Saturday, February 9, 2008

Meet EVE, WALL-E robot friend, in the new international trailer



The new international trailer of Wall-E was released on youtube, and it brings a new vision of this awaited Andrew Stanton animated movie.

Not only we can see new decors of an uninhabited earth....



But most of all, EVE, the other "main" character makes her first appearance!



As it is written on the Wall-E web site: " After hundred of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL-E discovers a new purpose in life when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE...



...EVE comes to realize that WALL-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to planet's future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans( who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home ).



...Meanwhile WALL-E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets in motion one of the most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen ".




Well, this shot from the new trailer seems to indicate that there may be more than "one" EVE...



Also, let's notice that for the first time we can hear in this trailer what is very probably the original music score of the movie - instead of the "Brazil" theme that was used in the previous trailers...

Unfortunately, the trailer on youtube was removed and is now not available any more, so, we'll probably have to wait for a more "official" release in a near future !


All photos from WALL-E trailer: copyright Disney-Pixar

Friday, February 8, 2008

The new Walt Disney Studios Tower of terror web site is great !



The new Walt Disney Studios Tower of terror web site is great........and will be even better in some weeks when new interactivity sections will be added. However, i strongly suggest you to have a look to it right now as there is nice visual elements to discover. Click on each picture below to have a better look.

Each page is in "flash", with animation and here is how it goes. When you arrive on the first page, the site will ask you to choose your language



Once you've done it, a 1930's "Tribune of terror" newspaper front page will appear, talking, of course, of the dramatic events that happened in the hotel 70 years ago



...and then transform itself in a more modern front page telling you that the Hollywood Tower hotel re-opens for business and asking you if you always want to go further



Of course you say yes, and you arrive then inside the Tower of terror lobby - photo on the top - where a groom welcome you while a big part of the ceiling is falling down in the background !

At this point, you're logically going to click on the different sections to explore them. But don't do it! Stay there, on the "lobby" page, without doing anything.......wait, and watch what happens...

After few seconds, some ghosts will appear and enter the lobby. They are the ghosts of the family who disappeared 70 years ago. First, the little girl and the nanny...



Then, the couple - the father and mother...



While another ghost appears in the armchair on the left...



At that point, light goes down in the lobby, and we can hear one of the elevator falling in the background, with people screaming, and a green ray coming out of it



After what another groom - a ghost - goes through the lobby again walking towards you



All this takes 2-3 minutes, so just wait for them to appear, it's fun to watch. Then, you can click on "Discover the new attraction", another page will open - in fact you're moving two floors up - and you arrive in the library where a groom is reading. A short film on the TOT events history will be played on an old tv screen



But if you choose in the lobby the "Tower of terror effect", you will move to another "floor" where another groom will welcome you in the "Twilight Zone", while the elevator doors open in the background



Click first on "watch the movie" to discover what happen to a lonely dog trapped in the twilight zone. At the end you will have the choice to discover the "Tower of terror effect". Note that you can also access it with a click inside the elevator if you don't want to watch the movie



Another page will open, asking you to download a photo from your computer, and the portrait you will download will ........oh, sorry, i don't want to spoil everything, so you'll have to try by yourself to discover this "Tower of terror effect" !

Other sections, like "games" "presidential suite" or "terror movie theater" will open soon or on february 25th, so you'll have to come back to discover them. However, a last stop is possible if you click on "offer and bookings", and this will send you in the boiler room



This new TOT web site looks pretty cool, doesn't it? Well, you can make the jump to it with a simple click HERE. Enjoy it!

All photos : copyright Disneyland Resort Paris

TOT web site at: http://www.disneytowerofterror.com/

Disneyland historical pictures in colour



It's been a long time since i've posted old historical photos of Disneyland, so, here is a special post with some nice one.

Originally these pictures were all black and white, and you may have seen some of them before. Although they are here in big size, as usual, i have try something different. For the simple pleasure of creation, i have slightly tint them, in a colour that seems to me the best appropriate to each scene. You know, just like old photographs can be, some time.

Personnally, i find the result interesting, but i suppose that some will think it's a sacrilege! But i count on you, all open-minded Disney and more readers to appreciate it.

The first one above is of course the famous Disneyland marquee, circa 1950's. This next one is the opening day, everybody knows that it was on July 1955, and temperatures were high, so i tried to find a colour that give this feeling.



The 20000 leagues under the sea exhibit at Tomorrowland.



Walt in the viewliner train, circa 1950's



The construction of the Columbia



The construction of the Matterhorn



A view of the desert sequence of Nature's wonderland attraction



The construction of the submarine ride



The flying saucers ride, circa 1960's



All photos: copyright Disney

I must remind you as it is written on the "terms of use" page that, in the event you download any material from The Disney and more blog, the download of the material, including any files or images must be for your personal, noncommercial home use only. You may not and cannot sell, print or reproduce in any way any material downloaded from The Disney and more blog, and specifically any material copyright Disney , Walt Disney company, Disney Enterprises inc, or any other companies.

Who was the first one ?



Officially, the two first children to enter Disneyland - and enjoy it - on opening day, July 1955, were this young boy and girl you can see on the photo above.

But Jim Hill has a lovely story to share about a young boy who was the real first one to discover the park. And Walt was his guide!

Have a look at it on Jim Hill web site HERE

Photo : copyright Disney

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

New WALL-E picture and Superbowl commercial



I can't wait to see this new Pixar picture! No, really, i'm so sure this Wall-E is going to be great...i already love the character...

Anyway, today, three news about it. First, a new picture as you can see above ( updated 17/2 with the new high-res version of the picture ), two, the Wall-E website has been updated, with great animation, gallery, videos and download sections - and coming soon the Build-A-Bot and Games and Mashup sections.
Enjoy it at: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/wall-e/



But the cherry on the top of the cake is this new - and very funny - Superbowl commercial that you can discover below.


The Annie Leibowitz Disney photos wallpaper high-res and making-of videos



I know, all of you have seen already these great Annie Leibowitz pictures on other web sites. But did you saw them in high-resolution wallpaper size? Because it's a total different experience, and there you can really appreciate the photographer's work and the mise en scène of each one.

Annie Leibowitz is one of the best photographer of our time, and her work really deserves to be seen in the best way. So, double-click on each picture below and the one above, you'll see the difference!








Let's have a closer look to the making of Annie's pictures with the two videos below.




All photos and videos : copyright Disney

I must remind you as it is written on the "terms of use" page that, in the event you download any material from The Disney and more blog, the download of the material, including any files or images must be for your personal, noncommercial home use only. You may not and cannot sell, print or reproduce in any way any material downloaded from The Disney and more blog, and specifically any material copyright Disney , Walt Disney company, Disney Enterprises inc, or any other companies.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

New photos from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and some story-line secrets...



Three new photos of the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull were released, and the highly awaited trailer could be released on Valentine's day - February 14th.

On the first picture above, Indy is inside the famous government warehouse that we saw at the end of Raiders of the lost ark, presumably to find againthe Ark, and all the question is: WHY? We will have the answer in 3 months and 2 weeks from now, so, it's not too long to wait.

The next picture show Indy, and his son - play by Shia LaBeouf and Karen Allen who play again the Marion Raverwood character from "Raiders". Obviously they're not in lack of weapons!



The third one is an Empire magazine exclusive , and show the "villain" character russian agent Irina Spalko play by the excellent Cate Blanchett, and Indy seems to be in trouble!



Finally - look out, spoliers ahead - here is a picture of how the " crystal skull " should look. This is not the picture shown on the MovieWeb.com web site - the picture was removed today, probably on the request of Lucas film. This one below is a promotional flyer from Japanese company Takara Neduke, makers of necklaces and trinkets, and was posted by Action Figure Insider.



And if you have the feeling that this skull could be more extra-terrestrial than human, you may be close to one of the plot's secret. Nothing confirmed, however, but this Lucas interview from IGN Movies tell us more:

" I'm the one that has to come up with the story, and the MacGuffin, the supernatural object that everyone's going after," Lucas said, referring to the Hitchcockian term for the plot gimmick that propels the narrative forward. Lucas stuck with his long-gestating idea even when Spielberg and series star Harrison Ford continuously rejected it.

"So this went on for 15 years," Lucas recalled. "And finally we got to a point where everybody said, 'Look, we're not doing that movie.' And I said, 'Well, look, I can't think of another MacGuffin. This is it. This works. I know this works.' And then we stopped. I just said, 'O.K.,' and that's about the time I started Star Wars again. But then Harrison was kind of interested. And I said, 'I won't do it unless we can have that MacGuffin. Without the MacGuffin, I will not go near this thing.'"

The filmmakers finally found an approach to Lucas' MacGuffin that they all agreed on when David Koepp turned in his screenplay. "What it is that made it perfect was the fact that the MacGuffin I wanted to use and the idea that Harrison would be 20 years older would fit," Lucas told the magazine.

"So that put it in the mid-50s, and the MacGuffin I was looking at was perfect for the mid-50s. I looked around and I said, 'Well, maybe we shouldn't do a 30s serial, because now we're in the 50s. What is the same kind of cheesy-entertainment action movie, what was the secret B movie, of the 50s?' So instead of doing a 30s Republic serial, we're doing a B science-fiction movie from the 50s. The ones I'm talking about are, like, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Blob, The Thing. So by putting it in that context, it gave me a way of approaching the whole thing."

Let's end with something fun with an Indiana Jones merchandise item that i've never expected to see in my lifetime, and it's an Indiana Jones Potato head! It will be released on May 1st and the figure include a jacket, whip and fedora, and a kind of Raiders idol.



Photos: copyright Lucas film ltd and Indiana Jones.com

Monday, February 4, 2008

“ The Fairest One of All ” DCA exhibition - High-res pictures and Video



I know i am a little bit late on this one, but you will find today great high-res photos of “The Fairest One of All” exhibition and the Toy Story Zoetrope and, too, a video. The exhibition, which provides an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look into the creation of this motion picture classic, take over the Courtyard Gallery entrance hall of the Disney Animation pavilion at Disney’s California Adventure.




The exhibit is a great tribute to an master piece and the Walt Disney Animation Research Library has spent more than seven months creating “The Fairest One of All,” a stunning and rare collection of more than 120 pieces of concept art, story sketches, animation drawings, backgrounds and cels created during the development and production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney recently acquired many of the pieces from a private collection including several that have never been publicly displayed.



“The Fairest One of All” exhibition includes a never-before-seen collection of priceless art used in the creation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs created by such Disney animation “legends” as Joe Grant, Eric Larson, Art Babbitt and Milt Kahl. Among the rare items presented in the exhibition are visualizations of such early concepts as a panther companion for the story’s Evil Queen, redheaded and blonde versions of Snow White, various story gags not used in the film, and depictions of the Queen based on actresses Joan Crawford and Katharine Hepburn.





Meanwhile, in an adjoining gallery, visitors can explore the principles of animation itself as they marvel at the new Toy Story Zoetrope, an amazing three-dimensional 21st century variation on the Victorian novelty device which presented early “moving pictures.”




Toy Story, produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures in 1995, was the first feature-length computer-animated film and won an Academy Special Achievement Award for its director, John Lasseter, now Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. Separated by nearly 60 years of animation history, Snow White and Toy Story are the only two animated motion pictures on the most recent American Film Institute list of the top 100 films of all time, and they represent a continuing legacy of animation excellence at The Walt Disney Company.




And now, let's have a closer look on this exhibit with a you tube video thanks to " TwilightZoneAnaheim ".




All Photos and artwork: copyright Disney Enterprises Inc

You tube video thanks to and copyright "TwilightZoneAnaheim"

I must remind you as it is written on the "terms of use" page that, in the event you download any material from The Disney and more blog, the download of the material, including any files or images must be for your personal, noncommercial home use only. You may not and cannot sell, print or reproduce in any way any material downloaded from The Disney and more blog, and specifically any material copyright Disney , Walt Disney company, Disney Enterprises inc, or any other companies.