Blue Sky Cellar ~ Carsland

Blue Sky Cellar ~ Carsland

On a recent visit to Disney California Adventure I stopped into the Blue Sky Cellar to check out what was new.

Standing outside on the deck in front of the Blue Sky Cellar I noticed I could see over the fence (not to well but still I could see) into Carsland. I was able to see some of the buildings. I could see Flo’s Diner and the Court House. The entire area, even unfinished looked like it was right out of the movie.

Once inside the Blue Sky Cellar I found a treasure trove of special items. There is a scale model of Carsland. There were models of the ride vehicles and drawings of what they will look like painted. On the wall there were artists drawings of what the area and signage will look like.

There is a video that plays in a continues loop in the Blue Sky Cellar. It is a video showing the development of Carsland and the stories of the Imagineers that designed it. There are fantastic insights into the men behind the Disney Magic and the process of how they do the Magic.

Here is the video if you wish to watch it.

Another amazing thing I saw there was a scale model of a young Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. This statue, named the Storytellers will be placed on Buena Vista Street. This statue is a bookend to the Partners Statue in the Hub of Disneyland. Storytellers show the optimism Walt had when he reached Hollywood in 1928. It shows him looking toward the future and the wonderful things he would do.

After going to Blue Sky we decided to ride Mickey’s Fun Wheel to sneak a better peak over the wall into Carsland. We could see some of the Radiator Springs Racers racing around the track, with no one in them.

Here are some of the pictures we took from the Fun Wheel.

It's Film Strip Friday! Tarzan

It’s Film Strip Friday!

Tarzan

Release Date June 18^th, 1999

                                                                                       

SYNOPSIS:

          He may be the Lord of the Apes, but Tarzan finds that other human beings are a little tricky to understand. Raised in the jungle by gorillas, he meets spunky explorers Jane Porter and her absent-minded father. Tarzan begins to wonder where he truly belongs -- among his jungle friends like Terk the young gorilla and Tantor the elephant, or in a new, human world that he has only begun to discover? The Porters' guide, Clayton, has more than peaceful exploration in mind -- and Tarzan will have to protect his ape family even as he tries to figure out who he will become.

FUN FACTS:

Tarzan is a 1999 American animated musical adventure film produced by Walt disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 18, 1999. The 37th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, it is based on the story Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and is the only major motion picture version of the story Tarzan property to be animated.

It was the last bona fide hit before the Disney slump of the early 2000s grossing $171,091,819 domestically and $448,191,819 worldwide, out grossing its predecessors Hercules (1997) and Mulan (1998). At the time of its release, its production budget of $130 million made it the most expensive animated film ever made, until topped by Disney's own $140 million Treasure Planet in 2002. It was also the first Disney animated feature to open at #1 since Pocahontas. This was the last major box office success of the Disney Renaissance.

Plot

In the 19th Century, an English couple and their infant son escape a burning ship, ending up on land near uncharted rainforests off the coast of Africa. The couple craft themselves a treehouse from their ship's wreckage, but are subsequently killed by Sabor, a rogue leopardess. Kala, a female gorilla who recently lost her own child to Sabor, hears the cries of the orphaned infant, and finds him in the ruined treehouse. Though she is attacked by Sabor, Kala and the baby manage to escape. Kala takes the baby back to the gorilla troop to raise as her own, despite her mate Kerchak's disapproval. Kala raises the human child, naming him Tarzan. Though he befriends other gorillas in the troop and other animals, including the young female gorilla Terk and the paranoid male elephant Tantor, Tarzan finds himself unable to keep up with them, and takes great efforts to improve himself. As a young man, Tarzan is able to kill Sabor with his crude spear and protect the troop, earning Kerchak's reluctant respect.

The gorilla troop's peaceful life is interrupted by the arrival of a team of human explorers from England, consisting of Professor Porter, his daughter Jane, and their hunter-guide Clayton. Jane is accidentally separated from the group and chased by a pack of baboons. Tarzan saves her from the baboons, and recognizes that she is the same as he is, a human. Jane leads Tarzan back to the explorers' camp, where both Porter and Clayton take great interest in him — the former in terms of scientific progress while the latter hoping to have Tarzan lead him to the gorillas so that he can capture them and return with them to England. Despite Kerchak's warnings to be wary of the humans, Tarzan continues to return to the camp and be taught by Porter, Clayton, and Jane to speak English and learn of the human world, and he and Jane begin to fall in love. However, they are having a hard time convincing Tarzan to lead him to the gorillas, due to Tarzan's fear for their safety from the threat of Kerchak.

When the explorers' boat returns to pick them up, Clayton makes Tarzan believe that if he shows the group the gorillas, then Jane will stay with him forever. Tarzan agrees and leads the party to the gorilla pack's home, while Terk and Tantor lure Kerchak away to avoid having him attack the humans. Porter and Jane are excited to mingle with the gorillas, but Kerchak returns and threatens to kill them. Tarzan is forced to hold Kerchak at bay while the humans escape, and then leaves the troop himself, now alienated by his actions. Kala takes Tarzan to the treehouse she found him in, and shows him his true past, encouraging him to leave with Jane and the others. When they return to the gorilla home, they find Clayton and his men capturing the gorillas, and are captured themselves and taken to the waiting ship. Tarzan manages to escape with the help of his friends, and races back to the gorilla home. Kerchak and Tarzan together battle Clayton; Kerchak is fatally shot while Tarzan chases Clayton into vine-covered trees. After a fierce battle with Tarzan, Clayton is hung when a vine is caught around his neck, killing him. Kerchak, in his dying breath, accepts Tarzan as his own and names him the leader of the gorilla pack. The rest of the gorillas are freed after scaring away the rest of Clayton's men.

The next day, as Porter and Jane prepare to leave on the ship, Tarzan reveals that he now plans to stay with the gorilla troop. As the ship leaves shore, Porter encourages his daughter to stay with the man she loves, and Jane jumps overboard to return to shore; Porter shortly follows her. The Porters reunite with Tarzan and his family and prepare for a new life together.

Cast

• Tony Goldwyn (Alex D. Linz, young) as Tarzan, a man raised by guerillas who finds out he is truly a human. Glen Keane served as the supervising animator for Tarzan as an adult, while John Ripa animated Tarzan as an infant and child.
• Minnie Driver as Jane Porter, daughter of Professor Porter and a part of an English explorer group. She's the first of the group to meet Tarzan and they fall in love. Ken Duncan served as the supervising animator for Jane.
• Glenn Close as Kala, Tarzan's adopted mother who found and raised him after losing her last biological son to Sabor. She is Kerchak's mate. Russ Edmonds served as the supervising animator for Kala.
• Lance Henriksen as Kerchak, Kala's mate and the leader of the gorilla troop. He doesn't look too kindly on Tarzan since he is human, but before he dies, he accepts him as his son and leaves him to lead the troop. Bruce W. Smith served as the supervising animator for Kerchak.
• Brian Blessed as Clayton. Clayton is an intelligent, suave, yet impatient hunter who guides the Porters on their quest, armed with a gun and a machete. He initially appears as a good character with a slight temper problem. He soon transitions into the antagonist after realizing how much of an asset Tarzan can be in terms of the gorillas. He betrays the group and intends on killing off the gorillas for money. During the climax he meets his end when he accidentally hangs himself with a vine while attempting to kill Tarzan. Randy Haycock served as the supervising animator for Clayton.
• Nigel Hawthorne as Professor Archimedes Q. Porter, Jane's short-sized father and an eccentric biologist. Dave Burgess served as the supervising animator for Porter.
• Rosie O’Donnell as Terk, Tarzan's best friend, a smart-alec tomboy gorilla. She is also Kala's niece, making her and Tarzan adopted cousins. Michael Surrey served as the supervising animator for Terk.
• Wayne Knight as Tantor, a paranoid elephant and best friend of Tarzan and Terk. He has Terk step all over him most of the time, but when Tarzan is in danger he steps up and tells her off. Sergio Pablos served as the supervising animator for Tantor.

Additional voices include Joseph Ashton, Jack Angel Robert Bergen, Roger Bumpass Jim Cummings Debi Derryberry, Patti Deutsch, Blake Ewing, Jason Marsden, Phil Proctor, and Erik von Detten.

Production

To create the sweeping 3D backgrounds, Tarzan's production team developed a 3D painting and rendering technique known as Deep Canvas (a term coined by artist/engineer Eric Daniels). This technique allows artists to produce CGI background that looks like a traditional painting, according to art director Daniel St. Pierre. (The software keeps track of brushstrokes applied in 3D space.) For this advancement, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded the creators of Deep Canvas a Technical Achievement Award in 2003.

After Tarzan, Deep Canvas was used for a number of sequences in Atlantis: The Lost Empire, particularly large panoramic shots of the island and several action sequences. Expanded to support moving objects as part of the background, Deep Canvas was utilized to create about 75% of the environments in Disney's next major animated action film, Treasure Planet, though the results were less stunning, due to the film's tighter painting style which could have been accomplished without such advanced software. Deep Canvas was designed to accomplish a very loose, brushstroke-based style without hard edges, but Treasure Planet's backgrounds were more hard-edged and clean.

Merchandising

Various action figures and plush toys were produced, including a talking Terk and Tantor produced by Gund.

Music

Main article: Tarzan (1999 film soundtrack)

The songs for the film were written and performed by singer Phil Collins.

• "Two Worlds"
• "You’ll Be in My Heart" (featuring Glenn Close)
• "Son of Man"
• "Trashin' the Camp" (featuring Rosie O'Donnell)
• "Strangers Like Me"

"Trashin' the Camp" and "You'll Be in My Heart" are the only songs in the feature to be sung by the characters; all the other songs are background music.

Ty Burr of Entertainment Weekly gave the soundtrack a B-, stating that it was awkwardly split between Collins's songs and the traditional score, was burdened by too many alternate versions of the tracks, and in some instances bore similarities to The Lion King and Star Wars.

Release

The standard VHS and DVD release of Tarzan was on February 1, 2000. Disney also released a 2-Disc Collector's Edition on April 18, 2000 with behind-the-scenes, music videos, games, and more. Those 2 editions were eventually put in the Disney Vault. On October 15, 2005, Disney released a single-disc special edition.

Reception

Reviews for the film were very positive. It currently holds a score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. Entertainment Weekly compared the film's advancement in visual effects to that of The Matrix (stating that the backgrounds are "themselves animated – yet still look as if they were painted with feathery brushstrokes"), and that the film far surpasses previous live-action attempts, in some cases on an emotional level.

Awards

Tarzan won the following awards:

• 2000 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for the song "You’ll Be in My Heart" by Phil Collins.
• 2000 Academy Award for Best Song for the song "You'll Be In My Heart" by Phil Collins.
• 2000 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

Annie Awards

Tarzan was also nominated for 11 Annie Awards, winning one.

Result	Award	Winner/Nominee Recipient(s)
Nominated	Animated Theatrical Feature
Nominated	Individual Achievement in Directing	Kevin Lima (Director) Chris Buck (Director)
Nominated	Individual Achievement in Writing	Tab Murphy (Writer) Bob Tzudiker (Writer) & Noni White (Writer)
Nominated	Individual Achievement in Storyboarding	Brian Pimentel (Story Supervisor)
Nominated	Individual Achievement in Production Design	Daniel St. Pierre (Art Director)
Nominated	Individual Achievement in Character Animation	Ken Duncan (Supervising Animator - Jane)
Nominated	Individual Achievement in Character Animation	Glen Keane (Supervising Animator - Tarzan)
Nominated	Individual Achievement in Effects Animation	Peter DeMund (Effects Supervisor)
Nominated	Individual Achievement in Voice Acting	Minnie Driver ("Jane")
Nominated	Individual Achievement in Music	Phil Collins (Songs)
Won	Technical Achievement in the Field of Animation	Erick Daniels (Computer Graphics Supervisor) (For the development of the Deep Canvas device in the film)

American Film Institute Lists

• AFI’s 100 Years…100 songs:
• You'll Be in My Heart - Nominated
• AFI’s 10 Top 10 - Nominated Animated Film

Legacy

Television spin-off

A spin-off television animated series named The Legend of Tarzan ran from 2001 to 2003. The series picks up where the film left off, with Tarzan adjusting to his new role as leader of the apes following Kerchak's death, and Jane (whom he has since married) adjusting to life in the jungle.

Broadway musical

A Broadway musical, also titled Tarzan, produced by Disney Theatrical began previews on March 24, 2006 which had an official opening night on May 10 of the same year. After running for over a year on Broadway, the show closed on July 8, 2007.

Video games

There are some video games loosely based on the film:

Disney's Tarzan (also known as Tarzan Action Game) is an action, platformer developed by Eurocom and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation console in 1999. Konami published the game for its Japanese release. It was also released on the PC, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy Color. The player takes control of the eponymous Tarzan who ultimately has to save his home, the jungle, from Clayton, a hunter for gorillas. Tarzan starts up as a child learning the skills of the apes. The game has 3 difficulties: easy, medium and hard. In the easy and medium difficulties, little Tarzan gets tips from his friend Turk. Tarzan's enemies are monkeys, baboons, eagles, and different animals, including some humans and Clayton.

Disney's Tarzan: Untamed

Review scores Publication Score GC PS2 GameSpot 6.2 out of 10 5.9 out of 10 IGN 6.3 out of 10 6.2 out of 10 Aggregate scores GameRankings 61.7% (13 reviews) 63.8% (12 reviews)

Disney's Tarzan: Untamed (known as Disney's Tarzan: FreeRide in Europe) is a 2001 action-adventure video game released by Ubisoft Montreal for the PlayStation 2 and was a launch title for the GameCube. Picking up quite a while after the defeat of Clayton, Jane and Professor Porter now speak Gorilla-language fluently and Jane is married to Tarzan. However, their lives are threatened once again by a brutal band of British explorers led by the unscrupulous Oswald Gardner, who becomes fascinated with Tarzan and strives to capture the ape-man and take him back to England as a media attraction.

Tarzan's home, "Deep Jungle", is a playable world in the Disney/Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts released for PlayStation 2 in 2002. It does not appear in any subsequent games in the series, due to Square Enix's failure to acquire the required rights from the family of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Tarzan, Jane, Tantor, and Terk, in their young forms, appear as playable characters in Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure, developed by Toys for Bob and released for PlayStation 2, Gamecube, Xbox and Game Boy Advance in 2003.

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

http://en.wikipedia.org

The Imagineering Workout ~ Update 8 Creativity is Learning!

The Imagineering Workout ~ Update 8

Creativity is Learning!

“If you feel awkward, uncomfortable and a bit foolish, you might be

on the edge of a creative breakthrough or learning something new.”

Ginnie Gallo

Assistant Librarian,

Information Research Center,

Creative Development

After reading this page in the book I started to think about when I’m learning something new. At first I’m frustrated and want to give up. I start to think I’ll never get “it”.

Being creative is being a lifelong learner/student. You need to commit to learning to create. You will always have something new to learn if you wish to continue to develop new talents or even expand old ones.

It does not matter if it is a new computer program, filing system or management structure to work with. You will have plenty to learn.

I have found I love the Klutz books. I remember reading “Juggling for the Complete Klutz” and laughing as I tried to learn. What got me the most were steps 1-3.

Step 1 in learning to Juggle.

Take two juggling balls and toss them on the floor.

Step 2

Pick juggling balls up off of floor.

Step 3

Repeat steps 1 and 2 100 times or until it no longer bothers you to pick the juggling balls up off of the floor. By then you will be used to dropping the balls.

This is freeing!! It is giving you the permission to . . . FAIL until you learn. It reminds you that to become good at anything you first have to try and yes fail!!

Here is the exercise from the book to find out if you are a ready to sustain your learner status.

To find your learner status, write your full name on a piece of paper with our normal writing hand, and then write your full name with your other hand (your nondominate hand). Pay attention to how easily you can write the first signature and what effort it took to produce the second one. When writing with your other hand, ask yourself; what does it feel like (frustrating, silly, fun)? How long does it take? Does it require concentration? How is this like learning or creating?

This can also help you to remember how it feels to learn and to see things from a different point of view.

If you wish to follow along and read the book for yourself here is the information:

The Imagineering Workout

By The Disney Imagineers

ISBN 078685554-1

It is available at Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Imagineering-Workout-Disney-

Every Princess (and Prince?) Has a Royal Villain, Jasmine & Aladdin's Villain Jonathan Freeman

Every Princess Has a Royal Villain

Jasmine & Aladdin’s Villain

Jonathan Freeman

February 5^th, 1950

 

Jonathan Freeman (born February 5, 1950) is an American actor known for voicing the villainous Jafar in Disney’s Aladdin and its sequel The Return of Jafar, as well as the Kingdom Hearts series and was the puppeteer for Tito Swing of the Jukebox Band (Flexitoon Puppets) on the PBS series Shining Time Station.

In 1994, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for his role in She Loves Me. Additionally, he appeared in the Broadway revival productions of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Producers, On the Town, and 42^nd Street, during which his caricature was drawn for Sardi’s restaurant in 2002.

Freeman can be heard on the 1997 Varese Sarabande studio recording of the flop 1965 musical Drat! The Cat!

He was also seen on stage as Cogsworth in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and originated the role of Grimsby in Disney's newest Broadway production, The Little mermaid.

Freeman began his run starring as Admiral Boom and the Bank Chairman in the Broadway production of Mary Poppins on December 12, 2009.

Freeman brought his role of Jafar to life on stage in the new musical adaptation of Aladdin, which played at the 5^th Avenue Theatre from July 7–31, 2011.

Film credits

• The Hoax as Thick Voice (Miramax Films)
• The Ice Storm as Ted Franklin (20th Century)
• The Associate as Hockey Game Executive (Interscope)
• The Return of Jafar as Jafar (Disney)
• Aladdin as Jafar (Disney)
• A Shock To The System as Decorator (Corsair Pictures)
• Homeboy as Hotel Room Man (Redruby)
• Forever Lulu as Don (Tri-Star)

Television credits

• Law and Order as Wallace Thayler (NBC)
• Gossip Girl as James The Butler (CW)
• Law and order: Criminal Intent as Carlton Krebs (NBC)
• American Dragon: Jake Long as Eli Pandarus (Disney)
• Lilo & Stitch: The Series as Vox (Disney)
• Teamo Supremo as Somnambulist (Disney)
• House of Mouse as Jafar (Aladdin)
• Sesame English as Various (PBS/CTW)
• All My Children as Hotel Manager (ABC)
• Hercules as Jafar (Aladdin)
• Masters of Murder as Narrator (Showtime)
• Remember Wenn as Rollie Pruitt (AMC)
• Groin’ Up as Mr. Lift (PBS)
• A Day In The Life as Tito Swing (Atlantic Recording)
• Shining Time Station as Tito Swing (PBS)
• Square One “Mathnet” as Featured Performer (PBS/CTW)
• K.I.D.S. TV News as D.J. McCaw (Showtime)
• The Days And Nights Of Molly Dodd as Featured Performer (Lifetime)
• Hello New Place as Martian (PBS/CTW)
• The Dipsy Doodle Show as Featured Performer (Metromedia)
• The Gravediggers Squad as Mr. Pickles (Headstone)

Broadway credits

• Mary Poppins as Admiral Boom and the Bank Chairman (Replacement)
• The Little Mermaid as Grimsby (Original Broadway Cast)
• Beauty and the Beast as Cogsworth (Replacement)
• The Producers as Roger De Bris (Replacement)
• 42^nd Street as Bert Barry
• On the Town as Pitkin W. Bridgework
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as Mr. Bratt
• She Loves Me as Headwaiter
• Platinum as Minky
• Sherlock Holmes as Lightfoot McTague (Replacement - RSC Transfer)

Off Broadway credits

• Of Thee I Sing as Senator Lyons (City Center Encores)
• Finian’s Rainbow as Finian (Irish Repertory)
• A Class Act as Lehman (Manhattan Theatre Club)
• An Empty Plate In The Café Du Grand Boeuf as Claude (Primary Stages)
• Sail Away as Joe (Carnegie Hall)
• Wall To Wall as Frank Loesser (Symphony Space)
• Li’l Abner as Dr. Rasmussen (City Center Encores)
• On The Town as Pitkin W. Bridgework (Public Theater/Delacourte)
• In A Pig’s Valise as Zoot/Gut (Second Stage)
• ClapTrap as Harvey (Manhattan Theater Club)
• Bertrano as Louie/Momo (Primary Stages)
• Confessions Of Billie as Conrad Gerhardt (Performing Garage)
• Thirteen Days To Broadway as Cy (890 Studios)
• Babes In Arm as Steve (Playwrights' Horizon)
• Pinocchio as Fire Eater (Marionette Theater)
• The Miser as Cleante (Greenwich Mews)
• Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme as Dancing Master

Regional/Stock credits

• Restoration Comedy as Sir Novelty (Seattle Repertory Theater)
• A Christmas Carol as Scrooge (Bay Street Theater)
• You Can’t Take it with You as Boris Kolenkov (Bay Street Theater)
• An Empty Plate In The Café Du Grand Boeuf as Claude (Berkshire Theater Festival)
• Peter Pan as Hook/Mr. Darling (Austin Musical Theater)
• How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as Bert Bratt (La Jolla Playhouse)
• Fortinbras (play) as Claudius (La Jolla Playhouse)
• Babes In Toyland as Gonzorgo (Houston Grand Opera)
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as Marcus Lycus (La Jolla Playhouse/Orange County Performing Arts Center)
• The Flowering Peach as Shem (Coconut Grove Playhouse)
• Emigration of Adam as Issac Kurtzik (Williamstown Theater Festival)
• Gay Divorce as Teddy (Goodspeed Opera House)
• The Student Prince as Hubert (Milwaukee Melody Top)
• Can-Can (musical) as Boris
• Arsenic and Old Lace (play) as Jonathan (Meadowbrook Theater)
• The Desert song as Benny (Coachlight Theater)
• George Washington Slept here (play) as Steve (Berkshire Theater Festival)
• How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying as Bud Frump (Coachlight Theater)

http://en.wikipedia.org