Via the Whitehouse.gov blog we get this video of President Barack Obama as he records his speech for the Hall of Presidents attraction that officially reopens on the 4th of July.

I’m guessing President Obama has never been to Walt Disney World since he asks if these are wax figures. I hope he gets a chance to come down to Orlando with his family and see the attraction for himself. It’s pretty powerful, as I said in my review.

I’ll be at the Magic Kingdom tomorrow for a naturalization ceremony for 1000 new American Citizens who will all get a chance to see the new Hall of Presidents attraction. A perfect way to kick off their new lives as citizens of the United States of America.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune profiles a team of three Cal State Fullerton Students who were finalists in a Walt Disney Imagineering contest to design and build a prototype of an attraction. Their idea is an interactive adventure featuring a guy named Otto.

Their concept, called Operation SNAP: Destination Dragon, would supplant riders as explorers on a boating adventure with Otto as he pursues a legendary Chinese dragon.

The real culprit is total immersion — in the ride, in the scenery, in Otto — something Berger would want riders to experience, too.

To that end, guests on Operation SNAP (Otto’s Society of Natural and Artificial Phenomena, of which he is the sole member) would be equipped with mounted camera devices to collect photographic evidence of all the mythical creatures residing in and around the professor’s Chinese wildlife preserve. The more photos, the more points earned by riders.

Click through to the article to see some of the concept art and storyboards from the attraction.

I was at EPCOT yesterday and managed to sneak in a ride on Test Track. GM’s imprint via name, vehicles, and brands is still all over the attraction. Frankly, it seemed a bit of a disconnect from what everyone knows is going on with the company trying to reinvent itself. While the post-show showroom, however, is looking the emptiest I’ve ever seen it, they did have the new Camero on display (and it looks amazing).

This morning the Orlando Sentinel reports on the progress of negotiations between Disney and GM. The expiring sponsorship deal was for a reported $10 million a year, which GM paid mostly upfront.

GM also spends between $1 million and $2 million a year operating a post-ride showroom inside the attraction, with more than a dozen vehicles on display and terminals that guests can use to order sales brochures.

The company’s contract-extension talks with Disney have been further complicated by the involvement of the federal government, which has kept GM afloat with tens of billions of dollars in loans and is about to become majority owner of the iconic company. Some worry the company could face a public backlash if it is seen as using taxpayer money to underwrite a theme-park ride.

I personally think it makes great sense for GM to keep this facility open with their brand on it. It’s great PR, not just for the domestic audience they reach, but internationally. If anything GM should work with Imagineering to help reshape their message to enforce the new reality of GM going forward. Disney and GM can partner getting the word out as well.

What say you now that the American Government is a 60% shareholder in the automaker?

We’ve known for sometime that the Hall of Presidents attraction at the Magic Kingdom was getting a fairly large makeover. A new film, new narrator, and, of course, a new President. But the details as laid out in today’s NY Times are really impressive.

The exhibit will open with the new film, narrated by the actor Morgan Freeman. At a certain point, the Abraham Lincoln figure will rise and speak to the audience, as it always has, but now it will deliver the Gettysburg Address in its entirety.

“And this is the first time George Washington will have a speaking role,” said Kathy Rogers, a senior show producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, the unit that oversees the creative side of the theme parks.

But the emotional high point is intended to be the introduction of the Obama figure, who will yet again be heard taking the oath.

Apparently the Imagineers working on the project have taken to calling the animatronic version of President Obama, Robobama. Cute.

July 4th, the official re-opening of the Hall of Presidents, can’t get here soon enough.

It’s hard to express how talented an artist Marc Davis, one of Walt’s Nine Old Men, was. You’ve no doubt seen his animation (Aurora, Maleficient, and Tinkerbell to name a few) and his concept art (Pirates, Country Bears, and Haunted Mansion are just the beginning), but you don’t really understand until you’ve seen his non-Disney drawings and paintings.

Beginning this Friday is your chance to be amazed. Forest Lawn Museum in Glendale is presenting The Art of Marc Davis. For a little more background, Alice Davis talks about the exhibit in the Glendale Press.

The art show runs from May 8th through July 26th, 10:00am–5:00pm everyday except Mondays when the museum is closed. For more information, check the Forest Lawn website.

I wasn’t able to make it to DHS’s 20th, so please welcome guest author Leigh Caldwell to The Disney Blog.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ 20th birthday dawned bright and early May 1, with a special rope drop welcome by the park’s new vice president, Rilous Carter. Carter spoke briefly about the changes that have come to the park during its two decades.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios Vice President Rilous Carter

The real fun for Disney fans began an hour later, when three of the Imagineers involved in the building of the park gave a fascinating talk about the park’s history in the Premiere Theater. Most of the crowd was made up of dozens of Disney fans who were part of Studio 20, an unofficial celebration of the park’s anniversary organized by the guys at WDW Celebrations.

Walt Disney Imagineers Executive Vice President Bob Weis showed a slide of the Grauman’s Chinese Theater facade. And then came the music to many Disney purists’ ears: “This was the view walking down Hollywood Boulevard on opening day. You can’t get this view anymore. I hope we will get this view again soon.”

Weis, Tom Fitzgerald and Eric Jacobson seemed to genuinely enjoy their time reminiscing about the park. Jacobson told about his work as the art director of The Great Movie Ride, and his excitement at dealing with all the stars who had to grant permission for their likenesses to be used. “We went to John Wayne’s family first. Then the other stars would say, ‘If John Wayne is in, I’m in.’”

Jacobson also confirmed a fact that many Disney enthusiasts have known for a long time, that the Fantasia scene in The Great Movie Ride was originally built to be the tornado scene in “The Wizard of Oz.” He would not elaborate about why the scene was changed, but did say the change was made “at the last minute” and “for a number of reasons.”

A highlight of the Imagineer talk for me was a showing of “The Lottery,” a short film shot at the park that starred Bette Midler. I have missed this film on the Studio’s Backlot Tour and was glad to see it again.

WDW Celebrations then kicked off their Studio 20 scavenger hunt, with 69 questions about the park. Organizer Jason Diffendal said the guys had spent four days in the park looking for all the little details you wouldn’t normally notice. And then the teams were off, scouring the windows above the shops and the posters outside many of the attractions.

The gang from WDW Celebrations!

Four hours later, the scavenger hunt answers had to be turned in. Two teams tied for first place, with 65 correct answers, which led the WDW Celebrations team to declare the hunt too easy and promise harder questions next time.

Organizer Adam Roth said 140 people registered for the Studio 20 event. The group donated $300 from registration fees and T-shirt sales to Lou Mongello’s Dream Team Project.

The Studio 20 celebration continues Saturday, with group rides and a history walk.

Read more from Leigh Caldwell at her great website — ThemeParkMom.com.

Over on /film, Word has leaked that filming for the long rumored Star Tours 2.0 has finally begun. We already know that some voice tracks have been laid (confirmed by the Anthony Daniels, the voice of C-3PO at Star Wars Celebration IV) and that some proof of concept testing has been done on the ‘Body Wars’ units, which are clones of the Star Tours vehicles at the old Wonders of Life Pavilion in EPCOT, and we’ve known from an animator at Lucas Film that pre-visualization on the project had begun. What hasn’t been known is would the project get the greenlight and what form it would take.

The report on /film makes it sound like it will be another space race that incorporates make of the peripheral characters we’ve come to know and love in the original series and prequels. Think Boba Fett and Jar Jar Binks. Okay maybe love is too strong a term.

My personal hope is that they take advantage of the conversion from film to digital screens to offer multiple destinations and scenarios so that every ride is different. That would drive repeatability up and ensure the attractions E-Ticket status for decades to come.

I’m hoping we’ll find out which theme parks will be getting the revised Star Tours soon. I heard a rumor that the folks at Walt Disney World didn’t want to spend the money in next years budget to pay for the new version. That would be a real shame.

Imagineers Rolly Crump and Don Edgren were recently honored at Disneyland by having their name added to what are effectively the ‘credits’ for the theme park, the Windows on Main Street.

Don Edgren was known for his mastery of resort development and his ‘can-do’ attitude. Rolly Crump was a designer who created many of the iconic looks that have come to symbolize the ‘Disney theme park’.

LaughingPlace.com was there and brings some great video and photos of the dedication event.