One Hundred and Twenty Frank Frazetta Paintings !

I've posted on the D&M Facebook page a big gift for you for this week-end. We had plenty of Disney news all the week, so here is something different but those who love artwork - and i mean gorgeous artwork - should be in heaven as it is 120 paintings of the master of all masters : Frank Frazetta.

If you don't know Frazetta you have to know that he was one of the greatest illustrator of the second part of last century and, most of all, the master of heroic fantasy artwork. He did hundreds of artworks for different magazines and comics of the 60's - 70's and was famous for his covers for Creepy and Eerie magazines. A  true master in oil painting, no one painted the bodies like Frank Frazetta. It's a universe of sword and sorcery - but he did illustrate also some sci-fi ( you have in the folder some that he did for Buck Rogers ) and also Tarzan, Conan, and more... Frazetta had a HUGE influence on many artists and movie directors, and there has been literally a "before" and "after" Frazetta in the heroic fantasy world. Go ahead, and discover HERE these 120 fantastic Frazetta paintings which also include some self-portraits of Frazetta himself.

Picture: copyright Frank Frazetta

Disneyland Paris LEGO Store Finally Opens - Full Report !

Believe it or not but something new opened today at Disneyland Paris and it is the awaited LEGO Store at the Disney Village - DLP "Downtown Disney". The store opening happened this morning at 9 a.m with DLP Ambassadors and Ward Van Duffel, Vice-President and General Manager of LEGO Europe. Let's have a look at this new shop thanks to pictures of Max Fan D&M contributor and DLPWelcome webmaster.

According to Max, this LEGO store looks really great and its design couldn't be more far than the previous Hollywood Pictures store and brings some welcome modern design at the Disney Village.

Before:

Now:

And to inaugurate this first day of the LEGO shop it was a young child who cut the ribbon!

Max also filmed the shop opening on every angle so let's have a look at it in details!




The store include many LEGO statues of different characters, whether from Disney or Pixar movies or even Star Wars with R2D2.

A great Mickey Sorcerer from Fantasia, all made with LEGO bricks!

The "brick wall" allows to find brick of different sizes or colors usually difficult to find. The cups with which you get them have two sizes, the small one is at 9.99€, the large one at 17.99€

The "link" with Disney is present in the shop decor, less in the items on sale as the customer will have the choice between many franchises: Star Wars, Hobbit, Marvel, Simpsons, Princesses ( Disney or not ), Pirates, Creator, etc

Young children can play in a mini playground area...

 

... and nearby an augmented reality screen allows to see - when you put the box in front of it - how will look the toy once built - good idea!

A little hello from DLP Ambassadors...

You can also create your own LEGO figures, price is 7.99€ for three.

There is too a LEGO Ghost House - looking like Phantom Manor - at 197.99€

The music in the shop is totally different than the one you can hear in the Disney Village, and it's very pleasant to be in a different atmosphere. Although the two dominant colors are the yellow and white, when you're inside the shop the atmosphere is not cold as the lighting and the colors from the LEGO statues brings a happy mood. What is obvious however is the shop modern design in comparison to Disney Village others shops, except World of Disney. But DLP has a plan to change all Disney Village shops in a near future, so...

Note that although they've kept the open doors on the left and right allowing guests to go from one shop to another you'll have to pay for the LEGO items before you go in another shop, contrary at what was possible before. Today's opening was very successful and even after DLP fans were gone the shop was still full of guests from DLP hotels who came in to discover the new shop. One more good news: the shop will be open every day from 9 am till midnight!

The Disneyland Paris update will continue on Monday with the latest pictures of the Ratatouille site and Indiana Jones Temple rebuilt, so stay tuned on D&M!  In the meantime, i remind you that it's never too late to order the gorgeous Disneyland Paris From Sketch to Reality book still available in both ENGLISH or FRENCH editions - and the special offer thanks to which you can save $50 on the normal price is still valid, so if you don't own the book yet i'm sure you don't want to miss it! Paypal and credit card payment are accepted, so make sure you to place your order now! 

You can use the Paypal button below for the english edition, and for the french edition or for credit card payment please send me an email at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com

Disneyland Paris From Sketch to Reality - Include shipping

1 Copy English NORMAL Edition Disneyland Paris book inc shipping €75.00 EUR 1 Copy English COLLECTOR Ed Disneyland Paris book inc shipping €115.00 EUR 1 Ex Signé Collector Français Livre Disneyland Paris + envoi €100.00 EUR 1 Ex Collector Français Livre Disneyland Paris + envoi €75.00 EUR

 

Don't know yet the Disneyland Paris book. Have a look at the video below or on the book website HERE.



Article Pictures: copyright Max Fan - DLPWelcome

Pepsi Cola Signs with Disney Exclusive Deal for Shanghaî Disneyland Beverages

It don't looks like but this is going to be a kind of corporate earthquake as Pepsi Cola will re-enter in a Disney 'Magic Kingdom' after 25 years by signing an exclusive deal for Shanghaî Disneyland  beverages.

"PepsiCo Inc has signed a deal to supply beverages to Shanghaî Disneyland, breaking The Coca-Cola Co's quarter century monopoly over beverage supply to the U.S. theme park operator. PepsiCo and its partner in China, Tingyi Cayman Islands Holding Corp, will exclusively provide beverages to the Shanghai Disney Resort, its first on mainland China which is set to open at the end of 2015, PepsiCo, Disney and Tingyi said in a joint statement on Thursday.

Coca-Cola has had a long-standing tie-up with Disney, while it has been at least 25 years since PepsiCo last sold its beverages through the theme park chain, a Dubai-based PepsiCo spokesman said. The deal is only a tiny segment of China's 421 billion yuan ($68.74 billion) soft drink sector, but marks a blow for PepsiCo against Coke in the highly competitive market, where both brands are coming under increasing pressure from Chinese rivals and changing consumer tastes for local flavors."

"I wonder what kind of message it sends to Coke globally. Even though the Disney park is only one small thing, China has massive room to grow for the Disney brand. Tying up this deal could mean good things going forward," said Ben Cavender, Shanghai-based principal at China Market Research Group.

Disney said it currently has no plans to ink similar deals with PepsiCo to supply its other resorts, although it is "actively pursuing opportunities in a variety of different sectors," Murray King, vice president of public affairs for the Shanghai Disney Resort, said. The PepsiCo spokesman said he could not comment on whether PepsiCo and Disney planned other tie-ups. 

Coca-Cola edges the China market with a 15.7 percent share of China's soft drinks market in 2012, ahead of PepsiCo's 4.5 percent share by off-trade volume, according to data from Euromonitor. China's soft drinks sector is worth around 421 billion yuan ($69.12 billion).

Chinese consumers are increasingly opting for healthier alternatives in food and drink, which has also hit growth for fast food chains such as McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) and KFC-parent Yum Brands Inc (YUM.N).

Coca-Cola remains the soft drinks supplier for Disney resorts outside mainland China. It is the beverage provider for Disney's 11 parks in the United States, Hong Kong, France and Japan, a Singapore-based spokeswoman for Coca-Cola said.

"The Coca-Cola Company and The Walt Disney Company share a long-standing partnership that dates to the first Disney television show in 1950 and the first Disneyland theme park in 1955. Today, our global partnership with Disney is as strong as ever," she added in emailed comments to Reuters.

Though it retains the biggest market share in China, but local rivals are catching up. Pepsi's partner in the market, Taiwanese Tingyi, raised its market share from 9.9 percent in 2007 to 12.8 percent in 2012, according to Euromonitor. Tingyi and PepsiCo beverages will be the sole range of drinks sold at the Shanghai park, a Tingyi spokesman said. All three companies declined to put a value on the deal.

The key question for Pepsi is if it can leverage its tie-up with Disney outside the limits of the resort, said Cavender. "If they can do more Disney-themed adverts elsewhere I can see this benefiting them a lot, and the fact Disney switched from Coke to Pepsi here could mean big things for the years ahead in other markets too," he said. ($1=6.1248 Chinese yuan)

From Reuters

DreamWorks and Merlin Entertainment Will Open A Shrek "Far Far Away Adventure" Attraction in London in 2015 !

DreamWorks Animation announced that they would be developing with Merlin Entertainment a Shrek attraction in London called "Far Far Away Adventure". The attraction will be located at County Hall alongside Merlin's other leading attractions in the South Bank cluster: the EDF Energy London Eye, the London SEA LIFE Aquarium and The London Dungeon. 

The 20,000 square ft. experience will be based on a brand new adventure being written by the DreamWorks team and it will feature a Shrek interactive walkthrough adventure, a character courtyard where visitors will be able to meet Shrek and his swamp friends, along with characters from Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon. In addition, there will be a rotating exhibit area supporting DreamWorks Animation film and DVD releases as well as a branded retail outlet.  The Shrek attraction will become part of Merlin's successful midway roll-out program as the sixth brand alongside LEGOLAND Discovery Centres, Madame Tussauds, SEA LIFE, The Dungeon and The Eye Brand. 

"This landmark attraction, which will transport visitors through a live interactive adventure featuring Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss in Boots and other favorites from the beloved franchise, will see an initial roll-out of six attractions over nine years.  The first attraction will open in London in the summer of 2015. This will be the first time that Merlin, Europe's largest and the world's second-largest visitor attraction operator, has worked with a Hollywood studio to create a scaleable branded entertainment experience based on a globally recognized entertainment franchise.  This is also the first time that DreamWorks Animation, home to global entertainment franchises including Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon, will help to produce an attraction of this magnitude by licensing the use of its characters and stories."

CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg also said in an interview with the Fox Business Network that another Shrek movie will eventually go into production:

"We like to let them have a little bit of time to rest, but I think you can be confident that we’ll have another chapter in the Shrek series. We're not finished, and more importantly, neither is he."

So, it seems that a new Shrek movie will probably come in a near future! As for the Shrek attraction, it's scheduled to open in summer of 2015, and it is the first of six attractions that will be rolled out worldwide over the next nine years.

Picture: copyright DreamWorks

Shanghaî Disneyland Tron Lightcycles Power Run Coaster Update

The last time we had pictures of Shanghaî Disneyland Tron Lightcycles Power Run coaster construction site it was thanks to Michael Eisner who was on site during a trip in China but this was already almost two months ago and now new pictures were leaked showing that works are going pretty quickly on this awaited ride.

When the pictures below were shot the sky was not as blue as during Michael visit but the track is still impressive... The show building is not built yet but that's normal, they will build it once the track construction will be over.

I remind you that Tron Lightcycles Power Run is supposed to use the Vekoma motorbike coaster with of course a TRON design for the motorbikes. That said, Disney won't be the first to install a Vekoma motorbike coaster in China as the Chimelong Paradise theme park already have one and if you want to see how it look, watch the video below. Of course, at Chimelong Paradise the coaster is all outdoor and it's done in a very primary way so don't expect SDL Tron Lightcycles Power Run to look like that.




The motorbike coaster itself, although it will be a first in a Disney theme park, won't be the most difficult part for WDI Imagineers. But the theming, to give guests the illusion they're in the world of TRON will be something else to achieve. As we know Tron Lightcycles Power Run will be entirely indoor and it will be surprising if WDI Imagineers wouldn't create grand views of the TRON city all along the ride...

Good news, technically speaking it shouldn't be too difficult to do as they know pretty well to do the TRON kind of "fluorescent" lighting. As a matter of fact they even had a kind of rehearsal when they did the new version of Test Track last year...

Add in-ride projection effects and a great pre-show to introduce the guests in the world of TRON and, yes, Tron Lightcycles Power Run should be a no worries and a real E-Ticket attraction, sure to become instantly a Shanghaî Disneyland favorite!

Pictures: copyright Disney

Awesome New Trailer For New Godzilla Movie !

An awesome new trailer has just been released for the new Godzilla movie to be released May 16. The movie stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, and Bryan Cranston!

Indiana Jones and Star Wars Episode 7 News !

Editor's Note: We've got fresh news about Star Wars Episode 7 casting and story as well as Indiana Jones. Just posted all this on the D&M Facebook page so do the jump HERE to read these exciting news, and more ( normally you can access to the page even if you don't have a Facebook account ). Note: the SW7 poster below is a non-official one.

Imagineer Dave Minichiello Reveal More About WDW Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Coaster

The Live Chat about Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with Imagineer Dave Minichiello just ended and here is what Dave said about the ride: "Pretty much every day is a milestone and some major ones that I’d like to mention are the Dwarfs Cottage, which is going quickly and looking amazing. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train being a part of the forest - we’re starting to see it as a part of the forest with the tree planting... We’re finally starting to see it all come together.

The top of the mountain is being planted with trees, the final rockwork is being completed as well as thematic painting of the rockwork. Ride testing continues daily. Now what’s really nice is the propping the attraction both inside and outside.

Asked about "why a ride about the Seven Dwarfs" Dave answered: "we were looking at New Fantasyland and trying to create a mix of attractions that would offer a broad variety of experiences for our guests, we were looking for a family coaster type of experience. That led us to Snow White and a Mine Train type of vehicle. As a centerpiece of the New Fantasyland expansion, we also thought that this type of experience would create kinetic energy throughout the land. The Dwarfs are really fun and lovable characters and I think that after seeing the classic film of Snow White, how many of our guests wouldn’t want to go into the film? This attraction gave us an opportunity to go in depth with other story lines in the movie".

To the question : "Will all major characters make an appearance in the ride? The Prince, Evil Queen, Snow White, etc.?" Dave Minichiello answered "You’ll be able to experience many of your favorite characters from the film."

To the question : "how it will compare - speed and dropwise - to other coasters such as Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain’?" Dave answered "It’s a family coaster and it’s a unique experience unlike anything else in our parks. This attraction is more innovative in its ride system and vehicle. It is for the entire family. It gives the guests a new sensation they’ve never had before. And we felt that uniqueness was the best way to tell our story. Also, what’s special about Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is the journey. You travel through the forest and explore the mine where the dwarfs are working, but we’re seeing the mine in a grander scale in a way we’ve never told the story before."

About the video you will discover below Dave Minichiello said: "What’s interesting about the video is that there’s a CGI model, which was the first concept model that we developed for this show. What’s amazing is seeing how accurate it was to our initial concept and vision. What’s amazing is how accurate the sight lines are, the staging, the scaling, the variable speeds. We’re fortunate to use innovative technologies during the development of our attraction". 

Above and below: the reality and the CGI rendering of the scene.

"It's an attraction that has as many amazing views on board as off. From the very beginning, we wanted to showcase those sightlines and see Storybook Circus, a little bit of Mermaid, then we head inside the mine to see the Dwarfs, you come out and see Prince Eric’s Castle, and an amazing view of Cinderella Castle. At our highest lift, you see Prince Eric’s Castle, Beast Castle and Cinderella Castle, so the views are spectacular."

Dave added: "Based on the type of vehicle we wanted to use to tell the story, we started looking at a mine vehicle and thought that it would be a fun guest experience to sit in a mine car". And about the new ride train system: "It has proven to be pretty amazing and a very smooth attraction. It’s a completely new experience - not only having the sensation of pivoting back and forth and it varies throughout the attraction. You feel differences in the various terrain around the mountain.

"Each mine train is very unique and we wanted to make them look like they were used in different times. When you see the vehicles themselves, there’s a lot of layering to them. While you go to the mine and there’s a lot of rustic wood and wood graining throughout the attraction, some of the wood carving is something you seen in the film and we’ve picked that up. The scale and the character of everything around you starts to go into the dwarfs’ world".

To the question: "the train seems to slow when it hits that “dark ride” point - anything specific we should look for in there?" Dave answered "The reason the train slows is to allow the guests to enjoy the details of the scene. We wanted to let our guests discover their favorite dwarf. All seven are hard at work in the mine scene - and we do have some hidden stuff in there."

Dave also revealed that "The queue has a surprise song in it that was originally written for the film called ‘Music In Your Soup,’ which we’ve recorded in instrumental version and added to our queue area. All of the music in the queue area is all instrumental, and we wanted to give it a feel that it was played by the Seven Dwarfs".

Asked about interactive queue elements, dave answered : "Yes, we do have some interactive elements in the queue. Part of the “scene one” in the queue area helps us start to tell the story. We have an area where guests can sort and wash jewels, and for the first time, we’re taking guests into the vault as seen in the classic film ‘Snow White.' The ride height restriction is 38 inches and Imagineers are on schedule for an opening on Spring!

Pictures, Text and videos: copyright Disney
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