Friday, June 8, 2012
Rare 1954 20000 Leagues Under the Sea View-Master Pictures
Thanks to Todd Popp, a fan of the vintage 3-D images from the famous View-Master you'll see today extremely rare pictures related to 20000 Leagues under the Sea. This set of images from the classic tale was created in 1954 by View-Master but as you will see these are not stills from the Disney movie. Instead View-Master artists specially created dioramas which were then photographed to be included in the View-Master 3D discs. Even if the Nautilus or Captain Nemo don't look exactly like in the movie the scenes are inspired by the Jules Verne novel and the Disney movie - including the giant squid scene! - and the characters were sculpted by artist Warren Chaney. Below, a photo of Martha Armstong-Hand who was the artist who created the tiny costumes for these table-top figures.
As you may know, View-Master did a lot of View-Master discs inspired by Disney classics animated movies and you can see pictures of them on Todd's Flickr page HERE. Todd succeeded to find all the View-Master reels which were released and figured out how to scan and digitally clean each picture from all of them! He's planning now to do a book with these rare View-Master pictures and of course i will let you know when the book will be released.
As for the great dioramas, sadly, the majority of these character models and sets were all thrown away many years ago. Todd interviewed one of the surviving sculptors who told him that the 'art' wasn't considered 'art' at the time - just a means to an end in the creation of the reels - so, these images are all that remain and for sure they need to be preserved!
Here we go with the 20000 Leagues under the Sea pictures, with captions for each scene, and right after them you'll find also the scan of the booklet which was include with the reels.
Professor Arronax, Conseil, and Ned Land approach the monster.
"It's man-made!",shouts Ned Land as a strange crew appears.
"You are my prisoners!", proclaims Captain Nemo
"Atomic power is the secret of the Nautilus!"
A shell kills one of the submarine's crew
With horror we watch Captain Nemo's revenge
A strange funeral under the sea
Through the salon window we see a giant octopus
The octopus holds the Nautilus in it's grip
A tentacle snatches up one of the crew
Ned Land closes in to harpoon the monster
Captain Nemo saves Ned Land
Ned dives underwater to save the crewman
"I owe you a debt," Captain Nemo tells the harpooner
The Nautilus enters an undersea tunnel
Crater Lake Base and Uranium Mine
"The lab chief has escaped," a scientist tells Captain Nemo
"This time control will detonate the atomic fuel!"
We board the Nautilus to escape the explosion
"Escape in the small boat, Ned. My debt is paid!"
Captain Nemo's secret is destroyed forever!
And now, here are the scans of each page of the booklet, and i want to thanks a lot again Todd who took the time to do these scans specially for Disney and more! If you're a 20000 Leagues fan, note that this article is also posted on my Tom Scherman site where you'll find dozens of great pictures related to the movie and the 20000 Leagues attractions.
See you next week with another great article about 20000 Leagues with plenty of pics as rare as these one!
Pictures: copyright View-Master - Scans: copyright Todd Popp whom i thanks a lot!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Cars Land and Radiator Springs Racer Preview - High-res Pictures !
"That's it, folks!", as Mater would say, Disneyland has released a huge set of high-res pictures of Cars Land and this include never seen before pics of scenes of the indoor part of Radiator Springs Racer, located in a huge show building which, as Al Lutz has said in his update last tuesday, "has rooms on a scale of the Haunted Mansion and Indiana Jones, if not quite the giant scale of Pirates of the Caribbean". All the pics released are below and i warn you that there WILL be spoilers ahead, so if you plan to ride Radiator Springs Racer anytime soon it might be a good idea to avoid some of the pictures.
That said, there we go for a pictorial preview of Cars Land and the first attraction on the left when you will enter the land is Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree.
According to those who were there last week-end for the special preview held "for Imagineers, their friends and family, and any of Imagineering’s favored contractors" this one seems to be a real good surprise, if not the "sleeper hit" of the land. Again, read Al Lutz review for more details about the ride.
The next ride, always located on the left will be Luigi’s Flying Tires. Reviews are a bit mix about this one but i still like the idea of a rebirth of the famous Disneyland Flying Saucers, this time with a different theming and most of all an improved technology that should work better than the one used 50 years ago!
On the other side of the street, or so, you will find the entrance of Radiator Springs Racer, a E-Ticket of such a scale that you see one like this in Disney theme parks only each 20 years!
The first thing that will stun you is of course the fantastic scenery of Ornament Valley but also the amazing work that WDI landscapers Imagineers have done with "over 400 trees and thousands of cacti and plants that have been incorporated into the landscape". Every fan think about Cars Land in terms of rides but let me tell you that what will stun you first will be the beauty and the perfection of the theming, and not only the decors, of course, but also the vegetation theming which, again, is "over the top".
Once you've board your vehicle the car will ascend the mountain and past the waterfall before going down inside a cavern and the indoor part of the ride.
Note: I will not reveal the story line and specially what's happening during the indoor part of this amazing E-Ticket, but the pictures below have been put in the order of appearance during the ride. Of course, Disneyland didn't released pictures of each scene of the ride and there is a LOT of others scenes of Radiator Springs Racer that you won't see here, so don't worry, there will be much more to see starting June 15 when Radiator Springs Racer will open!
It's time to go out of the show building for the awaited race!
The ending through Taillight Caverns is, according to Al Lutz, best viewed at night, and for sure it will be a good idea to do or re-do again the ride after sunset...
...specially when you see the gorgeous lighting of Ornament Valley at dark.
Disney also released a short video showing a big part of Cars Land - but not the indoor part of Radiator springs Racer - have a look!
On this next Disney video you'll see the race between the two cars filmed during the tests by WDI Imagineers.
And as we are in Radiator Springs, one more for the road! How did the real Radiator Springs come to be? Mater knows and tell you in "Time Travel Mater" a preview for a new Mater Tall Tales which will premiere on ABC, June 16!
And here is the end of this Cars Land pictorial preview! Who will be at Cars Land for its grand opening on June 15? Let us know in the comments!
Pictures and video: copyright Disney
Don't miss the Disneyland Paris "From Sketch to Reality" book which will tell you all about the creation of Disneyland Paris with 320 pages and 750 pictures and WDI renderings! The book always have a special offer and is now available with immediate shipping! Reviews from all those who have already received the book are "over the top" so, place your order now for a gorgeous collector's edition copy while you can get a 20% discount on this wonderful book! To know more about the book and how to order and send your payment please go HERE or use the Paypal one-click purchase button below.
Discover the full book in the video below!
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