Saturday, January 18, 2014

Rare Disneyland Paris Pictures, Circa 1992


I found something great for you, folks, as it is rare Disneyland Paris pictures shot 21 years ago, when the park opened in 1992, and some even before when the park was still in the works. And they're coming from good photographers as they were shot by Magnum photo agency team. Let's start by these pics probably shot in 1991 showing Frontierland and Adventureland still in construction.






Next, is a fantastic opening day shot showing the awesome marching band in Main Street U.S.A!


A picture of Frontierland which might have been shot shortly after opening day.


Who remember the first - and great - Disneyland Paris parade with the dragon breathing fire?




Ah, the good old days when you could sunbathe at Discoveryland!


Another pic of Discoveryland, shot at sunset. 

Disneyland Paris hotels were also shot by Magnum photographers, like the New York hotel. Note in the foreground the Manhattan map in front of the hotel, where is now a ice-skating rink.

A great view of the park at night in its early days.  Note the airship in the sky with the Renault logo on it, which was there during opening days as Renault was the sponsor of the Discoveryland Visionarium attraction.


A night picture of Discoveryland. The Renault airship is still in the sky!


Some pictures of the now - very unfortunately - extinct Main Street Electrical Parade!



You probably remember the good old days when the Disney Village still had its steel columns and "star sky" as envisioned by architect and Pritzker Prize winner Frank Gehry.


A last great picture showing the Disneyland Hotel at opening days at night.


Pictures: copyright Magnum

Talking about Disneyland Paris i remind you the promo on my Disneyland Paris book valid all during January and you still can order the book and enjoy a free shipping! The book price whether it's in its ENGLISH or FRENCH edition is 75 euros including free shipping worldwide which help to save $20, so order your own copy now at the best price on the market to don't miss the great Disneyland Paris "From Sketch to Reality" book which will tell you all about the creation of Disneyland Paris with 320 pages including 500 pictures of the park and 250 WDI renderings!

You can order the book by sending me an email at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com or send directly your Paypal payment of the 75 euros either by the Paypal button below or directly from your Paypal account at the same email address.


Disneyland Paris From Sketch to Reality - Include shipping





Was Walt Disney Really Sexist ?


You may have heard that recently in a welcome speech to Emma Thompson Meryl Streep  said that Walt Disney was anti-semite, racist and sexist ( nothing less! ). Then it went on front pages, the Disney fan community was outraged, etc... I won't give my opinion on this as i never knew Walt personally, but if you ask me i would say that i think he was not, or at least not really. But the era was different, so things which are unthinkable now were a bit different back 70 years ago, specially about the status of women. Anyway, i have a good news as, as you can see above, i found a picture which finally prove that Walt was NOT sexist! 
...
oh, okay, i'm in a provocative mood this morning! Just kidding, folks, just kidding!


Maleficent Trailer 2 Now Released !


Disney released a second trailer for "Maleficent", and it looks more great than ever! They do a clear link with Sleeping Beauty animated movie, as you'll see in the first shots and i can't wait to see it!


Above, one more screen capture of Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, and below the new trailer itself!




Pictures and video: copyright Disney

Thursday, January 16, 2014

1955 Disneyland Fantasyland Original Design, and more


I've got some great WED Enterprises artworks to share with you today! And we will start by this rare and awesome bird eye view artwork above showing Fantasyland as it was envisioned before Disneyland opening in 1955! If you've read my two articles posted two weeks ago showing a January 1955 McCall's magazine article then you probably remember some of the concepts included in the artwork above.

So, in this artwork done by artist Bruce Bushman you can see that after entering Fantasyland through Sleeping Beauty castle Disneyland guests would have found the Carousel, with on its left the Snow White and Alice in Wonderland rides and on the right the Peter Pan's Flight and Mr Toad rides. Behind the Carousel was located the Donald boats ride as well as the Dutch Mill ride, with behind them, the Monstro flume ride. On the left and right of this Monstro were originally located the Mad Hatter Tea Cups and Dumbo The Flying Elephant rides. And, on the top left and top right you can see the Casey Jr track as well as Story Book Land which apparently were envisioned to be separated until someone probably thought that it would be better to have them both together, as they are now, to avoid a waste of land. Please read the two previous articles HERE and HERE to have more infos about some of these rides.

In addition to this great artwork i also have for you others bird eye views or artworks plans on specific attractions - click on each to see them in big size.  And we start by the one for Peter Pan's Flight.


Next is the one showing the tracks and scenes of the Snow White attraction...


...as well as the one for the Alice in Wonderland ride...




...and a rare artwork showing what was a first version of a Pirates of Caribbean attraction at a time it was envisioned as a walk-through with guests walking through a pirate town...




We will end with this great plan showing the different scenes of the 20000 Leagues Exhibit at DL Tomorrowland as guests could see it in the early years of Disneyland.




Pictures: copyright Disney

86th Academy Awards : Seven Nominations for Disney



The 86th Academy Awards nominations have been announced and Disney got seven nominations this year in these categories:

Animated Feature: FROZEN
Original Song: “Let It Go” from FROZEN music and lyrics by Kristin Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez)
Short Film – Animated: GET A HORSE!
Original Score: SAVING MR. BANKS (Thomas Newman)
Visual Effects: IRON MAN 3
Visual Effects: THE LONE RANGER
Makeup and Hairstyling: THE LONE RANGER

And, considering that Disney distribute the film outside Japan you can also include Hayao Miyazaki's THE WIND RISES nominated in "Best Animated Feature".

Here is the list of all nominations for each category. Gravity and American Hustle are the ones which got the most:

PICTURE:
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

DIRECTOR:
David O. Russell - American Hustle
Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity
Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne - Nebraska
Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street

ACTOR:
Christian Bale - American Hustle
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street

ACTRESS:
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Judi Dench - Philomena
Amy Adams - American Hustle
Meryl Streep - August: Osage County

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
Jonah Hill - The Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
June Squibb - Nebraska

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
American Hustle - Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell
Blue Jasmine - Woody Allen
Dallas Buyers Club - Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack
Her - Spike Jonze
Nebraska - Bob Nelson

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Before Midnight - Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
Captain Phillips - Billy Ray
Philomena - Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope
12 Years a Slave - John Ridley
The Wolf of Wall Street - Terence Winter

ANIMATED FEATURE:
The Croods
Frozen
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
The Wind Rises

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium)
The Great Beauty (Italy)
The Hunt (Denmark)
The Missing Picture (Cambodia)
Omar (Palestine)

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The Grandmaster - Philippe Le Sourd
Gravity - Emmanuel Lubezki
Inside Llewyn Davis - Bruno Delbonnel
Nebraska - Phedon Papamichael
Prisoners - Roger Deakins

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
The Act of Killing
Cutie and the Boxer
Dirty Wars
The Square
20 Feet from Stardom

DOCUMENTARY SHORT:
CaveDigger
Facing Fear
Karama Has No Walls
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall

ANIMATED SHORT:
Feral
Get a Horse!
Mr. Hublot
Possessions
Room on the Broom

LIVE-ACTION SHORT:
Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me)
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)
Helium
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)
The Voorman Problem

VISUAL EFFECTS:
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
The Lone Ranger
Star Trek Into Darkness

PRODUCTION DESIGN:
American Hustle
Gravity
The Great Gatsby
Her
12 Years a Slave

COSTUME DESIGN:
American Hustle
The Grandmaster
The Great Gatsby
The Invisible Woman
12 Years a Slave

MAKE-UP & HAIR:
Dallas Buyers Club
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
The Lone Ranger

FILM EDITING:
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
12 Years a Slave

SOUND MIXING:
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor

SOUND EDITING:
All Is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lone Survivor

ORIGINAL SCORE:
The Book Thief - John Williams
Gravity - Steven Price
Her - William Butler and Owen Pallett
Philomena - Alexandre Desplat
Saving Mr. Banks - Thomas Newman

ORIGINAL SONG:
"Alone Yet Not Alone" from Alone Yet Not Alone
"Happy" from Despicable Me 2
"Let it Go" from Frozen
"The Moon Song" from Her
"Ordinary Love" from Mandela

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Universal Studios Osaka Harry Potter Wizarding World Update


We always talk about the Harry Potter Wizarding World Diagon Alley coming soon at Universal Studios Orlando or the one for Universal Studios Hollywood but let's not forget that a third "Wizarding World" is currently being built at Universal Studios Osaka, in Japan! So, today, we'll have a look at the works for the one in Japan thanks to screen captures from a great video put on line by "Muppy Lucky", a japanese fan. All my thanks too to Screamscape for the link!

As you will see in these shots shot from different angle in the park, Hogwarts Castle is well in place, and visible from almost everywhere in the park, whether it is from the entrance where the Universal turning globe stands...


...or from inside the park behind Amity Landing...




...or from behind with these closer shots.




He went back at sunset for more additional shots from the lagoon with a beautiful light on Hogwarts Castle!




Now, don't miss the full video below filmed by Muppy Lucky, and watch it in HD 1080p !





Pictures and video: copyright Muppy Lucky

 

Bob Iger Wants a Disney's Frozen Musical Show


Bob Iger is very proud of Frozen and the tremendous success for Walt Disney Animation. So far Frozen has grossed $669M and it hasn't opened yet in China and Japan where for sure it will be too very successful. As Iger says in a Fortune interview "Frozen has restored our mojo", and certainly the one of WDA.

Now, we already know this rumor saying that a Frozen ride will replace Epcot Norway's pavilion attraction "Maelstrom" anytime soon, but now we learn that Disney also wants to create a Broadway musical with Frozen. With all the songs included in Frozen and its great script there is for sure a great musical to create out of Frozen and Bob Iger confirms in Fortune that Disney is in discussions to develop a show, though there is no set time frame. "We're not demanding speed" says Iger, "We're demanding excellence".

So, you might have to wait a bit before a Broadway Premiere but my feeling is that a show will come sooner or later. After all when you see decors like the one above showing the Ice Palace it sure will make a nice musical set, wouldn't it? The only question is: will the temperature of the theatre itself be "frozen"?  :-)

You can read the full Fortune article HERE.

Picture: copyright Disney



Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Marvel Wants Johnny Depp to Play Dr Strange in Dr Strange Movie

 

According to Latino Review - a web site with very good sources at Marvel and a great record of scoops in the past - Marvel wants Johnny Depp to play the role of Dr Strange in the live action adaptation movie! According to the website Depp already had a meeting with the guys at Marvel and is very interested in pursuing it. If we think at which Marvel super heroes would fit the most for Johnny Depp, Dr Strange is indeed a good choice and the fact that he is apparently a long time fan of Dr Strange should help to have him playing the role.



The deal is not signed yet and let's not forget that Johnny has to play first in Pirates of Caribbean 5. Also, Latino Review, says the script will have to go through an overhaul, especially since the current script centers on a 30 year old Dr Strange, and a see know Depp is now 50. This shouldn't be big problem and the movie if all works well should be released in 2016.

Picture: copyright Marvel