Friday, December 2, 2011

John Carter of Mars First Trailer !



Disney has released the "first" trailer for John Carter of Mars - now called only "John Carter" - and this one looks really promising! Now i'm much more excited about that movie, the martians looks great, it's visually interesting, the actor playing the hero seems to have the right "energy" for the role....and it's of course directed by Andrew Stanton, a man who know what a good script is - remember Wall-E?

John Carter will be released March 9 in the U.S and in less than three months it will be the second movie to be released which will be directed by former Pixar animators. The first one is the next Mission Impossible released in less than three weeks from now and directed by Brad Bird who did at Pixar The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Bird and Stanton are both extremely talented and it will be interesting to see how good they are in the world of "live motion pictures".




Picture and video: copyright Disney

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Editor's Note: DEC 2: Just posted below the trailers of a new Pirates movie coming next year. And, no, that's not the "Pirates" movie you can think about!


Also, those of you waiting to know how good or not is the new Transformers ride at Universal Singapore might be interested by this email i just received from a good friend who is a theme park specialist and perfectly reliable in his opinion about a ride:

"Hi Alain, I rode the Transformers ride. It was nothing more than Spiderman 1.5. No new effects or surprises. Just bigger screens and obviously improved 3-D. Good stuff, though, and worth the ride. But for sure not a revolution"

So here we are, as expected the Transformers ride is an improved Spiderman ride, pretty good, it will probably be a big success in Singapore and Universal Hollywood later next year, but apparently not the revolution Universal claim it is supposed to be.

That said, don't miss my Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary update below!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Pirates are back in 2012 !



There might be no update in DLP POTC next year as i told you in yesterday's update but there will be a new Pirates movie coming at a theatre near you in March 2012! And no, Johnny Depp won't be in this one, as it is a movie directed by famous Aardman Studios, the creators of Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run. The studio is known for films made using stop-motion clay animation techniques but also successfully entered the computer animation market with Flushed Away in 2006.

Here is the storyline of this new movie called "Pirates! Band of Misfits": "With a rag-tag crew at his side, and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy and Cutlass Liz to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. It's a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London. Along the way they battle a diabolical queen and team up with a haplessly smitten young scientist but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure! ".

Although i've always considered Aardman Studios stop-motion clay animation really impressive i've never been a huge fan of their movies. But this one, probably because it is set in a Pirates world is one of the animated films that i'm waiting for 2012. And i'm curious to see if they will have include some hidden references or tributes to Disney's beloved attraction!

Okay, time for you to have a closer look at all this. Here is the first trailer...




...and here is the latest one in which you'll see different clips.




So, what do you think about this "Pirates! Band of Misfits" ?

Videos: copyright Aardman Studios - Columbia Pictures

Disneyland Paris Update : All about DLP 20th Anniversary



A lot of you asked for it, so here is the awaited update about DLP 20th Anniversary and what you can expect...or not. Recently, Philippe Gas, DLP CEO, announced in a radio interview that there will be no new attraction before fall 2013 or 2014. At least, this is clear, don't expect any new ride before two years. But as you will see, that doesn't mean there will be nothing happening at DLPR next year.

Let's begin by what is cancelled or delayed: i've told you in a previous update that Jack Sparrow audio-Animatronics will be introduced at DLP Pirates of Caribbean. And they will be, but instead to do the POTC update next year the park delayed it to the next fiscal year - which begin in October 2012.

The update of Phantom Manor and Big Thunder is cancelled for now, and no new date is scheduled, which doesn't mean they will never happen in the future even if it might take some time.

Star Tours 2: There is still no news about a Star Tours update at DLP and when Philippe Gas was saying that considering ST2 budget he was wondering if DLP shouldn't build a new ride instead he might be right. Recently Tokyo Disneyland announced that ST2 will come at TDL in 2013 for a cost of....7 billion yen and this makes 67M Euros, which is indeed a lot of money. DLP can easily have a new dark ride ( in the category of Buzz Lightyear ) for this price, and even if the cost are always a bit higher for TDL, ST2 cost can't be less than 50M euros for DLP. It doesn't mean that ST2 will not come to DLP but here too DLP fans might have to wait a bit to get it...

The awaited Ratatouille dark ride at WDS is always supposed to be the next new big attraction but apparently the park is still waiting for the budget approval from the banks, and the very last news i had says that DLP is expecting a decision from the banks no later than the end of this year, i.e in one month from now. However, even if the green light was given early January, considering the needed time to build the ride and this whole new area an opening - as confirmed by Philippe Gas - won't happen before fall 2013 or 2014.



That said, what will really happen for DLP 20th Anniversary? What we can be sure of is the Meet with Mickey located in Fantasyland - all what we need to know is if it will feature a "talking Mickey" like the one they have at WDW or not, a big update of the day parade which supposedly will be called Disney Magic on Parade: "Disney Magic on Parade casts Disney Characters in a fantastic new carnival especially for our 20th Anniversary. Flying out from their unforgettable stories trailing light, colour, music and magic, they glide through the Park's atmosphere, before Mickey and friends in a spectacular finale". It seems that the update might be big enough - with new music, some changes on the floats of the Disney's Once Upon A Dream Parade as well as a new float "Dreams of Romance II" etc... -- that DLP guests will feel it is a new parade. There will be also a new show at the Theatre du Chateau located on the right of sleeping Beauty Castle, AND the new night time spectacular, a brand new show which will be a kind of "E-Ticket" for 2012 and this is the one we're going to talk about now.



Called "Disney Dreams" this new show starting in April 2012 and supposed to run every day - and not only during the summer season - is here to stay. Obviously the park will put a lot of money in it and you can expect the show to be at DLP not only in 2012 but for years to come. It will involve dazzling projections on water screens and on the castle, fire effects, pyrotechnic effects, laser effects, and the show finale is supposed to be awesome. The video projections on the castle will be much more elaborated than the one which were done in previous shows, and even better than the one done on WDW castle. Apparently the official storyline will be this one: "Sleeping Beauty Castle will see spectacular flights of fancy wrapped around it as Peter Pan's shadow escapes to bring you the rainbow reality of 'Dreams' -our unmissable new nighttime-spectacular show. This world premiere follows his adventure as he weaves his way between timeless Disney Stories, dashing through incredible lasers, fantastic fountains and peaking in an extraordinary finale". The show music, of course, will be from Disney classics.



But there is a great news, as it is Steven Davison himself who has been asked to design the show! As you know Steven is the one who designed Fantasmic and World of Color - and more recently the TDS Fantasmic version - and he is indeed the best person to design a show with projection effects on water screens. The involvement of Steven Davison is probably the best reason to have high expectations in DLP's 20th Anniversary show.



Even if the recently released show visuals that you can see above and on the top might remind you those for World of Color don't expect something as big as WOC. Simply because DLP is not going to create a lake in front of the castle but instead will use the water available in Sleeping Beauty Castle moats to create the water screens which are supposed to be as high as nine meters high, if not more. You may think there is not a lot of water in the castle moats but in fact they don't need a large volume of water to create these water screens. By the way, another good news, if confirmed, is that apparently the big stage built some years ago on Central Plaza will be dismantled so everyone will be able to have a perfect view of the show, even if you stand on Main Street U.S.A.

Works have already began on the preparation of the show with projectors installed on the roof of Gibson Girl and Casey's Corner as you will see on the two pictures below shot by a member of Disney Central Plaza forum. And it seems that the first projection tests also already began at night, after park closure.





One more thing about the companies which might be technically involved in the making of this show. It has yet to be confirmed but rumors are saying that it will be Aquatique Show International which will take care of the water screens, fire effects, etc..and that Cosmos AV or VLS previously involved in DLP press events might be involved in the projection effects. The video below will show you what Aquatique Show International is able to do, and it's pretty impressive.



My feeling is that DLP 20th anniversary show - although it won't be of the same scale as World of Color - will be really good, if not great, and will be a very good reason to visit the park next year, even if there won't be any new attraction.

Pictures: copyright Disney or DCP forum

Universal Singapore Transformers Ride : How they did it



Editor's Note: I'm taking a break this week but i have programmed articles so you'll find new updates almost each day, beginning by the two below and specially tomorrow's article which will be about what will happen for DLP 20th Anniversary. Don't miss it!

That said, it's the big countdown for the new TRANSFORMERS The Ride opening at Universal Studios Singapore in just five days, and probably will become the newest blockbuster attraction.

USS has released a new short video explaining how they create experiences "that put guests in the middle of their favorite adventures". To tell you more here is Mark Woodbury, President of Universal Creative and Thierry Coup, Senior Vice President of Universal Creative.




Picture and Video: copyright Universal studios

Carousel of Progress : This would make a perfect inspiration for an update of COP final scene

Corning Inc is a company which is the world leader in specialty glass and ceramics. And recently they've released a great video showing what the future might look, thanks to their glass technology.

Now, why did i talk about the Carousel of Progress in the title? As we know the last scene of COP has been constantly updated among the years, to be more accurate with what the future and the present is made of. When you'll see this video you'll probably think like me, that some of the scenes which are shown in this video could serve as inspiration for a new update of the Carousel of Progress final scene.

Because, technologically speaking, most of the technologies which are shown in this video already exist or will exist very soon. Some already exist in Apple iDevices of course, or the Microsoft Surface, but the main problem might be the capacity to produce in large quantities hyper-large touch screens at reasonable cost / price.

The other problem is: does WDW really wants to have an update of Carousel of Progress final scene? Considering that they might think using the COP building for another attraction in a near future, i'm not sure that this is among their priorities...




Video: copyright Corning

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Editor's Note: Hey, sometime there is great news coming from "real" life! Jump on my Innoventions web site and you'll see how a brilliant designer can produce a great new design for one of the most iconic vehicle in the world, the legendary London " Routemaster " red bus!