Category — Walt Disney World

I’m proud to announce that “Townsquare“, the official forum for The Disney Blog, is now in open beta. That means there will probably be a few changes, but it’s essentially stable and ready to host all the great discussions I know this community is capable of.

Registering is easy. Just head to http://thedisneyblog.com/townsquare (or click the ‘forums’ button at the top of this page) and click where it says ‘register’ in the middle of the page. Or you can go right there by clicking here. Enter your information and a password will be sent to the email you provide. (You may need to check your spam folder to find the email.)

I created Townsquare because I think every community needs a place to mingle. In small town America the town square was a place for the community to gather and discuss the latest news, share rumors, and socialize. Walt Disney built a town square in each of his Magic Kingdoms that served much the same function.

Please be sure to read our Community Guidelines before posting. Then once you’re ready, post about anything Disney related (or use the Holidayland area for non-Disney topics). I hope you’ll find The Disney Blog’s Townsquare a great place to mingle and be a Disney fan and to meet other Disney fans.

One last little bit to share from the media event for Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee at the Magic Kingdom. I got the chance to meet and interview Tara Anderson, Show Director from Creative Entertainment at Walt Disney World Resort.

Her previous work at the Magic Kingdom includes the Move It! Shake It Celebrate It! Street Party – which shares a very similar energy to Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee. A good thing in my book.

In the three and a half minute interview we discuss coordinating development of the show on both coasts, the song choices, and more.

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Update: The Disneyland Version will officially open tomorrow. The LA Times has a preview.

If you’re heading out to Disneyland or Walt Disney World this fall, make sure you mosey on down to the Rivers of America and catch “Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee.” Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen, Louis, and the evil Dr. Facilier are all featured with their own songs from the movie and it’s sure to get you excited about seeing The Princess and the Frog in the theaters.

I’ve put together a few clips from the show to give you an idea on what to expect.

The show is currently scheduled to run through January 3rd, 2010 as a tie-in to the movie’s launch on December 11th.

It’s one of the realities of Disney Animated Features, they’re just plain expensive to produce. So much that sometimes even a $400 million box office earning film, like Cars, just breaks even for the company after marketing and production are accounted for. So how does Disney make money off these animated beauties? One word, merchandise.

That makes Dara Trujillo a very important person at Walt Disney World. She’s the Manager of Merchandise Synergy and is in charge of coordinating the theme park’s line of products with the animator’s vision for the film.

I got to speak with Trujillo at the premier of Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee, the Magic Kingdom’s tie-in to the launch of “The Princess and the Frog”. She was presiding over a very full and very beautiful table of merchandise to be sold in the parks. Much of it already available and flying off the shelves even with the film’s debut more than a month away.

Tiana is the Walt Disney Company’s newest princess in 12 years and the first princess under Trujillo’s watch. So she was excited about the possibility of making dreams come true for a whole new generation of theme park guests.

Central to those dreams is the Princess Tiana costume. It’s a theme park exclusive and very similar to the dress that Tiana wears in the film and the park. There were already a number of little princesses wearing this dress at the Magic Kingdom, anxious to spot the ‘real’ Princess Tiana as she made her way through the park. It was very cute.

Another item that I think will be a bit hit are the Kissing Frogs. These are a pair of frogs from the film representing Tiana and Naveen in amphibian form. A magnet in their heads keeps them together in the kissing pose.

All this merchandise is currently available in every park in at least two locations, said Trujillo. And they’ll roll out to more locations as the film’s premier draws closer.

See anything you like?

At the premier of Walt Disney World’s newest show, Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee, I had the chance to speak with Bruce Smith, the Supervising Animator on Dr. Facilier, the Villain at the center of Walt Disney Animation’s next feature “The Princess and the Frog.”

Smith honed his craft at Cal Arts, a school created by Walt Disney to help provide his studio with a ready flow of animators to work on his projects. Smith’s first work with the Walt Disney Company was on “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” He’s since done quite a lot of great work including Supervising Animator on Kerchak from “Tarzan”, Pacha from “The Emperor’s New Groove”, and Pearl from “Home on the Range.” He also was the creator and director of the Disney Channel show “The Proud Family” and the directing animator on Warner Brother’s “Space Jam” with Michael Jordan.

While “Home on the Range” was once thought to be the end of the Disney Studios hand drawn animation division, they even sold all the animator’s desks, the genre has been revived with an all star team of animators for “The Princess and The Frog.” In this roundtable interview Bruce Smith talks a bit about what it’s like to work on a team like that, creating Dr. Facilier, working with the theme parks, and much more.
Listen here:

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Interview with Disney Supervising Animator Bruce Smith – Dr. Facilier from The Princess and The Frog

Your host with Bruce Smith.

Sure, the Food & Wine festival isn’t even over yet, but with winter setting in around the country you may want to dream a little about spring on those cold nights. This year spring starts the earliest ever at EPCOT with a March 3rd launch of the The 17th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.

The event will continue for 75 days through May 16, 2010, and bring bold strokes of seasonal color and brand-new topiary whimsy. Donald Duck and his topiary pals will set up camp in full floral color to celebrate the Great Outdoors at the Epcot front entrance. The elaborate topiary with a North American theme, live waterfall and pond features Goofy in a fly-fishing misadventure, Daisy Duck roasting marshmallows over a campfire and Pluto in his “pup tent.” It will be a a must-stop photo op for guests as soon as they pass through the park turnstiles.

“The advantage of starting earlier is that we’ll be able to feature more brilliant color than ever, with richly hued petunias, violas, snapdragons and other hardy flowers,” says festival horticulture manager Eric Darden. “By starting earlier and going through mid-May, it allows more guests than ever to experience the festival and to plan ahead for their spring and summer gardening.”

Follow below the jump to find out what will be new this year as well as other highlights:

[Read more →]

Via the Orlando Sentinel, we learn that late last night a man flashing gang signals and with a bulge that resembled a gun was spotted by an off-duty Sheriff. A witness also reported seeing the gun and the man earlier that night.

In June of 2007 Disney controversially banned loitering and gang attire. But aside from the occasional bomb threat it has been pretty quiet since then.

Monorail Teal was spotted parked outside the maintenance bay sporting a Teal color strip. Looks almost ready to return to service. Having one more train on the beam will certainly help when the holiday crowds arrive.

Previously: Monorail Teal testing at Walt Disney World.