Our First Official Dance

Our First Official Dance

Our love story started years ago. Our best friend set us up and we said, “Best friends forever! Romantic NEVER!” for about a year that is how it was. We were best of friends.

In June my “best friend” graduated college and I decided I had to take him to Disneyland to celebrate the big occasion. While we were at Disneyland we stopped at the French Market Café for diner. We were sitting there enjoying our meal and the jazz band came out and started playing live music on the little stage. The band started playing love songs and dedicating them to us! We were not making googlie eyes at each other or holding hands! We were just eating a meal and talking! We laughed and told them no way! They then said, “We have the Disney Magic and know you two are in love!” A week later we were dating and six months later we were married! January of this year we celebrated our 32^nd anniversary.

Being a flute player I’ve always loved music and had a desire to dance, any type of dance. My husband is hard of hearing, ADHD and has a heart that does not beat in a steady rhythm. Music for him is voodoo. He can’t feel the beat or get into a rhythm. Dancing was not something we ever thought we could do. Many times we would go to Disneyland and watch the swing dancers at the Carnation Gardens. I would sit and dream of getting up and dancing but I will not dance with anybody but my husband.

Earlier this year my husband and I were talking about the Disney Cruise we are planning on taking in 2014. We talked about the things we wished we could do the next time we go. One thing kept coming up, we wanted to dance! We decided that if we wanted to dance on the cruise we would need to learn soon. We started talking about what style of dance we wanted to learn. One style kept coming back up as we talked, Swing!

In February we were at Disney California Adventure watching the dancers. There was a young man that was dancing with quite a few of the women that were dancing to the Reynolds Brothers (Ellis Island Boys) Jazz band. This is not an official place for the swing dancers to dance but there they were. As we were watching we saw a difference between the Swing dancing we normally see and the gliding style this young man was doing. After several songs my hubby went over and asked him what style of dance he was doing. He told us the style is called Shag. Shag is a less athletic style of Swing and is much easier to learn. Shag is a style my husband felt he could learn!

Earlier this month we decided to look on line and find information and video on Shag. We found several videos and even printable step by step directions for the beginner steps! We started practicing about 30 minutes a day! We are no Fred and Ginger but at least we can kind of move to the beat of the music!

Thursday of last week we were at Disneyland. We decided we would look for one of the bands that the Swing Dancers now dance too. Sadly none of them were playing Thursday. We were disappointed because we really wanted to dance our first “official dance” at Disneyland. The disappointment did not last long as we remembered the fantastic jazz band that had told us we were in love almost 33 years ago. Over to New Orleans Square and the French Market we headed.

The Royal Street Bachelors were playing at the French Market and we decided to step off to the walkway outside the French Market as there was no room to dance in there. We danced in the walkway around the fountain between the French Market and the Haunted Mansion. We did not care that we had only been learning for about a week and we were kind of tripping over our own feet. What mattered is we were dancing together. What made it even more romantic and special was the fact we were dancing to the music of a special band at the most magical and special place of all, Disneyland.

When the song finished people around us applauded.  Several came over and told us how sweet it was that we just stopped and danced together and how neat it was that we were learning.

This experience reminded us that anything is possible as long as you do not give up and you don’t care about any negative comments other people may make. For years we have worried about what other people would say about our ability or inability to dance. Now we know we don’t have to worry about it.

Step out of your place of comfort learn something new, do something wacky, have faith in yourself, give yourself a chance to learn something new and have fun!

Disneyland Letter Writing

Disneyland Letter Writing

Over the last week I’ve talked a lot about the price increase in tickets at the Disneyland Resort. I’ve shared the letter I wrote to Disneyland and their response. I’m calling on all my readers to help. Please write a letter to Disneyland telling them how you feel about the price increase. Share your stories of how Disneyland has touched your lives and how the price increase affects you.

I believe it is possible to get Disney to rethink the price increase. I feel the only way to get them to do something is to have as many people as possible write letters telling them how they feel. Disney policy is they MUST respond to every letter! The more the better folks!

Here is a sample letter you can use to help you write your own letter.

You can send it to Disneyland via their website.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/help/email/

Dear Disneyland

Your recent Annual Passholder price increase does not seem to make sense. The fact that the Premium Annual Pass at WDW is only $42 more than a Premium Pass at DLR does not give equal value to purchasing Annual Passes at DLR.

It is not right that on the same day WDW raised their Premium Annual Pass $22 or 3% DLR raised their Premium Annual Pass $150 or 30%. Either Disney is undervaluing WDW or overvaluing DLR.

At Disneyland you have 2 parks to explore on less than 1 mile of property. At Walt Disney World there are 4 parks, 2 water parks, Golf, ESPN Zone and DisneyQuest included in the pass and you have 47 square miles to explore. How can that be valued anywhere near the same?

May I suggest you reconsider your price increase as you are going to lose Annual Passholders and therefore money. Annual Passholders not only pay for their Annual Passes they purchase food and merchandise. Annual Passholders encourage others to come and share the magic of the parks, we bring our friends and family. We tell strangers about the fun and encourage them to go to the parks. You will be losing all of that by pricing Annual Passholders out of the parks and disrespecting them with such an outrageous price increase.

Sincerely,

If you want more information on the price increases, my letter to Disneyland, Disneyland’s response to my letter check out the following links.

http://pixiepranks-panstinkerbell.blogspot.com/2012/05/disneyland-announced-price-increase.html

http://pixiepranks-panstinkerbell.blogspot.com/2012/05/open-letter-to-disneyland.html

http://pixiepranks-panstinkerbell.blogspot.com/2012/05/disneylands-response-to-my-letter-on.html

Disneyland Railroad Tinder Ride

Disneyland Railroad Tinder Ride

My husband is a train nut. He loves to watch the trains go by at Disneyland and enjoys riding them even more. We have made our visit to Walt’s Carolwood Barn in Griffith Park at the Los Angeles Live Steamers Museum and plan on going more. We had ridden in the Lilly Bell but there was one thing at DLR that we had never done. We had never ridden the Tinder Car! I decided his birthday is next month and the park will be busy then so I got him a Tinder Ride on our last visit as an early birthday present!

Ok, you may ask what a Tinder Car is. The Tinder Car on a train is the car that carries the Tinder or fuel for the fire that powers the steam engine. It is right behind the engineer. All five of the Disneyland trains have Tinder Cars but only two have seats that guests can ride on. Only two guests can ride the Tinder Car at a time and you start your ride at the Main Street Station and go the full trip around the park.

When Walt built the park he had WED build two trains from scratch. The C.K. Holiday and the E.P. Ripley were built in 1954-55 by WED and Walt had them design them with seats on the Tinder Car behind the engineer so he could take his friends for a ride up front with him.

Today you can catch a ride on the Tinder Car of the Holiday (Engine 1) or the Ripley (Engine 2) by asking the conductor at the Main Street Station for a Tinder Ride. You will have most likely have to wait a while for the train to come around. If they are refueling, adding water or letting off steam you will have to wait until they have a complete run without any stops to service the engine. For your safety they cannot have you on the Tinder when they are doing any of these things. You also can’t ride if they are training a new engineer. There is no charge for the Tinder Tour.

I walked up to the conductor on Main Street and asked if we could have a Tinder ride. After checking with the engineers on both the Holiday and the Ripley they found out that we would have to wait for the Ripley and we would have to wait for several trips around as there was already one person on the Tinder and when they go off the Train would have to take on water. They told us it would be about forty minutes. As it turned out we waited over two hours or about six or eight full trips around the park. After they added water the next trip they needed to add fuel. Each full trip around the park takes twenty minutes. We could not leave the station because we would have lost our place in line for taking the next Tinder. Was it worth the wait? For us it truly was!

Just think we were sitting directly behind where Walt Disney himself sat to drive the train! We were sitting where friends and family of Walt would have sat! It was exciting! Add the fact that the engineer told us the history of the trains of Disneyland and we were ecstatic.

Here are some of the interesting things we learned.

Disneyland has five working steam engines.

A maximum of four trains can run at any one time because they only have four sets of cars.

The Tinder Car is 1/3 filled with fuel (bio diesel, partly made from the used cooking oil from the parks fryers) and 2/3 fill with water to create the steam that powers the engine.

There is a “Roundhouse” (really a square building) that can house all five trains and the Monorail trains at night or when not in use.

The first two engines of the Disneyland Railroad were built for Disneyland by WED the other three were old trains that were purchased and refurbished.

The oldest of the trains was made in 1896 and was refurbished by WED for use at Disneyland.

All five trains work the same way.

The newest of the trains was built in 1954/55 by WED.

The first four trains were named after executives of the Santa Fe Railroad, who sponsored the train the first few years and many were friends of Walt’s.

The fifth train was name after Disney Legend, Animator and train enthusiast Ward Kimball.

One of the trains is out of the park for a complete refurbishment. It has already been gone for two years and should be back by August when another of the trains will be taken out of service for refurbishment.

Disney has a full time staff to do daily maintenance and routine repair on the trains.

Many of the engineers are retired from other jobs and do this for the fun of driving the trains.

We learned a lot of other fun things such as how the controls work and how the engineers feel about their job. Feel free to watch the following video to hear the entire Tinder Ride Tour.

Disneyland's Response to my Letter On Recent Price Increase

Disneyland’s Response to My Letter On Recent Price Increase

If you go to this link you will be able to read my letter to Disneyland about the outrageous price increase.

http://pixiepranks-panstinkerbell.blogspot.com/2012/05/open-letter-to-disneyland.html

This is Disneyland response. I've removed my last name and the name of the person at DLR that responded.

Dear Ms. -----:

Thank you for your e-mail to the DISNEYLAND® Resort. We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.

Our decision to modify our pricing structure is always based on a review of the local marketplace. We believe that the prices at the DISNEYLAND® Resort realistically reflect the costs involved in presenting a quality "show" to our Guests. We also believe that the entertainment, food, merchandise, and attractions offered are the best available for the prices charged. Please be assured that our Guests' impressions are important to us and your comments will receive careful consideration during our ongoing pricing reviews.

Disneyland Resort Annual Passports offer a tremendous value for Guests to experience our world-class attractions all year long, and Annual Passholders recognize the value of these tickets that pay for themselves after just a few visits.

As you may know, in just the past few years alone, we have added new attractions like Little Mermaid, World of Color, Star Tours, and Mickey’s Soundsational Parade. Now, with the expansion of DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE® Park including 12-acre Cars Land, Buena Vista Street and the Carthay Circle Theatre just around the corner – as well as many new entertainment offerings, our Guests have even more reasons to visit us throughout the year.

Additionally, we will continue to look for ways to engage our Annual Passholders in unique ways with Passholder-exclusive amenities, entertainment and experiences. A new feature this summer just for passholders is the Early Entry program which will allow passholders to visit each park one time during the summer before the park opens to the general public.

And of course please keep in mind that Annual Passes are just one of the ways Guests can experience our parks. We have other promotional ticket offers and vacation packages in the market from time to time, like this year’s 2 days for $99 offer.

Again, thank you for contacting us. Comments such as yours are welcomed in that they assist us in evaluating our operation. We hope you will have the opportunity to visit the DISNEYLAND® Resort again soon and that our Cast Members, attractions and entertainment will help you create magical memories for you and your loved ones.

Sincerely,

-----------
DISNEYLAND® Resort
Guest Communications

Well, nice letter right? You think so? I don’t. First off I’m a Mrs. not a Ms. To me that is an insult when they specifically asked for my choice of Mr., Ms., Miss or Mrs. I specifically chose Mrs.

Second they did not address the fact that the WDW Premium Annual Pass and the Disneyland Premium Annual Pass are almost the same price. They did not even mention the fact that WDW has nine different places their Passholders can go while DLR has only two.

I’m sorry that shows me they did not realistically look at the value very well. Either they are grossly undercharging for WDW passes or they are obscenely overcharging for DLR. I feel they are overcharging for DLR.

They brag about all the added entertainment and extra hours. Wait a moment! Only DCA will add hours, 2-4 hours per day. DL has had the same summer hours for years. They will need both more entertainment and extra hours to keep the guests happy while they are stuck in lines. They will more than make up for the expense of the entertainment and cost of extra operations with MORE GUESTS in the parks SPENDING.

They talk about “Extra AP experiences” adding value to the AP but if you are an AP you notice that most events cost extra or are just a little added to an old standard event. Even if the event is “free” Disney makes sure to get extra money from the APs by selling special event merchandise and food.

On our last visit to the resort I think I got the real answer to the 30% annual price hike on the Premium Pass. An off duty cast member said that Disney wishes to lower the number of Annual Passholders.

The reason Disney wants to lower the number of Annual Passholders is concern that the resort cannot handle the number of guests that will come during the summer peak season. The Disneyland Resort has just the two parks and if both reach capacity and are full Disney will have unhappy guests. If Disney can reduce the number of Annual Passholders they feel they can avoid some of the overcrowding this summer when Cars Land and the new Buena Vista Street open. Wait!! Disney did not foresee the possibility of overcrowding until now?

I think Disney could have handled this better by choosing to stop selling new Annual Passes a couple of years ago and only renewing existing passes. Disneyland has become dependent on the income generated by the over one million Annual Passholders. Now they want to force them out of the parks. They want to make the AP pay for their bad planning. I think for now they should stop selling new APs and only renew. Yes, I feel a reasonable increase in price of 8-10% or so is warranted. Other than that I don’t have any idea for a quick fix.

I think the decision to force APs out is a bad choice. APs do more than just buy a pass and come into the park day after day for free. In truth most APs only use their pass once or twice a month at most. The average AP I know uses their pass 5-10 days a year. APs tell others about how good a value DLR is. APs bring friends and family into the parks and those people buy tickets. APs may come in for a few hours and then go home but in that short time they spend, often coming in for dinner or to shop.

By hitting the APs with such a high increase Disney is facing a backlash that will hit their bottom line. Many that have an AP will no longer be able to afford to renew, as Disney intended. Many can renew will but now will not be able to afford to spend as they did before, no more dinner in the park but just a walk instead, no more Disney shirts or other goodies. All will complain about the prices and tell friends and family making more than a few that may have considered coming not come at all. Disney Magic Moments lost and Pixie Dust tarnished.

If you are an AP, have considered purchasing an AP or even a diehard fan that wishes you could have a pass I suggest you write a letter. Let Disneyland know how you feel about the price increase!

I will be honest, I see only one solution to Disney’s concern about the park filling up. It is not cheap or easy but I think Disney needs to find a way to expand the park. Either bite the bullet and purchase some of the businesses around the park and build another park there or find land away from DLR and build another park. Either way would reduce the overcrowding at the park and give people an alternative if the park has to close due to being full.

It's Film Strip Friday! Home on the Range

It’s Film Strip Friday!

Home on the Range

Release Date April 4^th, 200

 

SYNOPSIS:

When a greedy outlaw schemes to take possession of the "Patch Of Heaven" dairy farm, three determined cows, a karate-kicking stallion named Buck, and a colorful corral of critters join forces to save their home. The stakes are sky high as this unlikely animal alliance risks their hides and match wits with a mysterious band of bad guys.      

FUN FACTS:

          Home on the Range is a 2004 american animated musical western feature film produced by Walt disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on April 2, 2004, and was named after the popular country song "Home on the Range". The 45th feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, it was the last traditionally animated Disney film until 2009's The Princess and the Frog, and the last Disney animated film to be released on VHS.

Set in the old west, the plot centers on a mismatched trio of dairy cows – brash, adventurous Maggie, prim, proper Mrs. Calloway and ditzy, happy-go-lucky Grace (voiced by Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly respectively) – who must capture an infamous cattle rustler, for his bounty, in order to save their idyllic farm from foreclosure. (As Grace puts it, "Who better to catch a cattle thief...than a cow?") Aiding them in their quest is Lucky Jack, a feisty, peg-legged rabbit, but a selfish horse named Buck (Cuba Gooding Jr.), eagerly working in the service of Rico, a famous bounty hunter, seeks the glory for himself.

Plot

Maggie is the only cow left on the Dixon Ranch after Alamida Slim (a cattle rustler capable of stealing 500 in a single night) stole all the rest of Dixon's cattle. Mr. Dixon sells Maggie to Pearl, a kind and elderly woman that runs a small farm called Patch of Heaven.

The local Sheriff arrives to tell Pearl that her bank is cracking down on debtors. Pearl has three days to pay the bank $750, or her farm will be sold to the highest bidder. Hearing this, Maggie convinces the other cows on the farm (Grace, a happy-go-lucky character, and Mrs. Calloway, who has had leadership gone to her head) to go to town to attempt winning prize money at a fair.

While the cows are in town, a bounty hunter named Rico (who Buck, the Sheriff's horse, idolizes) drops a criminal off and collects the reward. Stating he needs a replacement horse to go after Alamida Slim while his own horse rests, he takes Buck. When Maggie find out that the reward for capturing Slim is of exactly $750, she convinces the other cows to try to capture him to save Patch of Heaven.

That night, they hide among a large heard of steers, when Alamida Slim appears. Before any of them can do anything, Slim begins a yodeling song which sends all the cattle (except Grace, who is tone deaf) into a trance that causes them to dance madly and follow Slim anywhere. Grace is able to bring Maggie and Mrs. Calloway back to their senses just before Slim closes the path behind him with a rockslide to stop Rico and his men from chasing him.

As Rico discusses with his men what his next move will be, Buck starts talking with Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway as old friends and miming actions. This causes Rico to believe Buck is frightened by cows, and sends Buck back to the Sheriff. Buck escapes, determined to capture Slim for himself to prove his worth. Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway are left behind, but they meet a peg-legged rabbit named Lucky Jack, who leads them to the Slim's hideout mine.

At the mine, Slim reveals that he has been stealing all cattle from his former patrons. When his former patrons can't support their land anymore, he buys the land when it is auctioned off, under the guise of the respectable-looking Mr. O'delay, using the very money he gets from selling the cattle he stole.

After arriving to Slim's hideout, the cows capture Slim. They run off with Slim's accomplices and buyer in pursuit on a steam train. Rico arrives. When the chase stops, Rico is revealed to work for Slim.

Slim dons his O'delay costume and leaves the cows stranded in the middle of the desert with the train, while he goes to attend the auction. However, the cows arrive using the train to the farm and expose Slim. Slim is arrested by the police, and Patch of Heaven is saved by the reward money.

Cast

        Rosanne Barr as Maggie. Chris Buck served as the supervising animator for Maggie.

        Judi Dench as Mrs. Calloway. Duncan Marjoribanks served as the supervising animator for Mrs. Calloway.

        Jennifer Tilly as Grace. Mark Henn served as the supervising animator for Grace.

        Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Buck. Michael Surrey served as the supervising animator for Buck.

        Randy Quaid as Alameda Slim. Dale Baer served as the supervising animator for Slim.

        Charles Dennis as Rico. Russ Edmonds served as the supervising animator for Rico.

        Charles Haid as Lucky Jack. Shawn Keller served as the lead animator for Lucky Jack.

        Carole Cook as Pearl Gesner. Bruce W. Smith served as the supervising animator for Pearl.

        Joe Flaherty as Jeb the Goat. Sandro Cleuzo served as the supervising animator of Jeb.

        Steve Buscemi as Wesley. Mark Henn served as the supervising animator for Wesley.

        Richard Riehle as Sam the Sheriff. Sandro Cleuzo served as the supervising animator of the Sheriff.

        Lance LeGault as Junior the Buffalo. Dale Baer served as the supervising animator for Junior.

        G.W. Bailey as Rusty. Mark Henn served as the supervising animator for Rusty.

        Patrick Warburton as Patrick

        Estelle Harris as Audrey the Chicken

        Sam J. Levine as the Willie Brothers. Russ Edmonds served as the supervising animator for the Willies.

        Ann Richards as Annie

Production

Prior to the film's release, Disney stated that it would be their last film in their animated features canon to use traditional animation. Although Disney animated films have featured some computer-generated effects for many years, Disney announced plans to move entirely to CGI animation after Home on the Range, beginning with 2005's Chicken Little, and laid off most of its animation department. However, after the company's acquisition of Pixar in early 2006, new leaders John Lasseter and Ed Catmull decided to revive traditional animation, and announced the 2-D animated film, The Princess and the Frog. Still, Home on the Range is the final feature in the canon to use the CAPS system which was first fully used in The Rescuers Down Under. The film began pre-production after the release of Pocahontas in 1995. In August 2000, the film was announced as Sweating Bullets and scheduled for a fall 2003 release. The title was changed to Home on the Range in April 2002. This film was originally slated to have been released in November 2003, but story and production problems forced Disney to swap release dates with Brother Bear (originally slated for spring 2004) in December 2002. The studio also broke from its own tradition of releasing major films at either Thanksgiving or summer vacation (to maximize the family audience), releasing it on April 2.

Release

Box office

The film had a budget of about $110 million, making a U.S. box office gross of $50,026,353, and a worldwide gross of $76,482,461.

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes reported that 55% of critics gave positive reviews based on 118 reviews. According to Metacritic, the film's average rating was 50%, based on 30 reviews. Users gave the film a 4.2/10 approval rating based on 12 votes.

Soundtrack

Home on the Range: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack is the soundtrack to Disney’s 2004 animated feature Home on the Range. It contains music written by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, and vocal songs performed by k.d. lang, Randy Quaid, Bonnie Raitt, Tim McGraw, and The Beu Sisters along with the film's score composed by Alan Menken. The album was released on March 30, 2004 by Walt Disney Records.

        (You Ain't) Home On The Range - Chorus

        Little Patch of Heaven –k.d. lang

        Yodel-Adle-Eedle-Idle-Oo – Randy Quaid and Chorus

        Will The Sun Ever Shine Again – Bonnie Raitt

        (You Ain't) Home On The Range - Echo Mine Reprise - Chorus

        Wherever The Trail May Lead – Tim McGraw

        Anytime You Need A Friend – The Beu Sisters

        Cows In Town/Saloon Song (Score)

        On The Farm (Score)

        Bad News (Score)

        Storm And The Aftermath (Score)

        Cows To The Rescue (Score)

        Buck (Score)

        My Farm Is Saved/Little Patch of Heaven(Reprise) (Score)

        Anytime You Need a Friend – Alan Menken

A Dairy Tale

A Dairy Tale is a 3-minute spinoff released in 2004. Mrs. Calloway tries to tell the story of the Three Little Pigs but is interrupted by Maggie, Grace, Buck, Jeb, Ollie and Audery, who tell the story in their own ways. The characters are featured in super deformed and 'storybook' style.

http://disney.go.com/disneyinsider/history/movies

http://en.wikipedia.org

Changes at Disney California Adventure

Changes at Disney California Adventure

Excitement builds for all the changes at DCA. For the past couple of years there have been many changes at DCA Rides have been closed and rethemed. Some rides have been taken out altogether. The entire feel of the park is changing.

Before the changes DCA was a mix of themed areas. There was Condor Flats with its aerospace inspired feel. Hollywood Backlot with its salute to all things Hollywood past and present. Bugs land was/is the Fantasyland of DCA. Bountiful Valley had a fantastic farm feel that allowed kids to explore and learn about agroculture.

Now DCA is pulling the entire park together in one overall theme. DCA is taking a step backward in time and from its entrance area of Buena Vista Street to the back of the parks Paradise Pier the feel is retro 1920-40s.

At the entrance you will find the Storytellers Statue of a young Walt and Mickey. The statue shows the enthusiasm and excitement Walt felt when he first arrived in Hollywood, Ca in 1928. Hollywood Land will have the Red Car Trolley as did Hollywood of the 40s. Many of the rides in the rest of the park harken back to the pier rides of the 1920-40s. Even the Screamer’ has the look and feeling of an old time wooden coaster. Carsland is all about the old rout 66 and will have the feel of years past.

Even the bands that play at the Paradise Gardens Band Stand are old school. There is the Ellis Island Boys with their classic Jazz. Sligo Rags has an Irish/Celtic selection that once again plays back to the 30-40s. Even the Swing Dancers that use to dance Friday and Saturday nights at the now closed Carnation Gardens come over to DCA to dance as do some Irish Folk dancers.

I can hardly wait until the transformation is finally completed in June. I am excited to see the entire park transformed and Carsland opened.

Ever Disney Hero Has a Voice ~ Alice and Wendy Share a Voice

Every Disney Hero Has a Voice

Alice and Wendy Moira Angela Darling

Share a Voice

Kathryn Beaumont

Born June 27^th, 1938

 

When Walt Disney started production on the animated classic "Alice in Wonderland," in 1949, he sought the perfect voice to play the literary ingénue. A voice, recalled Kathryn Beaumont, that "would be English enough to satisfy British audiences, but not so English that it would put off American audiences." After hearing ten-year-old Kathryn's audition, Walt chose her for the voice of Alice and later, Wendy Darling in "Peter Pan."

Born in London, England, Kathryn came to the U.S. under contract to MGM and appeared in several films, including "On an Island with You" starring Esther Williams. She soon landed at The Walt Disney Studios, where she not only recorded the voice of Alice, but portrayed her on film. Animators regularly referred to her filmed performances as they brought her character to life.

She later said, "When I look at the film now, I can recognize some of the movements. It's a little like seeing myself 30 years ago. I can see some of the mannerisms I used, which the animators captured to give the characters a naturalness of movement."

In 1951, Kathryn went on a promotional tour for "Alice in Wonderland," which included a trip aboard the Queen Mary to her native England. Within two weeks of her return, she was cast as Wendy in "Peter Pan" for which she again served as both speaking voice and physical model of the animated character. She also served as a model for Tinker Bell.

Kathryn once recalled being hoisted up by a wire into the air, on one of the Studio sound stages, and swinging back and forth so animators could study her movement for the "flying" sequences.

She said, "I had a slight fear of heights. Most kids would think, "Oh, what fun!" I, however, was petrified!"

In 1950, Kathryn also appeared with Walt in his first one-hour television special, "One Hour in Wonderland," and returned the next year, as Wendy in "The Walt Disney Christmas Show."

After the 1953 release of "Peter Pan," Kathryn graduated from high school and enrolled at the University of Southern California, where she earned a degree in education. She taught elementary school in Los Angeles for the next 36 years, retiring in 1997.

Over the years, she has occasionally lent her voice to Disney theme park attractions, including the "Alice in Wonderland" attraction in 1984. In 1992, she returned as the voice of Wendy, calling out to Peter Pan during the pirate sequence of "Fantasmic!" Six years later, she helped promote the release of "Peter Pan" on video and made a guest appearance at the Disneyana Convention in Walt Disney World.

Kathryn Beaumont (born 27 June 1938) is an English actress, singer, school teacher who was born in London. She is best known for playing the voice of both Alice, in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and Wendy in Disney’s Peter Pan. Walt Disney personally cast Beaumont after seeing the film On an Island with You, in which child actress Beaumont had a small role. Beaument has also reprised her voice acting role as Alice in two episodes of the animated series, Disney’s House of Mouse.

Roles

• It Happened One Sunday (1944) - Jill Buckland
• On an Island with You (1948) - Penelope Peabody
• The Secret Garden (1949) - Muriel
• Challenge to Lassie (1949) - Tenement Child
• One Hour in Wonderland (1950) - Herself/Alice
• Operation Wonderland (1951) - Herself/Alice
• What’s My Line (1951) - Herself as a celebrity challenger (episode 2)
• The Fred Warning Show (1951) - Alice
• Alice in Wonderland (1951) - Alice
• From All of Us to All of You (1951) - Alice
• Peter Pan (1953) – Wendy Moira Angela Darling
• TV Reader’s Digest (1955) - Priscilla Mullins (The Voyage of Captain Tom Jones, the Pirate)
• The Raggy Dolls (1986) - Princess
• Disney’s Villains’ Revenge (1999) (video game) - Alice
• Kingdom Hearts (2002) (video game) - Alice, Wendy Darling
• Disney’s House of Mouse (2002) - Alice (in two episodes)
• 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure (2003) - Additional voices
• BBC Breakfast (2007) - Herself
• Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010) (video game) - Kairi's Grandma

http://disney.go.com/disneyinsider/history/legends

http://en.wikipedia.org