Disney's Animal Kingdom Original Artwork - Part One

Here is an article that i've promised to you a loooong time ago. It took me some time but this two parts Animal Kingdom original artwork article will show you more WDI renderings you've ever seen about this beautiful park, one of my favorite.

Let's begin with a bird eye view of the whole park. Released at the opening, it's an interesting rendering as we can see the Asia land - not yet build at that time - and most of all, the never built Beastly Kingdom.



let's have a look at the entrance with this first concept-art - a never realised concept.



Here is another early and never realised concept for the entrance by Joe Rhode.



Artist Gerry Dune did also a proposal for the entrance with this rendering.



Here is a Bryan Jowers rendering for the Genesis Gardens.



Joe Rhode did also this Oasis carousel concept, never realised.



Let's move now to the Tree of Life. You have a beautiful rendering at the top and below, a Dan Goozee concept-art.



Another Tree of Life concept by Dave Minichiello.



Here is an early concept for the whole island by Gerry Dunn and Joe Rhode.



Artist Ben Tripp did also this view toward the Tree of Life.



I've also added one or two pictures of models or imagineers at work, and here is one with a WDI imagineer working on the model of the Tree of Life.



Here is a picture of the Discovery Island model.



You may not know it but different concepts were envisioned for the show under the Tree of Life. As we know, the one which was realised is the "It's tough to be a bug" show. Here is a rendering for it.



Artist Bryan Jowers did a concept for a "Wonders of Nature" show...



...And Dave Minichiello did another one for a Lion King character show.



Here is a rendering showing the Creature Comfort shop interior by Karen Conolly Armitage.



On the east of Discovery Island is Camp Mickey, here is two Joe Warren artwork for it.




A Jim Heffron plan for the Pocahontas show theater...



...And a scenic design concept by Joe Warren.



Artist Jim Heffron did this design and elevation for a new bridge.



Let's move to Africa with this view of Harambe by Tom Gilleon.



A great rendering of the Kilimandjaro Safaris savannah by Ben Tripp.



Another view of the savannah and animals by Ned Mueller.



The famous sequence of the suspended bridge.



This Tom Gilleon artwork below is supposed to show Kilimandjaro Safaris, but if you look closer, it shows a raft ride and the temples on the left looks more Asian than African...except if the imagineers did envisioned another raft ride for Africa...



Some artwork for the research station by Mark Shumate.



A great concept-art for the Harambe train station by Zofia Kostyrko.



A rendering of the Wildlife Express train by George McGinnis.



And another one for the Wildlife Express locomotive.



As we know, the train bring the guests to Conservation Station, and here are three renderings showing it.



Always about Conservation Station, another concept-art by Zofia Kostyrko.



Some years after its opening, the Asia land opened at Animal Kingdom. Here is an Asian market concept by Joe Rhode.



A beautiful rendering by Ned Mueller for the tiger overlook.



Also by Ned Mueller, this concept for the grand ballroom.



Kali River Rapids is Animal Kingdom's raft ride, and here is a concept-art by Ned Mueller.



Always by Ned Mueller, this concept-art shows the burning forest sequence of the ride.



Before the Kali River Rapids concept was chosen, other "Asian raft ride" concepts were envisioned. Here are two renderings of these early concepts.




We will end this first part with this Alex Wright artwork for the Kali River Rapids FastPass structure.



Be sure to don't miss the part two of this Animal Kingdom original artwork article next week!

All artwork: copyright Disney - WED Enterprises.

Many thanks to Mark Taft for some of the renderings. I strongly suggest you to have a look on Mark's site Insights and Sounds, it's always interesting with rare pictures or renderings and Mark is posting new articles almost every day!

Some of the renderings you saw in this article are coming from the great "Imagineering Field Guide to Disney's Animal Kingdom" where you will learn all the WDI secrets in the making of the park. You can find it on Amazon.com from only $3.87!

DLP 20th Anniversary : All about Ratatouille dark ride, Star Tours 2 , and more !

With less than two years before Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary it's time for a new update about DLP's future. In two words, here is the program: no Little Mermaid ride - may be and hopefully it will come later, Star Tours 2 most probably coming at Discoveryland, and the highly awaited Ratatouille dark ride is, as we will see, "double confirmed" although not yet officially.

Two words about Star Tours 2, first. Although there is no signs that Star Tours 2 is on schedule for Discoveryland i still put my bets on it mainly because it's pure logic: there is not one good reason that the park won't have it in a very near future. The ride definitely needs a new version to boost the attendance, the cost won't be too high for something which will be almost a new attraction, and it's the less expensive choice for DLP's management for a new ride in the park to celebrate the 20th Anniversary. And we must remember that it's Disneyland Paris park 20th Anniversary - not the one of the Walt Disney Studios. However, as we saw during the 15th, at DLP the Anniversary party don't last only one year but generally at least two. It's a marketing trick to keep guests coming at the park to enjoy what is supposed to be a big Anniversary party and generally it works well. Which means what? It means that Star Tours 2 could be very well scheduled as a "20th Anniversary" attraction not opening in 2012 but...in 2013, which will be already DLP's 21th Anniversary but "officially" always the 20th Anniversary celebration, if you see what i mean.

Whether Star Tours 2 will come or not one thing is sure: the awaited Ratatouille attraction will be THE 20th Anniversary E-Ticket ride. And this time, folks, there is no more doubts about it. Only a worldwide financial break down could have some effect on DLP's management decision to build the ride. The budget - translate: the money needed to build the ride - was approved by the banks early this year and, more important, works have began on the location that DLP Imagineers reserved for this future attraction.

We're going to talk about this but first let's have a look to what we know now for sure about the ride itself. And i'm not talking about rumors here. By the way, the Disney Central Plaza forum - DLP's fans biggest forum - did recently a pretty good résumé of what is non-officially confirmed and it matches perfectly with what i've learned from my own other sources.

As i told you in a previous article the attraction cost should be between 130 and 150 $M which is indeed pretty expensive and there is good reasons for that, i mean good technological reasons: the Ratatouille dark ride will use WDI latest high technology with trackless vehicles thanks to the same LPS technology that Imagineers used on the Winnie the Pooh ride at TDL or in the future and awaited Mystic Manor at HKDL. But there is more as WDS guests will have to wear 3D glasses to enjoy the 3D projection effects that DLP imagineers have designed for the ride. And some of them should be really amazing. Recently an external manufacturer designing a huge steel dome for the ride unintentionally revealed that the dome will be used for projection effect in the Ratatouille dark ride. For sure the 3D scene inside this hemispherical dome should be a pretty immersive experience - see picture below. A trackless 3D ride with projection effects? For some of you it may sounds like the Spiderman ride at IOA and it's interesting to note that part of the technology for the Spidey ride was supposedly brought to Universal years ago by a former WDI Imagineer...no need to say that WDI was not happy...



But the Ratatouille ride at DLP's Walt Disney Studios will be more than a sophisticated ride. In fact it's a whole Parisian area that will be build. From a typical parisian path starting on the right of Toy Story Playland - yes, the big boxes that DLP fans recently noticed with the word "Ratatouille" on the top are full of artifacts to theme this path which will be lay with cobblestones like the one you still can walk on in some of Paris streets. And when WDS guests will arrive in the Ratatouille area they will find not only the attraction itself but a shop, a small plaza, probably a Paris backdrop painting and even eventually rest-rooms all themed in a perfect parisian style. A restaurant would be perfectly logical in a Ratatouille area but nothing is confirmed yet on that one.



Talking about parisian style the queue area of the attraction should be perfectly themed as the queue line decor will put the guests on the rooftops of Paris with breathtaking height feeling, thanks to forced perspective. At least that's how it was envisioned by Imagineers one year ago and if WDI Imagineers didn't changed their plans for the queue decor - which sometime happen to reduce the costs - it should be a perfect introduction to the ride. An interesting fact about the queue area is that it will be designed for a pretty long queue. Don't panic, it doesn't mean that you'll have to wait hours before boarding in the vehicle, but Imagineers who always know how successful will be an attraction can estimate how long the queue might be and theme the queue area on this appraisal. To give you an idea, the queue of WDS Crush Coaster was designed for a 45 minutes queue but the attraction is so successful that the queue always start outside the ride entrance. Without any doubt DLP Imagineers have learned from this and the queue area for Ratatouille should be designed for a longer queue, which means more theming before you board in Ratatouille vehicles, and this is generally good news.

As what will happen during the ride itself, and although the ride is of course inspired by Pixar's movie, as i told you in my article posted in July 2009 it should not be a dark ride which will follow the chronological order of the movie scenes (like Snow White or Pinnochio rides)...but i can tell you that WDS guests should be immersed in some of the movie key scenes.

I told you at the opening that works already began and it's right. And i'm not talking only of the path leading to the Ratatouille area but about the ride location which will be behind the costuming building where until recently stand trees, part of a little wood. As you will see on the pictures below posted recently on the Disney Central Plaza forum most of the trees have been cut and by the end of the summer - or 2010 last quarter - foundations works should begin.







The last question is of course the opening date. As i told you above this 20th Anniversary is the one of the first park but the WDS are such a problem that DLP's second gate have the E-Ticket ride priority. Mind you, it doesn't mean necessarily that the ride will open in April 2012 (i remind you that April 12 is the park's opening anniversary date). Just like they did for the 15th Anniversary when Tower of Terror opened only in December 2007 and not April, the Ratatouille dark ride might open later. Why that you ask? Well, it's mainly an accountancy trick: Disneyland Paris fiscal year always ends in September. Which means that an attraction which opens after September 30th, 2012, will be counted in the 2013 budget and fiscal year. Of course, as it always take two years to build a big E-Ticket part of the budget is spent before the opening of the attraction, but probably a big part - and i'm talking here about WDI's invoice to DLP - is probably paid when the attraction is complete, which by the way would be logical. With an opening at the end of 2012 instead of April 2012 most of the budget will be count in DLP's 2013 fiscal year instead of 2012 fiscal year. And, as there is probably new parade or shows also envisioned for the 20th, not to mention other projects like the big World of Disney store, all of them having a cost, it might have some sense on an accountancy point of view to delay a bit Ratatouille's opening to have a big part of the attraction cost counted on the 2013 budget and fiscal year. My guess is that Ratatouille might open late 2012 if not in April 2013 to boost again the 20th Anniversary celebration. In this case, may be Star Tours 2 might open in 2012 as its cost will be much less expensive than the Ratatouille ride and as it is also difficult to consider a 20th Anniversary without no new attraction at all. But i sincerely hope DLP fans will not have to wait that long if we don't want them to become hysterical!


Thanks to leave a comment or discuss this article on D&M english forum on Mice Chat

Pictures: copyright Disney, Disney Central Plaza

All my thanks to Disney Central Plaza for some of the pictures.

A Selection of Great " Innoventions " , plus IPad Magic Act

Hello everyone. You probably know that i've created some months ago a special blog for the "Innoventions" article - the one i generally post on week-ends on Disney and more. I post regularly new articles on this blog about the latest and interesting inventions. So, for those of you who never go on the Innoventions section - that is to say most of you (!) - here is a best-of of the latest articles. It's not Disney related but don't go away as what you will see are really great "Innoventions". And you even have a great street magic act performed with the new Apple IPad! Let's go for the first one.



Nothing stops progress! Do you own a Tom Tom GPS - you know, this little device that you have in your car with a friendly voice telling you to turn right or left? Well, in exchange of $13 ( or 9,95€ ) it can be the Lord of the Sith himself who will guide you to your destination as Tom Tom just released the Darth Vader voice pack! And if you prefer Yoda, C3PO and Han Solo voices, their voice packs will come in the next months!

In the meantime, have a look at the fun Darth Vader recording session below.




Now, let's talk about the future of transportation. No, it's not a new monorail but this amazing new invention by Honda!



Once again, Honda is creating the future. With the new U3-X Honda rethinks the concept of personal mobility, providing the rider with freedom of movement in any direction forward, backward, sideways and diagonally by simply leaning slightly in the desired direction. The lightweight and compact one-wheeled device also features a foldable seat and retractable footrests. A lithium-ion battery pack provides power for up to one-hour of use and can be recharged by plugging in to a conventional household or office 120-volt power outlet. Have a look to the amazing Honda U3-X on the video below, and i'll meet you after with more technical explanations.




Weighing roughly 22 pounds, U3-X uses an advanced Honda proprietary balance-control system which derives from its research into human walking dynamics for the development of the ASIMO bi-pedal humanoid robot. To realize full freedom of movement in all directions, the U3-X also employs the worlds first omni-directional driving wheel system (Honda Omni Traction Drive System) which utilizes a series of concentrically mounted wheels a larger, forward and backward moving inner wheel and a series of smaller sideways moving outer wheels. Diagonal motion is achieved when both forward and sideways moving wheels operate in tandem.

In addition, the compact size and one-wheel-drive design of U3-X was intended to provide user-friendly and pedestrian-friendly operation with low-mounted foot pedals that make it easy for the rider to reach the ground, and a seat height that places the rider at approximately the same eye-level as other people.



You love your mobile phone whether it's a IPhone, a Nokia or an Android? Well, this next topic will show you how might be the screen of your favorite device in a few years from now.



Sony Corporation announced this week that it developed a super-flexible full color OLED display which can be wrapped around a thin cylinder. The new screen is super-flexible to allow it to be repeatedly rolled up, but it's also sturdy enough to still show images. It has a 4.1-inch full colour screen with a resolution of 432x240 pixels and this was achived due to the development of integration technologies of OTFTs and OLEDs on an ultra-thin 20 μm thick flexible substrate and soft organic insulators for all the insulators in the integration circuit. By combining these technologies, Sony successfully demonstrated the world’s first OLED panel which is capable of reproducing moving images while being repeatly rolled-up – around a cylinder with a radius of 4 mm – and stretched.

Sony has not stated exactly what it will use the new displays for, but it has indicated that they may hit the mobile device market. Indeed, the size of the screen itself supports this, suggesting we may have some kind of rollable screen on smartphones in the near future. This may be used to save space or offer bigger screens on small devices by allowing users to stretch the screen out and roll it up when not in use.




And let's end with a bit of real magic for this Sunday! The great Apple IPad is now released in Europe, but in Japan a street magician performs his latest magic act with Apple's "magical" device! You like Apple AND magic? This video is for you!



You'll find many other great articles on the Innoventions blog!

Youtube video: copyright Tom Tom, Honda, Sony, salarymagican