The Mouse Castle

Ashman Talks Ashman: Sarah Ashman Gillespie in the MCL

2013-05-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

Sarah Ashman and Howard Ashman in 1983

Last week, I posted a birthday tribute to Howard Ashman, the late writer and lyricist who, with composer Alan Menken, wrote some of the all-time great Disney songs for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. This week, I'm happy to share part one of my conversation with Howard's sister, Sarah Ashman Gillespie, who manages the website Howard Ashman: Part of His World, a celebration of her brother's life and legacy.

Howard Ashman's story is one of both great achievement and unfulfilled promise. A talented wordsmith with a passion for theater, he found success off-Broadway writing and directing the musical Little Shop of Horrors and later adapting the screenplay for the popular Frank Oz-directed film version. Success on Broadway eluded him, however. Smile, a comical and sentimental send-up of teen beauty pageants that he wrote with composer Marvin Hamlisch, flopped and closed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in early 1987 after only 48 performances.

Ashman's talent would not be denied, however. When Disney came calling in the late 1980s, he and Menken found themselves at ground zero of perhaps the biggest movie studio comeback in Hollywood history and became one of the driving forces behind Disney's animation renaissance. Ashman's death from AIDS in 1991, months before the release of Beauty and the Beast, is one of the great tragedies in entertainment. He was at his creative peak when he passed away, and although the body of work he left behind was impressive and beloved, we are left wondering what musical and theatrical magic might have happened had he lived.

In part one of my interview with Sarah, she talks about the origins of her website, Howard's early career and how he was pursued by Disney. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

Remembering Howard Ashman

2013-05-17T07:27:00.000-07:00

Today would have been the 63rd birthday of the late writer, lyricist and director Howard Ashman. With composer Alan Menken, Ashman wrote the great songs of Disney's animation renaissance during the 1980s and 90s: "Part of Your World" and "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid; "Be Our Guest" and "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast; "Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali" from Aladdin--among so many others.

Ashman had a passion for musical theater and a gift for clever wordplay that coalesced brilliantly during his time at Disney. In this clip from the 2009 documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty, we see Ashman in action, coaching Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel, through a recording of "Part of Your World." He goes on to explain why that song and others like it are critical in theater and film to make audiences "fall in love" with the leading lady.

With Menken, Ashman won two Academy Awards for "Under the Sea" and "Beauty and the Beast." In 1991, Ashman died far too young at the age of 40 from complications arising from AIDS. Both he and Menken were named Disney Legends in 2001.

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Ashman's sister, Sarah Ashman Gillespie, about her brother's life and legacy. Sarah manages the website Part of His World, a labor-of-love tribute to Howard, full of history and fond remembrances from Sarah and some of the people who knew and worked with Howard, including Alan Menken, Jodi Benson and John Musker. I'll post part one of my conversation with Sarah this weekend in The Mouse Castle Lounge.

Happy Birthday, Howard. You are missed.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

MCL: Down the Rabbit Hole with Camille Rose Garcia; Merida Gets a Princess Makeover

2013-05-12T20:01:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day from The Mouse Castle Lounge!

In today's episode, I talk with artist Camille Rose Garcia about her new exhibit at the Walt Disney Family Museum, Down the Rabbit Hole, a fanciful interpretation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Ms. Garcia shares with me the things that influence her work, from Walt Disney to Philip K. Dick to all manner of pop culture. She also talks at length about how it feels to share space with the great Disney artist Mary Blair, whose concept art from Disney's Alice in Wonderland also adorn the gallery.

Camille Rose Garcia

Down The Rabbit Hole at the Walt Disney Family Museum

This weekend, Merida from Pixar's Brave officially took her place among the Disney princesses with a royal coronation at Walt Disney World.

It was all the usual Disney fluff and fun for the benefit of guests, but on the consumer products side, Merida's princess makeover is causing a stir among fans of Brave for making the headstrong Scot a little too princessy. Even Brenda Chapman, who co-directed Brave and created the character, has gone out of her way to criticize the new look, calling it "a blatantly sexist marketing move based on money."

I respect Chapman's objections. After all, Merida is a very personal character to her. But, in the grand scheme of things, is this really that big a deal? Disney has been tarting up its princesses for years, not a look I'm particularly fond of, but in the end it doesn't change the spirit of the characters I remember from their movies. Merida is strong, brave and wields a wicked bow and arrow. Nothing Disney merchandising can do is going to change that.

Walt Disney Animation Studios released a sneak peek of Big Hero 6, its new animated feature based on a little-known comic book series in the Marvel universe. Think The Avengers with an Asian vibe. And while this clip is attractive to look at, it's little more than an animation study and really doesn't do anything to create excitement for the film which is due out November 2014. Sorry, Disney, you're going to have to show me a bit more to get me interested.

All this and more is in today's edition of The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

The Walt Disney Family Museum Takes you 'Down the Rabbit Hole' With Camille Rose Garcia and Mary Blair

2013-05-09T13:07:00.000-07:00

Camille Rose Garcia

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?" - Alice, Disney's Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Starting today, The Walt Disney Family Museum presents a charming--and slightly dark--bit of nonsense as it opens a new exhibit, Camille Rose Garcia: Down the Rabbit Hole. The exhibit features several dozen paintings by the well-known "lowbrow" artist, who reinterprets the world of Alice in Wonderland in her unique Goth-tinged style. Garcia's paintings from this exhibit first appeared in a 2010 reprint of Lewis Carroll's classic children's tale, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, replacing the traditional illustrations by John Tenniel. The result was a Wonderland that visually was more harried, emotional, disorienting...and quite compelling.

Providing an ideal counterpoint to Garcia's work, the exhibit also includes a selection of Alice in Wonderland concept art by Mary Blair, Disney's legendary artist and color stylist. Though their respective takes on Alice are quite distinct and separated by more than 50 years, Blair and Garcia are still kindreds in their vivid use of color and their abilities to challenge perspective.

I had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Garcia about her work--and that's all I'm going to tell you for now. You can hear our conversation in the next edition of The Mouse Castle Lounge podcast, which will be out this weekend. Suffice it to say, Ms. Garcia scored points with me for having grown up in Orange County, a stone's throw from Disneyland, where she spent a good portion of her childhood. That she embraced the works of William Burroughs and Philip K. Dick as she grew older, darkening her pop culture sensibilities, only made her more interesting.

In Camille Rose Garcia's Wonderland, Alice is a bit of a hot mess.

Garcia's trip down the rabbit hose is very distressing.

Blair's rabbit hole is much more orderly, but just as vivid.

Garcia's mad tea party is disorderly, even menacing.

Blair's tea party is just silly, but the White Rabbit is none too comfortable with it.

Camille Rose Garcia: Down the Rabbit Hole will run through November 3, 2013 in the Walt Disney Family Museum's lower level theater gallery. For more information, visit www.waltdisney.org.

For more about Camille Rose Garcia, visit www.camillerosegarcia.com or listen to my interview with her at www.themousecastle.com/2013/05/mcl-down-rabbit-hole-with-camille-rose.html.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

MCL: "Iron Man 3" Reviewed, the Official Princess Merida and Pez Ratzenberger

2013-05-07T00:47:00.001-07:00

There's nothing like staying up late to finish a podcast when you have to catch a 6:00 a.m. flight to San Francisco. It's for a good cause, though, as I get to preview the Walt Disney Family Museum's new exhibit showcasing the dark and fanciful art of Camille Rose Garcia. In the meantime, though, here's the latest from inside The Mouse Castle Lounge: I have my review of Iron Man 3, all the details about how Merida is becoming an official Disney princess, and why it's cool John Raztenberger is being immortalized in Pez dispensers. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

MCL: Monstrous Crowds Expected at Disneyland's 24-Hour Party

2013-05-02T23:26:00.000-07:00

I've got a bunch of fun stuff crammed into the latest episode of The Mouse Castle Lounge. First, Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom are going to be plenty busy on May 24 when they each host a 24-hour party from 6:00 a.m. straight through to 6:00 a.m. the next day. The Magic Kingdom will be busy, to be sure, but the crowds on the west coast will be, well, monstrous as the Disneyland Resort attempts to hold a Grad Nite at the same time.

Also, Iron Man 3 opens in the U.S. this weekend after an overseas opening worthy of a superhero. I've got sound clips from Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, IM3 director Shane Black and producer Jon Favreau as they talk about the making of the film.

All that and a preview of the still-under-construction Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Walt Disney World are inside this edition of The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

Related Story: One More Disney Day: The Hangover

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

IBM's New Adventure Thru Inner Space, The Movie

2013-05-01T06:36:00.000-07:00

"This is the tracking procedure of an adventure through inner space. Adventurous men of science who have made this journey before you are carefully plotting every phase of this incredible journey as you shrink beyond the smallness of an atom, the smallest building block of matter. We wish you an enlightening experience, for though your body will shrink, your mind will expand." -- Disneyland's Adventure Thru Inner Space, 1967-1985

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

'The Lone Ranger' Rides Into Vegas and a First Look at Mystic Manor Inside 'The Mouse Castle Lounge'

2013-04-24T17:37:00.003-07:00

It's good to be back home this week with a new episode of The Mouse Castle Lounge. While I was galivanting on the East Coast, Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer and a couple of their friends came to my town (Vegas, baby!) to give fans a sneak peek at The Lone Ranger, coming out on July 3. The audience was treated to a new movie trailer and about 20 minutes of clips, followed by a Q & A with Depp, Hammer, director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. I've got some very cool soundbites from the event in the MCL.

And speaking of new trailers, here's a brand new one for Marvel's Thor: The Dark World, hitting U.S. theaters on November 8. They're calling it a teaser trailer. At over a minute and a half, that's quite a tease.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Disneyland's new E-ticket ride, Mystic Manor, is in preview mode in preparation for a May grand opening. Videos of this cute-creepy-fun tour of Lord Henry Mystic's strange Victorian mansion are already hitting YouTube en masse. This is the best one I've seen so far. IT'S ONE LONG SPOILER, so be warned.

Also providing a bit of mystery is a new Mickey Mouse cartoon called Get a Horse. It will make its debut at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June with old school animation (rubber-hose arms and legs; pie eyes) and Walt Disney himself voicing Mickey, just like old times. Walt Disney Animation isn't giving away a whole lot of details--like where exactly Get a Horse comes from--but it looks like they've sifted through some previously unused voice tracks from Walt and matched it up with some new hand-drawn, 2D animation. It sounds intriguing as the timeless mouse continues to make his cartoon comeback.

Movies, mysteries and more are what's in store in today's Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Stuff You Can Win Inside 'The Mouse Castle Lounge'

2013-04-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Concept art for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
© Renzo Piano Building Workshop

It's been a busy week for me in Baltimore, attending meetings, eating expensive dinners and drinking cocktails paid for by other people. And yet, I still managed to record one more episode of The Mouse Castle Lounge before leaving town.

In today's installment, the Walt Disney Company has thrown its full support behind the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, a new 300,000-square foot facility dedicated to movie history. The museum won't open until early 2017, but the renovation of Los Angeles' historic May Company building has already started and fund raising is well underway. Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger heads up the museum's $300 million capital campaign along with co-chairs Annette Bening and Tom Hanks.

Bob Iger speaks at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures' inaugural celebration
Photo by Matt Petit/© A.M.P.A.S.

Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosted an inaugural celebration for the museum attended by an impressive list of Hollywood hot shots: John Lasseter, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jerry Bruckheimer, Jason Schwartzman, George Takei, Laura Dern, John Landis, Rachel McAdams and Alexander Payne, just to name a few. Warren Beatty (Mr. Annette Bening) was there also and posed for this great shot in front of his Dick Tracy hat and trench coat:

Warren Beatty with his Dick Tracy duds
Photo by Todd Wawrychuk/© A.M.P.A.S.

For more information about the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and how you can support it, visit http://www.oscars.org/academymuseum.

Don't forget, you can still win one of historian J.B. Kaufman's wonderful books about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Fairest One of All or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Art and Creation of Walt Disney's Classic Animated Film, simply by listening to either today's podcast or this podcast and following the instructions to enter. It's easy to do and entries must be in by 5:00 p.m. Pacific time on Friday, April 19. Good luck!

There's more inside today's Mouse Castle Lounge including an update on Disneyland's problems with Cal OSHA and a preview of Disneynature's most recent home video release, Wings of Life. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

Ride Closures at Disneyland and IronManoventions Inside 'The Mouse Castle Lounge'

2013-04-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

It's a short and sweet weekend edition of The Mouse Castle Lounge as I travel on business totally unrelated to anything even remotely Disney. This is the view from my hotel room right now:

Cue the singers:

Saturday was not a good day for the Disneyland Resort as three E-ticket rides (Space Mountain, the Matterhorn and Soarin' Over California) were closed following an investigation by Cal OSHA into safety violations. No word as yet on when the rides will reopen, but Disney is scrambling to get into compliance and provide adequate fall protection for workers who maintain the exteriors of these attractions. The violations could end up costing Disney in excess of $230,000 in fines.

The actual citations filed against Disneyland can be found here: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/citations/The_Walt_Disney_Company_DBA_Disneyland_Resort_%20IMIS_315531715.pdf

Space Mountain may be out of service for a while, but nearby, Innoventions is lining up guests to see Iron Man Tech Presented by Stark Industries, a new display of Iron Man suits featured in Marvel's upcoming flick Iron Man 3. Lines at Innoventions, who knew that was even possible?

All that and more is in The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

Is 2D Animation Dead at Disney? Find Out Inside 'The Mouse Castle Lounge'

2013-04-12T20:34:00.003-07:00

I'm getting ready to fly out to the east coast tomorrow (work-related...you know, the real job that pays for my online indulgences), so I don't have much time to expound on today's visit to The Mouse Castle Lounge. I do talk a bit about the state of 2D animation at Disney in the wake of this week's layoffs. I also preview a new kids show debuting on The Disney Channel, Henry Hugglemonster, and explain why I'm not happy about being away from home next week.

I am taking some of my recording equipment with me on my trip, so there will a new episode of The Mouse Castle Lounge this Sunday. I'm a road warrior. What can I say?

Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

Layoffs at Disney, 'Planes' Video Game and a Blatant Bribe in The Mouse Castle Lounge

2013-04-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

Would I resort to bribery to get you to listen to The Mouse Castle Lounge podcast?

Why yes, yes I would.

You can win one of J. B. Kaufman's two recent books about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs simply by listening to the April 10, 2013 episode of The Mouse Castle Lounge. During the show, I'll ask you to e-mail me some kind of message. Send the message to podcast@themousecastle.com along with your name, home address and phone number and on April 19, I'll pick two winners at random from all the entries received. Only one entry per household, please, and you must be a resident of the U.S. to enter. One person will win Kaufman's The Fairest One of All, a comprehensive history of Snow White. Someone else will win Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Art and Creation of Walt Disney's Classic Animated Film, the companion book to the Walt Disney Family Museum's wonderful exhibition celebrating 75 years of Disney's feature-length masterpiece.

Once the winners are selected and notified, I'll post the best e-mail messages I received here on The Mouse Castle blog--did I mention I want you to have some fun and be creative with this?

So, please give a listen to this installment of The Mouse Castle Lounge. I hope you make it a habit. In addition to my blatant bribe, I also have news about the current layoffs at Walt Disney Studios and details on the upcoming video game based on Disney's new movie Planes, coming out in August.

Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

Tim Goes 'Inside the Mouse Castle': Annette Funicello, Harrison 'Buzz' Price and 'Iron Man 3'

2013-04-10T06:50:00.001-07:00

Don't let the title fool you. The Mouse Castle Lounge is not changing, really. For one episode, I called it Inside the Mouse Castle because, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. On further review, why mess with a good thing? The Mouse Castle Lounge is what my podcast is, was and will remain. Drinks all around!

So, what is changing?

The frequency with which I do this. Expect up to five shows a week with the latest news from the world of Disney. As strange as it sounds, it's easier for me to do a daily series of shorter shows (15 minutes or less) than to compile a week's worth of material (or more) and put it together in a longer podcast. Here's the plan: four evening shows posted Monday through Thursday with another show on Saturday (subject to change without notice based on the flaky whims of the host). Can you handle me on a daily basis? I hope you can. Be gentle.

In this episode, I pay tribute to Annette Funicello and celebrate Buzz Price's new window on Disneyland's Main Street. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

Marc Davis, 'Planes' and Free Disney Movie Screenings in The Mouse Castle Lounge

2013-04-01T07:08:00.002-07:00

After a few weeks away from the mike, I'm back in The Mouse Castle Lounge and catching up on a bit of news from the world of Disney. Among the highlights from this week's show:

Iron Man 3 will be making an appearance at Disneyland beginning April 13. Iron Man Tech Presented by Stark Industries will take up room inside Tomorrowland's beleaguered Innoventions, displaying the seven Iron Man suits as seen in Marvel's Iron Man 3 due in theaters May 3. Besides seeing the display, guests will be able to virtually suit up and feel the power of being Iron Man. The exhibit is expected to run at least through September, but the rumors that an Iron Man attraction could take up permanent residence where Innoventions is now could change all that.

There's a new trailer out for the animated feature Planes and, well, it looks a lot like the old trailer. The difference? Dane Cook has replaced Jon Cryer as the voice of Dusty, the crop duster with a ton of heart and a fear of heights. Also, Planes will no longer be a direct-to-video release as was originally announced in 2011. It'll be in theaters August 9, 2013. And while it looks like a high-flying extension of Pixar's Cars franchise, it's actually a DisneyToon Studios film (although John Lasseter is one of the producers).

Disney has announced they are awarding $1.5 million in grants to various children's charities and organizations. The Disney Helps Kids Shine program will benefit around 70,000 kids in Central Florida.

There's more, including a 100th birthday tribute to Disney animating and Imagineering legend Marc Davis, trouble at LucasArts and a way you could get to see preview screenings of Disney films for free. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

An Easter Drink With Roger Rabbit

2013-03-30T16:58:00.001-07:00

In honor of Easter, we're buying one of our favorite bunnies a drink. What could possibly go wrong?

It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years since Who Framed Roger Rabbit, that landmark blend of hand-drawn 2D animation and live-action film-making, was released. It's finally available on Blu-ray--it came out earlier this month--and it looks terrific, even if the bonus features on the disc are lacking. They're just reissues of previously released material. Still, if you missed out on the previous DVD release or are jonesing for that pristine high-def look, you really need to get this.

I can't deny that Roger Rabbit is a necessary piece of my movie collection for it’s technical wizardry alone, but it’s always been a film I've been torn over. I love how it looks. I love seeing all those great animated characters share the screen. I love Bob Hoskins’ performance as detective Eddie Valiant. But, I've always had issues with the story. I’ll talk about that later.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit was a joint venture between Disney and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment group. In their agreement, Spielberg and director Robert Zemeckis—fresh off his 1980s successes Back to the Future and Romancing the Stone—got full creative control and a share of the profits, while Disney retained all the merchandising rights. It was an arrangement that would cause considerable tension at Disney during production.

Disney liked having Spielberg on board and it saw Roger Rabbit as a way to resurrect its languishing animation department which had only released two films in the early 1980s, the moderately successful The Fox and the Hound and the disastrous The Black Cauldron. The Great Mouse Detective was in production and it would eventually be a big step towards Disney’s return to animation glory, but the studio needed to be attached to a project with some prestige and genuine innovation. Roger Rabbit was that project.

It wasn't a cheap project by any means. It was originally budgeted at $50 million, which probably made Disney CEO Michael Eisner's brain explode. This was a guy known for making movies on the cheap and getting the maximum bang for his buck. The final budget did get pared down to just shy of $30 million, but once production started, costs mounted and Eisner couldn't do much about it except whine, complain and send Jeffrey Katzenberg to keep an eye on things since Spielberg and Zemeckis had creative control. Before it was all done, Roger Rabbit would cost about $70 million.

The cost was driven largely by the slow, painstaking efforts it took to blend the animation and live action together. Keep in mind this was long before computers took hold in Hollywood. As a reference point, Roger Rabbit was released the same year (1988) that John Lasseter and Bill Reeves at a struggling computer company named Pixar produced a short cartoon called Tin Toy, which would become the first computer-animated short film to win an Oscar. So, comparatively speaking, there wasn't a whole lot of technology available to the Roger Rabbit crew, but there was a lot of artistry.

The animation was done in England under the direction of Richard Williams. After the live action sequences were shot, photostats of each individual frame of film were sent to London. Where props, puppets or robotics took the place of cartoon characters in the photos, the animators simply drew over them. Well, maybe not that simple. It was a time-consuming and deliberate process that had to be very attentive to the sight lines of the live actors and shifting camera angles (a locked down camera would've been easier for the animation scenes, but Zemeckis insisted on a more realistic look). All told, there were over 82,000 frames of animation drawn in Roger Rabbit. The film spent a year in post-production.

What resulted was a technically astounding film that integrated hand-drawn animation and live action on a scale never seen before or since. Critics were mostly enthusiastic. Roger Ebert with the Chicago Sun-Times called Roger Rabbit "not only great entertainment, but a breakthrough in craftsmanship." Janet Maslin with The New York Times said, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit [is] a film whose best moments are so novel, so deliriously funny and so crazily unexpected that they truly must be seen to be believed." The bunny cleaned up at the box office too, taking in over $150 million in the U.S. alone. The film would be nominated for six Oscars, winning three for film editing, visual effects and sound effects editing. Williams would also receive a special achievement award from the Academy for his impressive animation work.

Twenty-five years later, the technical achievements still hold up. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a wonderful film to look at with plenty of memorable scenes: Eddie Valiant's walk through the toon-populated R.K. Maroon Studios, Donald and Daffy Duck's epic piano duel at the Ink and Paint Club, any scene with Roger's beloved (and bodaciously buxom) Jessica Rabbit--yowsa! Where I've always had my troubles with the film, however, is in the overall tone of the story. I get that the biggest joke of Roger Rabbit is the normalcy with which humans and toons interact. The problem for me is when these worlds collide, what's funny in Toontown often isn't funny in downtown Los Angeles.

As a kid, I grew up watching countless anvils drop on Wile E. Coyote and I lost track of how many times Daffy Duck lost his head during ~~Rabbit~~ Duck Season. I laughed every time. Still do. These are extreme jokes in an environment where falling boulders squish characters into accordion shapes without permanent damage. Roger Rabbit plays to that idea--toons are impervious to just about everything but Judge Doom's dip--and yet when it crosses over into the human world, it's not quite as funny. Somehow, gag mogul Marvin Acme having a piano dropped on his head inspires more awkwardness than laughter. Eddie's partner being killed by a toon does the same. It's a jarring aspect of Roger Rabbit that I've never particularly liked.

Also, the parallels between Roger Rabbit's Ink and Paint Club and real-life Harlem's Cotton Club of years past are concerning. Toons, like African Americans, were there for entertainment purposes only and weren't welcome in the club as guests. It's obvious Zemeckis and screenwriters Jeffrey Price and Peter Seaman had something to say about the second-class treatment of toons by humans, but it's only touched upon. It's never fully fleshed out. Perhaps that's a sidebar to the film that would've gotten in the way of the 1940s detective noir story it was trying to tell. It still manages to cast a pall over the proceedings without really explaining what the toons' status in society was. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I always see the toons like oppressed minorities and it detracts from my overall enjoyment of the film. Toons just don't seem to be having very much fun outside of the safe, non-exploitive confines of Toontown. They may sing "Smile, Darn You, Smile," but they don't seem to have a lot to smile about.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

Going Red For Marriage Equality

2013-03-25T23:02:00.000-07:00

Yep, this is a different look for The Mouse Castle. This is a different kind of article too. I've never used this blog as a platform for political or social commentary before. I don't plan on doing it a lot in the future. Sometimes, however, you just need to speak your mind.

I'll keep it simple. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments to overturn California's Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Both laws discriminate by denying American citizens the basic right to marry the people they love. The Mouse Castle joins the Human Rights Campaign in support of marriage equality.

I'm happy to call many people within the LGBT community my friends and I appreciate the kindness and support they've shown me in this crazy online endeavor of mine. It's my pleasure to send that love and support back to them.

Okay, it was really weird just writing that. I never thought I'd ever be forced to single out a particular group of readers on this blog, but there still exists an unfortunate social climate in the U.S. that thinks alienation and discrimination is acceptable behavior. It needs to stop. I appreciate all my readers (and podcast listeners), gay or straight, stranger or friend, and I cannot understand how a civilized society can continue to isolate a group of people and tell them they aren't entitled to the same rights as all Americans.

Growing up a Disney fan, I once put a lot of faith in nine old men. It is my hope in the coming weeks that a different group of nine old men (and women) will make the right decision on the side of equality.

Find out what you can do to help: http://www.hrc.org/standformarriage

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

'Cars Toons Shorty Shorts' Now Viewable Online

2013-03-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

The name is a bit precious ("Shorty Shorts"), but the stories are kind of fun. Disney and Pixar have started a new series of very short (less than two-minutes long) Cars Toons that debuted on The Disney Channel on Friday. They can now be seen exclusively online at Disney.com.

"Hiccups"

“Hiccups” - When Lightning McQueen gets the hiccups, everyone in Radiator Springs thinks they have the cure.

"Bugged"

“Bugged” - Red's peaceful morning routine is interrupted by a pesky visitor.

"Spinning"

“Spinning” - Guido discovers he has a hidden talent as a street corner sign spinner.

All three "Shorty Shorts" are directed by Jeremy Lasky and produced by Mary Alice Drumm. These "Tales From Radiator Springs" won't take more than a few minutes of your time to view and you'll get a nice chuckle in the process.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

'The Emperor's New Groove' Coming Out on Blu-ray

2013-03-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

Some home video releases are a big deal, like when Disney lets a Fantasia or Snow White out of the vault "FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY." Others cause barely a ripple (Air Buddies movies, anyone?...anyone?).

Some, though, just make you smile. The Emperor's New Groove is that kind of release. It's silly and irreverent--really one of the most un-Disney of Disney's animated films--but, it's still one their most fun and purely entertaining pictures. It will be out on Blu-ray in the U.S. this summer.

Emperor's very existence is the stuff of legend. Originally titled Kingdom of the Sun, it was intended to be an ambitious retelling of Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper set in ancient Incan times. Roger Allers began directing Kingdom fresh off his incredible success with The Lion King, but the production bogged down because of creative differences between Allers and Disney management, not to mention poor audience test screenings. Allers was eventually removed from the production and replaced by Mark Dindal, who finished the film that evolved into The Emperor's New Groove. This long process of creative conflict and studio politics was captured by film maker Trudie Styler, who had access to much of the behind-the-scenes wranglings. Styler is the wife of singer-songwriter Sting, who wrote the original songs for Kingdom only to see a scant few of them make the final cut in Emperor. Styler's documentary The Sweatbox has been mostly kept under wraps by Disney, since it depicts the media giant as driven mostly by high-concept commercialism and disdainful of genuine creativity (now there's something we haven't heard before). A rough-cut version of The Sweatbox leaks out online periodically--I saw it as recently as last year--but Disney does a good job of quickly quashing it.

Supporters of Allers will still contend over a dozen years later that had he been given the time and resources to complete his original vision, Kingdom of the Sun had the makings of a classic. Sadly, we'll never know. What we're left with is a film of less lofty aspirations that is nevertheless hugely entertaining. The Emperor's New Groove is about a hip, but egotistical and self-centered young emperor, Kuzco (David Spade), who runs afoul of a sorceress (Eartha Kitt) who means to kill him, but accidentally turns him into a llama instead. It's then up to Kuzco to find redemption with the help of an easy-going farmer (John Goodman) whose land Kuzco had taken to build a summer palace. It's lighthearted fare with plenty of laughs that's right out of the Chuck Jones and Warner Bros. school of animation. The clips below give good examples:

The Emperor's New Groove will be out in a two-movie Blu-ray package along with the direct-to-video sequel Kronk's New Groove on June 11, 2013.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

The Walt Disney Family Museum, Paula Sigman Lowery and BEER in This Week's 'Mouse Castle Lounge'

2013-03-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

I'm phoning it in on The Mouse Castle Lounge. Well, two of my guests are anyway. This week, I'm happy to welcome back Gabriella Calicchio, CEO of the Walt Disney Family Museum. Last November, I was at her place for the opening of the Museum's Snow White exhibit. This time, Gabriella calls up the Lounge and brings me up to speed on what new exhibitions are in store at WDFM in 2013. The diverse nature of these exhibitions is proof positive of why the Walt Disney Family Museum is beginning to thrive not just as a tribute to the legacy of Walt Disney, but also as a showcase for gifted artists, past and present, who were influenced by his life's work.

Camille Rose Garcia: Down the Rabbit Hole
May 9 to November 3, 2013

Camille Rose Garcia challenges fairy tale archetypes with her vivid gothic reinterpretations of classic characters ranging from Snow White to Alice in Wonderland.

Maurice Sendak: 50 Years, 50 Works, 50 Reasons
Opening May 23, 2013

Maurice Sendak is best known for his seminal children's book Where the Wild Things Are, but had a long and prolific career as a writer and illustrator. He often acknowledged Disney as an artistic influence, particularly Mickey Mouse and Fantasia.

Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong
Opening August 17, 2013

Tyrus Wong's association with Disney was brief but profound. He created the dreamy and evocative watercolor forest backgrounds for Bambi before moving to Warner Bros. where he spent over 30 years as a motion picture illustrator. Still active in the arts at age 102, Wong is a master kite builder who flies his colorful and fanciful creations regularly from the Santa Monica Pier.

Also in the Lounge, I have part two of my conversation with Disney historian Paula Sigman Lowery. We continue our discussion of the evolution of the Walt Disney Family Museum from its virtual origins to its real-life presence in San Francisco's Presidio. Paula tells a great story of how builders and designers told Museum consultant Bruce Gordon that his idea for a curving ramp in WDFM's Gallery 9 simply wasn't possible. Gordon gleefully proved them wrong.

You can't build a ramp in here! Oh, wait....Never mind.

Finally, I'll talk on the phone with Tina, who was attending baseball Spring Training in Arizona with the Angels when suddenly a beer festival broke out.

Play beer!

It's all part of the fun and excitement that is The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

Paula Sigman Lowery and Happy Hour at the Anabella: This Week's Mouse Castle Lounge

2013-03-03T23:48:00.001-08:00

Paula Sigman Lowery

It's coffee and cocktails with good friends in this week's episode of The Mouse Castle Lounge. And, what the heck, we'll throw in some Disney history and an Anaheim happy hour recommendation for you too.

First, we start off with a wonderful conversation with Disney historian Paula Sigman Lowery, who I've known via social media for about a year and a half, and finally sat down to chat with in person over lattes at Penelope's Cafe Books & Gallery, a quaint little coffee shop not far from Glendale in La Canada Flintridge. Our meeting was sparked by an article I came across that Paula had written for Disney Magazine over ten years ago about a virtual Walt Disney Family Museum. Before it existed in real life in San Francisco's Presidio, the Walt Disney Family Museum was an online extension of Disney.com that had its origin in a CD-ROM version of Walt - The Man Behind the Myth. In our discussion, Paula and I talk about the evolution of the Museum from its virtual beginnings to its present day bricks and mortar reality. Paula spent 20 years working for the Walt Disney Company, 15 of them at the Walt Disney Archives, and offers all kinds of fascinating insight into Walt, his family and the development of the Museum. She also happily shares her full-blown geekery over the Mickey Mouse Club and Spin and Marty. Hey, she may be a respected Disney historian, but she's also a fan--and true fans are always welcome in The Mouse Castle Lounge.

The Tangerine Grill and Patio at the Anabella Hotel

Next, I'll join my friend Tina at one of our favorite Anaheim hangouts, the Nectarine Bar at the Anabella Hotel. You might recall a month ago Tina and I waxed profound about the offerings at the Mendocino Wine Bar inside Disney California Adventure. This time we chime in on the happy hour specials available seven days a week at this charming hotel within easy walking distance of the Disneyland Resort. For years, the Anabella has been my first choice for location and price when I visit Anaheim. The Nectarine Bar and the adjacent Tangerine Grill and Patio are two more reasons I like to stay there. It's all about the Tangerine martinis, baby!

And, before you ask, the Anabella did not pay me for this endorsement. I really do stay there and it really is my usual first choice. So there.

Podcasters at work at the Nectarine Bar. Back off! We're professionals.

Thanks for dropping by. Please enjoy this week's installment of The Mouse Castle Lounge:

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

The Walt Disney Family Museum Shows Increased Attendance in 2012

2013-02-26T07:23:00.000-08:00

The Walt Disney Family Museum

I always enjoy sharing good news about the good people at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. Monday, they released their official attendance figures for last year, announcing that visitor volume in 2012 was 103,000, a 14% increase from 2011. Furthermore, the Museum saw a 43% spike in memberships and a 25% increase in group sales.

Gabriella Calicchio (r.) with Walt's daughter, Diane Disney Miller

Much of the Museum's new success can be attributed to CEO Gabriella Calicchio, who came on board in November 2011. Under her guidance, the Museum launched a five-year strategic plan and opened several exhibitions including one dedicated to the work of illustrator Heinrich Kley and another paying tribute to the art of stop-motion animation. In November, the Museum opened its ambitious and not to be missed exhibition celebrating 75 years of Disney's animated classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Crediting the leadership of Calicchio, as well as the hard work of the Museum's staff and volunteers, co-founder and board president Walter Elias Disney Miller said, "We now have a clear vision to guide us towards the best museum experience we can offer our visitors while showcasing the legacy of not only my grandfather, Walt Disney, but also the men and women of his organization that brought his dreams to life through inspiration and innovation."

In addition to the exhibits, the Walt Disney Family Museum offers many public educational and social programs including professional workshops and the very popular after-hours parties, Animate Your Night!

For more about the Walt Disney Family Museum, visit www.waltdisney.org.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

The Mouse Castle Lounge at the 85th Annual Academy Awards

2013-02-22T10:37:00.001-08:00

It's always a treat to walk the red carpet at the Academy Awards, even when the carpet's covered in plastic and the actual ceremony is still a few days away.

For the second year in a row, I was able to go inside the barricades on Hollywood Boulevard in front of the Dolby (formerly Kodak) Theatre and take part in all the hoopla as preparations continue for this Sunday's Oscars hosted by Seth MacFarlane. Unlike last year, when I learned a hard lesson about the challenges of recording, editing and uploading video on the road, this year I kept it simple, putting together an impromptu podcast with two of my very good friends, Jennifer O'Brien and Christi Andersen (I <3 them). Give a listen as we make our picks in this year's Oscar race and engage in a bit of witty banter (hey, we were entertained by it).

It's a good year to be a Disney animation fan, as the Mouse has no less than three films nominated for Best Animated Feature (Brave, Frankenweenie and Wreck-It Ralph). We're also very high on Disney's Paperman, our consensus favorite to take home the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.

It's all part of the fun in this special edition of The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

The Mouse Castle Lounge Visits the Disney Animation Research Library

2013-02-19T08:14:00.000-08:00

The lobby of the Disney Animation Research Library

In a very special edition of The Mouse Castle Lounge, I get a rare look inside the Disney Animation Research Library. It's the vault where Disney stores over 64 million pieces of animation art from nearly 90 years of animation film history. Inside the walls of the ARL are concept art, design sketches, backgrounds, finished cels, maquettes, even the very fragile painted glass plates that were used in the multiplane camera for movies like Pinocchio, Bambi and Fantasia. It's an astounding collection that the ARL is painstakingly preserving for current artists and researchers and for future generations.

I sat down withe the ARL's research manager Fox Carney to talk about the work he and his staff performs, the challenges of documenting so much animation history and the wonderful new discoveries the ARL makes every day. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com

www.facebook.com/themousecastle

www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

'Monsters University' and Operatic Walt in The Mouse Castle Lounge

2013-02-13T13:57:00.001-08:00

In the latest edition of The Mouse Castle Lounge, we aim for some highbrow culture, but end up reviewing Philip Glass' opera about Walt Disney instead. The Perfect American is a "fictional biography" of Walt that dovetails into a litany of every tired (and debunked) urban legend that ever existed about the man. It's a fever dream fantasy that finds Walt on his deathbed flashing back on a career that, despite having all the trappings of success, has left him bitter and frustrated. He laments that he has lost his humanity, that the Disney name has been subsumed by the corporate empire he's created. We see him mistreat his employees in a sweatshop studio environment, then take credit for their successes. He is racist and anti-Semitic, is obsessed with being cryogenically frozen after his death, and may be having an affair with his nurse, Hazel George (who he creepily refers to as "Snow White). In this surreal scene (one of many surreal scenes), Walt confronts a malfunctioning audio-animatronic Abe Lincoln:

A subtle telling of Walt's story this ain't. To its credit, the show does have a game and talented cast (baritone Christopher Purves is fine as Walt) as well as some clever staging using a series of rotating projection screens, but it's all for naught with a libretto that's hopelessly stuffed with half-truths and outright lies. Stodgy, pretentious and mean-spirited, it's a production not to be enjoyed, but to be endured.

The Perfect American premiered in Madrid last month for a limited engagement and will move to London in June. It's expected to eventually find its way to Los Angeles. You can see it online now (also for a limited time), in its entirety, at www.medici.tv (free registration required). Don't say you haven't been warned.

On the Bookshelf

I'm very excited about two new Disney-related books that will be out later this year. The first, Dream It! Do It! (The People, The Places, The Projects): My Half-Century Creating Disney's Magic Kingdoms, is Marty Sklar's long-awaited memoir about his 50+ years working for Disney, much of it spent leading Imagineering. It will be out in August.

The second, The Disneyland That Was, Is, and Never Will Be: A Biography of an American Institution, is the second book by Disney historian Sam Gennawey, who also writes a very informative and entertaining Disney blog at samlanddisney.blogspot.com. His book will be out in July and is the follow-up to his excellent read, Walt and the Promise of Progress City.

Last year, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sam about his first book. Rest assured, I'll be

reaching out to him again when his new book comes out (jump to the 5:30 mark for my chat with Sam).

For a bit of fun, Disney UK has released a new trailer online for Monsters University, the prequel to Pixar's hit Monsters, Inc.:

Monsters University will be released in the U.S. on June 21.

Hear about all this and more--including a tribute to Disneyland's Tahitian Terrace and soy sauce--this week in The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

www.themousecastle.com
www.facebook.com/themousecastle
www.twitter.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/disneytim

www.youtube.com/mousecastletrailers

Posted with Blogsy

Inside Club 33

2013-02-07T07:04:00.000-08:00

As I promised in the last Mouse Castle Lounge podcast, here's a look inside Club 33, Disneyland's exclusive members-only restaurant.

Club 33 was originally intended to be a private place where Walt Disney himself could entertain VIPs away from the hustle and bustle of the park. Sadly, Walt passed away before the club was completed in 1967, but it lives on as an elite hideaway where members and their guests can enjoy a quiet and elegant meal.

Aside from the number 33 that adorns the entrance, there are no other signs or special markings to identify Club 33. It would be easy to not even notice it unless you were looking for it.

Club 33 entrance.

Stories persist on how Club 33 got its name. The most popular notion is it was named for 33 Disneyland corporate investors/sponsors that were around when the club was built in the late 1960s. The fact is, it's just the number for that particular door on Royal Street in New Orleans Square. The address for the Blue Bayou Restaurant next door is 31 Royal Street.

Club 33 foyer.

To step into the Club 33 foyer is to transport yourself to a world far removed from Disneyland's hectic crowds. Victorian and Napoleonic flourishes abound, with sculptures, busts, artwork, vintage furniture and textured wallpaper everywhere. You reach the restaurant itself by climbing the stairs to the second floor or by taking the old fashioned Parisian lift that accommodates two or three passengers at a time. Custom dictates that guests who have never visited Club 33 nor been in the elevator before should be given preference to ride instead of walk.

The lift, by the way, is not wheelchair accessible. Disabled guests requiring assistance must use a freight elevator behind the Pirates of the Caribbean queue to reach the back entrance of the kitchen adjacent to the Disneyland Dream Suite. It's not the most glamorous way to enter Club 33 and reportedly this issue will be corrected with the next major club refurbishment.

The lift.

At the top of the stairs is Lounge Alley, the L-shaped passageway that connects Club 33's two dining rooms. Take some time to explore this area which is full of beautiful antiques and Disney art.

Lounge Alley. The cabinet on the right contains Club 33 souvenirs,
available for purchase.

A look down Lounge Alley toward
the main dining room.

This table was used in the film Mary Poppins.

Costume design sketches from The Happiest Millionaire.

The harpsichord in Lounge Alley was said to be a favorite of Walt's wife, Lillian. The artwork on its cover depicting 19th century New Orleans was painted by Disney artist Collin Campbell.

Pirates of the Caribbean artwork:

The main dining room, which overlooks Royal Street and the Rivers of America:

This sculpture, across from where we were seated, has always been
a favorite of mine.

The view from the balcony. "When I'm human, and I'm gonna be...."

Sunday lunch includes a complimentary glass of champagne which...ahem...went well with my dirty Grey Goose martini. I ordered food too, I swear.

See? I told you there was food. A salad, antipasto and dessert buffet accompanies your lunch entree.

Did I mention there were desserts?

Yep, lots of desserts.

To make our visit even more special, two of my bestest friends dropped by:

At the other end of Lounge Alley is the second dining room dubbed the Trophy Room. Once upon a time, there were plans to have audio-animatronic characters around the room interact with the guests. It never panned out. The room was also once adorned with actual hunting trophies which the Disney family has removed over the years.

This silent, motionless vulture is all that remains of a once-planned
audio-animatronic experience.

I've been very fortunate to dine inside Club 33 on more than one occasion. With it's wonderful atmosphere, excellent food and impeccable service, it's always a special event to be treasured.