So yes, it's been a while since we last posted anything here. Mostly due to a change in circumstances at the time. The good news, we're back! We've decided that it's time to start up the blog again.
But that's not all. We're back with a new name, new location and a fresh new look. For the latest posts, please visit us at Reflections of Imagination.
http://www.reflectionsofimagination.com/
There's been some interesting things heading round the blogsphere over the last few days. One of them that caught my eye was this amusement park in China which, with its slogan "Disneyland is too far", claims to not at all be based on any of Disney's ideas or creations. Indeed, Disneyland isn't really too far in China now, since Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005...
The United States have said they're going to file a complaint with the World Trade Organisation over rampant copyright piracy in China, which they claim costs them billions of dollars a year.
According to the JapanProbe blog, who found the YouTube video of a news report from the park:
The President of the park, who is interviewed in the video, tells them that nothing is copied from Disney and that all the characters are original creations (He also says the line about Mickey rip-off = big-eared cat). However, a little girl they encounter tells them that she sees Disney characters, and even the people inside the character costumes admit that they’re based on Disney’s creations.
Disneyland is too far away. Please come to Beijing Shijingshan Amusement Park!
Those of us that have had the opportunity to work in one of Disney's theme parks know how interesting and fun it can be. We also know how demanding and tricky it can be, too.
Over the last couple of days, a set of four flash games have been floating around the blogsphere, and with good reason. They're four simulations of Disney attractions which you can control with the aim of running the attraction as efficiently as possible and by getting as many guests through as possible.
Sounds easy? You'd be wrong. The four attractions are the Disney-MGM Studios version of the Tower of Terror, and the Disneyland Paris versions of Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain Mission 2 and Phantom Mannor, and the games are quite tricky to master. You have to control the doors, queue, loading and dispatch of each ride for up to four ride trains as well as attending to breakdowns and the ever growing line of guests forming at the entrance to your attraction.
So, what are you waiting for? Go on and give it a play!
Links:
- Simulations on themagical.nl
The guest suffered minor injuries when the branch fell from the tree at 12:40pm. It is thought that the branch was blown from the tree in strong winds at the resort this afternoon.
Links:
- Tree Limb Falls on Person Riding Boat at Disneyland - abc7.com Local News
The dresses, designed by Kristie Kelly, are showcased on DisneyBridal.com, and includes dresses based around Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Disney's Jasmine, Ariel and Belle.
Many more photos of the dresses can be found on the Disney Consumer Products website, along with a press release.
Links:
- Disney Bridal
- Photo Gallery -Disney Consumer Products
- Further information -Disney Consumer Products
Tokyo Disneyland have given their Dreamlights parade (think Main Street Electrical Parade) an update with some new floats based on the Pixar animations.
The new floats include Finding Nemo characters and Monsters Inc. characters, and look (in my opinion) rather good.
DLRP.fr has a few photos of the new floats, and the official website's Dreamlights page also has some details.
Links:
- Tokyo Disney Resort
- Dreamlights Parade Information
- New float photos (DLRP.fr)
"To all who come to this happy place, welcome. Once upon a time... a master storyteller, Walt Disney, inspired by Europe's best loved tales, used his own special gifts to share them with the world. He envisioned a Magic Kingdom where these stories would come to life, and called it Disneyland.
Now his dream returns to the land that inspired it. Euro Disneyland is dedicated to the young and the young at heart... with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration for all the world."
As spotted by the folks at BoingBoing, Walt Disney's passport is up for auction on eBay. That's right. For $3,600 (at the time of writing this), you could own this rather random, yet unique piece of Disney history.
According to the auction page, the passport is dated just after the release of Mary Poppins, and contains visa stamps from a trip to London.
Check out the auction on eBay here.
(Via BoingBoing)
As spotted by the folks over at Boing Boing, Modern Mechanix has a very nice look at an article from the January 1938 issue of Popular Science. The article is a look at the pioneering film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The article has scanned pages of the original article as well as a typed transcript. Also available are some very high resolution scans, suitable for those who want to print it out (I'm sure there's someone out there who'll print it and make it into a poster for their wall...)
Links:
- The Making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Modern Mechanix (via Boing Boing)
...in a Disneyland not so far away...
Disneyland Resort Paris did a suprise "soft-opening" of its new parade this weekend. Officially supposed to start on April 1st, the Disney's Once Upon a Dream Parade made its way through the park despite the wet and rainy weather in its first public outings.
Quick off the mark, Photos Magiques quickly got some photos online, followed by DLRP.fr, who also now have a video of the parade available for those of you who either can't wait to visit the park and see it for yourself, or are unable to visit.
Various rumours had been circling recently that the parade and its floats wouldn't be ready in time, but the parade was performed with all of its brand new floats completed. According to Photos Magiques, the floats are named: The Dream of Imagination, The Dream of Laughter and Fun, Dreams of Friendship, Dreams of Fantasy, Dreams of Power, Dreams of Adventure and Dreams of Romance.
Links:
- Once Upon a Dream Parade - Photos Magiques
- Parade Photos - DLRP.fr
- More parade photos and video - DLRP.fr
Disney and Pixar yesterday released a new trailer for the upcoming film Ratatouille. The trailer is currently on the official Ratatouille website.
The new trailer gives us some more hints as to what the story may be (although I'm not going to write it down here, since some of you might want to wait and see!) It also introduces a couple of the characters, and tells us a little more about the main character - a rat.
Currently I've not been able to locate a HD version of the trailer (or indeed anything larger than the one on the Disney website). This'll probably change soon (or maybe already has and I've just not spotted it!)
Anyway. Enjoy!
Links:
- Ratatouille website and trailer - Disney.com
It's been a kind of tradition with Pixar to release a new short film with each feature film. With The Incredibiles, it was Boundin'; with Cars, it was One Man Band. Ratatouille will be no exception from this, and its short film will be Lifted.
Lifted is a short film about a teenage alien who is taking an exam in abducting humans under the watchful eye of his instructor, Mr. B.
The film has already been previewed at The 42nd Chicago International Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Short Film at the 79th Academy Awards a few weeks ago.
Pixar's website contains a short introduction to the film, and has a quick peek at the artwork and storyline. The film is directed by Gary Rydstrom and is around five minutes long.
Links:
- Short Films: Lifted - Pixar Animation Studios
On a similar note, ComingSoon.net has several new pictures from Walt Disney Pictures, showing various scenes and characters from the film.
If you haven't seen it already, the official HD trailer is on the Yahoo! Movies! Website! Still!
Roll on May 25th!
Links:
- Official PotC3 website
- New photos - ComingSoon.net
- HD Trailer - Yahoo! Movies!
So you've been to Walt Disney World. You've ridden the monorail, bought the toy monorail that's sold in the gift shops around the resort. What next?
How about buying your very own full size Walt Disney World Monorail System Mark IV car?
Used at the resort between 1971 and 1999 this monorail car will have traveled almost a million miles around the Florida resort and could be yours for $1000.
The auction is on eBay with 9 days left on the clock right now. Take a look. Even if you don't want to buy it, there's some interesting photos of the driver's cabin and what's underneath the monorail.
Links:
Disney Monorail Front Cabin Auction - eBay
Just a reminder for all you Pirates fans out there, the trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End will première on the Yahoo! Movies! Website! Tonight!
At the time of writing this, the countdown sits at 9 hours and 39 minutes until you can watch the trailer on the website. For those of you lacking the mathematical skills to add the times together (like me!), it's 10pm EST.
Links:
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Trailer - Yahoo! Movies
Yarr! Soon, the familiar faces from the Pirates of the Caribbean films will set sail on your favourite gaming platform*.
Reports say that you will be able to play as Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner or Elizabeth Swann, and the game will be based on the upcoming film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, including events and locations from the film as well as events and locations from the previous two films.
Those of you looking for a more interactive adventure may want to consider the Nintendo Wii version of the game, which will make use of the console's innovative controller for actions such as sword swings, etc. The games on all platforms are expected to be rated T for Teen in the US with the exception of the Nintendo DS version, which will have an ESRB rating of E10+, for anyone aged 10 and over.
The games are scheduled to be released towards the end of May 2007.
* Assuming your favourite gaming platform is one of the following: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, XBox 360.
Links:
- Pirates to Set Sail on Consoles and Handhelds - ComingSoon.net
DLRP.fr has some photosets of both events, starting with the St. Patrick's Day Parade, which included Irish dance troupes, marching bands and - of course - the Disney characters all dressed in green outfits for the special occasion.
At 9pm, Fantasyland closed so that preparations could take place for the special fireworks, which took place later in the evening. Fireworks danced to the sounds of Riverdance and music from the recent Pirates of the Caribbean films. A video of this is available on the DLRP.fr website along with many photos and a (French) description.
Links:
- St Patrick's Day Parade Photos - DLRP.fr
- St Patrick's Day Fireworks Video and Photos - DLRP.fr
Disney had released the guest list for this years Star Wars Weekend:
Celebrities scheduled to appear this year include:
Weekend 1 (June 1, 2, 3)
o Warwick Davis ("Wicket the Ewok")
o Kenny Baker ("R2-D2")
Weekend 2 (June 8, 9, 10)
o Ray Park ("Darth Maul")
o Daniel Logan ("Boba Fett" - Episode II)
Weekend 3 (June 15, 16, 17)
o Jeremy Bullloch ("Boba Fett")
o Peter Mayhew ("Chewbacca")
Weekend 4 (June 22, 23, 24)
o Anthony Daniels ("C-3PO")
o Bonnie Piesse ("Beru Lars")
According to Kevin Yee, a columnist on MiceAge, the new laugh floor has opened.
March 17th, the Laugh Floor opened with an unofficial, soft launch. This doesn't mean that the attraction will stay open, but for now you can ride Magic Kingdoms newest attraction, before its official opening day.
The official grand opening on April 2. Annual passholder previews will be held March 30 – April 1
Kevin has complete review of the ride on MiceAge.
Links:
Kevin Yee's Site
MiceAge
The guest is reported to have told his wife that he wasn't feeling well whilst climbing the steps to one of the parks water slides, and said he'd meet her at the bottom. Upon reaching the bottom, the man - who has not been named - collapsed and was taken to Celebration Hospital, and later died. It is reported that he had a pre-existing heart condition. Last night Disney offered their "deepest sympathies" for the family of the guest.
Links:
- Disney visitor collapses on water-park ride, dies - The Orlando Sentinel
