Universal Studios Indoor Park in Moscow in 2018 ?

After a Universal Studios in Japan and one in Singapore - and probably one in South Korea - it seems that a new Universal Studios park will come in Moscow with works expected to start in 2014 and an opening date scheduled (for now) in 2018. And it's not apparently a rumor as Universal has confirmed the project. Like they did in Singapore it will be probably a licensed park, i.e that Universal won't rule the park directly but that's not the problem. And because it will be built in Moscow the whole park would be an "indoor" theme park, which, considering Moscow's winter temperatures might be a good idea.



The whole project will be located in the south of Moscow and is in fact called Galactic Park. It will include much more than the Universal Studios as an aquatic park is also planned as well as an area for sports activities, shows, a musical theatre, a cinema, exhibition halls, restaurants and a shopping centre. In addition to that are also planned two hotels, a congress hall and a huge parking space. The project leaders said that the project will cost 2.8 billion US dollars with the theme park alone costing $500 million. It’s the first Universal Studios park which will be built indoor, in a closed space.



According to minyanville.com: "Experts, however, say that the real cost of construction will actually be $11 billion, as the transport infrastructure around the proposed 22 hectare site in south Moscow requires a massive upgrade. Universal doesn’t have to worry though as the universal is reportedly not putting any of its money into the project."









"The man behind the project, Gutsiriev, is a big fan of theme parks and in 2010, at the same time he launched discussions with Universal, Gutsiriev also entered talks with Disney to set up a Russian Disneyland, which ultimately did not materialize. It’s not surprising that Disney declined Gutsiriev’s offer as Moscow is a tricky market. Though it is the most populous city in Europe with 10 million people, it is also 1,500 miles away from Western Europe. Paris has a smaller population, but the Disneyland there can draw on the tens of millions more Europeans from nearby cities and countries.

And among the 10 million people, it’s likely that a majority will be unable to afford the entrance fees. After all, Russia is ranked 70th in terms of GDP per capita, according to the CIA World Factbook. Accounting for the low median spending power of Russians, Galactic Park plans to charge an admission fee of about $34, which would be the lowest in the world. Universal’s parks in Orlando and Singapore charge $85 and $54 respectively.

Universal’s entry into Moscow reflects the growing significance of Russia and other emerging markets to Hollywood’s balance sheet. In 2011, the burgeoning Russian box office grew by 20% from 2010 and topped $1 billion for the time ever."

Here is a video from russian TV about the project.



A press conference happened three weeks ago and Michael Silver, president of global business development at Universal Parks & Resorts declared: "Russia is an important and attractive market, and we see tremendous potential for the development of theme park entertainment. Entertainment is an international language, and we will provide the same thrills, excitement and unique family adventure that Universal theme parks create around the world." The Universal Studios Company is not yet ready to disclose and discuss details of the planned theme park, water park, or individual rides and shows".

For those who like proofs this statement from Michael Silver is a good one to prove that it's not one more rumor. That said, what kind of ride will we find at Universal Moscow. Although it's probably a bit too early to say, if we look at the rendering on the top of this article you can see clearly an Egyptian pyramid which would mean that The Mummy ride will be include in the park. In the background we can also see what looks like a raft ride - probably another Jurassic Park river adventure.

Anyway, i think that it's a smart move again from Universal, especially if they just take a license and don't finance the park and little by little they are the first to enter territories in which Disney is not there yet. Just like you i suppose i'm curious to see if it will be finally built or not!

Pictures: copyright Universal Studios, Galactic Park project

New Pixar Brave Clip "Eyes on the Pies"

Pixar has relesaed a new clip from the upcoming Brave movie, and this one is called Eyes on the Pies and introduce a bit more Merida's mischievous triplet brothers. Have a look, as well as to the new high-res pictures below and above!






Pictures and video: copyright Pixar

Making the Magic at Disneyland Paris

Those of you who like behind the scenes should like these two documentaries, both showing what's happening in DLP backstage. The first one is in english and was released by Channel 5 and will show you more of the making of DLP Disney dreams show as the 20th Ann Parade. Not bad at all.




The second one called "The Craftsmen of the Dream" released by french channel France 3 is all in french and part of the shots were seen in Mireille Dumas show that i've posted some weeks ago. That said, even if you don't understand french don't miss the POTC backstage sequence - which i think was not in Dumas show - at 3.30 min where you'll see DLP technicians literally undressing one of the pirates Audio-animatronics to check inside of it what's going wrong. Another AAs sequence can be seen around 16.50 min and at 22.45 min another sequence will show you the restoration of the Captain Hook ship in Adventureland.




If you wish to celebrate too Disneyland Paris beauty i remind you that the Disneyland Paris book is always available in its collector edition and that there is even a special offer on it running all this month! And, good news, we expect to receive the printer shipment and ship all copies anytime soon so you won't have to wait too long before your copy will be shipped! Place your order now for a collector's edition copy while you can get the special offer on this wonderful book! To know how to order and send your payment please go on the DLP book page HERE.



Videos: copyright Channel 5, France 3

WDW Announces New Fantasyland Opening Dates, Updated Test Track Details, and more

Walt Disney World Imagineers unveiled in a presentation the opening dates of Magic Kingdom New Fantasyland as well as new artwork and details about the updated Test Track attraction. Let's start with New Fantasyland. The second part of Storybook Circus which will include the second half of the Dumbo attraction and Casey Jr. Splash ‘n’ Soak Station is scheduled to open in July 2012. And Journey of The Little Mermaid, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Gaston’s Tavern, and Ariel’s Grotto apparently will be open "to celebrate this holiday season", i.e around Christmas 2012. And what about the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, you ask? Well, for this one you'll have to wait until 2014.



Also part of the same presentation, new digital concept-arts for the updated Test Track at Epcot which will have Chevrolet as sponsor of the ride. And if the new futuristic theming that you can see on the artwork below reminds you TRON, it's may be because the updated ride will place guests inside the computer world of digital design.





Also new, an interactive queue with touch screens and displays which, according to insidethemagic who was at the presentation "will allow guests to design their own vehicles based on 4 properties: capability, efficiency, responsiveness, and power. These selections will be saved onto a card that guests will be handed, carrying with them onto the ride itself. Ultimately guests will be scored on how well their design holds up to the test track inside".



The ride itself will be the same "but all of the show scenes are being completely overhauled to represent the digital computer space in which guests will ride through. The ride will still feature a “warehouse” feel rather than individually-confined show scenes."

I have to tell you that i never liked a lot Test Track. May be i am from the old school who like animatronics and theatrical rides but when i ride it the first time i was instantly nostalgic of World of Motion. I admired the technology used in Test Track but all these vehicles tests never thrilled me a lot... BUT, if they plan to change the theming and if this one have a non-official TRON inspiration then you can count me in! Now i'm really curious to see how will look this new Test Track! Are you?

Pictures: copyright Disney

Shanghai Disneyland Update : New Artwork, Latest News, and more

Here is a new Shanghaî Disneyland update and those who are desperately waiting for new SDL artwork are going to be happy today as i've found new SDL artwork for you! This artwork was shown in a special tribute to Bob Iger organized by the National Committee of U.S - China relations and the video was posted on Youtube last October. Although these images are six months old - it means that it happened after the D23 Expo where Disney didn't show a lot about the SDL project - my guess is that the artwork shown in the video presented to the committee is the good one - i mean that Shanghaî Disneyland will probably look like this.

I did my best to enhance the screen captures, but the images are still not perfectly sharp due to the low definition in the original video. That said, on the first artwork above, a new bird-eye view of the park, we can see a bit more clearly and you'll notice instantly the Skull Rock on the right, in Adventureland. It seems - but not 100% sure - that a boat is falling from it, which in this case would confirm that the Pirates of Caribbean version envisioned for HKDL by Imagineers Tim Delaney and Tom Morris would be built at SDL. On the left, the huge futuristic building in Tomorrowland is supposed to be the one for the TRON motor-bike coaster attraction that we've talked about previously, and even if Fantasyland located behind SDL castle is not sharp enough to see clearly what-is-what you'll note on the right of the castle the expected maze.

One of the most interesting thing is SDL entrance which will have a spectacular architecture and apparently the part between the entrance and SDL "central plaza" will be totally indoor. By the way, the big dome on the top of it reminds me the one on the top of Paris Grand Palais where you have also a very famous stained glass dome. it seems there is some reminiscences of art nouveau style, too, but again, it's hard to be sure because of the medium-res of the rendering.



That said, when SDL guests will exit they will arrive on SDL "central plaza" as i've said (even if it might be called differently) and in front of the castle. On this next rendering we can see on the left and the right of the indoor building exit different kind of building architectures, perhaps paying tribute to different countries architectures from all over the world - it looks like. In the garden we find back the expected Dumbo ride, Carousels and small chinese pavilions, but you'll note also that the water parts should probably allow SDL to have a fountain show in the future if they wish - at least they have more water in front of the castle than we have at DLP!



Strangely the artwork below related to the WDS Ratatouille attraction was also shown in the video. Would it mean that the Ratatouille ride will come at SDL - or may be only a "Gusteau" restaurant? We'll have to wait to know the answer!



Today was also the day for fresh - and good - news from Shanghaî Disneyland as works on the SDL site are apparently "speeding ahead". A SDL press conference apparently just happened and you'll have more details below coming from CriEnglish.com as well as a video. Also, Bob Weis, SDL Main show producer revealed on his site that Bob Iger was in China very recently - apparently in the last days - to meet chinese officials. You can see Iger on a video HERE discussing with a chinese official whom i don't know the name, but apparently an important one if i can judge by the attitude of Iger towards the official , and the reception room was pure classic chinese nomenklatura decor! As i don't understand chinese i can't tell you what they were talking about (but if one of my reader do please let us know) or why Iger was there but obviously it seems that it was for something important.

O-Kay, here are the latest news about SDL from the press conference:

"Builders will soon start constructing the infrastructure of the much-anticipated Shanghai Disney Resort, after preparations on the ground formation work were completed, attendees of a ceremony held at the site on Thursday were told.

Bill Ernest, president and managing director of Disney Parks and Resort Asia, praised the ground work by the project's Chinese partner -- Shanghai Shendi Group -- and the support from the Shanghai municipal government, at the build site hand-over event.

"We are incredibly excited to begin building the resort and to develop a world-class family vacation destination in Shanghai," he said.

Ernest promised construction of hotels will start later this year, with developers studying Chinese culture in order to add local elements to Disney's latest attraction.

"We are talking a lot about 'authentic Disney, unique Chinese.' We are really working hard to incorporate it in the overall design story," he said.

The Disney chief disclosed that Shanghai Disneyland is likely to celebrate local events like Mid-Autumn Festival. Visitors will also see food, snacks and souvenirs with local elements in the park.

Intended to open at the end of 2015, the resort will initially be comprised of Shanghai Disneyland, a Magic-Kingdom-style park as well as two themed hotels, a large retail, dining and entertainment venue, recreational facilities, a lake and parking and transportation hubs.

Covering an area of 1.16 square km, the theme park inside the 3.9-sq-km Shanghai Disney Resort will be the world's sixth Disney amusement park and the first on the Chinese mainland. It will also be the third of its kind in Asia, after the company's theme parks in Tokyo and Hong Kong.

During preparation work over the past year, the Shendi Group adopted cutting-edge vacuum preloading technology to level and consolidate the ground formation to prevent from it subsiding in the coastal site.

Howard Brown, senior vice president overseeing development of the Shanghai Disney Resort, said the soil formation project is the largest ever undertaken anywhere.

Builders are now working on road network construction, as well as the site's central lake and perimeter canal.

The ground-breaking of the Shanghai Disney Resort project started on April 8 last year. Robert Iger, president and CEO of the Walt Disney Company, has promised the park's signature castle will be the biggest and tallest of all those in the world's Disney theme parks.

The resort is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Co. and Shanghai Shendi Group, with Shendi holding 57 percent of the shares and Disney the remaining 43 percent."

And, as there is nothing better than the real thing, here is the video of this SDL press conference, part in english, part in chinese. If the video don't appear below please go on the new Theme Park Guy board HERE.

Picture: copyright Disney

SDL News Text: copyright CriEnglish.com

Star Wars land Coming to Disneyland Paris Discoveryland in 2015 ?

Since two months DLP fans forums are talking about something pretty exciting: a "Star Wars land" is supposed to come to DLP Discoveryland in 2015! Disney Central Plaza forum detailed what we might expect in this Star Wars land and so far it is listed on DCP as a "rumor". Of course, i tried to know what is true in all this and, yes, from what i've been told it seems that DLP Imagineering is indeed working on a Star Wars Land project for Discoveryland. I will explain you in details why this Star Wars land is very probably going to be build, but before let's have a look to what is supposed to be planned.

The plan is not only to bring Star Tours 2 at DLP Discoveryland but also to transform what is now the Captain EO theatre, the Star Traders shop as well as the Pizza Planet restaurant to create a "Star Wars land" and as you will see on the Google Earth screen capture below they not only have plenty of room backstage to do it but probably will even have enough room in the future to add new rides if necessary. The back of Discoveryland already don't have the same architecture than the front, so this Star Wars land shouldn't be a problem, esthetically speaking.



What you must NOT expect: I found back a Tim Delaney rendering - which is reproduced in my DLP book among 250 others WDI artwork and that you can find HERE - and in this artwork Tim had envisioned, a long time ago, a kind of Star Wars land with a full scale Millennium Falcon and a Space Mountain dome designed as the Death Star. This will certainly not happen, so don't even think about it as Space Mountain will definitely keep his beautiful dome as it is right now.



What you CAN expect: Of course, Star Tours 2 will replace the original version and the pre-show will have the same changes than in the U.S versions, but according to the DCP forum - and for a big part confirmed to me - the plans apparently are to do big changes in the Star Tours post-show, which will be welcome as since IBM is not anymore the attraction sponsor the great games which were there on DLP opening day have been replaced by arcade games. I don't know yet exactly the DLPI plans but a Star Tours shop will very probably take place in this quite large area, hopefully with great theming. Close to the exit the Star Traders shop might become a Star Wars photo location and what kid wouldn't be happy to have his picture with his favorite Jedi?



Young kids will also probably be happy with the plans for what is now the Captain EO theatre as apparently DLP is planning to replace it with the Star Wars Jedi Academy like the popular one at Disney Hollywood Studios. Sure, if you're 8 years old its more enjoyable to become a young padawan - a Jedi apprentice - but i think it will be a cute and fun addition even if DLP Jedi Academy may not be located outside as it is at DHS for obvious weather reasons. All of you have heard about the DHS Jedi Academy but some may have never seen it in real so i post below a video showing the full DHS show.




The next transformation is an exciting one as the idea seems to be to transform the Pizza Planet restaurant - located a bit backstage behind Space Mountain - by Star Wars famous Mos Eisley Cantina which appeared for the first time in the Episode 4, i.e the first Star Wars movie to have been released. Not only it's for sure the most famous Star Wars "restaurant", the one that everyone remember from the movies, but it shouldn't be too difficult too to recreate it. From the outside it looks like this - below a picture of a diorama model by Stefan Weber:



And here is the same model but showing the inside.



Here are two pictures, the first one is the original model for the movie, and the next one is another model, non-official.





I remind you that in the movie the Cantina is located on Tatooine, in a desert environment, which mean that DLPI would probably have to recreate a bit of desert landscape all around it, which is not the most difficult thing to do. And they have the space to do it. Some additional creatures like the one you saw on the diorama and a land speeder waiting at the entrance would be welcome, too.

To be perfectly honest, this "Cantina" addition is the one on which i didn't had confirmation yet but it'll make sense to build it and if this Cantina project is finalized you can be sure that Lucas Film will keep an eye on the theming to make sure that the restaurant will be faithful to the original one. This next picture will give you an idea of where is what in La Cantina.



Now, we all remember that the Cantina is full of aliens from all over the galaxy. In this case it's probably DLP guests who will be the aliens (!) but it would be nice if the cast members who will work inside the Cantina could be a little bit "themed" - if french regulations allows it, which remains to be proven...



And what about the Cantina musicians, by the way? They have to be there, right? DLP have the choice of real musicians wearing masks or audio-animatronics musicians. My guess is that DLP might prefer "real" one for financial reasons but WDI AAs would be welcome..



For those of you who don't remember the Cantina scene from Star Wars Episode 4, here is the video.




Is this Star Wars land going to be build at DLP? Very probably, yes, and here is why: One year ago, during a press event, a dinner was organized with a selection of web masters and Philippe Gas, DLP CEO. I was part of the dinner but it's another web master who asked him if DLP was planning to replace Star Tours 1 by Star Tours 2. To what Philippe Gas answered that they will be very happy to do so but unfortunately the attraction have a cost - read: an important cost - and for the same cost DLP could have a brand new attraction. One of the problem is that DLP had bad experiences with previous upgraded attractions. They did Space Mountain Mission Two and expected it to be a success as big as they had in 1995 when Space Mountain opened, and it hasn't been the case. And Captain Eo just brought in more guests than HISTA during one week or so. So, we can understand why DLP execs can a bit dubious with upgraded rides even if in this case i think they're wrong as everyone will agree that Star Tours 2 is considerably better than the first version.

But, at the time of this dinner we didn't knew the real price of Star Tours 2, and it was hard to understand why Philippe Gas thought that ST2 cost was high. Thanks to Oriental Land company who always reveal the cost when they bring a new ride at TDL or TDS we know now that TDL will invest 7 billion Yen to bring Star Tours 2 - $84 Million which makes around 63.5 M euros. Even if the costs are always a bit higher in Japan because of anti-sismic regulations, the price for DLP is certainly not under 50M euros, and probably closer to 55M. I can understand now why Philippe Gas thought that it's quite a lot of money to upgrade a ride, as popular as it can be. Not to mention that it's also harder for DLP marketing to advertise an upgraded ride than a brand new one.

But DLP have two problems: the first one is that Star Tours 2 will be introduced to all the others parks next year except at DLP, and the pressure by DLP fans would surely grow in the next years. And also, to put it more simply, the original ride is really getting old, so sooner or later DLP couldn't escape to upgrade it. The second problem is located next door to Star Tours. As i told you Captain EO is not tremendously successful and obviously they can't keep it for years and years. Captain EO closed on April 2 but the main problem for DLP is: what can they put in instead of EO? WDI don't do anymore 3D movies considering - and they're right - that because a new 3D movie is released almost each week in normal theatres it's better to use 3D technology in rides - like in Toy Story Mania or in the upcoming Ratatouille ride at WDS.

And it's at that point that someone probably came with this brilliant idea: what about having a Star Wars land in the back of Discoveryland? And this concept change everything as DLP marketing will be able to "sell" or advertise not only an upgraded ride but a whole new land, and a new land dedicated to one of the most popular movie mythology in the world! And God knows that there is a lot of Star Wars fans in Europe. Not to mention that, as i told you, there is still plenty of land backstage to eventually add a new Star Wars attraction in the future if needed. Honestly, if they do it for real i think it's a very smart move from Philippe Gas and DLP Imagineering as this Star Wars land is probably the best way to resolve both the ST1 and Captain EO problems at the same time.



For sure, this Star Wars land will cost more to DLP than a simple upgrade of the ride but the benefit on many points will be greater. For instance, once DLP will have this Star Wars land why wouldn't they organize Star Wars week-ends like they do at WDW? It's very popular, and for sure it would bring fans from all over Europe in the park...and in DLP hotel rooms, right? So, for all these reasons, i'm quite sure that a Star Wars land will come to DLP, and from what is said on the DCP forum it won't be before Ratatouille opening which is scheduled for 2014. But 2015 might be the year that both Jedis and Empire forces will land again at DLP Discoveryland!

Pictures: copyright Disney, Lucas Film, Mark Dermul

Cantina Video: copyright Lucas Film

Cantina pictures from cantinacustoms.tripod.com

Final Brave Trailer !

Pixar has released a new Brave trailer and it's probably the best! Have a look, the movie is released in the U.S June 22!




Picture and video: copyright Disney - Pixar

Major Tim Burton Exhibit at Paris French Cinemathèque

If you're planning to come to Paris for a visit at Disneyland Paris in the next months AND if you are a Tim Burton fan - and who is not? - you might be interested to know that a major Tim Burton exhibit is now open at Paris French Cinémathèque. The exhibit which will last until August 5 takes lot of elements that were shown in 2009 New York MoMa with of course plenty of new ones shown for the first time at Paris exhibit. Tim Burton also did specially for the exhibit a short animated and here it is.



Exposition Tim Burton à la Cinémathèque... by lacinematheque

Of course visitors will see plenty of Tim great artwork and renderings done for his movies but the most impressing pieces are his creatures/sculptures created for his films or especially for this exhibit. From his first models to the sophisticated characters visitors will be able to follow the evolution of the famous macabre characters, helped by his artistic director and art director Rick Heinrichs.









Here is a special interview of Tim Burton who, as you will see below, was of course there for the exhibit opening.





Entretien exclusif avec Tim Burton by lacinematheque

French newspaper Libération also had a special preview of the exhibit and you can see their video below!

It's not over! There is more, as Tim also did a master class which was watched bu hudred of french Burton fans, some of them even came in Mad Hatter costume like the one you'll see on the picture. Right below the picture the video of the full Burton master class, in english. If you want to watch it dubbed in french please go HERE. The exhibit official page is HERE.






One more thing, and a bit of trivia as the building in which the French Cinemathèque is was designed by world famous architect and Pritzker price winner Frank Gehry. Yes, the same Frank Gehry who created the Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A and the original Disney Village architecture at Disneyland Paris!

Pictures: copyright Tim Burton, Cinémathèque Française

Videos: copyright Libération, Tim Burton

Editor's Note: The SIRI article has been moved to my Innoventions Blog, and if you've not read it yet and want to know how to install for free SIRI - the famous iPhone 4S vocal assistant - on your Mac AND have her saying Disneyland-like announcements when you've got an alert on your computer, just go HERE.

Michael Eisner Celebration of DLP Imagineers Work, April 1992

Always celebrating Disney and more 5th Anniversary i have another unique document for you today, and this one is thanks to Thorsten, a faithful D&M reader, who is collecting Disney memorabilia. Thorsten acquired some years ago this incredibly rare document which is a limited edition cel released for DLP opening in 1992... but this one is signed by Michael Eisner! And not only it is signed by Eisner but there is a long dedication for Mickey Steinberg who was Disneyland Paris Project Director at Walt Disney Imagineering!

This is for sure a unique piece of DLP memorabilia and because Michael Eisner text is written all around the picture, so not easy to read, here below is the transcript of what Michael has written for Mickey Steinberg as well as pictures of each sides with the text. As you will see Eisner is in heaven and love the park, and i'm sure that DLP Imagineers who built the park will be happy to learn how much Eisner loved the final result. All my thanks to Thorsten for this great document!

Here is the transcript of Michael Eisner text below, if someone think we did a mistake, thanks to let me know!

Mickey –

What an unbelievable team you lead in designing, building and opening EuroDisney !! I really feel that only you guys could pull something like this off !!

Congratulation for keeping American entrepreneurship alive-

I also appreciate all the travel you had to do over the past couple of years – boy was it worth it !

And it opened in time – And it is beautiful – And being perfect is good because people came – 60.707 people came on Easter Sunday – WOW !!

And of course –

Thanks –

Michael Eisner April 20, 1992










If you wish to celebrate too Disneyland Paris beauty i remind you that the Disneyland Paris book is always available in its collector edition and that there is even a special offer on it running all this month! And, good news, we expect to receive the printer shipment and ship all copies anytime soon so you won't have to wait too long before your copy will be shipped! Place your order now for a collector's edition copy while you can get the special offer on this wonderful book! To know how to order and send your payment please go on the DLP book page HERE.

Transformers Ride now in Soft-Opening at Universal Hollywood !

If you're living in South Cal and more specially in the L.A area i have a great news for you as according to Screamscape it seems that soft-openings for the Transformers ride have began at Universal Hollywood! So, you might take your chance to ride this incredible ride before its Grand Opening on May 25th and if you do so i count on you to let us know in the comments how awesome (or not) it was! In the meantime you'll find below a new preview video showing a bit of the making of the ride.

The good guys of Mice Age had a special preview and were the first people on the ride when it opened to guests yesterday. In addition, they were allowed to actually walk the entire length of the track last week, before the ride began employee previews. They have some stunning photos you won't see anywhere else and you can read their report HERE.




And for those of you who can't go to Universal Hollywood, here is the on-ride video. And no need to say that if you intend to go at Universal Studios in a near future or simply want to keep the surprise it's better to don't watch this on-ride video!




Picture and video: copyright Universal Studios

It's Disney and more Fifth Anniversary!...and Let's celebrate it with a Rare Document Showing the Making of Disneyland Paris!

It's Disney and more fifth anniversary! Yes, five years ago, in April 2007 i was posting the D&M first article and since then you are each day almost 4000 people to visit the site, so i wanted to thanks all of you to be so faithful to Disney and more!

And i thought that the best way to do it was with a very unique document filmed at WDI in 1988 during the making of Disneyland Paris by the great Eddie Sotto - who was at that time Disneyland Paris Main Street U.S.A show-producer. And who else than Eddie himself could introduce this great video and explain to you who and what you will see in it? I'm sure you will love this rare document so now, here is Eddie Sotto introduction, right after this never-seen-before picture of Eddie shot before opening day in front of Main Street Motors! Thanks again to all of you for your support during these last five years and all my deepest thanks to Eddie!



Eddie Sotto:

Disney and More has been my favorite source for all things Disney for the last five years. I want to congratulate Alain on a great job and it has been an honor to have been featured from time to time.

This video is very unique in that it is a "home movie" from inside of Imagineering. I shot this back in 1988 as a means of showing the French office what all of us looked like back in the States. I was about to go to Paris for a considerable time and this was a means of building morale and putting faces on those endless conference calls. Two decades later, it is an interesting curiosity, a time capsule of what it was like back then to be an Imagineer. As you watch the video I thought you might like to know who some of the people are and what you are seeing.

The offices shown are on Rodier Drive, not far from WDI main offices on Flower Street in Glendale California. Today that building houses some of Disney's Research and Development department. After DLRP opened, the building was remodeled and Indiana Jones for Disneyland was also designed in that space.

The video opens in my messy office. I was the designer responsible for Main Street USA in Paris and on my desk were the concept sketches for Town Square East. Lots of failed ideas on wads of paper! Above my drawing board is a rendering of a Spacecraft. That was the first rendering I had done at WDI, a George Lucas inspired rendition of Disneyland's Carousel Theater. We had several ideas for a travelling show with Aliens, etc. But the design was eventually shot down when Tomorrowland and Lucas parted ways. A model of the show building appears later in the video.

Outside my office you will see a cast of characters from both the Main Street team and Operations.The chap hiding behind a Newspaper was the watchdog project manager Chris Dick. He was part of a British firm we all resented at times that oversaw the project. Juan Delgado (Hawaiian Shirt) and Sandy Mullally (light hair and a bit older) were our Senior Interiors designers. So talented. Sandy worked in film prior and dressed sets for "Paint your Wagon" in the 60's. Juan brought his cuban flair to the Cable Car Bake shop color scheme. Wild stripes and San Francisco styling. The blond woman is Joan Kuba, who helped in selecting props and dressings. We had to add the props to the blueprints and find antique furniture, so that was quite a task. Sam Hutchins, (the man with the glasses at my door) was the head of Park Merchandise. We would negotiate the size and design of the retail stores around the conference table. This was typical in the development of a park. Both parties meet and negotiate and review the design. The gent at the drafting board with the giant Pine Cone was Peter Kelly, a Set Designer from the film industry. He worked on films by my hero John De Cuir, like Hello Dolly! and Ghostbusters. He was working on the City Hall for Main Street at that time. You can see some of the elaborate swatches of wall covering and trims on the walls. I tried to get as many Hollywood Set Designers as I could on the architecture team.

Others in the background were French hires coordinating the engineering, and Imagineers like Richard Wood organizing the drawings. Not a fancy office by any means but it was where it all happened.

The model shop is the next stop and you can see many models that were used later in the guidance of those who built the real figures and sets. Some were for presentation and massing purposes, others as a means to build the final show. Pirates had quite an exterior model. We even show the interior arcades for scale. The Big Thunder Model for instance was covered with tin foil squares, each representing an amount of plaster and cement. The estimators would count the squares to figure out how much all the rocks would cost! You will recognize all the lands and some are more advanced than others. Main Street never got as good a model as the other lands because it was considered to be copied from WDW. We showed them! You will notice Tim Delaney, Designer of Discoveryland, and the joking Bob Baranick working on Phantom Manor. Bob has been a friend prior to Disney, built the Lucas Spaceship model for me, and is best known for his work of Tarzan's Treehouse and a redo of Pirates back at Disneyland, where he was an Art Director. I could go on. So many talented people in the video! But that's the real story. It takes lots of great people bringing their talent to the table to build a great park! Hope you enjoyed a trip to WDI circa 1988.




Video and Eddie Sotto photo: copyright Eddie Sotto, whom i thanks a lot!

Pictures: copyright Disney

The True Story of the Amazing Star Trek Attraction That Almost Was

The Goddard Group, a company directed by Gary Goddard, has launched a new blog which you're gonna like! Gary Goddard is the man who created for Universal when he was running the Landmark company the Jurassic Park ride and Terminator 3D among others famous rides and one of the latest post of this new blog is definitely not to be missed as Gary describes the incredible story of the Star Trek attraction that "almost came to life" in Las Vegas, back in 1992.

In one of my previous articles three years ago i've shown you this amazing concept of a real-size Enterprise, thanks to fantastic artwork like the one above - click to enlarge the pictures. This amazing project unfortunately not realised have a story. Years ago the Las Vegas Down Town hotels association, aware that the new Strip's hotels were getting most of the visitors, wanted to create a unique attraction to be located in down town Las Vegas. Different companies created concepts, including Landmark with this amazing Star Trek concept, but, although EVERYBODY loved this Star Trek idea their final choice went to the now famous Fremont Street Experience.



This real size Enterprise would have stand in the Las Vegas strip and would have been as long as Paris Eiffel Tower is high. That means unbelievably big. And of course guests would have found inside themed Star Trek attractions. The whole project had an estimated cost around $200 M (back in 1992) which was reasonable - specially considering the size.



Now, why such an unbelievably great project was never built, specially when EVERYONE was okay to do it? Well, as you will read in Gary's article ONE person was not okay, and because of this person all the project was cancelled. So, jump to the Goddard Group Blog HERE to read this truly amazing story!

Artwork: copyright Landmark, Landmark entertainment, Star Trek is copyright: Paramount Pictures