Gorgeous eFX Nautilus Replica now available for pre-order !

Visitors of the 2009 Comicon and D23 Expo were amazed by the new and gorgeous 4 foot long Nautilus replica produced by eFX, and i've previously show you some pictures of it and now eFX is taking pre-orders for this highly awaited Nautilus replica to be released in May!

eFX is also designing other Disney replicas as you will read in the official press release below. The pictures that i post today are official pictures from eFX, but two things will change - for the better - in the final version: first, the battery box with a cable that you can see under the Nautilus - needed for the lights inside the submarine - will be located inside the Nautilus, and, two, there will be a new design for the stand inspired by an architecture element of Nemo's Grand Salon.



Price of this stunning replica is $1799 and there is a possibility to pay the amount in four times, you'll get all details on the eFX web site.

I am a huge fan of Harper Goff's Nautilus, so of course i welcome this new limited edition replica, the best i've seen so far. And now, here is the press release with all details on this "ultimate" Nautilus. You can see additional pictures shoot at D23 Expo by Andy Castro HERE. And also on the eFX web site three pages of great pictures of the making-of of this replica by Scott Brodeen.




Ordering Begins Thursday for Capt. Nemo’s Nautilus, Inspired by Disney’s Classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

BURBANK, Calif. (December 7, 2009) – Disney fans will soon be able to add an element of epic adventure to their collections: On Thursday, December 10, eFX Inc. begins accepting orders at www.efxcollectibles.com for its eye-popping, four-foot replica of Capt. Nemo’s Nautilus, inspired by Disney’s 1954 live-action version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Shipping is anticipated to take place in spring 2010 for the Nautilus, the first of three incredible replicas offered in eFX’s new Disney line. The Nautilus is priced at $1,799, and payments can be made in four installments. Full ordering and shipping details are available at www.efxcollectibles.com.



This four-foot replica of the Nautilus offers features not incorporated in any previous model of the iconic submarine. Produced at approximately 1/45th scale, the replica features finely detailed interior views of the wheelhouse and Capt. Nemo’s salon, as well as LED lights to illuminate those rooms as well as the circular salon observation window.



In addition to a removable skiff, the Nautilus incorporates a freely rotating propeller and pivoting rudder, and includes a custom display stand. Each Nautilus will have a numbered plaque and certificate of authenticity, and production will be strictly limited to 500 pieces worldwide.

The Nautilus is the first of three Disney collectibles that eFX has created to launch its Disney line. Two additional replicas will be available for ordering in the next several weeks:
The exquisite Heart Box inspired by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which sits on an elaborate, museum-quality display base featuring two sculptures by renowned artist David Kracov;



An 18-inch-tall “photo puppet” replica of the Muppets’ Rizzo the Rat, complete with letterman’s jacket and baseball cap.



Prices for these two pieces are being finalized, and eFX expects to begin accepting orders for them by the end of the year.

“The feedback we received when we previewed these pieces at Comic-Con and the D23 Expo was fantastic, and we’ve many inquiries asking when fans could order these new Disney collectibles, so we’re really happy to be entering the production phase,” said Bryan Ono, president of eFX Inc.
Orders for eFX’s Nautilus can be placed at www.efxcollectibles.com. For complete details of the products, the ordering process and shipping information, visit the eFX Inc. website.



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Pictures: copyright eFX collectibles or Andy Castro

Want to build a Toon Town replica in your backyard ? Then check this Ebay auction to get the 768 blueprints !

It's always interesting to have a look on Ebay. Last week i typed "Disneyland Blueprint" as key word and have the surprise to discover that quite a lot were on sale.

If you're a fan of Indiana Jones Adventure two blueprints showing the Chamber of Destiny...



...and the Hall of Promise, both with interesting technical details, were on sale HERE.



The auction for the Indy blueprints has ended but another auction, much more interesting is still going on and the seller is offering nothing less than 768 Toon Town blueprints, in two words: all WDI blueprints for this beloved Disneyland land! So, if you've ever dreamed to build a Toon Town replica in your backyard - and have the funds and enough land available - this Ebay auction is the one you were waiting for!

According to the description text the seller "got them from a contractor who lost the bid and so these were never used. You could actually reconstruct Toontown with these". Sure, no doubt about that. The 768 different blueprints are "in mint or near mint condition, nearly two decades old" and the weight "is about 150 lbs". Don't ask me the shipping price, but the "buy it now" price is...$25.000! However, the seller who is not totally insane also propose a "make offer" option so if one of you is interested you can indeed make an offer, and the Ebay auction page is HERE. Below and on the top some pictures of these Toon Town blueprints.











You can find on ebay others - and more affordable - Disneyland blueprints HERE.


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Pictures: copyright Disney Enterprises Inc
EBay auction pics by thursdays.child

Disneyland Paris marketing campaign for New Generation Festival

We had a look yesterday at the "New Generation" TV Ad but DLP is doing a unusual marketing campaign for the 2010 season. But first let's have a look to the advertising visuals that will be soon on Paris walls or french magazines.

So far there is three different visuals, only in french, and all using "new generation" characters. As you can see the characters are all coming down in parachutes and it's of course a reference to the parachute drop ride that will be part of Toy Story Playland opening next summer.





Then they've released recently a New Generation Festival trailer - a different one, that you can see below...




And some days ago it was the TV Ad that you saw yesterday in my previous article. Another shorter version of the TV Ad have some special 3D animation showing characters from the Incredibles which are not in yesterday's version...




But DLP marketing is doing more than they do usually as New Generation characters are also invading famous french TV shows! This time they don't use animation but characters like one can see in the parks - i.e cast-members inside a character costume. The first one was Mr Incredible who appeared in the evening weather report!..




Then it was the turn of Woody and Jessie in a reality show quite dumb but popular called "The farm celebrities"...




And finally Mike and Sulley arrived in another show called "An almost perfect dinner"...




By choosing another way than the traditional TV Ads what DLP is doing is pretty smart and let's hope it will be successful for the new season!


Pictures and videos: copyright Disneyland Paris

At last , Tron Legacy Trailer !

The highly awaited Tron Legacy trailer was released in U.S theatres playing Alice in Wonderland and is now available online! Here it is below. Enjoy!




Picture and video: copyright Disney

Shanghai Disneyland won't open before 2015 at the earliest ?

Trading Markets reports a declaration of Shanghai mayor: "It may take five to six years for U.S. entertainment giant Walt Disney Co. to complete its Shanghai Disneyland theme park, pushing the opening to 2015 at the earliest, Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said at the National People's Congress here.

The first phase of the park itself will be located on a 1.16-sq. -kilometer tract. The entire site is 3.9 sq. kilometers, with the remaining 2 .74 sq. kilometers slated for commercial facilities and parking."

Disneyland Paris " New Generation Festival " TV Ad

Disneyland Paris did a nice TV ad for the upcoming New Generation Festival. I remind you that the year-long new generation festival will kick off 2 April and will continue through March 2011 with character experiences in both Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios. Princess Tiana to Buzz Lightyear, Remy, Stitch and Sulley, all the newest generation of Disney’s Characters arrives in shows and parades and next Summer, the all-new Toy Story Playland premieres at Walt Disney Studios with three interactive attractions inspired from Toy Story.



Putting the newest stars in the spotlight, Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from Princess and the Frog will join the “Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade” in Disneyland Park, and Ratatouille characters Remy and Emile ride in an all-new car during the “Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars” cavalcade at Walt Disney Studios. Mickey Mouse is also part of the festivities, dancing and singing daily with the new generation characters in an extravaganza “Disney showtime spectacular” on Central Plaza Stage in Disneyland Park, while Minnie will be on board the “Disney All Stars Express”.



At certain times in the Walt Disney Studios, everyone will get permission to be as loud as monster-possible, and screams will fill the air several times daily at “Monsters Inc. Scream Academy” where Sulley will encourage guests to break the decibel meter.

At the new Toy Story Playland at Walt Disney Studios, Buzz Lightyear will invite guests into Andy’s “back yard” to be shrunk to the scale of toys on an enormous playground, with plenty of interactive fun and photo opportunities.

Toy Story Playland includes three all-new attractions:
• Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop, simulating a dive from the sky with Andy’s Green Army Men
• the family-friendly Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin, a whimsical coaster attraction
• RC Racer, featuring a 25-meter half pipe on a U-shaped race circuit.



The TV Ad include in live action 2D animation from WDA as well as 3D animation from Pixar Studios. We can see not only characters from the "new generation" - pictures above - but also some from the old one meeting "new" characters like Cinderella and Lighting McQueen...





...or a fun sequence with Sulley landing in parachute inside Snow White and Seven Dwarfs cottage right when the witch is arriving...





Interesting too is the making of the movie. Directed by Motion Theory Studios at Hollywood, more than 100 extras were part of the shooting and 30 different animations either from Walt Disney Animation or Pixar were done for the Ad.

Matthew Cullen, the director, shoot essentially at the Disneyland Resort in California with some shots of DLP digitally integrated. On the picture below the crew is filming on DCA Hollywood Boulevard...





...but other scenes were filmed inside like the shots with the RC Racer.



The result is quite fun, if not odd, as what we can see of the DLP parks in the TV Ad is a mix of shots of Disneyland in Anaheim with DLP castle! (picture below) In two words, it shows a park which doesn't exist! Also, if you look at the top picture of this article you'll see that Toy Story Playland rides are not at the Walt Disney Studios where they are currently built but at the Disneyland Paris park!



As i suppose you're now curious to see this TV Ad, here it is, and let me know in the comments what you think about it!




Part two of this article about DLP New Generation is now online HERE.

Don't forget to check my Dsneyland Paris book offer below, it's a fantastic book, you'll love it!


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Pictures and video: copyright Disney - Disneyland Paris

Looking for a great Disney book ? Then, the Disneyland Paris book is the perfect gift for any Disney fan !

If you're looking for a great gift to offer to anyone you love - including you! - my "Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality" book with its 320 pages and 750 pictures - including 250 renderings from Walt Disney Imagineering - would be a GREAT gift for any Disney fan!

I still have copies of the book, and, as i am one of the two authors of the book, each copy will be sign specially for you or anyone you wish. Of course, don't forget to tell me the name to whom you wish i dedicate the book.

An important note before i go further: If you're not in a rush to get the book, choose the flat shipping option (also indicated below) which usually takes between 3 to 6 weeks delivery (depending if you're living in Europe or in the U.S) and is also much less expensive.

And now, here is a description of the book and everything you need to know to order one of the last signed copy of this beautiful book. Please note that NO re-printing of the book is scheduled, and these last available copies may be the REAL last one!


IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE ENGLISH EDITION OF THE BOOK WITH THE TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Price for one copy of the english updated edition is 87 Euros

About the shipping:

IF YOU'RE NOT IN A HURRY TO GET THE BOOK: Flat shipping (4-5 weeks delivery) is 15 euros.

IF YOU'RE IN A HURRY TO GET THE BOOK: Air-mail shipping (3 weeks delivery) is 25 Euros.

If you have a Paypal account you can proceed to the payment by paypal - paypal payment including your choice of shipping must be sent to the email adress: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr

Important: Note that the price is in Euros, not in U.S $, so you have to choose the "euro" currency when you do the paypal payment.

If you don't have a Paypal account, a bank wire transfert is possible, just let me know.

And, of course, thanks to confirm me your order and payment AND the shipping adress by email at the email adress: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr


PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR NOW I DON'T HAVE ANY MORE COPIES OF THE FRENCH EDITION, SORRY. IF YOU STILL WISH A FRENCH COPY? PLEASE LET ME KNOW? I'LL TRY TO FIND A COPY FOR YOU.

As i am the one who designed the book, i'm not really at the good place to send compliments about it, but if you are a reader who already own the book, please leave a comment at the end of the article to let other readers know what you think about it.
Previous comments can be read at the bottom of this page where the article below was previously posted.

So, here is a little description of the book, now - See below some pictures of the book pages - click on each of them to see the photo-montage pictures in big size.



The book is a gorgeous "coffee table book" with 320 pages and 750 pictures - of which 500 are park and attractions photos and 250 are Walt Disney Imagineering renderings!

The size is 9 x 12 inches, all pages are in color and it's hardbound with a glossy dust jacket. The text (by Disney historian Didier Ghez), was written after more than 75 interviews he conducted with all the Imagineers who created the park. He goes into just about everything you wanted to know about this unique place that many describe as the best "Magic Kingdom" ever created by WDI.

It took five years to create the book, but it was worth all the time we spent on it, and the book looks just as good as we had hoped for at the beginning - in fact Imagineer Bruce Gordon told us that it was "probably the best book ever done on a Disney theme park". Coming from Bruce who did with David Mumford the great "Disneyland, The Nickel Tour" book, it was more than a compliment.

The first chapter about Main Street has 52 pages and introduces the reader to the "legend" of Main Street, USA. You'll learn all about the Disneyland Paris Railroad, the unique "Discovery" and "Liberty" Arcades; find out about the architecture, the restaurants (like "Walt's," a tribute to Walt Disney, but also inspired by Club 33 in Anaheim) and the shops; with dozens of photos, renderings, models, and reproduced for the first time here, all the "cities of the future" posters located in "Discovery Arcade."



The second chapter on Frontierland discusses the park's western side with extensive sections about its major attractions, "Big Thunder Mountain" and "Phantom Manor." In fact the book has the longest sections ever put together in a book on all the major attractions. The Pirates of Caribbean section in the Adventureland chapter is 26 pages, Phantom Manor has 16 pages devoted to it, as does Space Mountain, it's a small world, etc. The photo material was so great that we kept adding more pages to the book, which was supposed to have only 240 pages when we started... we ended up with 320 upon completion!



The Frontierland chapter also covers the Mark Twain, the River Rogue Keelboats, Fort Comstock, all the restaurants, the shops and Cottonwood Creek Ranch.and featuring stunning photos of Disneyland Paris from the air by Yann Arthus Bertrand, author of The Earth from Above that make spectacular "double-pages," and allow the reader to discover the park from a whole different angle.



The Adventureland chapter is even more interesting, as many elements of the land exist only in Paris - such as the Bazaar and Aladdin to Africa and the ex-"Explorer's Club." Plus there's a long section about "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril," "Adventure Isle" and "The Swiss Robinson Treehouse" and, of course, "Pirates of Caribbean" the land's major attraction and featuring its amazing Audio-Animatronics! All in all there are 56 full pages about Adventureland, and as in the previous chapters, there are dozens of photos, lots of concept art, and many shots of Imagineers at work. There's even a great bonus here, with the Marc Davis artwork for "Pirates" also included.



56 full pages are also dedicated to Fantasyland. There's an extensive look at Sleeping Beauty Castle, sections on all the dark rides (Snow White, Peter Pan and Pinocchio), as well as a look at "Alice's Curious Labyrinth," the "Mad Hatter's Tea Cups," "Storybookland," and "Casey Jr." There are even 14 pages about "it's a small world" with stunning photos of nearly all the scenes in it. Here the reader can discover a new attraction that exists only at Disneyland Paris, with a great view from above of Alice's Labyrinth.

Discoveryland also gets 52 pages of special treatment, with sections on the Visionarium, the Nautilus, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and everything you wanted to know about the other attractions in this land – Autopia and Orbitron. In fact the Nautilus chapter takes you on a visit with photos of every room of this detailed walk-through and two double page photo spreads, one which makes you feel you're inside Captain Nemo's grand salon, and the other showing you a unique view of Discoveyland featuring the Nautilus and Space Mountain in a kind of "CinemaScope" view.



When the book was released in early 2002, the Walt Disney Studios didn't exist, so you won't see them in the book. But there's still one last chapter about the hotels of the park, and Disney Village too, with the great Buffalo Bill Wild West show that entertains hundreds each evening.

And because every day in a Magic Kingdom should end with a parade and fireworks, we have the Main Street Electrical Parade that close the book, with an Herb Ryman gorgeous painting!



Pictures: copyright Disney