Thursday, September 9, 2010

Alma, a short animated jewel directed...by a Pixar animator !



This week-end i have a animation jewel for you. The animation of this short animated movie called "Alma" is just as good as Pixar's shorts and, although it was not produced by Pixar, there is a good reason for that as Rodrigo Blaas IS animator at Pixar Animation Studios! Back in 2009 Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3 director, was telling to everyone all the good things he thought about "Alma" which tells the story of a little girl attracted by a puppet she see in the window of a toy store, for reasons you will discover, no spoiler.

For Rodrigo Blaas "Alma" was a private animation project done in Spain with his brother Alfonso and other friends. Since 2009 the movie had screenings in many films festivals around the world, won many awards, and almost won the "Goya" - Spain Academy awards - of best animated short this year. Some of you will probably think that the story line and atmosphere of this short animated - with its Art Nouveau and expressionist style - is not that far from Tim Burton's universe and it's not totally wrong but, for me, "Alma" is closer to the Twilight Zone stories. It last less than 5 minutes so you don't have any good alibi to don't watch this little jewel! Go ahead!


Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.



Picture and video: copyright Rodrigo Blaas

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

New Toy Story Playland Videos



Today, new videos of Toy Story Playland! DLP Toy Story Playland press event happened on September 4th and the first video below is an official video released by DLP which include on-ride clips.


Cérémonie d'ouverture de Toy Story Playland
envoyé par dlrpexpress. - L'info video en direct.

This next official video is really interesting as it shows the making of the new land by DLP Imagineers.



Filmed by the excellent DLP Info web site, you'll see on the next video Toy Story Playland with its night lighting as designed by the Imagineers. Don't miss the changing lights on Parachute Drop!



In a previous D&M article i've told you about the "Ratatouille road" located on the right of Toy Story Playland. This last video was filmed on a rainy day by photosmagiques.com and will show you more about this little Parisian street.



Picture: copyright Disney and more

Videos: copyright Disney, DLP Info, Photomagiques

Tokyo Disney Sea 9th Anniversary Tribute



It's Tokyo Disney Sea 9th Anniversary, and to celebrate this event here is a great collection of Tokyo Disney Sea artwork, a tribute to the most beautiful Disney theme park WDI Imagineers ever built.

From opening day, the park has been acclaimed and for a lot of good reasons: the theming is stunning, the story line of each land and the E Tickets are great and i've been told that, for once, WDI Imagineers were asked to add more details instead to have major budget cuts.

I was invited at the grand opening and i still remember someone from the press office telling me: "you know, Alain i don't think we will see again a park like this one before a loooong time". Unfortunately, until now, he was pretty right but if Disney execs have understood the mistakes done at the end of Eisner's era, hopefully we will see another park as beautiful as this one in the future.

Anyway, lt's begin this TDS artwork tribute, beginning by a bird eye view rendering of the whole park, the renderings of Mysterious Island, a pure dream come true for any Jules Verne lover. Also below and from the top:
Rendering of the big ocean ball at the entrance
A rendering of Renaissance fortress and Mysterious island
Rendering of the inside of Mysterious island
A close shot of the inside of Mysterious island
A rendering of the boarding room of the 20000 leagues under the sea attraction
A scene of the 20000 leagues under the sea attraction
Another scene of the 20000 leagues under the sea attraction
A concept-art for the submarines vehicles of the 20000 leagues under the sea attraction
Another concept art for the inside of the submarines vehicles of the 20000 leagues under the sea attraction
A concept art for the steamer boats of the park
A rendering for a scene of the Journey to the center of the earth attraction


As always, click on each picture to see them in bigger size.























Part two of this Tokyo Disney Sea artwork is about the Little Mermaid lagoon, Arabian coast and Lost river delta, including the Indiana Jones adventure.

From the top:
Rendering of the outside coaster of the Little Mermaid lagoon
Rendering of the inside of the Little Mermaid lagoon
Rendering of the outside decor of the Little Mermaid lagoon
Rendering of the Little Mermaid lagoon's restaurant
Rendering of the Arabian coast
Rendering of the inside decor of the Arabian coast
Rendering of the preshow area of Arabian coast magic show
Rendering of the Arabian coast magic show
Rendering of the Indiana Jones adventure pyramid
Rendering of the Lost river delta entrance
Rendering of a scene of the Indiana Jones adventure attraction
Rendering of the Raging spirits attraction
Rendering of another area of Lost river delta



























Part three is about Port Discovery, Mediterranean Harbour and American Waterfront.

From the top:
Bird view rendering of Port Discovery
Rendering of the restaurant area and Tram station of Port Discovery
Rendering of the entrance of Storm rider
Rendering of the Mediterranean Harbour
Sketch for the Venitian gondolas
Rendering of American Waterfront
Rendering of the "Encore" show in the Broadway theatre
Rendering of the Tower of Terror
Sketch of Cape Cod Waterfront
Rendering of the New York harbour
Rendering of the s.s Columbia























Let's end with more artwork and some of them are in "panoramic" size, so double-click on each to enjoy them in big size. Let's begin by the entrance and Mediterranean Harbor and let's have a look to some renderings which served as inspiration for this land. The one below was inspired by the Toscana region, in Italy.



This next one was of course inspired by the famous italian Portofino village.



The artwork below was indeed inspired by Venezia, the city of the Doges!



Here is an artwork inspired by the city of Firenze , and used for the TDS Miracosta hotel.



A great artwork of the beautiful Arabian coast.



Another one, great too, for Lost River Delta.



Here is rendering showing Port Discovery and the Storm Rider entrance.



Let's end by another rare rendering showing the Cape Cod area.



Hope you've enjoyed this Tokyo Disney Sea tribute!

All artwork: copyright Oriental Land Co - Disney - Walt Disney Imagineering

Saturday, September 4, 2010

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 (2 weeks delivery) is 38 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