark and all of a sudden CRUNCH! I look back and there’s a dead snail in my foot print. I always feel kind of bad when I squash snails because it’s not like they can get out of the way. And I keep seeing its remains when I leave/enter my house and keep thinking about it. What did he experience in his last moments (if he had any)? Did the shards of his shell just penetrate into his body and skewer the life out of him? Permancer sentado por favor. So THAT’S how it’s spelled out. I’ve always been saying “Per sentado por favor” and was just too lazy to look it up. Yay! If you can’t … Continue reading →

Visiting Mineral King, Eric Idle Spills His Life and NBC Shows Up American Idol

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NBC.com > The One That I Want More Equity Auditions for ‘Grease’ Reality Show “You’re the One That We Want” Set – Yahoo! News That’s right…reality tv will pick Broadway’s next stars…the future is now…and this is just wrong 😉 Guardian Unlimited Arts | Arts features | And now for something completely difficult … Eric Idle talks about his life with the Pythons and the success of the soon-opening-in-London Spamalot. Re-Imagineering: Comforting Words John Lasseter has a way of saying it just like Walt Disney that makes every Disney fan praise the stars that Eisner has moved on. Disneyland Park Update (Disneyland Park Update) by MousePlanet Staff on September 19, 2006 Disneyland strips out the 50th decals and gets ready for Halloween. Floyd Norman : Toon Tuesday: Rocky gets KO’ed while Shere Khan finally finds his voice A great 4-part series about working on The Jungle Book from Disney storyman … Continue reading →

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

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Where is the line between Bill Nighy’s live performance and the CGI effects? That was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen…reminded me of the whole debate that went into the foam suit for Ben Grimm (The Thing) in Fantastic Four…live versus animated. Those had to be his eyes and I think maybe his cheeks (with makeup)…but those tentacles…maybe half were animatronics (the ones that flop about or puff steam) and half CG…absolutely incredible. As the credits roll (9 minutes total…seems kind of tame for a film with such gorgeous CG), I scream at the screen when they say “Soundtrack available on Walt Disney Records”…the soundtrack doesn’t come out until July 27th…bastards! I mean…that’s what everyone told me Leave it to me to never do independent research…it’s available now…damn it! I love the new Walt Disney Pictures logo…but why now? Celebrating the 50th? That was the only logic … Continue reading →

Pirates of the Caribbean Returns

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So as part of my preparation for my trip to Amsterdam, I was up at 6am yesterday. Not knowing what else to do that early, I headed to Disneyland for the grand re-opening of Pirates of The Caribbean. The Esplanade at 7:17 am. There was a family scuttling from one letter to another doing that photo collage that EVERYBODY does. Nicely done with the F. The Esplanade at 7:54 am. Nice line to get into the park. Park opened at 8:00 dull, and people start running. Security guard says, no point, the line for pirates is already 2 hours. The 2 hour line, stretching from the flag pole all the way down Main Street… Through Frontierland… and straight into the ride. Apparently I missed the new mural in the lobby that features Jack Sparrow. Oops. The ride was lots of fun. A lot darker than I remember it…which of course … Continue reading →

Schoolyard Politics, Ratatoille in Quicktime HD and Star Wars Rocks Out

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Arad Implies The New HULK Movie Is Not A Sequel But…A Redux!?!? Arad nails it on the head when he says it wasn’t the comic. Ang Lee made it a broader movie? More like a Greek tragedy than a comic book movie? What the hell was he thinking?!?! Star Wars Makes an Appearance at the MTV Movie Awards Very cool… Holy Fromage!!! RATATOUILLE is in Glorious Quicktime HD!!! This is the most beautiful trailer from Pixar since…since the next one. The Weinstein Company’s Remake of THE SEVEN SAMURAI has a star and a screenwriter! I agree…must we keep remaking everything? The only remake’s I agree with anymore are ones where you can benefit from new technology (mostly CGI) to make the author’s vision even more breathtaking. Download of the Day: Ghostzilla – Lifehacker Intriguing new browser that you can embed into other programs…not quite sure I’d use it, but it … Continue reading →

Oswald The Lucky Rabbit Comes Home

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Walt Disney’s first cartoon creation just returned to the Walt Disney Company. Guess Robert Iger just got a few more credibility points in Disneyana’s eyes, eh? Apparently, he traded Al Michaels, a sportscaster (not like I would know), to NBC, who inherited the rights to develop Oswald when they bought Universal Studios. Isn’t this fantastic? As a Disney fan, I can’t remember how many times I’ve heard the story of Oswald. He was Walt’s first cartoon character creation when he was just starting out in Los Angeles. Just as he was ready to go solo with “his creation”, the company he was working for (Universal Studios) laughed at him and kicked him into the street…sans Oswald. He had signed away his first character without realizing the consequences. Of course, this led to Walt taking that historic train ride on which he invented Mickey Mouse… but many wonder (not me, I … Continue reading →

Dead Man’s Chest

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UPDATE: Apple Trailers now has the trailer available for download. While exploring around the web, I found a teaser trailer for the sequel (due out July 9, 2006). Holy cow does it look like fun. But it also gives us some answers as to how Bootstrap Bill (Will Turner’s father) and Captain Barbossa show up again. It’s all about Davy Jones (who looks freaking awesome!) and the supernatural, so a dead guy can easily make a deal with Davey and end up on his damned crew (Barbossa). But Bootstrap Bill requires some review of what happened to him. He starts out on the Black Pearl under Jack Sparrow. Jack Sparrow is marooned. Dead Man’s Cove is discovered and the cursed Aztec treasure is plundered. With the curse revealed and Bootstrap still feeling bad about marooning Jack, he sends off his piece of the treasure to his son (who is later … Continue reading →

Disney War by James Stewart

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This book was a fascinating analysis into the course the Disney Company chartered after Walt’s death and tries to discover the reason Michael Eisner became so defiled within the Disneyana community.                   The Dearth and Decline of Michael D. Eisner (Chairman/CEO of the Walt Disney Company) Moved from President/CEO of Paramount Pictures to Chairman/CEO of the Walt Disney Company in September 1984 Company was suffering from lack of direction Eisner was able to re-vitalize feature animation with: The Little Mermaid (November 15, 1989) Beauty and the Beast (November 22, 1991) Aladdin (November 25, 1992) The Lion King (June 15, 1994) and the parks with: Splash Mountain (July 17, 1989) Star Tours (January 9, 1987) The death of Frank Wells (Disney Company President) was the death blow for Eisner Frank knew how to spend money to make money While Eisner may have liked … Continue reading →

Passionada De Jeremy Bob

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This rant begins with my praise for the National Tour of Oklahoma, recently closed at OCPAC (Orange County Performing Arts Center). The show was good. The costuming was less silly and more gritty than earlier productions, indicating a shift from traditional 50’s musical values. The dream ballet was much more interesting because the stars of the show were triple threats and could actually DO the ballet, which was very nice. There was also some very intriguing set design based on perspective. The show opens with miniature sets of the farmhouse, the windmill and the smokehouse, showing where everything is. Then, when they focus on the farmhouse, there was a miniature smokehouse in the distance, or vice versa. And during the transition to the train station, a miniature train rode across stage, which was just fun. The only other notable mention goes to Jud Fry and Ali Hakim, who both did … Continue reading →