OTTAWA (Reuters) - Popular Canadian band the Barenaked Ladies has pulled out of a children's charity show organized by Walt Disney Co after lead singer Steven Page was charged with possessing cocaine, the band said in a statement posted on its website on Friday.

Read the rest of the story...

Walt Disney and Shirley Temple dedicate the Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama

Disneyland gave itself a wonderful present yesterday for its 53rd Anniversary when it was announced that by late this year the Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama would re-open with a new show.

When the attraction is unveiled later this year, the “show” will differ from the dioramas of the 1980s and ‘90s, returning to the unique style of the original 1957 show and motion picture. Enhanced with new scenes and special effects magic, the re-Imagineered attraction will employ technology not available in the 1950s to represent scenes from the story of Sleeping Beauty, including the magic of good fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, and the more sinister spells of the evil Maleficent.

This is a most magnificent development and as along as Maleficent keeps her evil fingers out of the development, Sleeping Beauty Castle should return to entertain new generations of Disneyland visitors.

The full press release is below the cut.

(Above photo: . Photo courtesy and copyright Disney)


DISNEYLAND PREPARES TO OPEN SLEEPING BEAUTY CASTLE WALKTHROUGH
July 17, 2008 - Anaheim, CA - The interior of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland will open in time for the December holiday season, offering guests a “reawakened” version of its classic walkthrough presentation kissed with vibrant scenes of Aurora, her charming prince, the evil Maleficent and other characters from the beloved fairy tale film.

“It is fitting that we are announcing the return of a classic on the 53rd anniversary of Disneyland,” said Tony Baxter, Senior Vice President of Creative Development for Walt Disney Imagineering, who unveiled a model of the castle on July 17, the birthday of Disneyland park.

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty,” and the excitement generated by the anniversary of the motion picture spurred interest in the return of the Disneyland attraction.

Also celebrating the milestone 50th Anniversary of “Sleeping Beauty” is Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, which will release a two-disc Platinum Blu-ray™ Hi-Def disc, making “Sleeping Beauty” the first Walt Disney animated classic title to be released in high definition, as well as on two-disc Platinum DVD. A bonus feature on the new release will be “The Original Sleeping Beauty Walk-Through Attraction With Walt Disney Imagineering,” an immersive experience recreating the original castle walkthrough.

On April 29, 1957, nearly two years before the premiere of Walt Disney’s animated feature “Sleeping Beauty,” the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough opened with an in-park ceremony featuring Walt Disney and actress Shirley Temple who, some 20 years earlier, had presented Disney with his special Academy Award – one Oscar and seven little ones – for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

The crafting of the 1957 walkthrough show fell to Walt Disney Imagineer Ken Anderson and animation art director and color stylist Eyvind Earle, credited with giving the motion picture “Sleeping Beauty” the distinctive and colorful look of storybook illustrations in medieval style. An entirely new look appeared in 1977 when the attraction’s redesign featured miniature dioramas, including moving figurines similar to the window displays in the shops on Main Street, U.S.A.

When the attraction is unveiled later this year, the “show” will differ from the dioramas of the 1980s and ‘90s, returning to the unique style of the original 1957 show and motion picture. Enhanced with new scenes and special effects magic, the re-Imagineered attraction will employ technology not available in the 1950s to represent scenes from the story of Sleeping Beauty, including the magic of good fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, and the more sinister spells of the evil Maleficent.

For the first time, guests who are unable to climb stairs or navigate the passageways of the Castle will be able to experience the walkthrough “virtually” in a special room on the ground floor of the Castle.

Originally posted on The Disney Blog.

Sleeping Beauty Castle - A Present for Disneyland on its Birthday

Read the rest of the story...

Review: Wall-E - Mirror.co.uk

July 18, 2008    Category: Disney news   No Comments »


Telegraph.co.uk
Review: Wall-E
Mirror.co.uk - 18 Jul 2008
Pixar releases yet another animated movie and, once again, it’s time to reach for the thesaurus to find words to describe its sheer beauty.
Film review: WALL·E Telegraph.co.uk
WHAT A WALL-E Hackney Gazette
Norfolk Eastern Daily Press  - Pocket-lint.co.uk  - Yorkshire Post  - Sheffield Telegraph
all 48 news articles

Read the rest of the story...

Hartware MedienKunstVerein 19 July - 19 October, 2008 'You can't use it without my permission ... I'm gonna sue your ass!' shouts Disney's Little Mermaid with the angry voice of a copyright lawyer in the video Gimme the Mermaid (4:49 min., 2000). The video by Negativland and Tim Maloney is one of twenty eight works included in 'Anna Kournikova Deleted By Memeright Trusted System: Art in the Age of Intellectual Property', an exhibition presented by Hartware MedienKunstVerein (HMKV). It is part of Work 2.0 – Copyright and Creative Work in the Digital Age. In the framework of Work 2.0, HMKV – together with the Berlin-based collaborative partner iRights.info/mikro e.V. – explores the relationships between creative work, intellectual property law, and technology (http://www.iRights.info).

Read the rest of the story...

WALL-E (U)

July 17, 2008    Category: Disney news   No Comments »

One of the final sequences in the new Disney/Pixar digi-mation involves the eponymous robot Wall-E failing to recognise his robot friend, Eve, despite the caressing touch of this latter's mechanical hand.



Read the rest of the story...

Steven Page of the Canadian rock band The Bare Naked Ladies performs at E.P.C.O.T. Center during Disney's 50th anniversary celebration in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, May 5, 2005. REUTERS/Rick FowlerReuters - The lead singer of the popular Canadian band the Barenaked Ladies will fight a recent cocaine charge in the United States, the band said in a statement posted on its website on Thursday.


Read the rest of the story...

53 years ago today Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom of Disneyland opened to the world with a, rare for the time, live broadcast television special featuring some of the biggest stars of the day and a crowd of excited invite only guests (plus about an equal number of guests who used counterfeit tickets or snuck in over the low berms). Walt’s vision of a little park where parents and children and family members of all ages, races, creeds, and nationalities could have fun together was a huge hit and quickly outpaced all estimates for attendance. No one since has quite matched the magic of the Happiest Place On Earth and I doubt anyone ever will.

Disneyland, the Imagineers old and new, cast members who make the magic every day, and all the special attractions, hidden nooks, exquisite detail, featured performers, and rich history hold a near and dear place in my heart. Everyday I’m away from ‘the park’ I feel a little heavier in my heart. But the magic is available in smaller doses at other parks like Walt Disney World, via the passion of its fans, and in my memories, which I will always cherish.

So Happy Birthday to Disneyland! And for everyone who, like me, wishes they were walking right down the middle of Main Street USA this morning instead of heading into work. Here’s a couple videos to help wipe away a few of those blues:

Originally posted on The Disney Blog.

Fifty-Three Years of Memories at Disneyland

Read the rest of the story...

When Disney announced it was casting its first black princess for its latest animation film, the African-American heroine was hailed as a positive role model for little girls and an ambitious marketing ploy, not to mention an attempt to ward off the allegations of racism that have lurked since the heyday of Walt Disney Productions in the 1940s and 1950s.



Read the rest of the story...

Más atracciones nuevas en los parques de Disney en Orlando (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) y California inspirado en las películas de Toy Story llamada Toy Story Mania!, que promete ser la bomba, utilizando tecnología puntera y explorando la cuarta dimensión. La atracción está basada en la interactividad. Los turistas serán recibidos por un enorme Mr. Potato con las últimas técnicas audioanimatrónicas, que entretendrá a la gente en la cola, interactuando con ellos en tiempo real. Luego, los vi

Read the rest of the story...

Speaking of wacky YouTube finds, I located a Guest Relations video and Kevin Yee has found this short video of an animatronic version of Remy the Rat from Pixar’s Ratatouille. He’s “lifesize” and apparently being used to get guests to enter an attraction or restaurant in Disneyland Paris’ Disney Studios park.

Originally posted on The Disney Blog.

Remy Animatronic from Ratatouille

Read the rest of the story...
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

 Subscribe in a reader

Archives

Pages