Walt Disney Archives - Page 20 of 42

Disney Confidential – Is Disneyland India Coming Soon?

October 1, 2011 by Anonymouse 2 Comments

Hey there guys and gals your friendly neighborhood Disney Gossip Columnist Anonymouse here!

So am I the only one not going to be at Walt Disney World this weekend for the start of the Epcot Food & Wine Fest? I feel like I should go but then again I am perfectly fine reading about the lines, food and fun from behind my monitor screen.

Anywho..

Today’s interesting bit of Disney Gossip comes to us from Hindustan Times. It seems Disney is scoping out some land to create a new theme park in India. Here are the deets:

In a secret yet high-profile visit, Walt Disney president and chief executive officer Robert A Iger made a quick stop at the Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon on Tuesday. The hush-hush affair gave rise to speculation whether Gurgaon will be the next destination to house a Disneyland.

The visit by Walt Disney’s top boss has once again rekindled hopes of setting up of a world-class amusement park in the city. The idea was first mooted by former Haryana chief minister OP Chautala in the early ’90s. Iger, escorted by about a dozen private bodyguards, reportedly spent more than two hours at the Kingdom of Dreams in Sector 29.

Anumod Sharma, managing director, Kingdom of Dreams, remained tightlipped and neither confirmed nor denied Iger’s visit. He also refused the divulge details regarding the purpose of top honcho’s visit.

Highly-placed sources, however, said that Iger reached the venue around 4pm after landing at the IGI Airport in his private aircraft and remained there till 6.30pm.

Click here to read the rest.

I think this would be one step closer to Disney’s Plan for World Domination and kinda goes with the news of them building Disneyland Russia. As always I want to know what you think?

Does Disney need to expand to India? Will there be meat on the menus as most of the country is vegetarian? Can I get someone to mail me some food from the Food & Wine Festival?

Anywho that is all the Disney Gossip I have right now.

Got any good rumors? Please email me at AnonyMouse@chipandco.com or on my Facebook Page

Disney Confidential – Will Monsters Inc Coaster become a Reality? (chipandco.com)
Disney Confidential – Special Event planned for Disney World 40th Anniversary (chipandco.com)

Disney Confidential Is Disneyland India Coming Soon?

Filed Under: Disney Confidential, Expansion, Parks & Resorts, Tips &Tricks Tagged With: disney, India, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney World Resort

Scaring Up Fun at the Walt Disney World ‘Trick or Meet-Up’

October 1, 2011 by Chip Leave a Comment

This wasn’t your ordinary crowd. Hitchhiking Ghosts, a few Snow Whites and even a giant, walking, talking hot dog were among a group of hundreds who joined Disney last night for their first “Trick or Meet Up” at Magic Kingdom Park. They kicked things off with a talk from Walt Disney Imagineer Jason Surrell and a chance to show off some of your amazing costumes.

Scaring Up Fun at the Walt Disney World ‘Trick or Meet Up’

And there were some great characters in attendance. We’ve posted a gallery of favorites.

During the night, attendees got special guided tours of the new Haunted Mansion Queue with Walt Disney Imagineering show designer and art director Pete Carsillo and Walt Disney Imagineering show producer Eric Goodman. Both Pete and Eric gave blog readers a sneak peek of the queue in March.

Senior graphic designer Tom May also signed some special Disney posters for a group of lucky people.

There were trick-or-treat stations at the event and unique character meet & greets before wrapping things up with a grand exit by the same Headless Horseman you’ll see at this year’s Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. Now that’s an ending, right?

Chances are I’ll likely never talk to a group of hundreds dressed as Indiana Jones standing next to a giant talking turkey leg and that’s what made this event so fun. See for yourself.

We’d like to thank all of our new blog friends for joining us and everyone else who came out in costumes last night. Keep your eyes on the blog for first word of our next event.

Scaring Up Fun at the Walt Disney World ‘Trick or Meet-Up’ by Thomas Smith: Originally posted on the Disney Parks Blog

Filed Under: Do and See, Events, Parks & Resorts, Walt Disney World Tagged With: disney, Headless Horseman, Jason Surrell, Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney Imagineers, Walt Disney World Resort

Nordstrom and Disney Celebrate 45th Anniversary of ‘It’s A Small World’ With Kid’s Fashion Apparel and Accessories Collection

September 30, 2011 by Chip 1 Comment

Nordstrom and Disney Consumer Products (DCP) will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the beloved ‘it’s a small world’ attraction at Disneyland® park with a whimsical collection of stylish children’s apparel, accessories and footwear beginning today. The collection is inspired by world-renowned Disney artist Mary Blair’s original mid-century artwork created for the attraction, and by Walt Disney’s belief that we are united in our love of children and our dreams of a better tomorrow.

Four seasonal collections for newborns, infants and toddlers will hit Nordstrom stores nationwide and nordstrom.com/smallworld throughout 2011, each delivery representing an individual country: ‘Japanese Spring’ launches the line on February 28, followed by ‘Indian Summer’ in June, ‘Scottish Fall’ for September, and ‘Russian Holiday’ in November. Each collection includes items priced from $18 – $169 from collaborators such as Petunia Pickle Bottom, TOMS Shoes, FEED, Trumpette, Baby Nay and Mighty Fine.

“When Disney shared Blair’s original artwork with us from its archives, we were excited about how well it would translate into quality merchandise,” said John Hunt, Nordstrom merchandise manager for infants and toddlers. “We hope our customers will love this art-driven collection as much as we do.”

In 1964, Walt Disney introduced a nine-minute boat ride— It’s a Small World – a Salute to UNICEF—dedicated to children around the world at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. In 1966, the attraction opened at Disneyland and today continues to carry guests past familiar miniature scenes of world’s monuments, animals, birds and children all singing and dancing to the unified tune of “it’s a small world.” Among all of Disney’s theme parks, there is not a moment of the day the song is not played.

“Our creative team here at Disney Consumer Products has always been inspired by the original Small World art and wanted to draw upon the magical story, prints and patterns, and diverse iconography to create this design-driven contemporary children’s collection that brings beauty, meaning and the legacy of ‘it’s a small world,’” said Robert Oberschelp, director, Disney Collections, DCP. “This collection is especially great for gift-giving and keepsakes as the story of Walt Disney’s ‘it’s a small world’ is truly timeless.”

To give back, Nordstrom and Disney are teaming with TOMS Shoes and FEED Projects to offer philanthropic pieces in the collection. TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need, while FEED Projects’ assortment will benefit UNICEF, which was the ride’s original 1964 beneficiary. Funds raised from the sales of FEED’s collection, ‘it’s a small world’ items will enable UNICEF to provide vitamin supplements to children in need. FEED Projects Co-Founder and CEO Lauren Bush will also make a special appearance to help promote the collection at Nordstrom at The Grove in Los Angeles on Wednesday, March 16 from 3:30- 5:00 p.m.

Customers can receive a collectable limited-edition lithograph of Mary Blair’s artwork each season with any purchase from the line (one per customer, while supply lasts). There will also be special Disney character artists drawing at Nordstrom Downtown Seattle on March 19, Nordstrom Pleasanton (Pleasanton, Calif.) on March 20, Nordstrom NorthPark Center (Dallas) on March 26, and Nordstrom Oakbrook Center (Oakbrook, Ill.) on March 27. Further information on in-store events is available at nordstrom.com/smallworld.

It’s a Small World’s 45th Anniversary (chipandco.com)
Disney Consumer Products Takes Guests To The Heart of The Magic At D23 Expo 2011 Inside The Disney Living Pavilion (chipandco.com)

Nordstrom and Disney Celebrate 45th Anniversary of Its A Small World With Kids Fashion Apparel and Accessories Collection

Filed Under: Consumer Products, Disney & Co, News, Parks & Resorts Tagged With: disney, Disney Consumer Products, It's a small world, Mary Blair, Nordstrom, The Walt Disney Company, TOMS Shoes, Walt Disney

Wednesday with Walt: Good vs. Evil

September 28, 2011 by Brenda Leave a Comment

There is nothing like a good villain, you know, the perfectly evil character to oppose the hero. The folks at Disney know the importance of villains in Disney movies; in fact, they have even started a special show just for them called Villains Mix and Mingle at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. What would the Disney movies be without the likes of Cruella, Ursula, Lady Tremaine and the Stepsisters, or the Evil Queen?

To Walt Disney, the villains were a very important part of his fairytales. Although often chastised by mothers and the press alike for including villains in his films because they “scared children,” Walt never changed his approach to the inclusion of witches, ogres, giants and dragons because he felt that they were important to the story. Furthermore, he didn’t really care what they said because what was paramount to him was that the audience left the theater having gotten the point of the story.

Walt did not believe in playing down to children. He was frank with his daughters and when he made his films he stood true to that principle. He said that children are people and there was no point in acting as though there was no bad in the world. The truth is there is and always has been both bad and good in the world. The point of Walt’s movies was that good always prevails over evil.

In an interview with David Griffiths (1959), Walt explained his position very well. He stressed that you must have an evil villain in order to accentuate the good winning over it. Here is what he said,

“All the world’s great fairytales, it must be remembered, are essentially morality tales, opposing good and bad, virtue and villainy, in dramatic terms easily understood and approved by children. Without such a clash of good and evil and the prevalence of goodness – of the good people – fairytales like Snow White, Cinderella, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty long since would have died because they would have had no meaning. Now if you’re going to give goodness something really important to fight for, to conquer, you’ve got to make villainy a worthy foe.”

He then spoke about the psychologists of that day disputing his critics about the use of villains. But besides that, Walt was a man who called it like he saw it. At the end of this part of the interview he said simply, “We don’t pussyfoot with evil; we deal with it forthrightly.”

So, there you have it…there’s nothing like a good villain to bring out the best in a hero, for goodness sake!

Filed Under: Tips &Tricks Tagged With: Cinderella, disney, Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, Walt, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney World Resort

Magical Mouse Schoolhouse, where Disney IS school!

September 25, 2011 by Jodi 1 Comment

Magical Mouse Schoolhouse, where Disney IS school!

MAGICAL MOUSE SCHOOLHOUSE is a unique blog that plusses the homeschool experience and prompts home educators to think outside the textbook. Our bi-weekly posts expose teachable moments in Walt Disney entertainment, from the history of Walter Elias Disney to Audio-animatronics, from theme park attractions to Disney conservation efforts. Each article leaves readers creative ways to learn while they play when Disney IS school.

Here’s a sampling of what you might find:

Watch Dumbo and learn about aviation. Build a paper airplane with an elephant’s proportions. Discuss fuselage size and shape. Ask students if large wings (or ears) help or hinder flight.
Ride Disneyland’s Mad Tea Party. Stop the math frustration spinning in your child’s head and have a Mad Math Fractions Tea Party!
Observe Tinker Bell’s flight from a castle turret during Wishes Nighttime Spectacular fireworks at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in person or by Youtube video. Following instructions at the Science Buddies website, measure the intensity and duration of light produced by glow sticks.

Non-homeschoolers are welcome too! Supplement children’s schoolwork to keep kids from stagnating during summer break or holidays. Classroom teachers, enhance lesson plans or offer additional course work.

Stretch the boundaries of your home classroom!

Tiggerific Tuesday! Blog Hop...or Bounce!

MAGICAL MOUSE SCHOOLHOUSE hosts the weekly blog hop, Tiggerific Tuesday, a linky social to network with fellow bloggers. We also run GIVEAWAYS on the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesdays of the month, and we hop aboard the Magical Blogorail Yellow Line every 1^st Friday.

For an additional learning experience and educational incentives, sign up for the monthly Earn Your E.A.R.S. (Enriching Academic Reward Series). Registration opens October 1, 2011. Click the link to learn more.