Saving Mr Banks Premiere at London Film Festival

It was the big day yesterday for "Saving Mr Banks" as the awaited movie in which Tom Hanks plays Walt Disney with Emma Thomson and Colin Farell had its London Premiere during the Closing Night of the 57th BFI London Film Festival at Odeon Leicester Square.

Jump to D&M Facebook page to see more pictures of the London Premiere and today's additional posts!  You can also read two of the first reviews HERE and HERE. 

Interesting Universal patent that could be used for the new Harry Potter Diagon Alley "Gringotts" ride

Screamscape talks about an interesting Universal patent that could be used for the new Harry Potter "Gringotts" ride. Basically, the patent is about creating "a barrier configured to remain transparent after multiple blasts of a flame from a device for generating a flame wherein the flame is blasted proximal to the barrier".

Screamscape add: "The barrier would be placed about 3 feet away from a flame projection effect device on one side, and guests / viewers on the other side. Flame shoot out, hit and are blocked by the invisible barrier as if you were protected by an invisible shield. To act as a thermal barrier and prevent soot from building up from the flames the flame side of the barrier will also be coated by a liquid resin with a conductive material and charged by an electrode to keep the soot from building up."

No need to say that this invention would be perfect for an encounter with the Gringott’s dragon... More news about Diagon Alley on Screamscape HERE and you can see the full patent with more explanations and drawings HERE.  

Also, don't miss my today's additional posts on the D&M Facebook page HERE!

Picture: copyright Universal Studios

Hong Kong Disneyland 2013 Halloween Report

Hong Kong Disneyland Halloween season is running until October 31 and i have great pictures of it for you! New Halloween photo ops have been installed this year starting by this great Chernabog figure - above and below - close to Sleeping Beauty castle.

The "dark force" also expand to Toy Story Land and Grizzly Gulch, with this creepy photo op below of Toy Story's Babyface placed in Toy Story Land.

...While in grizzly Gulch guests can test their luck at Grizzly Gulch Fall Harvest Games.

But as usual it's HKDL which succeed to create the creepiest Halloween theming and this year the park introduced the "Scream no more" challenge, i.e HKDL guests must succeed to go through the different Halloween areas without screaming!

So, let's have a look at these "no screaming" areas, mostly located in Adventureland.

 Let's start our tour by the Graves Academy in which guests can find different scenes...

...The Library scene...

...The Laboratory scene...

...And the Gym room scene...

...While at "Revenge of the Headless Horseman" nearby they come face to face with" the Beeboy being trapped by Spidergirl"...

...or enter the Magician head-off scene.

Another thing pretty cool ( if i can say ) is the Sideshow Carnival Extraordinaire...

Where guests can meet at night creepy creatures on kind-of "freaks" circus trailers with three different colors.

Have a look at the video below showing guests walking through this Sideshow Carnival Extraordinaire.




In Main Street U.S.A, just like last year, the Vampire Coven and the Werewolves Tribe, two emerging forces of evil, are stirring up an intense clash to determine who will be the ultimate leader of the darkness that permeates every corner of the Park.

But it's also there that guests can enjoy the always popular HKDL Halloween parade.



Here is the video of this year's Halloween Parade.




And, last but not least, in HKDL Tomorrowland guests can enjoy another Halloween special on the Halloween stage.

Mickey and his friends welcome you for HKDL Halloween until October 31st...

..And make sure to don't miss the Halloween merchandise!

If you haven't downloaded it yet, my HKDL application with more than 200 gorgeous high-res pictures is always available on the iTunes Store - click on the picture below!



Also, don't miss my today's additional posts on the D&M Facebook page HERE!

Pictures : copyright Disney

Space Mountain Graphic Novel to be Released May 2014

Believe it or not but a 176 pages graphic novel inspired by Disneyland beloved attraction Space Mountain will be released May 2014. The graphic novel will be written by Spider-Man writer Bryan Q. Miller and illustrated by Batman artist Kelley Jones and Hi-Fi Design. 

Space Mountain story is described as "the story of two kids, a miniature flying saucer and dangerous mission twenty-four hours into a twisted tomorrow." Here is the synopsis: The year is 2125 and the Magellan Science Academy has given two lucky cadets ‘golden tickets’ to join a team of space explorers on a special field trip to journey 24 hours into the future. But when their mission goes unexpectedly wrong, the two kids must band together with a miniature flying saucer sidekick to save themselves and their crew — and return to Space Mountain — before time runs out and the universe is destroyed!

Space Mountain, is currently available for pre-order HERE , will be available on May 6, 2014 in both hardcover and paperback editions, and is the first of a trilogy with "Return to Space Mountain" to be released in 2015 and "Battle for Space Mountain" in 2016.

Pictures: copyright Disney Publishing

DL and WDW Merchandise Dept Finally Release Attraction Posters Calendar

It took them almost sixty years to release a DL or WDW calendar with Disney parks attraction posters but DL and WDW merchandise dept finally had the good idea to do it.

For each month of the year you'll find a selection of twelve different attraction posters and the good news is that each of them are 12" x 18" ( 30 cm x 45 cm ) and can be removed from the calendar if you wish to frame them!

You can see on the picture above which posters have been chosen for each park and if you don't live in South Cal or Florida chances are that you can order them through DL or WDW mail order service.

Pictures: copyright Disney

Shanghaî Disneyland Goes "Vertical" With the Installation of the First Steel Column !

More news about Shanghaî Disneyland construction as the building of the Shanghai Disney Resort saw a milestone Thursday with the installation of the first steel column. This marks the completion of the majority of the foundation work and the official beginning of the vertical construction, said Howard Brown, senior vice president and project development executive of Shanghai Disney Resort.

"The construction team has been working very hard at the build site since groundbreaking and we are excited to see the progress every day," Brown said. With the majority of foundation work complete, work has shifted to substructure construction to support the construction of buildings and infrastructure, the company said.

Over 23,000 concrete piles have been installed, and the amount of structural steel needed for the overall resort could reach 72,000 metrics tons, Disney said. The resort will initially include Shanghai Disneyland, a Magic Kingdom-style park, two themed hotels, a large retail, dining and entertainment venue, recreational facilities, a lake and parking and transportation hubs, the company said.

"This is a really exciting moment for everyone working on this project, and for Shanghai," said Mike Crawford, general manager of Shanghai Disney Resort. The resort is scheduled to open at the end of 2015." 

This first steel column as you'll see on the video below was even "signed" to commemorate the event so i suppose it's now a "collector"!


 

Pictures: copyright Disney - Shendi

"Glow With the Show" Ears Debut at WDW Disney's Hollywood Studios Fantasmic!

So, last night, these "Glow with the show" ears were introduced at WDW Disney's Hollywood Studios' Fantasmic! show - and will also debut this Saturday at WDW Magic Kingdom "Celebrate the Magic" nighttime projection show and "Wishes" fireworks.

Is it really a good idea or is it the prototype of the right wrong idea? Personally and although i know that these "ears" technology works well i think it's a right wrong idea - except for Disney of course as it brings some cash in. Why? Because the lighting and projection effects of the shows were not designed with these glowing ears in mind. And if you're not in the first row but far behind you now have all these glowing ears in front of your eyes and i'm pretty sure that it spoils the concentration on the show itself.

I may be wrong and i know that audiences can like easily anything which shine - or in this case, glow - but as they say everything which shine is not necessary "gold". That said, have a look at the video below to see by yourself how it looks with the DHS Fantasmic show.




Picture and video: copyright DIsney