The Winnie the Pooh ownership rights saga keeps going on and on. From WorldScreen.com: SSI is petitioning for the cancellation of about 25 Pooh-related names registered by Disney since 1996, according to wire reports, claiming that Disney "was not the owner of the registered marks at the time that these filings were made.” Disney has… Read More »Ongoing Fighting Over Pooh
Gina Keating of Reuters writes about Disney using hand-drawn "two-dimensional" a.k.a. "traditional" animation. Hand-drawn animation, out of fashion in the computer age, experienced a rescue worthy of a fairy tale on Thursday, when Walt Disney animators announced they would bring back the art form to the big screen. "We will be bringing back hand-drawn (two-dimensional)… Read More »Disney Open to Multiple Animation Methods
Update: Three more photos added on 10/31/07 and Four more photos added on 1/24/08 and one more on 4/25/08. Three more photos added on 3/3/11 featuring Olivia Wilde, Penelope Cruz, Jeff Bridges, and more.
At the request (and paycheck) of Disney, Annie Leibovitz has set her photographer’s eye for beauty on the magic of Walt Disney’s theme parks. The first three images from Leibovitz were revealed today. They will form the backbone of a new promotion for the Year of a Million dreams promotion. Additional images have already been ordered.
Each image features a scene with the featured celebrities transformed into the role of a fabled Disney character, expressing their own dreams and imagination.
Picture one: As Cinderella, Scarlett Johansson is seen running down a flight of stairs as the clock strikes midnight with her glass slipper unknowingly left behind. The tagline reads, “Where every Cinderella story comes true.”
Befitting a true princess, Johansson wears a stunning, one-of-a-kind Harry Winston tiara — a dazzling piece in platinum with more than 62 carats of sparkling diamonds and valued at $325,000. The dress worn by Johansson is a custom-made, Cinderella-inspired gown designed by Nicoletta Santoro.
Picture two: David Beckham plays the part of the gallant Prince Phillip from “Sleeping Beauty,” atop his trusted steed fighting the evil dragon. The tagline reads, “Where imagination saves the day.”
“There were many Disney characters I liked as a kid,” said Beckham. “Now my sons love the Disney characters and it’s a big part of their lives, a big part of many children’s lives around the world. So to be part of that is an honor and very exciting.
“I love going to Disney, I’m like a big kid,” he added.
Picture three: Beyoncé appears as “Alice in Wonderland,” twirling in a teacup, accompanied by Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter and Lyle Lovett as the March Hare. The tagline reads, “Where Wonderland is your destiny.”
“It’s two great imaginations coming together — Disney and Annie Leibovitz,” said Lovett. “To be along for the ride really is quite something, just knowing that you’re going to be part of a great Disney character. And then when you step into the imagination of Annie Leibovitz, you know you’re in another world.”
I have to say that picture three is my favorite. Those are three people I never thought I’d see together in a teacup. For more read this USA Today article that reveals more details of Leibovitz’s process or the Reuters article. LaughingPlace.com also has video coverage of the event where the first three photos were revealed.
I’ve included a few more ‘behind the scenes’ photos from the photo shoots below the cut for your enjoyment (especially you David Beckham fans).
Update: Find High-Resolution versions of all Annie Leibovitz “Disney Dream Portrait Series” on The Disney Blog Dream Photo Annex.
Anytime you criticize a company (like Disney) with such a strong fan-base, you run the risk of infuriating a large portion of the fans. No one will share your exact same opinions and some might even label you a “Disney-hater” if your criticism is misplaced. Which is why when I hear someone suggest that a… Read More »Why we criticize
The other day I had the chance to try out a newly opened restaurant here in Terre Haute. The restaurant was called “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and it is part of a larger chain owned, not so surprisingly, by Jimmy Buffet. While there, I ordered the mini-cheeseburgers. Now, I have had mini-cheeseburgers before at a myriad… Read More »What a cheeseburger can tell us about Disney attractions
All of us have a preference for a specific park, a specific resort, or even a specific hotel. We are all very different, so this is not too surprising. However, one of the more disturbing results of this is that many fans have to prove to everyone that their preference should be shared by the… Read More »In Recognition of All Disney Parks
When Michael Eisner came on board as CEO of the Walt Disney Company one of the first decisions he made about the future of Animation at the company was to send John Lasseter and his Computer Generated Animation experiment packing. Disney may not have liked… Read More »Found: An Important Moment in Animation History
Here is a math question for all of you, taken directly from “Fundamentals
of Probability with Stochastic Processes” by Saeed Ghahramani, Dean of the
School of Arts & Sciences and Professor of Mathematics at Western New England
College:
A child gets lost in the Disneyland at the Epcot Center in Florida. The
father of the child believes that the probability of his being lost in the east
wing of the center is 0.75 and in the west wing is 0.25. The security
department sends an office to the east and an officer to the west to look for
the child. If the probability that a security officer who is looking in the
correct wing finds the child is 0.4, find the probability the child is found.
Read the first line again. Consider the references to the
layout of Epcot. Not good is it?