D23 for FREE! But WHY?

D23 announced today that they will begin a new version of D23 on June 17, to include a new free membership. What are the perks of paying for D23 is you can have it for free? Oh that's right, they also announced that the magazine will now be only for Gold Members. 

Me and D23 Head, Steven Clark

OK, then why would you take the free membership? Well, the only real perk is apparently the ability to get tickets for the D23 Expo. I had always heard that both of the Expos have been super crowded and that there were such long lines for every event and that they couldn't even allow every person in line into the events, so why on Earth are they trying to get more people at the Expo? It just doesn't make sense to me. D23 Head did mention that they may offer some of the popular Fanniversary events to the free members.

Some new things coming that sound very interesting are the Attraction Rewind where they will be delving into  extinct or, to use their terms, "retired" attractions. Ask a Disney Legend, which is promised to be like the Ask Dave column but featuring Disney Legends. Here's hoping that MiceAge allows Bob Gurr to write for this. Weird Disney to "look at weird promotions, weird events, weird characters, weird audio and more." Question, will they mention the weird Mowgli walk around character that was at Disney's Animal Kingdom this past week? I am also so excited for the Walt Files. As D23 describes it, "Walk in Walt's footsteps through rare stories, audio, video, and images."

However, they did announce some of the member only features that will be coming to the D23 site. I am excited that they will be bringing the Disney A to Z encyclopedia to the site. This is the encyclopedia with over 7,000 entries and was compiled by Disney Legend Dave Smith. And he will be updating it monthly. You can't get any better than that.

Dave Smith giving a presentation at the Walt Disney Archives

Some honorable mentions for members only is the Quotable Walt Disney book online for you, the usual discounts and their downloads page will be members only. No more free rides on wallpapers, sorry. 

So now the countdown begins for June 17th for the new site to come. Oh did you hear the rumor that Lone Ranger will be premiering at Disney California Adventure? Crazy right?

The Wonderful Miscasting of Oz!

I know it's about a week late but I attest that I in fact saw Oz on opening day. Now I know the verdict has been given already that Oz: the Great and Powerful is already doing well and making the cash Disney wanted and may have perhaps become the Oz movie Walt Disney always wanted.

Overall, I thought this movie was good but was missing what it needed to be Great. The overall story revolves around Oz, no Dorothy, and his journey for greatness. I loved the opening in sepia tone as a call back to the Wizard of Oz. Here you get a sense of Oz as a man who was selfish and a liar but always hoping for greatness. He goes on a journey to Oz to fulfill his wish of greatness and to fool the people into believing he is the great Wizard of Oz, named after their land, come to fulfill the prophecy and kill the Wicked Witch. Now cue obligatory long sequence of the introduction of the land of Oz.

We meet Mila Kunis and she shows us that her range is quite low and later in a "plot twist" she is revealed to be the Wicked Witch of the West. Now I felt this was one of the most obvious plot turns considering that there is no merchandise of Mila Kunis is non green form. It kind of makes you think REALLY when it happens, partially because the performance is so god awful but also because it wasn't much of a plot twist.

Next we meet Finley (the great Zach Braff) and we come to find that Oz and Finley's "bromance" is what will carry this whole film. Finley and the China Girl (Joey King) along with Oz are the best characters in this whole film. It's hard to think how bad this would have been without them. Finley was amazing as the comedic relief. China Girl as a character was great because it brought out the heart and was kind of like a Jiminy Cricket to Oz.

After Finley's introduction and a reference to the Cowardly Lion, we meet Rachel Weisz as the Wicked Witch of the East and we find that she is the only Witch that is well casted and well performed. She gives Oz the task of killing her sister Glinda the good witch (Michelle Williams). Personally, I thought "How am I supposed to believe Michelle Williams as the Good Witch when anyone who saw Blue Valentine knows she's the Wicked Witch." Not to mention, I thought her performance was lacking.
Now the movie goes into a kind of formulaic "Oh I can't do this" and a "Yes you can because I believe in you" segment and then Oz decides to take on the Wicked Witches. Now I thought that Oz's plan to take on the Witches was pretty fantastic but then the ending kind of ruins it with Oz hooking up with the Good Witch. I was sitting there like "why did I need that to bring a happy ending to this movie?" I guess someone thought the China Girl accepting Oz, Finley, Knuck, and Glinda as her new family wasn't good enough to end the movie on.

Overall though, it was a good enough film, it just lacks that great quality but Sam Raimi is known for that (Spiderman 1 and 3). It's definitely worth seeing over the junk that is out right now (The Call, Burt Wonderstone, Movie 43).

Late on the Scene: Star Wars Episode VII: Super 8

Hey there, sorry, it's been about two weeks since I have blogged a thing. On January 25, 2013, Walt Disney Studios announced that they had selected a director for Star Wars: Episode VII. In a great surprise, it turned out to be one of the first directors who counted himself out of the race, J.J. Abrams. Now how this will effect the look and feel of Star Wars is yet to be seen but I had some thoughts on the issue.
I was first of all surprised that they would have selected the guy who is doing the Star Trek films to do Star Wars too. I know a lot of people gripe that what the prequel trilogy of Star Wars needed was George Lucas to step back because he was way too concerned with effects than story but are we really going to let someone control all Sci Fi? J.J. Abrams already has the Star Trek franchise, so are we going to see a crossover of themes and look?

And don't get me started with the look. I really hope Abrams doesn't bring his camera flare to Star Wars. It will be a huge detractor. I feel his directorial style is just too artsy for Star Wars. Star Wars is filmed more cinematic look (the original trilogy anyway).

I do have some positives though. I love that Abrams is more about practicals than special effects. I also love his films' storytelling. It will be nice to have an interwoven Star Wars universe again, where the writing will be written out in advance, rather than mangled together. I hope that they are planning to write it in a somewhat Lost sense, where you there are hints of things to come all through the first couple films.

Well, no matter what I think or anyone thinks, this is happening. I must say, if I see a Darth Locke in Star Wars: Episode VII, I'd be content!

Wreck-It Ralph! release is not as soon as you'd like....

Here is some news that came out recently about the release of Wreck-It Ralph. Disney is trying out a new way to release movies. They announced that Wreck-It Ralph will be released on February 12th for digital download and on March 5th for Blu-Ray and DVD.
I think this is pretty much useless. I can see the thought though, as I have already paid to see the film 3 times in theaters and I'm turning blue holding my breath for the release, but hey, I can wait for the Blu-Ray release. Not to mention, that releasing it as a digital download will just make it easier for piraters. And also, where are my lithographs for the pre-order? I was looking very much forward to some Wreck-It Ralph lithographs just to have my hopes crushed. I feel this is a very miss on Disney. I suppose that they decided to release Wreck-It Ralph this way so that they could try it out with something people actually want. I mean, they could of tried it on Frankenweenie but it wouldn't have been much of a test as only 8 people saw the movie (2 of them are myself and my wife). I just wish they would release Wreck-It Ralph on February 12th on Blu-Ray and that the lithographs were there, but I concede, I can wait for March (since it'll be a nice birthday gift!).

Oscar nomination

A little late but I just wanted to say congratulations to Disney on their Oscar nominations!

Lincoln snagged the most for nominations with 12 for Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Adapted Screenplay (Tony Kushner), Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis), Best Supporting Actor (Tommy Lee Jones), Best Supporting Actress (Sally Field), Cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), Costume Design (Joanna Johnston), Film Editing (Michael Kahn), Original Score (John Williams), Production Design (Rick Carter, Jim Erickson), and Sound Mixing (Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Ronald Judkins).

Also a return to form for Disney with 3 out of the 5 nominations for Best Animated picture with Brave (Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman), Frankenweenie (Tim Burton), and Wreck-It Ralph (Rich Moore). I hate to say it but though I enjoy Pixar movies, Brave is not that impressive. Now Frankenweenie is actually a well written and well directed feature for Tim Burton but I have to say, I want Wreck-It Ralph to take it. I loved that movie just that much (I saw it 3 times, and once was the free D23 screening!).

And the amazing short Paperman (John Kahrs) is nominated for Best Animated Short. I loved this short and I am very glad to see it nominated. I don't think I've ever had a short (and at that, with no talking) touch my heart like Paperman did. I'm just thankful that the waste of my time "La Luna" wasn't nominated.

Avengers even got an Oscar nomination for best Visual Effects (Janeck Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick). And even a nomination for the bust Mirror Mirror for Costume Design (Eiko Ishioka).

Tonight we'll find out who comes out with wins!

LOTR is coming to Universal

So today the rumor going around is that Universal Studios just got the Lord of the Rings for their parks. I know a lot of people (nerds like me mostly) are excited but I think a lot of people are blowing it out of proportion. Don't get me wrong, I love LOTR (yes I carried the One Ring around my neck in school) but I don't think this is as big of an announcement as people think.
I keep thinking back to the years between LOTR:ROTK and the Hobbit and I remember how no one cared about Tolkien's Middle Earth except for the fan base that was there before the films.
I think the excessive price tag I'm sure Universal paid (especially since we all know that Disney wanted these rights too) isn't worth it. It's just that I don't think it has that strong of an audience (like Avatar!). (Also why is Hobbit 3 movies? I'm sure that when Peter Jackson said he wanted to split it into 3 movies, New Line just saw dollar signs in their eyes and said, "Yeah and make it 3 hours long while you're at it!")
I also do not understand why people are saying "Disney needs to catch up!" that makes no sense, these are the same people who complain about Disney buying other companies' intellectual property instead of creating their own. You can't have it both ways, it's one or the other. I am glad Disney passed on the property because quite honestly, they have better things to do with their time and money (Cars Land baby!).
Sorry if I was a bit pessimistic on this post.

Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives: Part 1

Recently I headed to Simi Valley for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library but not just to experience the life and presidency of Ronald Reagan but for their newest exhibit, Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives. This exhibit features truly treasures from the archives and was amazing to see. I enjoyed the way Disney laid out the exhibit into three sections, the first was the life of Walt Disney, the second was treasures from the Disney Parks and Disney films, the third was Disney and the Presidents.

As a Disney nerd I was mostly interested in the first section. I loved seeing these hidden treasures of the man himself, Walt Disney. There were so many awesome things to check out, some telegrams from Walt and Roy, the screenplay for Steamboat Willie, the Automa bird that inspired Audio-Animatronics (AA), the script from the opening day of Disneyland, the Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White books, and of course, Walt Disney's formal office. There were some other great pieces from Walt's lifetime like the 20-foot model Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the Mary Poppins costume and even an autographed Mary Poppins book by the author P.L. Travers with an inscription for Walt Disney! There were so many things to choose from, I felt like a kid in a candy store.

There were so many amazing treasures but I think my favorite was a telegram from Walt to Roy. This, I believe, is one of the most important pieces of Disney history, this is the telegram Walt sent Roy when they had lost their hit character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is simple to cover up to Roy the terrible news walt had just been given, it reads: "Leaving tonite stopping over KC arrive home Sunday morning seven thirty don't worry everything ok will give details when arrive." Personally, I rarely trust everything is alright when someone says "don't worry" and "will give details" together. Another great piece was the script from Walt Disney's introduction of Disneyland. It is very interesting to see Walt Disney's handwritten notes and how he changed the lines of the script to seem more natural.

These are just some of the amazing things to see at the Walt Disney Archives exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. This is the first part of my experience at the Walt Disney Archives exhibit and will post the  other two parts soon. Hope you enjoy and make sure to head out and see the exhibit yourself before April 2013 when the exhibit closes!