Thursday, February 10, 2011
Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure will not have its DCA premiere before Summer 2011
Breaking News: We were all expecting its opening for early May but, bad news, as Disney announced today that Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure will NOT have its DCA premiere before Summer 2011. They also announced that Star Tours 2 will not open before June. Chances are that both highly awaited attractions will have their premiere at the same time, including, too, the new Disneyland Mickey’s Soundsational Parade. This is probably due to the big POTC 4 premiere event which will happen at DL in May and Disney probably thought that having two major events at DL the same month was not a good idea on a marketing point of view.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Filming 20000 Leagues under the Sea - A 1954 LIFE Magazine Special Report - Part Two
It is Jules Verne's birthday this week as Honor Hunter of Blue Sky Disney reminded us two days ago and the birth date anniversary of legendary author of 20000 Leagues under the sea fits perfectly with this part two of the LIFE magazine special report that i'm putting online today.
Last November i've posted rare LIFE Magazine pictures from a 1954 report on Richard Fleisher's filming of 20000 Leagues under the sea. I thought these were the only one existing, but no, there is many more! So here is the part two of this great LIFE magazine photographic report with fantastic pictures mostly shot underwater at the Bahamas.
There we go. The two first pictures above and below shows one of the Nautilus crewmen in his diving suits - and not Director Richard Fleischer as i written in previously.
Let's dive know, and the four first underwater pictures below show Captain Nemo (recognizable to his helmet with a lamp on the top, different than the one of Nautilus crewmen)
A great series of pictures, now, showing the filming of the famous underwater burial scene.
Some other pictures are showing the film propmen bringing fish for one of the movie's sequence.
An interesting picture showing the different signals for helmet divers during the underwater filming...
More pictures of Nautilus crewmen...
We will end this part two with these pictures of a handsome diver playing one of the Nautilus crewmen.
Hope you enjoyed these rare 20000 Leagues under the Sea filming pictures, and come back soon for the third part as the best is yet to come! If you liked this article, you will love the Tom Scherman web site. Have a look HERE.
Pictures: copyright LIFE Magazine
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Julia Roberts will play the Evil Queen in "Snow White" !
Breaking News: "The Brothers Grimm: Snow White" has found its Evil Queen. EW has confirmed that, as rumored, Julia Roberts will be playing the villainous role for the Brett Ratner-produced film for Relativity. This project is not to be confused with "Snow White and the Huntsman" that Universal film which may feature Kristen Stewart in the role of Snow White, will likely star Charlize Theron as its Evil Queen and actor Viggo Mortensen is also in talks for the Huntsman role.
Disneyland Paris Space Mountain : " Shoot for the moon " , fantastic making-of documentary
The BBC documentary that you are going to see today is probably one of the best "making-of" ever done for a Disney theme park attraction - if not THE best. "Shoot for the Moon" was filmed in 1994-1995 during the building of the Disneyland Paris version of Space Mountain and Tim Delaney, show producer of the land appears in person, with many others WDI imagineers.
Those of you who already know it will be pleased to see it again, but, for those of you who have never seen it, i strongly recommand you to don't miss it, because it's reaaaally a perfect documentary! Of course the movie is about the FIRST story line of the attraction, the one inspired by Jules Verne "From the Earth to the Moon" which is now unfortunately extinct as it has been replaced by the "Mission 2". And, although the new version have some new interesting special effects, i'm sorry to say that the first version was better - and had a better on-board music, too.
Okay, here is the real thing, the fantastic "Shoot for the Moon" documentary, with all my thanks to Zn00p1 who uploaded them on Daily Motion!
In addition to this fantastic video, don't miss one of my previous article with many great renderings and making-of pictures of DLP Space Mountain. You'll find it HERE.
Daily Motion videos: copyright BBC and Disney. All my thanks to Zn00p1
Saturday, February 5, 2011
The sum of little effects creates a great ride
When i saw two days ago this video of a new "fake fire" invention, i instantly thought at the upcoming Seven Dwarfs Mine Train attraction. I'm going to explain you why in a few seconds but, first, i suppose that you know how WDI Imagineers can be expert in creating a fire illusion, the most known fake fire created by WDI wizards is probably the one of the Burning City scene in Pirates of Caribbean - see picture below coming from the excellennt Daveland web site.
As for obvious security reasons it's out of question to have a real fire in dark ride scenes WDI Imagineers found a lot of ways to create a fake fire but this new one created by GlammFire is one of the best i ever seen - if it's just as good in real as it is on the video. If you throw your iPhone into this fire - which looks pretty real - it will never burn because the fire, as i've said, is fake.
Have a look at this short video first and then i will tell you why WDI Imagineers might be interested by it.
Not that bad for a fake fire, isn't it? The fireplace, called Zen Fireplace, is made by GlammFire and creates a fake 3D fire by combining water vapour and LEDs embedded in the ceramic “wood” logs. The fireplace controls the flickering lights and water vapour to create the most realistic fake fireplace possible.
Here is what GlammFire is saying about it on their site: "Featuring an innovative 3D eco-friendly technology, the new ZEN Fireplace by GlammFire ensures a simple and safe use by applying an efficient operability of a water vapour release system.The result achieved is a virtual flame that looks and feels remarkably realistic at any distance. The inner works of this piece combines LEDS embedded in ceramic made, wood logs and water vapor to simulate smoke. The system regulates also the intensity of the lights to the emission of the vapor to deliver a realistic aspect of a real wood fireplace".
So, why did i thought about the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train attraction? Well, as you probably saw on the new Fantasyland artwork, the Dwarfs cottage is part of the ride. And, generally this kind of place usually have a fireplace, with a fire in it. As you can see on the artwork at the top there is even smoke coming out of the chimney. And as we know, there is no smoke without fire...
It's not totally clear yet if the house will be only a walkthrough for Magic Kingdom guests or if the coaster train will enter in the cottage but in both cases if WDI Imagineers needs to give a realistic illusion of fire in the seven dwarfs cottage fireplace this new fake fire developped by GlammFire might be exactly what they are looking for. A fake fire in a fireplace is indeed a little effect, but we must not forget that it's the sum of all the little effects which helps to create a great attraction.
Video: copyright GlammFire
Real Adventureland : Not related with Disney, but don't miss this !
I have sometime non-Disney topic for the week-end and, although the video below released this week is not related with Disney, don't miss it as what you will see is extremely rare.
The BBC was invited by Brazilian director of Indians affairs Dept Jose Mereilles to fly over Amazonia to discover and film a tribe which has NEVER been in contact with the rest of the world. In two words, there is still on this planet tribes living in primeval forest which are still unknown, which is pretty remarkable considering the "global world" we're living in.
No physical contact was made with them as it might be extremely dangerous as a simple flu virus may kill all the tribe. Jose Mereilles who is fighting for their protection invited the BBC crew to film them to have a proof that uncontacted tribes still really exist in Amazonia jungle at the border of Peru and Brazil.
This beautiful short video - in english and even french subtitles for my french readers - is narrated by Gillian Anderson and this preserved-from-the-outside-world tribe may remind you the one in "Avatar" as, just like in James Cameron's movie, they try to escape the illegal loggers which invades from the Peru side of the border to destroy the Amazon forest. You can learn more about how to help to protect the Indians HERE or HERE. One last thing: definitely watch the video in full screen mode!
In this next video, filmed previously, another Indian tribe who have been in contact with the "outside world" will tell you the danger and dramatic consequences of "first contact" for these uncontacted tribes. To know more about why they are hiding in the Amazon forest please go HERE.
Video: copyright BBC
Friday, February 4, 2011
Editor's Note: Al Lutz on Miceage reveals today that Disney is preparing a big Shanghaî Disneyland media announcement and official groundbreaking ceremony which will be held on SDL property the first week of April. Great news, as this means that in two months from now we should finally see some of the highly awaited Shanghaî Disneyland artwork!
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