John Rocco has led an amazing life. He’s worked with Whoopi Goldberg, designed attractions for Walt Disney Imagineering, he’s even been awarded the Caldecott award for a book he illustrated. His illustrations for children’s books can be found on covers of great series like “The… Read More »Award Winning Imagineer’s Illustrations On Exhibit at Orlando Museum of Art
With Cars Land at DCA now open, all eyes turn toward the Magic Kingdom and the Fantasyland Expansion which will be the next big project from Walt Disney Imagineering to open. Behind the walls, sections near Storytime with Belle look practically ready to open right… Read More »Magic Kingdom Update – We’re getting closer
Probably not all too shocking for those who know me: I am a bit of an audiophile. Specifically, I enjoy listening to music from the Disney Parks; after all, they are some of the few places on Earth where your life has beautiful background music wherever you go! From the moment you step into the park until the moment you leave, you are surrounded by some amazing scores and sounds that magically morph as you stroll from one location to the next. After all, Disney is known for the details, and the music composed for the parks is no different. As much thought goes into the themes, instrumentation, and timbres as can be said for details in the architecture, technology, and storytelling goes into the attractions. Unfortunately, many of the musicians who imagineer these aural attractions remain relatively unknown to the majority of park guests. Well, that’s where I’m about to step in.
One of my blogging goals has always been to explore those composers who help create the music, and I decided to start with what is perhaps my favorite pieces of park music: the Future World/Innoventions Area Loop heard in EPCOT. Whether crossing from Mission: Space over to Soarin’, Spaceship Earth over by the Fountain of Nations, or simply stopping to enjoy a Mickey bar and soak in the ambiance of Future World, this is my go-to track whenever I’m looking to take a mental trip back to my happy place. I figured if I was going to start my exploration of the musicians who create the “magic” via background music, it was going to be here, with this loop composed by Russell Brower. The amazing thing is once I discovered Mr. Brower was on Twitter, he was gracious enough to share a bit of his story as well as the story behind this awesome music!
Read More »Getting to know Disney Music Maker Russell Brower
Walt Disney Imagineering has released another series in the their Blue Sky Cellar series. The series goes behind the scenes and talks with the people who are actually working on the latest project, in this case Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. Along the way… Read More »Cars Land: Walt Disney Imagineering Shares Their Stories
The first photo of James Franco as the title character of “Oz: The Great and Powerful” has emerged on an Italian poster for the movie. Production began last year for the movie that is currently scheduled to hit theaters on March 8th, 2013. Along with… Read More »Italian Poster For Oz: The Great and Powerful
Okay, Walt Disney Imagineering has worked on some pretty amazing projects before. There was Lucky the Dinosaur, himself a descendant of other self-standing dinosaurs that never saw a public appearance. There have been a host of ride systems they tested that never saw the light… Read More »Disney Testing Flying Dragon Ultralight in California
(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.
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