Siemens at Spaceship Earth

It appears that Siemens is about to put its stamp on Spaceship Earth.

According to wdwmagic.com
Siemens, the new sponsors of Spaceship Earth recently revealed a few bits of information about the changes to the attraction. The new post-show, which is currently under construction, will include 9000-square feet of interactive exhibits based on Siemens technology. The new corporate lounge at Spacehip Earth will be called Nexus 21. It will be exclusively for the use of Siemens employees and customers. The center serves as a hospitality and briefing center showcasing the company’s story of innovation and technology.

The new hands on items sound like a rework of the AT&T New Global Neighborhood that was at exit of the ride. The corporate lounge sounds similar to the AT&T VIP Lounge.

Links:
Siemens /Disney Press Release
Spaceship Earth

Bunsen and Beaker make their debut!

Last week the new free roaming Muppet audio-animatronic was unleashed on Disney's California Adventure. The Seattle Times has a good article on the unveiling of the Muppet Mobile Laboratory.

Jim Hill media also has a good article on Imagineerings "Living Character Initiative".

I was lucky enough to see Lucky the Dinosaur (no pun intended) at Disney's Animal Kingdom in 2005. The interaction with the crowd and his "trainer" were phenomenal. Hopefully Imagineering will keep up with this trend of interactive displays.

Links:
Seattle Times: "Disney re-animates theme park with no human in sight"
Jim Hill Media: "The Muppet Mobile Laboratory to begin rolling..."

A closer look behind the magic

The Orlando Sentinel has a rather interesting three page article about what the Character Performers go through on a daily basis.

Today Disney World employs about 1,900 character actors, about 40 percent more than just 10 years ago. The performers earn between $7.60 and $13.65 an hour with opportunities for extra pay for certain duties, such as driving parade floats.

The article looks at what the characters go through each day and how the costumes are designed, as well as looking at some of the classes and training that the performers get before they go out into the parks.

Of course, we all know that there's nobody inside them, because they're all the real thing. I mean, that's the real Mickey and Minnie, not some person in a costume. Right?

Links:
- A closer look behind the magic - Orlando Sentinel

John Lasseter profiled by The New York Times

Laura M. Holson of The New York Times has written a very interesting profile of John Lasseter, the Chief Creative Officer of Animation for the Walt Disney Company, which is available to read on the New York Times website.

From the article:

Enter Mr. Lasseter who, along with a close team of handpicked animators had made Pixar this generation’s premier storyteller with an unbroken string of hits including “Monsters, Inc.,” “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles.” The first filmmaker to run Disney’s animation operations since Walt Disney died in 1966, he said he wants to reclaim the studio’s golden era.

Links:
- He Runs That Mickey Mouse Outfit - The New York Times
- Official Pixar Executive biographies

Winnie the Pooh censored in the Middle East

Over on Qatar Living, there's an interesting article about a book the author bought. The book is "My Very First Encyclopedia with Winnie the Pooh and friends" and it seems that there's something not quite right about it. Take a look at the picture above and see if you can work out what's wrong.

That's right. Piglet has been blanked out using a black marker pen - And the book is like that on every page. All 192 pages of it.

The article suggests some reasons why this may have happened, and the author suspects that the book arrived in Doha via Saudi Arabia, where it may have been censored. Muslims, as in Judaism, are forbidden to eat pork as pigs are believed to be unclean. That doesn't say, though, that it's forbidden to draw cartoon pigs for children. Now, I have absolutely no intention of starting a religious argument here, but I do think that it's going a little too far when they're censoring children's characters that are known the world over from books. Especially when, as the article says, you can buy a Winnie the Pooh DVD from the same shop and see Piglet playing with his friends perfectly clearly.

Links:
- Disney's Piglet banned in Middle East - Qatar Living
- My Very First Encylopedia with Winnie the Pooh and Friends: Nature - Amazon.com
- Winnie the Pooh official website

Walt Disney World to introduce new resorts

Walt Disney World yesterday announced plans to expand its resort. The plans, announced by Meg Crofton - The President of the Walt Disney World Resort, include a luxury resort and a value resort and will be built in phases over the next 8 to 10 years.

Disney has signed a letter of intent with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts to develop a luxury resort, forecast to open in 2010, on the north eastern side of the Walt Disney World property on around 900 acres of land.

The value resort will be built on 400 acres on the western side of Walt Disney World property where the Western Beltway connects to Western Way.

Groundbreaking is expected to happen later this year for the value resort, and if things go ahead as planned for the luxury resort, ground could be also be broken there within this year.

The value resort will also include 300,000-500,000 square feet of commercial space containing shops, restaurants and entertainment as well as 4,000-5,000 value priced lodging units.

Further information and more early pictures are available on the Walt Disney World Public Affairs website.

Links:
- Official Walt Disney World Press Release
- Walt Disney World Resort
- Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

Walt Disney Pictures release (more) new artwork

ComingSoon.net again have an article showing some new artwork from Walt Disney Pictures, this time for several of their upcoming films.

The artwork is said to come from a new Investors Report released by the company, and includes images and logos from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Wall-E, Toy Story 3, Ratatouille and American Dog.

See the ComingSoon.net article for the pictures.

Disney Vacation Club Comes to the Windy City

According to wdwmagic.com

Disney is set to open a new DVC preview center in Chicago. Disney's Doorway to Dreams in the Woodfield Mall, is set to open in summer 2007, and will include a full scale model of a room from the new Animal Kingdom Villas.


Links:
www.disneysdoorwaytodreams.com

Assault at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Florida local news stations are reporting this morning that an incident took place in Disney's Animal Kingdom between two workers last night that ended in one of them being doused with gasoline and threatened with being set alight.

The fight started when the two contractors got into an argument whilst cleaning the black rhino exhibit in the park. One of the contractors, 33 year old Stephen Kim, poured gasoline over 22 year old Brian Hoffman and proceeded to threaten him with a lighter. When that didn't work, he swapped the lighter for a shovel.

Kim was taken to Orange County Jail on Wednesday and will appear before a judge on Thursday on an Aggravated Assault charge.

Links:
Police: Worker Nearly Set On Fire During Fight At Animal Kingdom - Local6.com
Man Accused Of Dousing Co-Worker With Gasoline During Fight - WFTV
Worker tosses gas in fight at Disney hippo pond - Orlando Sentinel

Bob Iger to speak at the Bear Stearns 20th Annual Media Conference

Disney just released the following:

BURBANK, Calif., February 28, 2007 – A general discussion with Bob Iger, president and chief executive officer, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) will be hosted by Bear Stearns at its Twentieth Annual Media Conference on Monday, March 5, 2007, at 7:45 p.m. EST/4:45 p.m. PST. To listen to a live audio Webcast of the session, please point your browser to www.disney.com/investors approximately fifteen minutes prior to the start time. A re-play will be provided through Monday, March 19, 2007, at 4:00 p.m. PST.

We will have a recap of what he says, however, I recommend giving it a listen. Hopefully we will get some discussion about the classic animation division and perhaps some info on plans to expand the parks.