When I first heard that Disney had selected Pixar’s Finding Nemo to be one of the movies retooled for Disney digital 3D, I thought back to when I first saw the film in the theaters. Even back then I thought it would make a great… Read More »Finding Nemo 3D Review
Long one of the favorite attractions in Orlando, the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, languished at the woefully under attended Islands of Adventure (IOA) theme park. However, thanks to some deft wand work from Harry Potter, IOA is seeing huge crowds and money for attraction upgrades seems to be flowing.
Spider-Man has just returned from a short down period where they installed a number of upgrades. But the biggest, and most spectacular, is the new High Definition 3D Projection and accompanying new animation. The attraction relies giant screens and a mix of real world sets to make the each guest feel like they’re in the movie with the web-slinger as he saves you from an assortment of baddies.
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
The attraction still suffers from its abrupt start and sometimes out of sync special effects, but all in all it remains one of Orlando’s best and, with these revisions, might again vie for best attraction overall (it’s close cousin Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is tough competition).
Of course, there remains the oddity that Disney now owns the Marvel brand, and yet Universal Orlando has the rights to 12 or so of the main Marvel characters in Orlando. It seems obvious Univeral has no intention of letting Disney get back these rights anytime soon. But I have to wonder if Disney’s lawyers aren’t working ferociously somewhere to route around that.
A very short ceremony was held to mark the attractions return to operations.
As they reanimated the attraction film, the creative team added hundreds of new details and effects. Guests will see moss swaying in the wind, rats scurrying through the streets and hear electricity arching so close it will raise the hair on the back of their necks. And for the first time ever, Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee will make a cameo appearance inside the attraction. Lee was meticulously animated in 3-D and placed in more than one scene inside the new animation.
Read More »Universal Orlando Makes Big Improvements on Upgraded Spider-Man Attraction
With the success of The Lion King 3D, Disney’s 3-D conversion factory (we kid) will be working overtime to pump out four new conversions for limited theatrical 3D engagements. The following titles from Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios will be released in 2012 and… Read More »Disney and Pixar Announce Slate of Four New 3-D Re-releases into Movie Theaters
The 3-D reissue of the 1994 Disney animated feature “The Lion King” won 1st place at the box office for a second week in a row. The estimated $22.6 beat out Brad Pitt’s Moneyball and Morgan Freeman in Dolphin’s Tale. That makes the total take… Read More »Disney to Extend The Lion King 3D Stay in Theaters
In its third trip back to movie theaters, but the first time in 3-D, Disney’s The Lion King is ruling the box office again. It brought in an estimated Update: $30.2 million ( was $29.3 million) over the weekend, placing it atop the list of… Read More »The Lion King 3D Rules Box Office Again
Ahead of its Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D debut on October 4, The Lion King will once again roar into theaters beginning tomorrow for a two-week run in digital 3D. A few weeks ago I caught a screening and came away with decidedly mixed feelings. Some scenes are, as… Read More »Thoughts on The Lion King in 3D
Editor: Please help me welcome our latest guest author Amanda Correia.
Since the release of its first film in 2005, Chicken Little, Disney Digital 3-D has been quite busy. In fact, every year since, it has released at least one original or adapted 2-D animated film, including The Nightmare Before Christmas, Toy Story 1,2 & 3, Up, Cars 2, and in September 2011, The Lion King.
It may not make much sense today to think that Chicken Little was one of the most significant and controversial decisions that the Walt Disney Company has ever made. However, given the state of affairs around the time of its release, it is clear why this film and its marketing were immensely influential. It was a time of war, an open-fire battle between all of the major animation studios and, the newcomer, Pixar. After the recent successes of Pixar’s The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, and DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek 1 & 2, it was clear that Disney, the supposed category king, was lacking: Where was their CG animation?
Read More »From “Chicken Little” to “Lion King”: A 3-D Marketing Roller Coaster
Tangled, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ adaptation of the classic fairy tale Rapunzel, opens in theatres on November 24. It is Disney’s 50th animated feature. Tangled has as much ‘heart’ and adventure as Pixar’s latest release, Toy Story 3. One of the most moving elements is… Read More »‘Tangled’ is Fun, But Could Have Been Better