Once again, I attended D23 for 2019, for which I have dressed up as Willie the Giant from the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment of Fun and Fancy Free (luckily, I was not the only one to dress as a character from a package film). My mother dressed as Mad Madam Mim (as she did in 2017) and my father was Merlin, and my sister was another character from the Haunted Mansion, this time the singing Brunhilde-type ghost in the graveyard scene toward the end of the ride.
Once again also, I went for only two days instead of three. Seeing people dressed up, as we were, is always a highlight for my trips to conventions, D23 or otherwise, and I have taken so many pictures of such that, once again, I could not fit them into one page. Thus, I will be putting up two posts, one for each of the two days I went. I will include myself and my father, but this is mostly for other cosplayers that I saw. This post here is for the first day. Enjoy!
The Haunted Mansion was the "full attraction" costume of this event.
The Walt and Mickey statue at Disneyland, known as "Partners".
Mickey Mouse as a hipster
Some of the dolls in Small World
Donald, Minnie and Goofy on those glowing balls of light from the closing of Disneyland's Paint the Night parade
Sully and Boo as Jedi Knights and BB-8 as Mike Wazowski
Tramp and Peg
A comparison shot between me and the character I'm dressed as. This man on the left is J.B. Kaufman, who wrote a book on Fun and Fancy Free, which I bought (that image of Willie is taken from the book). He also wrote other Disney books, some of which I own, including a great one on Pinocchio, which I own because Pinocchio is one of my most favorite Disney movies ever, and another on Snow White, which I don't own, but have checked out from the library.
That's my father dressed as Merlin in this ride vehicle, taken from Epcot's former Living Seas pavilion, which has since been overhauled and given a Nemo theme some time ago.
Peter Pan, Rapunzel and Minnie Mouse all as Boba Fett
With the recent release of the remake of Aladdin and the remake of The
Lion King in the wings, I think now is a good time to say it: I absolutely
detest those constant remakes of Disney classics.
I know that's a strong word, but that's how I truthfully feel about it. Those
remakes are lazy, unnecessary and nothing more than a cash grab. This is the
equivalent of those sequels of older films, mostly direct-to-video, but a few
theatrical, from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. And there's more to come,
given a live-action remake of Lady and
the Tramp on the Disney+ streaming service (to say nothing of a remake of Mulan).
They use these remakes to profit from nostalgia rather than create new things to be nostalgic about. Those
remakes of Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and even the Tim Burton
versions of Alice In Wonderland and Dumbo were all I could bear. At least
Tim Burton films are different by design. I saw them all once, and I don't need to see them again. Granted, it's not a new phenomenon, as there was another live-action version of The Jungle Book released in the mid-1990s (which is radically different from the first movie, and probably more in common with the original Rudyard Kipling), along with a remake of 101 Dalmatians later that decade (which later spawned a sequel in 2000). But now, it's out of control.
My mother's favorite Disney movie is Sleeping Beauty, and she was utterly horrified by the live-action Maleficent movie, which had the absolute
worst choice to play one of the greatest Disney villains ever, Angelina Jolie.
Even worse, they had to make her a good person, even though she's the mistress
of all evil. Really?! My mother saw the ads for the sequel coming out later
this year, Maleficent: Mistress of All
Evil, and she's steering clear of that one. Furthermore, Mary Poppins Returns is technically a
sequel, but really in name only, as it was basically a rip-off of the original Mary Poppins at every turn.
Whenever I see ads for these things or promotions of any kind, I recoil
or look away. I know one thing: I absolutely refused to see the remakes of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, and I will definitely steer
clear of The Lion King as well. And besides, the attempts at making non-human characters, like the inanimate objects in Beauty and the Beast and the animals in The Jungle Book or The Lion King, come to life and to talk comes across as really creepy. It works well in cartoons, but not in live-action. On top of that, I'm told that their villains (Gaston, Jafar, etc.,) are even worse (that is, all the more monstrous) in the remakes than in the original cartoons.
I don't get it. I even thought that these remakes may even usurp the
original classics. Although I was informed that this was not likely to be the
case, it still makes me wonder, why bother making them at all if they are
inferior? The original Beauty and the
Beast was the first animated movie to win the Golden Globe for best musical
or comedy feature, as well as the first animated film to be nominated for Best
Picture at the Oscars, to say nothing of the ovation it received at the New
York Film Festival. The 2017 remake, on the other hand, not only received
nothing of the sort, but it came and went, with few people talking about it
now. And their aggressive marketing campaigns don't help matters much, either.
The only reason it and all these other remakes are made, it seems, is
to make money, nothing else. Like I said, it's a way to exploit nostalgia. It's
an easy way of doing it, too, since most other original live-action films, like
John Carter, The Lone Ranger, Tomorrowland
and A Wrinkle In Time, among others,
all seem to be box office flops. Original ideas are difficult; remakes seem to
be easier. However, it doesn't always seem to be right. As Albert Einstein once
said, "What is right is not always popular, and what is popular is not
always right." These films are decidedly unpopular, and that they were
made at all is not right.
To close my rant, in addition to my one last reiteration of my resolve
never to see these sequels, my hope is that, like the sequels of the '90s and
2000s, these remakes will soon become forgotten, nothing more than a footnote
in Disney history, and in time, they probably will become just that. However,
that does not erase the fact that they were done, and as such, they won't be completely forgotten.
One of the best Mickey Mouse video games ever made is Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse, which was released in 1994 on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis and CD. An updated version was also released a few years later abroad on the Playstation as Mickey's Wild Adventure. It is also the first video game to be created by Disney animators.
In this game, you take Mickey through several levels based on several of his cartoons, such as Steamboat Willie, The Mad Doctor, Moose Hunters, Lonesome Ghosts, Mickey and the Beanstalk (a segment from Fun and Fancy Free) and The Prince and the Pauper (the newest Mickey cartoon at that time). Interestingly, the Sega and Playstation versions (but not the Super Nintendo version, sadly) also include a short bonus level themed around The Band Concert. (Mind you, I've never played the Sega games, only the SNES version.)
The game was a hit, as it should have been. With that, there were plans for a sequel to this game. Unfortunately, the sequel was cancelled in favor of video game versions of Toy Story:
Before the Mickey Mania sequel was cancelled, however, they did manage to make a prototype of it:
As you can see, the level in question is based on Two-Gun Mickey, one of the last black-and-white Mickey cartoons made, even though it's displayed here in color, not unlike The Mad Doctor in the first game.
It makes me wonder: what could this never-made video game provide? The following is a few of my ideas for this game, including some ideas that should have been in the first game.
For the first level of the game, maybe it could be based on the first Mickey cartoon to ever be truly made: Plane Crazy:
Maybe one level could be a plane flight, maybe saving Minnie as the Mickey in this cartoon does reckless flying stunts that has her jettisoned from the plane:
At the same time, you have to dodge obstacles, like cows...
...cars...
...and steeples:
Another level in the game could be based around, in my opinion, one of the best Mickey cartoons ever made, Thru the Mirror (which should have been used in the first game):
The way the top hat springs up and down could make a good launching catapult of sorts. Also, enemies in this level could include those grumpy umbrellas...
...and giant playing cards:
There could also be a boss battle (or at least mid-boss battle) against the King of Hearts:
It all could be like that one level in Epic Mickey (which, in my opinion, is sort of a spiritual successor to Mickey Mania, as both games feature levels based around old Mickey cartoons):
Another level could be based around The Whalers...
Similar to the Moose Hunters level of the first game, you could try to escape from a rampaging whale.
There could also be a level based around another classic, The Brave Little Tailor, where Mickey could have a boss battle against the giant in that cartoon:
Another level is one that really should have been included in the first game: the Sorcerer's Apprentice scene from Fantasia. There was a Sega game based around this movie, but it was not very well done, apparently. This could be like that game, but done right:
It could show mainly the Sorcerer's workshop (from 0:55 to 1:54), where you battle the walking brooms, and the high crags, where you dodge comets (from 9:24 to 9:36). Finally, there would be a section where the room gets flooded and you have to avoid the rising tide. It's like this one level in Epic Mickey:
Finally, the last level of the game could be based on the then-newest Mickey cartoon, Runaway Brain. This could be where the final boss battle in the game takes place, against Julius, the giant Frankenstein-like Pete in this cartoon:
Anyway, those are all my ideas for what might have been with Mickey Mania 2. All told, there would be at least seven levels in this game:
Plane Crazy
Two-Gun Mickey
Thru the Mirror
The Whalers
The Brave Little Tailor
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Runaway Brain
Those, as I just said, are all just my ideas for what might have been in this never-made game. A guy can dream, can he not?
This November, the Disney+ streaming service will be launched.
For the most part (barring some exceptions, like the live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp), it does look like fun. It said that they were going to bust the Disney Vault wide open with this, meaning that (almost) every Disney movie in existence will become available on this service. However, I noticed that, according to this article from CNN, which displays the full lineup of stuff on Disney+, not all movies will be available: https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/12/media/disney-plus-streaming-shows-movies/index.html. My guess is they will eventually release everything, but not do it all at once, perhaps as a way to get people excited, like how Netflix (which is obviously what they're emulating here) has stuff that comes and goes all the time.
In any case, that lineup from that article above kind of reminds me of when the Disney Channel was launched way back in 1983:
Around the time of the new cable channel's launch back then, there were numerous promotional videos to get people excited about it (and this is partially where my comparison between the Disney Channel and Disney+ comes from):
To close out the article, I found a (partial) video showing off the original Disney Channel's launch:
It may be too much to hope that they will do a similar video to launch Disney+, but a guy can dream, can he not?
In any case, I think Disney+ is shaping up to be like the old-school Disney Channel, based off of the lineups at the time of release of both. I'm just hoping that they will include old Disney cartoons (which they kind of are, as the lineup features Steamboat Willie (unless it's a different film, which I hope not)) and not just the 2010s Mickey Mouse cartoons (which is what I think they are, based off the service's offering of "Mickey Mouse Shorts"). I'm also hoping against hope that the crow scene in the original Dumbo (the remake, but not yet the original animated film, is going to be on the service at the time of launch) will remain intact. I actually bought a Blu-Ray of the movie just because of the rumors of their removal, so I have something to fall back on just in case.
In any case, it will be interesting to see what comes our way on the Disney+ streaming service this November. Hopefully, Disney+, like the Disney Channel of old, will be "everything ever imagined - and more."
This one is mostly speculation on my part, backed up with bits of evidence here and there. It is primarily based off of this video here:
This is a kind of "what if" scenario for Disneyland. These days, we pay a flat ticket rate to enter the parks, which means we can access the rides and attractions whenever and as much as we want.
However, Disney fans may or may not know of a time when guests would use special ticket books to gain access to the attractions:
They were used from 1955 until 1982. There was only a limited number of them, which meant you would need to buy more ticket books if you wanted to experience more. There were five levels of such, from A tickets, which cost ten cents and were used for the smallest/least popular attractions, up through the legendary E tickets (introduced in 1959), which cost a whopping 85 cents and was used for the biggest/most iconic attractions. Here is a shot of an E ticket, circa 1977, the year Space Mountain opened at Disneyland:
It was used at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom when it opened in 1971 and even at Tokyo Disneyland when that opened in 1983, even though Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom had since given up their pay-per system.
It's a wise move to abandon the A-E ticket book structure, as it seemed unfairly imbalanced, meaning that the A tickets in particular were probably never used, whereas the E tickets were blown through countless times over. Through the years, numerous attractions at the parks were given up- or downgrades from one ticket level to another.
In any case, I sometimes wonder how the ticket book structure would look at Disneyland in particular if it was used today. The above video talks about WDW's Magic Kingdom's hypothetical ticket books, so this is about Disneyland.
For this format, I will be using the 1980 Disneyland guide book for reference, which can be found here: http://vintagedisneylandtickets.blogspot.com/2008/02/complete-guide-books.html. I tried to retain the original A-E structure as in the past. In the past, as I said, the attractions were never really limited to any one label over the years. Sometimes a D-ticket ride would get promoted to an E, or vice-versa. Also, some attractions, like Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln, were free, meaning one could access that without paying a ticket.
For the most part, an E ticket was used for the most popular/newest/most expensive rides, even for something like the Jungle Cruise mainly due to its popularity, while Mr. Toad's Wild Ride would use a C ticket because it was less technologically advanced.
This list below shows, based off of information I found elsewhere (including Fastpass), how the A-E structure would look today (it will also include the soon-to-be-open Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge):
FREE:
The Disney Gallery
Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln
Donald's Boat
Goofy's Playhouse
Chip 'n' Dale's Treehouse
A:
Main Street Cinema
Main Street Vehicles
Tarzan's Treehouse
Frontierland Shootin' Gallery
Pirate's Lair On Tom Sawyer Island
Sleeping Beauty Castle
B:
Disneyland Railroad
Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Casey Jr. Circus Train
King Arthur Carrousel
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Monorail
C:
Mark Twain Riverboat
Columbia
Alice In Wonderland
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Mad Tea Party
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Pinocchio's Daring Journey
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Astro Orbiter
Autopia
D:
Enchanted Tiki Room
Jungle Cruise
It's a Small World
Peter Pan's Flight
Gadget's Go Coaster
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
E:
Indiana Jones Adventure
Haunted Mansion
Pirates of the Caribbean
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Splash Mountain
Matterhorn
Space Mountain
Star Tours
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run
Rise of the Resistance
Based off the 1980 guidebook, it would seem that mostly it was the mountains, Pirates and Haunted Mansion that remained the same E tickets now as then. Some other attractions remain the same, such as most of the dark rides, which were a C, save for Peter Pan, which is promoted to D. But most others have been demoted, even from E to lower, including Small World, the Jungle Cruise and the Tiki Room, which are now D level. However, the Monorail, another E ticket in 1980, would take a huge hit down to B. Ouch!
Anyway, it gives you a rough idea of how the ticket book structure might look today. In any case, I'm glad we don't have the ticket book structure anymore, as that would limit enjoyment of the parks, at Disneyland or anywhere else.
Mind you, the above list is just an educated guess on my part. What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Please post in the comments below.
Another year, another MouseCon outing. In November 2018, I went once again to that very outing, held once again in Concord, CA (so I thankfully didn't have to travel nearly as far as I did for San Francisco), in the same location as 2016, and a nice location at that. As always, there were booths set up from different galleries and the usual guest celebrities, which this year included Eva Bella and Livvy Stubenrauch, the respective voices of Elsa and Anna as little girls in Frozen, and voice actress Kat Cressida (best remembered (to me at least) as the voice of Dee Dee on Dexter's Laboratory), whose performance at Disney include Constance, the murderous bride in the Haunted Mansion (at least at Disneyland), and Toy Story character Jessie the Cowgirl, in a few Toy Story-based video games, as well as at Toy Story Midway Mania, the Toy Story dark ride found at the Disney parks. Also on hand, apparently, were Imagineer Bob Gurr and Margaret Kelly, the original model for Tinker Bell in Peter Pan.
As for cosplaying, I went dressed as Willie the Giant, the main antagonist in the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" scene of Fun and Fancy Free:
For the purpose of scale, I had a small Mickey figure from the film as a costume prop (in my pocket up there). Those were really hard to come by, however, so my sister took an old Mickey toy from McDonald's and made it over. It was from 2001, as part of the "100 Years of Magic" promo at McDonald's, and it was actually a made-over version of a Mickey as Brave Little Tailor toy. Here's a shot of the original toy:
Here's a shot of the made-over version:
As you can see, the scissors have been removed (somewhat), but the pedestal still displays "Brave Little Tailor" on it. Maybe there is a way to remove it, I don't know.
One reason, albeit a small one, I went with this was as a way to celebrate Mickey's 90th (hence, the shot of me standing with the person dressed like Steamboat Willie Mickey). They mentioned several of Mickey's most iconic moments, and rightfully so. However, they seemed to gloss over his role in Fun and Fancy Free for some reason, which is kind of a shame, as it's actually not that bad a movie. But another, bigger reason for dressing up was that I would once again use MouseCon as a dry run for the upcoming D23. The main thing that is of concern to me here is different colored sleeves (darker green vs. the bright yellow in the image above). Also, I was told that Willie is a portly fellow, and that I should use a pillow or something to simulate this as well (even though I'm not exactly a skinny ninny myself).
I attended this year's costume contest, but I did not win anything, not even an honorable mention. In any case, here now are some shots of other cosplayers I got from this year's MouseCon:
Many cosplay conventions have their furries, and Disney ones are no exception, as with this furry version of Robin Hood:
Here's a shot of Kat Cressida's booth here:
I look forward to the upcoming D23 in August. And I will certainly be back to MouseCon this November, which will be back at the same location in Concord as 2016 and '18.
