Saturday, April 21, 2007

Walking with Dinosaurs, The "live experience" video


You love dinosaurs? You love Audio-animatronics? Of course you do! So you're going to love these two videos of the incredible "Walking with Dinosaurs, The live experience" 9 million $ show inspired by the BBC series, here filmed at the Brisbane Entertainment centre.The creative team, with Sonny Tilders as Head of Creature Design, made 15 life-size animatronic/puppet dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus Rex, Brachiosaurus and the Flying Ornithoceirus 'the largest creature to ever take wing... with a maximum wing-span of 12 metres (40 feet) and up to 3 metres tall when standing on all fours'. The creatures came to life at the world premiere on 10 Jan 2007 at the Acer Arena in Sydney, and now tour in Australia before taking off around the world.

One of the producers, Malcolm C Cooke, has previously been involved with other puppetry productions including "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and the second production of "The Hobbit" in 2000.

The first video show you the workshop, the creation of these amazing dinosaurs, and , the second one show you some parts of the show itself.

I bet you that, when you will see it, you will think: what the hell is Disney waiting for to create a show using this half-Audio-Animatronic half-pupetteer technique?

Instead of the Animal Kingdom "Nemo, the musical" show - that should fit better in a fantasyland theatre - this is what they should do - and, hey, this Animal Kingdom theatre is only 100 yards from the Dino land!

The only thing that Disney will have to improve a bit from this "Dinosaurs live experience show" is the stage decor itself. But that's the easy part.

Watch this, you're gonna love it!





Giant Free-walking-Audio-animatronic T-Rex video!

Remember WDI "Lucky the dinosaur" that California Adventure guests were the first to discover last year? Everybody loved him, no? And it's true that the Imagineers did a great work on their new two-legs AA baby.
But there was just a problem. Remember this carriage that Lucky was linked to?...supposedly there to hide the electric batteries - and, probably too, to help Lucky in its balance...

Well, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan has created some incredible new robot- animatronic dinosaurs that can actually walk around.
And with nothing behind them.

And the japanese have began by the one we'll all love to see walking alone in the streets: a giant T-Rex that can walk and turn by itself ! The other movements are not that bad, too, although they still can be improved. But this part should be the easy one for WDI.





David Copperfield haunted house video


This is one of the great magic tour from David. Everything is perfectly set, and the use of Bernard Hermann's "North by northwest" score is a perfect choice for this new and much improved version of the classic "chamber of spirit" magic tour.
If you've seen it before, you'll be happy to see it again, and if you've never seen it, you're going to love it. The beginning of the video , because youtube don't allow more than 10 minutes clip have been cut, but nothing special happened before what you will see, David just asked people from the audience to check the rope, etc...
And don't miss the "prestige" - the finale of the tour - really stunning!

Video posted on youtube by ultimateulti


DCA Grizzly river panoramic photo


Here is a great Grizzly river panoramic picture that could be perfect for your desktop.

Photo: copyright Disney

Friday, April 20, 2007

Building Disneyland : a pictorial tribute

































When Walt announced the building of the first Disneyland in Anaheim, that was the easy part.
Now that he had announced it to the world, of course, he really had to built it!
So, today, here is a pictorial tribute to the building of the very first Magic Kingdom.
From the top: Walt with the first renderings of the different lands. The Disneyland model ( but i'm not sure this photo is circa 1954 ) . In 1954, Walt on the land , thinking about the "right place". The building of the city hall, of Main street, of the castle at different time of its building. Walt supervising the building of the fort at the entrance of Frontierland. The building of the Carousel. Workers on Main street. Walt looking at the "final touch". The arrival of the Tommorowland rocket. The building of the entrance before opening day, and this famous picture of Walt before the opening; walking through the castle.

All photos: copyright Disney.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Islands of Adventure art-work and video tribute




















When Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park opened, everybody was stunned: So, Universal was able to build a theme park with a theming as good and detailed as Disney?
Yes, and there were good reasons for that : some of the creators of the park were former Disney Imagineers, and they did a real good job on IOA.

Anyway, the park is indeed beautiful, and here is a "portfolio" of some of the art-work done for each land of the park. In another part to be on line soon , you'll see photos of the huge model of the park , as well as more art-work that were display in the same room where i was invited years ago for a Universal press event. As always, click on each picture to see them in bigger size.

And, to do things perfectly, you'll find below you tube videos of the Cat in the hat attraction, as well as those of "Poseidon's fury " attraction - that probably will be removed for their future Harry Potter's land - , Jurassic park river adventure, and the not-to-be-missed Spiderman ride.

Art-work: copyright Universal Studios











Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Disneyland Paris 15th event Candlebration VIDEO




Here is the video of the new Candlebration at Disneyland Paris during the 15th anniversary event , march 31st, including the fireworks. If you're coming to the park during this year of celebration, don't miss it , as it is great!
If you think you've heard the music used during this candlebration before, it's normal: it is the score of the "Peter Pan " movie - not the Disney one, the live action one released two years ago.

Photos and video: copyright Disney


TIKI ROOM Big Figure On Sale Here!



Hello! Regularly, i will sell on "Disney and more" great collectibles that i own and which are not available any more. And if you want it, you can pay them by Paypal! As we are not on ebay, it's not an auction, and the principle of the sale is very simple: the first one who buy it is the new owner of the item! Can't be more simple, no? As long as the item is in the "great collectibles for sale" section it means that it is available. Once it is sold, i will remove it.

Today, this Tiki Room big figure that was released by Disneyland during the 50th anniversary, and is now sold out at the park. The item is 17" high x 17" large and this sculpture of the Tiki Room building is stunning. Everything is include, with the six Tikis and the Tangiroa tree. Building inside and Tangiroa tree have light. Great Tiki Room design all around it! The ultimate collectible for a Tiki Room fan.
The item is new and the price is 295 U.S dollars ( which is approximately the price it was sold at the park when it was released ). If you want it, just send me an email at: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr , and i will tell you how to procede for the payment.


SPLASH MOUNTAIN Big Figure On Sale Here!



Hello! Regularly, i will sell on "Disney and more" great collectibles that i own and which are not available any more. And if you want it, you can pay them by Paypal! As we are not on ebay, it's not an auction, and the principle of the sale is very simple: the first one who buy it is the new owner of the item! Can't be more simple, no? As long as the item is in the "great collectibles for sale" section it means that it is available. Once it is sold, i will remove it.
Today, this Splash Mountain big figure that was released by Disneyland during the 50th anniversary, and is now sold out at the park. The item is 17" high x 14" large and this sculpture of the splash mountain is stunning. Everything is include, with the three characters, Brer Fox, Brer Bear, and, of course, the rabbit. But it's also a fountain! Put water inside and the water will come down the fall, just like the real one! The ultimate collectible for a Splash mountain fan.
The item is new and the price is 295 euros ( which approximately is the price it was sold at the park when it was released ). If you want it, just send me an email at: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr , and i will tell you how to procede for the payment.

DISNEYLAND PARIS , FROM SKETCH TO REALITY - Please click on the mosaic pictures to see all the photos



As a lot of my D&M readers asked me if my "Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality" book is still available, here is everything you need to know if you want to order one of the last signed copy of this beautiful book. Please note that NO re-printing of the book is scheduled, and these last available copies may be the REAL last one!

Even at the park where i was two weeks ago, it was impossible to find a copy of the english edition. When i asked at the Storybook store if they had the english edition, i was told that they were out of stock.

So, if you don't have it yet and don't want to miss this 320 pages and 750 pictures book - including 250 renderings from Walt Disney Imagineering, i'm afraid to say that it's may be now or never...

As i am one of the two authors of the book, I will personally sign EACH copy with a special dedication to you or anyone you wish if your purchase of the book is for a gift.


I HAVE FEW COPIES OF THE ENGLISH EDITION. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE ENGLISH EDITION OF THE BOOK WITH THE TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Price for one copy of the english updated edition is 87 Euros + 15 Euros for shipping.

If you have a Paypal account you can proceed to the payment by paypal - paypal payment must be sent to the email adress: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr

Important: Note that the price is in Euros, not in U.S $, so you have to choose the "euro" currency when you do the paypal payment.

If you don't have a Paypal account, a bank wire transfert is possible, just let me know.

And, of course, thanks to confirm me your order and payment AND the shipping adress by email at the email adress: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr



PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR NOW I DON'T HAVE ANY MORE COPIES OF THE FRENCH EDITION, SORRY.

As i am the one who designed the book, i'm not really at the good place to send compliments about it, but if you are a reader who already own the book, please leave a comment at the end of the article to let other readers know what you think about it.
Previous comments can be read at the bottom of this page where the article below was previously posted.

So, here is a little description of the book, now - See below some pictures of the book pages - click on each of them to see the photo-montage pictures in big size.



The book is a gorgeous "coffee table book" with 320 pages and 750 pictures - of which 500 are park and attractions photos and 250 are Walt Disney Imagineering renderings!

The size is 9 x 12 inches, all pages are in color and it's hardbound with a glossy dust jacket. The text (by Disney historian Didier Ghez), was written after more than 75 interviews he conducted with all the Imagineers who created the park. He goes into just about everything you wanted to know about this unique place that many describe as the best "Magic Kingdom" ever created by WDI.

It took five years to create the book, but it was worth all the time we spent on it, and the book looks just as good as we had hoped for at the beginning - in fact Imagineer Bruce Gordon told us that it was "probably the best book ever done on a Disney theme park". Coming from Bruce who did with David Mumford the great "Disneyland, The Nickel Tour" book, it was more than a compliment.

The first chapter about Main Street has 52 pages and introduces the reader to the "legend" of Main Street, USA. You'll learn all about the Disneyland Paris Railroad, the unique "Discovery" and "Liberty" Arcades; find out about the architecture, the restaurants (like "Walt's," a tribute to Walt Disney, but also inspired by Club 33 in Anaheim) and the shops; with dozens of photos, renderings, models, and reproduced for the first time here, all the "cities of the future" posters located in "Discovery Arcade."



The second chapter on Frontierland discusses the park's western side with extensive sections about its major attractions, "Big Thunder Mountain" and "Phantom Manor." In fact the book has the longest sections ever put together in a book on all the major attractions. The Pirates of Caribbean section in the Adventureland chapter is 26 pages, Phantom Manor has 16 pages devoted to it, as does Space Mountain, it's a small world, etc. The photo material was so great that we kept adding more pages to the book, which was supposed to have only 240 pages when we started... we ended up with 320 upon completion!



The Frontierland chapter also covers the Mark Twain, the River Rogue Keelboats, Fort Comstock, all the restaurants, the shops and Cottonwood Creek Ranch.and featuring stunning photos of Disneyland Paris from the air by Yann Arthus Bertrand, author of The Earth from Above that make spectacular "double-pages," and allow the reader to discover the park from a whole different angle.



The Adventureland chapter is even more interesting, as many elements of the land exist only in Paris - such as the Bazaar and Aladdin to Africa and the ex-"Explorer's Club." Plus there's a long section about "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril," "Adventure Isle" and "The Swiss Robinson Treehouse" and, of course, "Pirates of Caribbean" the land's major attraction and featuring its amazing Audio-Animatronics! All in all there are 56 full pages about Adventureland, and as in the previous chapters, there are dozens of photos, lots of concept art, and many shots of Imagineers at work. There's even a great bonus here, with the Marc Davis artwork for "Pirates" also included.



56 full pages are also dedicated to Fantasyland. There's an extensive look at Sleeping Beauty Castle, sections on all the dark rides (Snow White, Peter Pan and Pinocchio), as well as a look at "Alice's Curious Labyrinth," the "Mad Hatter's Tea Cups," "Storybookland," and "Casey Jr." There are even 14 pages about "it's a small world" with stunning photos of nearly all the scenes in it. Here the reader can discover a new attraction that exists only at Disneyland Paris, with a great view from above of Alice's Labyrinth.

Discoveryland also gets 52 pages of special treatment, with sections on the Visionarium, the Nautilus, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and everything you wanted to know about the other attractions in this land – Autopia and Orbitron. In fact the Nautilus chapter takes you on a visit with photos of every room of this detailed walk-through and two double page photo spreads, one which makes you feel you're inside Captain Nemo's grand salon, and the other showing you a unique view of Discoveyland featuring the Nautilus and Space Mountain in a kind of "CinemaScope" view.



When the book was released in early 2002, the Walt Disney Studios didn't exist, so you won't see them in the book. But there's still one last chapter about the hotels of the park, and Disney Village too, with the great Buffalo Bill Wild West show that entertains hundreds each evening.

And because every day in a Magic Kingdom should end with a parade and fireworks, we have the Main Street Electrical Parade that close the book, with an Herb Ryman gorgeous painting!



Photos: copyright Disney