In Disney News...

It's been a while since I posted my last Disney news roundup, and there's lots to share.

...Disney Imagineering great Collin Campbell passed away on April 2nd at the age of 84. Jim Hill has a wonderful post filled with Campbell's artwork which illustrates the scope of Campbell's Disney contributions, which included everything from working on animated movie classics to designing Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room and Splash Mountain to concept artwork for Florida's Disney theme parks to illustrating the classic Haunted Mansion storybook album. I'm quite surprised that Campbell does not seem to have been named a Disney Legend, but perhaps that will be awarded posthumously.

...The Summer 2011 issue of Disney Twenty-Three magazine will be on the stands on May 3rd. The cover story focused on the newest film in the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise. Other topics include a tribute to the late Bill Justice, the soon-to-open LITTLE MERMAID ride at Disney's California Adventure, Pooh voice artist Jim Cummings, and Walt Disney in 1940. (Update: There's now a story on the new issue posted on the D23 website.)

...Jim Korkis posted a good story on Disney great John Hench and "the language of vision" at MousePlanet.

...Those who love Disneyland's PeopleMover, and they are legion, will enjoy The WEDway PeopleMover Story, posted by Sam Gennaway at MiceChat. Sam's blog is SamLand's Disney Adventures, blogrolled at the left.

...Last month Jim Fanning posted one of his excellent articles on Disney film history at the D23 website, this time focusing on THE ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR (1961), which I had the pleasure of seeing on the Disney lot around the time the article ran.

...Tokyo Disneyland reopened last Friday, April 15th, and a portion of ticket and hotel sales through May will be donated to the Red Cross. The neighboring Tokyo DisneySea park will reopen on April 28th. An interesting article on the impact of the closures was posted by the L.A. Times earlier this month. Like those in the article, our friend who works at Tokyo Disneyland had been anxiously awaiting the reopening and a return to semi-normalcy after the earthquake.

...Disneyland's Hungry Bear Restaurant has reopened with a new menu. I have to say I wish they still had traditional French fries available along with the more exotic sweet potato fries...

...In other Disneyland restaurant news, I like the sound of turning the Plaza Pavilion into a larger bakery than the current Blue Ribbon Bakery (maybe they'll serve crumb cake like at WDW!); and after a protest by Disneyland cast members, a hot breakfast menu returned to the Inn Between employee cafeteria behind the Plaza Inn. Eating there was a cherished privilege when I was a park employee during my college years. There's a little more info about the Inn Between in a 2007 story on the Red Wagon Inn by Wade Sampson of MousePlanet.

...No more photos on annual passes at Disneyland?

...And no more Grad Nites at Disney World in Florida?

...Speaking of Florida, here's a look at the new Art of Animation resort, a "Value" resort which will include affordable rooms for larger families, something Disney World has long needed. I love the resort's logo, seen at the left. It will open Summer 2012.

...I enjoyed this article on Disney voice artist George Walsh which was originally published in a 1988 edition of the Disneyland cast newsletter, the Disneyland Line.

...Here's an article on the fun D23 2nd Anniversary gathering I attended last month, which included passes to the World of Color show at Disney's California Adventure. My husband and I are somewhere in the crowd to the right! (P.S. Disney Imagineering Legend Bob Gurr is the silver-haired gentleman front and center.)

...Finally, enjoy this Disney Parks blog time lapse video of dawn at Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle.