Seaing Fantasmic...

Sea-nsational debut...



Fantastic Seaside Show...

Well, we've now gotten our first look at the Japanese version of Disney's "Fantasmic!" water show...

And as can be expected, it's a pretty impressive show. It seems to melt much of the original show with projection elements from World of Color. Here it is in two parts: One and Two and alternate versions Here and catch the entire thing in one shot with Joe In Japan's version Here.

It's not an exact duplicate of the original or a cheap copy like Walt Disney World has. It's a beast of a different nature and I like that. If there was one complaint, it would be that at times it feels uneven with the transitions. But this was it's first show and I'm sure there will be fine tuning over the coming months.

Also, some of the rehearsals had dancing metallic birds made of metal that sort of did a ballet duel - not here. It didn't make the cut. Overall, a grand and beautiful show.

Now, on with the rest of the celebration...

The DisneySEA Decade...

The great blue sea opens up to beachgoers tomorrow...





Tomorrow, Tokyo DisneySEA reopens its beautiful gates...

With the tragic situation of the earthquake/tsunami we have rightfully been concerned about other, more important things. But with each passing day the nation of Japan pulls itself out of this unfortunate event. Each day life becomes more and more normal, if that is really possible. Economic experts think it will take at least five years before the Japanese are back to a where they were. The Tokyo Disney Resort was not damaged very badly. In fact, very little was done to the actual parks. The majority of the damage was in the parking lots, which resulted in a condition called "liquefaction." The main problem with opening the parks has been power. It has been inconsistent throughout the last few weeks and waiting for an acceptable level has been time consuming.

The Tokyo Disneyland park opened last week and thankfully, Tokyo DisneySEA will finally join her sister tomorrow. And if that weren't enough, the Japanese version of "Fantasmic!" will premiere tomorrow as well. So with the opening of my second favorite park, I think it's time we focused on the fact that it a celebration. Not just one of opening, but one of having been open for a noteworthy amount of time. It's hard to believe that it has been a decade since this park opened.

Ten Years.

Ten years since WDI showed Disney Suits what could happen if they took the shackles off. If they let them dream to dream. And some of the people in Burbank have been trying to live it down every since. There were those agreements that were put in place to make it so that the Oriental Land Company's Tokyo Disney Resort couldn't advertise outside the country. That was supposed to prevent most from seeing what this place was like. That way there would be no comparisons to the other parks. But those agreements were right as the Internet was taking off. No one could realize back then that the Web would be the gateway for those that didn't know about this place. The Net would be the key to this place and no agreement could stop it.

The secret was out.

Although the official anniversary isn't till September 4, 2011, the Resort will be taking a year long celebration of the park, the start date has been postponed. A revised schedule will likely be announce as we get closer to summer. While DCA's celebration of a decade came with little fanfare, it's not going to be the case with Tokyo's Second Gate. It's going to be lovely and spectacular. It will be not only a celebration of Disney, of exploration and adventure, but of perseverance of the Japanese people and life itself.

And that's something fantasmic, uh, I mean fantastic to realize...

An Avenging Start...

Avengers Assemble...







So Joss Whedon yelled action for the first time on a super-hero film today...

Marvel Studios' "The Avengers" began principle photography this morning. The culmination of years of planning and hundreds of millions of dollars will roll into theaters on May 4, 2012. It's the biggest gamble the formerly independent studio that is now a self running entity of the Mouse. I would say that if Whedon was given the clearance to do with these characters what he did on Astonishing X-Men, then we're in for a treat and the cost of this film is a safe bet.

Marvel has issued an official press release:

Production has commenced today in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Marvel Studios' highly anticipated movie "Marvel's The Avengers," directed by Joss Whedon ("Serenity") from a screenplay by Whedon. The film will continue principal photography in Cleveland, Ohio and New York City. Robert Downey, Jr. ("Iron Man," "Iron Man 2") returns as the iconic Tony Stark/Iron Man along with Chris Hemsworth ("Thor") as Thor, Chris Evans ("Captain America: The First Avenger") as Captain America, Jeremy Renner ("Thor," "The Hurt Locker") as Hawkeye, Mark Ruffalo ("The Kids Are Alright") as Hulk, Scarlett Johansson ("Iron Man 2") as Black Widow, Clark Gregg ("Iron Man," "Thor") as Agent Phil Coulson, and Samuel L. Jackson ("Iron Man," "Iron Man 2") as Nick Fury. Set for release in the US on May 4, 2012, "Marvel's The Avengers" is the first feature to be fully owned, marketed and distributed by Disney, which acquired Marvel in 2009.

Continuing the epic big-screen adventures started in "Iron Man," "The Incredible Hulk," "Iron Man 2," "Thor," and "Captain America: The First Avenger," "Marvel's The Avengers" is the super hero team up of a lifetime. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster.

Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1963, "Marvel's The Avengers" brings together the mightiest super hero characters as they all assemble together on screen for the first time. The star studded cast of super heroes will be joined by Cobie Smulders ("How I Met Your Mother) as Agent Maria Hill of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as Tom Hiddleston ("Wallander") and Stellan Skarsgård ("Angels & Demons," "Mamma Mia!") who will both reprise their respective roles as Loki and Professor Erik Selvig from the upcoming Marvel Studios' feature "Thor."

"Marvel's The Avengers" is being produced by Marvel Studios' President, Kevin Feige, and executive produced by Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Louis D'Esposito, Patty Whitcher, and Jon Favreau. Marvel Studios' Jeremy Latcham and Victoria Alonso will co-produce.

The creative production team also includes Oscar nominated director of photography Seamus McGarvey ("Atonement"), production designer James Chinlund ("25th Hour"), Oscar winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne ("Elizabeth: The Golden Age"), Oscar winning visual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs ("Iron Man 2," "The Matrix"), visual effects producer Susan Pickett ("Iron Man," "Iron Man 2"), stunt coordinator R.A. Rondell ("Superman Returns"), and four-time Oscar nominated special effects supervisor Dan Sudick ("Iron Man," "War of the Worlds"). The editors include Oscar nominated Paul Rubell ("Collateral") and Jeffrey Ford ("Crazy Heart").

Marvel Studios most recently produced "Iron Man 2" which was released in theatres on May 7, 2010. The sequel to "Iron Man," starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow as well as Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke, took the number one spot its first weekend with a domestic box office gross of $128.1 million. To date the film has earned over $620 million in worldwide box office receipts.

In the summer of 2008, Marvel produced the summer blockbuster movies, "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk." "Iron Man," in which Robert Downey, Jr. originally dons the super hero's powerful armor alongside co-stars Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow, was released May 2, 2008 and was an immediate box office success. Garnering the number one position for two weeks in a row, the film brought in over $100 million its opening weekend and grossed over $571 million worldwide. On June 13, 2008, Marvel released "The Incredible Hulk" marking its second number one opener of that summer. The spectacular revival of the iconic green goliath grossed over $250 million in worldwide box office receipts.

Now if they can just get that S.H.I.E.L.D. spin-off out the door by 2013/14...

Good News From The Grid...

Number Three could possibly be...





It appears that you Programs got some great news this week...

The Blu-Ray/DVD for "Tron Legacy" was a big winner. The sales were good enough to make Disney Suits take notice. Now of course, they're going to have to continue to be good, but so far it's impressive.

The sequel to "Tron" was number one, but it was so with a huge 68% of sales and outsold the DVD two-to-one. The third film in the series hasn't been green lit no matter what anyone has told you, but business like this makes it more likely. If you haven't yet got a copy and plan on it, may I suggest you depart with some green. It may make the difference between a two and a three.

As in TR3N...

Marvelous World...

Excelsior...



Earlier in the week Kevin Feige let slip his desires for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe...

In an article between the pages of the newest issue of D23 he gave a few nuggets as to where he hoped to go:

"We hope that holds true for the characters appearing in that film — Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the spy organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. — all of whom are more than worthy and capable of carrying their own films."

This along with the other projects in development (Dr. Strange, Runaways, ect.) mean that as the young upstart studio moves further into the decade, we can look forward to a wider and greater expanded collection of stories. This also helps buttress some of the reports that I was getting concerning a desire to develop a S.H.I.E.L.D. franchise sans the men-in-tights. I'm still trying to find out if that proposed animated series has gotten any further along the line than just a broad concept. An animated S.H.I.E.L.D. series on Disney XD featuring the right cast of characters could/would be awesome.

I know that a "Dr. Strange" film would be quite interesting, but the person best suited to direct it is too busy at this time. Guillermo del Toro you need to offer yourself up for a cloning experiment. Hopefully they can get him to at least write the screenplay with his writing partner like he's doing for "Haunted Mansion."

"The Runaways" could work as an interesting piece that moves toward a lower demographic, age-wise, I mean. It's got a very healthy cult following and with the right script, cast and director, would be an interesting departure for the Marvel universe.

As for "Black Widow," I will admit that she's a character I don't know as much about or really follow. Scripting chores should not go out to the people that gave us "Electra." "Hawkeye?" I'm game for anything with Jeremy Renner(Uncharted, anyone?).

Hopefully this expanded universe will continue expanding and expanding and expanding...

The 13th Gate...

Lucky number...




Lucky gate...
A couple weeks ago the Mouse will let out the first, minimalist details about the coming Magic Kingdom-styled theme park that it plans to open in Shanghai in 2015/16...

But what I want to know is what will come after it?


I mean, we know that Shanghai Disneyland is going to be modeled after a Magic Kingdom styled park. Of course there will be variation, with no Main Street involved, but it's still going to follow the basic principles of the hub/4-5 lands concept that Walt Disney pioneered back in the Fifties. But what will the park after that one be? We know that Shanghai will be Iger's first chance to put the stamp of his taste on a Disney park. But it's going to be something that already has guidelines to adhere to. So it won't tell us how far, or how daring the Walt Disney Company via Iger wil go. The park after SDL will be a much bigger and far more interesting test.

First off, examine the parks that the Mouse already has:




* In California it has two (2) with the original Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.




* In Florida it has four (4) with the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom, not to mention a host of other properties including a couple of water parks.




* In Japan it has two (2), although they're not technically owned by them, but franchises that royalties are derived from.




* In France it hast two (2) with Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios Paris.



* In China it has one (1) for now (Hong Kong Disneyland), and one (1) that is supposed to be done after the middle of the decade (Shanghai Disneyland).

Twelve parks, 12 gates. So, what's next?

California -

Well, let's narrow down the possibilities for each of these first. Starting with the original, what are the chances we'll have a third gate for Anaheim in the next few years? Sadly, not likely at all. There are blue sky projects all over WDI, but nothing so big is being planned for a third theme park right now. The majority of the resources are going toward making the Second work and then the focus will likely shift to the Disneyland park in 2011/12 for some tlc for a few years. This along with a small possible/probable second expansion will likely fill out most of this decade for the Disneyland Resort.

If a third gate comes, it'll be later in the decade, no sooner than 2017/18 at the earliest. And likely, that would probably be the announcement of, not the building of any third park. For now, we have to be content with improving the parks and resort. This isn't bad news as with each addition the parks/hotels/shops become closer to being a true resort as was promised almost a decade ago. It will arrive late, but starting in 2012 we'll get what was deserved all the way back into 2001. A third gate will be a blessed surprise and a welcome addition, but not an expected one.

Florida -

Then perhaps a fifth gate for Florida? Again, not much planning going ahead for a massive new gate like the other four. As of now you shouldn't expect a park along the size and scope of the last three gates. Right now, that "Boutique" park planned for night time guests is still in the works, but with the economy the way it is the announcement of that is in doubt. So, until the international outlook becomes better, I don't think number five will be alive. Which, really is fine with me.

WDW has four parks right now that need attention directed by WDI (as the current Fantasyland expansion shows) and hopefully the park managers and Suits will be able to work on improving the experience for guest. I don't expect to see any announcement during this decade. If the economy booms and attendance surges, anything is possible, but the build out of the parks is pretty full. About the best we can hope is a furthered improvement of the current parks and the current experience.

Europe -

Now, then you have Paris with its two gates. There perhaps? No. Let me restate that: NO. Not a snowballs chance in Hades. If there is any resort that has absolutely no chance of getting another gate, it's Paris. I know that EuroDisney recently came out with plans that included announcements of a possible park, but these are projections over decades, not years. With the financial situation in Europe the way it is, any dream of announcing a third park will be just that: a dream. But with the 20th anniversary coming up you can look forward to some updates/rethemes and additional E-Tickets at both parks.

I'd suggest going over to Alain's excellent Disney and More blog if you wish to have some more knowledge as to what could be coming down the line for the parks. It's great to see that they're still expanding the two parks, even if there is no plan/news for a third gate. Now, if they'd just build a better front entrance to Walt Disney Studios Paris, like what is happening to California Adventure. Well, I guess you can't have everything.

Asia -

J a p a n
Surely Tokyo would have something coming up? After that earthquake/tsunami it's going to take some time for the Oriental Land Company to get back up to speed and that could take a few years. Any talks of a third gate are really off the table. But it doesn't mean there haven't been projects that the Walt Disney Company and their Japanese partners haven't tried. Remember how they were going to have that Urban Entertainment Center, a couple of years ago? This was a product of those wonderful Jay Rasulo daze, uhm, I mean days, that are now behind us. But the Japanese owners of the Disney's only franchise couldn't make the numbers work for the OLC and it was scrapped. Even if it were to have been built, it wouldn't have been on the Tokyo Disney Resort or even in Tokyo for that matter. Several other cities were being looked at for this expansion of Disney's only franchise partner.

As for the resort, any expansion would more than likely require more landfill and that is a very pricey expenditure, even for the Oriental Land Company. So unless plans for parking structures go through so as to free up some of those parking lots, any plan for a third gate in the land of the rising sun won't rise. Then again, with the liquefaction of the parking lot from the natural disaster, perhaps this could be feasible? There is a model in the Imagineers secretive model room of a project for the TDR, but it waits, unwanted. That doesn't mean that all construction is dormant of course. You could see a great deal of expansion of the current parks. Tokyo DisneySEA in particular has continually added attractions over the past few years that will culminate this year in the tenth anniversary of that amazing park. Events and planning for the fifteenth anniversary are already starting to be talked about and you can imagine a few surprises to be announcEd as that date comes closer.

C h i n a
So, that leaves only Hong Kong. What could be happening there? Well, we know what's going on there up until 2013 with the current Extreme Expansion. Notice that date? It's a year sooner than originally announced and that is by design. They want to get as far out in front of Shanghai as possible. In fact, if the plans go well for the Extreme Expansion and attendance goes up to expectations then plans are for another, slightly smaller expansion to be completed by the opening of China's second Disneyland. Now, as for the Hong Kong Disney Resort; is a second park in the cards for the future?

No. Not anytime soon. There is still a couple of years before the actual expiration date on the original deal. The most likely thing to happen is that the Walt Disney Company will get a waver or extension for at least into the next decade. By the beginning of the next decade we can probably expect Hong Kong to get another park, but like DCA, HKDL is in need of tender love and care.

As for Shanhai Disney Resort, there are plans to build out to at least two, but possibly three theme parks when completed. But that plan is over a decades expected roll out. And we won't see a second park for this park until well into the next decade.

So will all this in mind it brings into perspective what this decade is. From 2011-2020 is a recovery decade, a hangover decade. A span of time that will mostly be used to buttress or fix up existing parks and resorts. This decade will be a chance for the Mouse to refresh and strengthen the places and experiences to be found in a Disney kingdom.

The next decade will be the one where the unexpected will come...

Believing In Elves...

Thirteen is a lucky number...





There is a lot of talk going on about what comes after "Reboot Ralph" next year...

Specifically, a good deal of talk about Chris Williams' "King of the Elves." I've received several e-mails asking me about the status of this project. A few have asked if it has been canceled.

I can say that as of a couple weeks ago, the project was right on schedule. So if it's been put into turnaround, then it has happened in the last week or so. I personally doubt it. From those Bothans that I've talked to, the project was moving steadily forward and was having no more story problems than any other project of its type. It has been doing so well in fact, that it was/is being considered for the Christmas holiday release for 2013.

Now, all that could change if Lasseter and Catmull find that story problems will make it impossible to have ready for that release date. As far as I know all is moving forward and Chris Williams' next effort should/could be out a year and a half after Ralph winds up rebooting.

Developing...