The last day of D23 Expo is here and I am still asleep in bed as of 7am. For the first two days I was getting up really early to catch the dream store, the legends ceremony, the Disney studios presentation. This Sunday morning I felt that I didn't need to attend the Cruise Line panel (which I heard met capacity), I am not a vinylmation collector so the Lion King launch was not on my radar, and I am a comic book fan so I have a decent history of Marvel comics. On my agenda this Sunday was to get the sunday Cheshire Cat pin, visit the Archives, do one last walkthrough of the floor and maybe buy a couple of pins, cells, or paintings.
I get to the Convention Center at 9:30am and there is a line set up for the non D23 members which is fairly long considering it is a Sunday. I walk in and the floor looks barren. I am able to walk freely, the Dream Store has no line to get in and a two turn snake to check out. I am in and out by 10am. I also run into a friend from Comic Con (this is important because it totally changes my agenda, in a good way). With nothing in mind at this time I thought I was gonna attend the Marvel comics panel just in hope of some freebee, but my friend convinces me to go to the Disney Store (do not get that confused with the Dream Store) and wait in line to get the Vinyl Pop Steamboat Willie. Again not a huge collector of the vinylmations I thought twice but remembered they were also selling the Kikada little wish dolls.
I go to the store and totally forgot that yesterday they presented the Disney princess designer dolls and I start looking for the Ariel doll (which was not for sale, however the whole set was) and actually grew fond of the Steamboat Willie while waiting in line. I get one of those, an Ariel Kikada doll, and make my way out of the store. My friend buys her vinylmation figures and hooks me up with a 10% discount for being a Disney Mastercard member. I would have had one but was really credit weary when the Ariel card was available and did not apply for one.
We go up to the Archives and the line is considerably shorter than on Saturday. It extended just a little past the Charter member R&R room. As we are waiting in line my friend pulls the chaser Ed hyena vinylmation figure from her 5 boxes. Score! We get into the Archives and I cannot believe they are letting us take photos. 2 years ago I believe any type of recording device (camera, phone, etc) could not be used in the Archives. Also I remember the Archives being smaller 2 years ago. Anywho I love the Rocketeer, Roger Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland, and Zorro memorabilia that was there. There was also the Sleeping Beauty book and drawing desk of a Pinocchio artist (Frank Thomas, I believe) with a Pinocchio marionette. As I stated in my Day 2 post, there was Fan art of 101 Dalmatians, the outfits that Glenn Close wore in the movies, and a scene setup of Cruella's table. In the third room was all Mickey stuff. A couple of things that caught my eye was an old mickey rotary phone that I used to have as well as the statue that used to be on Main Street and the outfit worn at the 50th anniversary of Disneyland's opening.
After the Archives, I was ready to leave, it was around noon, but my friends has the energy of one of the tweens at the expo and we do the freebee hunt. I end up getting these really neat Mickey and Minnie shaped hand soaps, Disney styled body wash and lip balm, as well as gummy snacks at the Disney healthy living booth all in the span of 45 mins. Get a couple of nice freebee bags, get a Lion King litho from the Movie rewards club, a Winnie the Pooh litho from the Movie Club, and get to see Paige O'Hara in the collectors area. I entered the Retro 51 ugly pen contest (don't think I won as I have not received a call or contact from them. I also got the noise sticks from Shake It Up! for my nieces.
I finally leave at 530 after attemping to win a few raffles, which again I failed. For a day where I thought I would be leaving around noon and getting home to finish up work for Monday, I ended being thoroughly entertained, met some good friends (who are also Comic Con attendees so I'm sure to see them there), and raked in a lot of cool Disney Freebees.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Day 2 - Part 2
After completing the Walt Disney Studios Panel (AKA the Marvel/Avengers Panel) I waited in the Arena foyer while everyone was retrieving their camera and video recorders. I was hoping that a celebrity or two would make their way out to the area and I could get an autograph or phone picture with them. No luck. It was near 2pm when I decided I wanted to check out the Archives. Yeah, Right! That line went from the entrance all the way down to stage 28, snaked back to the entrance and snaked again down along the railing. That wasn't gonna happen for me, but the Archives store line was about 40 people deep. I'm doing that!
I get into the Archives store in about 20-30 minutes time and its a small store but has a lot of great things for the collector in me. I had to limit my spending after dropping a lot of money on day 1 so I limited myself to the little mermaid items (pin and shot glass) and an archives shirt. Wanted the entire 9 piece Donald Duck pin set, along with many other things but just couldn't do it. In the archives store there is an open door that gives a peek into the archives and I saw a lot of Mickey Mouse memorabilia there. There is also a separate room that has 101 dalmatians items. I must get into the Archives tomorrow.
After the store I want to grab a quick bite but it is past 3pm and I want to see Lion King 3D. Anticipating the pattern that has been the Arena queue, I assumed I should be in that line about 2.5 hours before the event starts. I get in line and meet some friends. We do the "one person can step out of line for a moment to see the floor" dance until the movie starts. I ask for my moment at 4:00pm so I can meet Larry Nikolai and have him sign my Ariel litho, along with asking him questions about the new Little Mermaid ride. While in the line, which is quite short, I notice Larry taking his time with each person. Such a different feeling from Comic con where it is come and go. I also happen to have the friends of Larry's son behind me. They were telling me about when they learned that their friend was Larry's son and then how it makes so much more sense that the home is filled with Little Mermaid paraphernalia. Anywho, meeting Larry was great. Learned a lot and headed back to the Lion King 3D line.
Time seems to fly by and we are all let in to the Arena. We are given these headbands that promote the Lion King Blu-Ray release, I'm sure somebody will put it up on Ebay soon, but they look neat and were fun to wear while watching the movie. As always Disney would do, there is a presentation before the movie by Bob Hahn and I believe Robert Minkoff and Roger Allers, along with the 3D tech guy at Disney. They described the 3D making process and the crowd was entertained with Hahn on the water cooler jug with Allers and Minkoff singing as Timon and Pumbaa the song that was originally in the place of Hakuna Matata, then sung the original lyrics of the Hula distraction scene. Then, CUE The movie.
It looked great and was just a pleasure to watch again. I thought about attending the auction but was more hungry than anything and called the end of D23 Expo day 2. I was able to grab more of the headband giveaways for my nieces and nephews before leaving the arena, headed to Bubba Gump for a good meal, then hit the hay.
I get into the Archives store in about 20-30 minutes time and its a small store but has a lot of great things for the collector in me. I had to limit my spending after dropping a lot of money on day 1 so I limited myself to the little mermaid items (pin and shot glass) and an archives shirt. Wanted the entire 9 piece Donald Duck pin set, along with many other things but just couldn't do it. In the archives store there is an open door that gives a peek into the archives and I saw a lot of Mickey Mouse memorabilia there. There is also a separate room that has 101 dalmatians items. I must get into the Archives tomorrow.
After the store I want to grab a quick bite but it is past 3pm and I want to see Lion King 3D. Anticipating the pattern that has been the Arena queue, I assumed I should be in that line about 2.5 hours before the event starts. I get in line and meet some friends. We do the "one person can step out of line for a moment to see the floor" dance until the movie starts. I ask for my moment at 4:00pm so I can meet Larry Nikolai and have him sign my Ariel litho, along with asking him questions about the new Little Mermaid ride. While in the line, which is quite short, I notice Larry taking his time with each person. Such a different feeling from Comic con where it is come and go. I also happen to have the friends of Larry's son behind me. They were telling me about when they learned that their friend was Larry's son and then how it makes so much more sense that the home is filled with Little Mermaid paraphernalia. Anywho, meeting Larry was great. Learned a lot and headed back to the Lion King 3D line.
Time seems to fly by and we are all let in to the Arena. We are given these headbands that promote the Lion King Blu-Ray release, I'm sure somebody will put it up on Ebay soon, but they look neat and were fun to wear while watching the movie. As always Disney would do, there is a presentation before the movie by Bob Hahn and I believe Robert Minkoff and Roger Allers, along with the 3D tech guy at Disney. They described the 3D making process and the crowd was entertained with Hahn on the water cooler jug with Allers and Minkoff singing as Timon and Pumbaa the song that was originally in the place of Hakuna Matata, then sung the original lyrics of the Hula distraction scene. Then, CUE The movie.
It looked great and was just a pleasure to watch again. I thought about attending the auction but was more hungry than anything and called the end of D23 Expo day 2. I was able to grab more of the headband giveaways for my nieces and nephews before leaving the arena, headed to Bubba Gump for a good meal, then hit the hay.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Day 2 - Part 1
Saturday - Day 2
The first announcement from Disney was that this day was sold out. So whatever number of tickets were meant to be sold for this day, were sold. Looking at the schedule I would compare this day to a Saturday at San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) where the stars come to play and present and the masses come in hordes for the opportunity to see and hear from the Hollywood brass. Today was no exception.
I arrived at the entrance to the convention center at 7:45am, later than yesterday but I thought I would not be too bad of a problem as yesterday 7:45am was no issue. Wrong! There was a pretty good snake starting and I looked for the staff in red shirts to find the end of the line. Well the end of the line was like a rattlesnake's tail. It started in one place, moved to another, whipped around to another spot, and left me and others confused on where to go. When everything got organized, I did not feel the chaos but felt that I was somehow moved further back and others were moved ahead of me.
Keeping up with the twitter feeds is a gift and a curse. It helps when schedule changes occur and the up to the minute updates come at lightning speed. However it is a curse when the bad news is delivered that "The Walt Disney Studios queue has reached capacity". This was really the only thing I needed to do on my schedule, besides meet Larry Nikolai (Little Mermaid sculptor and artist) and watch Lion King in 3D. I took my chances and waited in the line still. Now keep in mind this update was given while I was still about 100 people from the convention center entrance and the time was 8:45am. Next update at 9:15am, "The stand-by queue has reached capacity and has been capped". Hmmm. When I last got this info, I decided not to attend Dick Van Dyke and the Vantastix; others still got in. However saviours come when you need them the most, and a little Disney magic doesn't help either. I got my in the form of 2 (now 3 after meeting my friend's brother and then 4 and 5 after meeting their friends) friends happened to be in the line. I make it into the panel. I owe my friends big-time!
Great panel. Rich Ross was mediating. I started taking notes when John Lasseter started speaking and can't remember what showed before that. Lasseter presented his Cars design Hawaiian shirt. "All vehicles I see are people," was :Lasseter's mindset and after making Cars and Cars 2 the evolution was to make Planes. The teaser reel was a true homage to Top Gun, had a few good laughs in there. Lasseter also stated that the dialogue comes before the animation because the voice actor's input and personality are put into the character they will be voicing. Sometimes scripts will be edited over 10 times. The lead 1-propeller plane, (I believe named Dusty Cropmopper) will be voiced by "a star from two and a half men" (Chuck Sheen?) Jon Cryer. Cryer was "geeked to be there and to take his 2 year old to see the film". It will be out in 2013 and directed by Clay Hall. Planes is promoted "from the world of Cars. Insert above and it becomes the above world of Cars.
Next up was the original Wreck it Ralph. It's the story of the lives of arcade video game characters and focuses on the life of the 8-bit bad guy, voiced by John C. Reilly (Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, etc.), and his struggles to being a bad guy for over 20 years. Lasseter surprised the crowd by presenting a rough 4.5 minute clip of the beginning of the film, something that has never been done before for a public audience. I don't want to go too much into it as a way to respect Lasseter's decision to show the clip but it has a touching storyline of bad guy wanting to be good, the game is called "Fix-It Felix", which is like a mix of Donkey Kong meets Rampage meets reverse Wrecking Crew. Highlight of the clip was "Bad-Anon" an anonymous group for bad guys. Directed by Rich Moore and released in 11-2-2012, in addition to John C. Reilly stars Jack McBrayer (30 Rock), Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program), and Jane Lynch (Glee). Silverman and McBrayer were presented onstage and provided a few words for the audience. Silverman wore a vintage Mickey shirt "That is not vintage and crumbles just by touching it". "I come down to Anaheim and don't go to Disneyland" she continued. McBrayer was asked about voicing the character and he responded with "my voice irritates myself". Silverman finished with, "I chose this role because this role and these movies make me feel, and I hate that they make me feel". (Side note: the quotes are as exact as my notes and memory can dictate. If they are off please let me know and I will correct them.)
Now BRAVE. I was waiting to eagerly for this presentation because It is the first real fairy tale from Pixar, the first period film, and most importantly, the first female lead of any Pixar film. Staff did an extensive historical review of Scotland and felt a responsibility for historical accuracy. The director and producer, Mark Andrews and Katherine Sarafian, Andrews in a kilt, describe the labor of love that was Brave. The movie stars Kelly MacDonald (No Country for Old Men) as the lead Merida, Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility) as Queen Elinor, Billy Connolly (Gulliver's Travels) as King Fergus, Craig Ferguson (Late Late Show), Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter films), and Kevin McKidd (Grey's Anatomy) as the three suitors of Merida; MacIntosh, Dingwall, and MacGuffin. Kelly MacDonald and Kevin McKidd were brought onstage with McKidd speaking in indistinguishable Scottish, which MacDonald translated as "OK". They showed an unfinished clip of Brave and asked that no spoilers be put on twitter or blogs or anything. I will respect their wishes and not speak anything of the clip other than it was great and this will be a must see film next summer (6-2-2012).
Next is one dear and special to Lasseter, Monsters University. Lasseter states that sequels are not made unless there is a need to tell the story further and felt it was necessary to focus on how Mike and Sully become such great friends, hence a Prequel focusing on their lives at the university working to become "scarers". Dan Scanlan (who was the genius behind Cars Tractor Tipping concept) will direct. Got the original voices of Billy Crystal and John Goodman as Mike and Sully, respectively, and added the voice of Steve Buscemi. Many stills were showed of how the university would look and how they team did lots of research on various U.S. campuses.
Next up are two new original Pixar films. The first by John Walker and Director Bob Peterson is called The Untitled Pixar Movie about Dinosaurs (can't read my notes but I know that I'm missing a word or two in that title). It will be released in Winter of 2013 and a single art still was shown of the movie. The only information of the movie was "what if the asteroid that made the dinosaurs extinct (but not the birds) missed and dinosaurs continued to live." The second film was presented by Pete Docter is called The Untitled Pixar Movie that takes you inside the mind. There was no clip or still shown but was described as trying to understand the inner workings of the mind and how decisions are made and what happens when something changes. The Pixar section ends with Rich Ross bringing out all Pixar staff that was present to celebrate the 25 years of existence. Woody and Buzz come on stage with a colorful 8 foot tall cake and Ross said every celebration should have cake and they presented the entire Arena audience (4,000 people) with cupcakes and confetti was spread over the lower audience. Yumm!
Now on to the Live action portion of the presentation. Enter Sean Bailey, President of Production at Disney. He promises, "no cupcakes, but good movies". The first is John Carter, and Director Andrew Stanton and producer Jim Morris present a teaser clip and after announcing the main cast of Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights), Lynn Collins (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Willem Defoe (Fantastic Mr. Fox), and Samantha Morton (The Messenger), bring Kitsch, Collins, and Defoe on stage. Stanton comments how he wanted to experience how Defoe would be providing the voice for a 9 foot four armed green alien so made him and Morton don stilts and MoCap suits in 100+ degree heat to get the full experience. There were many teleprompter problems during this presentation and it appeared that Lynn Collins was rather nervous or anxious to be presenting onstage. Kitsch commented on how great it was to work with Stanton and can't wait to work with him again (Sequel?)
Tim Burton presents Frankenweenie. Stop motion, black and white, and 3D. One of Burton personal projects which actually tells a story close to a 17y.o Tim and his dog. Allison Abbate and Don Hahn take the stage and present a package clip of production and name to voice actors, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara. Music by Danny Elfman. Basically a lineup of usual suspects for Tim Burton, minus J. Depp. As an added bonus, Abbate and Hahn bring out an actual Spanky model that they posed. Hahn said, "he is 4 inches tall and made of silicone, just like the girl from jersey shore.
The next two movies are The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Oz: The Great and Powerful. The first firm stars Jennifer Garner (Alias), Joel Edgarton (Warrior), and C.J. Adams as Timothy Green. A clip was shown and Jennifer Garner was brought on stage (BTW she stills looks very good) to comment on this film. "This film is about being a parent." This is a very touching story and does exactly what a Disney family drama should do, pull at the heart strings and make us feel! The latter tells the story of The wizard before he gets to Oz and what happens once he gets there. Production started literally a month ago and a clip of that day and the actors responses to the film were played. Without much to go on other than scene sketches, the film looks good and stars a brilliant cast (James Franco, Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff) and Director Sam Raimi, this is sure to be a hit.
The Muppets Movie. Jason Segel and Kermit the Frog are brought on stage sitting on a bench and have great reactions to the crowd. They tease two clips but are worried Miss Piggy is not in the clips. Cue Miss Piggy coming on stage riding a motorcycle sidecar. A little more banter and two clips of the movie were shown. The latter clip was a great homage to the 80's with "We Built This City" by Starship playing over a cleaning montage. Great laughs. Also helps that the first clip has Kermit in a fancy rich house and is being served by the robot in Rocky IV.
Disneynature presents its latest feature Chimpanzee, the story of an orphan chimp and the chimp who will take care of it. Definitely touching but if this weren't an animal story but humans would CPS be involved or the camera crew just take over and reunite the chimp with his/her family. Just a thought, but again very touching and has that Disney feel to it.
Finally the moment I (and probably most in the Arena) was waiting for, The Avengers. An initial teaser clip was shown showing the development of the Avengers storyline from the original modern movie Iron man to the most recent Captain America. What gave me chills was seeing the comic book stills of the actual Avengers in their brilliant comic glory. Side note: I say original because I am a comic geek/nerd and am still a little torn that the Avengers movie is missing two founders of the team, Henry "Hank" Pym (Ant Man/Goliath) and Janet Van Dyne (Wasp). I understand given the artistic liberty of the story but would have still loved to see these characters in live action (maybe Pym played by Nathan Fillion and Wasp played by Eva Longoria). Back to the presentation. The clip is awesome. It shows the main cast, even get a few seconds of Maria Hill at her command post, and see Nick Fury in a more dominant role. I'm not gonna describe the clip too much, I'm sure it's online somewhere. Then in order, Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), and Robert Downey Jr. (Ironman) all take the stage to a roaring ovation, standing room only. Downey makes a comment and says to play the clip again. They did and then the cast left the stage. A little sad that there wasn't more to be said from the others, especially Smulders who is new to the entire cast and story line.
That was my morning at D23 Expo Saturday. I am very tired and will have to do a part two after tomorrow.
Thanks for reading!
The first announcement from Disney was that this day was sold out. So whatever number of tickets were meant to be sold for this day, were sold. Looking at the schedule I would compare this day to a Saturday at San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) where the stars come to play and present and the masses come in hordes for the opportunity to see and hear from the Hollywood brass. Today was no exception.
I arrived at the entrance to the convention center at 7:45am, later than yesterday but I thought I would not be too bad of a problem as yesterday 7:45am was no issue. Wrong! There was a pretty good snake starting and I looked for the staff in red shirts to find the end of the line. Well the end of the line was like a rattlesnake's tail. It started in one place, moved to another, whipped around to another spot, and left me and others confused on where to go. When everything got organized, I did not feel the chaos but felt that I was somehow moved further back and others were moved ahead of me.
Keeping up with the twitter feeds is a gift and a curse. It helps when schedule changes occur and the up to the minute updates come at lightning speed. However it is a curse when the bad news is delivered that "The Walt Disney Studios queue has reached capacity". This was really the only thing I needed to do on my schedule, besides meet Larry Nikolai (Little Mermaid sculptor and artist) and watch Lion King in 3D. I took my chances and waited in the line still. Now keep in mind this update was given while I was still about 100 people from the convention center entrance and the time was 8:45am. Next update at 9:15am, "The stand-by queue has reached capacity and has been capped". Hmmm. When I last got this info, I decided not to attend Dick Van Dyke and the Vantastix; others still got in. However saviours come when you need them the most, and a little Disney magic doesn't help either. I got my in the form of 2 (now 3 after meeting my friend's brother and then 4 and 5 after meeting their friends) friends happened to be in the line. I make it into the panel. I owe my friends big-time!
Great panel. Rich Ross was mediating. I started taking notes when John Lasseter started speaking and can't remember what showed before that. Lasseter presented his Cars design Hawaiian shirt. "All vehicles I see are people," was :Lasseter's mindset and after making Cars and Cars 2 the evolution was to make Planes. The teaser reel was a true homage to Top Gun, had a few good laughs in there. Lasseter also stated that the dialogue comes before the animation because the voice actor's input and personality are put into the character they will be voicing. Sometimes scripts will be edited over 10 times. The lead 1-propeller plane, (I believe named Dusty Cropmopper) will be voiced by "a star from two and a half men" (Chuck Sheen?) Jon Cryer. Cryer was "geeked to be there and to take his 2 year old to see the film". It will be out in 2013 and directed by Clay Hall. Planes is promoted "from the world of Cars. Insert above and it becomes the above world of Cars.
Next up was the original Wreck it Ralph. It's the story of the lives of arcade video game characters and focuses on the life of the 8-bit bad guy, voiced by John C. Reilly (Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, etc.), and his struggles to being a bad guy for over 20 years. Lasseter surprised the crowd by presenting a rough 4.5 minute clip of the beginning of the film, something that has never been done before for a public audience. I don't want to go too much into it as a way to respect Lasseter's decision to show the clip but it has a touching storyline of bad guy wanting to be good, the game is called "Fix-It Felix", which is like a mix of Donkey Kong meets Rampage meets reverse Wrecking Crew. Highlight of the clip was "Bad-Anon" an anonymous group for bad guys. Directed by Rich Moore and released in 11-2-2012, in addition to John C. Reilly stars Jack McBrayer (30 Rock), Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program), and Jane Lynch (Glee). Silverman and McBrayer were presented onstage and provided a few words for the audience. Silverman wore a vintage Mickey shirt "That is not vintage and crumbles just by touching it". "I come down to Anaheim and don't go to Disneyland" she continued. McBrayer was asked about voicing the character and he responded with "my voice irritates myself". Silverman finished with, "I chose this role because this role and these movies make me feel, and I hate that they make me feel". (Side note: the quotes are as exact as my notes and memory can dictate. If they are off please let me know and I will correct them.)
Now BRAVE. I was waiting to eagerly for this presentation because It is the first real fairy tale from Pixar, the first period film, and most importantly, the first female lead of any Pixar film. Staff did an extensive historical review of Scotland and felt a responsibility for historical accuracy. The director and producer, Mark Andrews and Katherine Sarafian, Andrews in a kilt, describe the labor of love that was Brave. The movie stars Kelly MacDonald (No Country for Old Men) as the lead Merida, Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility) as Queen Elinor, Billy Connolly (Gulliver's Travels) as King Fergus, Craig Ferguson (Late Late Show), Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter films), and Kevin McKidd (Grey's Anatomy) as the three suitors of Merida; MacIntosh, Dingwall, and MacGuffin. Kelly MacDonald and Kevin McKidd were brought onstage with McKidd speaking in indistinguishable Scottish, which MacDonald translated as "OK". They showed an unfinished clip of Brave and asked that no spoilers be put on twitter or blogs or anything. I will respect their wishes and not speak anything of the clip other than it was great and this will be a must see film next summer (6-2-2012).
Next is one dear and special to Lasseter, Monsters University. Lasseter states that sequels are not made unless there is a need to tell the story further and felt it was necessary to focus on how Mike and Sully become such great friends, hence a Prequel focusing on their lives at the university working to become "scarers". Dan Scanlan (who was the genius behind Cars Tractor Tipping concept) will direct. Got the original voices of Billy Crystal and John Goodman as Mike and Sully, respectively, and added the voice of Steve Buscemi. Many stills were showed of how the university would look and how they team did lots of research on various U.S. campuses.
Next up are two new original Pixar films. The first by John Walker and Director Bob Peterson is called The Untitled Pixar Movie about Dinosaurs (can't read my notes but I know that I'm missing a word or two in that title). It will be released in Winter of 2013 and a single art still was shown of the movie. The only information of the movie was "what if the asteroid that made the dinosaurs extinct (but not the birds) missed and dinosaurs continued to live." The second film was presented by Pete Docter is called The Untitled Pixar Movie that takes you inside the mind. There was no clip or still shown but was described as trying to understand the inner workings of the mind and how decisions are made and what happens when something changes. The Pixar section ends with Rich Ross bringing out all Pixar staff that was present to celebrate the 25 years of existence. Woody and Buzz come on stage with a colorful 8 foot tall cake and Ross said every celebration should have cake and they presented the entire Arena audience (4,000 people) with cupcakes and confetti was spread over the lower audience. Yumm!
Now on to the Live action portion of the presentation. Enter Sean Bailey, President of Production at Disney. He promises, "no cupcakes, but good movies". The first is John Carter, and Director Andrew Stanton and producer Jim Morris present a teaser clip and after announcing the main cast of Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights), Lynn Collins (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Willem Defoe (Fantastic Mr. Fox), and Samantha Morton (The Messenger), bring Kitsch, Collins, and Defoe on stage. Stanton comments how he wanted to experience how Defoe would be providing the voice for a 9 foot four armed green alien so made him and Morton don stilts and MoCap suits in 100+ degree heat to get the full experience. There were many teleprompter problems during this presentation and it appeared that Lynn Collins was rather nervous or anxious to be presenting onstage. Kitsch commented on how great it was to work with Stanton and can't wait to work with him again (Sequel?)
Tim Burton presents Frankenweenie. Stop motion, black and white, and 3D. One of Burton personal projects which actually tells a story close to a 17y.o Tim and his dog. Allison Abbate and Don Hahn take the stage and present a package clip of production and name to voice actors, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara. Music by Danny Elfman. Basically a lineup of usual suspects for Tim Burton, minus J. Depp. As an added bonus, Abbate and Hahn bring out an actual Spanky model that they posed. Hahn said, "he is 4 inches tall and made of silicone, just like the girl from jersey shore.
The next two movies are The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Oz: The Great and Powerful. The first firm stars Jennifer Garner (Alias), Joel Edgarton (Warrior), and C.J. Adams as Timothy Green. A clip was shown and Jennifer Garner was brought on stage (BTW she stills looks very good) to comment on this film. "This film is about being a parent." This is a very touching story and does exactly what a Disney family drama should do, pull at the heart strings and make us feel! The latter tells the story of The wizard before he gets to Oz and what happens once he gets there. Production started literally a month ago and a clip of that day and the actors responses to the film were played. Without much to go on other than scene sketches, the film looks good and stars a brilliant cast (James Franco, Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff) and Director Sam Raimi, this is sure to be a hit.
The Muppets Movie. Jason Segel and Kermit the Frog are brought on stage sitting on a bench and have great reactions to the crowd. They tease two clips but are worried Miss Piggy is not in the clips. Cue Miss Piggy coming on stage riding a motorcycle sidecar. A little more banter and two clips of the movie were shown. The latter clip was a great homage to the 80's with "We Built This City" by Starship playing over a cleaning montage. Great laughs. Also helps that the first clip has Kermit in a fancy rich house and is being served by the robot in Rocky IV.
Disneynature presents its latest feature Chimpanzee, the story of an orphan chimp and the chimp who will take care of it. Definitely touching but if this weren't an animal story but humans would CPS be involved or the camera crew just take over and reunite the chimp with his/her family. Just a thought, but again very touching and has that Disney feel to it.
Finally the moment I (and probably most in the Arena) was waiting for, The Avengers. An initial teaser clip was shown showing the development of the Avengers storyline from the original modern movie Iron man to the most recent Captain America. What gave me chills was seeing the comic book stills of the actual Avengers in their brilliant comic glory. Side note: I say original because I am a comic geek/nerd and am still a little torn that the Avengers movie is missing two founders of the team, Henry "Hank" Pym (Ant Man/Goliath) and Janet Van Dyne (Wasp). I understand given the artistic liberty of the story but would have still loved to see these characters in live action (maybe Pym played by Nathan Fillion and Wasp played by Eva Longoria). Back to the presentation. The clip is awesome. It shows the main cast, even get a few seconds of Maria Hill at her command post, and see Nick Fury in a more dominant role. I'm not gonna describe the clip too much, I'm sure it's online somewhere. Then in order, Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), and Robert Downey Jr. (Ironman) all take the stage to a roaring ovation, standing room only. Downey makes a comment and says to play the clip again. They did and then the cast left the stage. A little sad that there wasn't more to be said from the others, especially Smulders who is new to the entire cast and story line.
That was my morning at D23 Expo Saturday. I am very tired and will have to do a part two after tomorrow.
Thanks for reading!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Day 1
Day one of the expo begins on a hope that I would be one of the first 25 people in line to get the special limited edition 25th anniversary pins that the Disney Store was handing out. Thanks to twitter and the updates from @stitchkingdom I was informed that there were already somewhere near 300 people in line by 6am. I arrived at 6:45am and I would say roughly 600-700 people in line. It initially started by wrapping around the arena fountain and backtracked to the convention hall entrance. Luckily Disney, being one of the best companies when it comes to line queues, redirected the line into a more manageable situation. Later, again informed through twitter, it was revealed that people lined up as early as 2:00am. Yikes, it makes me wonder just how important sleep is. Side note: Two years ago I was so relieved by D23 expo because it felt nothing like the San Diego Comic Con. Now with lines starting near midnight and line queues being around 2 hours long, I may have to reconsider.
The convention hall actually opened early and let people in around 8:45am. I decided to hit the Dream Store first thing in the morning because I love my limited edition pins and wanted the Little Mermaid print done by Larry Nikolai. I got everything I wanted but the box sets of pins. Those apparently sold out quickly. The line to enter the store was just as long as the line to purchase the items. I finally got out around 10:30am and noticed another line snaking at the Dream Store exit. It was theline stand-by line for the D23 Arena where the Legends ceremony was taking place. I wanted to see Regis, the muppets, and the princesses (especially Jodi Benson) but wasn't informed until I reached the actual line queue that I would not make it in. Ugh!
So what to do knowing that I would be missing the Legends ceremony. Hit up the meet and greets and meet Robert Olszewski and Linda Rick. I make it to the Welcome center area and Robert is just about to leave, but I get to meet Linda and she is such a sweet lady. She unwrapped my precious moment doll (you might have guessed it, Ariel) and proceeded to write a message on the waist of the doll and took a picture with me and the doll.
At this point I had to decide whether to attend the Making of Little Mermaid ride panel or meet the cast of Good Luck Charlie. I actually did neither and decided to grab a meal. I needed to eat! Bad decision. The line to eat seemed just as long as any other line I was previously in. By the time I get my food (a Ranch House Burger Combo) and finish eating it is 1:30, the Mermaid panel is half way done and the line for Good Luck Charlie is beyond capacity. I walk around to the Disney Interactive Media Group Pavillion (this term is used to identify sections of the expo) and get to try out a new art section of the Disney.com website, receive a disney.com pin and get entered into an Epic Mickey raffle.
The only other thing that I wanted to do this day was to meet John Musker and Ron Clements, Directors of the Little Mermaid. But that wasn't until 3pm. But at the Disney Animation booth, there was a signing by the creative team of Prep and Landing - Naughty vs. Nice. And they were giving out Fairies cards. Not bad for waiting to see the Ron and John show. Also it gave me time to recharge my cellphone, which again died within 5hrs of getting to the convention center.
Once Ron and John arrived, they were met by a group of lovely ladies dressed as disney characters, specifically Ursula, Ariel in human form (springtime outfit), and Arista (the sister in red). Ron and John were more than excited to see such enthusiasts and wanted to take pictures with these ladies. The same could not be said for the staff on hand, wanting Ron and John to make it to the booth ASAP. I get to meet them, shake hands, and receive a signed Disney Legends print. I wanted to take pictures with them but the lady at the booth asked to move the line quickly. Bummer.
I knew there was no chance I would make it into the Parks and Resorts panel in the Arena so I moseyed on up to the Charter Room (the room to relax right next to the treasures room on the second floor.) It was a rest well deserved. I enjoyed the free Starbucks brand coffee and the no host bar but I wished there could have been hors d'oeuvres instead of just cookies. Oh well. I met two lovely ladies from North Hollywood and they were such a pleasure to talk with. One of the ladies was a of the VIP package for Dancing with the Stars two years ago at the D23 Auction. They had a book of pictures that they took while on the DWTS set and backstage at the trailers. They shared stories about meeting the celebrities and we all reminisced about that season of DWTS, the first D23 Expo, and how different this Expo feels from the first Expo.
To complete the day I went back down to the floor, got a signed press sheet from the directors of Tangled, wrote a thank you postcard to our troops and met the cast of So Random! (really was there to see Tiffany Thornton). Met her back in 2009 and felt like I had to this year. The line queue was filled beyond capacity but people were informed that they may not make it to the front. When they cut off the line I was literally 7 people ahead of the end. Here is where the drama begins. There were about 3-4 tweeners chewing off the head of one of the booth staff, which led to other booth staff trying to smooth out the situation. The lack of attention to the line led to about 10 more people filling up the back end of the line. This may sound cold but all that was behind me so I didn't pay any attention. I got to meet Tiffany and was barely able to take a picture with her. The booth head was being real strict on taking pictures and holding up the line.
I was so hungry that I went out to eat at P.F. Chang's at Gardenwalk. Food well worth it but the time it took meant that I may not make it into the Dick Van Dyke and the Vantastix. Trusting twitter I was informed that the queue had reached capacity. It was already 8pm so took the advice of the twitter-verse and decided that I didn't want to enter a queue just to be rejected again. I later read that people who entered after 8pm still made it in. My loss. And boy was it my loss. I have seen some of the twitter responses from the show. Frustrated but I gotta let it go. I am ready to hit the sack and prepare for tomorrow. I am hyped to see the Disney Studios panel at the Arena, see the screening of Once Upon a Time, see Chelsea Kane (Fish Hooks), and meet Larry Nikolai, along with doing the Monster's university panel. Then finish the night with Lion King 3D. I'm sure there are other surprises that are in store and all I can do is adapt and make the best of it.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this fan's review of D23 Expo 2011. Also sorry for no pictures but I forgot my connection cord but I will upload them on monday or tuesday after the expo.
The convention hall actually opened early and let people in around 8:45am. I decided to hit the Dream Store first thing in the morning because I love my limited edition pins and wanted the Little Mermaid print done by Larry Nikolai. I got everything I wanted but the box sets of pins. Those apparently sold out quickly. The line to enter the store was just as long as the line to purchase the items. I finally got out around 10:30am and noticed another line snaking at the Dream Store exit. It was the
So what to do knowing that I would be missing the Legends ceremony. Hit up the meet and greets and meet Robert Olszewski and Linda Rick. I make it to the Welcome center area and Robert is just about to leave, but I get to meet Linda and she is such a sweet lady. She unwrapped my precious moment doll (you might have guessed it, Ariel) and proceeded to write a message on the waist of the doll and took a picture with me and the doll.
At this point I had to decide whether to attend the Making of Little Mermaid ride panel or meet the cast of Good Luck Charlie. I actually did neither and decided to grab a meal. I needed to eat! Bad decision. The line to eat seemed just as long as any other line I was previously in. By the time I get my food (a Ranch House Burger Combo) and finish eating it is 1:30, the Mermaid panel is half way done and the line for Good Luck Charlie is beyond capacity. I walk around to the Disney Interactive Media Group Pavillion (this term is used to identify sections of the expo) and get to try out a new art section of the Disney.com website, receive a disney.com pin and get entered into an Epic Mickey raffle.
The only other thing that I wanted to do this day was to meet John Musker and Ron Clements, Directors of the Little Mermaid. But that wasn't until 3pm. But at the Disney Animation booth, there was a signing by the creative team of Prep and Landing - Naughty vs. Nice. And they were giving out Fairies cards. Not bad for waiting to see the Ron and John show. Also it gave me time to recharge my cellphone, which again died within 5hrs of getting to the convention center.
Once Ron and John arrived, they were met by a group of lovely ladies dressed as disney characters, specifically Ursula, Ariel in human form (springtime outfit), and Arista (the sister in red). Ron and John were more than excited to see such enthusiasts and wanted to take pictures with these ladies. The same could not be said for the staff on hand, wanting Ron and John to make it to the booth ASAP. I get to meet them, shake hands, and receive a signed Disney Legends print. I wanted to take pictures with them but the lady at the booth asked to move the line quickly. Bummer.
I knew there was no chance I would make it into the Parks and Resorts panel in the Arena so I moseyed on up to the Charter Room (the room to relax right next to the treasures room on the second floor.) It was a rest well deserved. I enjoyed the free Starbucks brand coffee and the no host bar but I wished there could have been hors d'oeuvres instead of just cookies. Oh well. I met two lovely ladies from North Hollywood and they were such a pleasure to talk with. One of the ladies was a of the VIP package for Dancing with the Stars two years ago at the D23 Auction. They had a book of pictures that they took while on the DWTS set and backstage at the trailers. They shared stories about meeting the celebrities and we all reminisced about that season of DWTS, the first D23 Expo, and how different this Expo feels from the first Expo.
To complete the day I went back down to the floor, got a signed press sheet from the directors of Tangled, wrote a thank you postcard to our troops and met the cast of So Random! (really was there to see Tiffany Thornton). Met her back in 2009 and felt like I had to this year. The line queue was filled beyond capacity but people were informed that they may not make it to the front. When they cut off the line I was literally 7 people ahead of the end. Here is where the drama begins. There were about 3-4 tweeners chewing off the head of one of the booth staff, which led to other booth staff trying to smooth out the situation. The lack of attention to the line led to about 10 more people filling up the back end of the line. This may sound cold but all that was behind me so I didn't pay any attention. I got to meet Tiffany and was barely able to take a picture with her. The booth head was being real strict on taking pictures and holding up the line.
I was so hungry that I went out to eat at P.F. Chang's at Gardenwalk. Food well worth it but the time it took meant that I may not make it into the Dick Van Dyke and the Vantastix. Trusting twitter I was informed that the queue had reached capacity. It was already 8pm so took the advice of the twitter-verse and decided that I didn't want to enter a queue just to be rejected again. I later read that people who entered after 8pm still made it in. My loss. And boy was it my loss. I have seen some of the twitter responses from the show. Frustrated but I gotta let it go. I am ready to hit the sack and prepare for tomorrow. I am hyped to see the Disney Studios panel at the Arena, see the screening of Once Upon a Time, see Chelsea Kane (Fish Hooks), and meet Larry Nikolai, along with doing the Monster's university panel. Then finish the night with Lion King 3D. I'm sure there are other surprises that are in store and all I can do is adapt and make the best of it.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this fan's review of D23 Expo 2011. Also sorry for no pictures but I forgot my connection cord but I will upload them on monday or tuesday after the expo.
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