Sharing the Disney Magic with Family & Friends-DL Diamond Anniversary-DCA F&W Fest Kiosks & The End!

[franandaj]

On November 13, there was a studio tour event going on and we were lucky enough to sign up for it. We arrived early about 10:40AM for the 11:00 event. Though they said no one would be let in before 11:00, we were welcomed and checked in. Then they let us loose in the studio store. Fran bought quite a bit of stuff, more watches, pins, a hoodie, her third Mickey Director plush, not exactly sure what else. I got the last pairs of Frozen earrings (Fran always like to buy me two pairs in case I lose one, I still have another set.) And I got a cute Mickey top.







I took our loot out to the car in the parking lot and then came back to join Fran and some of our friends.









Because we started so early we were done well before time for the next event so we just sat around talking with some of our friends and enjoying the beautiful day. This is the Commissary where we would be having lunch later.





Eventually we were led to a private function room at the commissary where a prepared lunch was waiting for us.





I had the turkey sandwich and caprese sandwich. There was also a chicken sandwich but it had Chipotle mayo and me and chipotle don't get along. There were two salads, I tried the arugula, edamame, quinoa and olive oil and it was pretty bland. But it sounded better than the broccolini, fig, walnut, and tarragon dressing. All in all the potato chips were the best part of the lunch. They also had some fruit and desserts available at another station. I'm glad we got everything all at once the desserts disappeared pretty quickly.



After lunch we were escorted to the main theatre for a presentation by

Dave Bossert
Randy Thornton
Russell Merrit










On the Silly Symphonies. They started off by showing us The Old Mill and then an 8 minute documentary that I think was recorded for the D23 Expo last summer. It featured the gentlemen giving the presentation as well as a few others. They talked about the process of restoring these classic films and what they meant to the company in general.

Evidently one of the things that was so monumental about these films was the precision with which the sound was synced up to the video. It's something that today we take for granted. Back then when a movie was shipped off to a theatre the movie reel was accompanied by a set of sheet music. The "house orchestra" which could have been a single pianist or an entire group of musicians, would play the sound track to the movie reel. Like the pirate code, the soundtrack was "merely a guideline." However for Walt this wasn't good enough. He wanted the music to be precise with the video. A perfect example of this is The Skeleton Dance. The movement of the skeletons is very precise to the sound of the marimba, and the use of the marimba is to simulate the sound of clacking on the bones of the skeletons.

One conductor that Walt worked with thought he could do exactly what was needed on his own and after two unsuccessful takes he reluctantly agreed to use a device that Walt had urged him to use to begin with. Today studio musicians regard the "click track" as a regular part of the job. When I was in music school, we got to participate in a mock studio recording and we were able to play with a cartoon on screen and we stayed in sync using the click track in our headphones.

There were two main in house composers of the silly symphonies and this came about because Walt became more and more frustrated with the process of trying to license songs and popular music of the day. The studio had its first big hit with the three little pigs and "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" Dave Bossert told us that if we thought "Let it Go" was huge, that was nothing compared to this tune. With America stuck in the Great Depression the Big Bad Wolf was personified as all things bad in society and the nation rallied behind the song feverishly.

About 3-4 years into production of the Silly Symphonies they began to experiment with Technicolor and then the multiplane camera. You can see the progression of the techniques as they are improved upon with every new short. The material for the symphonies was taken from fables, folklore and allegories. They panelists joked that Walt must have been working through all kinds of issues and resolving inner conflict as he and the animators told these stories. They said you could probably teach an entire semester of psychology analyzing these shorts.

We were told that we would be given this record set of the remastered Silly Symphony Soundtracks for Three Little Pigs and Skeleton Dance.



There was a brief Q&A before they sent us on to the next part of our day.

We were divided into four groups and we were going to visit various areas of the studio. Our first stop was the ADR studio. Fran made a joke about Advanced Dining Reservations and got a chuckle out of a few people. Actually it stands for Automated Dialogue Replacement. This is the location at the studio where actors go to rerecord segments of dialog which may have been obscured by a plane flying over the filming location, when a suit of armor is so thick the mic couldn't pick up what was said or any other situation where the dialog on the original film is inaudible.





We got to do some dialogue from Inside Out. About five of us got a chance to do it individually and then we did a group scene with one man and a bunch of ladies.





I did one on my own and it was actually a lot harder than I thought.



The first couple times, I didn't speak the words fast enough, and the "director" sort of chastised me, but the gal standing next to me said, "He's just giving you constructive criticism like he would any actor in here,"





In the Q&A our host talked about how he can't watch any show where the dialogue is off from the lips. They explained an number of situations why that could happen ie they actually change the words or just bad sync of dialogue. However that's why the timing is so important in the room. As long as you say it as fast as the lips do, they can move it around on the computer screens and put it in the right place. Timing is everything.

He also brought out a $12,000 microphone like Frank Sinatra used to like to use.



The mics on the boom stand in the pictures where I was dubbing dialogue were only about $6000 and $3500 each.

After that we went on to out next segment which was the studio lot tour. Our tour guide was named Drew and he was quite friendly and knowledgeable. He talked about this sign which was installed for The Reluctant Dragon and just never taken down.



Notice in this picture, the round circular building underneath the word “Dopey”. This is The Rotunda, where we would be having dinner that night. Evidently it is a very special place and only people at “Director” level in the studios can reserve dining experiences there. Our guide Drew seemed very impressed when some of us mentioned that was where we would be having dinner.



There is a fire hydrant on this corner and soon the employees began referring to it as Pluto's Corner so a couple years ago it was officially named and these paw prints were put in the cement.





Notice there are only three pawprints as the fourth is, shall we say busy?

We walked down Mickey Blvd to the original Animation building. He explained the hierarchy that Walt designed the building in an H so that most everyone had a window and natural light in their offices. The directors were on the top or third floor, story boarding took place on the second floor and the actual animators were on the ground floor.

There is a tunnel in the basement which leads to the Ink and paint building so that drawings could be carried there without the potential for damage by weather. There must not have been a drought back then. Drew said we could take pictures inside the building, as long as we didn’t post them online, so what would be the point?

We walked through the tunnel to the other building and our guide told us a story of how Roy Disney (not sure which one, perhaps the one still living) told him how they would slide down the steep slope of the tunnel on the used cells from the pictures. Nothing like a several thousand dollar sled. The slope was so steep, Fran's scooter konked out on the ride up. I had to put it in neutral and push it up the hill and then reset the circuit. It was a bit unnerving as it had brand new batteries!

He pointed out Walt's office. It took up the whole floor as he had an apartment up there, a formal office and a working office. The piano was also up there and that's where Richard Sherman would go on Fridays and Walt would say, "Play it for me" And he meant "Feed the Birds". He also pointed out Roy's office across the way on the second floor. Not sure if there was merit to the saying but they used to say, "Walt could look down on Roy, but Roy couldn't look up and see Walt."



We passed this building on our way to our next stop, but didn’t go in. I had done that on a previous tour though.



And here’s another look at the Rotunda.



That concluded our studio lot tour and we were handed off to tour Soundstage #6 & 7 where the Muppets film. I'll have details on that and the rest of the tour in the next update!

 

[franandaj]

,On our Studio tour, we had just finished a short tour of the grounds and we left off on our way to the Muppets Soundstage. This was probably the coolest part of our tour, because we watch the current Muppet show, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures.

Here is the iconic water tower.





The Muppets stage is raised several feet off the floor to accommodate the puppeteers. We got to stand on the stage for Late Night with Miss Piggy. The Producer of the show led us around the set. They had just wrapped up filming the day prior. Christmas decorations were up in the production office set.

We got to visit the bar set. This was my favorite part of the tour. We were some of the only people in our group who watched the show regularly. Fran and I were asking all kinds of questions from the Producer and he was genuinely please that we liked the show so much and paid so much attention to the goings on. After the tour I took a picture in from of the other entrance.



Then we went to the archives. Walking over the archives we got another glimpse of the water tower.



Star Wars was everywhere in the studios, if you hadn’t figured that out already.







The exhibits at the archives are constantly changing. They had this exhibit of an “Animator’s workspace” set up here this time. Last time I was there the cabinet from Narnia was in this spot.







After the archivist showed us a few items that she had taken out for us, and gave us a little history lesson on the archives themselves, we were allowed to roam around. Here were the items currently on display.

















They let us take pictures with this Oscar statue.



There is the multiplane camera in the hallway outside the archives.





After that it was back to the theatre. It was 75 years to the day when Fantasia was released. We were served popcorn and water.







They started us off with watching the Sorcerer's Apprentice. It turns out that was just another Silly Symphony until it went wildly over budget.

To recoup some of the money they decided to add on a few more shorts and make it a full length feature. They also talked about how Mickey became even more pliable and realistic in this feature. He got whites and pupils in his eyes and a more defined body shape.

Originally there were nine pieces featured in Fantasia but before the final release Clair De Lune was cut from the movie. They showed us the short that was cut from the film and talked about it for a little while. Then they went into the "Fantasia concept" which was that Walt intended the movie to be continually updated. A segment could be added another removed but that never really happened. Then in the 90s they began to revisit that idea, they had planned to do about three new shorts and put those together with some of the originals, but as they kept trying the vibe and execution of the older shorts just did not fit well with the newer modern animation styles so when Fantasia 2000 was finally released it had all new animation. One really funny story they told us was about how Michael Eisner had just been to his son's graduation and really wanted them to use Pomp and Circumstance. The animators were not really happy about that, nor were they happy when Eisner suggested that they make it about all the princes and princesses have a procession to get their babies

When they screened the film the animators who were currently employed by Disney were there as well as the surviving members of the 9 old men. Though they knew that this project was an awful idea wrong on Soooooo many levels, as Eric Goldberg pointed out, they wanted to keep their jobs so they really couldn't speak their minds. But the retired guys could! Leave it to Ward Kimball who stood up after the video was over and said, "That's a @$!/*& #&$!@! commercial!" And the idea died right then and there. The music still made the cut but they ended up going with Noah's Ark and the animals boarding in pairs instead.

Now I really wish I had taken pictures of this because the last time we saw it no pictures were allowed, when I saw this at the D23 75th anniversary presentation. However, this is what I posted from what I found online and it is the best explanation.

Fantasia 2000 Pomp & Circumstance. So I’m going to defer to an article that I found on the internet to explain this bizarre piece of never completed Disney Animation.

”a college graduation ceremony (that inspired) the choice of music (for this sequence in the film). The Walt Disney Company Chairman Michael Eisner listened as graduates received their degrees. " 'Pomp and Circumstance' probably has more pleasant associations in people's minds than any other piece of music, because it is always being played when you or someone you love are achieving something," reflects Eisner.”

So obviously when Disney's Big Cheese comes in and says "I think that you should consider using 'Pomp and Circumstance' as part of 'Fantasia Continued,' ' the people who were then working on this ambitious animated feature immediately gave Eisner's suggestion some very serious thought. Because - as an employee of a massive multi-national corporation - it always pays to try & make the guy who signs your paycheck happy.

But that said ... It was the second half of Eisner's "Pomp and Circumstance" suggestion (i.e. that this number in "Fantasia Continued" be built around a stately procession of Disney Princesses and their princes) that gave this film's production team pause.

"You have to understand that every other sequence that we were considering for 'Fantasia Continued' at that time was art for art's sake. We were always looking to marry a great piece of music with stunning visuals to then create this memorable movie-going experience," Bossert explained. "And what Michael was asking us to do with 'Pomp and Circumstance' was kind of out of step with the rest of this film. His Disney Princess procession idea was almost nakedly commercial."

But - again -- because it was their then-Boss who suggested this idea, the "Fantasia Continued" production team gave it the old college try. George Scribner (best known as the director of Disney's 1988 animated feature, "Oliver and Company") was assigned to develop a story of the Disney Princess version of "Pomp and Circumstance." And from what David tells me, George did the very best that he could with this concept. Creating a pretty entertaining storyreel.

"As I recall, this sequence was set outside. And the Disney Princesses that were supposed to appear in 'Pomp and Circumstance' started with Snow White and then went all the way up to Princess Jasmine in 'Aladdin (Disney Special Platinum Edition) ,' " Bossert continued. "And as they all marched along with their princes and their children, you'd then get these quick cameo appearances by other famous Disney characters."

Which brings us to the other gimmick that was supposed to have been associated with this Disney Princess-based version of "Pomp and Circumstance." In that this proposed sequence was going to be the part of "Fantasia Continued" which would have featured scenes that were animated by genuine Disney Legends.

To be specific, Disney wanted to recruit the surviving members of the Nine Old Men (which - at that time - were Marc Davis, Ollie Johnston, Ward Kimball and Frank Thomas) to come work on "Pomp and Circumstance." With the idea that each of these legendary animators would animate one short scene which starred their signature Disney character.

"As I recall, Marc was going to animate a scene featuring Tinker Bell. Ward was supposed to animate a scene with Jiminy Cricket. They wanted Frank to do something with the Fairies from 'Sleeping Beauty. And I don't remember what Ollie was supposed to have done," Dave continued.

Now these scenes that were to be animated by the surviving Nine Old Men were then supposed to be folded in with footage that had been created by the modern masters of Disney hand-drawn animation. We're talking about super-talented people like Glen Keane and Andreas Deja, who'd create cameos for the most famous Disney characters that they'd ever worked on, like Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" and Scar from "The Lion King."

"A lot of the comedy in this version of 'Pomp and Circumstance' was to have come from Donald Duck. Who was wreaking havoc behind-the-scenes because he was attempting to get his hands on that magic hat that Mickey wears in 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice,' " Bossert said. "But if I'm remembering this storyreel correctly, there was a quick scene where you got to see the Fab Five all standing together. And another one where you saw a number of the Villains observing this Disney Princess processional from a distance."

Now you have to admit that the idea of a musical number -- which was supposed to be animated by the very best animators, past and present -- that featured every animated Disney character ever created does sound kind of cool. So why didn't this version of "Pomp and Circumstance" actually go into production?

To answer that part of the question ... I must now launch into a somewhat adult story. Which I want to stress that I DID NOT hear from David Bossert. But - rather - from someone who was actually in the room when the Disney Princess version of 'Pomp and Circumstance' hit the skids.

To Explain.: When the folks at Walt Disney Animation Studios decided that they seriously wanted to pursue this idea of having the surviving Nine Old Men come in & work on "Fantasia Continued," they then staged this elaborate pitch meeting. Where Marc, Ollie, Ward and Frank were all limoed onto the Disney Lot and then taken into this room that was loaded with concept art for the "Fantasia" follow-up.

And given that Michael Eisner had come up with the original Disney Princess / "Pomp and Circumstance" concept ... Well, he made a point of sitting in on this particular pitch meeting as well.

Anyway ... After everyone was served a light lunch, the formal pitch for this proposed "Fantasia Continued" sequence began. And at some point, the lights were turned down and the Disney Princess "Pomp and Circumstance" storyreel was shown. Afterwards, the room was deadly silent. Marc, Frank and Ollie shot each other sidelong glances, wondering what they should say.

But leave it to the always bombastic Ward Kimball to break the silence. Who reportedly said to the entire room: "That's the stupidest ef*ing idea I've ever heard."

Needless to say, the idea of bringing the surviving Nine Old Men back on the Lot to work on this project died that afternoon. And shortly after this infamous story pitch, the "Fantasia Continued" production team began casting around for an entirely new story concept for this film's "Pomp and Circumstance" sequence.

"But you have to understand that this is how the development process at Disney Animation works. Not every idea that we come up with works. But we keep refining things, trying different ideas, different combinations of characters until we eventually do come up with something that works," Bossert stated. "I honestly don't know if we would have come up with the idea of making Donald Duck Noah's assistant - which is the concept that we eventually used for 'Pomp and Circumstance" in the final version of 'Fantasia 2000' - if we hadn't first explored that idea of Donald being the character who was causing all of those problems behind-the-scenes during the Disney Princess processional version of this sequence."

The other thing that's great about Disney is that - while an idea may not always work out for feature animation - it can eventually find new life in another part of the Company. Do you recall that Donald-trying-to-get-his-hands-on-the-magic-hat-from-the-Sorcerer's-Apprentice story thread? Does that concept sound familiar? It should. WDI took that idea and ran with it while it was developing "Mickey's PhilharMagic" for the Parks in the early 2000s.

And - yes - just in case you're wondering. It was George Scribner who not only developed the storyreel for "Mickey's PhilharMagic," but he also wound up directing this 3D Theme Park Productions film.

So - in the end - things all worked out. Michael Eisner got what he wanted. Which was "Pomp and Circumstances" in "Fantasia 2000." And Bossert & the production team of this ambitious animated feature got what they wanted. Which was a version of "Pomp and Circumstance" that was much more in sync with all of the other new sequences that WDFA had created for this "Fantasia" follow-up. Which weren't crassly commercial. But -- rather -- married stunning visuals with memorable music to create a truly memorable movie-going experience.

But that said ... You still have to wonder how this Disney Princess processional sequence would have been received by the public. Well, David actually found out. Sort of. You see, as part of a "Fantasia" - themed presentation that Bossert gave on the Disney Cruise Line back in 2009, he screened this version of the "Pomp and Circumstance" storyreel. And the results were ... Well, mixed.

"Some people in the audience laughed because they were really enjoying what they were watching. But then there were these laughs that came in very weird places. Which meant that there were people out in the audience who were laughing AT the movie. Rather than laughing with it," David said.

But this is why you should always go out of your way to try & catch a David Bossert presentation. He always screens the most amazing things. Which David usually uncovers while digging deep down into the vaunted Disney Vault.”



So I’m sad that I didn’t take pictures of this screening. Obviously the last time we couldn’t take them otherwise I wouldn’t have inserted this article in my previous report, but at least I have this information.

 

[franandaj]

Next we watched the Rhapsody in Blue segment from Fantasia 2000. This was produced by Eric Goldberg and his wife. The interesting thing to me was the discussion after we saw it about how the names of the various animators who worked on the piece were woven into the animation. Some places it was obvious like the woman with the dog exited the "Hotel Goldberg" in the beginning of the piece. But there were other instances they mentioned where the names were actually part of the drawings. They mentioned that an awning of one of the buildings was made completely from the letters of the animator's last name.

They told us that we would be receiving a CD with music from both Fantasia movies.



After that they took a few questions and let us go for our dinner. Our dinner was in another buiding

I know it’s blurry, but looking back here is the theater.



And there are Mickeys in the carpeting.



On our way to dinner.





Here is a few shots of us in the room.





And the room







Fran really liked these salt and pepper shakers, they were really cute!



They had a plate of cheese and crudité out for us to take some appetizers. Here is my plate.



And then once everyone was seated we were served a salad.



We had preordered entrees, I went with the Barramundi.



Fran had the chicken and roasted vegetables.



We both went with the flourless chocolate cake.




The tour went well over the allotted time and lots of people bowed out before desert was even served. We stayed until almost the bitter end and walked out with another crowd. The Disney Studios were already moving on to the next activity, setting up for the premiere of a new cartoon series that was going to be screened in the theater. We were escorted to the parking lot (so that we did run off amok) and we went home. Another fun day.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

That looks like such a fun event! Its awesome you got to go on the set for the Muppet Show (I watch it as well) All your history on Fantasia was really interesting! Eisner definitely had some strange ideas for the Fantasia 2000 (aka he cray cray) I remember reading the book Disney War in college and your story was definitely inline with what was happening in that book during his reign as CEO.

 

[skier_pete]

That looks like a great tour. Sounds somewhat similar to the one we took with the Backstage Magic tour. (They even mentioned riding the carts down that steep hallway!) Of course, we didn't get to eat in the rotunda, and most disappointingly we didn't get to go on any of the soundstages - just walk around outside.

Doing the ADR stuff would've been cool. (I am a bit of a movie production nerd - so when I first heard the term ADR used for Disney Dining, I actually thought "what does that have to do with voice recording?")

I would've been going NUTS to see the Muppets set. I love the new show - I think it is very in the spirit of the old show and find it very funny. I think I would've BEGGED them to let me take ONE picture on the set. It's kind of too bad that Disney doesn't offer public tours. WB and Paramount still do, and we are planning on doing the WB studios tour when we come in February - they've changed it quite a bit from 2013 when we last came, and I think our daughter will get a big kick out of the behind the scenes stuff.

 

[jedijill]

What a cool experience! So much history and I love the presentation on Fantasia!

Jill in CO

 

[dhorner233]

Very interesting tour! I think my favorite part was the archives with all the 3 Little Pig stuff and about how popular that cartoon and song were!

 

[rndmr2]

Really cool tour! Lots of great info.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Nice that you were able to go to the WD Studios for that tour. It is always nice to see pictures of the WD Studios and actually go there where it is amazing. I would definitely enjoyed the Fantasia presentation.

 

[Flossbolna]

I loved the report on the tour, thank you so much for sharing this. It was truly fascinating!

And a quirky comment: I love the outfit you wore that day and in a way it looks like you were Disneybounding as Yoda. Not like a costume and as I said, the dress looks lovely, so not in a frumpy way, but somehow it reminds me of Yoda. In a good way!!

 

[dizneeat]

That was one cool tour! Thank you for sharing. I love all the detail.

 

[EJ4Disney]

WOW!! That was wonderful. Thank you SO much for all of the detail about the tour. I totally felt like I was right there. Again, Thanks.

 

[afwdwfan]

All in all the potato chips were the best part of the lunch.

This speaks volumes... I'm sorry lunch wasn't better. But hey, at least it was at WDW studios so it can't be all bad.

We were told that we would be given this record set of the remastered Silly Symphony Soundtracks for Three Little Pigs and Skeleton Dance.

Cool!

Our first stop was the ADR studio. Fran made a joke about Advanced Dining Reservations and got a chuckle out of a few people.

I can't imagine why a room full of Disney fans would chuckle about this...

The first couple times, I didn't speak the words fast enough, and the "director" sort of chastised me, but the gal standing next to me said, "He's just giving you constructive criticism like he would any actor in here,"

Did he tell you you'll never work in this town again?

The mics on the boom stand in the pictures where I was dubbing dialogue were only about $6000 and $3500 each.

Well then, I'm glad they didn't give you one of the expensive ones.

Notice in this picture, the round circular building underneath the word “Dopey”. This is The Rotunda, where we would be having dinner that night. Evidently it is a very special place and only people at “Director” level in the studios can reserve dining experiences there. Our guide Drew seemed very impressed when some of us mentioned that was where we would be having dinner.

Wow. You're really getting the red carpet treatment!

Notice there are only three pawprints as the fourth is, shall we say busy?

The slope was so steep, Fran's scooter konked out on the ride up. I had to put it in neutral and push it up the hill and then reset the circuit. It was a bit unnerving as it had brand new batteries!

Yikes! I'm glad that it reset and worked ok.

This was probably the coolest part of our tour, because we watch the current Muppet show, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures.

That stinks that you couldn't take pictures. It would be really neat to get to explore an actual working TV set like that!

After the archivist showed us a few items that she had taken out for us, and gave us a little history lesson on the archives themselves, we were allowed to roam around. Here were the items currently on display.

That's a lot of cool stuff to see, but I've got to say that some of those old toys just look creepy. I think I can understand why Mickey, Donald and the rest of them have evolved a bit over the years.

There is the multiplane camera in the hallway outside the archives.

Wow! I've heard of the multiplane camera, but I don't think I've ever seen it before to understand what it was exactly. That's a whole lot of camera!

But leave it to the always bombastic Ward Kimball to break the silence. Who reportedly said to the entire room: "That's the stupidest ef*ing idea I've ever heard."

One of those things that having "Old men" in your title just gives you the authority to say.

But that said ... You still have to wonder how this Disney Princess processional sequence would have been received by the public. Well, David actually found out. Sort of. You see, as part of a "Fantasia" - themed presentation that Bossert gave on the Disney Cruise Line back in 2009, he screened this version of the "Pomp and Circumstance" storyreel. And the results were ... Well, mixed.

"Some people in the audience laughed because they were really enjoying what they were watching. But then there were these laughs that came in very weird places. Which meant that there were people out in the audience who were laughing AT the movie. Rather than laughing with it," David said.

You know, the concept doesn't sound all that laughable. Is it a big Disney commercial? Of course. But as time has gone, Disney has been getting really good at doing the commercialization and cross promotion angle. It might actually fit better within the company now than it did back then.

I think it all comes down to execution though. I'd be interested to see this sequence of all the princesses and other characters from the Disney archives, and I think it could be a very good film. But then again, I can see how they could make it totally laughable if it isn't done well. I guess we'll never know.

The tour went well over the allotted time and lots of people bowed out before desert was even served. We stayed until almost the bitter end and walked out with another crowd.

Yeah... you're in the studios getting a VIP type tour and treatment. They'd have to drag me out of there.

We were escorted to the parking lot (so that we did run off amok) and we went home. Another fun day.

Looks like a pretty awesome experience. I'm glad you were able to go!

 

[Pinkocto]

What an amazing day!!! The Fantasia 2000 squabble was fascinating. Too cool to be able to do the ADR stuff. And the Muppets show, awesome! So much fun all around!!!

 

[rentayenta]

Wow, what an amazing update. Truly so much history and interesting info. I am going to have to re-read it to take it all in.

Two things: LOVE the your brown woven belt. And I am not a chipotle fan either. I thought I was the only one on the planet.

 

[franandaj]

That looks like such a fun event! Its awesome you got to go on the set for the Muppet Show (I watch it as well) All your history on Fantasia was really interesting! Eisner definitely had some strange ideas for the Fantasia 2000 (aka he cray cray) I remember reading the book Disney War in college and your story was definitely inline with what was happening in that book during his reign as CEO.

It was a great event! I love when Dave Bossert speaks, he has so much information and it's just so much fun. I got the idea that definitely during his reign as CEO, there was a lot of cra cra going on there!

That looks like a great tour. Sounds somewhat similar to the one we took with the Backstage Magic tour. (They even mentioned riding the carts down that steep hallway!) Of course, we didn't get to eat in the rotunda, and most disappointingly we didn't get to go on any of the soundstages - just walk around outside.

I've been on at least four tours now that I remember, and all have been somewhat similar. There is usually a visit to the archives and they let you take a picture with an Oscar. This was the first time that I got on one of the sound stages. It was really cool!

Doing the ADR stuff would've been cool. (I am a bit of a movie production nerd - so when I first heard the term ADR used for Disney Dining, I actually thought "what does that have to do with voice recording?")

It was neat to try that. I didn't realize how hard it was just watching the others do it until I tried and evidently didn't speak fast enough.

I would've been going NUTS to see the Muppets set. I love the new show - I think it is very in the spirit of the old show and find it very funny. I think I would've BEGGED them to let me take ONE picture on the set. It's kind of too bad that Disney doesn't offer public tours.

I really like the new show too, but I'm pretty sure that no matter how much you begged, they still would have said "no". Crew members aren't allowed any pictures in any production areas, and I know that they are super strict about that.

WB and Paramount still do, and we are planning on doing the WB studios tour when we come in February - they've changed it quite a bit from 2013 when we last came, and I think our daughter will get a big kick out of the behind the scenes stuff.

I did the WB one with @jedijill last year, and it was a blast. I want to do it again now that we watch Big Bang Theory and I would love to see one of their sets.

What a cool experience! So much history and I love the presentation on Fantasia!

Jill in CO

It was very cool. I love the presentations where they give you all that great information.

Very interesting tour! I think my favorite part was the archives with all the 3 Little Pig stuff and about how popular that cartoon and song were!

Thanks, it was a great way to spend the day. So much history and we got to see and do a bunch!

Really cool tour! Lots of great info.

Thanks! I had a great time that day.

Nice that you were able to go to the WD Studios for that tour. It is always nice to see pictures of the WD Studios and actually go there where it is amazing. I would definitely enjoyed the Fantasia presentation.

It was so much fun that day. I loved all the presentations and seeing all the sets and stuff was amazing.

I loved the report on the tour, thank you so much for sharing this. It was truly fascinating!

And a quirky comment: I love the outfit you wore that day and in a way it looks like you were Disneybounding as Yoda. Not like a costume and as I said, the dress looks lovely, so not in a frumpy way, but somehow it reminds me of Yoda. In a good way!!

Well I'm glad you liked the outfit. I've had that one for a while now, and I really like it. In fact you may see it again soon in another TR!

That was one cool tour! Thank you for sharing. I love all the detail.

You're welcome. I'm just glad that I had a long wait at the vet the next day and in the waiting room I wrote up everything I could remember on my phone. I never would have remembered it all if I had waited any longer before writing it up.

WOW!! That was wonderful. Thank you SO much for all of the detail about the tour. I totally felt like I was right there. Again, Thanks.

I'm glad you enjoyed my write up about it.

This speaks volumes... I'm sorry lunch wasn't better. But hey, at least it was at WDW studios so it can't be all bad.

Yeah, truthfully none of the food was all that great, but I wasn't there for food!

Cool!

I can't imagine why a room full of Disney fans would chuckle about this...

I know, I was surprised that more people didn't get it, but these people are hard core Disneyland freaks and many wouldn't even dream of going to WDW so

Did he tell you you'll never work in this town again?

Well then, I'm glad they didn't give you one of the expensive ones.

You notice that the guy talking to us was holding the mic. It never left his hands, nor did he let any of us get near him with it.

Wow. You're really getting the red carpet treatment!

I know it was pretty awesome.

Yikes! I'm glad that it reset and worked ok.

I've had to troubleshoot these things for years. It's rare that we have a mishap as bad as we did on the cruise last month.

That stinks that you couldn't take pictures. It would be really neat to get to explore an actual working TV set like that!

They are very strict about now letting out any secrets. I remember one tour that the liason told the Disney person, if she so much saw a phone or camera come out of our pockets, they had the right to destroy it.

That's a lot of cool stuff to see, but I've got to say that some of those old toys just look creepy. I think I can understand why Mickey, Donald and the rest of them have evolved a bit over the years.

I know! If you've seen any old photos of the characters in Disneyland in the 50's they are really creepy looking!

Wow! I've heard of the multiplane camera, but I don't think I've ever seen it before to understand what it was exactly. That's a whole lot of camera!

It's a really fascinating concept they have one at the Walt Disney Family Museum, and a whole display about it. When it saw it there, I think that's the first time that it really dawned on my how it actually worked, and how the various cells were placed literally on separate planes to give the depth to the scene that had never been done before.

One of those things that having "Old men" in your title just gives you the authority to say.

I don't think Ward Kimball needed that to speak his mind. He has some great stories that I've heard about him. He was a pretty crazy guy!

You know, the concept doesn't sound all that laughable. Is it a big Disney commercial? Of course. But as time has gone, Disney has been getting really good at doing the commercialization and cross promotion angle. It might actually fit better within the company now than it did back then.

I think it all comes down to execution though. I'd be interested to see this sequence of all the princesses and other characters from the Disney archives, and I think it could be a very good film. But then again, I can see how they could make it totally laughable if it isn't done well. I guess we'll never know.

I really wish I had taken pictures because when you saw it (although it was just sketches, no real animation), it really was crazy and corny. Plus it violated all kinds of "Disney space time continuum laws".

Yeah... you're in the studios getting a VIP type tour and treatment. They'd have to drag me out of there.

That was kind of how I felt. I wasn't leaving until they made me go!

Looks like a pretty awesome experience. I'm glad you were able to go!

I am too. Living in So Cal, we do get opportunities to do things like this more often than lots of people, but still, getting to spend time on the Studio lot is not something that happens every day!

What an amazing day!!! The Fantasia 2000 squabble was fascinating. Too cool to be able to do the ADR stuff. And the Muppets show, awesome! So much fun all around!!!

It really was pretty fascinating. There are all kinds of stories like that out there. It's so much fun to go to these kinds of things and listen to these guys talk. I can't wait for more D23 events to come up!

Wow, what an amazing update. Truly so much history and interesting info. I am going to have to re-read it to take it all in.

Two things: LOVE the your brown woven belt. And I am not a chipotle fan either. I thought I was the only one on the planet.

It was a great day and so much information! The belt actually came with the outfit, I only wear it with that one, but glad you like it. I have never liked chipotle since the very first time I tried it. They tried to serve it to me with mayo on a burger and I wanted to spit it out. I asked the server to bring it on the side, she convinced me to put it on the burger saying she would have them make me a fresh one if I didn't like it. They made me a fresh one!

 

[franandaj]

Sunday after the Studios event we had been able to get VIP seating for F! It was the last time that the show was on the schedule for at least the next month, and with it going away in January, we wanted to make sure that we got to see it before it went away for a long time. It was Sunday of marathon weekend, so not my choice of days, but since we had no guarantee of when it would be back again, we took it. Bret was down that weekend, so we invited him to come along with us.

We met up at the French Market Café where we had dinner. Fran and Bret both had the French Dip sandwich with potato chips.



I got the Jambalaya.



We also got this Jack Skellington Cake. It was one of the better special desserts that I’ve had.





After we ate, we went over to Tomorrowland. The next day was the opening of Season of the Force. Bret had already been on the soft opening of Hyperspace Mountain, and there was a rumor that they were already showing the new scene in Star Tours, so we went over to see if we could get on that. Fran wanted to see if she could get any more of the figures with Disney characters as Star Wars characters. They didn’t have any of those as they have transitioned away from all those figures, however she did get a really cool light saber. She also wanted an almost life size storm trooper, but we couldn’t see carrying him around the park all night. We decided to get him when we came back the next day.

We did get to ride Star Tours and the new scene was pretty cool. Unfortunately Hyperspace Mountain had way to long a line for us to ride it before F! started, so we headed back to the viewing area to get set up.

Bret was really helpful to me and my photography that night. Often my camera will not take photos of certain scenes. He explained to me that it has to do with the Auto focus, and because there are so many things at varying depths, the camera can’t tell what to focus on. If I switch the lens to Manual focus mode, it won’t fight me on taking the picture. That means that occasionally I am ending up with more blurry pictures since the auto focus doesn’t always work before switching it to manual. But at least I am getting more pictures, and some of them are turning out pretty good! Here is an example of a shot that it wouldn’t take in auto mode, but it got a clear enough focus that when I switched to manual, it was already close enough in focus that it came out OK.



Light settings adjusted, we sat back and waited for the show.













The projections on the water screens are still really difficult to shoot, no matter what you do.







































And then the Evil Queen tries to take over his Dreams.









[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

Then Mickey comes back to take over his own Dream.







































After that we said “goodbye” to Bret and headed out. We stopped in the WoD Disney store again looking for figures. I can’t remember if she found any, but we did find our Stormtrooper and it was a much shorter trip to the car from this store, so we got him!



Eventually he is going to go in the Foyer of our house, but we haven’t had the chance to get the pedestal ready for him. He will be accompanied by an almost life size R2D2!


Next we return the next day for Season of the Force!

 

[skier_pete]

I did the WB one with @jedijill last year, and it was a blast. I want to do it again now that we watch Big Bang Theory and I would love to see one of their sets.

They took us on the Big Bang set back in 2013. It was in the summer so they were on hiatus, but it was still pretty neat. The two apartments and the staircase are all one big set and of course the main one. Any other sets are set up off to the side. I thought the coolest part of that tour was they took us on a talk show set (Ellen) a 3-camera sitcom set (BBT) and a single camera drama (The Mentalist) so you got to see the difference between the three.

It's nice that you went to see Fantasmic! With it being down for the next two years I would bet it's going to be extra crowded in the next few weeks.

 

[dhorner233]

Nice coverage of Fantasmic! Lucky you getting photo tips from Bret! I have problems with my camera's auto focus but don't trust my manual focusing......