Fun Animated Short "Cap'n Shmelly and the Sperm Whale"

Hey, ya Pirates, here is a fun animated short for you called "Cap'n Shmelly and the Sperm Whale," ...and poor Captain Shmelly has been obsessively searching the oceans for the whale that took his leg. The isolation of the long search, hot sun and lots of rum has left Shmelly slightly insane, paranoid and delusional...
The film was created by Omens Studios.


Cap'n Shmelly and the Sperm Whale from Omens Studios on Vimeo.

Video: copyright Omens Studios

Captain America Artwork Norman Rockwell Style

Here is something great that Norman Rockwell fans will like, a Captain America artwork in the style of Norman Rockwell famous covers, done by artist Marco D'Alfonso!

Artwork: copyright Marco D'Alfonso

First Pictures and Video of HKDL "Disney Paint The Night" Night Parade !

Two days ago you've seen in my latest HKDL update new artwork revealed by HKDL of the awaited Disney Paint The Night Parade and today i'm pleased to show you the very first pictures showing some of the parade floats! These pictures are screen captures from a video that appeared on the web showing the parade rehearsal at HKDL backstage, not in the park, and here is this short video!




And now let's have a closer look at this in details, starting by the Cars unit of the parade. Of course on the video you can see all the sparkling light effects, etc...

The video shows too just a few seconds with Woody and Buzz - which will be on the Toy Story unit - but not that much...

...but more of the Belle unit, with performers which will be part of the show, including Belle.

We then have some footage showing the Monsters Inc unit with the illuminated "doors", in fact screens.

...And that's all for now, more pictures of this new nighttime parade should come soon as it will debut at HKDL on October 1st, and probably some days before during HKDL private events!

Pictures: copyright Disney

Star Wars Episode 7 Villains Revealed !

I've got BIG news for you today about Star Wars 7, thanks to the reliable Latino Review who has the scoop of the week! First, let's remind you what we think we know about Episode VII’s plot so far: Luke’s lightsaber (and maybe hand but probably not) crash lands on a planet leading Daisy Ridley and John Boyega on a search for Luke, which leads them to Han Solo and Chewbacca, who aren’t in the Millennium Falcon because Oscar Isaacs has it. The party is looking for Luke who has been MIA since Return of the Jedi. But Luke isn’t hiding, Luke is a captive.

Now, Latino Review has more for us and reveal who will be Star Wars 7 villains! :

"The Inquisitors are the villains of Star Wars: Episode VII and the name of the main villain in Star Wars: Rebels. They seem to be loosly based on the now-deleted Expanded Universe Inquistors mixed with the hardended Sith look of Rebels' villain. The Inquisitors are defenders of the Sith Order and they’ve been around for a long time. Just how long is what turns Episode VII’s story on it’s head.

When our hero(es) find Luke and the Inquisitors are revealed, Luke’s explanation on the history of this order is going to trigger a flashback to explain that the Inquisitors have been tied into the Sith all along."

You might have heard that Billie Lourd - the biological daughter of Carrie Fisher - has been casted, and according to LR: "That’s not so she can play a Solo kid, it’s so she can play a much younger Princess Leia than we’ve ever seen before in this flashback."

But, a young Princess Leia is not all this flashback reveals... as the Inquisitors will be seen serving Darth Vader in flashback.

Yes, Darth Vader will be on screen, briefly, in Star Wars: Episode VII!

And Latine Review ends by: "That’s all for now, but it’s now exceedingly clear that the Sequel Trilogy requires a retroactive continuity adjustment to the other two trilogies and Rebels is going to end up being much, much more important than we anticipated."

Now, also today, Latino Review had what they think are the first pictures of the new Storm Trooper design!

And, talking about Star Wars, let's end with this 7 and a half minutes clip from the upcoming Star Wars Rebels animated series, in which the Inquisitors will also have an important part.




Pictures: copyright LucasFilm, Yvan Quinet

Beautiful Star Wars Trilogy Art

 

Three beautiful Star Wars trilogy art created by artist Joshua Budich. The name of the first piece is "We’re Doomed!", the second is "I Love You. I Know", and the third is "Like My Father Before Me" and it was done for the Art V Cancer project, which was set up by artist Chris Thornley (aka Raid71), who was diagnosed at the age of 37 with a rare incurable form of lymphoma.

Artwork: copyright Joshua Budich

How Mickey Mouse Finally Talked

The title of this post is a bit tricky - well, half of it only - as you won't see and it's no question of Mickey Mouse in the video below from FilmmakerIQ but it's all about how sound came to the movies and it is a great video that i strongly recommend you to watch! I'm sure you'll learn a lot of things you didn't know!

The inclusion of sound at the movies was one of the most dramatic changes in all of film history. Dive into the early experiments of Edison trying to incorporate sound from film’s inception, through the experiments in the early 1920s, the Jazz Singer and the industry sound overhaul, and finally the multi-channel surround and modern movie sound technologies.


The History of Sound at the Movies from FilmmakerIQ.com on Vimeo.

Video: copyright FilmmakerIQ

Beautiful Animated Short "Orbitas"

Here is a beautiful animated sci-fi short Orbitas comes from Primeframe.com and director Jaime Maestro. The story for the short is about "an impossible love which revolves around a planet at war."

Watch it, it's beautiful!




Picture and video: copyright Jaime Maestro

Legendary Animation Director Hayao Miyazaki "May" Direct a New Movie

You may have heard that Studio Ghibli, has been having some financial issues since the Hayao Miyazali retired. It would be incredibly sad if Studio Ghibli ended after all of the amazingly wonderful films they've made. Now, according to veteran Studio Ghibli producer, Toshio Suzuki, Legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki "may" come out of retirement to "make something again."

Toshio Suzuki explained in a TBS documentary, that Miyazaki had talked to him about making a short film for the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo. “This is my guess, but I’m thinking it will be something short.”

Suzuki also appeared on the NHK morning show “Asa Ichi” to clarify his earlier statements about the animation studio saying:
“We’re changing the way we make (animation). We wanted to make a dream company. We thought we would make what suited us and not make what didn’t suit us. We were able to realize (that dream) to some extent and we’re very happy about that. But now we’re at a point where we’ve got to think about what we’ll do next.”

Alexandre Gasulla - not working at Ghibli - edited together the great video below paying tribute to the films that Miyazaki has made during his career, and it reminds us of all the wonderful stories that he has given to the world.


Hayao Miyazaki - A Tribute from Alexandre Gasulla on Vimeo.

Hollywood Golden Era Legend Lauren Bacall Dies at 89

After Robin Williams, another major Hollywood star passed away this week, and it's Lauren Bacall. With Lauren Bacall death at 89, it's the last legendary stars of Hollywood Golden Era who disappear and on the picture below she is in 1963 at Disneyland in a Mr Toad's Wild Ride car with her husband Jason Robards whom she married a few years after Humphrey Bogart died. 

I strongly recommand to you the reading HERE of what was probably her last interview, published in Vanity Fair with pictures by Annie Leibowitz. The interview will learn you a lot about Bacall life during the Golden Era!

Picture: copyright Disney

Hong Kong Disneyland "Disney Paint The Night" Nighttime Parade Special Presentation

Hong Kong Disneyland will showcase a whole new light at nighttime this coming fall/winter as the brand new nighttime parade "Disney Paint the night" will start October 1st, and HKDL did a special presentation about it today, as well as about what's new in the upcoming Halloween season. Let's have a closer look at all this, and i also remind you that a parade of the same kind, if not identical, is rumored to come to Disneyland Anaheim for DL 50th Anniversary next year.

From October to December, guests visiting Hong Kong Disneyland at nighttime will see the Park in a whole new light. The brand new “Disney Paint the Night” parade starting from October 1, together with “Disney Haunted Halloween” and “Disney Sparkling Christmas”, will amaze and mesmerize HKDL guests as light creates vibrancy, mystery and romance at the Park.

“Disney Paint the Night”, a first ever fully LED parade created by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, is a state-of-the-art, vibrant wonder that immerses many of Disney classics and Pixar stories in magical, luminescent worlds. Disney Paint the Night features seven original floats containing over 740,000 individual lights.  This fantastical parade will bring to life guests’ favorite Disney and Disney∙Pixar stories in unexpected and thrilling ways, illuminating the whole parade route every night.

Above, the Tinkerbell opening unit. 

Tinker Bell will lead the way before a dazzling “color spiral” of sparkling fairy dust! She will magically fly within this “color spiral” while capturing and harnessing all of the colors and pixie dust.

Above: Disney Paint the Night: Belle Candlelight Unit

Giant imageries projection features unforgettable chapters from Belle’s love story. Following Belle are giant glowing candelabras that are framed by lovely Dove Performers and a series of illuminated Court Couples who provide grace and elegance and add the right touch of royalty, majesty and brilliance to this nighttime “ball on the street”.

Above, The Little Mermaid unit. 

Life under the sea is an underwater, watercolor wonderland of vibrant, glowing hues! King Triton, Ariel and a school of glowing “sea creatures” show the guests their own briny brilliance!

New technology with imagination unleashed to wow the guests!

“Disney Paint the Night” is composed of seven units of creative floats including Tinker Bell Opening Unit, Monsters Inc. Unit, Cars Unit, The Little Mermaid Unit, Belle Candlelight Unit, Toy Story Unit, Mickey & Friends Finale Unit. In this all new technologically advanced parade, Mickey is going to “paint the night” in dazzling Disney dreams of light, and with the scintillating powers of Tinker Bell’s pixie dust, Mickey and his friends create fantastic visions, which come to “light” the streets of Hong Kong Disneyland. The parade features many beloved Disney and Disney·Pixar characters, and for the first time are invited Lightning McQueen, Sulley and Mike to join the parade at Hong Kong Disneyland.

Above, the Disney Paint the Night: Cars Unit. 

The Cars unit includes Piston Cup champion, Lightning McQueen, Mack and DJ. The Mack float is over 54 feet long, 18 feet tall. He is driving along in larger-than-life fashion, equipped with giant “light display” panels affixed to his sides!

Above,  the Toy Story Unit. 

Slinky Dog scampers along with Woody and Buzz holding on for dear life! Slinky’s ever-moving, ever-changing “coils” glow with eye-popping, ever-changing, iridescent patterns, as does Woody’s lasso.

Above, the Monsters Inc. Unit

The Scare Floor in Monstropolis comes to crazy, vivid life as Mike and Sulley navigate an array of vibrant, twirling doors! The doors contain embedded hi-res screens that feature an endless array of appearances by “surprise visitors”.

 “The creative team spent over 2 years and developed over 1,000 scenic and lighting designs to ensure ‘Disney Paint the Night’ will ‘wow’ our guests in a totally new and innovative way. New technology coupled with unleashed imagination takes this parade to a whole new level and Hong Kong Disneyland guests will enjoy a colorful feast for their eyes.” said David Lightbody, Director of Entertainment and Costuming, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.

From the design of the floats, props, costumes and cosmetology, to the lighting, music and choreography, innovation and strong story telling have driven the creation of “Disney Paint the Night”.

The vibrant lights feature not only on the floats, but also on Disney characters, dancers and props. More than 80 Cast Members per night are involved in presenting this never-seen-before nighttime parade.

Above, concept Art for Belle Candlelight Unit: It’s the very first time that Hong Kong Disneyland will feature female performers on peg stilts as Rose Goddesses.

Over 25 different styles have been applied in the design and construction of the costumes and many of them have been developed specially for this parade. Each costume has its own very sophisticated system of lighting controls. The team used new technologies in ways that have never been used on costuming before to bring a new perspective to our guests.

The talented Cosmetology team (hair, wigs and make up) at Hong Kong Disneyland has developed a new technique to create fiber optic wigs that can be styled to create a beautiful glowing effect.  They also developed exquisite fiber optic eyelashes that can change color which significantly enriches the whole parade performance.

Interactivity allows Guests to immerse themselves in the experience of “Disney Paint the Night”. 

Interactivity is always a key to enhancing guests’ immersive experiences. There are special magic enabled merchandise items developed for the parade. The Park especially designed the all-new interactive merchandise - “Mickey Magic Paint Brush” which allows guests to interact with performers.

During two show stop moments of “Disney Paint the Night”, guests will be able to “paint the night” with the Paint Brush. It can literally change the colors of the performers’ costumes at the touch of a button.  The floats can also ‘talk’ to all other magic-enabled merchandise items, including “Mickey Glow Mitt” and “Minnie Glow Bow” and change the colors of the items to give guests a chance to really become a part of the parade.

The Park has also prepared a series of specialty food and beverage options with a glowing and glittering theme to further complement this latest nighttime experience.

To further celebrate the vibrant spirit of “Disney Paint the Night”, guests can pay a visit to the Tomorrowland Bootique and to be “painted” in luminous make up by our professionals and join the dance party with DJs and an all new illuminated stage performances in the Tomorrowland Party Zone.

Lights of mystery permeate the Park during Haunted Halloween

Featuring an all-new show “Horrors of the Amazon”, “Sideshow Carnival Extraordinaire” and more ominous entertainment offerings, the Haunted Halloween footprint will spread from Adventureland and seep into many other themed lands. Available from October 2, on every Friday to Sunday in October, guests will see a different Hong Kong Disneyland at night time as they journey through many new eerie and mysterious stories.

The all new “Horrors of the Amazon” show will be staged at the Theatre in the Wild. The show will feature local celebrity Power Chan Kwok-pong who will act as the adventurer Jonas Brisbane and narrate his thrilling tale of his adventures in the Amazon. His illustrious adventures and foreboding encounters will capture and enthrall guests. This is the very first time Hong Kong Disneyland is engaging a local celebrity as a performer in a show.

The mysterious world of lights seeps across the Park and presents a different nighttime atmosphere. In Fantasyland’s Fantasy Garden, Mickey and his friends are hosting a masquerade ball this Halloween. The popular “Sideshow Extraordinaire” in Adventureland, “Grizzly Gulch Halloween Fair”, “Graves Academy” and “Revenge of the Headless Horseman” will return this year for more haunting fun. Toy Story Land, has been invaded by more of Sid’s mutant toys including “Babyhead”, ”Ducky” and “Legs”,   who have all taken up residence in an attempt to escape their ever destructive owner.

Night tickets for Disney Haunted Halloween are priced at HK$340 and will be available as of September 1.

Hong Kong Disneyland embraces Guests in the light of romance during “Disney Sparkling Christmas”

The vibrant party of lights will extend into Christmas with “Disney Sparkling Christmas” as the climax. Commencing in mid November (November 13), guests can soak up the Christmas spirit with seasonal lights and sparkling ornaments in which will decorate the entire Main Street, U.S.A.

Frozen, the highest grossing animated film of all time, will become one of the highlights of this season. Frozen’s Queen Elsa and Princess Anna have arrived and are eager to meet guests in Hong Kong Disneyland for the first time. In addition, a series of Frozen-themed merchandise items and food and beverage options are the perfect complement to this snowy Disney experience.

To celebrate the holiday season, Duffy will also introduce his friend ShellieMay for her first appearance at Hong Kong Disneyland, to share their friendship during this romance filled season, along with an array of new and exclusive themed merchandise items.

“Through the ‘Disney Paint the Night’ nighttime spectacular and special seasonal events during this coming fall and winter period, we are inviting guests to explore a never-before-seen experience of vibrant lights and to immerse themselves into a Disney night that is beyond imagination,” concluded David Lightbody.  “The nighttime enjoyment continues after the parade as guests enjoy the climax of their evening by viewing ‘Disney in the Stars’ Fireworks Spectacular.”

Pictures: copyright Disney, Hong Kong Disneyland

First Picture of of Mark Hamill on The Set of Star Wars: Episode VII - Updated With Gorgeous Picture of R2D2 in Its Crate !

This is the first photo we've got of Mark Hamill ( Luke Skywalker ) on the set of Star Wars: Episode VII, even Mark is probably standing outside of one of the sound stages that on the set itself. The crew will start soon production again as it was delayed after Harrison Ford got his accident. Ford is now ready to come back and this picture comes from Bryan Fuller.

But i have more for you with this gorgeous picture released by LucasFilm of R2D2 in its crate - and here is say "gorgeous" referring to the perfect photo quality of the shot. Click on it to see it in full size, you'll see why.

Picture: copyright Bryan Fuller

Marvel Developing a Movie Based on The Inhumans !

Marvel is developing a new movie project based on The Inhumans, a fictional race of superhumans, and apparently the studio has a completed script by Joe Robert Cole ready to go, the next step being to find a director. Actually, not so long ago Marvel had to decide if they wanted to make a Guardians of the Galaxy movie or an Inhumans movie first. They finally choose to do Guardians of the Galaxy first, but The Inhumans might be the next one and be one of the Marvel movies coming out in 2017. More from a report posted by Collider:

"Marvel plans to handle The Inhumans in the same way they handled Guardians of the Galaxy. For those who don’t know, the original draft of Guardians was written by Nicole Perlman, who was part of Marvel’s writing program. That draft then went out to filmmakers. When James Gunn came on board, he added his flavor and details to the story, but the characters, story structure, and beats from Perlman’s draft remained in place. As Adam explained in his recent editorial, directors are brought on board to execute a specific vision."

Collider's source told them that "this movie is part of Marvel not only expanding its list of properties, but actively building a multiple-film cosmic universe."

The Inhumans were created by the Kree in a series of alien experiments they were conducting on primitive homo-sapiens. The Kree ended up abandoning their work, and the Inhumans created went on to form a society of their own. That society is led by the king Black Bolt and his family Medusa, Karnak, Gorgon, Triton, Crystal, Maximus the Mad, and the canine Lockjaw. More info on the Inhumans characters on Wikipedia HERE.

Vin Diesel is rumored to be playing the part of Black Bolt, but Marvel has yet to confirm all this.

Picture: copyright Marvel

New Shanghaî Disneyland Construction Site Pictures !

Stefan Zwanzger - The Theme Park Guy - has posted new pictures of  Shanghaî Disneyland construction site, and these ones are even more close shots than the one he posted three weeks ago! According to Stefan, the picture above shows what is probably the Pirates of Caribbean show building structure. And below, most probably the structure of the big mountain of "Roaring Rapids", the Dinosaurs raft ride of Shanghaî Disneyland Adventure Isle.

The next picture shows the Tron Lightcycles Power Run show building with the outside track which will be later covered by a modern style structure. There is many more Shanghaî Disneyland construction pictures to discover on The Theme Park Guy, so jump right now HERE.

Pictures: copyright The Theme Park Guy

Rare 1993 DLP Official "Les Mystères du Nautilus" Video !

Disneyland Paris put on line recently on its Youtube Channel a vintage short video filmed when the Nautilus opened in 1993, and it includes a short appearance of WDI Imagineer Tom Morris, but not Tim Delaney or Tom Scherman, unfortunately. Anyway, it's probably the only official video that still exist showing the Nautilus as it looked on its opening AND the attack by the giant squid, too, so don't miss it!




By the way, the picture on the top, which is a double page in my Disneyland Paris book  is here in wallpaper format!

Picture and video: copyright Disney

Dates of Every Superhero and Star Wars Movies to be Released up to 2020

The list below shows the release dates of every superhero or Star Wars movies that have been announced in a way or another by the majors - mostly the dates and for some no final title - and which are set to be released all the way through 2020. Not only chances are that we start to be over-saturated with superhero movies but it's also bad news for "mainstream movies" which have so much difficulties to find a distributor in our days...

Actor and Comedian Robin Williams Dies at The Age of 63

Robin Williams, the beloved actor and stand-up comedian died today at 63, most probably by committing suicide. Williams was found unresponsive at his residence in Marin County, California and was pronounced dead at the scene. According to Marin County's coroner's office, the probable cause of death was asphyxiation.

Disney fans will remember Robin for his genius work in voicing Aladdin Genie but Williams fame started with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork & Mindy (1978–1982), Williams went on to establish a successful career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting. His film career included such acclaimed films as The World According to Garp (1982), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990), The Fisher King (1991), and Good Will Hunting (1997), as well as financial successes such as Popeye (1980), Hook (1991), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Night at the Museum (2006), and Happy Feet (2006). He also appeared in the video "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin.

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times, Williams received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Good Will Hunting. He also received two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and five Grammy Awards.

Here are some trailers or clips from some of his most famous movies, starting by Good Morning Vietnam, directed by Barry Levinson...




Dead Poets Society, directed by Peter Weir...




The Fisher King, directed by Terrry Gilliam, with also Jeff Bridges...




Hook, directed by Steven Spielberg...




Mrs Doubtfire, here in a famous cooking scene...




Robin also played in Jumanji...




...as well as Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting with a young Matt Damon, a movie which will bring him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.

And of course Aladdin in which he voiced the Genie character.

I will add one of my favorite, Bicentennial Man, from a 1976 sic-Fi novel by isaac Asimov in which he played an android.

In fact, it's in gratitude for his success with the Disney-produced Touchstone film Good Morning, Vietnam, Williams voiced the Genie in the Disney animated film Aladdin for SAG scale pay ($75,000), on condition that his name or image not be used for marketing, and his (supporting) character not take more than 25% of space on advertising artwork, since Toys was scheduled for release one month after the debut of Aladdin. Additionally, Williams believed the character's voice was his property and did not want it to be imitated.

The studio went back on the deal on both counts, especially in poster art by having the Genie in 25% of the image, but having other major and supporting characters portrayed considerably smaller. Disney's book, Aladdin: The Making Of An Animated Film, listed both of Williams's characters, "The Peddler" and "The Genie", ahead of main characters but was forced to refer to him only as "the actor signed to play the Genie".

Williams and Disney had a bitter falling-out, resulting in Dan Castellaneta voicing the Genie in The Return of Jafar and the Aladdin animated television series. When Jeffrey Katzenberg was fired from Disney and replaced by former 20th Century Fox production head Joe Roth (whose last act for Fox was greenlighting Williams's film Mrs. Doubtfire), Roth arranged for a public apology to Williams by Disney. Williams agreed to perform in Hollywood Pictures's Jack, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and even agreed to voice the Genie again for the King of Thieves sequel (for considerably more than scale), replacing all of Castellaneta's dialogue.

When Williams re-teamed with Doubtfire director Chris Columbus for Touchstone Pictures’ Bicentennial Man in 1999, Disney asked that the budget be cut by approximately $20 million, and when the film was released on Christmas Day, it flopped at the box office. Williams blamed Disney's marketing and the loss of content the film suffered because of the budget cuts. As a result, Williams was again on bad terms with Disney, and Castellaneta was once again recruited to replace him as Genie in the Kingdom Hearts video game series and the House of Mouse TV series. The DVD release for Aladdin has no involvement from Williams in the bonus materials, although some of his original recording sessions can be seen.

Finally, Williams reconciled with The Walt Disney Company and in 2009 agreed to be inducted as a Disney Legend and received from Bob Iger the Disney Legend Award.

Four movies in which he played recently are currently in post-production and will be released soon, starting by Night at The Museum: Secret of the Tomb which will be released this December, in which as usual he plays Theodore Roosevelt! The others are: "Merry Friggin' Christmas," "Boulevard," and "Absolutely Anything".




Williams also did a number of stand-up comedy tours, beginning in the early 1970s. Some of his tours include An Evening With Robin Williams (1982), Robin Williams: At The Met (1986), and Robin Williams LIVE on Broadway (2002). The latter broke many long-held records for a comedy show. In some cases, tickets were sold out within thirty minutes of going on sale.

After a six-year break, in August 2008, Williams announced a new 26-city tour titled "Weapons of Self-Destruction". He said that this was his last chance to make cracks at the expense of the current Bush Administration, but by the time the show was staged, only a few minutes covered that subject. The tour started at the end of September 2009 and concluded in New York on December 3, and was the subject of an HBO special on December 8, 2009. You can see the whole show in the video below!




I will end with Robin Williams participation in a Disney park attraction and something which is less known, and it's about the now extinct DLP Visionarium attraction - aka From time to Time at WDW magic Kingdom.  The Imagineers originally envisioned to give to the Timekeeper robot the face of Robin Williams - i have the rendering of it somewhere but unfortunately i can't find it back - as Robin did the english voice of the character. But for different reasons the Imagineers changed their mind. At the end Timekeeper's face had some reminiscences of Williams face although he didn't looked totally like him.

Robin Williams is now not anymore with us, i send my condolences to his family, and i wish to Robin the very best, wherever he is now. Let's give to Robin Williams the last word with what he said once on the TV program "Inside the Actors Studio," when he was asked, "If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?"
After a joke about a concert including Mozart and Elvis, he added, "to know that there's laughter."

Pictures and videos: copyright Disney, Touchstone

Hong Kong Disneyland Update - Part One : Main Street, Tomorrowland and Iron Man Experience Construction Site

Let's start the week with a great Hong Kong Disneyland update and today we'll have a look at Main Street and HKDL Tomorrowland with the first pictures of Iron Man Experience construction site!

Above and below, Main Street station, and yes, it looks exactly like the one at Disneyland Anaheim!

But if we turn our head on the east side of HKDL Town Square we can't miss the cranes currently in place for the works on the Iron Man Experience land located just behind.

When the pictures were shot the facades of all the east side of Main street were in renovation with printed canvas on all facades. It's probably over by now, but although we've seen before printed canvas on Main Street facades - DLP currently have one on the Boardwalk Candy Palace facade as well as on Main street transportation building as you've seen in my previous DLP updates - it's the first time that i see a Disney park doing this all at one time on an entire side of Main Street.

On our way to Central Plaza let's stop to have a look at the new shop "Victorian Collection" located on the west side, which opened a few months ago. Stuck between the Emporium and Curiosity shop, i'd like to say that it's okay but the truth is that it's an unbelievable mistake, so unbelievable that it's hard to think how HKDL Imagineers did such a mistake. And the sign over the entrance is terrible, too. Eventually it could have worked if it had been smaller, but the goal was to increase the merchandise space, and even smaller i'm not even sure that it would have fit nicely. It's a pity as HKDL Main Street is lovely and they really destroyed the harmony with this new shop coming out from nowhere, just like it had been parachuted and landed between Curiosity and Emporium.

You'll note too on the ceiling the very ugly ventilation pipes... impossible to don't notice them.

Recently they decided to use the shop for Frozen merchandise as you can see on the picture below found on This is Mr B Facebook page, and it's probably the best thing they have to do with this shop.

Okay, let's move to Central Plaza and Tomorrowland. As you can see the sky was blue when the picture was shot, but it won't last as a storm will come soon.

In Tomorrowland, the structures of Starliner Diner and Comet Cafe have been repainted recently and they both have now the same light mauve color. I't's not bad but i'm not totally sure that it was a good idea, personally i preferred when the two restaurants had two different colors.

Nearby, we can see one of Tomorrowland merchandise carts which have been moved to a different area from where they were before to make room for the Iron Marks works.

While we are in Tomorrowland let's have a quick look to the interactive and splash area "UFO Zone" that kids enjoy a lot.

Right behind, it's Autopia and the land for Iron Man Experience is located on the right of Autopia and behind the Buzz Lightyear ride show building. On our way to Autopia HKDL guests notice these themed fences hiding the works behind.

I like a lot HKDL Autopia not only because the cars are electrically powered and make some cool sounds but also because of the vegetation theming. I think they did a real good job to have part of the land where the cars are moving looking like another planet. As you'll see on the pics below the weather had changed in the afternoon and we experienced a storm which lasted two hours during which all rides in Adventureland and the new lands were closed, except Mystic Manor as it is the only one indoor.

Anyone arriving to Autopia boarding room can have a glimpse of what's going on on the right side, where they build Iron Man Experience. At that time they were preparing the ground, so no building yet to see and only cranes or building site machinery.

When you're moving up for the dispatch to Autopia cars they've placed canvases all along the west side to avoid the sight of the works. However, the storm that happened just before these pictures were shot was so powerful that the canvases had all fly all over allowing to enjoy a panoramic sight of the Iron Man construction land. Click on the panoramic picture below to see it in big size, it's three pics put together with  photoshop and it's not perfect but what will amaze you is the size of the land, several hundred meters long.

I remind you that Iron Man Experience is supposed to be a simulator ride - like Star Tours but with a new generation of simulators - but i doubt that they need all this huge land for the Iron Man show building only. I can understand that they need also room for the backstage but seeing this huge space made me wondered if they are in fact preparing the ground not only for Iron Man Experience but eventually to have it also ready for others rides that could be added in the future... we'll see what the future will tell!

O-kay, that's all for today, in a next HKDL update we'll move to others lands to see what's new!

Pictures: copyright Disney and more