...Speaking of THE AVENGERS, my younger kids attended the midnight screening last night and had a terrific time. Here are rave reviews from Leonard Maltin and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times. (And no, I'm still not used to Marvel Comics being considered part of the Disney empire.)
...The TANGLED EVER AFTER short which was paired with the theatrical rerelease of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991) earlier this year will be an extra in a new Diamond Blu-ray edition of CINDERELLA (1950)....Disney fans should make it a point to regularly visit Storyboard, the blog of the Walt Disney Family Museum. Some of the excellent recent articles include Mary Blair and The Art of Cinderella; Disney's original plans to feature the Cinderella story in a Silly Symphony cartoon; a tribute to Disney Imagineering great Harriet Burns, written by her granddaughter; and an article on the women in Disney's paint and ink department in the '30s and '40s. Incidentally, I discovered more written on that topic in a March 2010 issue of Vanity Fair.
...A Star Wars Land coming to Disneyland Paris? Rumor has it that it will open in 2015. Meanwhile, there are also rumors of a new attraction related to Captain Jack Sparrow coming to Disney World.
...Speaking of Disneyland Paris, DISNEYLAND PARIS: FROM SKETCH TO REALITY is back in print. I brought this five-pound book home from Disneyland Paris in my carry-on, and it was totally worth the effort, one of the most beautiful Disney books I own....Belated but very sincere thanks to my friend Irene for sending along this YouTube link to the Disney Dreams! fireworks show celebrating the 20th anniversary of Disneyland Paris. The D23 website featured an article on the show. How I would love to see it in person!!
...Disney World's new Art of Animation resort is just a month away from opening!
...I loved reading about the steps taken to put on an "autism friendly" performance of the Broadway production of MARY POPPINS. A wonderful effort by everyone involved.
...First Showing recently shared "alternative" posters by Rowan Stocks Moore for Disney's animated classics. I especially like the design for PETER PAN, seen here....Finding a new person to run Walt Disney Studios is apparently a challenge.
...The New York Times ran an interesting article on the Disney Institute, which teaches businesses how to be customer friendly.
...Pixar News: The dinosaur movie coming out in the spring of 2014 is now officially titled THE GOOD DINOSAUR, and director Lee Unkrich's next project is about Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Okaaaaay.
...A film based on Disneyland's Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is said to be in the works...a curious development given that the ride itself was inspired by Disney's film adaptation of THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS (1949), which was narrated by Basil Rathbone.
...Disney will be bringing a significant number of their titles to Blu-ray later this year. The films to be released include THE ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR (1961), BABES IN TOYLAND (1961), SON OF FLUBBER (1963), THE ARISTOCATS (1970), PETE'S DRAGON (1970), THE RESCUERS (1977), NEWSIES (1992), POCAHONTAS (1995), and THE TIGGER MOVIE (2000).
...Disney Imagineering Legend Alice Davis receives her Main Street tribute window at Disneyland next Thursday, May 10th.
...I'm looking forward to a couple of fun Disney events in the coming weeks. On May 22nd I'll be attending a special Annual Passholder performance celebrating the 20th anniversary of Disneyland's Fantasmic! show. Then on June 23rd my husband and I will be visiting the Disney Studios lot for the D23 "Fifty and Fabulous" screening of IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS (1962), starring Hayley Mills and George Sanders....Cars Land and Buena Vista Street are coming soon, so there will be much more news to share about the Disneyland Resort as summer nears.
...For more recent Disney News, please check out the March 20th Disney News roundup and my April post on the Destination D event which will take place at the Disneyland Hotel this August.
The "autism friendly" Mary Poppins performance is inspiring.
ReplyDeleteYears ago we were fortunate to receive tickets for a similar performance of The Nutcracker by the National Ballet of Canada. It was their dress rehearsal and tickets were given to Community Living, so there were a variety of people with different disabilities (and their families) in attendance. Gavin, who was about 7 at the time, was very familiar with the New York City Ballet movie version and up for the adventure of going into the theatre and stealing juice boxes (sigh!). As soon as the overture began he leaned forward with shining eyes and announced with awe "George Ballanchine's The Nutcracker" and sat through the entire performance.
Until this past week I wasn't familiar with the expression "Avengers Assemble" and it has caused hilarity and teasing - a lot of teasing - from my husband and daughter. The only thing I know from Marvel is I liked the theme to the Spider-Man cartoon when I was a kid. Never watched the show, but always tuned in for the theme.
Thanks, as always, for all the interesting news.
That ballet sounds fantastic! What a lovely anecdote. :) I was really impressed with the efforts made to include the children at that MARY POPPINS performance and lower the level of sensory impact.
ReplyDeleteI know very little about Marvel myself -- as a MAVERICK fan I like the analogy that THE AVENGERS is the "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" of the superhero movie world, LOL.
Best wishes,
Laura