Tired to wait for Star Tours 2 opening ? There is an App for that !

Tired to wait for the Star Tours 2 opening? Then download on your IPhone the new Star Wars App game called Star Wars Arcade Falcon Gunner which will transform YOUR environment in an epic battleground against the forces of the Empire.

In this new game developed by Vertigore Games you're the Millenium Falcon gunner desperately trying to shoot the TIE fighters. BUT - and this is the great idea - the app will use the camera of your IPhone to introduce augmented reality in the game. In two words: the background image of the game is what your IPhone camera see. The augmented reality takes your surroundings and sticks them outside your Millenium Falcon. Whether it's the New York skyline or a parking lot, you'll be able to blast TIE Fighters out of the sky as if they were invading right now, in our galaxy. The game also features other great moments from the Star Wars universe like the escape from the Death Star, the Battle of Hoth and you even have the option of switching between rendered backgrounds and augmented reality scenery from your device's camera.

Have a look at the test video below and here is the ITunes link for those of you interested to download the app!



Picture and Video: Copyright Lucas Film

Former Pleasure Island area will become Hyperion Wharf

The former Pleasure Island area will soon become Hyperion Wharf". No more adventurer's Club, unfortunately... More details about all this in the WDW press release...and the renderings! And if the new design reminds you DCA Paradise Pier area may be it's not a coincidence...

Vibrant Waterfront District Among Plans for Downtown Disney

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Nov. 18, 2010) – Work will soon begin on a completely re-imagined Pleasure Island and other one-of-a-kind experiences as Walt Disney World Resort continues to bring new stories to life at Downtown Disney. Combined, the projects are expected to create an estimated 1,200 new jobs over the next three years.

“We have made great progress since first announcing our vision to bring new shopping, dining and entertainment experiences to Downtown Disney, many of which can’t be found anywhere else and have already become guest favorites,” said Keith Bradford, vice president of Downtown Disney. “We look forward to providing even more ways for our guests to enjoy Downtown Disney, while at the same time creating new jobs for Central Floridians.”

A nostalgic yet modern take on an early 20th century port city and amusement pier will evolve Pleasure Island into “Hyperion Wharf.” By day, the bustling port district will draw guests in with its stylish boutiques and innovative restaurants and by night, thousands of lights will transform the area into an electric wonderland.



Taking its name from Hyperion, the Greek god of light, as well as the street on which Walt Disney built his first major animation studio, the wharf district also will feature a relaxing lakeside park and enhanced pedestrian walkways. Its diverse eateries will expand dining availability at Downtown Disney by more than 25 percent.

“Hyperion Wharf will offer guests of all ages a vibrant atmosphere and new experiences that can be enjoyed by day or by night,” said Bradford. “Whether looking for a great place to dine with the whole family or a place to relax and enjoy live music, Hyperion Wharf will provide the perfect setting for guests to make new memories with us.”



In addition to the new wharf district, numerous other projects are underway at Downtown Disney, including:

· an extensive renovation of Lego Imagination Center, which will increase its overall footprint by nearly 3,500 square-feet and add new Lego exterior models featuring scenes from classic Disney movies;
· enhancements at AMC that will take the movie-going experience at Downtown Disney to the next level with new digital technology, a paradigm-shifting Concession Stand of the Future and Florida’s first Fork & Screen Theater; and
· numerous new or renovated retail shops and merchandise vignettes, as well as additional atmosphere entertainment, throughout Downtown Disney.

Pictures: copyright Disney

Cars 2 - First Trailer and High-res Pictures

Disney released today the Cars 2 first trailer which looks exciting. You'll find it below in the american and french version but, before, new high-res pics which will also do great wallpaper pictures for you desktop if you're a Cars fan.



Below Lightning McQueen and a new female Cars character in the Tokyo scenes.





On the next picture Finn McMissile - the british secret service character - which will have the voice of the great Michael Caine.



The two Cars on the picture below looks like the bad guys of the movie, and yes they are!



A last picture with two Hench cars.



Here is the american trailer and i remind you that the music score is written this time by Michael Giacchino which is probably a very good choice considering the "James Bond" style of the movie.




And for my french readers here is the french version of the trailer. You'll note that they are not totally the same and that the one above include few more shots of the movie.




While we talk about Cars, i'd like to let you know that the Cars Toon Dvd and Blu-Ray - as well as the Toy Story 3 - are now released. The Cars toon is definitely great an include NEW and hilarious Mater Tall Tales including "Mater on the Moon" or "Mater private eye" a tribute to Humphrey Bogart and Roman Polanski's Chinatown. You can find these great Dvds on the Disney and more Amazon Store HERE!



Pictures and videos: copyright Disney-Pixar

Filming 20000 Leagues under the Sea - A 1954 LIFE Magazine Special Report

Back in 1954 the great LIFE magazine photographers were everywhere, even under water as you will see with this rare LIFE special report on the filming of 20000 Leagues under the Sea in the Bahamas.

Above, the great February 22, 1954 LIFE issue cover. Below Director Richard Fleischer poses in one of the famous Nautilus crewmen diving suits.



This next pictures shows the shooting of the underwater funeral procession while a scene coordinator hovers above them. The actors had to wait four weeks to shoot the scene because bad weather made the depths too murky.



Below, propmen drag a 400 pound net of Bahama Crayfish for one of the movie's sequence.



On the picture below a scene coordinator writes instructions to one of the actors using a grease crayon.



On the next picture the propmen releases off-camera off-camera groupers purchased at a fish market - note on the left Captain Nemo's crewmen.



Below, another propmen waits for the proper moment in the scene to release two more crayfish into view of the camera.



On the picture below, cameramen use an underwater camera scatfold to shoot a scene from afar while a safety coordinator watches for emergency hand signals from the actor-divers.



Below, actors playing Captain Nemo's crewmen use four-pronged pitchforks to "harvest seaweed" as a propman passes them a net they need for the scene.



On the next picture former Navy master diver Fred Zendar, the underwater coordinator, directs 20000 Leagues cameraman - note how big were underwater cameras in those days.



Below, an underwater propman carries a 9-foot wooden wrench which will be used in the scene where the Nautilus crewmen leave the submarine to repair a crippled propeller.



Salvage man Frank Higgins takes an underwater nap. As the only member of the team whose suit had surface air-lines and a built-in telephone Higgins was underwater for most of the day and had to grab rest whenever he could.



Director Richard Fleisher, coordinator Zendar and chief cameraman Till Gabani hold a meeting above water to discuss changes in the shooting plans.



On this last picture LIFE movie editor Mary Leatherbee covering the story in scuba gear.



Pictures and captions: copyright LIFE magazine.

Prep and Landing - Full Movie

Jim Hill did today an interesting article about the new Prep and Landing short animated to be aired December 7th. He also talks about the upcoming sequel to the first part which will be released in 2011. And this reminded me that i've never watched the first Prep and Landing as it has not been released yet on dvd or aired on European TV channels. May be it was on the European Disney Channel but as i don't spend my time watching it i missed it anyway.

Considering that the first Prep and Landing was released one year ago i thought that it should be possible to find it on internet and i was right. As i won't be surprised if some of you living outside the U.S have never watched, just like me, this animated jewel who won an Emmy Award here it is below. And then, don't forget to have a look at Jim Hill's article to learn more about the upcoming sequels.




Video: copyright Disney

Editor's Note: Have a look in the future! I've posted a new article on my Innoventions blog which will show you some new incredible displays developped by Samsung. Also, you and I might never go in outer space but an amazing video will show you that your IPhone can!

D&M Exclusive: The Michael Jackson's Peter Pan's Neverland Theme Park that never was

Unless you live on another planet, you probably know that last week was another "Michael Jackson week". The "This Is it" documentary and CD album were released and a major Michael Jackson exhibition opened last Tuesday in London. I thought it would be the perfect time to introduce to you one of Michael's most secret - and really fantastic - projects: the Peter Pan's Neverland theme park that never was.

Let's first go back in time to 1997, when Michael Jackson and Prince Al-Waleed - Disneyland Paris' biggest private stock-holder - created a company called Kingdom Entertainment and purchased 50% of Landmark Entertainment, giving the company a huge infusion of cash. Prince Al-Waleed had 45% and Michael had 5% of the shares. I remind you that Landmark is the famous company directed by Gary Goddard which created the Spider-Man ride at IOA and the Jurassic Park and Terminator 3D attractions at Universal Studios.



Above and video below: Michael Jackson and Prince Al Waleed during the 1996 press conference announcing the creation of Kingdom Entertainment Co.




So, what had to happen happened, Michael asked Landmark if they could design a theme park, a real one, not only for him but a park where anybody could go, just like Disneyland. And this theme park would have been named Peter Pan's Neverland! Here is a bird's eye view of the park - please double-click on the image below to see it in big size.



This first concept is amazing, isn't it? Fully inspired from Peter Pan's story, the park would have started with a grand London entrance, as you can see on the artwork below.



A replica of Kensington Gardens, where anyone can see the famous Peter Pan statue, as well as Big Ben and the House of Parliaments in the background, not to mention horse guards at the entrance, all of which would have set a stunning replica of the Victorian city.



Here is another artwork showing this entrance by Greg Pro.



From that point guests were supposed to go to Neverland Island, and Landmark designers had designed two different way to go there, both of which were attractions. The first one, which would definitely have been an E-Ticket attraction, was... to fly to Neverland! As you can see on the artwork below, the take-of was over London, with a fly over Big Ben and other famous London landmarks like the Tower Bridge (note that on the artwork Big Ben and the Tower Bridge are close together but two miles separate them in reality) and then, lead by Tinkerbell, they would fly all over Neverland, the Mermaid Lagoon and Skull Rock and finally land near the Lost Boys home and woods.



And how would Landmark have achieved this wonder, you ask? First, no, the ride was not designed like Soarin' over California - which, by the way, was not built at that time. Instead, guests would have sat on a platform which would have turned down on a 50 degrees angle, a bit less than on the "flying" coasters, and the movie would have been projected on a huge Omnimax dome located under the platform, giving to the guests the illusion of flying over London and Neverland! What a great ride it would have been!

The other way to reach Neverland would have been by boat. During this short boat ride the boat would have go through mysterious caves before arriving to Neverland Island with its lush vegetation and waterfalls.

Once at Neverland, guests would have had the choice of six different areas:

"Lost Boys area" would have been a fun play area for young kids with slides, jumping fountains, a tree house but also a great roller-coaster with tracks going all over the land.



In "Mermaid Lagoon" guests would have had the choice between a boat ride going through Neverland Island caves or to enjoy a meal at a beautiful restaurant located underground with a huge window looking towards the lagoon where a Mermaid show was envisioned. Close to Mermaid Lagoon, the "Indian Village" would have been another area of Neverland where a raft ride was envisioned.



On the other side of the huge Neverland rock, guests would have find "Pixie Kingdom", a great area for young children with giant mushrooms playground and re-themed carnival rides.



Another major area - not so far from Pixie Kingdom - would have been the Pirates village with Skull Rock nearby as well as Captain Hook's ship.



It's there where guests could have watch a great live action show, including a flying Peter Pan fighting his eternal ennemy, Captain Hook. And of course the Crocodile was part of the show.



You may also have noticed that in this first concept three hotels were envisioned: a London hotel, a "Pirate's Cove" hotel and a "Lost Boys Tree top" Hotel. As we will see now, the project had significant changes in its final version.

This next document below is another map of the Peter Pan's Neverland park, actually it's the conceptual master plan. Drawn May 24, 1999 at a scale of 1" = 60' it shows a more advanced project with new attractions and also backstage facilities. Let's have a look again at the whole park to see the differences with the first concept.



First, the three hotels are gone, instead we have one big hotel facing the lake of the London Town area. Located near the entrance, a bit like the Disneyland Paris Hotel it would have allowed the hotel guests to have a unique view on the Neverland park.

In the London Town area, always located at the entrance, Big Ben is still there, but a replica of London's famous Tower Bridge was added. Also, a bigger Kensington Gardens at the entrance and a music hall dinner show in one of the main building on the right.
Inside the House of Parliament replica, a new show: "Salute to J.M Barrie", the creator of Peter Pan. Right on the other side of the Tower Bridge an indoor coaster as well as a 3D simulator theater were also envisioned.



In Pirate's Cove a Pirates Dinner show, another indoor roller coaster and a Pirates stunt show in front of Skull Rock were added. Also envisioned, a lagoon show, probably in the evening.



In Pixie Kingdom, the main difference with the first concept is a big building for a Pixie World dark ride. On the top of the picture below, what seems to be a inverted roller coaster would have had its entrance in a new land "Future Zone".



Lost Boys area always have its roller coaster running all over the land and even inside Neverland mountain, and as you can see below, Future Zone was located at the top with not only the inverted roller coaster but also a smaller coaster and a simulator ride.



In Mermaid's Lagoon, an underwater simulator was added to the first concept and a new area - Kid's Creek - was designed for young children with playground and water fun including small boats.



Peter Pan's Neverland was not designed to be as big as Disneyland, but it certainly would have been a great theme park where all the "Peter Pans" living on this planet would have rush!

So what happened? Why this Peter Pan's Neverland theme park was never built? Well, some years later, Michael Jackson and Prince Al-Waleed ended their association, and considering the cost of a concept like this one, it was very unfortunately the end of the Peter Pan's Neverland project. Although Michael lived in his Neverland Ranch, he never got to walk in this "real" Neverland. However, years later, Landmark designed for Michael a great statue showing Michael as Peter Pan!

Does this mean that we will never see this great park concept become real one day? Who knows, with all the different Michael Jackson celebrations that will happen in years to come - not to mention that Neverland Ranch could become for Michael Jackson's fans what Graceland is to Presley's fans - maybe somebody who has enough money will find, just like we do, that it would be great to build this Peter Pan's Neverland for real? And, hey, there is plenty of land available inside Neverland Ranch. Who could imagine a better place to build Michael's dearest dream?


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