Monthly Archives: September 2018

E.123 Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. Obscure Disney Podcast

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Today on the Obscure Disney Podcast we are going to where the birds sing words and the flowers croon; The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room. As an attraction it was revolutionary and we discuss the whole experience.

 

Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room is an attraction located in Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort, in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and in Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort. Opened in 1963 at the Disneyland Resort, the attraction is a pseudo-Polynesian themed musical animatronic show drawing from American tiki culture.

The attraction opened June 23, 1963, and was the first to feature Audio-Animatronics technology, a WED Enterprises patented invention The attraction was sponsored by United Airlines for its first 12 years; in 1976, sponsorship passed over to Hawaii’s Dole Food Company, which remains the sponsor to the present day. Dole also provides the unique Dole Whip soft-serve frozen dessert sold at a snack bar near the entrance.

The show was originally going to be a restaurant featuring Audio-Animatronics birds serenading guests as they dined. The “magic fountain” at the room’s center was originally planned as a coffee station (there is still a storage compartment within the base of the fountain) and the restaurant would have shared its kitchen with the now-defunct Tahitian Terrace in Adventureland and the Plaza Pavilion restaurant at the corner of Main Street, U.S.A. since all three are actually part of the same building. Since ownership of the attraction was separate from the rest of the park, a nominal admission charge of $0.75 was levied. Because computers have played a central role in the attraction since its inception, Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room was also Disneyland’s first fully air-conditioned building.

E.122 Dumbo 1941 Movie Review – Obscure Disney Podcast

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On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are talking about all things 1941 Dumbo. We chat about the movie itself, the goings-on in the world at the time it was released, and it’s lasting impact on society and the world of animation.

Dumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a novelty toy (“Roll-a-Book”). The main character is Jumbo Jr., a semi-anthropomorphic elephant who is cruelly nicknamed “Dumbo”, as in “dumb”. He is ridiculed for his big ears, but in fact, he is capable of flying by using his ears as wings. Throughout most of the film, his only true friend, aside from his mother, is the mouse, Timothy – a relationship parodying the stereotypical animosity between mice and elephants.

Dumbo was released on October 23, 1941; made to recoup the financial losses of Fantasia, it was a deliberate pursuit of simplicity and economy for the Disney studio. At 64 minutes, it is one of Disney’s shortest animated features. The sound was recorded conventionally using the RCA System. One voice was synthesized using the Sonovox system, but it, too, was recorded using the RCA System.

In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

E.121 Fantasmic! Obscure Disney Podcast

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On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are going to dazzle you with our knowledge of the nighttime spectacular; Fantasmic! We discuss our favorite parts of the show, the cost of doing each performance and even talk some spoilers about the exciting finale of the show.

 

Fantasmic! is a nighttime show at Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort, Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort, and Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort, that features fireworks, characters, live actors, water effects, pyrotechnics, lasers, music, audio-animatronics, searchlights, decorated boat floats, and mist screen projections. The narrative structure of Fantasmic!—although varying differently in set pieces in all three versions—centers on a voyage through Mickey Mouse‘s imagination that culminates in a battle against the Disney Villains.

Fantasmic! originated at Disneyland in 1992 after Walt Disney Creative Entertainment was asked to create a nighttime spectacular involving water and fireworks to reinvigorate the space in front of the Rivers of America. The area was reworked, including terracing the walkways to accommodate viewing and modifying part of Tom Sawyer Island to allow the show’s staged live-action segments. The producers employed the resources of Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney Imagineering.

A second version, featuring new scenes, debuted at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 1998 and a third version debuted at Tokyo DisneySea in 2011, replacing BraviSEAmo!. A new, updated version of the Disneyland version of the show featuring a re-recorded soundtrack in addition to new scenes, lighting, choreography, and costumes debuted in 2017.

 

E.120 Disney Park, After Dark, Obscure Disney Podcast

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On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, We chat about the magic that is the parks after dark; the lights, the shows, the rides. Listen to us talk about what is fun to do after the sun goes down and maybe a few constructive suggestions to make your night at Disney all that it can be.

E.119 WDW Did it First

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On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are asking, Which came first?! Today we explore the attractions that Walt Disney World introduced to the Disney fans that then spread to the rest of the parks. You might be surprised at some of the attractions that originated in Florida.

E.118 Indiana Jones Adventure (Temple of the forbidden Eye) Ride Review Obscure Disney Podcast

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On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are talking a bit about Indiana Jones Adventure (Temple of the forbidden Eye) at Disneyland in Anaheim California.

 

The Indiana Jones Adventure is an enhanced motion vehicle dark ride attraction at Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, based on the Indiana Jones film series. Guests accompany intrepid archaeologist Dr. Indiana Jones on a turbulent quest, aboard military troop transport vehicles, through a dangerously lost temple guarded by a supernatural power.

The attraction premiered as Temple of the Forbidden Eye at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on March 3, 1995, and opened to the general public on March 4, 1995. A second, and nearly identical, version of the ride opened as Temple of the Crystal Skull on September 4, 2001, at Tokyo DisneySea in Chiba, Japan, unrelated to the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

E.117 Walt Disney’s, The Reluctant Dragon Recap (1941 film)

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Today on the Obscure Disney Podcast we are chatting a bit about the 3rd Disney movie, The Reluctant Dragon (1941 film).

 

The Reluctant Dragon is a 1941 American live-action and animated film produced by Walt Disney, directed by Alfred Werker, and released by RKO Radio Pictures on June 20, 1941. Essentially a tour of the then-new Walt Disney Studios facility in Burbank, California, the film stars radio comedian Robert Benchley and many Disney staffers such as Ward Kimball, Fred Moore, Norman Ferguson, Clarence Nash, and Walt Disney, all as themselves.

The first twenty minutes of the film are in grayscale and black-and-white, the remainder is in Technicolor. Most of the film is live-action, with four short animated segments inserted into the running time: a black-and-white segment featuring Casey Junior from Dumbo; and three Technicolor cartoons: Baby Weems, Goofy‘s How to Ride a Horse, and the extended-length short The Reluctant Dragon, based upon Kenneth Grahame‘s book of the same name. The total length of all animated parts is 40 minutes.

E.116 Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. Obscure Disney Podcast

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On today’s episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are talking all things roughly the size of the barge and covered in hair. We cover everything from Gaston’s Tavern at Walt Disney World, trying the Grey Stuff and then discuss the patch for the month of September; Gaston Interior Design.