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| Alice in Wonderland : 3 of 5 | |
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3.08.2010
6:38 AM | Link0 comments |
 Since I generally like Tim Burton's movies and practically anything Disney (especially animated features like the original Alice in Wonderland), I thought this film would be an interesting yet bizarre combination of the two, so I was happy to see it on opening day with my pal Melinda. There are plenty of good things about this movie, but overall I have to say it's just not what I wanted to see. This film is really Tim Burton using the Lewis Carroll characters to tell his own story, which happens to be a fantasy action adventure that feels much more like The Chronicles of Narnia combined with The Wizard of Oz rather than the fairy tale that this movie should have been. This may be justified somewhat since this is actually more of a sequel, in which Alice returns to Wonderland (or Underland, as we discover) as a young adult who only remembers her first visit in dreams. I enjoyed the look of the movie, and I thought all the bizarre digital distortions turned the characters into living versions of the illustrations found in the original book (I especially loved the Cheshire Cat and the Caterpillar). Johnny Depp did what he could with the role of the Mad Hatter (who is obviously trying to be the Scarecrow), but even though the script attempts to broaden his character with sudden bursts of self-awareness, it's definitely not a surprise that Alice would want to go home rather than stay with him. Speaking of Alice, she's cast well, but no matter how good the actress is, I just can't get into an Alice who puts on armor and kicks butt (in the obligatory huge CG battle at the end of every movie released in the past few years). Actually, I thought the inclusion of the creatures from the poem Jabberwocky was a cool idea, but making them a central part of the plot seemed like a Tim Burton stretch to get some scary images on the screen. Alice in Wonderland will certainly make a lot of money, and people who are out for an exciting adventure will definitely enjoy the movie, but I would much rather watch the classic animated feature which is wonderful enough for me!
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| The Art of The Princess and the Frog / Jeff Kurtti : 5 of 5 | |
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2.25.2010
6:59 AM | Link0 comments |
 It's been a long time since I've added a Disney art book to my collection, but since The Princess and the Frog is such a milestone in animation history, I knew I needed this one in my library, and my pal Ryan sent it to me for Christmas! Like most art books, this is a beautiful hardback with thick, high-quality pages overflowing with sketches and developmental artwork from the film (with far fewer production film stills than usual, which is a good thing!). Although there are tons more images than text, I was happy to read some wonderful words by John Lasseter (where he mentions the intentional Lady and the Tramp style, as well as the genius of directors Clements and Musker), followed by a nice mini-history of the three Golden Ages of Disney animation. The end of the book also has a great section discussing the current master animators (truly the equivalent of the Nine Old Men, and even taught by them!) and how this film allowed them to begin passing down their artform to new artists. Everyone was so excited to be working on this important movie, and it shows in every beautiful image! Although most of the paintings are produced digitally now (with tools that simulate brushes with amazing results), it's fun to see the animators sketches are almost always still in good ol' pencil. The amount of development work that was done to capture the essence of New Orleans is simply incredible (even with the interesting use of 3D assist to help with architectural perspective), and I loved studying how this contrasts with the feel of the bayou, which was based on the conceptual techniques pioneered in Bambi (everything is a building block in Disney animation, and everything is valuable!). It was fun finding new details I didn't really catch in the movie (such as the steamboat smokestacks on top of Tiana's restaurant), and I absolutely love looking at color scripts with all their vibrant energy. This book shows a true reverence for the art of animation and Disney animated features, and made me even happier and more grateful that this magical style still lives on in The Princess and the Frog!
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| Music Moments 02.10 | |
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2.23.2010
7:02 AM | Link0 comments |
 The Princess and the Frog / Original Soundtrack: I was glad when I found out that Disney's return to hand-drawn animation would be a musical, and even though it would have been nice to hear some new Alan Menken songs, Randy Newman did a surprisingly great job. This was the first CD I bought with my iTunes birthday money from my pal Melinda, and listening to it really makes me want to see the movie again! I love Tiana's voice on Almost There and the fun swinging feel of When We're Human (Louis the gator is great), but my favorite is definitely Ray's love ballad Evangeline, since he completely steals the movie for me!Weezer / Red Album: I'm sure I've listened to Weezer's famous Blue Album a million times, but never considered checking out any of their newer stuff until I heard Pork and Beans on DDR Hottest Part 3 (see, video game marketing really works!). Weezer is quite a bit different on this album, but there are still a few standout tracks that really have their signature sound and attitude, especially Pork and Beans and Dreamin'. They also get musically creative with a couple long tunes (5-6 minutes each), as well as lyrically nostalgic on Heart Songs, which lovingly looks back at cheesy 80s songs as the soundtrack of life for our generation. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters / Original Soundtrack: From the moment I laughed my ass off in the theater during the opening snack bar scene, I knew I had to get this CD someday (even though most of the tunes aren't really my style)! Cut You Up With A Linoleum Knife (the crazy "don't talk during the movie" song) makes the whole album worth it, but I also love Master Shake's hilarious Nude Love. There are a few songs with lyrics about characters like Meatwad and Carl, as well as four hidden tracks! mc chris / Part Six: Even though his raunchy lyrics are somewhat out of character for me, I'm totally a fan of mc chris' awesome nerdcore sound, so I finally got around to buying this album (which was actually released in parts as three CDs). mc chris will always be known for Fett's Vette (his amazing rap about Boba Fett and his car payments), so this time he continues the trend with IG-88's 57 Chevy, Zuckuss' Prius, and Dengar's Dumptruck, all of which are packed with detailed Star Wars references. He even has a Harry Potter track this time, as well as a touching love song about breaking up a long distance relationship because he doesn't know when his girlfriend farts (how sweet!). |
| Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs / Diamond Edition : 5 of 5 | |
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2.04.2010
6:39 AM | Link0 comments |
 I thought it was kind of appropriate that my first Blu-ray experience was the first feature-length animated movie, and even though you might think a 1937 hand-drawn film wouldn't be the best way to enjoy my new Blu-ray player, Disney really did an incredible job with this new Diamond Edition release! The film itself looks practically brand new, and when you combine the Blu-ray clarity with the smoothness and quality of animation it seems impossible that this movie is over 70 years old! I was pretty impressed with Disney View, which uses tasteful paintings to fill in the sides of a 16:9 screen (since movies were good ol' 4:3 in the 1930s), and I loved how they change to fit the scene. Of course, the bonus materials on this release are absolutely bursting at the seams thanks to Blu-ray storage capacity, most of which are contained in the fascinating Hyperion Studio feature, which allows you to wander around the original Disney studio. Each room contains several short segments that provide a wonderful education about the making of Snow White as well as the process of animation in general, combined with classic Disney shorts to illustrate key points. I loved the vocal recreations of story meetings, the funny anecdotes about working for Walt, and of course seeing interviews with all of my animation heroes, both old and new. From Don Hahn's excellent explanation of the exposure sheet, I learned how the shadow effects in Snow White were produced with complicated double exposures, and I also discovered that the voice actress for the evil queen also did the old witch, but with her teeth out! The advanced capability of Blu-ray and BD LIve allows for some cool and unexpected interactions, such as the Magic Mirror (who narrates the menus) greeting you by mentioning the time of day and even the weather in your location! The games are also pretty amazing - Jewel Jumble is as smooth as any basic arcade game, and Scene Stealer allows you to upload photos to the web which are accessed to put your face on Snow White and some of the dwarfs! The amazing Platinum Edition of Snow White from years ago was fantastic for its time, but I am thoroughly impressed with what this new technology can do and how Disney is using it!
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| Five guys hit Los Angeles | |
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1.22.2010
11:36 AM | Link0 comments |
 For the past few days I've been in Los Angeles vacationing with my pals Jonathan, Matt, Dae and Ernesto! It's pretty rare for all of us to be together, but it worked out this time since I was taking Jonathan on his first Disneyland visit, and Matt received his plane ticket to come along as a Christmas gift! Even though there was some pretty awful rain during the trip, we still had plenty of nice weather, too, and nothing could stop us from having a fantastic time.We started off by browsing the Farmers Market and having a nice breakfast, then headed to Will Rogers State Historic Park to tour the ranch house and hike up to Inspiration Point (great view of the city). After stopping on PCH for a nice sunset, the drunken debauchery began with beer, martinis at Musso & Franks (where we had a great time talking with Manny the legendary bartender), whiskey, and eventually ended up with flaming margaritas and Mexican food. The next morning we were in hangover recovery mode, but we had enough energy for a cool tour of the Egyptian, a classic movie palace that Grauman built before the famous Chinese Theater. After the tour it started raining a little, so I talked the guys into seeing Dumbo at the El Capitan (we loved the organist and of course I cried during Baby Mine). That night we gorged on incredible sushi in Little Tokyo, and we got to drive through the iconic 2nd Street Tunnel used in Blade Runner! The next day we had lunch in Pasadena at the Pie'n Burger (Ernesto's all-time favorite) and tried to see some horse racing at Santa Anita, but it was rained out. Luckily, Ernesto's sister Eileen who works at the Los Angeles Cathedral offered to give us a tour, which was a perfect thing to do on a rainy day! The cathedral was amazing (she even took us inside the organ works), and when we finished the sun was out again. Finally, we had a quick dinner and then rented a rehearsal studio for three hours of jazz jamming, using Ernesto's beautiful horn arrangements that he had written for the occasion. The last day was reserved for Disneyland, and I had lots of fun spouting trivia to enhance Jonathan's first visit. The weather was great for the morning and evening, but in the middle of the day there was a downpour that flooded Frontierland and even overflowed the Jungle Cruise. We got to ride the Matterhorn twice in a row in the rain, which is a surreal experience, and for the rest of the day, the lines were totally non-existent. I had never seen absolutely zero wait for Space Mountain before! We had an amazing Disney day ending with Filet Mignon at Blue Bayou and then drinks by the Grand Californian fireplace. It took forever to decide which of my 400 photos to share, but I think I picked a good selection in three Flickr sets. In addition, Matt has started to post lots of great shots as well (including the timer shot on this post), so enjoy!  View photos: Los Angeles 2010 View photos: Los Angeles Cathedral View photos: Disneyland 2010 View photos: Matt's Los Angeles
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| The Princess and the Frog : 5 of 5 | |
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12.08.2009
11:30 AM | Link0 comments |
 It's not often that something so anticipated meets every expectation, so I had my fingers crossed when I went to a sneak preview (thanks to Melinda, of course!) of Disney's new animated feature The Princess and the Frog. This movie is so important to the future of animation, and marks several "returns" for Disney - a return to hand-drawn animation, a return to fairy tales with a princess, a return to true musicals - so I've been hoping with all my might that this film could start a new renaissance just like The Little Mermaid did so long ago. I'm so happy to say that Disney has done it - The Princess and the Frog brings back the magic and spirit of all the classics that Disney fans love! From the moment the movie began I was tingling at seeing a true cartoon on the big screen again - there's just something about knowing human hands made this living artwork that's overwhelming to me. The animation was never disappointing, with fantastic, expressive character designs, detailed lip-sync on human characters, and hilarious variety of movement. Of course I could keep gushing about the animation (I love it that the incredible Mark Henn has another beautiful princess in his portfolio), but truthfully the most important element is the story (as any Disney fan would tell you), and directors Clements and Musker (who thankfully were willing to come back to Disney after the animation shakedown) have managed to craft an absolutely beautiful tale. Each character has a perfect fit in the plot, and everyone (not only Tiana) is allowed to grow in a wonderful way. The songs are wonderful, especially since they're influenced by New Orleans Jazz, and there are several giant music numbers that really bring the house down (think of the pizzazz of I Just Can't Wait to be King from The Lion King, then multiply it by three)! Tiana is a truly lovable and admirable character, Prince Naveen has some hilarious lines, Louis the gator is a reincarnation of Baloo from The Jungle Book (and that's a compliment!), and Dr. Facilier is a welcome addition to Disney's gallery of villains. But the character that shines with brilliance (pun intended) is Ray the Cajun firefly, who creates an emotional sob-fest that ranks right up there with Bambi's mom and Dumbo's tear (all I can say is, be prepared to cry). I absolutely cannot wait to see The Princess and the Frog again - I'm going opening day to "vote with my wallet" for the future of hand-drawn animation!
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| Christmas Toys 1975 | |
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11.30.2009
11:51 AM | Link0 comments |
 I think the toys I remembering playing with the most throughout my childhood would be my Mego 8-inch action figures, which had incredible cloth clothing and plastic accessories. I had so many of these I can’t even begin to count, including almost all of the super heroes and villains, as well as characters from Star Trek and Planet of the Apes! In fact, I loved them so much, I’ve recently been collecting reproductions of these classic toys) In 1975, Santa brought not just one, but two gigantic Mego playsets to use with my figures, starting with the USS Enterprise. This representation of the bridge included control panels and the captain’s chair, changeable view screen images, and the totally creative Transporter effect (which let you spin a figure around quickly, then press a button to make them disappear!). Next was the Batcave, which was so much fun to play with since it provided an official garage for my Batmobile. Mego worked so many details into this set, such as the Batpole and Batsignal, and there was even a collapsing road sign on the secret entrance! Santa also brought a rare and interesting piece of Disney park memorabilia that year, since I got the Haunted Mansion Board Game that so many collectors are after today. I remember really enjoying this game, and the artwork was really cool (now if I only knew where it went!). Along with other smaller toys, I also got a simple little game called Bas-Ket which let you launch ping pong balls into nets (which I just discovered can still be bought today). I remember playing this one with Dad, but the main reason it deserves mentioning is because I think it’s been buried in my parents’ garage for years, so someday I may get to play it again!
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| Netflix One-Liners 11.09 | |
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11.20.2009
8:53 AM | Link0 comments |
 Beverly Hills Chihuahua: I only watched this because I thought the trailer was hilarious and because it's a Disney movie, and I actually laughed much more than I expected, but Disney animal flicks have definitely gone downhill since That Darn Cat!Nerdcore Rising: This is a totally entertaining documentary about MC Frontalot, the performer who invented nerdcore (hip-hop rap with geeky subjects and references), and I enjoyed it so much I bought his CD as soon as the film ended! Time After Time: I remember as a kid being a fan of this science-fiction thriller, about Jack the Ripper stealing HG Wells' time machine and traveling into the far-flung 70s, so it was fun and nostalgic to see this one again. Man On Wire: I enjoyed this amazing documentary about the French acrobat who illegally strung a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center and walked across several times, especially since it's structured like an espionage plot (and it's almost unbelievable he actually did it). Superman 2: Seems like I've been re-watching lots of Superman on Watch Instantly, so I figured I should check out the original sequel again, which is by far the best with both Kryptonian villains led by General Zod and Superman getting it on with Lois. X-Men Origins / Wolverine: I never even got around to watching X-Men 2 and 3, but my pals and I felt like seeing an action-packed blockbuster, and it was cool to see Hollywood's take on Wolverine's origin story and some early X-Men (actually I rented this from iTunes on my Apple TV, but I'm including it here anyway!). Monty Python Conquers America: Even though this is a really short film, it was interesting to learn about how Monty Python's Flying Circus eventually made it to America against all odds, becoming one of those late night PBS shows that kids watch hoping for two-seconds of nudity (wow, this is the third documentary in this bunch!). And Now For Something Completely Different: After discovering this movie via the previous documentary, I thought it would be cool to watch the original Monty Python film (funded by Playboy as a way to get them into the states), and it's a nice collection of classic bits with higher budget sets and camera angles. Everyone Says I Love You: Every time I watch this Woody Allen musical, I'm always amazed at how much I enjoy the plot, the characters, and the jazz standards that come out of nowhere, along with the huge cast (this is the only movie with Julia Roberts that I ever want to see). Silent Movie: There's no one as ridiculous as Mel Brooks, and I love to watching his classics when I get the chance, so I decided to enjoy this totally silent (except for Marcel Marceau saying "No!") slapstick spoof, which has the distinction of being the movie that made my parents realize I needed glasses, since I was squinting so bad to read the dialogue! |
| Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure : 3 of 5 | |
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11.16.2009
12:18 PM | Link0 comments |
 Although I'll always be partial to the spunky, voiceless pixie from the original Peter Pan, I'm really happy that this series of CGI Tinker Bell movies has been surprisingly good! This latest adventure has a wonderful story that really focuses on Tink herself, wisely moving all the other fairies (except for her best friend Terence) into the background (but of course, they all still make appearances for continuity with the first film). The plot is pretty mystical and really creative, involving an Autumn festival where the right combination of moonlight and an ancient moonstone creates blue pixie dust, which is used to rejuvenate the "regular" pixie dust tree (which everyone in Pixie Hollow depends on!). Tink's own character flaws cause her to accidentally break the crystal, so she has to embark on a quest (complete with new costume) to find an enchanted mirror that has one wish left on it. This backstory is told in a cool theater setting with great animation, and I loved how they brought pirate lore (essential to Never Land) into the story! The animation is a little mixed, since Tink looks wonderful (especially her bobbing hair movements), but the lesser characters are a little stiff with quick bird-like actions (which could have been intentional). I really enjoyed discovering small details like all the items that Tink has used to construct assembly line machinery at the pixie dust tree (as well as the cool fireplace in her home made of a standing smoking pipe!), but my favorite moments were the homages to Peter Pan, such as Tink's face turning red with anger, or when she travels past Skull Rock (which was so cool I had to yell "Yeah!" when I saw it!). The adventure style of the story is really fun, and the way Tink seriously screws up at times deepens her character. The DVD includes some fake bloopers (pretty hilarious), but the other bonus features are a little weak. Even though I've been renting the movies in this series, I'm starting to think these are good enough to buy for my Disney collection!
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| Walt Disney's Imagineering Legends and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park / Jeff Kurtti : 5 of 5 | |
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11.11.2009
12:14 PM | Link0 comments |
 Believe it or not, this book was actually part of last year's Christmas haul, so I figured I better get down to business and read it before the new onslaught of books arrives on Santa's sleigh! Right away I need to say that this is one of the most entertaining books on Disney Imagineering that I've read (and I have a lot on my bookshelf), mainly because of its unique way of focusing on the Imagineers themselves as real people with real lives, rather than only looking at their Disney career accomplishments. Each chapter looks at a set of Imagineers organized by artistic discipline (such as mechanical, musical, or even executive management), and each person is introduced with comments about their childhood, schools they attended, and other biographical notes. By reading about each person, you really get to know their particular strengths that made them succeed in such innovative work, as well as their personalities (even when they aren't so rosy, such as Marc Davis' semi-famous attitude toward Claude Coats, both of which made the Haunted Mansion the incredible attraction it is today). I loved reading about lesser known artists such as Bill Martin, who designed the complex layouts of so many Fantasyland dark rides, or Harriet Burns, the first female Imagineer who paved her own way in this emerging world (and now I'm extra happy that I have her autograph on one of my Disney prints!). With each chapter I was more amazed at how hard these people worked during their long careers, several right up until just a few weeks before they passed away, showing their dedication to Disney entertainment as a positive force in the world. This book is deceptively long, absolutely packed with fascinating, detailed text that kept me constantly mesmerized. I could easily start reading it again the moment I finished, and I'm sure I would find something new! Walt Disney's Imagineering Legends is definitely required reading for Disney theme park fans like me.
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| Disney's A Christmas Carol : 3 of 5 | |
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11.03.2009
5:37 PM | Link1 comments |
 It's nice to start getting into a Christmas mood with holiday movies, and I was able to see this new version of the Dickens classic at a sneak preview, thanks to my pal Melinda who is always lucky with preview passes! My opinion of this movie is right down the middle - there are things I love about it, and things I hate, which puts my review solidly in the center of my rating scale. I guess I'll get the hate out of the way - I am really against motion capture CG animation and Robert Zemeckis' bizarre opinions about the future of filmmaking! Although the characters in this film look much better than they did in The Polar Express, they still constantly look cross-eyed, with no attention to eye lines (they always seem to be looking "through" things), and might as well have been marionettes in most cases. Scrooge himself looks fantastic - I think they spent all their time getting him right and just let the computer crank out everyone else with no refinement. I was also appalled at Zemeckis' showboating floating camera moves, which only please himself and drive the audience crazy like they are stuck in a video game. Besides the opening sequence (which includes goofy moves like flying through a wreath), there's one sequence with the Ghost of Christmas Past that goes nearly 15 minutes without a single cut. I don't care if he thinks it's cool - it can only be special if it's hard to do in real life, so doing it in CG is just annoying. But now for some good points! I was really pleased and surprised that they stuck to all the original Dickens dialogue (most of the time I knew the line before they even said it), which prevented Jim Carrey (whom I dislike terribly) from ad-libbing and cheapening the whole thing. As I mentioned before, Scrooge does look incredible, and his exaggerated character design is great. I also liked all of the spirits, especially the creepy way that the Ghost of Christmas Future was mostly shown as a living shadow. The final scenes of the movie when Scrooge is filled with glee on Christmas Day are really well done, with just enough happiness to kick off the Christmas spirit in anyone. Overall I enjoyed myself, but mostly because I love Christmas movies and this classic story, not because of any of the filmmaking techniques that were being paraded on the screen. I only hope that audiences will enjoy the Christmas message while realizing that films using this technique have simply got to go!
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| Walt Disney World 2009 / Days 4-5 | |
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9.28.2009
11:59 AM | Link0 comments |
 I have two more days of my recent Walt Disney World vacation to cover, so here we go! I scheduled the fourth day as a full day at the Magic Kingdom, which I thought would give Melinda and me just enough time to fit in all of the attractions. However, since we had already been to the Magic Kingdom twice already (once for Wishes and again for the Halloween party), we had already checked off several busy attractions off our list, which left this full day wide-open to enjoy lots of entertainment! Of course, we rode several rides again, and I was really impressed with the slightly longer versions of the Fantasyland dark rides, and totally blown away by the new staircase room in the Haunted Mansion. I loved watching Dream Along With Mickey (the only stage show with new technology that allows Mickey and his pals to move their mouths and blink their eyes), and right after the show we were suddenly "trapped" in the hub by the new Move it! Shake it! Celebrate it! Street Party! It was really fun to dance along with the characters, and it was cool to be in the middle of a spontaneous party in the middle of our day. We even got to watch the Celebrate a Dream Come True parade, as well as SpectroMagic at night, and somehow we lucked out into riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the exact moment that the Wishes fireworks were going off, which was a totally surreal experience!We spent the last day at Hollywood Studios, making the morning march along with everyone else in the park directly to Toy Story Midway Mania, definitely one of the best (and certainly the most popular) new attractions in quite a while! The new Pixar street area and attraction queue are fantastic, full of giant classic toys, and the ride itself is so much fun that I could ride it all day! After spending the morning gathering Fastpasses, we got to see all the shows, including Lights, Motors, Action, plus we went to the Animation building to meet Mickey, Russell and Dug from Up, and even the Incredibles (I got to request a special cool pose from Elastigirl)! After surviving the Tower of Terror and Rock N Roller Coaster (which was somehow less scary than usual - maybe after Mission: Space I can take anything!), we got great seats for Fantasmic, which was awesome as always, and then took a quick look at the One Man's Dream exhibit to end the day. I could go on and on about all of the other attractions, restaurants, snacks, and other things we saw, but I guess I've pretty much covered the trip. Every detail just magically worked out, making the whole five days simply a perfect Disney vacation for total Disney geeks like Melinda and me! View photos: WDW 2009 Days 4-5
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| Walt Disney World 2009 / Days 1-3 | |
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9.25.2009
12:28 PM | Link0 comments |
 Now that I've picked some good photos from the first three days of my Walt Disney World trip, it's time to hit some more highlights! After checking in at the resort (which was really smooth with both Disney's Magical Express as well as online resort check in!), we rode the bus to Downtown Disney, enjoyed riding the Characters in Flight balloon, and immediately got most of our essential shopping done. I had made a list of possible toys to buy myself, and I ended up getting them all at the Once Upon a Toy store (then had them conveniently delivered to the resort so I wouldn't have to carry them)! Next we rode the Monorail around and quickly visited the Contemporary, the Polynesian, and the Grand Floridian, then stopped at the Magic Kingdom for dinner at Crystal Palace. We had a great time with all the Winnie the Pooh characters, enjoyed a couple Fantasyland attractions, then had a great spot to watch the Wishes fireworks show!The next day was all Epcot, and the major event was being brave enough to join the Orange Team for Mission: Space! On the last trip, Melinda and I chickened out and joined the Green Team, but this time we were determined to feel those sustained G-forces, and it was totally incredible! The launch was awesome, and I could really feel the pressure on my cheeks and hands as I pressed buttons for the mission. I also enjoyed the changes on Spaceship Earth, including the new narration and the Apple garage scene! Moving on to World Showcase, the addition of the Three Caballeros to the Mexico pavilion was hilarious, and it was fun taking a nice stroll around the countries with a couple drinks. We had dinner at Restaurant Akershus with Belle, Jasmine, Cinderella, Ariel and Pocahontas, and the food was delicious! Of course, we ended the day with a great spot for Illuminations, close to the water, which was pretty exciting! On the next morning we headed to Animal Kingdom and rode almost every attraction before lunch! Expedition Everest was fantastic (but I think the Yeti lighting needed some adjustment), and as always I was overwhelmed by Festival of the Lion King. Our big meal for the day was at Tusker House, and I was so impressed with the variety of the buffet - I ate all kinds of interesting veggies and tofu, too! We had to leave Animal Kingdom after lunch in order to get to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, which I commented on previously. Since this was our second Magic Kingdom visit, we got to ride even more attractions, which set up the next day with lots of free time to enjoy the entertainment! By the way, if you have a chance to go to the Halloween party, don't pass it up - it's really an amazing event that had me wowed the whole time, and staying at the park until midnight was a blast! View photos: WDW 2009 Days 1-3
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| A perfect Walt Disney World adventure | |
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9.23.2009
12:43 PM | Link0 comments |
 Last week I took a fantastic vacation to Walt Disney World with my fellow Disney pro Melinda, and it was definitely a trip for the record books! Looking back over the five days, we literally experienced nearly every single attraction in all four theme parks, as well as tons of shows and entertainment! Of course, we had to get up early, stay out late, and walk our feet off (and we have the blisters to prove it), but it was worth it to have so much fun. Amazingly, even though the weather forecast said there was a 40% chance of precipitation every day, we never saw a drop of rain (maybe because of my "lucky umbrella" which makes the clouds go away!). There's a lot to mention, so I'll have to stretch this report over a few WEBmikey posts (which will give me time to select the best shots from over 1,000 photos!), but I'll get started with a few overview highlights.My resort this time was All-Star Movies, which is one of the value resorts, but it still has nice rooms and super-cool huge character displays all around the buildings. I was excited to get the Toy Story building, which was really close to the food court for breakfast, as well as the gift shop and bus stop for those early morning rides to the parks! We were lucky enough to book our trip during a great promotion that gave us the Disney Dining Plan for free, which meant we hardly spent a dime on food and still pigged out! It was always so amazing to look at a menu and realize I could get anything I wanted, and every meal came with dessert (I ate so much ice cream). Snacks were included each day as well, so I got to have all my favorites: Mickey Premium ice cream bar, Dole Whip, frozen banana, and a giant pretzel, too! Thanks to the amazing weather, we got to ride the fairly new Characters in Flight balloon ride at Downtown Disney. It was really cool to be lifted 400 feet up by a giant helium balloon, and the view was great (you could see the major icons of almost every park)! The landing was pretty exciting as the tether pulled the balloon back to the ground, too! The best entirely new experience of the trip was definitely Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! It was so cool to be part of the "special" (which means, willing to pay extra!) guests that got to stay in the Magic Kingdom from 7:00 PM until midnight, with tons of exclusive things to see and do! We got to trick or treat and munch on candy, meet tons of Disney characters in special Halloween costumes (we also saw incredibly rare occurrences like Snow White with all seven dwarfs!), and of course, visit the Haunted Mansion, where all the cast members were decked out in scary make-up. There was a special Happy HalloWishes fireworks show with awesome spooky effects, plus an incredible Halloween parade featuring fantastic Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean characters as well as the Headless Horseman (galloping on a real horse)! Finally, we saw a cool show in front of the castle with all the classic Disney villains, which topped off this huge night of Halloween fun! View photos: WDW Pals 2009
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| Bolt / Two-Disc Deluxe Edition : 4 of 5 | |
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9.15.2009
12:41 PM | Link0 comments |
 It's only appropriate that my last WEBmikey post before I head to Walt Disney World is for a Disney animated feature on DVD! As always, watching the bonus features on this disc has given me a better appreciation of the film (which I really enjoyed when I saw the sneak preview, though I certainly wouldn't call it an instant classic), and I really had a great time watching it again with a new set of eyes. Truthfully, in the theater I didn't notice how wonderful the backgrounds are, which actually have digital information removed to give them a more artistic look, so this time I hardly looked at the characters! Well, that's not totally true, since I really like Rhino the hamster, and I thought it was cool that the Disney story artist who recorded the scratch tracks for Rhino's voice was chosen for the actual role. Bolt was headed-up by two first-time directors (although they have 14 years experience at Disney!), but John Lasseter was really involved as well, and it's fun to watch the story meetings (as well as see the cool Disney offices) in the brief documentary included on the disc. By the way, even though this is a two-disc edition, the second disc only contains the digital version of the movie, which was kind of a disappointment. At least they managed to squeeze quite a bit (relatively speaking) on the feature disc, which also includes a couple nice deleted scenes (I actually preferred the Las Vegas setting for Bolt to learn he doesn't have powers) and the new short Super Rhino, which can only be described as "fully awesome"! Overall, I really enjoyed Bolt on DVD since I could really take notice of the wonderful art direction and lighting, which proves that Disney still cares about the art of animation. They still have a long way to go to match the emotional impact of a Pixar film, but at least Bolt knocks something like Chicken Little right out of the park!
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| Walt Disney World around the corner | |
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9.13.2009
8:58 AM | Link0 comments |
 Later this week I'll be heading to Walt Disney World with my pal Melinda, and I'm super excited! This will be my fourth trip to Orlando, and I've always had magical adventures with family and friends (for the record, the first was with Chris & Eliza, the second with Jonathan, the third with Mom & Dad, and the fourth with Melinda). As usual, I've been working out every detail of the itinerary for the past several weeks, using excellent sites like TourGuideMiKE and the fairly new Disney Mom's Panel. The biggest new experience for this trip will be Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom, featuring a special parade (with the Headless Horseman!), Halloween fireworks, trick or treating, and of course, the opportunity to keep riding attractions until midnight! I'm also looking forward to some great Disney eating, since our vacation package included the Disney Dining Plan for free. It's going to be an amazing adventure, so get ready for lots of tweets from the parks!
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| The Disney Villain / Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston : 3 of 5 | |
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8.24.2009
12:00 PM | Link0 comments |
 This is one of those giant hardback books that I've owned for years, but never actually got around to reading until now! Frank & Ollie were two of Disney's top animators (known as the Nine Old Men) who wrote The Illusion of Life (the best book on Disney animation ever), but in this book the focus is less on animation itself and more on the motivations and philosophy of a true villain. At times Frank & Ollie even try to make a distinction between malicious intent and simple nature (is the rampaging bear in The Fox and the Hound really a villain, since it's only acting from natural impulses?). The book begins with extremely early villains like Peg Leg Pete and then methodically looks at every animated feature, accompanied by huge pages of movie stills and illustrations (the sketches are beautiful, but there's nothing new or earth-shattering to see). I was most interested in their honest discussion of the Disney "dark years" when animation was truly floundering, and they frankly discuss the total failure of The Black Cauldron (without insulting the animators who worked so hard on it). There's lots of Katzenburg quotes that make me cringe, but I can't complain since he did help bring masterpieces like Beauty and the Beast to the big screen! I also enjoyed the comments from great modern animators such as Glen Keane and Andreas Deja (especially his design comparison of Jafar to Malificent!). The Disney Villain is a beautiful book (with a great hologram of the Queen from Snow White on the cover), but definitely not essential to anyone's animation library. But I still really enjoyed reading the thoughts of Frank & Ollie, some of the best animators who ever lived!
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| Disney Think Fast / Nintendo Wii : 3 of 5 | |
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8.11.2009
11:48 AM | Link0 comments |
 When this game first came out, I figured it would be way too easy for a Disney mega-fan like me, but I still wanted to try it out. I got the chance to play it with my pal Melinda, and even though there are definitely some super-easy questions, I was still attracted to the cool graphics and presentation, as well as some of the more obscure character challenges! I found a copy for only twenty bucks, so I figured it would be cool to sit around and play every now and then, at least until I unlocked everything (unfortunately, I discovered there are only three things to unlock, which I did after the first couple games!). Disney Think Fast has a game show format with the Genie from Aladdin as the host, and you can play as one of several popular Disney characters. You also get to choose your environment (like Ariel's undersea kingdom, or Stitch's Hawaii), which determines the guest character that will show up to ask some questions about that particular movie. Some of the rounds have general knowledge questions that are definitely geared to kids, but of course most of the game is Disney trivia. As I suspected, lots of the questions are a breeze, but there are also plenty of unexpectedly difficult ones (I always forget things like the characters from Robin Hood!). By far the most challenging round is called Observation, which shows a clip and then asks really obscure questions like "How many bells were on the string Dopey was playing?" I actually have a pretty good time trying to get a super-high score. Since some rounds are time-based and some have wrong answer penalties, it can be a challenge to squeak out a few more points to beat my last score. The overall game is a pretty cool Disney experience, and for $20 bucks it's a great diversion to keep my Disney skills sharp!
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| Wall-E / Three-Disc Special Edition : 5 of 5 | |
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7.16.2009
5:40 PM | Link0 comments |
 I can't believe it took me so long to get around to watching Wall-E at home, especially since I loved the movie so much and remember thinking to myself "I can't wait to see this on DVD!" But finally I took the time to truly enjoy this spectacular special edition DVD set, which has some wonderful bonus materials, starting with director Andrew Stanton's excellent commentary track. He's so articulate when he describes the filmmaking process (and does a nice job of commenting on the actual scene), which only proves his brilliance as a director (since communication seems to be such a huge part of the job). There are tons of great short features (selectable from cool Buy-N-Large menu screens) that taught me so much about this film, such as how hard they worked to simulate actual motion picture camera lenses to properly recreate rack-focus and other effects. They even studied with a real cinematographer to properly use lighting and other techniques to a degree never before attempted in animation. A few more cool things I enjoyed were the weird "gel" designs for humanity, the nice deleted scenes (including one fully animated masterpiece that was re-done so Wall-E and Eve could switch roles), and the in-depth look at Ben Burtt's (of Star Wars and R2-D2 fame) sound design. The bonus materials don't stop there, because the complete hour and a half documentary film The Pixar Story is also included (such a bargain!), which covers the fascinating history of the company from its origins as a division of Lucasfilm, to the purchase by Steve Jobs, and finally to the Disney merger. Every bit of this material hammers home the point that Pixar is a company who cares about creativity and simply will not compromise, and it's always shown in their work so far. It's estimated that it would take one person 442 years to create Wall-E on their own, so that should give you an idea of Pixar's commitment! Of course, the movie is fantastic and everyone should own this DVD, but for me, it's all about studying this new "golden age of animation" that's going on right now!
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| Walt Disney Treasures / Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh : 3 of 5 | |
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6.25.2009
11:58 AM | Link1 comments |
 I've finally finished watching all the DVD sets that I got for Christmas, and it's only June! This is the third set of the Walt Disney Treasures 2008 releases, and truthfully, I had never heard of this story before (even though apparently it was highly requested!). The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh was first presented as a three part series on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color in 1964, and then later it was re-cut into a feature film, and this set includes both versions (which is kind of a bummer since it's the same thing twice). After watching it (along with Walt's introductions, which are always fun), I can easily see why this was a popular story, because it's exciting, mysterious and creepy all at once! Dr. Syn is the vicar of a small English town, who becomes a kind of Robin Hood smuggler at night, dressed in a mask and using a horrifying voice! He distributes his smuggling profits to the poor to help them pay their taxes to the king (just prior to the American Revolution), as well as rescuing prisoners and other daring acts! The character of Dr. Syn, played by Patrick McGoohan before he became famous as The Prisoner, is fascinating, since he is cool and calculating like Sherlock Holmes, but almost terrifying as the Scarecrow, riding on his horse with his wicked laugh. Of course, the show has a great theme song (in the same storytelling style of Davy Crockett), and all of the costumes and sets are top-notch (the show was actually filmed on-location in England in authentic churches and castles). There are a couple short but nice documentaries on the DVD, and it was really interesting to learn why Walt made so many live action films in England (after the war, profits made in England were frozen, so he had to spend the money within the country). Besides the fact that the second DVD is kind of a repeat of the first, this is a fantastic set, and I really enjoyed getting into an awesome Disney adventure that was completely new to me!Labels: disney, dvds, walt disney treasures |
| Three Small Things 6.22.09 | |
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6.22.2009
12:24 PM | Link0 comments |
 Even though it's a giant multi-month task, I'm really enjoying reorganizing my entire photo library into iPhoto. What I like about it is that I'm forced to take at least a quick glance at every single shot I've taken since 1999, and often I find things I never knew I had! For example, during my first trip to Japan, Barron took a picture of me with a Godzilla poster. I was only a casual Godzilla fan then, but now it's so cool to know that the movie is Godzilla vs Megaguirus, which was current in the theaters at that time!I have had tremendous success with PaperBack Swap, and now I have so much to read that I don't know where to begin! I've been really lucky with posting books that people want (they are usually snatched up the moment I make them available), so it's been no problem getting credits to use. I have received about 10 books (some manga, graphic novels, and even a hardback book), and all of them were in great condition! I'm always tempted to keep browsing around the site, but I need to catch up with some reading first! I'm suffering from double vacation excitement right now, since I have two incredible trips coming up! In less than two weeks, I'm going to Anime Expo in Los Angeles for the Morning Musume concert (as well as some good times with my pals Dae and Ernesto), and just this weekend I booked a September vacation to Walt Disney World with my pal Melinda. My brain is simultaneously dreaming about the concert and thinking about all the Disney fun in store. Now I'm using every spare moment to scour the web for inside information about Morning Musume autograph sessions, as well as planning which Disney restaurants to book for reservations! Labels: disney, godzilla, morning musume, photos, small things |
| Pinocchio / Platinum Edition DVD : 5 of 5 | |
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6.18.2009
12:41 PM | Link0 comments |
 I finally got around to watching the first Disney Platinum Edition release of the year, and it’s always a joy to experience a true classic like Pinocchio again! Even though it seems silly to keep buying these movies when they are re-released on DVD, I’m always satisfied with the awesome new bonus materials that Disney includes. This time there’s a full hour-long documentary, featuring all my current animation heroes that I love to listen to, and I really learned a lot about this 1940 masterpiece that some call the “ultimate animated film”. It never occurred to me before that Pinocchio was a bridge between the shorts animators and what would soon become the Nine Old Men, so this film is just bursting with talent (and since the studio was flush with cash after the success of Snow White, they spared no expense!). Eric Larson’s animation of Figaro the cat makes him one of my favorite characters (I especially love the white dry-brush technique on his fur!), and I’m always amazed at the incredible camera angles used, such as the shot from above as Honest John, Gideon, and Pinocchio sing their way through town (just think about what it takes to accomplish that and your mind will boggle!). Of course, there are other fascinating techniques like the breakthroughs in water effects, but I also enjoyed finding new details like the Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland books (movies Disney would make in the future) in the background as Jiminy Cricket opens the film. Along with the great documentary, there’s a cool re-enactment of a “sweatbox” session (where animation is viewed and scrutinized) with an actor playing Walt in the shadows (with a pretty realistic voice), as well as lots of discussion about how live-action reference footage was used by the animators. Of course, there are huge image galleries available, but this time they also included some 360-degree rotations of original maquettes. Every scene of Pinocchio is filled with rich detail, so much that it’s estimated it would cost $100 million to create this masterpiece today. As always, I had a fantastic time watching it again, and I’m sure I’ll be watching it a few more hundred times in my lifetime!
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| Up : 5 of 5 | |
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5.28.2009
5:54 PM | Link1 comments |
 Thanks once again to lucky Melinda (who seems to my source of free sneak previews now!), I got to see Up a couple days early (and we even got press seats this time). Being the first animated feature to ever open the Cannes Film Festival, there were lots of reviews for me to read beforehand, and since all of them are so positive, I was prepared to be amazed. All I can say is that I'm completely impressed that Pixar is a studio that can totally focus on the art and storytelling of a truly great film, creating movies that can speak to everyone without compromising for Hollywood's money-making schemes. Up is so wonderful that I'm practically speechless, and it's a perfect example of Pixar's solid integrity. There won't be a lot of kids wanting to play with a 78-year old man action figure, yet Carl Fredricksen is an incredibly compelling character. Of course, animation has to include some suspension of belief (so we have to accept a house flying to South America on helium balloons), but the situations and emotions of falling in love, growing old, losing a spouse, and finding something to live for are all intensely real, and definitely intended for an adult audience. That's not to say there aren't tons of laughs to be had, because electronically-talking dogs ("Squirrel!") and great dialogue from Wilderness Explorer Russel make for some hilarious moments. Just about every detail is fantastic, from the beautiful score (which you can actually hum as you leave the theater), to the subtle use of 3D (which adds a little to the movie, but certainly isn't abused). I know I've said this before, but I'm so glad that Disney bought Pixar so their logo is on this film, because Pixar is without a doubt making the movies that Disney could have only made in the past. Up is not only a triumph of animation, but also a success in every element that makes a great film, period!
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| Earth / Disneynature : 4 of 5 | |
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4.17.2009
7:02 AM | Link1 comments |
 My pal Melinda is really lucky with getting tickets to sneak previews, and we were able to see this new Disney-distributed nature film a full two weeks before its release (it comes out on Earth Day next week)! When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I thought it was cool to see Disney associated with something similar to the old True Life Adventures series, but of course the quality of what can be accomplished now is much more spectacular. Earth is simply shot after shot of moments that make you wonder two things: first, how in the heck did they film that, and second, do I actually live on this planet? There are so many breathtaking views, including some awesome lime-lapse work, that it just seems like our big blue marble is a never-ending world of beauty, all made possible by that magical tilt of the Earth's axis. The movie is narrated by James Earl Jones (which is a nice connection to The Lion King), with just the right amount of detail - nothing is over-explained, and even though topics like global warming are mentioned, there's no preaching, which allows you to just be astounded at the life all around us (which is a better method of ecological argument than any heavy-handed documentary). The story loosely follows three families of polar bears, elephants, and whales, and does a nice job of characterizing them without getting too anthropomorphic. Of course, there has to be death scenes in a movie like this, but they are presented without much blood and in such a way that the circle of life actually becomes something natural (and there's only one shark scene that I didn't watch!). I could go on and on about incredible scenes (such as a lion attack shot in night-vision), and some of them are explained by a little behind-the-scenes footage of the filmmakers during the credits (they even suspensed a camera platform from a hot air balloon!). I'm definitely going to consider getting Earth on DVD to go along with my other True Life Adventures!
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| Character Animation Crash Course! / Eric Goldberg : 5 of 5 | |
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4.16.2009
12:42 PM | Link0 comments |
 I have lots of animation books in my collection, but very few that actually discuss the nuts and bolts of how an animator actually works. But thanks to this gift from my pal Dae, now I have one of the best books on the subject! Eric Goldberg (Disney animator best known for the Genie in Aladdin) is one of my modern animation idols, since he's always so interesting in DVD interviews, and this book is obviously his labor of love to keep the true craft of animation alive. As he states in the introduction, this is more like a collection of "class notes" than anything, since it's only loosely structured into chapters, but each and every one is completely fascinating! Because this book is mostly written for animators, I felt like I was learning a new secret code, since there's detailed information about reading exposure sheets, walk cycles, lip sync, and even gimmicks such as smear drawings. I had to keep referring to the handy glossary, but it was worth it (and now I know what cushioning is!). Reading this book as an animation fan requires some concentration and study, but if you love animation like I do, it's so much fun to figure out. Of course, there are hundreds of illustrations by Eric to help explain the concepts, but even more exciting is the included CD that contains animation files (with a brilliant Flash interface that allows for cycling and stop-frame examination, along with the exposure sheet!). This book really opened my eyes to the challenges of CG animation as well, since Eric explains how some of the freedom that hand-drawn animation allows can be difficult to achieve with CG models. I had a fantastic time devouring this book, and if I had another life to live, I would definitely be tempted to use this knowledge and spend it animating!
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| Walt Disney Treasures / The Chronological Donald Vol 4 : 5 of 5 | |
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4.12.2009
7:37 AM | Link0 comments |
 I've been finishing my Christmas DVD sets one by one, and the latest is another fantastic volume of the Walt Disney Treasures series. Disney continued to make Donald Duck theatrical shorts for years after they stopped making Mickey, Goofy and everyone else, so it's no wonder that it took eight DVDs (across four sets) to include them all! This set covers the 50s, when almost every Donald cartoon featured Chip & Dale, Huey, Duey & Louie, or some other regular character to give Donald a hard time. I really enjoyed Up a Tree, which may be the cutest Chip & Dale have ever been, as well was Donald Applecore, which I always remember watching in a pizza parlor theater, for some reason. It's fun to read the credits and see great names that went on to work on Disneyland, such as background painter Yale Gracey (famous for the Haunted Mansion) and effects animator Blaine Gibson (sculptor of animatronic faces as well the Parters statue), and I like exploring animation history with special cartoons in Cinemascope and 3D (but presented in 2D on the DVD). My favorite part of this set is the long educational cartoons, including the incredible Donald in Mathmagic Land, which I loved seeing in school and fascinated me even more today (and Paul Frees' awesome narration is icing on the cake). The bonus features include a great fantasy pitch session for a Donald cartoon that was shelved after the storyboard stage, a collection of semi-OK modern Donald TV cartoons (too many for my taste, actually), plus a few commentary tracks (which are good, although Leonard Maltin should have let Jerry Beck get some more words in!). It's been a fantastic experience to watch every Donald Duck theatrical short over in this series over the years, and this set is definitely a Disney collection essential!Labels: disney, dvds, walt disney treasures |
| Music Moments 4.09 | |
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4.09.2009
5:44 PM | Link0 comments |
 Catalina by Air / Landing on the Rock: I'll start off these quick music reviews with a couple completely biased opinions. My pals Dae and Ernesto got together to form a new music project called Catalina by Air, and their first album is now available on iTunes! Dae and Ernesto have been my friends and band mates since the Day Jobs days, and their new music has a wonderfully relaxed 20s-30s jazz feel. There are original songs by both Dae (who sings and plays guitars, as well as most other instruments) and Ernesto (who blows some sweet sax), as well as classic standards that everyone knows. I love their music, and encourage everyone to check it out!Dave Clupper / Letting Go: When in lived in Tulsa, the Cluppers were like a second family to me, and we always had fun making music together. Dave Clupper has continued to become an incredible songwriter, and now he has two albums available on iTunes! His latest is Letting Go, which features both live and studio cuts, and includes many songs that are very dear to me (since I sung them with the Cluppers so many times). Sunset Train will always be the most uplifting and comforting song about leaving this world that I'll ever hear, and the version on this album is wonderful! If you're in the mood for some Tulsa folk music, you'll love Dave Clupper. Morning Musume / Naichau Kamo: It's time to get back to the usual Jpop that I'm always listening to, which of course includes Morning Musume's latest single Naichau Kamo (which is already available on their recent full album, but I'm saving that for another review). When I first heard this song, I wasn't too happy they used a cut-time feel in a sad song, but now I'm totally into it. Everyone (including Sayumi) gets some good lines, and they all look stylish in the video (not everyone enjoys watching Jpop idols cry, but I think it's moving). I'm also super-psyched about the B-side Yowamushi, which is a Risa and Sayumi duet! Risa sounds effortlessly awesome, and Sayumi tries her best not to sound like a hamster (and mostly succeeds). Berryz Koubou / Special Best Vol 1: I haven't mentioned Berryz Koubou much on WEBmikey, but of course I listen to them (since every Morning Musume fan automatically becomes a semi-fan of all Hello! Project groups), and since I'm a sucker for compilations, I really enjoyed this album. I was excited that their recent singles are included (I love Madayade and yes, even Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance), but I can't believe that my absolute favorite Berryz song, Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba, is missing! High School Musical 3 / Original Soundtrack: Finally, I had to complete my High School Musical collection with the third soundtrack (which I was able to get for free as an Amazon promotion), and even though I'd rank it last among all three, I still think it's great. I don't really like the longer tracks (like the full Spring Musical, which gets a little boring), but the duets like Right Here, RIght Now and Zac's solo Scream are pretty cool songs! Labels: cds, disney, jpop, morning musume, pals |
| The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland : 3 of 5 | |
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3.18.2009
6:12 AM | Link0 comments |
 Sometimes being a Disneyland fanatic can be tough, especially when new books about the park are released. My initial reaction is to buy them all, but it's becoming more and more difficult to read anything with park facts that I haven't heard a hundred times before! But since I've already collected the other cool books in the Imagineering Field Guide series, I decided I had to have the Disneyland edition as well. As I expected, almost all of it was stuff I've already read, but of course it's still fun to get a refresher course. But I was still able to dig out a few trivia gems to add to my collection, such as the Notre Dame cathedral spire on Sleeping Beauty Castle (I always wondered why that one looked different!), and the reason Christopher Robin doesn't appear in the Winnie the Pooh ride is because it's located in Critter Country! I also didn't really know that the outside track on the Alice in Wonderland attraction wasn't added until the 1983 Fantasyland makeover, or that the ship masts on the roofs of buildings in New Orleans Square are meant to imply a port in the distance (cool stuff!). I really appreciated the up-to-date material, too, which covers the recent changes in Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, and even mentions the brand new Mark VII Monorail. Like the other books in this series, the artwork is nice, but way too small to really enjoy (there were some great Tiki Room concepts that I would love to see close-up!). If your brain isn't already stuffed with a million Disneyland facts like mine, then I would definitely buy this book right away and soak it up! But even if you're already an expert, I'd still consider the Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland just to support this nice series of books.
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| Race to Witch Mountain : 3 of 5 | |
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3.17.2009
7:35 PM | Link0 comments |
 When I was young, I completely ate up the original Witch Mountain movies, since I loved seeing kids from outer space with amazing powers, so those films have a lot of nostalgic value for me. But I didn't mind at all when I saw that Disney was going to re-invent this movie for today's audience, and I was lucky enough to get to see it at a free sneak preview with my pal Melinda! Race to Witch Mountain takes the basic idea of alien kids trying to get back to their spaceship, but that's about the only thing similar (unless you count the Winnebago, which doesn't get to fly, unfortunately), since the plot has been completely re-created as an all out action movie. But even car chases, military conspiracy and Vegas nightlife can't keep this from feeling like a Disney movie, which is a good thing, in my opinion - it's completely action-packed and light-hearted (without being stupid) at the same time. The Rock does a fine job as the taxi driver who becomes the kids' protector, and the kids themselves are excellent (even though they have to talk in contraction-less robot dialogue most of the time). The girl is especially cool - I remembered her role in Bridge to Terebithia and I think she has a nice career ahead of her. It was fun to see the actors who originally played the kids appear in small roles - I noticed their names during the opening credits and expected them to have two-second walk-ons, but I was impressed that they actually gave them some lines! I really enjoyed the special effects, too, which are mostly concentrated near the end of the movie while the kids' spaceship is actually flying (sometimes a simple saucer design is just right!). I'd recommend this movie to just about anyone, since it's a fun action story that won't put anyone to sleep. I'm glad Disney is getting some more mileage out of my childhood memories!
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| Dae & Mikey's Disneyland Day | |
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3.15.2009
3:58 PM | Link0 comments |
 I took my Kodak Zi6 that I got for Christmas with me on my recent trip to Los Angeles, so I could experiment a little with shooting in HD at Disneyland! It was super convenient to have it in my pocket ready to go, and it was really fun to think about how to compose shots in a 16:9 frame. But mostly, my pal Dae and I used it to pass the time in line for rides (even though we had such short wait times) by interviewing each other. I used my Zi6, and Dae used the movie mode on his Canon camera, and by the end of the day we had about 20 minutes of the most lame and silly video ever shot. But it was still a blast to edit them together, add a little music, insert some effects and titles, and create my first HD work in iMovie (although the clips from Dae's camera are still SD). For some reason, YouTube messed up the first five seconds (it's gray when it should be black), but it takes forever to upload so I'm just living with it. I also decided to try Vimeo since they kind of specialize in HD. There's nothing particularly funny or interesting about this video (unless you know Dae or me, which will make it kind of hilarious), but it reminded me that editing is fun and I need to do more of it! Watch video: Disneyland Day on YouTube Watch video: Disneyland Day on Vimeo
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| Mondays rule at Disneyland | |
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2.27.2009
6:25 PM | Link2 comments |
 The third day of my recent Los Angeles trip was spent at Disneyland (what a surprise)! After the great experience I had going on a Monday last year, Dae and I decided to try it again, and it was amazing how light the crowds were. In fact, the only FastPass we used was for Space Mountain, and we even rode Splash Mountain using the regular line (the first time I had ever been through that queue!). Speaking of Splash Mountain, Dae did the impossible again by getting an awesome picture of us during the 50-foot drop! We ate at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street (for the first time), discovered an animatronic fish on Big Thunder Trail, and enjoyed the new Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through (so nostalgic). It was also fun to beat Dae on the Buzz Lightyear ride - my second victory in a row! The changes to It's a Small World seemed OK to me, as long as you think of it as the original children playing "Disney dress-up". The only thing I didn't like was the new Ariel singing solo - it was just too jarring from the rest of the soundtrack. After riding almost everything in the park (including the major rides twice!), we left the park and hit Downtown Disney for coconut mohitos - a great end to a fantastic day! The next day I had to fly home, so that was really the end of the trip. As always, the best part of visiting Los Angeles is hanging out with Dae and Ernesto, but of course Disneyland is the second best thing! View photos: Los Angeles 2009 Day 3
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| The Alchemy of Animation: Making an Animated Film in the Modern Age / Don Hahn : 3 of 5 | |
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2.11.2009
7:42 AM | Link0 comments |
 Just like every animation fan, I have tons of books about the overall process of animation in my library (many of which describe the same thing over and over), but I really wanted The Alchemy of Animation (which I got for Christmas) for a couple reasons. First, the author is Don Hahn, my favorite Disney producer and all-around interesting guy (I really enjoyed his book Dancing Corndogs in the Night), and second, this is the first book I've read to cover traditional 2D animation, CGI animation, and even stop-motion animation in one volume. Actually, this book is quite similar to his previous work Animation Magic (which I also own), but much more extensive. Don's writing is a joy to read (as expected), and he nicely weaves together the entire process from pre-production (which is often identical for all three film methods) to marketing. I really enjoyed the way he describes scheduling problems (such as figuring out how many animators are needed based on their output and time available), and he does a great job of covering the many interesting aspects of CGI animation, such as modeling, rigging, and even virtual lighting. Nothing is totally glossed over, since he even mentions the intricate scoring and other sound processes, as well as the computer guys who keep the render farm going! He also includes some nice advice for future animators (interesting to read for my fantasy life), plus a great recommended reading list and an extensive glossary that includes many terms and definitions that provide more information that isn't even in the main text. All in all, The Alchemy of Animation is a quick read, but its content (not to mention the pages of glorious artwork) is exactly what I wanted for my library. If anyone asks me to recommend a general "how to they do it" animation book, I'll definitely mention this one!
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| Walt Disney Treasures / Annette : 4 of 5 | |
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2.10.2009
11:40 AM | Link0 comments |
 I recently polished off the first of the Christmas wave of Walt Disney Treasures, the complete run of the Mickey Mouse Club serial Annette, featuring Mousketeer Annete Funicello, of course. This show was presented in 20 10-minute episodes near the end of the run of the original Mickey Mouse Club show on TV (1957-58), and it was so relaxing to watch this simple series about a farm girl living with her rich aunt and uncle and adjusting to high society, high school life! In fact, several times I found myself thinking of this show as an early version of High School Musical, since there are themes of cliques, class separation, and even some musical numbers. Lots of the other Mouseketeers have smaller roles, and the boys who played Spin and Marty star in the other main parts. All of the kids do a fine acting job, although there's not much to do except talk in cliched speech (I dare you to count the number of times you hear "I'll say!"). The girl who plays Annette's rival is really cute and sings some nice songs, but of course she's so mean that you have to root for Annette. The high school scenes were all filmed at the Walt Disney Studio in Burbank, so it's cool to see the outside of the animation buildings double as a school! While all 20 episodes are presented individually, the complete Mickey Mouse Club episodes with the first and last parts of the serial are also included, along with some nice documentaries about Annette's career, including interviews with the Sherman brothers about her music (I thought it was interesting that she always doubled her voice in recording sessions). I really had a nice time watching this slow-paced show - even though this is one of the shorter Walt Disney Treasures sets in a while, I definitely recommend it for serious Disney fans!Labels: disney, dvds, walt disney treasures |
| Three Small Things 2.6.09 | |
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2.06.2009
12:24 PM | Link0 comments |
 I finally tried out my DrumDial drum tuner that I got for Christmas, and it was really amazing and interesting to use! I tuned my rack tom and snare to the suggested tensions, and from what I can tell without playing my full kit at home, the results will be awesome (a little lower pitched than I'm used to, but so much more resonant). It was pretty fascinating to see the dial move as I tightened the rods, and it was crazy to see how off my ear-tuning was (but of course, it's tough to hear the differences at each spot on the drum head). I'm looking forward to hearing how the whole kit sounds together at my next gig!For quite a while I was addicted to Sayumi Michishige and Reina Tanaka's (of Morning Musume, of course) individual talk radio shows, and I used to download them and try to keep track of them in iTunes and on my iPhone. I really enjoy the shows, which are great for Japanese listening practice (translated transcripts are often available online), plus they feature some cool music (not to mention that Sayu's cute laugh cheers me up every time!). Anyway, I stopped listening to them since I got tired of managing the downloads, but now the awesome site Sayumin.org (which features nearly all the Hello! Project radio shows) has a special iPhone website with streaming capability! I can listen to Reina or Sayumi anytime I want without downloading a thing, which is awesome and convenient! (In fact, I listened so much during work yesterday that I totally drained my iPhone battery - I'll be more careful next time!) You might remember that I was saving up my Disney Movie Rewards points to get the exclusive Zorro DVD set, and thanks to all the DVDs I got for Christmas, I was able to finally order it! It arrived last week, and it looks like a fantastic six-DVD set - I thought it might be a little cheap since it's not sold in stores, but the artwork quality is really nice, and I'm looking forward to watching the entire series (after I finish the rest of my Christmas sets, of course). I'm sure I'll be singing the Zorro theme song for weeks in the future. Labels: disney, drums, jpop, morning musume, small things |
| Disneyland live music | |
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1.28.2009
8:07 PM | Link0 comments |
 I've still been editing old vacation video every now and then, and I've been enjoying spitting things up into "short subject" clips. It turns out I have lots of footage of the various live music at Disneyland, so I thought I'd mention my latest YouTube videos here (even though I uploaded them some time ago). I remember really enjoying the All-American College Band, which is made up each year of fantastic student musicians from across the country. Their big band arrangements of classic Disney tunes are creative and full of energy, even if their director is really silly to watch! I've only caught the Bayou Brass a couple times, but I really like their sound (and I wish I could try out that ultra-portable drum kit - the whole thing is on wheels!). The Dapper Dans are always fun to watch, and even though the audio quality of my video isn't that great, it was fun to capture someone's birthday with a great Mickey Mouse impression thrown in! I've already linked to my Royal Street Bachelors video here on WEBmikey, but I'm including it again since we're talking about Disneyland bands. I never miss the Bachelors when I visit - their guitarist has been playing there as long as I can remember, and I've even overheard him mention that he knew Walt! Watch video: All-American College Band Watch video: Bayou Brass Watch video: Dapper Dans Watch video: Royal Street Bachelors
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| Tinker Bell : 3 of 5 | |
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1.02.2009
7:34 AM | Link0 comments |
 I have to admit that I was completely skeptical about this new movie about Tinker Bell, Peter Pan's constant companion and Disneyland's official mascot, and I was pretty sure that I would have plenty of bad things to say about it. I wasn't sure Tink's transition to CG would work, and I was appalled when I first heard that Tink was going to have an actual voice, but I felt a little better when I heard John Lasseter was involved. Now that I've finally seen the DVD, I'm happy to say that Disney actually pulled it off - they made an entertaining story about a classic character, and even though Tink has been re-invented somewhat, they didn't do anything to disrespect the character (and I didn't even roll my eyes!). The best parts of this new story come at the beginning, where we get to see the "birth" of Tinker Bell (born from a baby's first laugh and awakening in Never Land), as well as other one-of-a-kind scenes like when she designs her classic outfit and puts up her hair in her signature hairdo for the first time! The world of Pixie Hollow is actually really interesting, and Disney has developed a great mythology about the different kinds of fairies and what they do (Tinker Bell is a "Tinker", of course). The story is about Tink's efforts to be a different kind of fairy so she can go to the Mainland (the real world), and there were some really funny scenes where the new fairy characters try to teach her different skills. I have to spoil the end a little bit to say that when Tink delivers the music box she repaired to a little girl who turns out to be baby Wendy, I had a little tear in my eye, which is a huge compliment from me for a direct-to-DVD feature! Animation-wise, I'm glad they got Tink's chubby cheeks right, though at times I think they slimmed her down a little too much (Tink is known for her hips!). It was a great experience to be so surprised by this DVD, and I'm really looking forward to seeing Tink's further adventures in Pixie Hollow!
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