Tag Archives: Obscure Disney Podcast

E.121 Fantasmic! Obscure Disney Podcast



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



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



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.


E.115 Disneylands Mark Twain Riverboat Ride Discussion



On this episode, if the Obscure Disney Podcast, We are talking about the biggest, whitest boat at Disneyland. The Mark Twain.

Mark Twain Riverboat is an attraction, located at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, on which passengers embark on a scenic, 12-minute journey around the Rivers of America. Originally named Mark Twain Steamboat when the park opened in 1955, the stately, 5/8-scale stern-wheeler was the first functional riverboat to be built in the United States for fifty years. Other Disney riverboat attractions now appear at Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris.

 


E.112 IP Overload?



On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are having a conversation on the word of Intellectual Properties known as IP’s. We talk about how Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and the Jungle cruise all became movies. We also talk about how fantasy land all came from already released movies.

Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect, and primarily encompasses copyrights, patents, and trademarks. It also includes other types of rights, such as trade secrets, publicity rights, moral rights, and rights against unfair competition. Artistic works like music and literature, as well as some discoveries, inventions, words, phrases, symbols, and designs, can all be protected as intellectual property. It was not until the 19th century that the term “intellectual property” began to be used, and not until the late 20th century that it became commonplace in the majority of the world.

The main purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a large variety of intellectual goods. To achieve this, the law gives people and businesses property rights to the information and intellectual goods they create – usually for a limited period of time. This gives economic incentive for their creation because it allows people to profit from the information and intellectual goods they create. These economic incentives are expected to stimulate innovation and contribute to the technological progress of countries, which depends on the extent of protection granted to innovators.

The intangible nature of intellectual property presents difficulties when compared with a traditional property like land or goods. Unlike traditional property, intellectual property is “indivisible” – an unlimited number of people can “consume” an intellectual good without it being depleted. Additionally, investments in intellectual goods suffer from problems of appropriation – a landowner can surround their land with a robust fence and hire armed guards to protect it, but a producer of information or an intellectual good can usually do very little to stop their first buyer from replicating it and selling it at a lower price. Balancing rights so that they are strong enough to encourage the creation of intellectual goods but not so strong that they prevent the goods’ wide use is the primary focus of modern intellectual property law


E.111 Captain EO Theater



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



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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E.109 Christopher Robin Review – Obscure Disney Podcast



On today’s episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are giving our thoughts on the Christopher Robin movie. What we loved what we liked and what we didn’t.

Christopher Robin is a 2018 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Marc Forster and written by Alex Ross Perry and Allison Schroeder, from a story by Perry. The film is inspired by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard’s book Winnie-the-Pooh[4] and is a live-action/CGI extension of the Disney franchise of the same name. The film stars Ewan McGregor as the titular character alongside Hayley Atwell, as well as the voices of Jim Cummings and Brad Garrett. The plot follows Christopher Robin as he has grown up and lost his sense of imagination, only to be reunited with his old stuffed bear friend, Winnie-the-Pooh.

Plans of a live-action Winnie the Pooh adaptation were announced in April 2015, and Forster was confirmed as director in November 2016. McGregor signed on as Christopher Robin in April 2017 and principal photography began in August of that year in the United Kingdom, lasting until November.

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E.108 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Obscure Disney Podcast



In this fun episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are discussing, the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This 81-year-old classic was Walt Disneys first full-length movie and yet, one among us has yet to see it. Tune in for our quick recap.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and originally released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on the German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, it is the first full-length cel animated feature film and the earliest Disney animated feature film. The story was adapted by storyboard artists Dorothy Ann Blank, Richard Creedon, Merrill De Maris, Otto Englander, Earl Hurd, Dick Rickard, Ted Sears and Webb Smith. David Hand was the supervising director, while William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen directed the film’s individual sequences.

Snow White premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre on December 21, 1937, followed by a nationwide release on February 4, 1938. It was a critical and commercial success, and with international earnings of $8 million during its initial release briefly assumed the record of the highest-grossing sound film at the time. The popularity of the film has led to its being re-released theatrically many times, until its home video release in the 1990s. Adjusted for inflation, it is one of the top-ten performers at the North American box office.

At the 11th Academy Awards, producer Walt Disney was awarded an honorary Oscar, and the film was nominated for Best Musical Score the year before. In 1989, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. The American Film Institute ranked it among the 100 greatest American films and also named the film as the greatest American animated film of all time in 2008. Disney’s take on the fairy tale has had a significant cultural impact, resulting in popular theme park attractions, a video game, and a Broadway musical.


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



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.