Yes, that’s a ride. Photo credit: Paul Hiffmeyer/Disneyland Resort
I was standing right in front for the Cars Land Grand Opening event (just behind John Ratzenberger and Randy Newman, seriously), but my video isn’t nearly as good as this official release from Disney (below), so let’s use theirs! Read More »Cars Land Grand Opening Event – Video
As readers of this blog surely know, when Disney California Adventure Park opened almost 12 years ago as a second gate to Disneyland it wasn’t the hit that Disney or its fans hoped it would be. In fact, it was written off by many as a ridiculous concept done on the cheap. For the record, I’ve always enjoyed the park, but I understand what people were saying, it needed more everything: rides, shows, food, theming, and above all else, it needed more magic. It needed more Disney.
My boys and Merida strike a pose at Disney California Adventure (she’s usually in Disneyland, but she made a special appearance for Cars Land Media Day).
Pixar took some lumps after Cars 2 was released. There were more than a few people that believed that it was not up to Pixar’s standards. I was one of them (all is forgiven thanks to Cars Land!). Don’t worry, Brave (and La Luna) has Pixar back on the pedestal where it belongs.
Brave is set in Scotland, and it follows the contention between Princess Merida and her mother, Queen Elinor, over the fate of the former — and it wasn’t something pulled from a previously existing fairy tale, but rather the real experience of story creator Brenda Chapman (except she isn’t Scottish royalty). According to Brave Director Mark Andrews (pictured below), “Brenda Chapman came up with the storyline and the characters, and it came out of her being a parent and her trials and tribulations with her daughter.”Read More »Be Brave and See It
Let me just say that Cars Land at Disney California Adventure is exactly what you want it to be, except you would probably want more. That’s not to say it’s a small land (after all?). I attended the grand opening of DCA’s newest area, and it was much bigger than I had anticipated. However, it is so fun that it leaves you wanting more, which, if I’ve learned anything from television, is a good thing.Read More »A Cars Land Teaser
Marketing for Pixar’s Cars Land really is picking up. This new video attempts to go viral with a really cute idea – Dozens of kids in their Lightning McQueen Toy Cars driving through Disneyland and into Disney California Adventure with the eventual destination of Cars Land. Watch to the end for a cameo by Pixar’s John Lasseter (sporting a Cars Hawaiian shirt, of course).
To me this evokes some of Disneyland’s earliest promotions with Autopia Cars driving down Main Street USA. I mean, come on, who hasn’t wanted to do that.
Update: Disney has released an alternate “high-octane” version of the video. It’s also very cute.
(I just know that title is going to generate some weird ads)
A couple short videos today that show how much of an emphasis Imagineering placed on faithfully recreating the world of Pixar’s Cars for Disney California Audiences audiences to encounter. It looks to me like WDI did a terrific job of aligning the world of ‘Cars’ with the requirements of Cars Land.
Below the cut is one of those terrific time-lapse construction videos where you get to watch months pass by in 30 seconds.
The world of Pixar’s Cars will open at Disney California Adventure on June 15th and Disney is ready to flood the airwaves with enticements to stop by. A new TV spot follows the characters from the movie as they explore the land. Sally and Lighting McQueen race through Ornament Valley and Radiator Springs. Luigi, Guido and Fillmore float on air on Luigi’s Flying Tires. Mater teaches little tractors to whip, whirl and dance on Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree.
Close your eyes and picture yourself on the Pirates Of The Caribbean attraction. What do you hear? The founds of the ride are so iconic, most Disney parks fans can recreate it scene for scene in their heads. Great attractions require great sound design. Joe… Read More »Imagineering the Sounds of Radiator Springs Racers