tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285195221281763042023-11-15T06:08:03.949-08:00Disney History - My Journey of DiscoveryThis is Blog dedicated solely to the journey I am on to learn about the Disney Legacy, and a man for whom I have developed a great admiration and keen interest.Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-33375291323407173322015-11-23T16:00:00.000-08:002015-11-25T11:01:05.864-08:00Recent Thoughts of Walt Disney
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have been away
from my blogs for quite awhile now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Quite contrary to the thought that I have nothing to write, the truth is
that there are so many things happening in our world today, that focusing on a
particular thought has become quite a challenge for me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I have still continued to do my research and association with the people that help to spur on my fascination with the amazing individual. </span>So today I am going to try to concentrate on
some thoughts on Walt Disney that have had an impact on my life and how I see
it.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Walt Disney has
become, truly, an </span><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enigmatic"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">enigmatic</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
figure in our culture. People have studied him and his life for years trying to
pinpoint that quality that would best description the man and his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems that, of late, there has been an
approach in the general public to portray his life’s activities in as negative
a light as possible by interpreting events of his historical activities though
a lens of current day standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of
these conclusions are draw on rather singular events in Walt Disney’s
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, there are people who have dug
up factoids in support of their claims, and I am not going to discuss them here
other than to point out some of the fallacies in their claims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to review any of these claims,
they can be found quite easily via Google searches.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Instead of
discussing these spurious claims and the supporting evidence, both pro and con,
I am going to discuss what I believe to be the essence of who Walt Disney was
and some of why some people try so hard to damage that view. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First the more negative aspect because I,
selfishly, want to leave this piece with more positive note of what my many years
of research has left me with understanding.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Unlike many research
historians, I don’t approach any single topic with a singular focus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time and experience has taught me, I believe,
that the world we live in is so interconnected that, to truly understand
history we have to approach each and every event with a much more open mind of
how many multiple, seemingly unconnected, events effect the accurate
interpretation of a person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the
great challenges with historical interpretation is that we tend to want to view
historical events through the prisms of our own lives and experiences, and
there are some interpretations that have become so ubiquitous that we apply
their principles to our views without much thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I won’t discuss what those pieces might be,
as I think most people are either aware, or will find offense with the
notion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, even more in recent years
we have found these principles taking hold in our thinking about many things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote a piece earlier in this blog about
the </span><a href="http://disneyhistory-myjourneyofdiscovery.blogspot.com/2010/11/walter-elias-disney-lesser-know-man.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Apotheosis
of Walt Disney</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, and I think that view has spurred others to produce
interpretations to counter it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t necessarily
think these people are trying to malicious, but rather, see what they do as a
defense of their own God(s) by pointing out their perceived fault of Walt.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">True of the matter
is that Walt Disney was a man and nothing more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Talk to anyone who knew him, or has researched his history with an open
mind, and that fact will quite often be born out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have had the great honor and opportunity to
talk with a number of these individuals, and never come away with any thought
other than Walt Disney was a man with an incredible thirst for knowledge, and a
consummate storyteller, with an almost uncanny ability to understand what his
audiences wanted, and the ability to encourage those around him to produce to
levels that even they didn’t see in themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Was he always right, no…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but,<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think I have
discovered that one word that best describes the man and his legacy, HOPE!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Whether it is his
films, animated or live action, his theme park, his dreams of EPCOT, or any of
his many other activities that I have had the honor to learn about…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am, and I think many others who are honest
with themselves, left with a feel of hope.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span></i> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-63344695218753518692015-05-28T13:30:00.000-07:002015-05-28T13:30:00.059-07:00Answer to a reader<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I recently receive
the comment below from a reader, I am not going to publish the name here, but
if you choose to go digging, you can find the reader’s Name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try diligently not to censor comments,
except where I find them completely irrelevant to the topic at hand.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #313131; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Hi, I know you wrote this back in 2011, but
I had to comment because I can't understand how you don't see why people say he
was a mason. Ok, first of all, have you ever seen Disney's animations? I
imagine you have. Every single one of them contain subliminary messages with
sexual content, mostly. There are hundreds of videos on YouTube to back me up.
The connection I can make between WD and freemasonry without even trying hard
is that the last one clearly worships the devil. A man who fills (or allows people
to fill) his work with filthy content can't love God. Another thing I believe
you've found out by now, since it's one of your hobbies. Believe me, they do
not worship God, so you can easily realize who they really worship. Just to be
clear, I'm not a conspiracy theory believer, but I do believe you can't deny
what's right on your face. Sorry about my poor English. What I want to say to
you is, please don't be so naive to think he was just a sweet, brilliant and
respectable old man, it's clearly more complicated than that. Maybe not a
mason, ok, but he was obviously connected with something bad, which is what
really matters here.</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To this reader, I
don’t see why people continue to say Walt Disney was a Mason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having been raise around a few Mason in my
youth, I know that, while somewhat secretive about what happens in the lodges
regard their craft, I have never found Mason to be deliberately secretive about
their association with the craft.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most
Masons that I know freely display the symbolic trappings of their association.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With that said, and my 10+ years of research,
I have found only two verifiable Masonic associations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One is the reference by Roy Disney, in his
biography by Bob Thomas, which he states he was a Mason and gave up his membership
in order to avoid creating any conflicts with his future Daughter-In-Law’s
Catholic views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second being a
single DeMolay membership card for Walt on display and the Walt Disney Family
Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In all the pictures I have seen
over the last decade, I have not seen one displaying the symbolic association
that I see regularly on display with other Masons I know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given all my research and unless someone can
present real evidence to the contrary, I will stand by my assessment that Walt
Disney was not a Freemason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the
whole Masonic association has been created in order to square stories people
want to believe about Walt Disney and the rather secretive nature of the
Masonic Order make the fabrication easier to sell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As to whether others in the Walt Disney
organization were Masonic members, as that has never been a topic of interest
or research to my knowledge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I too
have not bothered to pursue it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As for the claim of
filthy content, I think this claim, while somewhat accurate, is seriously overblown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think many people have made some
associations with art work in some releases that is more than is present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In others there is a frame here and there
that may be of a more risqué nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, I think it’s important to note that in the average theatrically
released animation feature, there are around 130,000 individually created
cells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we look at those features
release while Walt was alive, that would put the cell count at in excess of 2
million piece of artwork.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it is
a ludicrous notion to assume that Walt Disney himself reviewed every single
cell that went into each of his features.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now, I know found my research that animation artists can have a rather
interesting sense of humor, and have from time to time admitted to sneaking risqué
frames into their animations. According to my research, when Walt did discover
the inclusion of this risqué content, he made sure it was removed, and I think
we do a disservice to history when we try to judge past events based on
currently morals and standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
are many cases where something that was acceptable behavior long ago, are no
longer acceptable by today’s norms. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also
interestingly, most of the more sexually oriented ones have been in features
release years after Walt’s passing, and I think unfairly attributed to Walt.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally, with
regards to what I think of Walt Disney, I do not delude myself into thinking
that Walt Disney was a saint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a
very creative and talent, forward thinking individual, but he was a man, just a
man and fallible like any other man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think that we have many individual who have attempted to deify the man, and as
such has caused many in the religious community to try to demonize him in
defense of their particular God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone
who has really done the research on Walt Disney, I think will tell you that,
while he was a very detail oriented individual; he had some many different
interests and activities, that he didn’t allow himself to get bogged down in
the day to day minutiae of his businesses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My job as an
historian, amateur or not and Disney relate or otherwise, is to present my
findings as unbiased as possible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-63815114604519050832015-03-30T15:00:00.000-07:002015-03-30T15:00:03.331-07:00Moose: Chapters From My Life by Robert B. Sherman<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yes, I have been
away for awhile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some might say that I
lost my muse, but, more appropriately… My focus and activity has been
necessarily elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More about that
in another future post…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For now, I am fulfilling
a promise made a while back:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyone who knows me,
know of my interest in and love for all things Disney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That love and interest lead to a membership
in the </span><a href="http://www.waltdisney.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt Disney Family Museum</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, and
a rare opportunity to meet and hear from many Disney Legends and
Luminaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One such Legend was in the
person of Richard Sherman:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One half of
the Sherman Brothers team of Disney lore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Think “It’s A Small World” or maybe you remember a little movie they
wrote the music for: “Mary Poppins.” Richard has been most kind and generous with
his time and stories to members of the Museum, and served to remind me just how
much he and his brother Robert B. Sherman had really influenced my life from a
very early age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, if you have
visited a Disney theme park, viewed any number of films or stage plays, you have
been influenced in some way by the Sherman Brothers’ magic. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meeting Richard left me with a great desire
to one day meet his brother, Robert.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the 2002 Robert,
with his youngest son Robbie, moved to London after losing his beloved wife
Joyce the year earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In March of 2012
we lost Robert and the age of 86, and thus dashed my chances of ever having the
privilege of meeting Robert, in this life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, shortly after learning of Robert’s passing, I was fortunate to
be accepted in to a group on Facebook dedicated as a tribute site to the </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/SHERMANBROTHERS/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sherman Brothers</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,
run by Robert’s youngest son Robbie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have been able to learn much more about the Sherman Brothers, and in particular
Robert through this site and my interactions, and somewhat to my surprise, I
have been able to provide some of my own insights that have been found of value
to some.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am most thankful that Robbie,
in particular, has found value in some of my input. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The relationships that I have had the great
and rare fortunate chance to grow out of my association what that site are
amazing, and would fill a post all by themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I can say right now is a deep and
personal Thank You to Gregg, Jeff and Wendy, Laurie, and very especially to
Robbie for the kindness, generosity, and friendship you have all shown me over
the last couple of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has meant
more than any of you might realize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tracy, you are still on my “Still to Meet” list.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, to the book,
it was through my association with the </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/SHERMANBROTHERS/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sherman Brothers
page</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> that I learned that Robert had written and autobiography – </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Moose-Chapters-Robert-B-Sherman/dp/1491883669/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427744364&sr=1-6&keywords=Moose"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Moose:
Chapters From My Life</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, and the Robbie, as editor, was working toward
getting it published for his Dad, posthumously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have two copies of this book in my collection, a working copy that I
use for research, and a 2<sup>nd</sup> hard bound copy which is part of my
treasured signed collection of Disney related books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I said earlier, I was never able to meet
Bob in person, so his book is most fittingly signed by the person, whose
tireless efforts got it published, the editor… Robbie Sherman – Thank You
again!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am not going to
reveal many, if any, details from the book, you should read and discover for
yourself the truly amazing history of this man and to some degree his Brother
and the team we know today as the Sherman Brothers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not what many would consider a traditional
biography, auto or otherwise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a
personal story, told by a master storyteller; about a life lived in both
private and public, sometimes even very publicly, one of the challenges of
being a publicly known figure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the
story of a man of many lives and many talents, some that not many know much
about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the story about a man who
was often more charitable of his assessments of others than he was his own person
experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, even so, he exposed
what he felt were his own flaws with an honesty that is both charitable and
understanding tone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to learn
about a man, from the man himself, and more about what made him the incredible
individual he was than just all that he did, this is the book for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to the editor ;-), I disagree; I think
the last chapter is as important a read as the first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is more than just a story about a man we
should all want to know more about, it is a story about a man who all man
should aspire to emulate.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As you might gather,
I highly recommend this book for any Disney fan, or Sherman Brothers fan, and
remember, “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finally, for those
of you who what to know even more about The Sherman Brothers, you can check out
a copy of </span><b><i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">The Boys: The
Sherman Brothers' Story </span></i></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">a documentary about
this legendary team, or</span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN" style="color: #111111;"><u> </u></span></span><span class="a-size-large1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Walt's Time - From Before to
Beyond</span></i></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, a book done in 1998 by
Richard and Robert with editorial help another legend – Bruce Gordon. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span><br /></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-69373357349537348602013-09-07T08:47:00.000-07:002013-09-07T08:48:25.061-07:00Walt Disney Family Museum has a New Executive Director<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Well, not exactly
brand new, as </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kirsten
Komoroske has </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">been the Interim Director since
just after the previous CEO left early this year.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">September 4th 2013<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Walt Disney Family Museum announced today that
Kirsten Komoroske has been named the new Executive Director. A San Francisco
Bay Area native, Ms. Komoroske has been serving as interim director since May
2013. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a practicing lawyer, Ms. Komoroske has
specialized in advising nonprofit organizations and corporations on a wide
range of strategic, business, and human resources issues throughout her career.
Ms. Komoroske has held a number of executive and board positions, including
General Counsel and Vice President of Human Resources for Tyco Electronics
Corporation, Interim Vice President of Human Resources at Groupon, Inc., and
Chair of the Board of Directors of the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA. She
has a background in and lifelong passion for the arts, having grown up studying
violin and modern dance. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Italian from UC
Berkeley.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“We are very pleased to announce the appointment of
Kirsten as the new Executive Director at the museum,” said the Museum’s
President and Walt Disney’s daughter, Diane Disney Miller. “We are supportive
of and excited by her passion for the museum and my father’s legacy. This,
together with her diverse experience across both for-profit and non-profit
institutions, helps ensure our future success. We are enthusiastic to have
Kirsten as a partner working with our dedicated team.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“I am thrilled to be working with the Board and
staff in driving the museum’s mission,” said Ms. Komoroske. “Just as Walt was a
creative and inspiring storyteller, the museum amplifies his ideals with the
hope that it will inspire creativity and innovation in our visitors.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am a bit
concerned, as I have heard a few other members are as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The press release above paints a very nice
picture of Ms. Komoroske’s experience, but then the last person to run the
Museum had a impressive resume as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There also is a question of her experience and knowledge of Walt Disney,
something that seem to be a challenge to the overall success of the previous
leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can be somewhat overcome
through by having knowledgeable people around you, and listening to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, I will hold back from form any opinion
of Ms. Komoroske until I see some action, for it has always been my view that
actions speak so much louder words. One positive I've seen so far is going back to the title of Executive Director from the title of CEO. I, and many others, never felt the title of CEO was quite right for the position.</span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the
meantime, I welcome her to the Walt Disney Family Museum, and really do wish
her great success in her new endeavors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I look forward to the opportunity to meet her.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finally,
here is hoping that “Three’s a Charm,” and it should be no secret to anyone
that I am still hopeful that the new Executive Director and the Family can find
a way to re-engage Jeff Kurtti in some way.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You
can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-76139315839807551622013-06-07T01:00:00.000-07:002013-06-07T12:11:11.431-07:00Walt Disney Family Museum Location Discussion
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now that I have
placed my endorsement for the next leader of the Walt Disney Family Museum, I’d
like to provide a little background for another discussion that is resurfacing
as a result of this current situation – the location of the Museum.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are those in
the community of Disney fans who believe that a Walt Disney Museum would be
better served if it were located closer to where much of Walt’s legacy was
created.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That would be somewhere in the
Los Angeles area, and many of the advocates of that location are residents of
that area, and they feel there would be a greater attraction to a Walt Disney
museum that was located in an area where Walt spent most of his creative
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also some who think that
the Museum is something that the company he and his Brother Roy created is
somehow responsible of creating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, I
will admit I have developed my own bias for the Museum’s locations at The
Presidio of San Francisco, as it is just a bit under 50 miles from my front door,
and easy for me to visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, I think I
understand some of the reasons it is where it is located.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First and probably
foremost, it is called the Walt Disney Family Museum, and not the Walt Disney
Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is because the Museum is
Walt’s family’s tribute to his legacy and of their creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has very little to do with what has become
the company Walt and Roy created, but, for legal reasons, the Walt Disney
Company does have certain controls over what happens and what is displayed at
the Museum; they don’t own or operate it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That is solely under the direction of Walt’s surviving family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, the vast majority of artifacts
on display are the property of Diane Disney Miller or her family, and many of
those artifacts were stored in a warehouse on The Presidio grounds for many
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have heard stories of Diane
taking guests to that warehouse for personal viewings, since she and her
husband Ron live in the area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It makes
certain sense that when uses for The Presidio, after it was turned over as
National Park Services resource, were being considered, that Walt’s family
would look there first, as well as The Presidio Trust approaching the family as
being a location for their Museum. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I also mentioned
there were legal issues which affected the Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During his lifetime, Walt created a private
company, which ultimately became Retlaw (Walter spelled backwards) to protect
certain property and copyright claims for his naming rights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon his death, control of Retlaw passed to
his wife Lillian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1982 the family
sold much of Retlaw to the Walt Disney Company, which consisted of certain
rides at Disneyland and control of Walt Disney’s naming rights, which I understand
included ownership of Walt Disney’s name, image, and voice materials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I honestly don’t understand the reasoning
behind this sale, but, I do understand there were some internal conflicts
developing within Walt Disney Productions, some of which, according to my
observations, seems to still exist today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, the main outcome is that Walt’s public company gain control of his
name, image, and voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has created
an environment where the Museum must obtain certain approvals for what is
displayed at the Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, what affect
might this have on the location?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
creates a separation – geographically – between Walt the Man and Walt Disney
the company, and is less likely <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to have
the Museum overshadowed by Disneyland or the Studio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also keeps the Museum closer to the family
in Northern California. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some have claimed
that the Miller’s simply put the Museum at The Presidio because it was
convenient for them to have close to them, without giving much thought to any
other location.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They claim that Walt
carefully researched – through Buzz Price – the location for Disneyland to
maximize its potential visitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d
like to point out that his actual first choice was a parcel location adjacent to
the Studio, but the dream ended up exceeding the space all too quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the brilliant analytical skills of Buzz,
Walt went on to look for a larger parcel on which to build his dream, and
settled on the Anaheim location, not because it was the best place at the
moment but because of the future plans in place for the area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should also note that the location was
still relative close to Walt’s base of operations, making his oversight and
development of Disneyland’s progress much easier process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the Walt Disney World location was based
on, in part, the local future plans being developed for the area, and not what
was currently in place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now let’s apply
a little of Walt’s thinking to the thought processes of Ron and Diane’s
locating the Museum, after all Diane grew up as the daughter of this creative genius,
and Ron was groomed by the master to take his place, it would make sense that
some of the creative thought process would have been transferred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, I understand from a couple of reliable
sources that there were a location of locations looked at in southern
California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No reasons given for them
being excluded, but, there was some thought given to SoCal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next, as I said earlier, many of the
artifacts were already being stored on The Presidio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But that fact aside,
</span><a href="http://www.presidio.gov/Pages/default.aspx"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">The Presidio Trust</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> has
been looking at all the way to preserve the base while making it a valuable
resource for the people of the United States, since </span><a href="http://www.presidio.gov/about/Administrative%20Documents/EXD-502-TrustAct-20011228.pdf"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">The
Presidio Trust Act</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> was passed in December of 2001. So while I have no
evidence to support it, I would not be surprised to learn that it was the Trust
the approached to family about creating the Museum at The Presidio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, let’s go back to the creation of
Disneyland for a moment, because some have made the comparison, while others
have dismissed this comparison as being wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We all have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight to make the claim that Walt’s
choice of Anaheim was a brilliant decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, let’s remember that none of the access highway that were part of
the basis for the decisions were actually in place or even out of the planning
stage when the choice was made on Anaheim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since it is my belief that Walt Disney’s Family is looking at this
Museum as a long term tribute to their amazing Father and Grandfather, it would
make sense to be that they would look for a location, like Walt, that had a fair
well developed plan for future growth, and someplace where they can more easily
maintain oversight of its development and growth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So there’s my basic
synopsis of the location issue, as I understand it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, there are people out there who know much
more than I, so if they’d like to share. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d be more than happy to listen to what they
have to say.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So stay tuned as I
try to learn more about what’s next for the Walt Disney Family Museum.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-20300641261852345712013-06-04T13:00:00.000-07:002013-06-04T13:00:01.047-07:00News from the Walt Disney Family Museum <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I haven’t written
much about the Museum lately, as I’ve been spending more time exploring and
trying to deal with a few of my own demons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, there has been some big news from there in the last couple of days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The now former CEO of the Walt Disney Family
Museum resigned her position early last week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I know it’s pretty recent because, until just the other day, Gabriella
Calicchio was still listed as the CEO on their website.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have remained pretty
mum on the management of the Museum, and in particular, Ms Calicchio’s tenure
which I have had some real concern about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, those who may have read my reviews of the Destination-D event
this last August, will remember that I was none too please with Ms. Calicchio’s
</span></span><a href="http://disneyhistory-myjourneyofdiscovery.blogspot.com/2012/09/day-2-destination-d-75-years-of-feature.html"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">presentation</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
at that event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time, I said I was
addressing my concerns through other channels, and I did … But, I can say now
that there were many Museum members in that audience, and most express their
concern and rather hurt feeling that we completely overlooked in amongst her
other audience acknowledgements, and were very disappointed to learn of the
rather important Snow White exhibition coming to the Museum through the D23
event and not through Museum communications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One would have thought that the Museum members would be the first to
learn of such an event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that
session, I seemed to become a lightning rod for questions from the members in
attendance, wonder WTH that was that we had just witnessed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I addressed those concerns from the
presentation directly to the Co-Founder of the Museum.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not that I want to
pile on, but, now that she is gone I can address all of my concerns more
publicly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First, my very first
encounter with the New CEO was after one of the first presentations at the
Museum that she introduced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the
program had concluded and the theater was clearing, Gabriella was down in front
at the podium so I went down to introduce myself and welcome her to the
Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt her curt “Thank you,” and
then quick departure was rather cool, but at the time I just chalked it up to
be new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then, when I did encounter
her during other visit, I noticed almost always that she had a cell phone to
her ear, or in the company of someone and talking while they walked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From this and my first encounter, I got the
distinct impression that she was cool and unapproachable to the visitors and
members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The former Director – Richard
Benefield – always seemed to make time to stop and talk with the Museum’s
frequently visitors, and was very approachable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One of issue which has been on the tongue of many frequent visitors, are
the presentation and program offering under Ms. Calicchio’s leadership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the program offering have seem to be on
the increase, or at least returning to the levels offered during the first year
of operations, they seem to be moving away from a Walt Disney centric group of
topics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And finally, there is a serious
lack of communications with the Members of the Museum.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of the things
that was always pleased and amazed me about the Museum has been the absolute
joy and friendliness of the Museum’s staff and volunteers working the events
and galleries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, very approachable,
and ready to do whatever they can to make your visit a pleasure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a few months on the job for the New
CEO, I noticed a difference in the attitudes and personality of most all of the
staff and volunteers I encounters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was subtle, and probably not visible to all, but the most frequent of
visitors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there was the Mad Tea
Party event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ms. Calicchio had her
children in attendance with her at the party, and for the most part, all went
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, when her youngest child
lost at one of the games that was part of the festivities, and began to sob
almost uncontrollably, I saw an expression of tension and fear apparent on the
faces of almost all the staff and volunteers present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There might not be that much to this, but
with all that I had already seen in the changes in the staff, this was a bit
telling of the CEO’s impact on the organization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, probably the most amazing deficit,
besides never running a museum, for any person running a Museum dedicated to
Walt Disney was the fact that she, until a few months before being appointed
CEO, had never visited to one of Walt’s greatest creations – Disneyland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now couple, what I consider an epic fail, the
Snow White Exhibit presentation panel at the Destination D event, and an almost
equally poor public performance during the Snow White Exhibit opening reception
for VIP’s and Members at the Museum, and I can say quite publicly that my
opinion that Gabriella Calicchio was the wrong person to run the Walt Disney
Family Museum, an opinion born out as accurate given her recent abrupt
departure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should also be noted that
the former Director, Richard Benefield, was not very knowledgeable on the
subject of Walt Disney, which I believed hampered his effectiveness as the
Museum’s leader, even with his strong background in museum development and
operations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To end my review of
Ms. Calicchio’s tenure as CEO of the Museum, I’ll close with a few positive
notes from her tenure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During her
tenure, the membership roles at the Museum have almost doubled from 1100 to a
bit over 2100 members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An impressive
increase, but still lower than I believe they could or should be if a more
creative marketing was conducted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
most impressive improvement is the increased visitors to the Museum’s
galleries, given as just over 32,000 visitors in the first quarter of 2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A 71% increase over the first quarter in
2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These greatly improved numbers
are, I think, a result of some changes in policies for those visiting the
galleries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, the ‘No Photography’
in the galleries has recently been rescinded, and second two benefit visitors
with young children, strollers are now allowed in the galleries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I will admit that Ms. Calicchio has had
some positive influence during her tenure.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As the search for a
new leader of the Walt Disney Family Museum commences, I think it is important
for the family to realize that the one issue which created the greatest challenges
for its leaders is their lack of knowledge and understanding of legacy and
impact of Museum’s primary topic – Walt Disney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I really hope that the next CEO/Director, or as some of us would prefer
– Curator, chosen by the family will be someone with a true understanding and
passion for Walt Disney and his legacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It would seem to me that a Museum dedicated to Walt Disney needs a
leader that can see and promoted a telling of Walt Disney’s life and legacy in
a creative way, like the master might have done himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh all my interactions with the Museum during
the last few years, I can think of one person who could fit that bill quite
nicely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That would the
person of </span></span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1126487/bio"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Jeff Kurtti</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,
Producer, Director, Author, and noted Disney Authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have had the opportunity to get to know
Jeff over the last few years, and have been able to attend most all of Museum
programs and panels he has moderated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have the pleasure of counting Jeff as a friend today, but would endorse him
regardless of that friendship as one of the best qualified to be the Curator of
Walt’s legacy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-31241902353139721512013-04-16T14:09:00.000-07:002013-04-16T14:09:40.294-07:00Another Hatchet Job
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Every morning there
is an email in my inbox that provides me with a list of links to the most
recent information to hit the web about anything Disney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most mornings it just the last news and
rumors about the goings on in the house that Mickey built, but yesterday morning
there was something different, and online article at the UK’s Daily Mail
site:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2309291/How-CIA-helped-Disney-conquer-Florida-buy-super-cheap-land.html?ito=feeds-newsxml"><span style="color: blue;">Revealed:
How the CIA helped Disney conquer Florida and buy super-cheap land that is
'above the law'</span></a> The article is about a new book “Finding <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Florida: The True History Of The Sunshine
State” by <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>investigative journalist
Timothy T.D. Allman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The article
provides <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/14/how-the-cia-helped-disney-conquer-florida.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thedailybeast%2Farticles+%28The+Daily+Beast+-+Latest+Articles%29"><span style="color: blue;">extract
attribution</span></a> about the book to an article on the Daily Beast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can get a feel for the leaning of the
article simply by its title, and that of course piqued my interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As some will know, at least any of my
frequent readers will, I have written about what I called the “Darker side of
Walt,” though it should more accurately be call an effort to create a darker
side to Walt Disney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was Walt a
Mason?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing but unsubstantiated
claims and innuendo, coupled with a DeMolay membership card from his young
adulthood, and a claim in one book that Brother Roy might have been one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now know a few Mason in my time, and while
they don’t talk about their craft, they also do not hide away the symbolic trappings
of their brotherhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Illuminati?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t think so!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think anyone, but the fertile minds
of many conspiracy theorists, believes that this group existed, other than a
brief period in the late 18<sup>th</sup> century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s more, but…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So now we have these new claims from Mr. Allman (my
personal opinion withheld) that Walt Disney was in league with, or received
help from the CIA in the acquisition of the Disneyworld land in Florida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The CIA apparently assisted Walt Disney and
Company to establish an unconstitutional (Florida and United States) government
for the development of the property.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s
look at these claims:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Copied from
the article:</span></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In Finding Florida he claims that
Walt Disney conspired with William 'Wild Bill' Donovan - the so-called 'Father
of the CIA' - to establish a state-within-a-state where he could 'control the
overall development' of Disney World.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Donovan, founding partner of New York
law firm Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine, whose attorneys included future
CIA director William Casey, provided lawyers to help Disney distract attention
from its plans, says Allman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">These attorneys, it is claimed,
provided fake identities for Disney agents, set up a secret communications
centre and organised a disinformation campaign to make sure sellers had no idea
who was buying their property.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In this way, Disney was from the
mid-Sixties able to snap up 40 square miles of land in the Sunshine State for a
knockdown price of less than $200 an acre.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This very first
claim, that Walt Disney conspired with </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Donovan"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">William “Wild Bill”
Donovan</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> to create or establish his own government within the Disney World
project would seem to be a dubious claim at best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, William Donovan died in February of
1959, and 1959 was the year the Walt Disney started looking for an east of the
Mississippi home for Mickey and his friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It seems rather unlikely that Walt and “Wild Bill” would be wasting
valuable time conspiring to build this clandestine governmental unit when the location
of the site was unknown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, Walt’s
company used several law firms, Donovan’s included, to pursue acquisition of
the Florida site very quietly, and yes you could say in a clandestine manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would make perfect sense given Walt’s
experience with the development of Disneyland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Anyone, with more than a casual interest in Disney history, knows that
Walt Disney became rather disturbed with how the land around Disneyland was
snapped up at highly inflated values, and developed rather haphazardly, to take
advantage of the current rendition of “Walt’s Folly” because of its rapid
success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The claim at the end of this
except is that Disney got the Florida property at a “knockdown price” of less
than $200 an acre, when in reality Disney acquired the property for what I
think would be considered a “fair market” value, instead of an overly inflated
prices which would have accompanied the knowledge that Disney was the
buyer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coincidentally, a price which
also would have almost assuredly dealt a death knell to the project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Copied from
the article:</span></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Disney and his advisers then
sought a way to 'limit the voting power of the private residents' of the area,
to control the impact that local democracy might have on the company's plans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They employed a scheme devised by
senior CIA operative Paul Helliwell to establish two phantom cities populated
by hand-picked Disney loyalists around which Disney World would be based.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The cities were based around Bay
Lake and Lake Buena Vista, two artificial reservoirs Disney engineers created
by obstructing the area's natural water flow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The company could then 'use these
fake governments to control land use and make sure the public monies the theme
park generated stayed in Disney's private hands,' Allman writes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Teams of Disney lawyers working
out of Donovan's New York law firm drafted the legislation to establish the two
pseudo-cities, which was passed by the Florida legislature in 1967.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Again, a claim of dubious distinction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a student of Disney History, I have
studied the development of Disney World, later renamed Walt Disney World by Roy
O. Disney to honor his decreased Brother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, there was an effort to limit the bureaucratic influence of a
political agenda on the development of the Florida property, but one should be
reminded of one of Walt Disney’s primary goal for the Disney World property –
EPCOT (Experiment Prototype Community of Tomorrow).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not the Epcot we know today as a theme park,
but rather, Walt’s desire to build an experimental multi-use city using the
latest and greatest of new technologies for the benefit of its residents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will try to have more on Walt’s EPCOT
later, but you can get a feel for his goals in the </span><span class="watch-title"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO-zn4f7NtE"><span style="color: blue;">Walt Disney's Original Plans
for Disney World (1966)</span></a> </span></b></span><span class="watch-title"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">video on YouTube.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While the entire video is a good view, Walt’s <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>EPCOT plan starts at about 10:20. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I think, contrary to Mr. Allman’s claims,
the purpose of the local government entity(s) was to support Walt’s EPCOT goals,
by controlling the </span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">bureaucratic</span><span class="watch-title"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> political influences we see at so many levels of
government today in the planning and execution of urban planning today.</span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Copied from
the article:</span></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">However, in violation of both the
U.S. and Florida Constitutions, the carefully drafted laws specified that any
elected office holder must own property within the cities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The law, which states that each
candidate for office 'must be the owner, either directly or as a trustee, of
real property situated in the City', ensured any local politician would be
intimately linked with Disney.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On the day of the magic kingdom's
inauguration, Walt Disney, speaking from beyond the grave in a recorded
presentation, boasted of creating a new kind of America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">'Of course he was right about
creating a new kind of America,' Allman writes. 'By turning the State of
Florida and its statutes into their enablers, Disney and his successors
pioneered a business model based on public subsidy of private profit coupled
with corporate immunity from the laws, regulations, and taxes imposed on actual
people that now increasingly characterises the economy of the United States.'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This allegation of
constitutional violation at both the state and federal level would seem to me
to be false, since there is no supporting case law that I can find support Mr.
Allman’s claim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely there would have
been some ruling against it, if it were truly unconstitutional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Allman’s book seems to be taking some
veiled “facts” to draw a direct connection between Walt Disney, the CIA, and
some conspiracy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t see it, but
then, I don’t possess the conspiracy theorists’ ability to make blind leaps of
faith that anyone with secrets has something malicious to hide. While I have
not read Mr. Allman’s book, and probably won’t, it would seem to me that with
the Disney inclusion in his book, he has created something sensational in order
to spur on sales.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is unfortunate
that Walt Disney did not live long enough to see his dreams for EPCOT become a
reality, and yes it was a rather utopian view of the potential for city life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t even know if he could have pulled it
off, but, if anyone could, it would have been Walt Disney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And… unfortunately, after Roy O’s passing in
1971, more political forces began to take control of the company that these
incredible brothers had built.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly I think,
at that point, the dream of Walt’s EPCOT expired, as neither brother was there
to champion it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Has the company taken
the fullest advantage of the environment created to support Walt’s plans?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most definitely, but, should Walt’s
reputation and accomplished be smeared because of it, and that some people don’t
like it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the concerns I’ve had, since my Disney
History journey began, is the discovery of all the negative content being circulated
about Walt Disney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems to me that
there are just some people who have to find ways to tear down successful individuals
that they don’t understand or dislike for their achievement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In everything I have read or listened to,
regard Walt Disney – the man, I see a man who really did not have an political
or social agenda other than to entertainment and help people with the stories
and technologies he enjoyed and discovered throughout his life’s journey, and
his inquisitive nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is he a perfect
human?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were there people he irritated, for whatever
reason? Yes!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, none the less, he is a
man to be admired and celebrated for effort, not berated.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I write this because
I know that, neither the Company Walt built nor his family will address these
new found accusations, nor should they.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It would only serve to provide more speculative claim about their agendas
to hide the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I have no such
agendas, I seek the truth, and I am not claiming T.D. Allman’s claim a
false.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I am saying is that, in my
experience, claim such as these need documented evidence supporting them, not
claims that would not be considered even good circumstantial corroboration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my opinion, Mr. Allman’s little treatise
is nothing more than another attempt to diminish a great human being.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Next time, as time
is available, I’ll try to do a better job of exploring Walt’s EPCOT and what he
was thinking about, but in the meantime, the video link is a good start, as are
two books on the subject:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #313131; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Promise-Progress-City-Gennawey/dp/0615540244/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326214120&sr=1-1" target="_new"><span style="color: blue;">WALT and the Promise of Progress City by Sam Gennawey</span></a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> and </span><span style="color: #313131; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Project-Future-Inside-Behind-Creation/dp/0615347770/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282875248&sr=1-1" target="_new"><span style="color: blue;">Project Future by Chad Emerson</span></a>.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much
more objective journalistic presentations in my opinion</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></span> </div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-5974750209241187792012-11-14T23:47:00.001-08:002012-11-14T23:47:31.931-08:00Creating a Classic Exhibit - Reception and Preview
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was lucky to attend
Tuesday night’s opening reception and preview of the new Special Exhibition at the
Walt Disney Family Museum, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.waltdisney.com/snow-white"><span style="color: blue;">Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:
The Creation of a Classic</span></a></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
might be better stated, Creation of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">‘The’</b>
Classic, for had Walt Disney not had the vision and determination, we wouldn’t be
celebrating the 75<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Snow White or animation as a
feature film storytelling medium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
could claim that someone would have eventually thought of it, and that is
probably true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up until the 1970’s Walt
Disney Productions was just about the only studio in America producing feature
length animated films.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To date, Disney
has produced 52 animated features, with 19 being done under Walt Disney’s
personal direction. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, one could
genuinely ask, “what classic and which anniversary would we be celebrating this
night?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The evening started
with our normal run up the peninsula from San Jose to San Francisco, only this
time it was during the evening commute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Luckily, I had my lovely wife with me, so through use of the commute
lane, our journey was greatly expedited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, our arrival at the Museum was about 40 minutes earlier than I
expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we walked up to the Museum,
people were already lining up at the front door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that Disney fans tend to be early for
events, given the day and time of the event, I was a bit surprised until I
learned from one of my favorite volunteers (Trish) explained that the people in
line now were other VIPs going in earlier than the others who had RSVP’d.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was surprised because after providing my RSVP,
there was no further communications regarding this event or its associated
activities, even after being informed that such communications was forthcoming.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of my grievances,
since the new CEO has taken charge, over the last few months has been a
quantity and quality of member communications coming from the Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ms. Calicchio, this really needs to be
address, as I am not the only one concerned about this issue.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The reception:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shortly after the VIP’s were ushered into the
event, Membership Coordinator – Pam Spedus (a woman of inestimable value to the
Museum staff) came out to usher the half dozen or so Founding/Friends Member
who had arrived early.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">While I always look
forward to seeing all the friends I have made through the Walt Disney Family
Museum, there was one person, I knew she would be present, who I was anxious to
see, as I had promised her a great big hug the next time I saw her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, while I may have appeared somewhat
distant to many others, I walked through the crowd, scanning for Sheri.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, she is the person responsible for my
recent visit to Club 33 (post for that coming soon), and I will never be able
to thank her enough for her generosity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After a few minutes of scanning the rooms, and a query of one of the volunteers,
I spotted her, and that great big hug was delivered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note to self:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>self don’t wait soon long to say thank you in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My night could have been considered complete
at this point, with the exception of visiting the Special Exhibition building
and Snow White, but, it got even better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While working the room (actually I wasn’t, but it probably looked that
way to some) and visiting with other people I’ve met of the last few years, I came
upon Disney Legend and recent Window on Main Street recipient, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Estes_Davis"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Alice Davis</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> having a
conversation with another person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d
seen her enter the building early, but did not get a chance to say Hi, and tell
her what a fan I was of hers and Marc’s work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve been a big fan of Alice’s, and her husband, </span><a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyinsider/history/legends/marc-davis"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Disney
Legend Marc Davis</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, for a number of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her husband Marc brought my favorite crush to life – one Ms. Tinker
Bell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alice created, with Mary Blair,
the costumes for “It’s A Small World” and later “Pirates of the Caribbean.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not the type to interrupt someone while
they are talking, so, I figured I hang in the group around her for a moment to
see if I could get a chance to just say hello.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While I was standing there, I noticed a gentleman over my shoulder, who
I’ve been trying to meet for three years, and one of the Co-founders of the Museum,
Walt Elias Disney Miller – Walt Disney’s Grandson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He too, was talking to someone else, so there
I was waiting between two people I admire waiting to the chance to say hi to
either, when from behind me Diane Disney Miller comes into view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I said hi to her!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just about then some nice gentleman behind me
shepherded me before Alice, telling her that he thought I was waiting to speak
with her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you kind stranger,
whoever you were…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I not only got to say
hi, but we talked for about 5 minutes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
I was reaching to shake her hand before moving on she said, “Come here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You need a hug.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then proceeded to give me one wonderful
hug!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a sweet woman!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next, I was able to get a few minutes with
Walter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also got to see Ron Miller and
daughters, Tammy and Joanna again as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, I haven’t even made to the Exhibit that this night was all about,
and evening is a completely awesome day in my life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s now time to
head over to the Special Exhibition Building and the ”Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic” exhibit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Low and behold, as we are walking down the sidewalk, who is coming up
the sidewalk toward us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None other than </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lasseter"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">John Lasseter</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wow… aren’t I clever, “Hey you’re John
Lasseter!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, he stopped and shook my
hand anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On to the exhibit… If you
get to do one thing in San Francisco between now and April 14<sup>th</sup>, this
exhibit is it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two floors of
concept art, film cells, live action modeling, and other production documents,
paintings and information related to the making of Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs, broken out into about 10 mini galleries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This exhibition is a small but spectacular compilation
of the effort, art, and talent that went into creating this animation classic. To
add even more joy to this experience, I met and talked with animator, artist,
and future Disney Legend </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Deja"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Andreas
Deja</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, a key contributor to the animated features of Disney’s second golden
age of animation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are even a passing Disney fan, you will
enjoy this experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may remember
my recent piece about my experience at Disney’s Animation Research Library in
Glendale, and my comment to one of the managers there, about my emotional
response to my visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was overcome
with similar emotions during my tour of this exhibit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which should really be much of a surprise, as
the ARL was a key partner with the Museum staff in bringing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.waltdisney.com/snow-white"><span style="color: blue;">Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:
The Creation of a Classic</span></a></b> to life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Because of my
emotional reaction, any real descriptive attempt would pail in comparison. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, since I have my own young artist in my
house, I will be making other visits to this exhibit over the next few
months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I will attempt a more
effusive piece in the near future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But,
for now, that was my Tuesday night, and a marvelous night it was…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-63368538387118117802012-09-14T11:00:00.000-07:002012-09-14T11:00:02.245-07:00Day 3 – Part 2: Destination D: 75 Years of Feature Animation
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, after spending a
wonderful morning touring the Roy E. Disney Feature Animation Building, we load
back up on our buses and took the short trip over to the executive entrance to
the Walt Disney Studios.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First order of
business was lunch, which is good because it was lunchtime and, even with the
snacks from earlier in the morning, my stomach was beginning to grumble and
rumble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lunch was set up for us in
Legends Plaza on what turned out to be one of the hotter days in Burbank, but,
with some umbrellas it was passable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing against D23, they can’t control the weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, the food was delicious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been the victim of many a buffet line,
where you’ll find a myriad dry over cooked chicken, tasteless fish, and tough
beef dishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not today!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had chicken dish that was moist and
succulent, and a marinated beef skirt steak that was amazingly tender and
tasty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, the sorbet served for
dessert was more of a slushy, but that was to be expected given the heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All in all, I was very impressed with the
meal.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">While lunch was
being served, several D23 staffers circulated among the tables giving out
different colored wristbands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yup, we
were being assigned to different tour groups again, but, with 100 people it’s
not surprising, on the three Studio tours I been on, the tour group range
between 15 and 25.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After lunch, before
the tours began, each group assembled in front of the northern door of the old
Animation Building for a group photo, and then it was off to explore the
studio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My group’s first stop was the
Ink & Paint Department.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Walt’s
day, this was where all the cells that made up a cartoon short or animated
feature were created before going to the camera department for shooting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The paints of the day were toxic and took a
very long time to dry – as much as 8 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since the paint could only be applied one color at a time, it could take
several days to complete one cell, and a proficient paint girl could work on 8
to 10 cells per day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the actual rooms
in the Ink & Paint Department are rather small, our group was temporarily
split in two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first going in while
the second was entertained with a Q&A by one of the tour guides in the
hallway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the first room, in reality
the middle room has walls of shelves with bottle upon bottle of colorful
paint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, we were first headed to the
little room on the left, the walls covered in hundreds of small paint chips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is where we learned that the Ink &
Paint Department is still active today, though today the studio no longer uses
hand inked and painted cells to do animation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Today these very talented artists use the tremendous skills to produce
most all of the commemorative and limit edition cells available in the parks
and special piece upon request.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this
first office, an original drawing can be called up from the archive to be
reproduced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These drawing have all the
artist’s original notations for color specs, and here is where the paint chips
are pulled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the paints room we learn
that today paints are an acrylics based paint which now dries in 5 to 10
minutes, making the production of their pieces today much quicker, though they
can still only apply one color at a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We got an explanation of how all the colors we see on the walls are
produced from a few base colors they receive from and outside vendor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are no real formulas for mixed these
colors, someone mixes and compared paints to sample until an acceptable match
is achieved, at which time the bottle is marked CE for close enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the final room we meet to artists, one who
is demonstrating the inking, which is transferring the lines of a drawing onto
a cell (celluloid sheet).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a skill
that requires a very steady hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once
the inking is complete and dry, and painter takes over applying each color one
at a time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The paint is applied on the
back of cell from front colors to back, and it is flowed on to the cell, not
painted or brushed on so as to not leave brush marks or minute blemishes in the
paint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was actually quite impressive
that Disney puts that much effort in keeping the Ink & Paint craft alive to
this day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We’re now off to the
old Animation Building on the lot, and up to the third floor theater next to
Walt’s old office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those of you who
remember, this is my second visit to this theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was here two years ago during the D23
Disney & Dickens event with my wife, where we were treated to a few of Disney’s
holiday shorts and a featurette.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today,
we were introduced to some of Disney’s film preservation efforts by one their
Archivists (sorry remembering names is not my strong suit) involved in the
effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He started out by telling us
that Disney is the only studio that has not lost any film, whether it be the
original film or a copy produced somewhere along the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That by itself is a pretty impressive fact,
at least to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next he told us about
the types of film and the problems with preserving them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before 1952 all movies were created on
celluloid nitrite, a very volatile substance not prone to stability and long
term storage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a matter of fact, a
couple other studios had incidents of film vaults having an auto-ignite
event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Walt Disney Studio still has
vaults on the lot that were used at one time to storage nitrate film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We saw slides of film canisters and the film
slowly decaying inside them, and were told of the challenges in transferring
some of these films to digital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
recapture to digital is only one part of the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the transfer, these films need to be
restored to the quality when first screened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Actually, because of today’s other digital improvements, these films
have to be restored to better than original quality to be marketable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got to see some clip from 1941’s Bambi
before and after the restoration process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The difference is really quite remarkable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were told that the plan is to eventually
digitize and restore Disney’s complete film library, but, that they were
restoring in reverse order with the most popular features and short being done
first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know, because I didn’t
think of it at the time, but I would suspect that this preservation process is
neither quick nor inexpensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I ever
get another chance, I’ll have to ask those questions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For our next stop,
after a short trip out to Glendale, was what turned out to be, at least for me,
by itself worth the extra cost of the ticket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our bus pulled up outside a nondescript mustard colored building not far
from another of Glendale’s more famous Disney operations – WDI (Walt Disney
Imagineering).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The building showed no
windows from the outside and bore none of what would be considered normal
Disney frills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The building’s parking
lot stood behind a chain-link fence with a card key access gate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the gate was a plain white sign with red
lettering, and there the only external acknowledgement of the building owner or
the contents there in – Disney’s Animation Research Library.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At mid-building and set back about 20 feet
was the entrance and only glass, color or landscaping of this facility and it
wasn’t even visible from the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Once inside, we were instructed on the do and don’t while in the
facility, and the purpose for the Animation Research library.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ARL houses 65 million pieces of Disney
animation art, from maquettes (small scale models) of characters to cells,
matte, and sketches for a myriad of Disney shorts and features.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, many early cells are
unavailable, as it was a practice in frugality then to wash and reuse cells as
many times as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laid out for use
to view where several cell, background mattes, and sketches, and a couple of
vaults were open for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one vault
alone could be found, shelf upon shelf behind glass, character maquettes from
dozens of Disney films.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In another were
several rows of large document storage cabinets, were a couple of cells were on
display with an archivist present to answer questions, and I assume protect the
art on display.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I walk out of one of
the vaults, the facility manager looked at me and asked if I was okay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I could say is that I was in total
awe!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All he could say was that he pretty
much felt that way every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
back of the building was a design and layout room where archivists and designer
work together to build out the various exhibits Disney displays, like the
Treasures of Archives currently on display at the Reagan Presidential Library
in Simi Valley, and there was a mock up of the WDFM Special Exhibition with the
designs for the upcoming Snow White exhibit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The last room on the ARL tour was the digital lab, where artists,
photographers, and technicians work to digitize and catalog in a database all
of the art housed in the facility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here
we were shown three different high resolution cameras, which if memory serves
have a combination cost of nearly a half a million dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether it is individual drawings or
collections of drawing known as flipbooks, these drawings are being digitized
so that current artists at the studio can pull the talents and techniques of their
predecessors while still protecting the long term integrity of the original
art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one station in the lab, a young
technician was showing us a digital flipbook that had been recently created on
a monitor that any computer geek would relish; it had to be at least a 40 inch
screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon leaving the ARL I was truly
in a state of awe and wonder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I
would give to be able to spend a week, a month, or a year there just exploring.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Upon arriving back
at the Studio lot, our last visit of the day was to the Archives, and a visit
with Dave Smith – Founder and now Director Emeritus of the Walt Disney
Archives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dave retired last year, after
building the Archive for 41 years, yet he is still a regular fixture on most
tours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This visit made my 4<sup>th</sup>
to the Archive over the last few years, the most recent visit before this being
in June of this year, when I finally got to take my youngest daughter on a
Studio Tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This visit was a little
different as a few of the items Dave normally shows are now on display at the
Treasures of the Archive exhibit in Simi Valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, on this occasion, we were treated to the
first ticket book from Walt Disney World, along one of the Olympic torches
designed by Disney Legend John Hench for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw
Valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I know that Walt got at least
two of these torches because one of them is on permanent display at the Walt
Disney Family Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also on the table
in front of us were several Mary Blair originals, which I had to fight hard not
to try and sneak out of the building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not that I would have gotten away with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And finally, a print of the Chernabog, the
devilish character from Fantasia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
his presentation, I got to spend a few minutes with Dave and ask him if he was
getting tired of seeing my ugly mug around, and his kind response, “of course
not.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">After a long day of
visiting new places and learning so much more about the animation process, and
some of the real treasures of The Walt Disney Company, it was time for a little
shopping, and a nice evening reception with D23’s leader Steven Clark, Archives
Director Becky Cline, and our tour guides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since it was only a short time back that I had been in the Company
Store, there wasn’t much in the way of shopping that was needed. As we were
waiting for the reception to start I met up with my friends, and shortly
thereafter, the caterers had the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">hors d’oeuvre</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> line set up and we were invited to begin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As with the lunch earlier in the day, the
hors d’oeuvres were very good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a
choice of a grilled shrimp on a skewer, a gazpacho shooter, a small salad like
spoon, and egg rolls, along with soft drinks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As good as they were I, of course, had several pieces of all that was
served, it was good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we all enjoy the
snacks and a cool drink – remember, it was a hot day in the burb, Burbank that
is – we talked about our experiences of the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>General consensus, it was pretty damn
awesome!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earlier in the weekend, my
volunteer friend from the Museum had express some concern as to whether the
cost of the Diamond ticket would end up being worth it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the weekend moved along she was become
less and less concerned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, as we
talked at the reception, I asked her if the event(s) had met her expectations from
the cost perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Expectations met
and exceeded, for me as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the
Diamond Level experience had been just for the events of Saturday and Sunday, I
probably would have forgone the extra expense, but, my anticipation was for
Monday, and I was not disappointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
the reception came to a finale, Steven made a little speech thanking us for
being part the day’s events, and then Becky had us come up by group to receive
a copy of the picture taken after lunch, and a Disney Fairytales Art Book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we loaded back onto the buses for the
long commute back to the Disneyland Hotel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Of all the events
that D23 has put on, and that I have had the opportunity to attend, this was by
far the best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the things I noticed
throughout our jaunt around the lot was the number of different service carts
and trucks on the streets of the Studio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was apparently a very busy production day at the Studio, and we still
got on the lot to witness it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It really
was cool!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d like to give my sincerest
thanks to all the D23 staff and volunteers, and all the other Disney Employees,
who made this a positively wonderful day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And… a SPECIAL THANKS!!! to Laura, for her tireless effort to make this
such great event.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’d also like to
thank my companions for both the weekend and Monday, you all help add to the
magic of the event.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-73863381462754730772012-09-06T11:30:00.000-07:002012-09-06T11:30:00.499-07:00Day 3 – Part 1: Destination D: 75 Years of Feature Animation<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">As great as the
Destination D weekend was and as much as I enjoyed sitting up front for all
presentations and entertainment, it was the Monday events that prompted me to
go for the Diamond level ticket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only
100 of these tickets were available and snatched with moments of going on sale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">After the wonderful
Alan Menken concert to end the regular Destination D event, it was off to bed
to rest up for the very busy next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Originally,
check-in for Monday’s for Monday’s bus trip from the Disneyland Hotel in
Anaheim to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank was scheduled for 7:00 AM with a
prompt departure at 7:30.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, with
all that was happening at the Studio, and check-in and departure time was moved
up to 6:15 and 7:00 AM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, along about
5:30 the ole eyes slammed open, and with a rapt anticipation I jumped out of
bed, showered, and dressed and was out the door by a little after 6:00.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No coffee in the room, no news, no email, I
wasn’t going to take any chance on missing the bus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beside, we’d been promised breakfast items
and coffee would be awaiting us downstairs, though I did stop at the coffee
shop for my quad shot latte, I did have to make sure I jump started my daily
caffeine requirement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First it was a
check-in so D23 knew I was present – yeah, like I was going to miss this… and
then off to the pastry and coffee table, yup, I needed more caffeine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Found some seats for my friends, and enjoy a
bite to eat and discussion of our mutual anticipation of the day’s activities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">By a little passed
7:00 two buses were on the I-5 heading north to Burbank and the Studio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Disneyland was first built, it was about
a 2 hour drive from the Studio to the Park, and vice versa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is roughly a 40 mile trip, one way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fifty seven years later, with all the
improvement in roads and vehicles, today it is about a 2 hour drive from the
Park to the Studio, longer sometimes depending on how clogged the traffic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s somewhat ironic that as much as things
change, they manage to stay the same too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, at just about 9:00 we pull into the Studio, not the studio proper
but the buildings across Riverside from the main complex, The Roy E. Disney
Features Animation building and the ABC TV Headquarters building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we disembark the bus, we are each tagged
with one of four Disney character stickers, as learned… to signify the tour
group we would be assigned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again as
with the assembly point at the Disneyland Hotel, there was a table with pastries
and drinks for us to enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After about
a ½ an hour to eat and use the rest facilities, we were off to begin our
touring of the Features Animation building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First up, we all gathered on the second floor between to Pods, for a
quick video welcome and personal greeting from Disney Animator Darrin Butters, then
it was time to form up in our groups and head off to explore this amazing
place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">First stop down to
the basement floor and a visit to one of the animation rigging labs were they
build wire frames.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You probably already
know this, but, much of today’s animation is done on the computer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each of those clever characters we see on the
theater screen is a computer program called a wire frame rig.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Artists of the electronic world of bits and
bytes take painstaking time and effort to build wire frame structure of these
characters so that they can move for us on the screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This lab has about 2 dozen computers and we
were all directed to take a seat in front of one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the computer monitor in front us, and on
the screen at the front of the room, was one of these wire frame models of
Ralph – the title character from the upcoming new movie ‘Wreck-It Ralph.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After some basic instructions for the
gentleman at the front of the room, we were encouraged to create our own little
animated sequence which was really cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I got done, I am sure I violated certain anatomical rules and my
sequence had Ralph signaling for a touchdown while doing a rather impossible
side kick, but, it looked cool!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure what
software we used and I forgot to ask, so I don’t know if it commercially
available, or a proprietary custom application, but it was a lot of fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next it was off to the recording studio where
we got to participate in some ADR (or Auto Dialog Replacement), at least that
what I thought I heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few people
from our group got to go into the recording booth and redo some lines from
‘Wreck-It Ralph.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there was a quick
trip down the hall to the art studio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing really exciting, but, they hold regular art classes at the
facility, where artist on site can come to learn or practice new techniques.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">There was a visit to
a storyboard room in the story department.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In any other company this would be a conference room with a large table
and chairs surrounded by tack boards, white boards, and drawing pads around the
rooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got to see some of how a story
goes through its development with the use of storyboards, and group discussion
and brain storming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We even participated
in a short brainstorming session to continue the development of a story that had
been planned for this event… more on this in a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was then back upstairs and through the
Frozen Pod to a Feature Animations Building equivalent of the old sweatbox viewing
rooms from across the street in Walt Disney original Animation Building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the old sweatboxes, this is where the
artists, animators, directors, and producers come together to review and
critique the day’s production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, we
got to see some to the early animation of Wreck-It Ralph’s Vanellope von
Schweetz, and listen to the young animator, her first animation assignment with
the Studio, explained her process and efforts to animate her character, along
with an animation supervisor and a director explain the critique and review
process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now to the pods…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The center of the
second floor of the Roy E. Disney Features Animation building is divided into
what our tour guide described as two pods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I never thought to ask if pod was an acronym, but, I’ll have to remember
to ask if I ever get another chance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each of the Pods houses the productions and
direction staff for one of the two Animated Features currently in production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each pod is design and decorated by the staff
to reflect the story and feeling of the film being produced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Frozen pod there are renderings and
art on the walls that reflects some of the research done by the staff on
locals, characters, concepts for the story. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the middle of the pod is a central meeting
area were producers, directors, artists, and animators can come together to
discuss the project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The décor again is
representative of that feature’s concept and story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Frozen pod, the walls are in muted
colors of winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Across the hallway is
the Wreck-It Ralph pod, where their central meeting area is designed to look
like a video arcade, big surprise there…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As we exit the Wreck-It Ralph pod we are directed to a room at the end
of an open meeting area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There we
meeting and attractive young artist with a distinctly Latin accent who explains
how the Wreck-It Ralph team researched and developed the color palette some of
the building features for the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Turns out, like we learned in the Frozen pod, artists and designer are
sent on trips to locals that represent the film to draw inspiration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the case of Wreck-It Ralph trips to Spain
(hence the accent of the young artist giving this talk) to sketch the building
that would represent one of the worlds in the movie, and many trips to candy
stores to draw insight into the world of Vanellope von Schweetz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As l look around and notice the room is
round, I look up to see that the ceiling ends at a conical point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re in the HAT!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’ve ever driven by or seen any of the
many picture of the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, you’ll know this, but…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the Feature Animation building was
originally constructed, it included a large Sorcerer Mickey’s hat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inside the building this was Roy E. Disney’s
ceremonial office, while still maintaining a working office in the old
Animation building across the street, where he would meet with important
dignitaries or special guests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
will be more on the Hat when I get back to my history posts in the near future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">After a couple of
wonderful hours exploring the Roy E. Disney Feature Animation Building, we were,
all the tour groups, ushered into the theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In each seat was a bag of goodies for us to commemorate our visit, along
with a copy of the group photo we’d taken earlier in front of the building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Darrin Butter, our MC at the beginning
of the tour, leading the way, we talked about what we had seen, and had a nice
little question and answer session.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
gentleman who led our story brainstorming session came up and told a raw
concept story based on all of the tour groups’ input.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know I won’t be able to do it justice,
but…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the story of a time-traveling
young lady who stole a teddy bear from a young man, who with his dog, chased
her down the slope of an active volcano flowing with lava, in his fire proof
boots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t expect to see this at a
theater near me any time soon, if ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, it was a
great example of brainstorming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
schedule had originally called for a shopping opportunity in the Feature
Animation Building company store, which didn’t happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe smarter heads prevailed, when it
was realized that funneling 100 people through their store would add hours to
an already very busy schedule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t
see the store in this building, but, I’ve been in the company store – Mickey’s
of Glendale – at the Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) facility, so I’d assume
they are similar in size, and the store at WDI is not that big.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, it would have been nice to get some of
the more specialized merchandise, but, the gift bags were a nice compromise. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It’s now time to
leave this wonderful building and head back to the buses for trip across the
street to the main studio lot, and lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I’ll make that a
part 2 entry, as there was quite a lot that happened there which may take up
several more pages.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
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</span></span><br />Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-33225457064123206222012-09-01T16:55:00.001-07:002012-09-01T16:55:36.147-07:00Day 2: Destination D: 75 Years of Feature Animation<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most days my eyes
slam open at about 6:00 AM in the morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And, most days I can close them and sleep for another 45 minutes or so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not when I’m away from home, when my eyes pop
open, they stay open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve tried and
tried to lay around for awhile and it just doesn’t work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, it’s up, turn on the news, and make the
weak coffee available in the room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hey,
it’s a start at the day’s caffeine requirement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, I watch a little news, got to stay informed, and check my email
while drinking some weak coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Actually, come to think of it, this morning coffee was all that weak,
I’d remembered to add one of the Starbucks VIA packs I carry now when
travelling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then after a
quick shower, I was dressed and out the door before 7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A stop at the coffee shop, got there a few
minutes before it opened, so there was a wait and nice conversation with
another guest about the Walt Disney Family Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yup, on this day I was decked out in my
Museum ball cap and one of my t-shirts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I find they are great conversation starters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the coffee shop now open, I grabbed my
large quad shot latte and pastry, and it off to the queue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I arrived there are only a couple of
people ahead of me in line, but… remember my comments about this in my last
post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a couple of minutes my friends
show up, so now, everyone behind me is now 3 people further back in the queue,
and by the time the D23 staff were ready to open the doors, we were about two
dozen back in line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, not to worry,
we have Heather!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, of
course, we got four seats; front row left side of the stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>COOL!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Go Heather!!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First
session of the morning was WACKY AND WILD DISNEY ANIMATION hosted by co-host of
D23’s Disney Geek, Billy Stanek; with Disney animator and director Eric
Goldberg and animation historian Jerry Beck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First off, I must file a protest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>D23’s own Jeffrey Epstein is and always will be for me – The Disney
Geek!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, on to the presentation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent the 45 minute hearing about and
seeing some of the more psychedelic and visually amazing animation put on the
screen, as well as some of a more racing nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An example of the more racing, we were shown
a clip from Steamboat Willie, which the panel agreed would be expurgated in today’s
environment or garner an R rating, this was the scene of Mickey using a pig as
an instrument.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also in that short, there
are scenes which would probably garner the wry of PETA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the really visually stunning
animation came for such scenes as Pink Elephant on Parade in Fantasia, and
Donald Duck’s dream sequence in The Three Caballeros.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story of Ward Kimball’s losing the soup
eating scene from Snow White was told.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I, of course, knew this one, because there’s an exhibit at the Museum
dedicated to this event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ward was told
by Walt that the soup scene was being cut just before the full animation was
scheduled to start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, Walt, being a
master at motivation, immediately following with giving Ward the character of
Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eric also
told of doing some animation of the Genie from Aladdin to some of Robin William
routines before Robin was on board to do the voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was what sold Robin on doing the part.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next up
in the session queue, DRAWING WITH PERSONALITY with Famed Disney animator
Andreas Deja.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen Andreas at the
Walt Disney Family Museum, and again a really nice guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this presentation he demonstrated several
drawing techniques and discussed the styles of several famed Disney animators
including “The Nine Old Men.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did
bring up a point I don’t think most in the audience had ever considered, if you
look at Mickey Mouse from a profile, he has a nose that looks like an
olive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, if look at him from straight
on, his nose look more like a button on the end of his snout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While discontent in style, Andreas explained
that this is because from head on and olive shaped nose would interfere with
and make animating Mickey’s eyes and facial features.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This continuity issue has just become
accepted, by both artists and audiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Andreas went on to demonstrate his drawing of another of his characters
– Jafar from Aladdin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While doing this
demo, he asked the audience to take out the sketch books we’d received the day
before and draw our rendition of Jafar, but with a catch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Draw him as a child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t even try, I have pick up pen or
pencil to draw with in over 35 years, thanks Dad. </span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this
father would have loved to see what my young artist would have done with it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of the session, Andreas asked for
volunteers to let him show their work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
few people came up, and there were a couple of very interesting drawing.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now up, TINKER
BELL: THE EVOLUTION OF A DISNEY CHARACTER hosted by Disney animation historian
and author, Mindy Johnson, with Margaret Kerry, Ginni Mack, Mae Whitman, and
Peggy Holmes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The host for this
presentation – Mindy Johnson, has a book coming out in the fall of next year –
Tinker Bell: An Evolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guess what’s
going to be on my 2013 Christmas list?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If I wait that long!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone who
knows me, knows that I am a huge Tinker Bell fan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had a crush on Tink since I was about 5,
and have a few Tink trinkets in my collection, even got my picture taken with
Tinker Bell at Pixie Hollow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So to say I
was looking forward to this presentation was an understatement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To start the session, Mindy talked a bit
about her forthcoming book and some of the interest things she discovered while
doing the research.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While talking about
this research, she showed a picture of an attractive young blonde with the “Big
Mooseketeer” Roy Williams, who was also an animator and artist at the studio,
and drawings of Tinker Bell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For years,
everyone knew that Margaret Kerry was the live action model for Tinker Bell,
but nobody knew the identity of this young blonde.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, today we learned her identity; on stage
with Mindy was Ginni Mack, the first face character model for Tink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mindy even managed to find a picture of Ginni
at Marc Davis’s drawing board with a drawing of Tinker Bell, a shot that was
thought not to exist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, the delightfully
irrepressible Margaret Kerry, at 83 still the embodiment of a Pixie, and Ginni
had some amusing exchanges on stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Peggy Holmes, as director of animation, was there to talk about the
upcoming installment of the Tinker Bell Movies – Secret of the Wings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A story about how Tinker Bell discovers… well
I’ll leave that for you to discover in a few weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, my second most favorite part of this
session…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until only recently, first in
Hook and then in the new Tinker Bell movie series, Tink’s only communications
came in the form or bells ringing when she talked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mae Whitman has been the voice of Tink in all
the new Tinker Bell movies, and when she began to speak on stage, my heart
fluttered!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As with Ginni and Margaret
Mae is the personification of a Pixie, and of a particularly cute little Pixie
named Tinkerbell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mae is young enough to
be my daughter, but I still think I’m in love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now for my
favorite part of this presentation, a gift from Alice Davis from the estate of
her husband Marc Davis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marc was Tink’s
animator, and had done a concept sheet of various drawings of Tinker Bell as a
reference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, Alice had this concept
sheet reproduced, and we were each given a copy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank You Alice!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And oh yeah, congratulations on your recent very
well deserved Window on Main Street. </span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After the
lunch break, HEARING VOICES:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A SALUTE TO
DISNEY VOICE ARTISTS was hosted by Tim O’Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Joining Tim on Stage were; Kathryn Beaumont – Wendy Darling of Peter Pan
and Alice, Lisa Davis – Anita from 101 Dalmatians, David Frankham – Sgt Tibbs
from 101 Dalmatians, Bruce Reitherman – Mowgli from Jumgle Book and Christopher
Robin from Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Bill Farmer - Goofy, and finally
Chris Sanders – Stitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Missing was
Dickie Jones – Pinocchio, as he was unable to make it at the last moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was just a wonderful time listening to
these voice actors talk about their experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple of interesting notes:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lisa Davis was originally tested to do the
voice of Cruella Deville, but, she felt is wasn’t right for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do you tell the great Walt Disney that
you think he’s made the wrong choice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, in Lisa’s case you simple ask if you can read for Anita while Walt
reads Cruella.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walt said, “yes,” and the
rest is history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other interesting
note, you may recognize Bruce Reitherman’s last name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, he is the son of Woolie Reitherman, one
of Walt’s “Nine Old Men.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bruce got his
role as Christopher Robin because the voice actor initially doing the role hit
puberty and his voice cracked during production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bruce Dad, Woolie, sitting at the dinner
table one night was asking, “where am I going to find another kid to voice
Christopher?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking across the table,
he spied his 10 year old son, again, the rest is history. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The
second afternoon presentation was SNOW WHITE:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>STILL THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL, hosted by Tim O’Day with, Marge Champion,
Alex Rannie, and Gabriella Calicchio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While this presentation started out well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How could it not with Marge Champion on
stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marge is the live action model
for Snow White, and performed most all of the scenes before they were animated,
so the animators could watch how she moved and her clothing flowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This allowed for a more realistic animation,
which Walt felt was very important to a successful movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She talked about being up in lodge during the
premier, while her friend Shirley Temple was right do front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, she had no bitterness in her
voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She understand, as Mr. Disney had
explained, that people might think that his artists just </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscoping"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">rotoscoped</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> the film from
live action footage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alex Rannie, noted
film musicologist and historian, showed us several slides of music sheets from
the movie and explained some of the development process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now here is where the presentation broke down
for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gabriella Calicchio, the new CEO
for the Walt Disney Family Museum, came on stage to discuss the Museum, and the
new special exhibit coming soon to celebrate Snow White’s 75<sup>th</sup>
anniversary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my opinion, it was a
very poorly conceived presentation on her part, and I am not going to discuss
it all here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am handling that through
private channels, but I will stay that as a Founding/Friend Member of the
Museum, I was not happy to learn of this exhibit and the great deal they are
preparing for D23 members before hearing about it as a Museum Member.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, I am not alone, there were a few dozen
other members in that audience equally perturbed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still think the Museum is a great place,
and enjoy attending anything I can and learning all I can about Walt Disney,
but, there are some additional tweaks to the leadership that I think need to be
made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you plan on going, I’d still
recommend it.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Just
before the dinner break we were shown a Bonus Featurette: “Once Upon a Mouse.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was about a 30 minute featurette down
back in the 80s that fast frames through most all of the Disney animation
catalog of the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, it was a bit
hard to follow, but, hey… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
apparently not been seen in a while, and I couldn’t find any good reference on
youtube, so…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We sat through it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was okay.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Now, for
the real </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“</span></b><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">piece<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span>de resistance<span style="color: #222222;">” of the event,</span></span></span><span><strong> </strong><span style="font-family: Calibri;">AN EVENING WITH ALAN MENKIN.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Menken"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Alan Menken</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> won 2 Academy
Awards each for “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” and “Pocahontas”
for a total of 8 Oscars, along with 11 other nominations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alan has also composed musical scores for “The
Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Hercules,” “Home on the Range,” “The Shaggy Dog,” “Enchanted,”
and “Tangled.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alan isn’t a public
performance kind of guy, so this was a really rare treat, and his performance
truly felt like a personal thing he was doing for friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So there is no real way to recap this other
than to say, IT WAS AMAZING!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was
scheduled to do an hour and fifteen minutes and ended up doing a full 2 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the perfect end to a pretty incredible
2 days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even managed to make it into a
couple of pictures D23 posted for their recaps, you can </span><a href="http://d23.disney.go.com/news/2012/08/d23-destination-d-frozen-first-look-disney-animation/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">find
them here</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Would I
do it again?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a heartbeat, it was worth
every penny paid, and just wait until you hear about Monday’s events.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-70356882175650752372012-08-30T16:20:00.003-07:002012-08-30T16:20:59.661-07:00Day 1: Destination D: 75 Years of Feature Animation
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even
though I had reserved seating for the day’s events, I know how even in the
reserved seating areas the lines begin to form early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beside, for a guy who was not a morning
person, and in his youth could sleep away a day without a problem, I find
myself an early riser.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These days’
sleeping in for me is 7:30; so, my eye popped open 15 minutes before the alarm
was set to go off at 6:00 AM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Slip the
little pod into the pot and add water, and after my shower, there’s coffee
awaiting me, passable, but not great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
little coffee and a little morning news, and I remember… there’s a little
coffee shop downstairs right next to Goofy’s Kitchen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides, it about time to head down for the
always present Disney queue.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cherry
Danish and a large quad shot latte in hand, and I’m in business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I head off the few 100 feet to the hotel
convention center rooms to grab a spot in line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Anyone who is familiar with the Disney Parks knows about the queue –
that’s the line, with the serpentine stanchions and chains, at the beginning of
most rides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The larger D23 events are no
different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the main seating queue
there were at least tape outlines of the queue on the floor, for the Diamond
members, only the sign was present to indicate where the line started, and
about a dozen other people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Half an hour
earlier and I might have been 5<sup>th</sup> or 6<sup>th</sup> in line, but
I’ll explain more in a minute why it doesn’t make a lot of difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I’m standing in line, I strike up a
conversation with an attractive redhead names Regina, a very sweet young woman
from New Jersey… and yes, my wife knows!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>:P<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Regina and I talk, another
Disney friend of my rolls up in a wheelchair, with an interesting story as to
why she is in the chair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I met Diana at
the Museum for the first time, and we’ve seen each other at several other
Museum and D23 events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we are talking
she begins to introduce me to Regina, as they had ridden to the resort on the
bus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think Diana may somehow be
connected to everyone. </span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About this
time my friend Heather from the Museum shows up with her friend, she’d messaged
me on Facebook, to save her a place in line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Heather and I have a little competition going on to see who can be first
in line for Museum events, and I think to this point she still has the edge on
me in wins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, back to my line explanation.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless you can manage to be first in
line at any of these events, no matter where you might start out in the line,
you going to find yourself further back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Spot saving is the normal, I was even saving a couple of spots, so even
though I started out about 12<sup>th</sup>, by the time they opened the doors
we were probably about 30 spots back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, since we had reserved seating up front, I was too worried about
where we were in line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just before the
doors opened, Diana left us to head up front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were letting in, or in Disney parlance, loading wheelchairs and
ECVs first. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless of our place in
line Heather, being short and stealthy, managed to get us four seats, at this
point Regina had be adopted into our group, in the second row center aisle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only drawback, poor Heather got stuck behind
a rather large person in an ECV and couldn’t see anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I offered to change places with her, but she
ask a D23 person who told her to just move her seat out into the aisle a
little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All was good.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a
Welcome from D23’s leader, Steven Clark, a little dance by some D23 fans and
volunteers, and a welcome message from John Lassiter, himself… just a bit of a
disappointment as the crowd was hoping for a live appearance, and treated to
one on video, the first program of the day – WALT AND THE FIRST GOLDEN AGE OF
DISNEY ANIMATION.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Current Walt Disney
Archives Director, Becky Cline, hosted Disney Legend, and famed animation
layout artist - Burny Mattinson, film producer – Joe Hale, and documentary
director – Ted Thomas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ted is also the
son of one of Walt’s “Nine Old Men” Frank Thomas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first golden age of Disney animation
started, here’s a surprise, 75 years ago with Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The studio’s land and many of
the building today, are a direct result of the amazing success of Snow White.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all know that Walt was told that no
audience would sit through a ninety minute cartoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully, like so many of his other
endeavors, Walt chose to ignore his critics, and the movie went on to earn
almost 8 million dollars in its first theatrical run, and has earned a $185
million domestically since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the
hour we heard wonderful and funny stories about working with Walt’s “Nine Old
Men.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those who don’t know, Walt’s “Nine
Old Men” were a group of his original animators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Clark"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Les Clark</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Davis_(animator)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Marc Davis</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milt_Kahl"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Milt Kahl</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Kimball"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Ward Kimball</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Larson"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Eric Larson</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lounsbery"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">John Lounsbery</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Reitherman"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Wolfgang “Woolie”
Reitherman</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Thomas_(animator)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Frank
Thomas</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollie_Johnston"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Ollie
Johnson</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From Snow White on, these
are the men that helped to bring Walt’s storytelling visions to the screen, and
who he looked to, to mentor his next generation of artists, animators, and
story men.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For our
next session – ROY E. DISNEY AND THE SECOND GOLDEN AGE OF DISNEY ANIMATION – Noted
Disney Historian, Tim O’Day hosted a panel composed of Roy E’s son and former
Imagineer Roy Patrick Disney Producer, Don Hahn, writers, directors, and
producers John Musker and Ron Clements, and Disney creative director Dave
Bossert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone, who’s read the earliest
entries of my blog, knows that it was really Roy E. Disney who initially
inspired this blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the tumultuous
history of Disney in the 80s, animation at the Studio came close to being
lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a management change in 1984,
Roy volunteered to take on leadership of the animation group at Disney rather
than seeing it closed down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had that
happened, there are, as of this coming November, 26 animated features which
Disney would not have brought to us, most notably among them, The Little
Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As part of this little celebration for Roy’s
bringing of the second golden age to Disney’s animation group, Roy Pat was
presented with a Mouscar, a posthumous award for his father’s many
contributions to the company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can
expect to hear more about Roy E. and the 80s and 90s as I return to my history
pieces in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, suffice to
say, Roy E. Disney is a great figure in Disney History.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the
first afternoon session we got a look INSIDE WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS
TODAY, where Disney Animator Darrin Butters gave us a look at some coming
attractions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any of you who attended the
D23 Expo last summer knows about Wreck-It Ralph, coming to a theater near you
in November, the story of a video game bad guy, exploring his softer side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were treated to a couple of first looks at
this movie, and I must say I am looking forward to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were also treated to most initial
development of a new Disney Animated Feature coming to the screen in 2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frozen, a story based on </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Christian_Andersen"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Hans Christian
Andersen’s</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> tale of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snow_Queen"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">The
Snow Queen</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First looks are good,
and I think the anticipation will built.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Also shown were a couple of new shorts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First, Tangled Ever After, and cute little short based on… you guessed
it… Tangled, and the marriage of Rapunzel and Flynn… err… Eugene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next, Paperman and this was the first public
showing of this new short.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I heard
correctly this new short will play with Wreck-It Ralph when it premiers in
November.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think you’ll be
disappointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next up, was THE GREATEST
DISNEY ANIMATION YOU NEVER SAW, hosted by Don Hahn and Dave Bossert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the next hour or so, we were shown
various animated clips and commercials for the Disney video vault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were cute and enjoyable but nothing I
would think is that spectacular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally
for the last session before the dinner break – ANIMATING THE DISNEY PARKS, with
Becky Cline and Tim O’Day hosting famed Imagineer and SVP of Creative
Development, Tony Baxter; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagineering
VP of Creative Development, Tom Morris; and former Imagineer and noted designer
Eddie Sotto.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simply put, I don’t think
many people know or appreciate how Walt Disney influenced Imagineers like Herb
Ryman, John Hench, Claude Coats, or Marc Davis, who went on to influence
Imagineers like Tony, Tom, or Eddie, who have gone on to influence current and
future Imagineers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, just what disciplines
the term imagineer encompasses; artist, engineer, architect, designer, builder,
and on and on, I’m sure I’ve missed many, sorry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walt never really wanted the guests to see
the backstage, as he felt it would spoil the illusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this fan and guest, it only serves to
enhance the experience knowing the efforts and talents that go into creating
the magic.</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On to the evening dinner break, but, before that…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those of us with the Diamond level ticket got
a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">special</i></b>
meet and greet session.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bolded and
italicized special because it really wasn’t that special.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not that I don’t appreciate hanging out with
Disney luminaries, but the only people in the room that I hadn’t met before were
Dave Bossert, and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bill Rogers – the Voice
of Disneyland – which was cool!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yup, all
those special announcements you hear in the park, that’s Bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was at Destination D making all the
announcements for the event too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And,
like most all Disney people, he’s a really nice guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, Don Hahn, Steven Clark, and Dave Smith,
I’ve met before at other events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
plus, I was able to get my copy of Dave’s new book – Disney Trivia from the
Vault – signed…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks Dave!</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
After dinner, it time for big event of the evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For anyone who was at the last D23 Expo, you’ll
remember probably the hardest event to get into.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As soon as the audience for the preceding
session entered the room, the queue began to fill for the next, which was not
schedule to happen until about 8:00 PM, it was now about 3:00 PM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before the hour was out, the queue was at
capacity of the room. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dick Van Dyke and
The Vantastix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, we had them there
at Destination D to perform for us, and no 5 hours standing in a line to get
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So at 8:00 PM we enjoyed a barbershop
medley of music from Dick Van Dyke, Mike Mendyke, Bryan Chadima, and Eric
Bradley, and being in the front row… well actually second row, right behind
Marge Champion and David Frankham… made the event that much more special.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 86, I don’t think Dick has missed a step,
and even if he has, the guys he’s singing with are so good they cover it and no
one really notices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As fun as the day
was, this was one of the best hours of the day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The final event of the day
was the screening of WALT & EL GRUPO – THE DIRECTORS CUT, with a prologue
by director Ted Thomas (you might remember him from earlier – Frank Thomas’
son) and producer Kuniko Okubo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
though I have seen this documentary at the Museum, and have the DVD in my
collection, I stay with a new friend who hadn’t seen it yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beside, the director’s cut has an additional
20 minutes in it, and I want to see if I could identify them…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">By now, it’s 11:30 PM and I
tired, so it’s off to bed, to get a good night’s sleep to prepared for another
busy day tomorrow.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next, Destination D – Day 2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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</span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-69623375919751844092012-08-21T11:05:00.000-07:002012-08-21T11:05:08.537-07:00 Prologue: Destination D: 75 Years of Feature Animation
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On August 11 and 12,
The Walt Disney Company and D23 celebrated 75 years of Feature Animation with
their 2<sup>nd</sup> Destination D at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On Friday August 10<sup>th</sup>,
after dropping my lovely wife off at work and quick stop to top off the gas
tank, (No, you don’t have to worry; Pam got picked up from work Friday evening
by our youngest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a full
tank and the trays loaded with a Book on CD in place, I hit the freeway and
started motoring south.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About 8 hours
later, after hitting a couple of choke points along the route, and the
requisite traffic jams inherent to the L.A. driving experience, I was pulling
up in front of the Disneyland Hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
half hour later, after checking into the hotel and a very nice room overlooking
Downtown Disney, I was in the check-in line for Destination D.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of these days I will learn to read all
the signs behind the check-in desk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After giving with the gal in line for A-to whatever my name and not
finding it on the list, she ask if I was a Diamond level guest?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With my yes, she point me the nice young lady
(Karen) sitting in front of a sign with a great big diamond on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doh!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Checked in for the next day’s event, and sufficiently merchandised, it
was off to the room to drop off my booty and on to DCA.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For those of you who
may not know, Disney California Adventure has been undergoing a major retrofit
for the last couple of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I won’t go
into my deeper thoughts on the subject, but, suffice to say that, to me, DCA
has never really felt that much like a Disney Park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, there were a few things in there that I
liked, but we never spent a lot of time in that park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, this is the first trip ever, mostly
because of the short time I was there and my commitments elsewhere, which I
actually did not make it into Disneyland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A real bummer, but, I will survive; I wanted to see the new additions to
DCA, and my beloved Corn Dog Castle was back in operations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t get me wrong, I love the Red Wagon at
Disneyland too, but, a stop at the Corn Dog Castle has been a tradition since
DCA opened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was one of the things
that drew us to DCA in the early day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So,
after renewing my annual pass at the ticket booth, it was off to the DCA
turnstile.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Approaching the
entrance to DCA, you’ll immediately notice the absence of the
C*A*L*I*F*O*R*N*I*A letters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next, one
see the new turnstiles which have a similar design to those of Disney Hollywood
Studio in Florida, and a more 30’s feel to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also now missing is the Golden Gate Bridge
which I’d always felt looked a little out of place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I walked into the park, I was fortunate to
have one the new Red Car Trolleys stopped at the end of its run near the gates
adding to the ambience of walking onto a 1930’s styled Los Angeles street, with
its stucco storefronts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I came around
the corner, gone was Sunshine Plaza with its brass disaster of a sun, replaced
by a beautiful recreation of the Carthay Circle Theater – home to Walt Disney’s
1937 world premier of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This rendition of the Theater houses a new
Disney Dining experience called Club 1901 on the second floor with a Lounge on
the first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On what is now know as Buena
Vista Street, in front of the entrance to the Hollywood Backlot, sits the
newest sculptural addition to the Parks, the Storytellers statue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is another statue of the Walt and
Mickey, with Walt appearing to the dress in an attire of his 1920’s arrival to
Los Angeles and Hollywood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, unlike
the Partners Statue, raised and fenced in, in the hub over at Disneyland, the
Storytellers Statue is at ground level and accessible for guests to have their
pictures taken with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All in all, my
impressions of Buena Vista Street are wonderful, with the shops along the
street well themed to that of the 1930’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A future trip will be need to give review to the new restaurant in the
Carthay Circle Theater, but, the reviews I have read are very good and give my
experiences with Disney’s other fine dining offering, I would expect nothing
less than excellence in 1901.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since it
was still well before dusk, and I was hungry, I bypassed Cars Land and headed
off to the Corn Dog Castle to satisfy that craving that had be building for the
entire drive down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had corndogs at
many places around the country and we have a Dog On A Stix here locally, but,
nothing is quite the same as a Disneyland corndog – dark, crunchy, and about 10
inches in length.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fresh and hot, dipped
in mustard, it is pure nirvana.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Corn dog fix
satisfied and dusk rapidly approaching, it was off to Cars Land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Standing at the entrance, I was immediately
reminded of the many trips we took from San Jose to Camarillo when I was a
kid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many of you remember that the
101 we know today was but a future notion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The highway ran through every little town between here and Los Angeles –
Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Salinas, King City… billboards advertising all the great
little roadside attractions and cafes along the route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, looking down this Main Street, I was
immediately transport into the Radiator Springs of Cars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s Fillmore’s and Sarge’s, Flo’s and
Luigi’s, and at the end of the street, the Cadillac Range looms in the distance…
the tailfins of several years of 50’s caddies jutting out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then as the darkness of night began to
envelop us, what I was really there the experience this evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The speakers came alive with “Live Would Be A
Dream”, and slowly as the music played the lights and neon of Radiator Springs sprung
to life from one attraction to the next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again, I remembered with great fondness, those many trips south, most
often in the evening hours, and all the neon signs as we transited one small
town to the next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remembering the movie
and being a child how came of age in the 60’s, I had been anxiously awaiting this
moment since I first learned of the building of Cars Land – I was not
disappointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the 400+ miles on
the road, and the fatigue that often accompanies elation, it was time to turn
in and prepare for the early morning events of Destination D.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arriving back at my room, I was in time for
the nightly fireworks display at Disneyland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With the music piped into the room through the TV and a room on the 8<sup>th</sup>
floor of the Disneyland Hotel Adventure Tower – Downtown Disney side, the only
place better to watch the fireworks would be in front of Sleepy Beauty’s
Castle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an interesting
perspective to watch the show from a side angle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’ve experienced the fireworks in front
of the Castle, or even from the Esplanade between the parks, you would probably
think that the colorful bursts in the sky were coming from directly behind the
castle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not So… the smaller bursts do
launch from the castle, but the large starbursts come from a backstage building
behind ToonTown. Just an interesting side note.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, Cars Land, done…
corn dog, done… fireworks, done… time to head off to Neverland and a nights
rest for a busy day to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One last
surprise for the evening, the lights on the nightstands have two switches, one
for the light and the other...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>well,
flip the switch and you hear “When You Wish Upon a Star,” I could be wrong on
the music but, as you listen to the music, especially if the other lights are
out, you notice the headboard begin to light up with fiber optic firework
bursts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s that special Disney
touch, and a really wonderful way to slip off to Neverland for the evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nighty Night Tink.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next, Day 1 of
Destination D…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-21086193646484026072012-07-04T12:30:00.000-07:002012-07-04T12:30:01.198-07:00Yes – Yet Another Walt Disney Studio Tour<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Weekend before last was a busy one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, nothing would have it, but we had to
see Brave on Friday night’s opening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Excellent movie, but have we come to expect anything less from PIXAR?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can see my review posted just before this
one, but, it’s a great movie and I’m looking forward to seeing it again… and
again… and again…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Saturday was a bit less busy than
originally planned, as my buddy Libby let me off the hook for a ride to SJO
early in the morning, but, the wife and I spent the afternoon at the Walt
Disney Family Museum, listening to Author and former manager of the Walt Disney
Archives Robert Tieman talk about “Selling Walt: The Business (and Fun) of
Movie Promotion.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent the hour and
a half talking about what the Studio did to help theater owners promote Disney
movies coming to their establishments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll
try to having another piece on this after I get a chance to go over my notes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally the weekend’s main event was
on Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A third trip to the Walt
Disney Studio in Burbank for a tour of the Studio, this time with my youngest
daughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone asked me, “don’t you
get bored, see the same stuff?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simple
answer, NO!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It kind of the same with
the Walt Disney Family Museum; no matter how many times I visit, I always
manage to learn something new each time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is helped on the Studio tour by the fact
that in three visits, We’ve had three different tour guides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While there is a defined tour guideline for
what we get to see, there is no set script.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, each guide can add their own special stories that they relate to the
Studio and Walt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">More on the tour in a moment, but
first, back to beginning…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since this was
a one day trip, departure time set for 5:00 AM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tee must have been anxious because we were on the road at 4:58, and the
trip progressed nicely until we were about an hour and a half into it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some reason I tapped the right front
pocket of my jean, and gasped…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>DAMN!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, I think my word
choice might have been and little different, but…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tee’s eyes slammed open with a WHAT???<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had remembered everything for the trip
except one critical component… one of my wallets, the one that has all my
credit cards and my D23 membership card in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No credit cards, no gas…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No D23
card, no entrance to the Studio tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
we turn back north, thinking the trip and event may well be over, Tee calls her
Mom to see if she can meet us about have way back with said wallet?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, was up to the task, and hopped
into the other vehicle with our oldest as navigator, and headed south, as we
were headed back north.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We met up in
Gilroy, I got my wallet and a quick Mickey D’s breakfast, we exchanged goodbyes
and thanks, and were headed back south again…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>hoping that I could make up enough time not to miss the tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, fortunate with Pam bringing me my
wallet, we didn’t lose the full hour and a half’s driving time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pedaled it a little harder than I normally
would have, and the quick breakfast stop in Gilroy, so, just a single gas stop
in Buellton (of Anderson’s Split Pea fame), and we made Burbank with a half and
hour to spare…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>cutting it close, by my
travel standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A quick stop to let
Tee change clothes, a quick tour around the studio lot, and we were driving
into the Buena Vista Gate at the Walt Disney Studios at the prescribed no more
than 30 minutes before our scheduled tours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>WHEW!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As we are checking in for the tour - D23
card required – in front of the Hyperion Bungalow, who should come around the
corner but Jeffrey Epstein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have had
the pleasure of meeting Jeff on several occasions, including most recently at
the Walt Disney Family Museum’s presentation of the D23 Fanniversary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeff is one of those many truly friendly
Disney Cast-members who is just a joy to be around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, guess who turned out to be the guide
for our 1:30 tour, none other than Jeffrey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While waiting for our tour to start, Tee and
I got a chance to look through the D23 Merchandise Store in one of the rooms of
the Hyperion Bungalow, where I pick up a few items, and then a quick troll
through the Employee’s store across the walkway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeffrey gathered his tourists together at the
prescribed time, and ushered us to shady spot – it was, of course, and normal
warm and sunny afternoon in Burbank. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From our nicely shaded location in front of
the Employee Store, Jeffrey began to explain some of the sites around us:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Hyperion Bungalow behind us, one
of several buildings that were moved from them original Hyperion Avenue studio
in the Silver Lake district.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bungalow
now has two rooms, fittingly called the Hyperion and Silver Lake rooms, and is
used for meetings, and as the check-in point for the tours.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next to us was the Employee Store,
which had been redone since my last visit, and the Employee credit union behind
it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next, a look across the street was the
Mickey Mouse topiary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Mickey topiary
was a anniversary gift to the Studio from Walt Disney World, and Michael Eisner
declared that the Walt Disney Studio should become the West Coast capital for
topiaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plant started to die and the studio
landscaping staff had to spend a bundle of cash to develop an internal watering
system so this Mickey could flourish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Today, the Mickey topiary is the singular nod on the Studio lot to what
seems so natural in Florida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few yards
to the right of the topiary stands one of two flagpoles from the 1960 Winter
Olympics in Squaw Valley, where Walt Disney was the Chairman of Pageantry and
responsible of Opening and Closing ceremonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This first flagpole was acquired by Walt after the games, its sister
flagpole, a few more yard down, was donated by another company so that the
Studio could have the pair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Behind the
topiary and the flagpoles sit the Studio Commissary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1940, when the studio first opened, there
weren’t a lot of eatery options in the area, so Walt made sure that his people
were taken care of for meals with the commissary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this day, the commissary still serves Walt’s
favorite meal… Chili.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couple of years
ago, I was fortunate to attend an event at the Studio which included dinner at
the commissary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the chili, and it
was – while not my Texas Red – a very good bowl of chili.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, if you want the recipe, it’s on the
D23 website – </span><a href="http://d23.disney.go.com/news/2012/01/walts-own-chili/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt’s
Own Chili recipe</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now we move on down the street to the
corner of Mickey Avenue and Dopey Drive, or have we?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have seen “</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reluctant_Dragon_(film)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">The Reluctant
Dragon</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,” then you know the street sign right next to the old Animation
Building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If not and you are a Disney
fan, you’ve probably seen a picture or two of the street sign for </span><a href="http://news.cnet.com/2300-17938_105-10009890-5.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Mickey Avenue and
Dopey Drive</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sign was installed
as a prop for the 1941 short film “The Reluctant Dragon,” where Robert Benchley
(yes, that is Peter Benchley’s… of JAWS fame… father) dashes around the studio
in search of Walt Disney to pitch him a story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As travels the Disney lot, we learn different aspects of the animation
process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An interesting note about the
street sign… if you follow the sign to the several department, you’ll find
yourself even more lost… as they point the wrong direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right next to the street sign is a fire
hydrant with a sign painted on the curb “Pluto’s Corner.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the cement next to the hydrant are three
distinct paw prints… wonder where that fourth paw is???<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Standing on the steps of the Animation
Building, we look across the walkway to the studio theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This theater has been used over the years as
a screening theater and a sound mixing studio for putting the finishing touches
on films.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few years ago, the company
finished a complete retrofit and remodel to the theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, it is used to screen new film for
employees and to hold special screening for the public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the good fortune to event a couple of
those special screenings, and the inside is as beautiful as the outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The walkway outside was where they once place
the cement encased handprints of recent inducted Disney Legends, much like they
do outside of </span><a href="http://www.chinesetheatres.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Grauman’s Chinese
Theater</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> in Hollywood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Years ago it
was discovered that these cement tributes were slowly degrading with all the
foot traffic, so the Archive team preserved them, move them to the Archive and
install replicas in the new Legends’ Plaza.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Plaza was close for this a special “Brave” reception, so we didn’t
get to go in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moving on, we entered the
Animation Building, and tour the first floor main hallway, looking at many
examples of the animation and storytelling process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Animation Building was specifically built
for Walt’s Animators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a three
story building running north and south, with eight wings, four on either side
east and west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Walt was build this
new studio after the success of ‘Snow White’, he ask is artists what the needed
most… the clear answer was LIGHT!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With
the eight wings, the Animation Building has lots of light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the third floor in the north east corner
is where Walt’s offices were located.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
that wing Walt had his formal and working offices, and a reception area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On second floor, one wing south was where Roy
had his offices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The running joke for
Walt was that, “this was so that he could look down on Roy and keep and eye on
him, but Roy couldn’t look up and see what he was doing.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, the D23 Studio tours don’t
make a trip to the 2<sup>nd</sup> or 3<sup>rd</sup> floors, but, if you keep
your eyes open, there are a few events that do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Moving on to Disney’s first utilidor…
Utilidor, you say…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What the heck is a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilidor#Utilidors_at_Walt_Disney_World"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Utilidor</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, it is a utility corridor, and how many
of you know that there is a whole subterranean world under Walt Disney World’s
Magic Kingdom?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, actually it isn’t
subterranean, because of Florida’s high water table; Walt Disney World is
really built one story above sea level, with much of the Parks unseen
operations conducted in the first floor utilidors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been told that there are a couple of
small utilidors at Disneyland, but nothing like the complex at Walt Disney
World.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I’ll do an essay on the
Magic Kingdom Utilidors and why they came to be, but, the Walt Disney Studios
had the first Utilidor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Animation
Building has a basement that was used primarily for storage, with a utilidor
that accesses the Ink and Paint building next door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While this passage has been used as a prop in
several Disney productions (think Alias for one), it had a real function meant
for its design.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the path that
animators’ cells took in route to be painted and finished, before moving on to
the Camera department, keep the cells protected from potential weather or dust
from being outdoors.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After and quick tour through the Short
building, the third and final building (well in reality, its two buildings that
were combined into one on the new lot) moved over from the from the Hyperion
lot, we made our way through the sound stages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not really much to say are or seeing but, the outside of these huge
buildings where much of the Disney magic is produced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the development of Disneyland, several
of these stages were used to build mock-ups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One interesting note for fans of Mary Poppins, all of the live actions
scenes for the movie were done on a sound stage, nothing was done outdoors or
on location.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of the sound stages as
walk by the iconic water tower (built with 6 legs, instead 4 or 5, because it
was more esthetically appealing to Walt’s Brother Roy), we emerged onto what
was once the studio’s backlot… the Zorro parking structure, over by the
Riverside Gate, stands where the sets for the Zorro T.V. show once stood, along
with other western sets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we walk
along the street, we see the only remaining backlot structures at the Studio
today, a row of store fronts. Within a short walk we come upon the backside of
water (sorry for the Disneyland reference) err… of the Ink & Paint, and
Camera Departments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most important building
here was the machine shop where </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_E._Broggie"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Roger Broggie</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> took on
an interesting apprentice… his boss, Walt Disney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was in this machine shop that many of Walt’s
innovation were brought to life, and where Walt with Roger’s help created the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolwood_Pacific_Railroad"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Carolwood
Pacific Railroad</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, a miniature train which he operated around his Holmby
Hills home in the earlier 50s.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now for one of the special treats of
these tours, a trip to the Main Office of the Walt Disney Archive, and some
face time with the one and only Dave Smith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As we were told on a couple of occasions during the tour, Roy O. asked
Dave to create the Archive in 1970.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
of Dave’s first tasks was to catalog and document Walt’s offices in the
Animation building which had been shuddered since his death in 1966.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An exhibit of Walt’s Office has been on
display at </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.4pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DapLgYWRPaM"><span style="color: windowtext;">One
Man's Dream - Walt's Office</span></a> in Disney Hollywood Studio at Walt
Disney World.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also as I understand it, Walt’s
formal office has been recreated for the <a href="http://www.reaganfoundation.org/details_f.aspx?p=LM2024ETEX&h1=0&h2=0&lm=libraryandmuseum&args_a=cms&args_b=35&argsb=N&tx=2748&sw=2748"><span style="color: blue;">Treasures
of the Walt Disney Archive</span></a> exhibit which opens July 6 at the <a href="http://www.reaganfoundation.org/contact-us.aspx"><span style="color: blue;">Reagan Library in Simi
Valley</span></a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, we got to spend about
a half an hour with Dave, as he showed us some of the artifacts he has
discovered over the last forty years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Items such as, the ticket and parking pass for the Disneyland opening
day media event, the first year ticket book for the Magic Kingdom at Walt
Disney World, and one of Walt Disney many Oscars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen some of the exhibits from the
Archive at events like the D23 Expo, but, there is nothing like being in the
same room listening to the man who started the Archive.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.4pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From the Archive, we
moved past the Legends Plaza (no visit there today) to the Rotunda of the Team
Disney building that sits on the corner of the lot at Buena Vista Street and
Alameda Avenue, and houses Disney’s executive management team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the rotunda lobby are two large tiled
pictures of the company founders… Walt and Roy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As we leave the rotunda, we pass by the Roy Oliver Disney Building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Built the 80s, on our last visit to the
Studio, this building was an ivy covered box which looked a little out of place
between the new Team Disney and the old Animation Buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On this trip, the building has been
completely remodeled and refurbished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Gone is the ivy, and the old ugly cross beam support structure has been
pleasantly disguised by clean concrete, smoked glass windows, and a lattice of
natural woods covering the lower half of each floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This building now looks like it belong on the
lot, and is a much more fitting tribute to the man it is named after.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And a few minutes later, we are back at the
Hyperion Bungalow, and with some sadness, an end to our tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A hearty thank you to Jeffrey, and a quick
trip into the Employees’ Store, and we were on our way home with our trinkets and
memories.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.4pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As it turns out, the
trip home turned out to be as eventful as our travels down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, yours truly flubbed again and took the
wrong freeway exit and to turn around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wound up heading back to the Studio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After getting my direction squared away, and heading north, we made our
way to Camarillo and a stop for fuel, for both auto and human. Finished with dinner,
we were again headed north, only to be slowed to a crawl a few miles north of
Santa Barbara.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took us 2 hours to
make it three miles, because (as I discovered later) a drunk took out another
vehicle and completely blocked both lanes northbound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After getting passed the accident, Tee and I
decided the meal stop was a good decision, had we decided to just drive
through, we’d have been at that spot at right about the time the accident
happened and could have been involved, instead of gripping about the slow
crawl, and arriving home after 12:30 AM<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.4pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">All and all, another
great trip with one of my girls, but, stay tuned... I have a run south planned
for August and event at Disneyland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.4pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.4pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Your
comments or questions are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you have a correction or something you think I should look at in my
research, please feel free to contact me at </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You
can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="color: blue;">Discovering
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<br /></div>Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-61932867320770981272012-06-23T09:40:00.000-07:002012-06-23T09:40:01.315-07:00Disney/Pixar’s Brave<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a little last
minute family turmoil, we got to see Brave last night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one of those long anticipated movie
events for my family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I first learned of
Brave when it was announced that Pixar would be doing their first real
fairytale and princess story, the Scottish legend of, “The Bear and The Bow”
and have been following its production all the way to last night. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am going to try to write this review without
spoilers, as I don’t like it when others do that to me.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Brave, as “The Bear
and The Bow” came to be known, is set in the 10<sup>th</sup> century Scottish
highlands, and is a coming of age story of a young Princess being groomed to
become the Queen and leader of her kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Merida (I love this name) has grown into a strong young woman happier
with breaking rather than embracing tradition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As she continues to rebel against the expectations of her Mother - the
Queen, of course, trouble ensues and is ultimately resolved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is all of this story you going to get
here, because that is pretty much what you’ve gotten from the trailers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you are expecting
the anything like what you’ve seen from Pixar before, more what might be
considered the traditional Disney Princess story…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave those expectations at the door, or you
may be disappointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the history of great storytelling we’ve come
to expect from Pixar is there is abundance, and the artistry and attention to
animation detail for which Pixar is well known, is ever present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things like the individual random movement of
blades of grass as a gentle wind breezing over them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike the more traditional Disney Princess
story, Brave has characters and integral story element that will appeal to most
young boy as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For us older kids,
there are the more risqué elements that will fly gentle over the heads of the
younger audience, and even some lessons to be learned while being thoroughly entertained
by the action on screen and the story developing in front of us, if we pay
close enough attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, since
much of my ancestry hails from that part of the world, I found myself getting
lost in the accents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something I enjoyed
much more than I expected I would…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pixar and Disney
have another winner on their hand, at least in my opinion, and look forward to
seeing Brave time and time again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
will become a welcome addition to my collection of Disney Movies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, I still strongly recommend seeing it on
the big screen, there is a magnificence in the larger movie theater screen that
just cannot be captured on the home TV.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I hope you enjoy the
movie as much as we did; it is a very touching story, told only like Pixar can
tell it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even caught my oldest “tough
as nails” daughter with a tear in her eye at the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s saying something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>;-)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you have a
different opinion, I’d certainly like to hear it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-81052116466400879182012-05-09T12:00:00.000-07:002012-05-09T12:00:06.131-07:00Walt Disney – The Thought Continues<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Back in January,
after finishing </span></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sam.gennawey"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sam Gennawey’s</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
book </span></span><a href="http://ayefourpublishing.com/walt-and-the-promise-of-progress-city"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">WALT
AND THE PROMISE OF Progress City</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> and
what I consider some revelatory information, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I started
a series of essays on my thoughts on Walt Disney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is my next submission for that series.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have discussed
before the attempted deification of Walt Disney by some writers and many
fans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I have not had the
opportunity to discuss it directly with Walt’s surviving daughter Diane [Disney
Miller], I do know these endeavors to deify her father are of serious concern
to her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was one of the motivating
factors for the establishment of the </span></span><a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt
Disney Family Museum</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> to show Walt
more as the man (albeit a very talented and influential man), and less of the
myth that surrounds him today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
example, we all see Walt Disney’s Animated Features as hugely successful, and
in most cases, over time they have become so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, how many of you know that of Walt’s first five features, only two
were financially successful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Snow White
was, of course, a huge success at the box office, and allowed Walt to build the
studio that exists to this day in Burbank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Though primarily due to WWII, Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi lost money
for Walt’s fledgling studio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only Dumbo
returned a very modest profit for the studio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How many know that had the 1950 release of Cinderella was a make or
break moment for Walt and the Studio?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
failure there and we may have never known the joy of Disneyland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this day, you will find people adamant in
their belief that Walt Disney was a god-like individual whose every touch
turned to gold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There have been many
other failures or marginal events in Walt’s History where every potential
existed for him to go another direction and what we know today would be entirely
different, but he persisted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The company
that bears his name today has indeed and continues to profit from Walt’s early
endeavors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, many refuse to see that
in Walt’s day, many of these products were failures or only marginally
successful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many also profess Walt
Disney to be master business administrator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Few know that the real business genius, who provided Walt with the
resources and business leadership to allow the Disney Brothers Studio, and
later Walt Disney Productions, was really his brother Roy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, more than a few people choose to
believe and as proselytize Walt Disney as almost god-like in his art and
business skills, and with a Midas touch.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It has been my
experience that we tend to deify or demonize people or events we don’t understand
with mysticism. Interestingly, Walt Disney, while having a huge group of people
who just enjoy what he has created, has been both deified and demonized by
small fringe group, because they believe, good or bad, that Walt had to have
something supernatural or clandestine helping him to achieve thing no normal
human would be capable of accomplishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The problem is that as these fringe groups (probably more accurately
described as fringe individuals) long ago invaded the public perception of Walt
Disney, the man, I think somewhat fuel by his initial storytelling medium,
fantasy and fairy tales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think looking
back throughout the history of the human race you can find many examples of
fantasy, fairy tales, and mysticism invade and eventually dominating the public
views on these many examples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have
written this before, but I know, personally, the public perception of Walt
Disney has been invaded by this tendency toward mysticism;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can frequently be found in public sporting
my WDFM regalia, and it is not uncommon that I am approached by individual with
questions about Walt, rarely are they questions not involving the myth or urban
legend that surround him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My goal, and
that of many other amateur or professional Walt Disney Historians to whom I’ve
spoken, is to dispel these mystical claims and urban legends, with accurate
information and details and thoughtful reasonable analysis based on the data. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So now on to </span></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sam.gennawey"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sam
Gennawey’s</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> book </span></span><a href="http://ayefourpublishing.com/walt-and-the-promise-of-progress-city"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">WALT
AND THE PROMISE OF Progress City</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> and
what I found to be revelatory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sam wrote
of a concept in architecture of “a quality without a name.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t explain it, you just know it’s
right when you see it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I think we
can expand the concept of that ‘quality without a name’ well beyond
architecture, to life or human existence overall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every day, often without even realizing it,
we see, hear, or in some way experience that ‘quality without a name’ in so many
different aspects of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have
some experience, and without understanding why, it just feels right.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Without trying to
invoke any canonical theories, I think Walt Disney, consciously or
instinctively, understood this quality better than many, if not most, people of
his era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He expressed that vision, not
only in the projects he chose, but the people he chose to work on those projects,
and the final product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He just knew when
his vision was right, and being presented the way he saw it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have heard many of the people, who worked
with Walt, claim that he would ask them to do things they had never done before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not just things within their respective
discipline, but things that were complete outside their area of expertise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve heard a couple of time from </span></span><a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyinsider/history/legends/x-atencio"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Disney Legend X Atencio</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, a Disney Animator and later WED Imagineer, of Walt
tapping him to write the music and lyrics for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride
at Disneyland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>X has been quoted as
saying, “I didn't even know I could write music, but somehow Walt did. He
tapped my hidden talents."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you
think Walt was just guessing, or did he see something no one else saw?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given all that I have learned, I don’t think
Walt was guessing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, to the
best of what I’ve heard…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walt never
showed any disappointment to those who tried and failed to bring his visions to
life, only those who said they couldn’t do it, without at least trying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He always understood that his visions were limited by available
technologies, and always had his people pushing the envelope of what they
thought was possible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Where Walt Disney express
the belief that when a movie was finished and in the can, he considered himself
done with it and ready to move on to the next project, his theme park ideas
were living and breathing… evolving things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I do wonder if he’d have felt the same way today, as we seen some of the
early 90s animated features being released in the 3D format?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen a number of movies from other
producers re-released in 3D, and I have been generally disappointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These many of these movies have had scenes
redone, and storylines changed even a little to exploit the advantages of 3D,
and throw images at the audience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Disney
has been doing type of 3D for years at the theme parks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Muppets 3D, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, and
Mickey Philharmagic come to mind, with Honey and Philharmagic throwing in a 4<sup>th</sup>
D with scents and water added for interesting effective. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of this, and my experience with other
3D movies, many of which I find be produced just for the 3D effective and
having weak a story at best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
Disney’s A Christmas Carol was a bit of a disappointment because of what I
considered to be the use of 3D for 3D alone, adding little if anything to the
story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only saving grace there was a
very good story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, as I reported in
an early post, I recently had the opportunity to see the re-release of Beauty
and the Beast in 3D, and was very pleasantly surprised to find the Walt Disney
principle of plussing an attraction was at play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 3D effects enhancing the story and not
taking it over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I will have to
look to watch more of these re-releases. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have to wonder if
Walt Disney wouldn’t have chosen to re-release some of his now classic films,
if he could have plussed them with newly available technologies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most people, who know Walt’s story, know that
he temporarily shelved Mickey’s first cartoon, “</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamboat_Willie"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Steamboat Willie</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">” while he
and his guys figured out how to apply the new sound technology becoming
available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, many are unaware that “</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_Crazy"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Plane
Crazy</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">”, Mickey’s second talkie, was
in the can before “</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamboat_Willie"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Steamboat Willie</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">” as a silent
cartoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_Crazy"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Plane
Crazy</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">” had fared poorly in an early
test viewing, and failed to pick up a distributor, so Steamboat Willie became
the first Mickey cartoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or was it? </span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the
success of Steamboat Willie, and following the releases of “</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gallopin%27_Gaucho"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">The Gallopin’ Gaucho</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">” and “</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Barn_Dance"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">The Barn Dance</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">”,
“</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_Crazy"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Plane Crazy</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">”
resurfaced as a talkie and Mickey’s fourth appearance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, at least in my opinion, I think that Walt
would have considered re-releasing his canned features, if he thought he could
honestly plus the story and experience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Since I’m having
such a wonderful time focusing more on Walt Disney himself, and I’ve learn so
much about Walt during the last year or so, when next we meet, I’m going to be looking
at this ‘Quality without a Name’ in Walt’s visions for Disneyland and beyond.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br /><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-14010897029416993242012-05-05T21:06:00.000-07:002012-05-05T21:06:06.527-07:00Marvel Studios - Avengers<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I imagine you are
wondering, why a piece on Marvel on a Disney Blog site?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, in case you’ve been in a cave for the
last couple of year, Disney bought Marvel Entertain in 2009 for a bit over 4
billion dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So…<o:p></o:p></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Almost 50 years ago,
a young boy lays daydreaming in his room on a warm summer’s afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Staring out at the antenna on the radar
station on a nearby mountain top making it routine sweeps in protection of our
borders from the grave communist threat, his thoughts turned to dreams of superheroes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On this occasion the attention of those thoughts
were the heroes in a recently acquired Avenger comic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How amazingly cool it would be to run with
the likes of Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, and the rest of the
Avengers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lying there painting pictures
in his mind of the adventures to be lived in their missions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the life of many of children, at least
50 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Over the years there
have been passable animated efforts to tell these stories, along with attempt
to creating serial adventures on T.V...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
a young man, I remember being fixated on tube each Friday night, watching the
exploits of Dr. Bruce Banner (Bill Bixby) as he transformed into and back from
The Incredible Hulk (Lou Ferrigno).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
fun, but not quite as exciting as images I could create in my mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now though, throught the geniuses of CGI, and
wonderful storytelling imagery, these daydreams of my youth can and have been
truly brought to live.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last night, my
family and I, all awaiting with trembling anticipation for months, got to go
seen the latest Marvel offering Avengers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I made sure to buy tickets early in the week to make sure we had seats,
we arrived at the theaters early, and the girls scurried off to find a spot in
line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After getting us checked in and
getting our 3D glasses (as much as I dislike the 3D glass, it really is a must
for this one), I arrive at our place in line – right at the front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re going to getting the exact seats we
want… COOL!!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As the movie opens,
we find the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistic Division
(S.H.I.E.L.D.) involved in some dangerous secret research desired by arch evil villain
Loki.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the research, the primary
scientist, and a SHIELD agent are lost, the director of SHIELD, Nick Fury,
reactivates the Avenger Initiative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is the self absorbed weapons genius Tony Stark/Ironman, the epitome
of anger management Dr. Bruce Banner/Hulk, the patriotic super soldier Steve
Rogers/Capitan America, and the stoic demi-god Thor, along with resources of
SHIELD and a host of agents. Director Fury’s challenge, how do you make a team
that is a team want to be a team?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And,
do it quick, as Earth’s very existence hangs in the balance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie is an exhilarating ride of action as
we see the story unfold to it ultimate climax, where we watch a group of
superheroes transform into a team of superheroes, with scenes from my childhood
memories coming to life on the screen in front of me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you ever dreamed
of superheroes, fantasy, or… well any daydream as a child go see Avengers, and
spring for the 3D version…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think
you’ll be disappointed.</span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-44682992083392677852012-05-02T14:30:00.000-07:002012-05-02T14:30:00.772-07:00D23 Fanniversary – San Francisco<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This year D23 –
Disney’s fan club for Disney Fans – celebrated its third anniversary in March.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To celebrate this anniversary with the fans,
D23 created a series of Fanniversary events to be held across the country over
the next couple of months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This weekend
the celebration kicked off with events at The Walt Disney Studios, in Burbank Friday
night, and at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco on Saturday. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Future events will be held in Boston and New
York City next months, and Orlando and Chicago in June.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All events except Orlando are sold out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My youngest
daughter, attending her first ever D23 event, and I attended the first event
session on Saturday, at the </span><a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt Disney Family Museum</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trip from San Jose to San Francisco was
the first unknown of the day, as it turns out that this weekend was the weekend
of choice for destruction of the Doyle Drive roadway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those unaware Doyle Drive is one of the
main access routes to the Golden Gate Bridge and in need of earthquake
retrofitting since the 1989 Loma Prieta quake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As has been normal in California politics, the needs of northern
California always take a backseat to Southern California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So 20 some years later, CalTrans is finally
addressing these needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enough of the
political…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only bring this up because
the part of the Presidio where the Museum resides is within a few hundred feet
of this demolition, and my normal access route to the Museum in question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though the warning signs of the impending
demolition have been up for months, and the local news broadcasts have been
warning all week about the coming event, I was a bit worried that human nature
being what it is; I would need extra time to arrive on time, not to mention the
rather unpredictable nature of San Francisco traffic on a normal day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, we left the house with plenty of time to
make the 48 mile trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trip was
uneventful, with the exception of the normal nimrods w\ho have better things to
do while driving other than paying attention to the road around them, Van Ness
was relatively empty, and Lombard was clearer then I have ever seen it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were at the Museum’s front door 75 minutes
later, a trip that is on average 90 minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We had plenty of
time to visit with our favorite volunteers and staff (actually they are all our
favorites, just some we haven’t met yet,) and some of the Members who made it
in for the show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even ran into ‘The
Disney Geek” – Jeffrey Epstein in the Museum Store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, for any of you who follow the D23’s
Disney Geek video podcast and don’t like the chances, I told Jeff he needs to
come back to the broadcast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Disney Geek
just isn’t the same without him in front of the camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After some shopping, T and I got a chance to get
a little bit to eat, and then it was downstairs for check-in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A pin, a postcard, and a pennant later, and
we were in the theater lobby await entrance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From a few more member friends in line, and we stood a chatted away the
waning moments before the theater doors opened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At about 1:30 the doors opens and we were ushered in, with the Disney
Geek himself greeting us as we entered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As I have come to expect, I’ve yet to attend a D23 event that actually
started on time, the 2:00PM program did not start until 2:10…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Relatively on time for a D23 event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The afternoon program started out with the
introduction of our live narrators – Disney Geek Jeffrey Epstein (not there’s a
surprise) and Archivist Steve B.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sorry
Steve, I am not sure how to spell your last name, and don’t want to get it
wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, here is where
you the reader will be a bit disappointed, because I am not going to go into
much detail as to what the program entailed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For one, the show really was primarily visual; to describe what we were
shown would be tedious and rather futile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Second, there are still 4 other events for this program to be shown, I,
and would hope others as well, wouldn’t want to spoil it for those still
waiting to see it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will say that, as
an ardent Disney fan, while nothing presented was particularly revelatory, the
presentation was a lot of fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeffrey
and Steve both have an energy and love of their jobs that makes their
presentation skills very entertaining, and we were treated to many rarely or
never before seen (publicly) photos and drawing from the many anniversary
events in Disney history occurring this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The only thing that was really missing for me, was any real tribute to
the one half of the Sherman Brothers we lost early this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realize that this program was in
production<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and probably nearing
finalization when Robert Sherman passed, so again I understand it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully we will see something more fitting
in the near future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The event culminated
with an acknowledgement of probably the most significant anniversary event this
year…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs_(1937_film)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, which premiered on December 23, 1937 at the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthay_Circle_Theatre"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Cathay Circle
Theatre</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T and I had a great
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The presentation was wonderful,
any trip to the Museum is fun, and to top things off…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a fantastic way to get some special
Daddy – Daughter time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Since I don’t want
to spoil things for future attendees, let’s just discuss a few of the comments
I’ve heard about the events so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
heard from a couple of different sources, questioning if this event was worth the
prices of admission?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my opinion…
Yes!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, there wasn’t anything substantially
revelatory to an ardent Disney Fan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a
fervent Disney fan myself, I didn’t expect anything that big, especially for an
$18 entry fee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, it was fun seeing
some art work I’d never seen before, and gain a little more insight into the
development of some of my favorite Disney projects over the years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think those of us you live close to the
Studio or the Museum may sometimes be a bit more jaded, as we better access to
more information and special events than many others around the country, so
sometime I think we expect more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beside,
I have had a chance to attend more than a few D23 events, and I regularly
attend programs at the Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One the
thing I have come to enjoy is the sense of community that was begun to
develop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As with the Museum programs,
there is always a few familiar faces in the crowd at many D23 events, and can
see the groups meeting and greeting among themselves and welcoming others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, all-in-all, yes it was worth it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As for D23 itself…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes there are issues, and I have expressed
those in the past, but, I inclined to be a little more lenient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been able to discover that D23 is what
I would call understaffed for the expectations placed upon them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even so, I have yet to encounter and D23
staffer, or Archivist (they fill in a lot where need in events) who is anything
but friendly and very approachable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes I
realize D23 is part of the Disney’s marketing department, and it’s their job to
be friendly, approachable and to sell the company’s message, but, I have what I
consider to be a fairly well tuned BS indicator, and I honestly think these
people do what they do because they love it and they enjoy interacting with us
fans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After you met them a couple of
time, they even remember who you are…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>but, maybe that just me and my big mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, I’m willing give some time to see how
things evolve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the meantime, I think
what D23 is offering to the Disney fan is worth my cost of admission.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-22379492040563896632012-04-23T12:00:00.000-07:002012-04-23T12:00:03.444-07:00Review – DisneyNature’s Chimpanzee<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As far back as the
late 1940’s, Walt Disney was interested in the use of film as a medium to
provide nature education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walt Disney
Productions created the “</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True-Life_Adventures"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">True Life Adventures</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">”
series which ran through 1960, and received numerous awards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Seal Island”, released in 1948, was the
first in a series that spanned 16 others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 2008 The Walt Disney Company founded </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneynature"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">DisneyNature</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> as a
subsidiary to produce and release independent nature documentary films.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Back at the end of
February, I had the chance to take my youngest daughter to the Walt Disney
Family Museum to meet </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Hahn"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Don Hahn</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the producer of her all time favorite
movie “Beauty and the Beast” this was a treat extraordinaire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After getting to meet Don in the morning,
receiving a signed copy of his book “Brain Storm” and having him sign a copy of
her “Beauty and the Beast” DVD, we spent a pleasant afternoon listening to Don
talk about Walt’s nature film adventures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The session ended with Don providing us with an exclusive preview of
DisneyNature’s upcoming release – </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimpanzee_(film)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Chimpanzee</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, the sixth
release from DisneyNature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The preview just
barely did the film the justice it deserved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Chimpanzee opened to the general public this last Friday, and as of this
morning closed out its first weekend in release at #4 in box office receipts. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From the very
beginning, the cinematography grabs you and draws you in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having learned something about movie making
from my interest in Walt Disney, I know a little about how talented matte
painters, cinematographer, and director can miraculously plus a scene with the
use of matte painting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have seen just
how a really good matte painting can trick the eye into believing there is more
to the scene than is there in reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
opening scenes are so magnificent that I had to look closely for any seams that
would indicate the use of mattes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing… just the beautiful work of a master of the camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story is a marvelous blending of on
screen antics and actions with a best in narration from </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Allen"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Tim “The Toolman Taylor” Allen</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I will not spoil the
story by reviewing here; it is something that you truly need to witness for
yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do have friend who take
issue with any anthropomorphic design or dialogic in the use of animal characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, chimpanzees are probably one of our
closest relatives in the animal kingdom, and in this movie are films in their
natural habitat, doing what comes naturally to them…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>nothing is staged, so to speak, to show them
doing anything which might be considered purely or exclusively human traits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this film we are taken into a world rarely
seen by only a few humans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We get to
witness events that seldom happen and never before put on film, as well as
events of everyday life of two rival groups of chimpanzees, but seldom caught
on film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Tim Allen’s narration
does put a somewhat human interpretation of the visual actions on screen, there
is never a moment that looks contrived to create a story, but, merely
interpretive of the story unfolding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is most likely a credit to the involvement of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Jane Goodall</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, one of the
world’s foremost authorities on chimpanzees, in the project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the way, it should be noted that Disney is
contributing a portion of the first week’s proceeds to the </span><a href="http://www.janegoodall.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Jane Goodall Insitute</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bottom line, the story of young Oscar and his
unusual foster parent Freddie is not to be missed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As the film opens
and during the closing moments we are treated to a few behind the scenes looks
at what the crews experienced while filming this movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Braving the harsh inhospitable conditions of
the deep African jungles is a testament to the dedication of these amazing individuals
who captured all the film footage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
Don told us during his presentation, this film was 4 years in the making, with
a couple of departures from the area because of local government conflicts that
could have ended it completely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several
hundred hours of film was captured for what became the 78 minute feature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This dedication is something I come to
discover is a hallmark of great Disney films in all genres…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the willingness of the cast and crews to sell
out to the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some may thing selling
out is a bad thing, but it is not!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
this case and many others, selling out is nothing more than doing whatever it
takes to get the story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well done Disney,
well done!!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-63006897139719939492012-03-10T13:05:00.001-08:002012-03-10T13:05:25.681-08:00A Tale as Old as Time<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I find my journey of
discovery takes me along paths in which I find myself immersed in many of the
different vehicles used to create the Disney Magic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recently, I’ve experienced two new vehicles
for what has become a Disney Classic fairytale – </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast_(1991_film)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Beauty and
the Beast</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">classic first appeared</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
in writing in the middle 1700’s in France, and has seen many adaptations in
almost all forms of entertainment venues.<o:p></o:p></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some seventeen years
ago, a three year old toddler discovered this tale as old as time in the VHS
release of Disney’s “</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast_(1991_film)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Beauty and
the Beast</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,” which immediately became her favorite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a Saturday went by that this VHS tape was
not playing in the VCR, when I awoke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
a testament to the joy found in this story by that now young woman, three VHS
tapes and 4 DVD’s have been used up by their frequent revisiting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the advances in 3D technologies, the original
Executive Producer – </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Hahn"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Don Hahn</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,
and his team, reformatted the story for 3D theater viewing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being the devotee she is, nothing would do,
but a trip to the local movie house to watch this new release.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I’ve had trepidations about the 3D
viewing experience, finding the use of 3D often used to supplant an otherwise
weak story and being an eyeglass wearer – the discomfort of wearing a 3D
eyewear over my own, I would not be deterred from witnessing my young daughter’s
joy of yet another new experience of her favorite story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I, curiously, found myself enjoying this new
rendition of the classic as much as her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The use of 3D being employed to enhance the original animation art, and
not detracting or overpowering it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was,
in my opinion, an excellent example of what Walt Disney called “</span><a href="http://boingboing.net/2006/03/30/meaning-of-walt-disn.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">plussing</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Through the generosity
and kindness of the </span><a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt
Disney Family Museum</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, I was able to obtain tickets for the </span><a href="http://www.broadwaysanjose.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Broadway San Jose</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">’s performance of </span><a href="http://www.broadwaysanjose.com/shows/beauty-and-the-beast.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Beauty
and the Beast</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, so I should first thank the Museum for arranging with
Broadway SJ to discount tickets for the Museum Friends and followers, and to
Broadway San Jose for generously providing the discount.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
thank you, as does my youngest daughter Theresa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was an experience neither of us will
ever forget.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">While Theresa was
vibrating which excitement from the very moment she learned we would be
attending a performance, I approached it with some trepidation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given the excellence with which the original
animated feature, and its subsequent 3D release, where presented, I was a bit
concerned that anyone could reproduce that experience on stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can tell you now, without qualification,
those concerns were completely unnecessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Through magnificence set designs, unparallel musical arrangement and
additions, the incredible talents of the cast and crew and the mastery of
storytelling worthy of Walt Disney himself, the magic, mystery, and illusion of
Don Hahn’s original production was amazingly captured on the stage at the </span><a href="http://www.sanjose.org/plan-a-meeting-event/venues/center-performing-arts"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">San
Jose Center for the Performing Arts</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was myself as enthralled and invested in the story unfolding on stage
as my young date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also found myself experiencing
with almost indescribable joy a chance, much as I did during her first visit to
Disneyland, to watch her literally sparkle as her favorite story unfolded
before her eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were almost other
young Belles in attendance last night, and it was a joy to watch them enter the
theater with such glee and joy in their youthful eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was again, in my opinion, an excellent
example of plussing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This was a
presentation of the Disney magic every bit and wonderful as any I have had the
pleasure of experiencing, and I highly recommend witnessing this magic for
yourself, should the opportunity present itself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thank you all, to
everyone who made this experience possible!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most especially to the man
who truly made it all possible – Walt Disney.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-48168702524696685042012-03-06T10:17:00.003-08:002012-03-06T10:17:30.725-08:00Yet Another Legend Passes<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It truly saddens me
to have to write these articles, but, time marches on and our life on this
planet is too short.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am saddened to
report that Robert Sherman passed away yesterday in London at the age of 86.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I cannot conceive of anyone who doesn’t
know the name Robert Sherman, for those you may not recognize the name; think “</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Small_World"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">it’s a small world</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">”
and “Mary Poppins.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, it is that
Robert Sherman, the older brother of song writing duo Walt Disney called “the
boys.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Robert was a musician,
songwriter, artist, and novelist, among his many talents, and receiving a
breadth of awards for his endeavors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
wanting to reiterate the work of others, I will instead direct you to the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_B._Sherman"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Robert B. Sherman</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Wikipedia
page, and I recommend a visit to get some prospective of how much this man and
his brother – </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_M._Sherman"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Richard
M. Sherman</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> – have influenced your life, possibly without realizing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With his brother Richard, Robert wrote so
many of the classic Disney songs we have come to cherish over the years.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have had the honor
of meeting Richard Sherman, twice, in the intimate setting of <a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/">The Walt DisneyFamily Museum</a>, and the joy of listening to his experiences working for Walt
Disney and with his older brother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first
time was during a “Christmas with Walt” presentation, just after the Museum’s
opening, and then again for his second visit, during the Disneyland 55<sup>th</sup>
celebration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was struck by this man’s
warmth, kindest, and humility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon
meeting him for the second time he appeared genuinely surprised and pleased
that anyone would want to come back to see him again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can only imagine, but do so, that meeting
Robert would have been a similar experience, and I had hoped that at some
point, he might be able to visit with us at the Museum as I truly wanted to
meet him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well that is on item on bucket
list to forever be unfulfilled.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of my favorite
clips on YouTube is where Walt Disney introduces “the boys” singing “</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zcmLsIbFD0"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">It’s a Great Big Beautiful
Tomorrow</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">” for the 1964 World’s Fair GE Pavilion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The jumps and heel clicks with the GE logo on
the back of their suit-coats as they depart, is one of the first images that
comes to my mind when the Sherman Brothers are mentioned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, while I normal tear up a bit when Mary
Poppins comes to the ‘Bird Lady’ scene, I will never again be able to hear ‘Feed
the Birds’ without a tear and fond memory of Robert (and Richard).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During one of the Museum presentations (also
on the ‘the boys’ DVD documentary), Richard told one of my favorite stories,
and was my realization the Dick and Bob were storytellers like Walt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Walt first gave ‘the boys’ a copy of
Mary Poppins, they took it back to their offices for a read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During that reading, they underlined, I
believe, 6 chapters that they felt would make the foundation for a good
on-scene story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they, again, met
with Walt to discuss the book, low and behold, Walt’s copy of the book had the same
6 chapters underlined. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kindred
spirits?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think so. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course, there are the many songs ‘the
boys’ produce for so many other Disney products.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In 2009, the Walt
Disney Company released ‘</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Boys-Sherman-Brothers-Story/dp/B003TVTRY2/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1331057079&sr=1-1"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">the
boys</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">’, a documentary directed by Jeffrey Sherman and Gregory Sherman about
their Fathers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a touching and
poignant story of their fathers lives both in and outside the Disney Company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In it we learn that there was some conflict
between the brothers, sometimes heated, as they worked together with their
lives so entwined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think this conflict
arose out a natural sibling rivalry, and the male of the species need to
compete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder, and suspect, that may
be something that attracted Walt Disney to these brothers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From many stories I’ve heard, Walt was known
to team up artists with conflicting personalities, as he felt this teaming created
better more honest product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here was a
natural teaming that he could appreciate, and encourage to flourish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite obviously, he wasn’t wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I also know that the
Kennedy Center has just lost and magnificent opportunity to honor two men, who
have contributed so much entertainment in America and around the world, while
they were both still living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Robert’s
other son Robbie initiated a grass roots writing campaign last year to make his
Father and Uncle recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, and I happily
participated in that campaign writing and letter to add my encouragement that
honoring the Sherman Brothers would be a marvelous inclusion, as their
contribution to our culture is almost unmatched.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it will be posthumously for one
brother, let’s hope the Kennedy Center committee, responsible of the Honors, sees
fit to correct their oversight of last year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally, my heart,
thoughts, and condolences go out to the entire Sherman family for your
loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Robert was a truly magnificent and
marvelous man who gave us all so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He will be missed, and very deeply by me, and may he Rest in Peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope it may help in your grief to know
that, while he will be missed… Because of his tremendous gift to us, Robert M.
Sherman will never be forgotten!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-42052357282025216382012-01-24T17:00:00.000-08:002012-01-24T17:00:03.431-08:00Mineral King: Walt’s Last Lost Project<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the summer of 1958,
Walt Disney Productions shot a movie, touted by some and the best adventure
movie you’ve never seen – </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Man_on_the_Mountain"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Third Man on the Mountain</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have to admit, it is one that I have not seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then, with well over </span></span><a href="http://d23.disney.go.com/archives/a-complete-list-of-disney-films/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">600 films</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> to their credit, there are quite a
few Disney films on my yet to see list, but, this one has moved up considerably
on the must see list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film was shot
on location in the Swiss village of </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zermatt"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Zermatt</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This quaint little town in Swiss
Alps is only accessible by a </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rack_railway"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Cog or Rack Railway</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That will become
obviously important later in our discussion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As will the other important development that occurred as a result of
Walt’s location visit during shooting.<o:p></o:p></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On Saturday January
21, we gathered at the </span></span><a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt Disney Family Museum</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> for a discussion of Walt Disney’s
last project, and one that not many, but the more serious Walt Disney fans,
know anything about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most Disney
aficionados are pretty knowledgeable about Project Future, which you know
better as </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World_Resort"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt Disney World</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did you know that, during
the same period that Walt was developing his ideas for Florida, he was also
working on developing a ski resort in the California Sierras?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, yes he was…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But first, let’s head back to 1958 and the
other well development that came out of Walt’s visit to Zermatt.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How many of you
remember Holiday Hill at Disneyland?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
mount of dirt was excavated from in front of </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Beauty_Castle"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sleeping Beauty’s Castle</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> to create the moat, and atop of that
mound was one of the towers that supported the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyway_(Disney)"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Skyway</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> gondola ride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since
Walt had always felt that the tower detracted from the picture he wanted
painted for the Castle, he was always looking for a way to plus the area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While in Zermatt, Walt sent a postcard by to
one of his favorite designers – </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Burns"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Harriet Burns</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harriet’s daughter, Pam Burns-Clair, was also at the Museum for this
day’s events.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The postcard simply
said this, “Build this.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know that
build today as the Matterhorn, the first tubular steel rollercoaster, and built
inside a mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The added bonus or
probably more accurate reason for building it…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It disguised the Skyway tower next to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another added bonus of
the day…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since there was an event in the
morning, Sam Gennawey, and Jeff Kurtti were at the Museum for a Meet &
Greet and book signing, I had time between the two events to go through the
galleries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The galleries in a minute,
but, the meet and greet was great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeff
is one of my favorite presenters (well, they are all my favorites, but, Jeff is
at the top of the list) at the Museum, and I always look forward to seeing
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since I wrote a review of Sam’s
book on my blog, I’ve had the opportunity to strike up an online
friendship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So getting the opportunity
to meet him – in person – was special, and I’ve got to say, he is every bit as
friendly in person as he is online.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also
in the meet and greet was Werner Weiss of </span></span><a href="http://www.yesterland.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Yesterland</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Werner wrote the Foreword for Sam’s book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what followed was a completely unexpected
pleasure.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I mentioned, I got
the chance to once again go through the galleries, amazingly, a different
experience each time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This visit will be
one of those very special times in my memory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As I was making the transition from gallery 6 to 7, I notice another
individual I now recognize from the earlier meet and greet event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I was stopped to talk to a couple of
Museum Staffers, I didn’t have a chance, then, to approach this person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, I did manage to eventually catch up with
him toward the end of gallery 8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
person was and is David Price, one of the panelists for the afternoon’s
event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got to introduce myself, and
confirm that he was indeed “Buzz” Price’s son, as I had suspected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, I got to telling him how much I had
enjoyed seeing his dad at an event about a year and half earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And… as it turned out, “Buzz’s” last public
appearance, another of my special moments at the Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not being a person who wants to intrude on
others experience in the galleries, I was preparing to move on, and leave David
to his viewing and thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine my
joy as he walked along side of me, conversing about the exhibits before us,
Walt, and his Dad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We strolled and
talked all the way to the Disneyland of Walt’s Imagination exhibit, where after
several minutes we parted company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was a most pleasurable 30 minutes which I will always remember fondly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was left with one overwhelming thought; I
wish I had a Dad that I cherished as much as David so obviously cherishes his
Dad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you David, for spending that
time with me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now for the reason we
came together at the Museum…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were
joined in the </span></span><a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt Disney Family Museum</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
Theater by Sam Genn<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">awey, David
Price, and Ron Miller to talk about the Walt Disney efforts to develop </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_King"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Mineral King</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Valley, which is now part of the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_National_Forest"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sequoia National Forest</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, as a ski resort, and summertime
mountain destinations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You might
recognize Sam’s name as I wrote a recent review of his new book, </span></span><a href="http://ayefourpublishing.com/walt-and-the-promise-of-progress-city"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">WALT </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">AND
THE PROMISE OF</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Progress City</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I have found Sam’s book thought provoking and inspiring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>David Price is an architect in Southern
California, and for the Disney fan, you may recognize a familiarity with his
last name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, David is Harrison “Buzz”
Price, the man responsible for the economic study which led to Disneyland’s
location in Anaheim, along with dozens of other studies for Walt and the Disney
Company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, we have Ron
Miller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rom is a former CEO of Walt
Disney Productions, husband of Diane Disney Miller, and a co-founder of the </span></span><a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt Disney Family Museum</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As Sam described, Ron was “in the room” as plans for the development of
Mineral King were pursued, and it is always wonderful to see one or more of the
Museum’s co-founders participate in a presentations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As an added bonus, I got to sit next to Diane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, yes there was the 6, or so, feet of
wheelchair space between us, but no wheelchairs today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, leave me alone…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was sitting next to Diane!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now on to Mineral
King…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We now know that Walt
was very taken with Zermatt, Switzerland from his visit during the filming of
Third Man on the Mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, did you
know that he and his family were avid skiers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, as we learned during this session, Diane… not so much early in her
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we were treated to a picture
of Lillian, Walt, Diane (about age 8 or 9) and </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannes_Schroll"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Hannes Schroll</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> (more on him later) all posing on skis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Diane did confess that she really did not really
learn to ski until years later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hannes
Schroll was a Alpine ski racer and the creator of the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Bowl_Ski_Resort"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sugar Bowl Ski Resort</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hannes and Walt became good friends and Walt was an early investor in
Sugar Bowl, but, you may not know his other Disney connection…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hannes was known to many as the yodeling skier,
and could often be heard skiing done the slopes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is Hannes doing </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goofy_holler#Goofy_holler"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Goofy’s holler</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> in </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Skiing"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">The Art of Skiing</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, and Sugar Bowl, even today, has a few Disney
references, such as Mt. Disney, Disney Meadows, and the Donald Duck run.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Out of Walt’s interest
in winter sports, he was approach to do the pageantry portion of the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Winter_Olympics"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">1960 Winter Olympics</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> in Squaw Valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walt’s staff planned the opening and closing
ceremonies, it was at Walt’s insistence that these ceremonies be televised for
the first time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much, if not all, of
today’s televised sports pageantry can trace its root back to those televised
ceremonies of the 1960 Winter Olympics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As we learned from Ron, on Saturday, it turns out the much of the
operational aspect of those games were handled or managed by Disney staff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seems the operational skills needed for
running a theme park, are much the same as running the Olympic Games… who
knew?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As result of all of this, Walt was looking to develop a winter sports
destination with all the natural Disney flair. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several locations were explored, but for many
reasons these projects went nowhere. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
when the U.S. Forest Service put out an RFP to develop the Mineral King Valley,
the Disney organization jumped on the opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_King"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Mineral King</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Valley is bordered on three sides by the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_National_Forest"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sequoia National Forest</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, established in 1908.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Mineral King area was originally excluded
from the Sequoia Nat’l Forest primarily because of the earlier mining and
commercial development activities in that area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While it was made part of the Sequoia Game Refuge, it was still
available for development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the
Forest Service’s RFP was for a modest ski resort, Walt Disney saw a greater
potential for a resort that could be used and enjoyed year round, and submitted
grander plans for the valley’s development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Using what he had learned in his development of Disneyland, the plans,
underway at the time, for his visions of EPCOT, and what he saw as an ideal
Alpine village in Zermatt, Switzerland, Walt designed what he thought would be
an ideal resort in Mineral King.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walt
even put his best number guy, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Price"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Harrison “Buzz” Price</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,
on the task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember, it was Buzz who
had successfully identified the optimal location for Disneyland, and had
recently identified Orlando as the future home of Disney World.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Club"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sierra Club</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> was originally on
board for the development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately,
before the project could really get off the ground and actually building started,
we lost Walt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Walt gone, there was
no one to illuminate his vision well enough to keep the project going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The team Walt left behind tried gallantly,
but eventually the Disney organization was left with no alternative but to walk
away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It truly saddens me that this
project never came to fruition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From all
the pictures Sam showed us and the comments for Ron and David, it would have
been a place I’d visit often.</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I particularly enjoyed
this session, as we treated to some very loving banter and comments back and
forth between Ron and Diane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And David
recalled some poignant memories of his young life in the Mineral King
Valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, David’s family shared
ownership of a cabin in valley, and he recalled often being at the cabin to
make repairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sam Gennawey is and
exuberant presenter and moderator and greatly enhanced the presentation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve already started a campaign to have him
back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With this year being the 30<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of Epcot, I thought a session discussing what we see today at the
theme park, and the EPCOT of Walt’s vision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It would be a very interesting program.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally, I don’t say
it here enough, but…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to
thank all of the </span></span><a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt Disney Family Museum</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
staff for all their efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoy
each of my visits to the Museum as much for the exhibits and programs, as for
the staff interaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each and every
one of you has every reason to be proud of what you have helped to create.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You all make each visit better, so to all of
you…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span></i></div>Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-58206601639515137292012-01-19T11:00:00.000-08:002012-01-19T11:00:03.358-08:00Walt Disney – Continuing the Thought<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rarely am I this
excited to delve into a topic, as I am with this one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, as Smee tells Capt Hook in the film </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook_(film)"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Hook</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, “Captain, I’ve just had an apostrophe!”</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I said in my last
post on this subject, ask any Disney fan what he or she finds so interesting
about Walt Disney, and you probably find almost as many reasons as the
individuals you ask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To press further,
what is it that you like about what it is you like about your reason for
interest?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you were to continue to
press, I think you’d find that, what the initial reasoning, it would boil down
to…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever Walt does, even though you
might not quite be able to put your finger on it, there is just something so
right about him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I too, in my interest,
could never quite put my finger on it, until now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In one of my
previous posts, I mentioned what I thought was the apotheosis of Walt
Disney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those unfamiliar with the
term “Apotheosis”, </span></span><a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/apotheosis"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Dictionary.com</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
defines it as follows:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
elevation or exaltation of a person to the rank of a god. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
ideal example; epitome; quintessence: <i>This poem is the apotheosis of lyric </i></span></span><a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/expression"><i><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">expression</span></span></i></a><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I
like the term, and what's more, there is a famous painting in the U.S. Capitol
building called the Apotheosis of Washington, an artistic vision of elevating
the man to the status of a God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Read any number of
books, articles, or essays on Walt Disney and you’ll find any number of authors
attempting to deify the man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have
seen this exaltation happen throughout history with individuals of great
importance, but with those wanting to adore comes those equally intent on
demonization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Books, essays, and
historical accounts are littered with myths, for both purposes, which cloud our
judgments and understanding of many famous figures. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those with the inclination, I’d suggest a
simple myths search on the internet for you favorite historical luminary. You might be surprised what you’ll
learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Depending on a person’s perceived
contribution, their real impact on society, and time, will help determine the
level of deification or demonization that takes place through the legends and
myths created and what sticks in the societal psyche.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, in my opinion, the desire and almost
fixated need within the human condition to find explanation for those things we
do not understand and cannot comprehend.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, now I imagine, you
are pondering, what does this have to do with Walt Disney?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In </span></span><a href="http://ayefourpublishing.com/walt-and-the-promise-of-progress-city"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">WALT </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">AND
THE PROMISE OF</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Progress City</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sam.gennawey"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sam Gennawey</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">discusses the concept of a “higher degree of life” and “a quality
without a name” from an architectural viewpoint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With “a quality without a name” representing
a situation where we instinctively know that something is or seems right, even
when we can’t really put into words why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Could we expand these concepts into a more universal theory in human existence?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they can be identified in any small part
of our world, would it not make sense to assume that they are indeed are embedded,
no matter how deep, within the consciousness – or maybe better put, the
unconsciousness of all human beings?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Might these concepts be the unifying reasoning why so many people find
Walt Disney such an interesting character?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought about claiming, at
least for me, that Walt was the embodiment or physical manifestation of a “higher
degree of life” and “a quality without a name, however, I think that only leads
us to extend that deification concept, and which I do not favor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I think it is better put forth that Walt
Disney, whether he truly understood it or not, possessed a stronger innate
concentration or development of these qualities, along with a good dose of
honest humility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So there it is…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Walt
Disney was, in my opinion, the best possible example to date of a “higher
degree of life” and “a quality without a name.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, as this idea
percolates, I’d be very interested in hearing your thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have one you’d like to share?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a></div>Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-40258020210125596382012-01-17T15:00:00.000-08:002012-01-17T15:00:04.155-08:00An Appreciation for Animation<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In my youth, I was a
fair artist, until that age old dilemma took hold and I was encouraged to
pursue activities that would help me earn a living as an adult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, with my artistic desires dashed, I moved
on to other endeavors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh well, I know others
who have experienced the same fate…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s Life!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But, think about the
number <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">130,000</b>…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>24 frames a second, and approximately 90
minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, about 130,000 is the
approximate number of pictures that need to be produced to create an animated
feature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That number may well be much
higher, when you consider that you may have multiple pictures (of multiple
characters and background mattes) composited into a single frame of film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then… there are the storyboard drawings,
concept art, and inevitable pencil test animation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if anyone actually has an
accurate number, but I think it is very much higher, maybe in excess of
500,000.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is very easy to,
as most do; myself included for a long time, sit in a theater for an hour and a
half and be entertained by animated fantasy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think most do it under the guise of taking our children for such
entertainment, but I believe we – ourselves relish the change to escape into
the world of fantasy as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In recent
years, my journey delve deeper into the world of Disney has put me in many
audiences where the art of animation is the topic du jour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With that, my appreciation of what it really
takes to produce an animated feature film has grown significantly recently,
particular the true effort involved in taking and idea from concept to the
screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt
Disney’s</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> first animated feature, the
hand drawn animated classic </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs_(1937_film)"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, there was a cast and crew of about 130 people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Animation_Studios"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt Disney Animation Studios’</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> soon to be classic hard drawn animated feature, </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_and_the_Frog"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">The Princess and the Frog</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, that number swells to almost 600.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some additional numbers:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Snow White began as a concept in 1934,
premiering in Los Angeles in December of 1937 at a cost of almost $1.5
million.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Princess and the Frog was
introduced as a concept in 2006, premiering again in Los Angeles in November
2009 at a cost of about $105 million.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As my own personal footnote, there was actually
another premier a few days earlier in Burbank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Members of the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_D23"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">D23 Club</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
were invited to attend a premier party and screening at the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Studios_(Burbank)"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt Disney Studios</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> in the Studio’s theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
oldest daughter and I were in attendance at the party and had an incredibly
good time.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Interestingly, both
almost did not get made for various reasons, and both took about the same
amount of time to produce, albeit the latter with about 4 time the people and
10 times the cost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, in about 70
years, while the time from concept to screen has remained the same, the
personnel requirement and associated costs have gone up dramatically.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I wrote almost two
paragraphs here about the intricacies of the animation process, when I realized
just how limited and dreary my knowledge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With today’s technology, instead of making a feeble attempt to describe
the process to you, I suggest reading primers like this one on the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animation"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">animation process</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, or this on</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_animation"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;"> traditional
animation</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, to get a superior understanding for the depth of commit needed
to bring an animated feature to the screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What is important from my viewpoint is what we see on the screen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I realize that I am
a sappy old man, but, I am drawn to the classic Disney animated features, and I
include Pixar in that group, because of the true attention to detail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find these productions to be an almost
perfect blend of the arts… story, animation, voice, and music combined to
create a truly magical viewing experience, with each of these components having
equal importance the finished product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And then there is that attention to detail component.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs_(1937_film)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Snow
White</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, live actors performed most scenes so that the animators could see
and therefore draw character movements, adding just enough realism to give the finished
product an almost life like quality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Bambi</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, Walt had live animals
brought to the studio so that his artists could add life like motions to the
story’s animated characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First
tested in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Beauty_(1959_film)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sleeping
Beauty</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, and then used from start to finish in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_and_One_Dalmatians"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">101 Dalmatians</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,
</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ub_Iwerks"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Ub Iwerks</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> developed the
Xerox process for transferring artists drawing to cels, bringing even more of
the artists’ visions of these characters to the finished animations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of this effort adding to make these fantasy
just a little more believable, after all, isn’t the real joy of watching an
animated feature…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scenes on the
screen being just real enough to allow you to momentarily suspend reality.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then along comes the
computer age and CGI – </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-generated_imagery"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Computer Generated
Imagery</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, and the age of </span><a href="http://www.pixar.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Pixar</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pixar’s artists took the tried and true
methods of Disney’s hand drawn animation, and figured out how to apply this new
technology to the process, and WOW!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
whole new way of storytelling is born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My best examples, of the level of detail, which CGI animation affords
the artists come from </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters,_Inc."><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Monster,
Inc.</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cars_(film)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Cars</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a scene where Sully is careening down
a snow slope, coming to a crashing stop at the bottom of the hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the screen pans onto Sully, you can see
the hair on his back bristling in wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Or in Cars, where Doc is teaching Lightning the finer art of dirt
racing, the intricacies of the dust coming off of his tires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give the time and cost constraints of a hand
drawn feature, I don’t think that level of detail would be possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could go on…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, if you watch Disney or Pixar features,
try watching with a more discerning eye next time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You might be pleasantly surprised.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now a little bit on
the different types of animation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
is of course, hand drawn, CGI, Motion Capture, or Stop Motion animation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of these can be broken down further, but
for my purposes, we’ll stick to these.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Much of today’s animation is coming out of the CGI stable, with Motion
(or performance) capture becoming a popular medium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With this year’s Golden Globe for animation
going to Steven Spielberg’s </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tintin_(film)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">The
Adventures of Tintin</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, a recent comment on a social media board proclaimed
that, “Animation is now officially dead!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sorry, I don’t think so…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll
see what happens at Oscar time, but a GG for Tintin isn’t all that surprising…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spielberg’s talent for storytelling is well
established, Tintin is a relatively popular story internationally, the motion
capture’s capacity for interjecting life-like action, and the Golden Globes
being a more critique based award, and all lend themselves to this award.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I can say, I haven’t seen Tintin
yet, and I doubt that I will…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not
really a story that interests me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
beauty in art, all art, is in the eye of the beholder, and that eye varies
tremendously… hence the variety of art of all kinds available to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And over time, history has told us that
critical success does not guarantee financial success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With hand drawn animation, and especially as
developed by Walt and his artists (even to this day), there is an amazing
warmth and depth of character unparalleled in any other form in my
opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The CGI methods can compensates
for this challenge in the depth of detail available when applied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So far, in my experience, the Disney/Pixar
artists are the only one’s who routinely take on this challenge, but, bottom
line to the success of any animated classic is the combination of story, art,
and music, and in this the Disney/Pixar teams are unmatched by any other in the
industry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I watch as any new
animated features each year as I can, of course depending on my interest in the
story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, it is the Disney/Pixar
features that I go back to watch again and again and again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find most animated feature to be little
more than a 90 minute collection of gag shorts interwoven by a common
thread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are funny, and I do enjoy
the hour and half’s escape, but there is nothing really to draw me back for a
second look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, I have
seen almost all of the Disney and Pixar features more than once and several of
them many… many times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of late, </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_and_the_Frog"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">The Princess and the Frog</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> holds a
particular draw for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a great
story, there is the warmth of the hand drawn animations, the characters are
timeless, and the music perfectly draws you into the story…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, with all that, there is one more piece,
at least for me…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Princess and the
Frog is amazingly reminiscent of Mary Blair – an artist I hold with much
fondness, probably because she is also the artist behind my favorite Disney
movie of all time – Peter Pan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Princess
is one of the few movies that I look forward to the credits rolling as much as
the movie itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the real draw
for me is being in a comfortable place where I can let my mind running wild,
and explore me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth be told, I think
even tough guys want to be able to believe in a fairy tale life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally to close this out, I recently got to sit
with my daughters and watch the new release of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast_(1991_film)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Beauty and
the Beast</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> 3D.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The original is T’s
all time favorite movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the last
20 years, she has burned through 2 VHS version that I know of, and at least 3
DVD’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, there was a period from age
three to four that I could guarantee waking on Saturday morning to the B&B
playing in the VCR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What the
significance of Beauty and the Beast 3D, other than T literally vibrating with
anticipation before hand, was the 3D component.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have not been a really fan of 3D films to this point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One, I wear glasses, so putting a pair of 3D
glasses over my regular pair is somewhat awkward and uncomfortable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, I have found most of the 3D features
I’ve seen, add elements to the story to showcase the WOW factor of 3D that don’t
necessarily add value to the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing could be further from the truth with the 3D version of Beauty
and the Beast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 3D effects here do
nothing to detract or change the original classic, and everything to enhance
and give great depth to an already magnificent piece of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Hahn"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Don Hahn</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, the original
producer, and his crew did an incredible job with this release, and I think it
is an excellent example of what Walt Disney called plussing the
experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will gladly see this
version again… and again…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I have a new found respect, admiration, and
appreciation of animation, well done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Each viewing, even repeats, is a new experience, and chance to both
escape and explore the human condition.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As always, it is my hope that you draw some value
from my ramblings, and I appreciate you spending some time at my blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next time, I continue my developing thoughts
on Walt Disney – the Man. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a></div>Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28519522128176304.post-20659940367148800882012-01-15T18:00:00.000-08:002012-01-15T18:00:01.183-08:00A Developing Thought on Walt Disney<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A child’s journey from
experience to experience is without expectation, and full of wonder and
amazement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each a new adventure to be
fulfilled with learning and the yearning for more, until that disastrous
moment…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His obligation to grow up
realized!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rare is the individual who
successfully navigates through life with a true childlike inquisitiveness and
wonder intact.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yes, I know!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I promised a piece on animation…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, one of the joys of journeys of discovery
is that you never know where the path is going to lead you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My path has recently been enlightened in a
way that I never ever expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank
you </span></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sam.gennawey"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sam Gennawey</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve already recommended </span></span><a href="http://ayefourpublishing.com/walt-and-the-promise-of-progress-city"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">WALT </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">AND
THE PROMISE OF</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Progress City</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> in my last post, but now I am going
to recommend it as a re-read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has
given my journey new direction.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last September, toward
the end of the </span></span><a href="http://disneyhistory-myjourneyofdiscovery.blogspot.com/2011/09/special-walt-disney-family-museum-event.html"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Our Grandpa</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> session at the </span></span><a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt
Disney Family Museum</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, Walt Disney’s
granddaughter Joanna asked the audience a question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What do you all find so interesting about my
Grandpa?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I posted a response </span></span><a href="http://disneyhistory-myjourneyofdiscovery.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-do-i-find-so-interesting-about.html"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">here</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time I thought my response was pretty
complete, but, now I am not so sure.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One could single out Walt’s various
achievements and awards in entertainment. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there’s more…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One could single out his development of technologies
and their practical applications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
there is more…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One could single out his
ability to take almost any subject and create a story around and about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any of these and many more could be used as
an easy justification for interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
there is, at least for me, something else that draws me to this man, as I think
is the case with many Disney fans, but most particularly the true Walt Disney
fan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I consider myself one of those true
Walt Disney fans, and have, until now, been frustrated with my inability to
adequately articulate my feelings about him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was while reading </span></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sam.gennawey"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sam Gennawey's</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><a href="http://ayefourpublishing.com/walt-and-the-promise-of-progress-city"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">WALT </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">AND
THE PROMISE OF</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Progress City</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, that my understanding of my draw to
Walt Disney began crystallize into a comprehensible form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if the thoughts to follow had
occurred to Sam as he researched and wrote his book, but, I am looking forward
to asking him in about a week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I have
traveled on my journey of discovery over the last several years, I have found
that the Disney interest is as vast and varied as there are people
interested…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>simple put… like so many
things in life, the Disney experience is really an individually personal event
for each person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like in other areas of
our lives, seldom do we endeavor to truly comprehend or illuminate an
experience, rather choosing to just let our life’s proceedings transpire around
us without thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before I begin to
tie all of my sprawling thoughts into what I hope to be a articulate concept, I
think we need to acknowledge a couple of facts; Walt Disney was not formally trained
in any of the disciplines at which he excelled, but he was adept at applying
what he had learned in one arena, to other developing interests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An interest in art led to his involvement in
animation, where he was able to create and develop processes which elevated
animation to a new art form and greatly enhanced the audience experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walt’s successes in animation led him into
the field of live action movies, where again he create and developed processes
which elevated and enhanced the audience experience. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From live action, Walt moved on to the
amusement part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apply what he learned in
art, animation, and live action films; he created an entertainment venue like
none other in the world at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Each endeavor enhanced, or plussed, by the accomplishments that preceded
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walt’s last desire, to build a
prototype city of the future, while never realized, was informed by all the
came before it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Experimental
Prototype City Of Tomorrow – EPCOT – would have been a site to behold, if Walt
had lived to see the project to completion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many may think that the Epcot that exists, at Walt Disney World , today
is the EPCOT of Walt Disney’s dreams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While there are components of Walt’s design in place today, Epcot is
nothing of the designs that Walt had drawn up before his death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are interested in learning about the
EPCOT of Walt’s dream, well then </span></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sam.gennawey"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Sam
Gennawey's</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><a href="http://ayefourpublishing.com/walt-and-the-promise-of-progress-city"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">WALT
</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">AND THE PROMISE OF</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Progress City</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> is the book
to read.<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next, I think Walt
had an innate appreciation for the difference between educations and
learning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As an example, his concepts
for the CalArts – </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Institute_of_the_Arts"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">California Institute of the Arts</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> was more than just an institute where a student could
come to study his or her craft… it was a place where students of one discipline
could have their studies positively influenced by others of different
disciplines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even earlier in his life,
Walt understood the need for continuing study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>During the productions of </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Bambi</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, Walt brought in forest animals for his artists and
animators to study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was done to
allow these artists to interject more realism into the finished product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And before that, he teamed with Nelbert
Chouinard and the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chouinard_Art_Institute"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Chouinard Art Institute</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> – later to become part of CalArts – to help develop
and expand his artists’ talents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
might know that animators today as </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney's_Nine_Old_Men"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Walt’s Nine Old Men</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, truly legendary figures in the world of animation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In today’s world, it is my opinion that we
place to much emphasis on higher education, simply for the sake of
educations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is pure conjecture, but
I think the evidence would point to; Walt’s opinion that education comes after
interests are piqued.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Regardless, I think it was the
complexity of Walt Disney that led to some much of legend surrounding him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll get into how I am going to tie my ideas
together from some of the content from </span></span><a href="http://ayefourpublishing.com/walt-and-the-promise-of-progress-city"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">WALT
</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">AND THE PROMISE OF</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Progress City</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> in a future
post, but for my next post you can expect me to finish my animation thoughts
that I have been working on for some time now.<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your comments or questions
are always welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at </span></span></i><a href="mailto:mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can find us on Facebook at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_121710617881854&ap=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Discovering
Disney History on FB</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>Walthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12762258151309884690noreply@blogger.com2