General
You will believe that a Pig can fly. (Frogs too!)
Jim Hill digs down deep into LaughingPlace.com’s archives and unearths a chunk of one of his earlier articles. Which details what WDW guests might get to see — provided that the Mouse actually builds “The Muppet Movie Ride” and the “Great Gonzo’s Pandemonium Pizza Parlor.”
God, who knew that there were this many Muppet fans out there.
Following yesterday’s article, I got absolutely inundated with e-mail from people who wanted to know more-more-MORE! about the Disney/Henson deal.
I got notes from people who wanted to know why Brian and Lisa would ever agree to sell these much beloved characters off to the Mouse House for such a low price? I got instant-messages that asked me about how long this deal has actually been in the works? I even got frantic phone calls from felt fans who wanted to know what Disney was going to do with the Muppets now that it has them?
Well, I’m working on getting answers for those first two questions. But as for the third one … I hear that Walt Disney Imagineering had its very first official meeting on the Muppet characters yesterday. And that one of the very first things that WDI did was pull out the plans for the “Muppet Movie Ride” and “The Great Gonzo’s Pandemonium Pizza Parlor.”
“Yeah. What’s the deal with those two projects, Jim?” you ask. “Can you tell me more about them?”
Well … Actually, I did already. 2½ years ago. When I was working for LaughingPlace.com and I was writing that “When You Wish Upon a Frog” series. That multi-part saga that I never quite got around to finishing because the story didn’t have an end.
Obviously that’s changed now …
Anyway, rather than repeat myself here, what I’ve done is lifted an excerpt out of Part 5 of that series. (How many parts were there to “When You Wish Upon a Frog” when I walked away from that saga? Nine, I think. Possibly 10.) Which goes into great detail about “The Muppet Movie Ride” and “The Great Gonzo’s Pandemonium Pizza Parlor.”
If you’d like to read the full-blown version of Part 5 (or the other 8 or 9 chapters of “When You Wish Upon a Frog”), then I suggest that you head on over to LaughingPlace.com and check out that site’s “Columns” section. If you scroll on down to the bottom, you’ll find my contribution to that site’s archives buried down in the discontinued columns section.
(And — while you’re over there — you might want to check out the rest of LaughingPlace.com. It really is one of the better Disneyana info sites out there on the web.)
Anywho … to understand what the Walt Disney Company may do with the Muppets at Disney-MGM, you need to understand that …
… “Jim Henson’s MuppetVision 3D” was only supposed to be … the start of things. That the whole backmost corner of Disney/MGM Studio Theme Park wasn’t meant to be home to just the Hunchback amphitheater and/or that bland bunch of New York Street facades. But — had the Disney/Muppet merger (actually) gone through the way it was supposed to — this part of the park would have become home to Muppet Studios.
Which — as it turns out — Muppet Studios would then have been home to Disney-MGM’s best ever ride-through attraction: “The Muppet Movie Ride.”
So what was supposed to so special about this “Muppet Movie Ride” thingy?
This was going to be *THE* ride for Disney/MGM. The one that — barring all others — you *HAD TO* see during your day at the theme park. A “Pirates of the Caribbean” for the 1990s. An epic attraction that would have featured elaborate set pieces, amazing special effects as well as dozens upon dozens of audio-animatronic Muppets.
I hear you “Tower of Terror” fans mumbling out there. “Better than Twilight Zone Tower of Terror?,” you say. “No way.” Yes way, guys. “The Muppet Movie Ride” was going to be just as technically advanced as TZTOT. Only — instead of thrilling — this Disney/MGM attraction was going to be funny.
Lord, was the “Muppet Movie Ride” going to be funny! Not just “fall-down funny” or “pee-in-your-pants funny,” but “I’m-going-to-have-to-ride-this-thing-a-dozen-or-more-times-to-make-sure-I-get-all-the-gags” funny.
Why was the “Muppet Movie Ride” going to be so much fun? Because it was going to have the Muppets do what they did so well so many times on “The Muppet Show”: (Which was) send up great old movies as well as reveal all the behind-the-scenes chaos that went on whenever the Muppets tried to put on a show.
Personally, I think that one of the funnier aspects of Disney/MGM’s proposed “Muppet Movie Ride” ride is that this attraction was clearly a parody of another ride at that same theme park: “The Great Movie Ride.” Just like at the show that was being presented just up the street inside the Chinese Theater, guests would slowly glide through the enormous show building aboard giant theater cars past these highly detailed recreations of great moments from famous Hollywood films.
Only in the Muppet version, something just off-screen would go wrong … and then the fun would begin.
Take — for instance — the tribute to Hollywood’s classic horror films that the Imagineers and Henson wanted to do as part of the ride. This sequence’s set was deliberately designed to ape the art direction of James Whale’s 1931 version of “Frankenstein.” So picture a secret laboratory hidden away in a cobweb-filled dungeon of a huge stone castle. Bizarre electric equipment flickers and sparks in the dark, as the mad scientist makes ready to bring his evil creature to life.
Only in this version of the movie, it’s Miss Piggy and Kermit who are the heroes who have just discovered the fiend’s lair. As they stand on the stone staircase — agape with horror — looking down into the lab, the frog and the pig realize that they’re too late. The mad scientist makes ready to throw the switch …
So who’s the mad scientist? Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, of course. Which means that the monster laid out on the slab is — you guessed it — Beaker. Only a 10 foot tall version of Beaker with bolts sticking out of his neck.
Okay, that already sounds funny, doesn’t it? But just wait ’til you see what’s going on behind-the-scenes as this particular sequence in the “Muppet Movie Ride” attraction is being filmed. Our director (Indeed, the host of the entire attraction) is the Great Gonzo. Dressed in a beret and jodhpurs (with his trusty script girl — Carmella the Chicken — at his side), Gonzo shouts stage directions to his cast through a megaphone. Rizzo is sitting behind the camera, while Scooter works the boom mic.
This sequence’s truly brilliant touch? Fozzie Bear is in charge of the sequence’s special effects. But — in true Fozzie fashion — things aren’t quite going according to plan. Fozzie holds the power cord from the studio’s generator (which is evidently powered by two rats running inside an exercise wheel) in one paw and the extension cord that leads to all the electrical equipment in Bunsen’s lab in the other. But every time the Bear tries to plug one cable into the other, someone on set accidentally throws the switch.
The consequences were supposed to be as dazzling as they were comical. Fozzie’s eyes lwould ight up, his bow-tie would spin around wildly and his fur would stand on end as the electricity surged through his body. With smoke pouring out of his wiggling ears, the world’s worst comic would have shouted “Wacka-wacka-wacka!” And our theater car would then roll on into the very next sequence for the ride …
You get the idea here? Dozens of audio-animatronic Muppets looking just like they did on the TV shows or in the films. Only in three dimension — cavorting just a few feet away from our theater car.
The idea of working with audio-animatronics really excited Jim Henson. To be honest, it was one of the main reasons that Jim decided to try and merge with Disney: The possibility of telling new stories with the Muppets that would make full use of all the snazzy theme park technologies that Walt Disney Imagineering had cooked up over the years.
Henson — who’d always been a heavy-duty technology nut (Remember Waldo, the “Spirit of 3D” who’s featured so prominently in “Jim Henson’s MuppetVision 3D”? That computer generated character — who’s full name is Waldo C. Graphic, by the way — was originally created for 1989’s “The Jim Henson Hour.” Jim pushed for the development of Waldo because he became fascinated with the entertainment possibilities that grew out of CGI characters interacting in real time with the traditional Muppet family) — thought that using AA with the Muppets could move the fun to a whole new level.
Why? Well, listen to the explanation that Jim gave to “Disney News” back in the spring of 1990 as part of an interview with Disney publicist John McClintock. In particular, pay attention to how excited Henson sounds:
“This is a form of technology I’ve never been into before, and it’s as if these characters were designed to be audio-animatronics,” (Jim) now says enthusiastically. “When we try to do a live person or a cartoon character as an Audio-Animatronic figure, we’re changing medium. We’re trying to turn a person or a cartoon character into something plastic or fabric. But when we take puppets into Audio-Animatronics, we’re staying in the same medium. These characters were created in these three-dimensional forms, so we should be able to use them in park attractions in a way that will still look very authentic.”
After you read this, that’s when you realize that “Jim Henson’s MuppetVision” — with its 20 or so Muppets that make appearances in the show through the magic of Audio-Animatronics — was really just a test. A dry run, if you will, for all the fun stuff that Henson wanted to try and do on the Muppet Movie Ride. When Jim could create room after room full of Audio-Animatronic pigs, frogs and bears who were ready to do his zany bidding.
Speaking of which, let’s get back to that description of sequences from “The Muppet Movie Ride,” shall we? After all, the sci-fi scene was sure to be a big hit with all you Miss Piggy fans out there.
Why for? Because that sequence in the proposed Disney / MGM attraction was going to take you on the soundstage where a big screen version of “Pigs in Space” TV show was being filmed. And our theater car was going to roll right through the middle of the set where the intrepid crew of U.S.S. Swinetrek was locked in mortal combat with a scurvy bunch of space pirates.
Sorry. Excuse me. I mis-spoke myself there. The above sentence has a teeny tiny typo. I didn’t really mean to write “space pirates.” I meant to type “space pie-rats.”
Rats. As in Rizzo and all his relatives.
So picture — on one side of the soundstage — a full-sized version of the U.S.S. Swinetrek. Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork and Piggy — all dressed in spacesuits and wearing clear plastic helmets — stand on the exterior of their spaceship, laser pistols blazing away. On the other side of the soundstage … Well, picture a space-going Spanish Galleon. Covered with rats who are dressed as — well — space pirates. Striped bandanas tied around their heads, cutlasses in their teeth. Also with laser pistols a-blazing.
Our theater car goes right through the thick of the battle. With laser blasts flying all over the place, rats swinging on ropes — just out of reach over our heads — as the rodents try to board the Swinetrek. It’s a wild, wild scene.
And maybe even a little dangerous. For — as we ’round the corner and head off to the next soundstage — we see Statler and Waldorf in their golf cart. (These two elderly hecklers were supposed to have been a running gag for the Muppet Movie Ride. Literally. At various moments in the attraction, Statler and Waldorf were supposed to have rolled up next to our theater car, offered a few caustic comments, then zoomed off into the darkness again.) It seems that a stray shot from one of those laser pistols has sliced the curmudgeons’ golf cart right down the middle. The only thing that’s now keeping the vehicle from falling apart is that Statler and Waldorf are now holding hands.
Funny, right? It gets better.
How could the Muppets possibly top a scene that puts you right in the middle of an epic space battle? How about a scene where Kermit and Co. make fun of the Mouse?
Picture — if you will — that your theater car now rolls on to a soundstage where the nursery set from Disney’s 1953 animated classic, “Peter Pan,” has been lovingly recreated down to the last detail. As we arrive, Peter has just taught the Darling children that when “you think of the happiest things, it’s the same as having wings.”
Only these aren’t exactly the characters as we remember seeing them in Disney’s animated classic. Sure, the costumes look the same. Only … Since when is Peter Pan played by Kermit the Frog? Wendy by Janice (the girl singer from the Muppet’s house band, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem)? The be-spectacled and top-hatted John is played by Scooter. And — dressed in footie pajamas and clutching a teddy bear — Fozzie Bear plays Michael.
Each of these Muppet characters hang from painfully obvious flying rigs, wires which are secured to elaborate pulley rigs which dangle down from the ceiling of the soundstage. Rat technicians high above tend to these rigs, which allow Kermit, Janice, Scooter and Fozzie to gently bob up and down in the air.
But wait! Didn’t Tinker Bell play an important part in the “You Can Fly” number in Disney’s version of “Peter Pan”? Sure she did. Which is why the Muppet’s grand dame — Miss Piggy — has strapped on a pair of wings and squeezed herself into a tiny spangly green gown to try and play the flying fairy.
Only — in poor Miss Piggy’s case — there have obviously been some problems with her flying rig. As the hog sized holes in the scenery can attest to, the crew seems to have had trouble controlling this over-sized sprite once she gets up in the air. As our theater car goes ’round the corner, we see that there’s about a half dozen rats along with Sweetums — straining to hang on to Miss Piggy’s control rope as she swoops through the air.
With Miss Piggy screaming at Gonzo to get her down, our theater car moves on …
You see? “The Muppet Movie Ride” would have been a comic triumph. A real break-through for the Disney theme parks. An attraction that was just as ambitious as “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Haunted Mansion.” But funny.
Of course, with two great Muppet-themed attractions within 100 feet of one another, it stands to reason that Muppet Studios deserves a great Muppet-themed restaurant. Well, the building that was supposed to have housed this particular eatery actually did get built. It was thrown up — along with the “Stage 1 Company Store” and the “It’s a Wonderful Store” retail areas — while construction was being completed on the main “Jim Henson’s MuppetVision 3D” theater complex.
These days, the restaurant is known as Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano. The cobbled-together interior suggests that this building was once a warehouse that some enterprising soul tried to turn into an Italian restaurant. (And a pretty good one at that. My friends and I usually make a point of dining at Mama Melrose whenever we’re visiting Disney / MGM. You just can’t beat its mix of quirky atmosphere and great cuisine.)
That said, I still miss the restaurant that was originally supposed to be installed in this building. For this is the place that Muppet fans would have killed to be able to eat at: “The Great Gonzo’s Pandemonium Pizza Parlor.”
The backstory for this eatery was simple: Just like Arnold, Bruce and Sly did in the early 1990s, Gonzo and Rizzo decided to go into the celebrity restaurant business. They hired the Swedish Chef to run the kitchen for them. And the rest … Well, while it wasn’t exactly history. But it was still going to be great fun.
The walls of this restaurant — just like the interior lobby area of “Jim Henson’s MuppetVision 3D” — would have been covered with recreations of props from various Muppet movies. TV monitors would hang down from the support beams of the restaurant. Just like in Planet Hollywood, diners would get to watch clips from various Muppet movies and TV shows. Every so often, there’d be a live broadcast from the kitchen — where Gonzo and Rizzo would assure that things were going great and that our food would be out shortly.
Only — based on what was going on in the background of these scenes that were supposed shot in the kitchen — things were clearly *NOT* going great. We’d watch as lobster banditos escaped from their pots and held the waitstaff hostage, or observe as the Swedish Chef was suddenly attacked by a very large — and very lively — mound of pizza dough. Better yet, we’d watch as Carmella was suddenly sucked up into the exhaust fan over the stove, then watch as Gonzo climbed in after her. Then — out in the main room of the restaurant — we’d laugh because we could hear Gonzo and Carmella in the air conditioning ducts right over our heads, stumbling around in the dark, trying to find one another.
You see? The Great Gonzo’s Pandemonium Pizza Parlor — with its kitchen doors that would occasionally belch open, sending great clouds of smoke and chicken feathers into the dining room — was going to be a great place to eat while visiting the Muppet Studios section of Disney / MGM.
Even the throw-away details on this side of the park were going to be fun for Muppet fans. That fake fish market that’s currently located right next door to “It’s a Wonderful Store”? That was supposed to be Lew Zealand’s Boomerang Fish Market. If you listened very carefully as you walked on by, you were supposed to be able to hear Lew practicing behind closed doors. And — every so often — the Muppet-tized fish in the window were supposed to spin around in the ice and/or say awful fish-based puns to one another.
Sounds pretty amazing, doesn’t it? Well, keep in mind that the Imagineers will be revamping these ideas. Folding more contemporary films and cultural references into these Disney/MGM projects so that the Muppets once again seem current.
So … whaddaya think?
General
Seward Johnson bronzes add a surreal, artistic touch to NYC’s Garment District
Greetings from NYC. Nancy and I drove down from New
Hampshire yesterday because we'll be checking out
Disney Consumer Products' annual Holiday Showcase later today.
Anyway … After checking into our hotel (i.e., The Paul.
Which is located down in NYC's NoMad district), we decided to grab some dinner.
Which is how we wound up at the Melt Shop.
Photo by Jim Hill
Which is this restaurant that only sells grilled cheese sandwiches.
This comfort food was delicious, but kind of on the heavy side.
Photo by Jim Hill
Which is why — given that it was a beautiful summer night
— we'd then try and walk off our meals. We started our stroll down by the Empire
State Building
…
Photo by Jim Hill
… and eventually wound up just below Times
Square (right behind where the Waterford Crystal Times Square New
Year's Eve Ball is kept).
Photo by Jim Hill
But you know what we discovered en route? Right in the heart
of Manhattan's Garment District
along Broadway between 36th and 41st? This incredibly cool series of life-like
and life-sized sculptures that Seward
Johnson has created.
Photo by Jim Hill
And — yes — that is Abraham Lincoln (who seems to have
slipped out of WDW's Hall of Presidents when no one was looking and is now
leading tourists around Times Square). These 18 painted
bronze pieces (which were just installed late this past Sunday night / early
Monday morning) range from the surreal to the all-too-real.
Photo by Jim Hill
Some of these pieces look like typical New Yorkers. Like the
business woman planning out her day …
Photo by Jim Hill
… the postman delivering the mail …
Photo by Jim Hill
… the hot dog vendor working at his cart …
Photo by Jim Hill
Photo by Jim Hill
… the street musician playing for tourists …
Photo by Jim Hill
Not to mention the tourists themselves.
Photo by Jim Hill
But right alongside the bronze businessmen …
Photo by Jim Hill
… and the tired grandmother hauling her groceries home …
Photo by Jim Hill
… there were also statues representing people who were
from out-of-town …
Photo by Jim Hill
… or — for that matter — out-of-time.
Photo by Jim Hill
These were the Seward Johnson pieces that genuinely beguiled. Famous impressionist paintings brought to life in three dimensions.
Note the out-of-period water bottle that some tourist left
behind. Photo by Jim Hill
Some of them so lifelike that you actually had to pause for
a moment (especially as day gave way to night in the city) and say to yourself
"Is that one of the bronzes? Or just someone pretending to be one of these
bronzes?"
Mind you, for those of you who aren't big fans of the
impressionists …
Photo by Jim Hill
… there's also an array of American icons. Among them
Marilyn Monroe …
Photo by Jim Hill
… and that farmer couple from Grant Wood's "American
Gothic."
Photo by Jim Hill
But for those of you who know your NYC history, it's hard to
beat that piece which recreates Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous photograph of V-J Day in Times Square.
Photo by Jim Hill
By the way, a 25-foot-tall version of this particular Seward
Johnson piece ( which — FYI — is entitled "Embracing Peace") will actually
be placed in Times Square for a few days on or around August 14th to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of Victory Over Japan Day (V-J Day).
Photo by Jim Hill
By the way, if you'd like to check these Seward Johnson bronzes in
person (which — it should be noted — are part of the part of the Garment
District Alliance's new public art offering) — you'd best schedule a trip to
the City sometime over the next three months. For these pieces will only be on
display now through September 15th.
General
Wondering what you should “Boldly Go” see at the movies next year? The 2015 Licensing Expo offers you some clues
Greeting from the 2015 Licensing Expo, which is being held
at the Mandalay Bay
Convention Center in Las
Vegas.
Photo by Jim Hill
I have to admit that I enjoy covering the Licensing Expo.
Mostly becomes it allows bloggers & entertainment writers like myself to
get a peek over the horizon. Scope out some of the major motion pictures &
TV shows that today's vertically integrated entertainment conglomerates
(Remember when these companies used to be called movie studios?) will be
sending our way over the next two years or so.
Photo by Jim Hill
Take — for example — all of "The Secret Life of
Pets" banners that greeted Expo attendees as they made their way to the
show floor today. I actually got to see some footage from this new Illumination
Entertainment production (which will hit theaters on July 8, 2016) the last time I was in Vegas. Which
was for CinemaCon back in April. And the five or so minutes of film that I viewed
suggested that "The Secret Life of Pets" will be a really funny
animated feature.
Photo by Jim Hill
Mind you, Universal Pictures wanted to make sure that Expo
attendees remembered that there was another Illumination Entertainment production
coming-to-a-theater-near-them before "The Secret Life of Pets" (And
that's "Minions," the "Despicable Me" prequel. Which
premieres at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival next week but
won't be screened stateside 'til July 10th of this year). Which is why they had
three minions who were made entirely out of LEGOS loitering out in the lobby.
Photo by Jim Hill
And Warner Bros. — because they wanted "Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice" to start trending on Twitter today — brought
the Batmobile to Las Vegas.
Photo by Jim Hill
Not to mention full-sized macquettes of Batman, Superman and
Wonder Woman. Just so conventioneers could then see what these DC superheroes
would actually look like in this eagerly anticipated, March 25, 2016 release.
Photo by Jim Hill
That's the thing that can sometimes be a wee bit frustrating
about the Licensing Expo. It's all about delayed gratification. You'll come
around a corner and see this 100 foot-long ad for "The Peanuts Movie"
and think "Hey, that looks great. I want to see that Blue Sky Studios production
right now." It's only then that you notice the fine print and realize that
"The Peanuts Movie" doesn't actually open in theaters 'til November
6th of this year.
Photo by Jim Hill
And fan of Blue Sky's "Ice Age" film franchise are in for an even
longer wait. Given that the latest installment in that top grossing series
doesn't arrive in theaters 'til July
15, 2016.
Photo by Jim Hill
Of course, if you're one of those people who needs immediate
gratification when it comes to your entertainment, there was stuff like that to
be found at this year's Licensing Expo. Take — for example — how the WWE
booth was actually shaped like a wrestling ring. Which — I'm guessing — meant
that if the executives of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. didn't like
the offer that you were making, they were then allowed to toss you out over the
top rope, Royal Rumble-style.
Photo by Jim Hill
I also have to admit that — as a longtime Star Trek fan —
it was cool to see the enormous Starship Enterprise that hung in place over the
CBS booth. Not to mention getting a glimpse of the official Star Trek 50th
Anniversary logo.
Photo by Jim Hill
I was also pleased to see lots of activity in The Jim Henson
Company booth. Which suggests that JHC has actually finally carved out a
post-Muppets identity for itself.
Photo by Jim Hill
Likewise for all of us who were getting a little concerned
about DreamWorks Animation (what with all the layoffs & write-downs &
projects that were put into turnaround or outright cancelled last year), it was
nice to see that booth bustling.
Photo by Jim Hill
Every so often, you'd come across some people who were
promoting a movie that you weren't entirely sure that you actually wanted to
see (EX: "Angry Birds," which Sony Pictures Entertainment / Columbia
Pictures will be releasing to theaters on May 20, 2016). But then you remembered that Clay Kaytis —
who's this hugely talented former Walt Disney Animation Studios animator — is
riding herd on "Angry Birds" with Fergal Reilly. And you'd think
"Well, if Clay's working on 'Angry Birds,' I'm sure this animated feature
will turn out fine."
Photo by Jim Hill
Mind you, there were reminders at this year's Licensing Expo
of great animated features that we're never going to get to see now. I still
can't believe — especially after that brilliant proof-of-concept footage
popped up online last year — that Sony execs decided not to go forward
with production of Genndy Tartakovsky's
"Popeye" movie. But that's the
cruel thing about the entertainment business, folks. It will sometime break
your heart.
Photo by Jim Hill
And make no mistake about this. The Licensing Expo is all
about business. That point was clearly driven home at this year's show when —
as you walked through the doors of the Mandalay
Bay Convention Center
— the first thing that you saw was the Hasbros Booth. Which was this gleaming,
sleek two story-tall affair full of people who were negotiating deals &
signing contracts for all of the would-be summer blockbusters that have already
announced release dates for 2019 & beyond.
Photo by Jim Hill
"But what about The Walt Disney Company?," you
ask. "Weren't they represented on the show floor at this year's Licensing
Expo?" Not really, not. I mean, sure. There were a few companies there hyping
Disney-related products. Take — for example — the Disney Wikkeez people.
Photo by Jim Hill
I'm assuming that some Disney Consumer Products exec is
hoping that Wikkeez will eventually become the new Tsum Tsum. But to be blunt,
these little hard plastic figures don't seem to have the same huggable charm
that those stackable plush do. But I've been wrong before. So let's see what
happens with Disney Wikkeez once they start showing up on the shelves of the
Company's North American retail partners.
Photo by Jim Hill
And speaking of Disney's retail partners … They were
meeting with Mouse House executives behind closed doors one floor down from the
official show floor for this year's Licensing Expo.
Photo by Jim Hill
And the theme for this year's invitation-only Disney shindig? "Timeless
Stories" involving the Disney, Pixar, Marvel & Lucasfilm brands that
would then appeal to "tomorrow's consumer."
Photo by Jim Hill
And just to sort of hammer home the idea that Disney is no
longer the Company which cornered the market when it comes to little girls
(i.e., its Disney Princess and Disney Fairies franchises), check out this
wall-sized Star Wars-related image that DCP put up just outside of one of its
many private meeting rooms. "See?," this carefully crafted photo
screams. "It isn't just little boys who want to wield the Force. Little
girls also want to grow up and be Lords of the Sith."
Photo by Jim Hill
One final, kind-of-ironic note: According to this banner,
Paramount Pictures will be releasing a movie called "Amusement Park"
to theaters sometime in 2017.
Photo by Jim Hill
Well, given all the "Blackfish" -related issues
that have been dogged SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment over the past two years, I'm
just hoping that they'll still be in the amusement park business come 2017.
Your thoughts?
General
It takes more than three circles to craft a Classic version of Mickey Mouse
You know what Mickey Mouse looks like, right? Little guy,
big ears?
Truth be told, Disney's corporate symbol has a lot of
different looks. If Mickey's interacting with Guests at Disneyland
Park (especially this summer, when
the Happiest Place on Earth
is celebrating its 60th anniversary), he looks & dresses like this.
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc.
All rights reserved
Or when he's appearing in one of those Emmy Award-winning shorts that Disney
Television Animation has produced (EX: "Bronco Busted," which debuts
on the Disney Channel tonight at 8 p.m. ET / PT), Mickey is drawn in a such a
way that he looks hip, cool, edgy & retro all at the same time.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights
reserved
Looking ahead to 2017 now, when Disney Junior rolls out "Mickey and the
Roadster Racers," this brand-new animated series will feature a sportier version
of Disney's corporate symbol. One that Mouse House managers hope will persuade
preschool boys to more fully embrace this now 86 year-old character.
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved
That's what most people don't realize about the Mouse. The
Walt Disney Company deliberately tailors Mickey's look, even his style of
movement, depending on what sort of project / production he's appearing in.
Take — for example — Disney
California Adventure
Park's "World of Color:
Celebrate!" Because Disney's main mouse would be co-hosting this new
nighttime lagoon show with ace emcee Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Goldberg really had
to step up Mickey's game. Which is why this master Disney animator created
several minutes of all-new Mouse animation which then showed that Mickey was
just as skilled a showman as Neil was.
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc.
All rights reserved
Better yet, let's take a look at what the folks at Avalanche Studios just went
through as they attempted to create a Classic version of Mickey & Minnie.
One that would then allow this popular pair to become part of Disney Infinity
3.0.
"I won't lie to you. We were under a lot of pressure to
get the look of this particular version of Mickey — he's called Red Pants
Mickey around here — just right," said Jeff Bunker, the VP of Art
Development at Avalanche Studios, during a recent phone interview. "When
we brought Sorcerer Mickey into Disney Infinity 1.0 back in January of 2014,
that one was relatively easy because … Well, everyone knows what Mickey Mouse
looked like when he appeared in 'Fantasia.' "
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved
"But this time around, we were being asked to design
THE Mickey & Minnie," Bunker continued. "And given that these Classic
Disney characters have been around in various different forms for the better
part of the last century … Well, which look was the right look?"
Which is why Jeff and his team at Avalanche Studios began watching hours &
hours of Mickey Mouse shorts. As they tried to get a handle on which look would
work best for these characters in Disney Infinity 3.0.
Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
"And we went all the way back to the very start of Mickey's career. We began
with 'Steamboat Willie' and then watched all of those black & white Mickey shorts
that Walt made back in the late 1920s & early 1930s. From there, we
transitioned to his Technicolor shorts. Which is when Mickey went from being
this pie-eyed, really feisty character to more of a well-behaved leading
man," Bunker recalled. "We then finished out our Mouse marathon by
watching all of those new Mickey shorts that Paul Rudish & his team have
been creating for Disney Television Animation. Those cartoons really recapture
a lot of the spirit and wild slapstick fun that Mickey's early, black &
white shorts had."
But given that the specific assignment that Avalanche Studios had been handed
was to create the most appealing looking, likeable version of Mickey Mouse
possible … In the end, Jeff and his team wound up borrowing bits & pieces
from a lot of different versions of the world's most famous mouse. So that
Classic Mickey would then look & move in a way that best fit the sort of
gameplay which people would soon be able to experience with Disney Infinity
3.0.
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved
"That — in a lot of ways — was actually the toughest
part of the Classic Mickey design project. You have to remember that one of the
key creative conceits of Disney Infinity
is that all the characters which appear in this game are toys," Bunker
stated. "Okay. So they're beautifully detailed, highly stylized toy
versions of beloved Disney, Pixar, Marvel & Lucasfilm characters. But
they're still supposed to be toys. So our Classic versions of Mickey &
Minnie have the same sort of thickness & sturdiness to them that toys have.
So that they'll then be able to fit right in with all of the rest of the
characters that Avalanche Studios had previously designed for Disney Infinity."
And then there was the matter of coming up with just the
right pose for Classic Mickey & Minnie. Which — to hear Jeff tell the
story — involved input from a lot of Disney upper management.
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved
"Everyone within the Company seemed to have an opinion
about how Mickey & Minnie should be posed. More to the point, if you Google
Mickey, you then discover that there are literally thousands of poses out there
for these two. Though — truth be told — a lot of those kind of play off the
way Mickey poses when he's being Disney's corporate symbol," Bunker said.
"But what I was most concerned about was that Mickey's pose had to work
with Minnie's pose. Because we were bringing the Classic versions of these
characters up into Disney Infinity 3.0 at the exact same time. And we wanted to
make sure — especially for those fans who like to put their Disney Infinity
figures on display — that Mickey's pose would then complement Minnie.
Which is why Jeff & the crew at Avalanche Studios
decided — when it came to Classic Mickey & Minnie's pose — that they
should go all the way back to the beginning. Which is why these two Disney icons
are sculpted in such a way that it almost seems as though you're witnessing the
very first time Mickey set eyes on Minnie.
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved
"And what was really great about that was — as soon as
we began showing people within the Company this pose — everyone at Disney
quickly got on board with the idea. I mean, the Classic Mickey that we sculpted
for Disney Infinity 3.0 is clearly a very playful, spunky character. But at the
same time, he's obviously got eyes for Minnie," Bunker concluded. "So
in the end, we were able to come up with Classic versions of these characters
that will work well within the creative confines of Disney Infinity 3.0 but at
the same time please those Disney fans who just collect these figures because
they like the way the Disney Infinity characters look."
So now that this particular design project is over, does
Jeff regret that Mouse House upper management was so hands-on when it came to
making sure that the Classic versions of Mickey & Minnie were specifically
tailored to fit the look & style of gameplay found in Disney Infinity 3.0?
Copyright Lucasfilm / Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
"To be blunt, we go through this every time we add a new character to the
game. The folks at Lucasfilm were just as hands-on when we were designing the
versions of Darth Vader and Yoda that will also soon be appearing in Disney
Infinity 3.0," Bunker laughed. "So in the end, if the character's
creators AND the fans are happy, then I'm happy."
This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Tuesday, June 9, 2015
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