Tag Archives: Disney Podcast

E.111 Captain EO Theater

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Today on the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are making up rumors about the Captin EO Theater in most of the Disney Parks. We talk about the history of Captain EO and the creation of the original attraction, then get super excited about our own ideas on how to update the idea to appeal to modern park goers.

Captain EO is a 1986 American 3D science fiction film starring Michael Jackson, written by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola (who came up with the name “Captain EO” from the Greek, cf. Eos, the Greek goddess of dawn) that was shown at Disney theme parks from 1986 through 1996. The attraction returned to the Disney Parks in 2010 as a tribute after Jackson’s death. The film was shown for the final time at Epcot on December 6, 2015.

The film’s executive producer was George Lucas. The film was choreographed by Jeffrey Hornaday and Michael Jackson, photographed by Peter Anderson,[3][4] produced by Rusty Lemorande and written by Lemorande, Lucas, and Coppola, from a story idea by the artists of Walt Disney Imagineering. Lemorande also initially designed and created two of the creatures, and was an editor of the film. The score was written by James Horner and featured two songs (“We Are Here to Change the World” and “Another Part of Me”), both written and performed by Michael Jackson.

The Supreme Leader was played by Anjelica Huston. Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro was the lighting director during much of the principal photography. Captain EO is regarded as one of the first “4D” films (4D being the name given to a 3D film that incorporates in-theater effects, such as lasers, smoke, etc., synchronized to the film).[5]

Captain EO was the first professional collaboration between Coppola and Lucas since American Graffiti (1973) and marked the end of a professional and personal estrangement between the two men following Lucas’ decision not to direct Apocalypse Now

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E.110 Pinocchio (1940 film) Review, Obscure Disney Podcast

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On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are going in on classic 1940 film, Pinocchio. This is part of our series of watching all Disney films from the beginning of the Disney catalog. We talk about first impressions of the movie and the lasting effects on children and society. Naturally, we bring up some things that we loved and made us laugh or think, along with things that don’t make sense or seem out of place.

Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and based on the Italian children’s novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It was the second animated feature film produced by Disney, made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).

The plot of the film involves an old wood-carver named Geppetto who carves a wooden puppet named Pinocchio. The puppet is brought to life by a blue fairy, who informs him that he can become a real boy if he proves himself to be “brave, truthful, and unselfish”. Pinocchio’s efforts to become a real boy involve encounters with a host of unsavory characters. The film was adapted by Aurelius Battaglia, William Cottrell, Otto Englander, Erdman Penner, Joseph Sabo, Ted Sears, and Webb Smith from Collodi’s book. The production was supervised by Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske, and the film’s sequences were directed by Norman Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, and Bill Roberts. Pinocchio was a groundbreaking achievement in the area of effects animation, giving realistic movement to vehicles, machinery and natural elements such as rain, lightning, smoke, shadows, and water. The film was released to theaters by RKO Radio Pictures on February 7, 1940.

Critical analysis of Pinocchio identifies it as a simple morality tale that teaches children of the benefits of hard work and middle-class values. Although it became the first animated feature to win a competitive Academy Award-winning two for Best Music, Original Score and for Best Music, Original Song for “When You Wish Upon a Star” – it was initially a box office disaster. It eventually made a profit in its 1945 reissue and is considered one of the greatest animated films ever made, with a rare 100% rating on the website Rotten Tomatoes. The film and characters are still prevalent in popular culture, featuring at various Disney parks and in other forms of entertainment. In 1994, Pinocchio was added to the United States National Film Registry for being deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

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Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress E.105 Obscure Disney Podcast

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On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we discuss Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress as it was on opening day and as it became America Sings and later Innoventions in Tomorrowland at Disneyland.

Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress is a rotating theater attraction located at the Magic Kingdom park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida just outside of Orlando, Florida. Created by both Walt Disney and WED Enterprises as the prime feature of the General Electric (GE) Pavilion for the 1964 New York World’s Fair, the attraction was moved to Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California as Carousel of Progress, remaining there from 1967 until 1973. It was replaced in Disneyland by America Sings in 1974, and reopened in its present home in the Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom in 1975.

Steeped in both nostalgia and (in the past) futurism, the attraction’s premise is an exploration of the joys of living through the advent of electricity and other technological advances during the 20th century via a “typical” American family. To keep it up with the times, the attraction has been updated five times (in 1967, 1975, 1981, 1985, and 1993) and has had two different theme songs, both written by the Sherman Brothers (Disney’s Academy Award-winning songwriting team).

Various sources say Walt Disney himself proclaimed that the Carousel of Progress was his favorite attraction and that it should never cease operation. This can be somewhat supported by family and friends, who knew of his constant work on the attraction. Of all the attractions he presented at the 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair, Disney seemed especially devoted to the Carousel of Progress.

The Carousel of Progress holds the record as the longest-running stage show, with the most performances, in the history of American theater. It is one of the oldest attractions in the whole Walt Disney World Resort. It is also one of the only attractions at Walt Disney World to have been touched by Walt Disney himself.