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October 2012

Wreck-It Ralph

John’s Review of Wreck-It Ralph, Disney Animation Gets Top Score

Wreck-it Ralph Poster

This year Disney released two animated features (Three if you count Frankenweenie, but we won’t include stop-motion for the purpose of this article). One stars a princess who breaks from tradition and discovers that family is at the core of what’s important, the other features incredible worlds crafted from scratch, ground breaking computer animation, and a story that is full of heart. Normally, you’d say Disney Animation released the Princess film and Pixar the other, but this year the roles are reversed. With Brave, Pixar ventured into what was traditionally Disney’s territory, so it’s only fair that Disney Animation Studios returns the favor.

I’m happy to say that with Wreck-it Ralph, Walt Disney Animation Studios has returned to the top of the animation game, matching, if not surpassing, anything you would expect from its more successful partner up in Emeryville. It does this while remaining true to the core values of Disney animation, which is a focus on great story and characters who you really feel for.

WRECK-IT RALPH Sugar Rush Game Cabine

In Wreck-it Ralph, Disney attempts to do for video games what Pixar’s Toy Story did for toys; Give us insight into the world that goes on when humans aren’t around. In this case the movie starts inside the classic 1982 arcade game Fix-it Felix Jr. The titular character is the game’s bad-guy; always destroying and then being defeated night game after game. After 30 years this begins to weigh on him so much that he visits a support group for video game bad-guys. But what really sets him off is when the other characters have a party celebrating the game’s 30 years of being plugged in and fail to invite him.

Read More »John’s Review of Wreck-It Ralph, Disney Animation Gets Top Score

Hurricane Sandy Creates Some Scary Moments Aboard The Disney Fantasy

By all accounts the first 5 days of the most recent 7 day cruise on the Disney Fantasy were fantastic. Sure they had to skip Castaway Cay due to hurricane Sandy, but sometime you have to roll with the punches when you travel during Hurricane season. Well, the last night of the cruise the Fantasy did a lot of rolling. The ship and is passengers encountered 12 hours of 40-50 foot swells and 80 MPH winds as it sailed back to Port Canaveral overnight. It sounds like Captain Tom Forberg was at the helm, which means the ship was in capable hands, but still a frightening experience for any guest to endure.

The question being debated online is whether Disney intentionally sailed into rough weather hoping to keep to a tight turnover schedule for the ship or if they found the storm stronger than expected. The ship was within 200 miles of the storm, well within the tropical storm strength winds of the 1000 mile wide Hurricane Sandy. I tend to believe Disney Cruise Line thought the storm would weaken as it moved north, but instead it strengthened and slowed down capturing the Disney Fantasy in its impact zone. In the end, not an ideal scenario for Disney Cruise Line. They probably could have erred more on the side of caution, but it sounds like the close encounter with a hurricane wasn’t intentional.

A few videos have surfaced and things look like they got pretty severe. There were many reports of damage on the ship from broken doors to smashed furniture. Remy and Palo apparently were a mess with many dishes and glasses lost in the rough seas. Additionally, some rooms experienced slight flooding as pools overflowed and flooded those decks. Luckily there were no reports of injuries.

This iReport from CNN has some of the most dramatic footage.

More videos from onboard the Disney Fantasy below the jump:

Read More »Hurricane Sandy Creates Some Scary Moments Aboard The Disney Fantasy

Wreck-It Ralph T-Shirt Giveaway!

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  Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph opens this week, and you should be dressed for it (note: this prize package won’t reach you in time so please plan accordingly regarding other clothing options). That is why The Disney Blog is giving away two (2) t-shirts for your… Read More »Wreck-It Ralph T-Shirt Giveaway!

IT'S A SMALL WORLD HOLIDAY

Disneyland Christmas Holiday now Includes Expanded Candleight Processional, Cars Land

Candlelight Processional at Disneyland

With the recent expansion of Cars Land, the Disneyland resort is now bigger than ever and welcoming more guests than ever. Beginning November 12th, the holiday line up for the parks will include new holiday décor for Cars Land and Buena Vista Street in DCA, Ice Skating at Downtown Disney, special fireworks, the Christmas Parade, and Snowfall in Disneyland just to get started.

As we mentioned in August, three is a new expanded schedule for the 2012 Disneyland Candlelight Ceremony and Processional. Candlelight will now run a total of 20 nights with two performances each night. Below is the list of currently scheduled narrators for shows from December 1-20:

Dec. 1-2: Dennis Haysbert (actor)*
Dec. 3-5: Kurt Russell (actor and Disney Legend)
Dec. 6-8: TBA
Dec. 9-11: Lou Diamond Phillips (actor)
Dec. 12-13: Dick Van Dyke (actor and Disney Legend)
Dec. 14: Marcia Gay Harden (actress)
Dec. 15-16: Patricia Heaton (actress)
Dec. 17-19: Molly Ringwald (actress)
Dec. 20: Dennis Haysbert (actor)

*December 1-2 performances are by invitation only, as they have been since 1958, when Walt Disney first held these private celebrations to thank partners in the community for their support throughout the year.

More details of holiday offerings at Disneyland Resort below the cut:

Read More »Disneyland Christmas Holiday now Includes Expanded Candleight Processional, Cars Land

LaSalle

Disney’s Hollywood Studios Update

Pirates of the Caribbean

Map for Fountain of Youth covers outside of Pirates exhibit

The Magic Kingdom is getting all the attention now with the New Fantasyland soft-openings and Disney’s Animal Kingdom is lined up for the next major expansion with the addition of Avatar-land to the park. The next park due for a major announcement is Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the rumor is that something big is, in fact, coming. I snuck out for a tour of the park on a windy afternoon (thanks Sandy) and found out that there is plenty of change occurring already, even without an official announcement.
Read More »Disney’s Hollywood Studios Update

Once Upon a Time 2-5: The Doctor

logoThey really went there.

After spending all week being prepared to hate this revelation and twist to the story, I must say I didn’t mind as much as I thought I would. It was one little explanation that made it completely work for me.

Of course, if they hadn’t spoiled it last week, the shocks might have been much better tonight. It’s obvious we weren’t supposed to know who or what Dr. Whale is.

We have three stories to look at tonight, so enough with the preamble. Let’s get to it.

Let’s start back in the Enchanted Forest of old.Read More »Once Upon a Time 2-5: The Doctor

An Interview With Rich Moore and Clark Spencer on Wreck-It Ralph

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Disney's Wreck-It Ralph
When it comes to experiences and details, Disney spares no expense. Hence the opportunity they provided on a recent press trip for a group of bloggers, myself included, to meet Rich Moore and Clark Spencer, the director and producer of Wreck-It Ralph, respectively.

Wreck-It Ralph Director and Producer

While the conversation (below) was interesting and informative, I was even more excited about the setting for our interview. We actually got to sit in Roy Disney’s old office that is housed in the large sorcerer’s hat on the Walt Disney Animation Building. The story is that Roy Disney only used the office for a short period of time due to the vertical stripes painted along the interior of the round room (see above) — he complained that sitting in it made him feel like he was spinning, so he relocated elsewhere. These days the room is used primarily for photo ops and entertaining me, apparently.

Here is some of that aforementioned conversation with Rich Moore and Clark Spencer that I promised you:

Read More »An Interview With Rich Moore and Clark Spencer on Wreck-It Ralph

Pumpkin Carving on Display at Disneyland

Back in the 90s I remember Disneyland used to host a giant pumpkin carver on main street as part of its Halloween events. It looks like they’ve brought the tradition back, albeit on a smaller scale. Still what a talented sculptor can do with a… Read More »Pumpkin Carving on Display at Disneyland