Mickey's Parade frozen treats!

As summer drags on, cool off with a parade down memory lane - Mickey's Parade, that is, with frozen treats a-plenty: popsicles and ice cream bars, all Disney-themed:

There even was a commercial for these frozen treats:

Unfortunately, Mickey's Parade is long gone. That means no more ice pops or sprinkle cones. Only the Mickey Mouse ice cream bars are still around, and then only at the Disney parks, and without the cute Mickey faces on them.

Credit goes out to this site for support: http://www.joelfletcher.com/creative-process_files/making-mickeys-parade.html. Visit this site to see how they brought the Mickey's Parade commercial to life.

Disney Bears!

Here's a fun little entry: a list of Disney bears through the years! Disney has produced plenty of ursine characters, and this entry lists many of the most iconic ones below!

Pete (from the Alice Comedies and Oswald cartoons)

Br'er Bear

Bongo

Lulubelle

Lumpjaw

Cubby, one of the Lost Boys, is dressed as a bear

Humphrey

Winnie the Pooh

Baloo

The Country Bears

Fisherman Bear (from "Bedknobs and Broomsticks")

Little John

The bear from "The Fox and the Hound"

Butterbear

The Gummi Bears

Kit Cloudkicker

Rebecca Cunningham

Molly Cunningham

Kenai

Koda

Peter the Panda (from "Phineas and Ferb")

Special Agent Oso

Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear

Queen Elinor transformed

Harris, Hubert and Hamish transformed

Mor'du

Multi-Bear

Koslov

They are but many of the more iconic bears in the Disney menagerie. That is quite an impressive list, having come so far!

Ten Disney fan theories

This one came from the website Bright Side, so credit goes out to that...

Many Disney fans have come up with their own theories about how Disney movies connect to one another. Presented below are just a few of these theories that seem legitimate:

1) Captain Hook ended Ariel's mother's life.

In the sequel to The Little Mermaid, we find out that an "evil pirate" was responsible for Athena's demise. That evil pirate must be Captain Hook, right?

2) Jane from Tarzan is a descendant of Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

Jane's tea set is exactly the same tea set that Belle had. It must be a family heirloom, right?

3) Tarzan is Anna and Elsa's brother.

The co-director of both Frozen and Tarzan says that the King and Queen of Arendelle were lost in a shipwreck. They bear a striking resemblance to Tarzan's parents.

4) At the beginning of Up, Carl passes away.

This one's a little bit out there, to say the least. But many Disney fans say that it's the only way to explain the realism of the first five minutes of Up compared to the fantastic events that happen over the rest of the movie. Carl must be in the afterlife.

5) In Beauty and the Beast, the book Belle is reading is Aladdin.

Belle's favorite book is about "far off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise." In the book, Belle says that "here's where she meets Prince Charming, but she won't discover that 'til chapter three."

6) Andy's mother is the first owner of Jessie.

Andy's hat in Toy Story looks exactly like the hat of Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl in Toy Story 2. And Jessie's owner has the same hat, too. So, how did Andy get that hat? Andy's mother must have been the first owner of Jessie, and she passed her hat to her son, Andy.

7) Aladdin is just one big sales pitch.

In the beginning of the movie, a man is trying to sell the viewer a lamp that he claims is magic. As the viewer is about to "leave", the man begins to spin a fantastic tale in order to get you to buy the lamp.

8) Hercules and Ariel are first cousins once removed.

Ariel is the daughter of King Triton, and Hercules is the son of Zeus. King Triton is Poseidon's son, a brother of Zeus. That means Hercules and Ariel are cousins.

9) Anna and Elsa's parents got in a shipwreck on their way to Rapunzel's wedding.

Frozen director Jennifer Lee has said that the King and Queen of Arendelle were on their way to a wedding when they were shipwrecked. On Elsa's coronation day, you can see a married Rapunzel and Flynn. The King and Queen of Arendelle must have been sailing to Rapunzel and Flynn's wedding, right?

10) The little mermaid explores the ship of the king and queen of Arendelle.

Arendelle is in Norway, and Rapunzel's Kingdom of Corona is in Germany. The Little Mermaid takes place on the coast of Denmark, which is located on the route of the ship.

MouseCon 2015 cosplay gallery

In November of 2015, I attended the first ever MouseCon event, in Concord, CA. It is kind of a lower-key, poor man's D23, with events here and there, guest celebrities (like Disney Legends actor Tommy Kirk and animator Floyd Norman), booths from various galleries (such as the Disney Family Museum), and, of course, Disney cosplayers. As at D23, I attended dressed as Goofy. Below are some shots of cosplayers I got from when I went. Enjoy!

I will be attending this year's upcoming MouseCon, too.

Observation of Donald Duck in the parks

Since at least 2002, Donald Duck at the Disney parks have looked something like this below:

I have always thought that Donald now kind of looks like how he did back in the 1970s. I think it's the eyes:

They are different, but I think it's the eyes of the two that somehow remind me of Donald of today resembling Donald of old. Look at the eyes of the two Donalds and you'll see what I mean.

How time flies, huh?

Thus it begins...

Now it has come to pass: the Disneyland Railroad and the Rivers of America, along with the Big Thunder Ranch, have all closed to allow for the construction of a brand-new section of Disneyland themed to Star Wars. As part of that, the Ranch is closing forever, while the Rivers of America and the Railroad are being rerouted. According to the Disney Parks Blog, this is how the River and Railroad should look when all is said and done:

It is disappointing to lose a lot of the Rivers of America for this, but hopefully, it will look quite good. The art above certainly provides a hint of how it will look: railroad trestles, waterfalls, even a relocated Indian village. This should be good.

Here's hoping!