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Blog Post: Animation fans are sure to get a bang out of Disney's new series of Mickey Mouse shorts

Jim Hill — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:16:00 GMT

"I hope that we don't lose sight of one thing. That it all started with a mouse." -- Walt Disney

And given that Mickey is basically the well-spring from which all good things flow at The Walt Disney Company ... well, it's kind of appropriate that -- on Disney's Glendale Campus -- there's this very cool Mickey-inspired fountain.

Photo by Noe Valladolid

"And what exactly were you & Noe doing on Disney's Glendale Campus?," you ask. This past Friday was Mickey Mouse Day, a media preview where we -- along with a bunch of other reporters -- got a chance to look at two of the nineteen new Mickey Mouse shorts that will soon begin playing on the Disney Channel. We were also given an in-depth look at the new Disney Mobile game which will based on these shorts as well as the wildly popular game "Where's My Water".

Bart Decrem served as MC for the first part of the day's events. He expressed what it was that made working for the Mouse special for him:

Bart Decrem welcomes the press to Mickey Mouse Day at Disney's Glendale
Campus. Photo by Noe Valladolid

"The thing that never ceases to sort of amaze me and impress me is just the depth of the characters and the worlds that Disney stands for and the emotional connection that our guests have with those characters. The other thing that blows me away is sort of at Disney every couple of months is just the amazing talent, the talented crew of people we have here," Decrem decried.

Eric Coleman, Senior Vice President in charge of Original Series for Disney Television Animation, echoed this sentiment. When introducing Where's My Water creator Tim Fitzrandolph, he said: "I dare you to find a more talented game-maker on the app store."

Eric Coleman, senior VP of Original Series at Disney Television Animation.
Photo by Noe Valladolid

Coleman explained the responsibilities that came with re-creating what is arguably the world's most iconic character: "We're very excited about what we've been doing with Mickey. When we at the TV Animation Studio were given the opportunity to do new Mickey Mouse shorts, we were thrilled. We set out with three specific goals in mind.

1. To introduce Mickey to a new generation, Entertain families that have their own memories of Mickey Mouse and highlight the personality of this character; show what a star he is.

2. We wanted to make sure that they feel contemporary. So to us this doesn't mean that we just give him an iPhone and call it a day. It was in the tone, the sensibility, and the execution in the shorts. Where they're edited, if music plays, the feel of it.

3. We wanted to make shorts that really bring him to an international audience. We have Disney Channels in 167 countries now, a huge global audience. While the appeal of Mickey Mouse is universal, we wanted to make some shorts that felt very customized to some of our specific audiences."

The next thing Disney Television Animation had to do was assemble a team that could actually pull this project off:

"We were really, really fortunate to bring aboard Paul Rudish, who in the animation industry is highly regarded. He's beloved, he's talented, he's extremely handsome .. .he's legendary, he's Emmy-winning, he worked on The PowerPuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack; he also designed the original 2D Clone Wars designs, he's worked on so many groundbreaking shows, and we were working with him in-house on some things. And when this opportunity came up, Paul was the perfect sensibility-wise to tap for it," Coleman explained.

Eric Coleman (R) introduces Paul Rudish (L). Photo by Noe Valladolid

"So the next thing was for Paul to pull together a team. And under Paul we have some incredible storyboard artists, character designers, background designers, just a hugely talented crew. We said to Paul, we want to do this, these are the things we want to accomplish, and you have a wide berth here to tell us if you take that challenge on, what you want to do with it,"Eric continued.

Paul Rudish shared his feelings on the project: "When the offer came to get on this project, it was kind of overwhelming. It was exciting to me as a fan of Walt Disney's classics to tackle the original cartoon character (almost). But not in the scary way, being that he's so iconic and such a strong character and his world and cast of characters is very iconic and actually very easy to navigate. So the weight of what Mickey Mouse could be went away pretty quickly, and we are really comfortable to just get in there and play with this guy," Rudish stated.

"(This version of Mickey Mouse was a character) that I felt like I knew. (As a kid, one of my favorite things to do was) was going to Disneyland and going to that little theater on Main Street and watching all the old black-and-white cartoons like Plane Crazy, the original Mickey Mouse cartoon and one of my all-time favorites," Paul said "(So I) started drawing and instantly found the want to do that rubber-hose, old black-and-white kind of thing. Honestly not doing old time, black-and-white cartoon, but the sensibilities of those original cartoons, that were just a little more surreal and very graphic and very playful."

"(The challenge with creating these sorts of Mickey Mouse shorts in the modern age where he's once again) that whimsical mischievous little rascal, finding his character, that little guy that's kind of naïve, and then finds himself in trouble, then finds a clever way to get himself out of it," Rudish continued. "So we started exploring the graphic tone of them, the music cues, the original sketches that I was playing with, I just find black-and-white so appealing to me personally that white face and black head and just a powerful graphic, and those three circles that's instantly recognized all over the world, it's just really iconic.

"It doesn't matter what you do with (Mickey). You can put him in different costumes, in different places, and kind of cast him with different roles around the world, and he's still always Mickey Mouse. Some different international things are happening, we are exploring different things that are happening, different locations, the cast of characters are there; we were looking for the rubber hose is fun, Goofy is more like his original origins, Dippy Dog, and it's still really like him, the 1950s incarnation of Donald and Daisy. Donald was super-cute then," Paul enthused.

"So it's kind of an amalgamation, things kind of percolated naturally as I was drawing, things kind of came up in my head, I imagined the characters, and then to complement that, again provenance of being at Disney and the history of all the amazing artists that were always inspiring me was right at hand, fantastic pieces of art by artist like Walt Peregoy, Mary Blair, Eyvind Earle, had me super excited," Rudish said. "so we drew inspiration from all around Disney, eras and different productions ..."

Background artwork for these new Mickey Mouse shorts done in the style of
Mary Blair. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Paul then showed the members of the press who had come out for Disney's Mickey Mouse Day some fantastic inspirational artwork he'd done for the shorts, and pointed out to us where the inspiration came from. Some, like the Mary Blair-style art Paul did for the Alpine short, were very obvious. Some, like the Chinese zoo, were subtler.

We got to see two shorts, one which took place on an American boardwalk, the other in Tokyo. What was interesting was that they did, indeed, play to an international audience - some of the shorts were in another language but needed no translation. Some had no talking at all! But like the original Mickey Mouse short, Plane Crazy, no words were needed.

FYI: The Disney Channel is going to begin airing these new Mickey Mouse shorts starting on June 28th. The first batch includes "No Service" (in which Mickey and Donald try to buy lunch from a beachside snack shack but are unceremoniously turned down because of the classic "No shirt, no shoes, no service" admonition) and "Yodelberg" (where Mickey longs to visit Minnie atop her mountaintop chalet but quickly realizes that the threat of avalanche has made the trek up the mountain more challenging than usual).

NEXT TIME: I'll discuss what happened during the second half of our visit to Disney's Glendale Campus on Mickey Mouse Day. Where we then got to scope out what the Company hopes will be its next big app, "Where's My Mickey?"

But what do you folks think of what you've seen so far of these new Mickey Mouse shorts? Does this artwork and/or the comments from the filmmakers make these shorts seem like something that you'll seek when they air on the Disney Channel?

Blog Post: Getting hands-on with Disney Interactive's new gaming initiative, Disney Infinity

Shelly Valladolid — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:21:00 GMT

Disney Infinity was the star of the Disney Interactive booth at E3 last week.

Photo by Noe Valladolid

People stood in two-plus hour-long lines to have a t-shirt, jersey tee or hoodie made with their choice of Disney Infinity character mash-ups:

Photo by Noe Valladolid

Mike Wazowski with Mr. Incredible
Evil Emperor Zurg with Vanellope Von Schweetz
Captain Jack Sparrow in Cinderella's coach, which has monster truck

Photo by Noe Valladolid

Davy Jones atop a rainbow bus
Tonto surfing with Stitch
The Lone Ranger riding Abu the Elephant

Photo by Noe Valladolid

Syndrome in a Dumbo Ride vehicle
Mike Wazowski piloting a TRON Recognizer
Jack Skellington on an Incredibles hoverboard

Photo by Noe Valladolid

That wasn't all. There was another long line of people waiting to try out the game itself. For a reward, they received whatever character(s) they were playing with. Most coveted was the two-character Cars set. Noe got Dash Incredible. I got The Lone Ranger and Tonto.

Photo by Noe Valladolid

When I was playing, I caught sight of Fix-it Felix Jr. and asked if he was a character in the game. He's a NPC (non-player character). There are a ton of NPCs in this game, so I'm just going to list the playable characters that will be I saw were:

Photo by Noe Valladolid

Pirates of the Caribbean
- Captain Jack Sparrow
- Captain Barbossa
- o Davy Jones

Monsters University
- Sulley
- Mike
- Randall

Photo by Noe Valladolid

The Incredibles
- Mr. Incredible
- Mrs. Incredible
- Violet
- Dash

Cars
- Lightning McQueen
- Mater
- Holly Shiftwell
- Francesco

Photo by Noe Valladolid

The Lone Ranger
- The Lone Ranger
- Tonto

There will be a ton more, including Phineas, Ferb and Perry, Jack Skellington, and other beloved Disney characters.

Photo by Noe Valladolid

Power Disks tell the Disney Infinity Platform about your character's surroundings and are stackable, so you can pull elements from more than one property in Toy Box Mode. For example, I themed a racetrack that was there to look as if it came from Alice in Wonderland. It was still a racetrack, but it looked like it belonged in the movie, with fantastically colorful flowers surrounding the track.

Photo by Noe Valladolid

As you play, you unlock gadgets and characters. For example, we pulled in Slinky Dog and Mirage, and then used a goo gun to shrink them to very small, make them grow to over twice the size of our character, Dash, and give them huge heads like bobble heads.

Then, we themed the desert we were in to Alice in Wonderland as well. It was fantastic! There's nothing you can't do in Toy Box Mode.

Photo by Noe Valladolid

In Play Set mode, we were in the world of The Lone Ranger. We couldn't bring in Sully or The Incredibles because they are not part of that world. Only characters from The Lone Ranger can be played with the Lone Ranger set in Play Set Mode.

Photo by Noe Valladolid

Disney Infinity is less of a simple game than an actual platform unto itself, which is stacked onto another platform much like the Power Disks are stacked. It is an endlessly expandable platform; it is "forwards-compatible", meaning that when new peripherals come around, you can still play them on your original Disney Infinity base instead of having to buy a new "system".

Photo by Noe Valladolid

As well as those fantastic demos and presents, there was a life-size Cinderella Coach with Monster Truck Wheels that people could climb up into and have their picture taken.

Blog Post: Swim like Scrooge in a miniature version of McDuck's money bin

Jim Hill — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 04:52:00 GMT

We've gotten a lot of very nice e-mails over the past few days in response to JHM's E3 2013 coverage. With most of these notes expressed the exact same sentiment over & over again (i.e. "Boy, that all looks really, really cool. I wish that I could get access to a super fun event like that").

Well, as it turns out, you can. You see, even though this year's E3 officially vacated the Los Angeles Convention Center back on Friday morning, there are a few off-site satellite exhibits related to this video gaming expo lingering around town. And for Disney fans, the one you really need to be aware of is the iam8bit entertainment system, which is still being presented over on Sunset Boulevard.

Photo by Noe Valladolid

Here in this 4,500 square foot venue at the edge of Echo Park, over 80 artists from around the earth are currently fulfilling their retro gaming fantasies. But for Disneyana enthusiasts, especially all of your DuckTales fans out there, the real reason that you want to get to the iam8bit gallery before June 30th is that Capcom (i.e. the nice folks who are producing that "DuckTales Remastered" video game) have built together a miniature version of Scrooge McDuck's money bin.

Sadly, the staff at iam8bit are discouraging people from living out their full Scrooge-swimming-in-his-money-bin fantasy. So, no, you will not be allowed to drive around in it like a porpoise, and burrow through it like a gopher, and then toss the money up and let it hit you on the head.

Photo by Noe Valladolid

Of course, that didn't stop some people from trying when the staff was looking away.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

And luckily (thanks to those large, soft gold-colored cushions that were standing in for all the coins that Scrooge keeps in his money bin), those who did try to dive & burrow & toss were able to avoid those concussions that the Beagle Boys always got when they broke into the bin and then tried to imitate McDuck's behavior.

Photo by Noe Valladolid

More to the point, because Capcom had tossed a copy of Scrooge's top hat on top of the pile ...

Photo by Noe Valladolid

... as well as a recreation of Scrooge's walking stick, it was relatively easy to channel your inner McDuck once you waded on into iam8bit entertainment system's miniature money bin.

Mind you, there are lots of great reasons for gaming fans to drop by the gallery at iam8bit entertainment systems over the next two weeks. There are some genuinely terrific pieces of gaming-inspired art hanging on those walls right now.

Photo by Noe Valladolid

But for all of you Disney Afternoon fans out there, the reason that you need to get out to Echo Park before June 30th is that you don't want to miss out on your chance to roll around in this miniature recreation of Scrooge McDuck's money bin before it then sinks from sight.

Photo by Noe Valladolid

The iam8bit entertainment system gallery is located at 2147 W. Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA. It's open on Thursdays & Fridays from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Blog Post: The sky's the limit when it comes to playing options for Nintendo's soon-to-be-released "Disney's Planes" game

Shelly Valladolid — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 18:17:00 GMT

On the final day of E3 2013, I flew on into that huge pavilion which Nintendo had set up inside of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Where I then had a chance to chat with Corey Valencia from Disney Interactive about the upcoming Planes game. Which will be based on that new animated feature which Walt Disney Pictures will be releasing to theaters on August 6th of this year. -->

According to Corey, "Disney's Planes" is actually three games in one, with three completely different modes of play. The first is Adventure Mode, which is an air rally - a series of exciting air races in environments directly lifted from this soon-to-be-released Disneytoon Studios production.

The second is story mode, where the player does tasks like helping Dusty Crophopper to deliver things, rebuilding, painting and collecting. Ms. Valencia didn't want to give away too much, but she did say that this story takes place AFTER the events of the movie. So it might be a good idea to see "Disney Planes" first and THEN play this game once you get home to stretch out the experience.

The third mode is a simple but addictive "Balloon Popping" game, which is exactly as described. The player pops balloons in the air to get points.

"Disney's Planes" is aimed at six to fourteen-year-olds. But Disney and this game's developer -- Behavior Interactive of Montreal, Canada -- hope that anyone who likes airplanes will give this game a try.

Just so you know: The settings for "Disney's Planes" are deeply adjustable, including the amount of Y-axis inversion, amount of motion control, and controller sensitivity. This opens up the game to a wide range of skill levels.

In racing mode, ten characters are available to play:

Dusty Crophopper, voiced by Dane Cook (the protagonist of the film)
Bravo, a fighter jet voiced by Val Kilmer
Echo, a fighter jet voiced by Anthony Edwards
Skipper, voiced by Stacy Keach
El Chupacabra ("El Chu"), voiced by Carlos Alazraqui
Ned/Zed, voiced by Gabriel Iglesias
Bulldog, voiced by John Cleese
Ishani, voiced by Priyanka Chopra
Ripslinger, voiced by Roger Craig Smith

Ripslinger flies high above an ice-bound obstacle course. Copyright
Disney - Nintendo. All rights reserved

Ten settings for "Disney's Planes" that were taken directly from the film are:

Propwash Junction, Dusty's hometown
Deadstick Desert
Nepal
India
China
Dubai
Germany
Iceland
The Pacific Ocean

One or two players, via split-screen, can play "Disney's Planes." There will be no online capabilities for this title, which will be released August 6 at a price point of $49.99 for the Wii / WiiU and $39.99 for the 3DS .

Blog Post: "Oliver and Company" Studio Replica now on sale at Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store

Jim Hill — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:30:00 GMT

Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store is going to the dogs. And the cats.

In honor of the upcoming 25th anniversary of the November 1988 release of "Oliver and Company ," this Hollywood Boulevard hotspot (which is located right off of the lobby of the El Capitan Theatre) is now offering a special commemorative animation cel setup that S/R Labs created which then pays tribute to this Walt Disney Animation Studios production.

"Given that Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store was looking for a special way to celebrate this particular animated feature, S/R Labs knew we had to find just the right image to express the spirit of this story and the characters that tell it. So, before we began work on this particular Studio Replica, we first watched 'Oliver and Company' multiple times. We searched for that single frame of film which manages to perfectly sum up this hand-drawn animated feature," explained Ron Stark, Director of S/R Laboratories Animation Art Conversation Center. "Eventually we settled on this single frame that shows Dodger & Oliver standing together. Between the coolness of Dodger's gaze and the innocent way that Oliver looks back at the dog, I think this singular pose not only captures the style & tone of that 1988 Walt Disney Animation Studios production but it also does a nice job -- in a graphic sort of way -- of paying tribute to the Artful Dodger and Oliver Twist characters from the original Charles Dickens novel ."

Mind you, finding just the right image is only the beginning of the whole Studio Replica process. S/R recreates the exact production techniques that Disney's artists, painters, and inkers followed when they created the cels that were originally used in the production of that Studios hand-drawn animated features. And each of the cel setups offered in the Studio Replica line comes with a special Soda Fountain and Studio Store certificate of authenticity, and features a custom-cut hand-lettered mat reminiscent of the way artwork was prepared at the Disney Studio in the 1940s & 1950s.

And just so you know: Given how quickly the previous Studio Replicas that S/R Labs created for Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store sold out (i.e. The Cinderella edition of 25 was gone within four days, the Captain Hook edition of 25 in just 48 hours and the Lady & the Tramp edition of 40 sold through in just three days), if you're an "Oliver and Company" fan, you probably want to beat feet for to the El Capitan before this limited edition piece of animation art sells out as well.

And once "Oliver and Company" sells out, what does the future hold for the Studio Replica series? Ron wasn't ready to spoil any of the surprises that Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store may have planned for its customers in the coming months. All he would say is that perhaps some of the other pieces that S/R Labs currently has in the works might pay tribute to Disney animated features which also have significant anniversaries coming up.

"Maybe if people come by for the in-store signing that we'll be doing at the Soda Fountain sometime in July, I might let the cat out of the bag in regards to our next Studio Replica," Stark concluded. "But for now, I just hope everyone enjoys our 'Oliver and Company' art. Because we certainly had a lot of fun working on this one."

The "Oliver & Company" Studio Replica edition of 50 is available only at Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store. Which is located at 6384 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA. 90028.

Blog Post: "Get A Horse!" gets a standing ovation in its world debut at the Annecy Animation Festival

Jim Hill — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 02:27:00 GMT

Okay. Let me say -- right from the get-go -- that I know that this story is going to be kind of annoying. And I apologize in advance for that. But I'm not presently at liberty to share a lot of what I know about this presented-by-Walt Disney-Animation-Studios short.

But below, this is a shot of the audience at the Annecy Animation Festival in France that was lucky enough to get to see the world debut of Mickey Mouse in "Get A Horse!" this past Tuesday night.

Now the folks at Annecy are among the most discerning animation fans on the planet. It takes a lot to impress these people. So did they think of "Get A Horse!" They gave this never-before-seen short a standing ovation.

And from those who were there for "Get A Horse!" 's world debut, I've heard that the most touching aspect of this screening was the way all of the young artists & animators who were attending Annecy embraced Eric Goldberg.

Now what exactly this master Disney animator was doing in France (Or -- for that matter -- why Lauren MacMullan, Dorothy McKim and Adam Green were on hand for Annecy's screening of "Get A Horse!") ... Again, I'm really not at liberty to say.

But what I can say is Mickey Mouse in "Get A Horse!" really is a classic. And should this never-before-seen short pop up at a theater near you sometime over the six months or so, go. Buy yourself a ticket to this black-and-white, hand-drawn beauty.

Better yet, buy two tickets. Because once you see Mickey Mouse in "Get A Horse!," you're going to want to see this again. Just because ... Well, there's a reason that that all of those animation students & professionals at this year's Annecy Animation Festival gave this short a standing ovation. And just wait 'til you see what it is.

Your thoughts?

Blog Post: D23 Expo: Disney Channels Announce All-Star Schedule

All the News — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 01:11:00 GMT

Fans Invited to Meet the Stars of "Teen Beach Movie," "Shake It Up," "Jessie," "Phineas and Ferb," Marvel Universe, "Gravity Falls," "Good Luck Charlie,"

"A.N.T. Farm," "Kickin' It," "Dog With A Blog," "Lab Rats,"

"Crash & Bernstein" and "Wander Over Yonder"

-- Musical Performances by Bridgit Mendler and R5 featuring Ross Lynch, plus

"Teen Beach Movie" 'Surf Crazy' Fan Dance Saturday --

-- Popular Characters Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, Jake,

and All-New Mickey Mouse Cartoon Shorts Screening Sunday --

BURBANK, Calif. (June 14, 2013) - An unforgettable experience awaits kids, tweens and families who can meet their favorite stars from Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior, experience live performances, get autographs and rock out to Radio Disney tunes over three fun-filled days, FRIDAY, AUGUST 9-SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, at the ultimate event for Disney fans, Disney's D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. The schedule includes musical performances by certified gold Hollywood Records recording artist Bridgit Mendler (Disney Channel's "Good Luck Charlie") and Hollywood Records' pop-rock sensation R5 featuring Ross Lynch (Disney Channel's "Teen Beach Movie" and "Austin & Ally"), a 'Surf Crazy' fan dance with stars from the Disney Channel Original Movie "Teen Beach Movie," a special screening of never-before-seen Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts and more.

On FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, in celebration of "Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel," a special-one hour telecast featuring an epic teaming of characters from two hugely popular Disney and Marvel franchises, fans can meet the stars and characters including Phineas, Ferb, Agent P, Spider-Man and Iron Man. The unforgettable special premieres this summer on Disney Channel.

On SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, bikers and surfers unite on the dance floor of the Disney Channel booth for the ultimate beach ball bouncing, high-spirited 'Surf Crazy' fan dance with stars from Disney's "Teen Beach Movie," an exuberant song, sand and surf fest, premiering July 19 (8:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel.

On SUNDAY, AUGUST 11 in the Disney Channel booth, Disney Junior fans of all ages are invited to meet beloved characters from top-rated preschool series "Sofia the First," "Doc McStuffins" and "Jake and the Never Land Pirates," and enjoy a special sneak-peek screening of new Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts in Stage 28.

Popular radio personalities from Radio Disney, the 24-hour contemporary hits radio network and the only radio broadcaster for kids and families, will join in the fun every day, along with the Radio Disney Road Crew, for interactive entertainment, fun prizes and the hottest music from kids' favorite artists.

Following is the schedule of stars making special appearances and signing autographs in Disney Channels' booth:

Friday, August 9

10:00-11:30 am "Phineas and Ferb" creators/executive producers and stars Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh, plus stars Vincent Martella and Alyson Stoner, with character appearances by Agent P, Phineas and Ferb

11:30 - 1:00 pm Marvel Universe stars, plus character appearances by Spider-Man and Iron Man

1:00 - 2:30 pm "Crash & Bernstein," stars Cole Jensen, Tim Lagasse, Landry Bender, Aaron R. Landon, plus Crash appearance

2:30 - 3:30 pm "Gravity Falls" stars

3:30 - 4:30 pm "Lab Rats" stars Tyrel Jackson Williams, Billy Unger and Spencer Boldman

4:30 -5:30 pm "A.N.T. Farm" stars Jake Short, Sierra McCormick, Stefanie Scott and Aedin Mincks

6:00 - 7:00 pm "Shake It Up" stars Zendaya, Roshon Fegan and Adam Irigoyen

Saturday, August 10

10:00 - 11:00 am "Dog With A Blog" stars G Hannelius, Blake Michael, Francesca Capaldi and Beth Littleford

12:30 - 1:30 pm "Kickin' It" stars Jason Earles, Leo Howard, Olivia Holt and Dylan Riley Snyder

1:30 - 2:30 pm "Jessie" stars Skai Jackson and Cameron Boyce

2:30 - 4:30 pm "Good Luck Charlie" stars Bridgit Mendler, Jason Dolley, Bradley Steven Perry and Leigh-Allyn Baker, plus a performance by actress and Hollywood Records recording artist Bridgit Mendler

4:30 - 5:00 pm Performance by Hollywood Records' R5 band

5:00 - 7:00 pm "Teen Beach Movie" stars Ross Lynch, Grace Phipps, Garrett Clayton, John Deluca, Chrissie Fit, Jordan Fisher and Mollee Gray, plus 'Surf Crazy' fan dance

Sunday, August 11

10:00 - 12:00 noon "Sofia the First," "Doc McStuffins" and "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" character appearances

12:00 - 1:00 pm "Sofia the First" star Wayne Brady, plus Sofia

1:00 - 2:00 pm Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts screening (stage 28)

2:30 - 3:30 pm "Wander Over Yonder" stars Jack McBrayer and April Winchell, plus creator/executive producer Craig McCracken

*Schedule is subject to change.

Tickets to the D23 Expo are available at http://www.D23Expo.com. Admission includes access to all experiences and entertainment at the D23 Expo, including the Disney Legends Ceremony, and can be purchased for single days or for the full three days of festivities. Admission is $47 for a one-day adult ticket and $37 for children 3-12. Three-day passes are $136 for adults and $106 for children. Members of D23: The Official Disney Fan Club will receive a discount for up to four admissions, as well as early entry to each day of the D23 Expo for themselves and their guests.

Blog Post: SEGA showcases its remastered, reimagined version of Disney Castle of Illusion at E3 2013

Shelly Valladolid — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:43:00 GMT

So what can gamers expected from Disney Castle of Illusion when it finally hits store shelves later this year?

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

Omar Woodley from SEGA took time yesterday to show us the remastered, re-imagined version of this classic Genesis title. According to Omar, the collaboration between Sega and Disney started about two years ago. "It's a re-imagined version." Omar explains. "There's quite a bit of the old game there, but also new stuff."

SEGA's Omar Woodhouse. Photo by Shelly Valladolid

"We wanted to re-introduce this to the next generation, listening to the fan base and bringing back something that was a classic of our time. (We also wanted to) collaborate with Disney on a new project, and actually looked back at our back catalog, on various titles and Castle of Illusion was an immediate top pick, because it's so well-known. It's a beloved title," Woodley continued. "So we contacted the original creator, Yamamoto-san (Emiko Yamamoto, the designer of the original game), and she actually helped us; she's with Disney in Japan now."

"Disney was very supportive. Our studio went personally to prototype and show them the various levels. They loved it. Disney's very happy. We wanted to re-imagine her title, but with modern technology, hi-fidelity visuals, and modern special effects, to innovate the gameplay to a contemporary style of game, to really challenge retro gamers. Our target audience is US, the core gamers who played this back in the day, who still play it today, we really want to challenge the gamer. So what we did was re-imagined a 3-D world with a 3D engine," Omar stated. "One key thing we focused on was - we played hundreds of hours of the classic, which was brutal by today's standards. You only got three lives and two continues, and then you have to start the whole game over. There are no checkpoints. We actually have checkpoints in the game. That saves your progress, so you don't have to worry about that."

Omar Woodhouse points out special features of the Disney Castle of Illusion
game to an E3 2013 attendee. Photo by Shelly Valladolid

"We identified some key factors from the original that we really wanted to represent in this game and stay true to it, so one is the challenge, the challenge is there, also the classic game - was one of the first games to have an idle animation factor, so we really wanted to personalize Mickey, in this game, so the animations that Mickey does, like a looking-around, scared animation, and a cute little crouching animation, a strut, and the classic on-the-edge animation like he's going to fall off," Woodley said.

"Working with Disney, we had quite a bit of creative liberty, so when we re-designed the levels, we (looked at) all aspects of Disney, the theme parks, the cartoons, the movies, so you actually see a lot of nods to various parts of Disney, for example, The Haunted Mansion," Omar laughed. (He actually showed us what he was talking about, but I won't spoil it for you!)

Photo by Shell Valladolid

"The other thing we wanted to stay true to was the 'feel' of Mickey in the classic, so we have this very floaty high jump that you can maintain, so we actually built the environments out of that aspect," Woodley continued. "We wanted to keep the challenge of the platforming aspect, but make it dynamic, so we added several areas to enhance the platforming feel of the game. There are pockets of hidden areas, like in the classic. There are quite a bit of goodies in the game."

"We used the Official Mickey Mouse voice. Disney's Voice Department handled all the voices," Omar enthused.

"We wanted to re-introduce this to the next generation, listening to the fan base and bringing back something that was a classic of our time. The creator was here about an hour ago, (and) she let us know that she was very, very happy," Woodley concluded.

Noe tries out the new Disney Castle Illusion game for himself.
Photo by Shelly Valladolid

Noe played Disney Castle of Illusion, and was very, very happy as well. He said that the gameplay was really smooth and great, and that it had a nice "feel" to it. Definitely something for our Christmas List - the game will come out on an as-yet-unspecified date later this year.

Blog Post: Harmonix works musical magic with Fantasia: Music Evolved at E3 2013

Shelly Valladolid — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 01:54:00 GMT

Cambridge, MA-based company Harmonix is trying to capture the spirit of Walt Disney's 1940 masterpiece, "Fantasia " by inserting the gamer into the story of The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

Harmonix, whose past hits include Rock Band and Guitar Hero , spent over two-and-a-half years developing this game. Which will launch exclusively on the XBOX 360 and the XBOX One next year. Fantasia: Music Evolved is not completely finished, so we saw an advanced, but not complete, build of the game. There were some problems with the XBOX One hardware, but the game itself ran beautifully.

What the developers, who attended in Fantasia T-shirts, intended was not to create Fantasia: The Game, but rather to capture Walt's vision of adventure, color, sound and motion. To create something with the spirit of the original, but not a carbon copy of it.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

So far, they've done a capital job.

They've had some help though, from Walt Disney himself, thanks to Becky Cline and her team at the Walt Disney Archives. Flush with Snow White money, Walt hired transcriptionists to literally follow him around every day and write down ideas for Fantasia as he brainstormed. Those notes are in the Archives, which were generously opened to the Harmonix developers as they researched concepts for the game.

(L to R) George Balanchine, T. Hee and Walt Disney during the production of "Fantasia."
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Walt tried to forge a connection between the viewer and the music via the nascent art form of animation. Harmonix is trying to forge that connection via the nascent art form of motion-based gaming.

They decided to focus on The Sorcerer's Apprentice for the root of the story, as it is arguably the most iconic imagery from the film. Your home world is the Sorcerer's Workshop, and you are the Sorcerer's Apprentice. You are not puppeteering a Mickey Mouse avatar as in Epic Mickey . Yen Sid addresses you directly; this is a completely first-person game. The only time you "see yourself" is in shadow, like Stokowski, when you are working with songs. The iconic podium is even there. Will Mickey show up? They are not telling.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

Annette Gonzales, from Harmonix previewed part of the game called The Shoal. The Shoal is the more creative, freeform-style Discovery Mode of play, while the other choice given to gamers, The Press (as in Gutenberg) uses problem-solving and puzzle-driven, logical-based play.

You also get to change up the songs if you feel like it. For example, with Bohemian Rhapsody, you can choose from Original, Orchestral or Power Ballad. For Locked Out of Heaven, the choices are Original, String quartet and...ska!

Harmonix community manager Eric Pope. Photo by Shelly Valladolid

This is a great game for all ages, explains Harmonix developer Eric Pope. "Fun and joy are universal. Tapping into the joy of music, it doesn't feel like a kiddie game, and it doesn't feel like a first-person shooter. Manipulating songs creates energy that transforms the world. It's not simulation-driven like our past games, expression and creativity are in your hands."

"Hey, Eric, will Chernabog be in the game?" See answer for the same question about Mickey Mouse above. There will be multiple homages to Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 is also on the table for the game; it's part of canon.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

He also added that the game will be multiplayer, for two players, and that his wish list for the game includes the ability to record performances. If it's on the release next year, then you'll know he wished on the right star.

A few of the 25 or so songs that will be shipped with the game include:

A Night on Bald Mountain
Bruno Mars - Locked out of Heaven
DJ Avicci - Levels
Fun Some Nights
Queen B. Rhapsody
Kimbra - Settle Down

Shelly will be back with even more stories from this year's E3 just as soon as
she finds a place to park her new Disney Infinity-inspired ride.
Photo by Noe Valladolid

They'll be revealing more of the artists and songs as the release nears next year.

Blog Post: Six Flags New England Adds Bonzai Pipelines to Hurricane Harbor

All the News — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:32:00 GMT

New England's Largest Water Park Just Got Bigger

Six Flags New England adds Bonzai Pipelines to Hurricane Harbor

AGAWAM, Mass. - June 12, 2013 - Six Flags New England is launching its exciting new waterslide complex Bonzai Pipelines on June 13, 2013. The six-story tower is part of an expanded area inside New England's largest water park, Hurricane Harbor. With 33 waterslides, pools, and attractions, Hurricane Harbor houses 3 million gallons of water and offers water thrills for every member of the family.

Bonzai Pipelines is located in Hurricane Harbor's four acre expansion known as Bonzai Beach. Guests will step inside one of the six state-of-the-art launching capsules and within just a few seconds, the floor suddenly drops beneath them. Riders experience speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, as they rocket down a 257-foot long slide. After conquering the 360 degree loop, guests then splash into 6 inches of water in the slide's run-out. All six body slides have their own unique path of twists and turns resulting in six different heart-pounding, free-fall experiences to keep you screaming all summer long!

"We are proud to expand New England's largest water park, Hurricane Harbor", said John Winkler, president, Six Flags New England. "Bonzai Beach is the largest expansion Hurricane Harbor has seen in over a decade giving us the ability to welcome more guests for more fun. Bonzai Pipelines is a great addition to an already stellar lineup of attractions and another great way for guests to cool off this summer."

Guests can experience Bonzai Pipelines and the theme park's 60 additional thrill rides all summer long with a 2013 Season Pass or Membership Plan.

About Six Flags Entertainment Corporation: Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is the world's largest regional theme park company with over $1.1 billion in revenue and 18 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada. For more than 50 years, Six Flags has entertained millions of families with world-class coasters, themed rides, thrilling water parks and unique attractions including up-close animal encounters Fright Fest® and Holiday in the Park®. For more information on Six Flags, visit www.sixflags.com.

Blog Post: Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' "THE LONE RANGER" Celebrates Local Heroes Around the Country

All the News — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:02:00 GMT

Individuals and Organizations Who Stand for Justice in Their Communities
To Be Honored at Local Screenings

BURBANK, CALIF. (June 12, 2013) - In support of Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' "The Lone Ranger," releasing in U.S. theaters on July 3, Disney announced today the kick-off of "The Lone Ranger Ride for Justice," to celebrate inspiring local heroes and organizations who stand for justice, integrity and righteousness in their communities. Fans can nominate their courageous local heroes or organizations to be honored with The Lone Ranger Ride for Justice Award at an advance screening of the film. Post nominations to @LoneRanger on Twitter with the #LRRideforJustice and include their city of residence. For more information visit http://disney.go.com/the-lone-ranger/#/ride-for-justice.

Fifteen fan screenings across the country will be held on June 24 to honor the outstanding local heroes in each market. Armie Hammer, who plays the Lone Ranger, will make a surprise appearance at one of the screening locations to give out an award to an exceptional honoree.

This series of screenings of Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' "The Lone Ranger" will take place across the country in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Boston, Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Denver, Orlando, Oklahoma City, Detroit and San Antonio. For additional ticketing details, fans can visit the film's official site: Disney.com/LoneRanger, and view the Ride for Justice section.

Blog Post: "Everything by Design" offers a detailed look at the development of Disney World's never-built Mediterranean Village Resort

Jim Hill — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:59:00 GMT

Jody R. tossed me a note over this past weekend, praising last Tuesday's "Building Tall" story, saying that ...

... it's articles like this that keep me coming back to Jim Hill Media, that keep me listening to that podcast you do with Len Testa. Your ability to continually uncover pieces of information about the Disney Company that I had never heard before.

Thanks for your kind words, Jody. But to be honest, I'm not the only one out there who's doing this sort of stuff. Have you seen the stories that Todd James Pierce has been posting lately over on the Disney History Institute website? Pierce's recent piece about that California Living project which Walt wanted to build right next door to Disneyland in the early 1960s is not to be missed. And the same goes for Todd's terrific "Walt Disney and Riverboat Square" series.

Whenever we get together at various Disney functions (If I'm remembering correctly, the last time I saw Mr. Pierce in person was at that Destination D - Disneyland 55 event which D23 staged at the Disneyland Hotel back in September of 2010), Todd and I compare notes about stories we've heard (we share a fascination for "The Master Builder of Disneyland," wheeler-dealer extraordinaire C.V. Wood). And what Mr. Pierce & I have both noticed is that -- often -- the very best stories about The Walt Disney Company can often be found in books or magazine articles that aren't really about the Mouse.

Case in point: "Everything by Design: My Life as an Architect " (St. Martin's Press, October 2007) by Alan Lapidus. Nowadays, Alan is probably best known as the guy who designed the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City and/or the Broadway Crowne Plaza in Manhattan. Or -- better yet -- for being the son of architecture legend Morris Lapidus, who designed the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.

Now strictly judging a book by its cover, at first glance, you wouldn't think that "Everything by Design" wouldn't have a lot to offer Disney history buffs. But that's where you'd be wrong. You see, Alan had a hand in designing the Mediterranean Village Resort, a themed hotel for the Walt Disney World Resort whose main claim to fame (at least among Mouse House history buff) is that this project never quite made it off Disney's drawing boards.

But just because the Mediterranean Village Resort (which was supposed to have built alongside Seven Seas Lagoon near the Ticket & Transportation) never made it past the blueprint & model phase doesn't mean that this proposed Disney World hotel doesn't have a fascinating history. Which -- to hear Alan tell the tale -- began with a ...

... phone call ... from Mouse Central.

It came in 1979, when the Walt Disney Company was about to start planning a new eight-hundred-room theme hotel at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The hotel would be the first new one in the park since it opened eight years earlier, and Disney executives had decided to look outside from Disney headquarters in Glendale, California, wanted to know whether I would be interested in making a presentation to the board of directors.

Proposed construction location for Disney's Mediterranean Resort

Youbetcha!

Disney's new resort was to be called the Mediterranean Village. I was handed a site plan and the program -- meaning, how many rooms, suites, restaurants, conference and meeting rooms and the like there were to be. I was also given many photos of the site itself, showing a parcel of totally unremarkable middle Florida land. No one mentioned a budget.

I also had to sign one of the oddest legal documents of my career, which stated that I could never let anyone know that I had designed this structure; I could not use it in my brochure or in any form of publicity. The Mouse had its own architectural license, and all the documents would list the architect as WED Engineering. In short, I was to be a nonentity. The company would even provide me with preprinted sheets of drawing paper, identifying WED Engineering as the architect, which I would use to produce the construction documents. This policy was reversed several years later, during the Eisner regime, when Disney decided to start publicizing its hiring of prominent outside architects.

Lapidus had worked for some large corporations (Not to mention some colorful characters. These included Bob Guccione, Aristole Onassis, and Donald Trump) before. But none of his previous work experience had prepared him for the way that The Walt Disney Company (at least back in the late 1970s) did business. Alan was absolutely fascinated by the Mouse's sky's-the-limit / anything-is-possible approach to the project. Which became clear from Lapidus' very first meeting ...

... with John Hench and a couple of talented young architects from WED Engineering. At our first session, I asked which type of Mediterranean architecture they were thinking of -- Spanish Mediterranean, Greek Mediterranean, Italian Mediterranean? John Hench looked at me with an amused gleam in his eye, laced his finger together, turned his palms out, extended his arms, and replied in an amused tone, "Alan, we want Disney Mediterranean!"

"John, if I am doing a Mediterranean Village, it really should be a sort of fishing village."

Disney Legend John Hench. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

"I think so too."

"But then we have to have a seaport."

"Absolutely."

"But a seaport has to have a sea."

"We'll build one."

"And a fleet of colorful fishing boats."

An assistant was soon on hand with several books of pictures of colorful Mediterranean-type fishing vessels.

Marty Sklar (L) and John Hench at WED Enterprises back in the 1970s.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

"You pick them and we'll build them."

"How about some windmills?"

Books of windmills were produced.

This was fun!

During this whole process, no one ever mentioned a budget. And no idea was ever dismissed as being impractical, unattainable, or undoable. In those days, Disney truly was a world to itself, an asylum run by the inmates.

Working within The Walt Disney Company's truly unique design parameters, Alan began dummying out the Mediterranean Village.

The resort began to take shape as a series of streets with multicolored waterfront "houses" (actually, rows of hotel rooms of various heights). There was a waterfront walkway with a mosaic serpentine design, a harbor entrance with a lighthouse, windmills, a breakwater, a marketplace, olive groves, and trellis-cover walkways leading to streets of "tavernas," market squares, and many hidden courtyards with a variety of fountains and outside cafes.

Doesn't that sound like a terrific place to stay. So why didn't Disney go forward with construction of the Mediterranean Village? Well, as it turns out, a similar sort of project was being prepped for a piece of property on the other side of Seven Seas Lagoon

During the course of my work (on the Mediterranean Village), I observed the Imagineers designing a companion hotel to mine. It was just as large, and it looked great. Called the Grand Floridian, it was quite a bit more elaborate, with such inside architectural reference as the Addison Meisner Room, in honor of an architect who established the classic 1920s Palm Beach architecture that symbolized the good life to the F. Scott Fitzgerald generation. Meisner was not exactly a household name, but it would be perpetuated by some very clever folks.

Seven months after I began, my design for the hotel was finished and Disney enthusiastically approved it.

It never got built.

After Michael Eisner took over as CEO in 1984, it was a whole new ballgame. The people I had been working with told me Eisner had decided to delay the Mediterranean Village until the Grand Floridian was up and running and ad a year or so to demonstrate whether it would be a success. No one ever told me the village project wasn't going forward, just that it was being put on hold. Two or three years later, by the time the Grand Floridian had opened and started performing well, the Mediterranean Village had long since been forgotten.

Which had to have been frustrating for Alan. Both on a professional & personal level. But on the other hand, Lapidus had some very memorable experiences at the Walt Disney World Resort while he was on property doing onsite survey work for the Mediterranean Village project:

After many months, while I was attending some meetings in Florida, someone up the chain of command judged that I was worthy of being let in on the innermost secret of the Magic Kingdom. Like a mother who has decided to tell her pubescent daughter about sex, Dick Vermillion announced that he had authorization to show me "the tunnels." Trembling with excitement, I was led around to the back of the park, to what looked like a hole in the side of a large earthen mound. Once we passed the security checkpoint, my jaw dropped. There was a world beneath the World: an underground city straight out of a science fiction film.

The first thing I saw were three Goofy characters walking side by side. In the (tunnels), a fleet of maintenance trucks constantly cruised along. Since the roof of this structure was actually the subfloor of the park, all of the piping, electrical conduits, sewer lines, and other utilities were hung in plain view of the repair vehicles. All these lines were being constantly monitored, inspected, maintained, fixed or replaced from below, so nothing disturbed the peace and tranquility of the kingdom up above.

(Just above the tunnels), a vast network of hidden entrances to the park was concealed in various aboveground structures and landscape features. This is why you never see any of the employees go on break. Mickey or Goofy or Donald ducks into a building and then quickly reappears -- except it's a new Mickey or Goofy or Donald. The setup also makes it possible for emergency vehicles to reach any part of the complex unseen by the vacationeers above. A medical emergency can be attended to swiftly, without the ambulance having to navigate through the crowds or alarm the kiddies. I was dumbfounded.

"Dick, this is the most brilliant piece of urban planning I have ever seen. Why hasn't the company shown this as an example of what is possible?"

He looked at me as he would at a slow child. "Alan, this is the Magic Kingdom, and magicians never give away their secrets."

This is why I strongly suggest you pick up a copy of "Everything by Design: My Life as an Architect." Alan Lapidus (who's an absolutely magician of a memoirist) isn't afraid when it comes to revealing secrets. Especially The Walt Disney Company's secret.

I mean, in what other book are you going to be able to read about that time when construction mogul John L. Tishman (best known in Disneyana fan circles as the guy who supervised the construction of EPCOT Center for Tishman Realty & Construction) ...

... sued Disney! For $2 billion! Not only did (Tishman) sue (The Walt Disney Company), but he also brought a RICO charge. RICO is the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, originally enacted by Congress in 1970 as a tool to use against organized crime ... The possibility that the Mouse would become a convicted felon was enough to bring Eisner back to the table.

This is the sort of juicy stuff that you'll only be able to find in a book like "Everything by Design." Which offers some really great insights & observations on The Walt Disney Company and how it operates all because this really isn't supposed to be a book about the Mouse. So go pick up a copy if you're looking for a juicy, business-related Summer read.

Your thoughts?

Blog Post: D23 EXPO 2013 Announces Special Theatrical Performance "Broadway and Beyond" August 9th

All the News — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:03:00 GMT

DISNEY THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS TO PRESENT

"BROADWAY AND BEYOND"

A MUSICAL JOURNEY INTO DISNEY'S HISTORY ON BROADWAY AND BEYOND

BURBANK, Calif. - June 11, 2013 - D23: The Official Disney Fan Club is thrilled to announce a special theatrical performance, Broadway and Beyond. Thomas Schumacher, president and producer, Disney Theatrical Productions will host a musical journey into Disney's history on Broadway and beyond at the D23 Expo: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. The performance features an all-star line-up, including Heidi Blickenstaff (THE LITTLE MERMAID), Ashley Brown (MARY POPPINS and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST), Merle Dandridge (TARZAN® and AIDA), Josh Strickland (TARZAN®) and Alton Fitzgerald White (THE LION KING), who sing beloved songs from the award-winning musicals they starred in as well as classic tunes from the Disney on Broadway catalogue.

The one night only performance will take place on Friday, August 9, 2013 at 6:30pm on Stage 23 inside the Anaheim Convention Center.

DISNEY THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS, a division of The Walt Disney Studios, was formed in 1994 and operates under the direction of Thomas Schumacher. Worldwide, its eight Broadway titles have been seen by over 124 million theatergoers, grossed over $8.9 billion and have cumulatively run a staggering 195 years. With 15 productions currently produced or licensed, a Disney musical is being performed professionally somewhere on the planet virtually every hour of the day.

The company's inaugural production, Beauty and the Beast, opened in 1994. It played a remarkable 13 year run on Broadway and has been produced in 28 countries worldwide. In November 1997, Disney opened The Lion King, which received six 1998 Tony® Awards including Best Musical and is now the highest grossing show in Broadway history. The show continues in its 16^th smash year, having welcomed over 68 million visitors worldwide. The Lion King can also currently be seen on tour across North America, the U.K., and Japan, and in London's West End, Hamburg, Tokyo, Madrid, and Sao Paulo.

Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida opened on Broadway next, winning four 2000 Tony® Awards, and spawning productions around the world. Mary Poppins, a co-production with Cameron Mackintosh, opened in London in 2004 and established itself as one of the biggest stage musical successes to emerge in recent years. The Tony Award®-winning Broadway production played more than six years at Disney's New Amsterdam Theatre and can now be seen on tour across North America and in Mexico City.

Tarzan®, which opened on Broadway in 2006, is now an international hit with an award-winning production in its 6^th year in Germany. In January 2008, The Little Mermaid opened on Broadway and was the #1-selling new musical of that year. Its success continues with three new productions around the world: Holland, Russia and Japan.

Two new critically acclaimed productions opened on Broadway in 2012, receiving seven Tony® Awards between them: Newsies, in its second year at the Nederlander Theatre, and Peter and the Starcatcher, now playing at New World Stages.

Other successful stage musical ventures have included King David in concert, the national tour of On The Record, several touring versions of Disney's High School Musical, and Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame in Berlin.

Its new musical, Aladdin, will open in Toronto in fall 2013.

Blog Post: Universal Orlando celebrates National Donut Day by treating 100 guests (and a certain fat guy in New Hampshire) to a free Lard Lad donut

Jim Hill — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 03:56:00 GMT

I swear to God this story is true.

Let me set the scene first: It's Friday, June 7th. And thanks to Tropical Storm Andrea, it's a cold, very wet day out here in the woods of New Hampshire.

Photo by Nancy Stadler

Anyway, via Skype, I'm doing a podcast with the guys who run Dis After Dark. And we're all talking about Springfield at Universal Studios Florida. How we've all seen the pictures online that were taken earlier this week inside of Moe's and Krusty Burger. And how the four of us just can't wait to get back to Orlando so that we can then experience the Simpsons expanded presence at that theme park.

And as I'm telling the Dis After Dark guys about all of the great stuff that has yet to open up at the USF version of Springfield (i.e. Duff Gardens, Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl), a UPS truck comes trundling up the driveway in the rain. And before I can get off of Skype and then go answer the door, the UPS man has charged up the steps and quickly dropped off a package. A moment later, he's back in his big brown truck, headed for his next delivery.

Photo by Nancy Stadler

So I continue on that podcast, telling the Dis After Dark guys everything I know about Universal's Simpsons-themed placemaking efforts at their studio theme park. Talking about all the cool details from this long running animated series that Guests will discover as they walk through Springfield. Things that Simpsons fans are sure to appreciate. Like full-sized statues of Jebediah Springfield and Lard Lad.

Meanwhile Nancy brought this package into inside the house. And as she opens it in the kitchen, Nancy starts to laugh. Why For? What was inside of this box? Would you believe one super-sized, genuine Lard Lad donut straight from Universal Studios Florida's new Springfield section?

Photo by Nancy Stadler

"And why exactly would Universal send you a donut?," you ask. Well, surely you haven't forgotten that June 7th is National Donut Day?

The Universal Orlando Resort certainly didn't forget. Which is why -- on Friday morning -- they treated a hundred Universal Studios guests to the exact same deep fried beauty that they were so kind to send me ...

... which was all covered with pink icing & multi-colored sprinkles ...

Photo by Nancy Stadler

Mmmn ... Donut ...

Here's hoping that you all stayed safe & dry and had a very happy National Donut Day. I know I did.

Blog Post: Who was that masked beaver-duck? "Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel" trailer debuts on the Disney Channel Friday night

Jim Hill — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 22:42:00 GMT

There are a lot of reasons to tune in to the Disney Channel on Friday, June 7th. Chief among these being that there's a brand-new episode of "Phineas and Ferb" premiering on at 9 p.m. ET / PT.

Of course, as exciting as it's going to be to hear improv comedy master Wayne Brady do a guest spot on this acclaimed animated series (Wayne will be voicing the Danville City Hall guide disrupts Candace's lunchtime date with Jeremy in the "Where's Pinky?" portion of tomorrow night's program), the really big news is the premiere of the trailer for "Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel."

This epic television event (which will air on a yet-to-be-revealed date sometime later this Summer) is the first-ever crossover between Marvel and Disney properties. It follows Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk as they journey to Danville after Dr. Doofenshmirtz's latest "inator" scheme accidentally removes all of their powers. And who do these superheroes turn to for help? You guessed it. Phineas & Ferb.

What's that you say? You just can't wait 'til tomorrow night to see the "Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel" trailer? Well, aren't you lucky that the Disney Channel just happened to slip JHM a copy of this choice chunk of footage 24 hours early? So now you can watch to see this trailer ahead of everyone else.

You can thank me (and the nice folks at the Disney Channel) later. In the meantime, enjoy watching the Red Skulk wondering aloud who " ... that masked beaver-duck" is.

Files: JHM Video

Nancy Stadler — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 22:33:00 GMT

Blog Post: Disney's "Get A Horse!" to be screened next Tuesday at Annecy Animation Festival

Jim Hill — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 16:00:00 GMT

Hey, guys!

Check out this cool poster for Walt Disney Animation Studios, "Get A Horse!"

Just so you know, this never-before-seen short is making its world debut at the Annecy Animation Festival in Annecy, France. And to quote the WDAS press release that I received earlier this morning, "Get A Horse!" stars ...

... the one and only Mickey Mouse and featuring Walt Disney himself as the voice of the iconic character. This black-and-white, hand-drawn short follows Mickey, his favorite gal pal Minnie Mouse and their friends Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow as they delight in a musical wagon ride-until Peg-Leg Pete shows up and tries to run them off the road.

FYI: While I was in LA last month for a Disney "Planes" media event (Speaking of which, look for some stories by yours truly about that Walt Disney Pictures release on JHM and HuffPo in the coming weeks. I got to sit down with the nice folks at Disneytoon Studios back in May to discuss in depth this brand-new animated feature. Which really is a smart extension / expansion of the "Cars" universe), I wandered over to Walt Disney Animation Studios and got a sneak peek at this animated short. Which is a classic in every sense of the word.

That's all I'm going to say about "Get A Horse!" Other than to mention that this toon is well worth going out of your way ( like -- say -- all the way to France) to see. Which is why I just can't wait to hear what Annecy attendees have to say about this animated short.

Blog Post: "Building Tall" reveals the challenges that Tishman Realty & Construction faced while building EPCOT Center

Jim Hill — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Since sinkholes are back in the news again in Central Florida, Hungry Howie was inspired to drop me a line earlier today to ask about the sinkhole that almost swallowed EPCOT Center back during the construction of that theme park:

For years now, I've been hearing stories about EPCOT's sinkhole. Where exactly was this thing located? Is it still there? Was Disney able to stabilize this thing or is it someday going to swallow that theme park?

To get a definitive answer to your question, I grabbed my copy of John L. Tishman's memoir, "Building Tall: My Life and the Invention of Construction Management " (University of Michigan Press, September 2011). For those of you who don't know: Tishman was / is the "owner / builder" of Tishman Realty & Construction, the company that built the world's first three 100-story towers (i.e. the original "twin towers" of the World Trade Center and the Hancock Tower in Chicago), NYC's Madison Square Garden and the Renaissance Center in Detroit.

In fact, it was that last construction project that got Tishman EPCOT Center. As John explains in this 240-page hardcover:

... during the construction of the first section of Disney World, the Disney Company had had a bad experience with their general contractor. They had fired the contractor and ended up forming Disney's own construction division and then having their in-house construction people supervise the contractors and subcontractors.

To avoid that very same problem with EPCOT Center, Disney made a point of getting to know the construction managers that it was considering for this massive project. In Tishman Realty & Construction's case, this meant that ...

Detroit's Renaissance Center during its initial
construction phase in 1974

... four-top Disney executives asked to come and see us at work, to inspect something currently under construction, and we made an appointment for them to visit the half-completed Renaissance Center site. The Disney executives arrived, four strong, and wanted to climb all over the construction project, go up ladders, travel on hoists, get their feet dirty, wear construction helmets -- the whole nine yards.

And those execs must have liked what they saw in Detroit. For the next thing John knew, he was meeting with Mouse House managers to form some sort of battle plan on how exactly to construct a theme park the size of EPCOT Center.

We began by making up a preliminary milestone chart that showed, to us and to Disney, the scope of the job in broad strokes. Then we broke that chart down into smaller sections, each with its own chart. Eventually we produced hundreds of schedules interrelating about 2,000 different activities.

Gag photograph from EPCOT Center's construction phase. Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserve

The method of scheduling was the same (as when Tishman and his team constructed) the World Trade Center towers (in the middle of Manhattan). But while during the WTC project the logistics had a vertical axis, at EPCOT the need was to plan the logistics on a horizontal axis. In turns, this meant such things as having to plan for and carve out parking lots for the construction workers' cars, some 2,500 of them each day. We had to create those lots, and a lagoon (where there had not been one) and a major monorail system, as well as major access roads leading to and from EPCOT to the nearby highways -- and all of this had to be done before any pavilions could be erected.

Getting now to Hungry Howie's original question. Tishman Realty & Construction had just begun doing site prep on this project when ...

... smack in the center of the 600 acres (construction site for EPCOT Center) a huge sinkhole (was discovered). Sinkholes are geological formations that can be as old as 15 million to 25 million year. This one had been waiting for us quite a while, and its boundaries were not fixed -- regularly, cars and trucks that we thought had been on solid ground would start to sink and would have to be rescued by a tow-truck. The sinkhole was full of organic silt and peat, and the sand underneath went down as far as 300 feet. Nothing solid could be built on it, since the underlying sand could not support the weight of a building. The most logical thing to do with the largest sinkhole of all (at this construction site) was to dig it deeper and make into the lagoon around which the World Showcase pavilions would be situated.

In the top center of the above photo, you can see the bathtub-like pond that Tishman
constructed as well as the dredge that was used to clear the muck out of the World
Showcase Lagoon sinkhole. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Simple idea, difficult thing to do. Under (Tishman's) direction, three general contractors specializing in heavy construction worked on the area. First, they had to construction a bathtub containing an area that could be filled with enough water in which to float a dredge to excavate and remove the muck. The muck was five feet thick and there were a million cubic yards of it to be removed so that the underlying sand could properly serve as the lagoon bottom. Complicating the task of removal were two huge "root islands" in the muck. Unable to get them out, we eventually poured onto them a half-million yards of sand taken from another part of the lagoon. Then, top heavy with sand, they sank beneath the surface of the water and stayed there. Today, looking at the lagoon, you see no evidence of them. But they are there, beneath the surface, and the boats that ply the lagoon know to avoid them.

And speaking of water-related challenges that Disney & Tishman faced on the EPCOT Center project, John -- in this very entertaining memoir -- revealed the key role that he played in securing a sponsor for Future World's The Living Season pavilion. As you may already know ...

... Disney wanted to have each Future World pavilion sponsored by a major industrial firm. AT & T, Kodak, Exxon, Kraft Foods, and General Electric became involved. Exxon, for instance, in the pavilion devoted to energy. In that pavilion, visitors would view a show displayed on huge screens and dioramas ... AT & T was to provide the show that was inside the central geodesic, a multifaceted look at the progress of human communications from the caveman era to the present day. A third pavilion, whose theme was the oceans, was to contain the world's largest aquarium; its visitors could walk alongside the aquarium and sometimes through the parts.

I had the ideal candidate to underwrite that aquarium, United Technologies. Harry Gray (i.e. the Chairman and CEO of United Technologies) was interested, and with his blessing and the permission of the Disney board, I presented the case for this $50 million project to the board of United Technologies. The UT board liked the idea and signed on. Some of their products, including Otis elevators, were to be used in this pavilion and several others. The elevator in this big-aquarium pavilion was going to shake and shiver, to give guests the impression that they were descending several hundred feet to the level of the sea bottom, although the elevator (didn't really move at all).

The aquarium was a marvel. Huge, it was also compartmentalized so that it could be stocked with over 1,500 varieties of fish and marine life. Every space in the pavilion was to face the aquarium, so that, for instance, diners in the restaurant could have a full view of the living backdrop as they ate their meals.

Construction of the aquarium was quite complicated. Water is very heavy and large volumes of it exert substantial pressure, more and more of it as you go down toward the bottom. Because of the immense water pressure, near the bottom portion of the aquarium the viewing glass had to be nine inches thick, although the glass in each window was to become thinner as it went upward, to the point where at the top it would be only one inch thick. The thickest glass had to be imported from Japan, the only place of manufacture. It was a manufacturing challenge to maintain strength and transparency without distortion through this thickness of glass.

There are dozens of similar sorts of great Disney-related stories to be found in "Building Tall: My Life and the Invention of Construction Management," terrific behind-the-scenes tales about how the Dolphin & Swan was built (not to mention how NYC's New Amsterdam Theatre was restored). So if you want to get a very different take on how some of The Walt Disney Company's most impressive projects of the past 30 years or so actually came together, why not find a comfortable chair to sink into and then pick up a copy of this memoir (which -- giving credit where credit is due -- was written by John L. Tishman with the help of Tom Shachtman).

Blog Post: Disney Cruise Line Guests and Crew Take Part in First AquaDucky Derby Fundraiser At Sea

Nancy Stadler — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 03:50:00 GMT

$14,000 Donated To Make-A-Wish® International

CELEBRATION, Fla. (June 6, 2013) - Thousands of Disney Cruise Line guests and crew members recently volunteered their time on all four ships to take part in the first "AquaDucky Derby" rubber duck races in the ships' pools and famous water coasters to raise nearly $14,000 for Make-A-Wish International.

The events saluted the 30th anniversary of the Disney VoluntEARS program, which provides opportunities for Disney cast and crew members to donate their time to worthy causes around the world.

The one-of-a-kind fundraiser brought together crew members and guests, who purchased yellow rubber ducks to decorate and then enter in a water-filled race aboard the ships. Races took place in Goofy's Pool on the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, while those onboard the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy utilized the AquaDuck, the first water coaster at sea exclusive to Disney Cruise Line.

All funds raised from the duck sales are being donated to Make-A-Wish International, an organization that grants wishes for children facing life-threatening medical conditions in 48 countries outside of the U.S. Disney Cruise Line is a longstanding Make-A-Wish supporter, helping to fulfill nearly 700 cruise wishes for children and their families each year.

"The cast and crew of Disney Cruise Line are proud to support Make-A-Wish International and its mission of making wishes come true for children worldwide," said Rena Langley, vice president of Public Affairs, Disney Cruise Line. "The AquaDucky Derby allows us to engage and inspire our guests to get involved, joining our efforts to give back to this great organization in a fun and interactive way."

According to Christiaan Abbott, Cruise Director aboard the Disney Dream, "Having our guests take part in this first-ever AquaDucky Derby has definitely made it especially unique. You can feel the excitement in the air. The entire shipboard community of guests and crew came together to have fun for a great cause, and the reaction from the crowd has been incredible."

Events like this are just a small part of Disney's commitment to give back to local communities through in-kind donations and the efforts of Disney VoluntEARS. In 2012, Disney Cruise Line cast and crew members completed 75 community outreach projects and donated more than 4,500 hours of personal service to nonprofit organizations, working both onboard the ships and in communities across Central Florida, The Bahamas, the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe. Additionally, the line provided more than $640,000 in charitable and in-kind donations to organizations supporting children, families and the environment.

Disney VoluntEARS

2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the Disney VoluntEARS program, organized to provide opportunities for Disney cast members, crew members, Imagineers and employees to contribute their time and talents to help strengthen communities around the world. Since 1983, Disney VoluntEARS across Disney's many business units, including Disney Cruise Line, have given more than 7.5 million hours of volunteer service in more than 40 countries worldwide. That's the equivalent of one person volunteering for 855 straight years! Projects include everything from bringing Disney characters to share smiles and laughter with children in hospitals and care facilities to participating in beach cleanups, leading reading programs and building community programs.

For more information on Disney's corporate citizenship and outreach programs, please visit www.dclnews.com/about/community<http://www.dclnews.com/about/community>.

Blog Post: Comic-Con International: San Diego 2013 Badge Resale Drawing Open Now - 48 Hours Only

All the News — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 03:45:00 GMT

Comic-Con International is pleased to announce that because of returned/cancelled badges we will once again be able to offer those badges for resale. This year we have also reduced the allotment of reserved badges for certain departments. Comic-Con has decided to add these badges to the resale for our attendees. We currently have several thousand single day badges available for resale, only 3,100 of which are Saturday badges. 4-Day badges are sold out.

Due to the very limited number of badges available and our vendor EPIC Registration being focused on coordinating onsite registration, the Comic-Con 2013 badge resale will be conducted utilizing a random drawing.

To enter the Comic-Con 2013 Resale Drawing, login to your Member ID account now and click the blue notice that says "Click Here to Enter a Drawing to be Eligible for the Comic-Con 2013 Badge Resale!"

The drawing entry period will remain open for 48 hours only, and will close June 12, 2013 at 10:59:59 AM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). Late entries will not be accepted.

You must have a valid and confirmed Comic-Con Member ID to enter the drawing.
Anyone who has already registered for or purchased a 4-Day badge (with or without Preview Night) or a single day Saturday badge will not be eligible to enter the drawing.

Those selected to participate in the Comic-Con 2013 badge resale may purchase their own badges, as well as badges for one additional guest. You may purchase for any guest who has a confirmed Member ID (as of June 7, 2013) and does not have a 4-Day badge (with or without Preview Night) or a single day Saturday badge. Your guest does not need to be selected from the drawing pool to be eligible to purchase.

Comic-Con will notify everyone who is selected to participate by email on or before June 17, 2013.