All my best wishes for 2017 to all of you, faithful Disney and more readers, and to those you love. Some great new attractions will open this year and i'm sure you can't wait to ride them! Have a great New Year's Eve tonight!
Tyrus Wong, the artist whose drawings of a deer in the forest famously became the inspiration for the look of Disney’s Bambi, has died at 106. Tyrus Wong was a Chinese-born American artist. He was a painter, muralist, ceramicist, lithographer, designer and kite maker.
Tyrus Wong was born in Taishan, Guangdong, China. In 1920, when he was 9 years old, Wong and his father emigrated to the United States, and never again came into contact with his mother and sister. Wong was held on Angel Island initially, due to the Chinese Exclusion Act. He was separated on the island from his father, the only child in sight. "Nine years old, I was scared half to death," he later recalled. After his release from Angel Island, he and his father initially relocated to Sacramento. His father moved the family to Los Angeles.
While attending Benjamin Franklin Junior High in Pasadena, Wong's teachers noticed his artistic ability and he received a summer scholarship at the Otis Art Institute. Wong decided to leave junior high for a full-time studentship at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles.. Wong's father survived on a more modest income, and Wong worked as a janitor at Otis. He walked for miles to attend classes. He graduated from Otis in 1930 and began working in Hollywood.
In 1938 Wong was hired as an “inbetweener” at Walt Disney Studios, drawing sketches of Mickey Mouse. Then, according to the museum: “When he heard that the studio was in pre-production on the feature film Bambi, he went home and painted several pictures of a deer in a forest. The small, but evocative sketches captured the attention of Walt Disney and became the basis for the film’s visual style. Walt Disney saw that Tyrus was able to produce exquisite artwork that did not necessarily look like the forest — but rather, felt like the forest. Walt’s vision for Bambi and use of Tyrus’ work still influences films today.”
Wong was let go by Disney studios shortly after finishing Bambi, due to repercussions from the Disney animators' strike. He then moved to Warner Bros, where he was a concept and story artist with credits including The Sands Of Iwo Jima, Rebel Without A Cause and The Wild Bunch. Later, he designed popular greeting cards for Hallmark, some of his Christmas cards selling over 1 million copies.
He retired in 1968. After retiring in 1968, Wong continued to create colorful kites (usually animals such as pandas, goldfish, or centipedes). He spent his Saturdays flying his creations on the Santa Monica Pier. He was named a Disney Legend in 2001, and in 2013 the Disney Family Museum mounted an exhibition of his work Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong. Some of his well known paintings include Self Portrait (late 1920s), Fire (1939), Reclining Nude(1940s), East (1984) and West (1984). He told an interviewer that he's a "lucky artist."
Wong was featured in Mark Wexler's documentary How to Live Forever, where he discussed his daily lifestyle and his view on mortality, and more recently, in Pamela Tom's documentary Tyrus(2015).
He was married to Ruth Ng Kim , a second-generation Chinese American from a farming family in Bakersfield, California. Ruth worked as a lawyer but became a homemaker after the birth of their children. The couple has three daughters: Kay (born 1938), Tai-ling (born 1941), and Kim (born 1946) and two grandchildren. Wong refers to his daughters as his "greatest achievements. Ruth died on January 12, 1995.
Carrie Fisher, 'Star Wars'' Princess Leia, dies at 60: Actress Carrie Fisher, whose grit and wit made "Star Wars'" Princess Leia an iconic and beloved figure to millions of moviegoers, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. She was 60. Her death was confirmed in a statement issued by the publicist for Billie Lourd, Fisher's daughter. "It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning," Simon Halls said. Fisher's death came four days after she suffered a heart attack on a flight from London to Los Angeles. Full report on CNN HERE and more on D&M Facebook page HERE.
It's Christmas night tonight and, as there shouldn't be any Christmas without a Christmas gift, i've got a great one for you with this series of great high-def wallpaper images for your desktop. The first ones above and below are Shanghaî Disneyland wallpapers which were given to SDL cast-members Grand Opening team, and the others, right after, are Disneyland Star Wars land wallpapers done with the previously released renderings that i'm sure you will love too. Click on each to get them in big size, and Merry Christmas to you all!
And here are the Disneyland Star Wars land wallpaper!
Actress Carrie Fisher - Star Wars Princess Leia - had a cardiac arrest during a flight from London to Los Angeles and was rushed on arrival to UCLA Medical Center in critical condition. More news on the L.A Times website HERE and on CNN HERE. Update: Carrie Fisher was unresponsive as paramedics raced to the gate 74 ... according to emergency dispatch calls to LAX. TMZ obtained the audio, and you can hear HERE LAFD responding to a reported cardiac arrest. Air traffic control coordinated to make sure first responders were ready when the plane pulled into the gate. It also sounds like some of the passengers assisting on flight 935 were nurses. Carrie Fischer is currently in stable condition at UCLA Medical Center.
HKDL guests can now take the HK Star Ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier to Hong Kong Disneyland Resort Pier, probably the coolest way to go to HKDL - for 180 HKD ( 23$ US ) - while enjoying the stunning view of Hong Kong bay! Highly recommended for you next visit at HKDL, instead to take the train, and both last the same time, around 45 minutes. Sail on and soak in the extraordinary view! Even better, you can purchase a promotional package to enjoy the water tour and receive free Disneyland souvenirs plus a refreshment on board. Promotional package details can be found HERE or below. Options exist which include ticket to the park, and even one with afternoon tea or set lunch at HKDL Walt Cafe!
Ticketing
The Star Ferry's Water Tour tickets are sold over the Water Tour ticket counter at the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier on the date of departure on a first-come-first-served basis. No online booking and reservation is currently offered. Please purchase in cash of Hong Kong dollars.
Schedule & Fares
The Star Ferry's Water Tour runs round trip between Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier and the Disneyland Resort Pier in daytime. In the evening, you can join our tour to see all Hong Kong's famous harbour side attractions with the ICC Light Show & Symphony of Lights show.
This ticket is especially for passengers who would like to watch the ICC light & music show and multi-media laser show (A Symphony of Lights) on board. A refreshment coupon is included. The steering route covers the western part of Victoria Harbour and Kai Tak Cruise Terminal.
I have a third Disneyland Paris update for you this week, the last big one before Christmas and may be until the beginning of next year. Max, D&M contributor and DLPWelcome webmaster is back with great night pictures of the newly renovated Frontierland, and more, that i'm sure you're gonna love! So, let's embark aboard the Molly Brown for a cruise along the Rivers of the Far-West at night, would we?
Hey, Max has even shot for you a video of the Molloy Brown cruise at night, isn't it cool?
Let's move to Adventureland at Colonel Hathi's restaurant to have a look at the Audio-Animatronics bird who are back!
It's Christmas time in the park and DLP guest can enjoy the lights of Christmas all along Main Street as soon as night falls!
Max has more for you as we move now to the Walt Disney Studios where a Star Wars projection show will start January 14 with the projections done on the facade of the Tower of Terror. They were doing some tests the other night and Max was there to shoot some pictures, though you'll have to guess what was projected as it is not totally obvious.
As there shouldn't be any Christmas without Christmas gift, make sure to come back on Saturday December 24 as i'll have a cool one for you! Max will be back soon with new pictures of Disneyland Pris so stay tuned on Disney and more! In the meantime here is an IMPORTANT MESSAGE for my french readers, and specifically those who don't own yet the Disneyland Paris book: NOTE IMPORTANTE A L'ATTENTION DE CEUX QUI NE POSSEDENT PAS ENCORE LE LIVRE "DE L'ESQUISSE A LA CREATION": Il reste environ 60 exemplaires de cette édition collector française du livre, qui ne sera pas rééditée car c'était une édition limitée à 2000 exemplaires. En conséquence et compte tenu que l'offre spéciale de Noel court toujours ( voir ci-dessous ) 30 exemplaires ( sur les 60 restant ) peuvent toujours bénéficier de l'offre spéciale de Noel à 60 euros, et les 30 derniers exemplaires seront vendus au prix normal du livre, 100 euros. Il n'y aura donc PAS de nouvelle promotion et je ne saurais que trop conseiller à ceux qui n'ont pas encore le livre de profiter de l'offre de Noel tant qu'il en reste!
Don't miss the Disneyland Paris book Christmas special offer as it's a chance for you to get this acclaimed 320 pages book at the best price ever! You'll hardly find a better Christmas gift for a Disneyland Paris fan so don't miss it as it is the last copies of the book which will not be reprinted! The Christmas offer is for both english update edition or the french collector's edition at 60€ ( + 15€ shipping worldwide ). And that include too a great additional surprise gift! Special note to buyers with a shipping address in Italy or Belgium : For shipments to Belgium or Italy, the shipping cost is 25 €. To place your order please send an email to: neverlandeditions@gmail.com - Please let me know in your email if you want the english or french edition! Important note: shipping takes 3-4 days for France, 10-15 days to European countries, 2 to 3 weeks for countries outside Europe. To make sure you will receive the book on time for Christmas, if you buy it for a Christmas gift, please place your order in the next days, thanks!
You can pay with Paypal bus ending the full amount including shipping to: neverlandeditions@gmail.com or use the Paypal button below. The Paypal button works for both french or english edition but confirm me by email or in your Paypal payment which edition you want ( english or french ). Also note that the Paypal button includes an additional discount for those who want to order 2 or 3 copies instead of one. If you do NOT have a Paypal account you can pay by credit card, or bank transfer, just send me an email about it at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com
Those of you who have never seen the book will find below a video presentation which will show you EACH of the 320 pages of the book AND you can see more pictures on the book website HERE
Although you've probably heard about this beautiful book, many of you may have never seen a copy of it. So we've done a video presentation of the full book which will show you each of the 320 pages of the book! The book includes 750 pictures of the park, including 250 gorgeous renderings of Walt Disney Imagineering and stunning pictures of the park seen from above. The book is so big that it took us seven and a half minutes to show you the full book, and that's without stopping turning each pages! So, if you want to have a closer look at a page don't hesitate to stop the video!