General

Horses and Hot Dogs: The not-so-glamorous life of a “Hidalgo” extra

JHM columnist AliKzam returns with the conclusion of her on-set diary from the filming of Walt Disney Pictures’ upcoming release, “Hidalgo.”

Published

20 years ago

March 4, 2004

Jim Hill

The second night was definitely easier than the first. I think I had a fellow extra girl lace me up, so my organs all stayed where they were supposed to. The second night had a scene where Frank (Viggo) rides out on Hidalgo into the center of the ring. But the horse has other ideas, and does not stop until he’s just at the wall. This causes Frank to fly off his horse and directly into the stands. That was funny, because the audience members were stunt people, but one was just an extra. Rather than admitting their mistake of not informing the extra to move to another seat before the shot, production simply told her they refused to pay her stunt wages.

We also got to watch a major stunt involving a stage coach and some Indians. As the stage coach rode around the field, the tribe chased them on horses. Eventually a couple of them got on top of the coach, started fighting with one of the drivers, won and then took over driving the coach. It was the coolest thing ever to see live. Members of a tribe in Montana had been cast for these roles. They were very good. Later, we were told there would be filming in Montana and then Morrocco.

One wonderful thing about being an extra is you drive so many places that you can learn some pretty nifty alternative routes. For example, because of “Hidalgo”, I discovered that Western Ave goes all the way from the Hollywood Hills to San Pedro, possibly further. It was much nicer to drive that back home at 5:00 a.m. than taking the freeway. Especially when you don’t trust yourself behind the wheel, but you can’t stay in the parking lot to sleep. And you sure can’t afford a motel room on less than minimum wage. But in Torrance, would you really want to?

The last three shoots were day shoots. Everyone who stayed till the end were getting comfortable. Many left by the second night. All of a sudden, hundreds of new non-union extras were arriving. Hair had run out of wigs for them, and none of them were going to be paid for mileage. People were beginning to rebel. Women were hiding their corsets in their bags in the changing tent. There was a small war breaking out between the women extras and the wardrobe department. We were suddenly beginning to wonder out loud why we needed to have such authentic details as super-tiny waists if no one would see us beyond a spec or an out-of-focus blur.

Many people during the shots were sitting among cardboard cut-outs of people. My roommate, for one shot, was the only real person in a sea of cardboard cut-outs-off-camera. Why should she have to sit there for two hours in something that cut off her circulation if she wasn’t even going to be seen? Unfortunately, the wardrobe department took it out on the newer girls. One girl was reduced to tears because of something with her boots not being the right color or something.

The days were long ones. But when you have lots of time on your hands, you can accomplish a lot. For a good portion of those days, I wrote three chapters to a novel that I have yet to start back up again. Props were placed everywhere in the stands, and I spent half of one day reading one of the programs for the Wild West Show. There was a very boring story about rafting in one of them, and another had the definitions for the states named after native American words (like Tennessee and Utah) but I don’t remember what they are off-hand. I think Tennessee meant “green”.

I also met some interesting people. There was one man who was scary. He introduced himself to me on five separate occasions, and was very energetic. He said he was from Orange County and lived in a van with his girlfriend. He had very little sense of personal space and how loud your voice should be when you’re ten inches away from someone’s face. He wouldn’t leave me alone, and he wasn’t very perceptive when I said things like “please leave me alone”. But I eventually didn’t have to sit next to him, and I learned to avoid him. I also sat next to a woman who talked to herself quite a lot. But she was nice and we’d talk to each other a few times. I was a little put-off and disturbed when her voices side-tracked her and she went back into conversation with them. It isn’t very good for a person’s ego when the voices in a person’s head are more interesting to them than you.

The kids on set were cool, though. There were anywhere from ten to twenty children on the set on any given day. One was paired with me, and the PA said I could be his mother. The kid looked up at me and said I was too young to be his mother. What a wonderful child. They’d always sneak us food from the SAG table. The PAs were seriously freaking out as we’d walk towards craft services and hot dogs would be barbecuing. I still remember this one man screaming at the top of his lungs:

“These hot dogs are not for you! They are for SAG only!!! SAG only!!! WHICH ONE OF YOU IS SAG, HUH?!! WHICH ONE OF YOU!!! WHICH ONE???!!!”

Oh, yeah. Feel the love.

One day we spent all day shooting a scene with a horse that just did not want to work that day. His name was RJ. There were about five different Hidalgos for the various scenes we shot, and for the scene we did that day, RJ was the horse.

The scene involved the entrance of Frank on his Horse, Hidalgo. But at this point in the film, Frank is at the lowest point of his life. He’s stuck in this dumb show, he’s depressed and he’s drunk. So when his name is called by Buffalo Bill Cody, he’s too drunk to leave his tent. But Hidalgo knows the show must go on, so he gallops out to greet the crowd. Frank gets angry that Hidalgo left without him and runs out after him. The audience is stunned as Frank staggers after Hidalgo and tries to mount him, and Buffalo Bill is extremely embarrassed. But Annie Oakley whispers out from behind a curtain that it’s some kind of Indian trick. Bill promptly tells that to the audience and we all clap because we’re just so impressed to see this strange new trick.

Ideally, that’s what was supposed to happen, but RJ just didn’t feel like it that day. You know, it can be really annoying when an actor has a hissy fit and stays in their trailor for hours on end, like on a certain snack-food commercial I worked on. But when an animal does it, it’s just the cutest thing. Especially when the people watching are all disgruntled extras.

“RJ! RJ no! Get back here!” The trainer would shout. But RJ didn’t really feel like running into the center of the ring and posing on his hind legs, as he was supposed to do. RJ wanted to run! Run and run and run. Sometimes he wanted to trot up to the wranglers and sniff their hands to get to know them better, to which all the girls in the stands “awwwwed” about. RJ wanted to play chase with Viggo, and sometimes Viggo would play along. His character was supposed to mount that horse, by god, and he was going to do it!

It got to the point that we were cheering RJ on to ruin each take. So much of that was caught on film to my knowledge. When the DVD comes out, I hope that there is a segment in the special features section called “Working with RJ”, because it was the best thing ever.

Finally, the end was nearing. Since we got there, crews had been building outdoor sets. One set was a building with a church-like interior, and another set was the front of a boat. After we were done shooting our scenes, they would shooting a scene of the ship leaving for Arabia, where Frank and Hidalgo would race.

On the last day at lunch, the wardrobe lady who had laced me up so tight the first night came up to me. I think she felt bad and was trying to make it up to me, and I very much appreciated the gesture. She said that for the next scene with the ship they were going to need a bride who was going on her honeymoon with her new husband, and she said I looked like I’d fit in the dress. So she took me to the head of wardrobe to have me meet them and try on the dress. It fit very well and then I had to meet one of the hairdressers. I was so excited, because this meant that after two and a half years, I would finally get my third SAG voucher, and I might actually get to do a bit of acting instead of just being filler.

Then I went to the hair department. The hairdresser hated me. First she didn’t want me wearing a wig, because water would be spraying and she knew people watching the film would see the droplets hitting my hair and they would know I was wearing a wig. They started to take the wig off me and she saw that I had highlights. That wouldn’t do, she said. I told her they were subtle and my hair was actually red (at the time). Well, she said, the lead actress’s hair was red and straight, so I couldn’t be in the scene. For some reason we tried one more time, and I said my hair was wavy. But sitting under that wig for ten hours had made my hair straight. The fact was she just didn’t want me to be the bride in the scene, so I was passed off to another hairdresser to get me back into my wig.

And for me, “Hidalgo” was over shortly after that. I went home and did other extra work. Mostly “Boston Public”, but I also then started working on “Strong Medicine”. I loved that show. You got to wear scrubs and they had the best food ever. I could get a massive breakfast burrito any way I wanted! It was heaven.

A couple weeks later, I started getting the paychecks for “Hidalgo”. I made a grand total of $471.34 for five days and a fitting. I worked a total of sixty-nine hours and drove about 350 miles in all. Was it worth all the throwing up and the yelling and the exhaustion? Probably not. But, for me, it’s one hell of a war story.

General

Seward Johnson bronzes add a surreal, artistic touch to NYC’s Garment District

Published

8 years ago

June 23, 2015

Jim Hill

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

… 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

Published

8 years ago

June 10, 2015

Jim Hill

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

Published

8 years ago

June 9, 2015

Jim Hill

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.' "

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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?

"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