Sunday, 2 September 2012

Have a little walk through HKDL Mystic Point Path



Disney fans are awaiting the opening of the great Mystic Manor attraction scheduled for an opening at Hong Kong Disneyland Spring 2013 but in the meantime i invite you to have a little walkthrough in the path going through Mystic Point from Grizzly Trail to Toy Story Land.

The path was created to avoid two dead ends and although HKDL guests are walking between two walls of fences you see a bit in the background the works on the future new land. On this video filmed by Hong Kong Main Street Gazette you'll go from Grizzly Trail to Toy Story Land and come back. While i was watching it i was thinking that Mystic point and Toy Story Land are a bit too close together as it is such two different "worlds" but i'm afraid it's too late to change this.




Also filmed by Hong Kong Main Street Gazette the summer Mickey's Waterworks Parade in its 2012 edition and as you will see "you may get wet!"




See you soon for more news of HKDL, and in the meantime, don't miss the great HKDL Wallpapers HD App for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch!
Direct iTunes link HERE!



Videos: copyright Hong Kong Main Street Gazette

Disney - ABC " Studios at the Ranch " will transform Walt Disney's Golden Oak Ranch into a state-of-the-art soundstage and production complex



This is one of the major project of the Walt Disney Company, and a new site was unveiled recently to present this "Studios at the Ranch" project including great artwork. For those of you who might have never heard about the Golden Oak Ranch the place is a movie ranch that serves as an interior and exterior filming location. The Golden Oak Ranch is off of Placerita Canyon Road in Canyon Country, California, less than an hour north of Los Angeles. The place has an interesting history as it was named in honor of Francisco Lopez, the man credited with discovering gold in California, years before the discovery that precipitated the California Gold Rush. More important, it's Walt Disney himself who bought the 315-acre (1.27 km2) ranch in 1959 for $300,000 with subsequent purchases of adjacent land that grew the area of the ranch to 827 acres (3.35 km2).

According to the Disney at the Ranch website "Walt Disney Productions first leased the Golden Oak
Ranch for filming in the late 1950's for The Adventures of Spin and Marty segments of The Mickey
Mouse Club. Because of the rich variety of settings, Walt Disney Productions purchased the first
portions of the property in 1959 and, over the years, acquired additional land bringing the total
property size to just under 900 acres. Some of the Disney productions that have shot at The Ranch include:

Old Yeller
Toby Tyler
The Shaggy Dog
Follow Me Boys
And more recently
The Santa Clause
Pearl Harbor
Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Golden Oak Ranch also has been seen in countless shows including:

Lassie
Beverly Hills 90210
Charmed
Red Dragon
Murder She Wrote
Diagnosis Murder
Bonanza
Independence Day
The X-Files

And Contemporary productions include:

CSI
My Name is Earl
Entourage
Boston Legal
Bones
Sons of Anarchy
Ghost Whisperer
American Idol
And many more...

In two words, production shooting happened at the ranch since Walt Disney bought it. But now, the WDC is going to transform a small portion of Golden Oak Ranch into a soundstage and production complex, and this is a real event as new Studios aren't built each day in California... With these new "Disney - ABC Studios at The Ranch" it will now be possible to combine the advantages of a large movie ranch for outdoor filming with the control and efficiencies of sound stages, all in one location. This synergy will provide countless options for the entertainment industry and reduce the need for actors, crews and equipment to travel throughout the Los Angeles region every time scenery changes from indoor to outdoor sets. The Studios will be used primarily for ABC and Disney productions however, facilities could be rented out to other production companies as they would become available. The site where the Studios will be built was carefully selected to preserve the natural settings of Golden Oak Ranch by locating soundstages on 58 acres in the westernmost portion of the 890-acre Ranch.

Here are some screen shots from the website presentation, explaining where will be what. However, note that Disney - ABC Studios at The Ranch will include:

6 Pairs of Soundstages
Production Offices
Talent Bungalows
Commissary and other Amenities
Administration Offices
Production Shops
Production Storage (Sets, Props, Drapery, Costumes and more)
Support Facilities









But the site provides also great renderings showing how these Disney ABC Studios at the Ranch will look when they will be built. Below, the entrance.



Next, Placeria Creek and a view of the canyon.



Next, the workplace" site where will be built the studios with a picture showing how looks the site right now...



And how it will look once the studios will be built.



Last but not least the "Plaza" view as it is now...



And how it will look once it will be built.



As you've seen, although these "Disney ABC Studios at the Ranch" are not a theme park we are talking here about a major project of the WDC which is supposed to generate 2854 full and part-time jobs and $533 million in annual economic activity throughout Los Angeles County. Also, note that as a working studio, Disney - ABC Studios at The Ranch will not be open to the public for safety and liability reasons. That said, it is such a big project that it will be interesting to follow the future news about it!

Pictures: copyright Disney
Editor's Note: Special offer on the DLP book during all September: Order a copy of the acclaimed Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality book this month of September and save $45 including Free Shipping! Don't miss this special offer, youll find all infos to order an ENGLISH edition HERE and for the FRENCH edition it's HERE!

WDW New Fantasyland: Enchanted Tales with Belle - Full Show



You saw last Friday the Imagineering video that introduced the amazing Lumière and Wardrobe Audio-Animatronics but now, thanks to TouringPlans who uploaded these new videos on Youtube you'll be able to see the full show of the new "Enchanted Tales with Belle" attraction at WDW New Fantasyland.

The first video below show the entrance in Maurice's cottage and the first room. In the second video you'll see the great "magic mirror" effect and the direct entrance to the castle with Wardrobe AA. And the third video is showing the full show with Lumière and Belle in the last room. Watching the full show confirms that the Audio-Animatronics are incredibly perfect, and also that there is probably two rooms with Wardrobe, just like pre-show rooms before guests enter the main one with Lumière. It's interesting as this might help to have a too long wait as, while some guests will enjoy the show with Lumière and Belle, others will be already in the first room with Wardrobe, etc.. The whole show is definitely a show for very young children but it's good that WDI creates attractions for them and i'm sure they will enjoy it a lot. As for us, we will for sure be amazed with the theming, special effects and the brilliant Audio-Animatronics.










Picture: copyright Disney

Videos: copyright TouringPlans

Order your Copy of the Great Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality book this month and save $45 including Free Shipping !



Note: Click HERE for the French version of this article - Version française de cet article ICI.

Here is something that should interest those of you who don't own yet the great and acclaimed "Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality" book. During all September month i am doing a free shipping on the book, and the book price is always at 100 euros instead of 120 euros. In two words, it mean that during all this month of September each person who will order the book will have the opportunity to save 35 euros ( 45 U.S$ ) and to order the book for 100 euros instead than 135€ at its normal price including shipping. Don't miss this great special offer as we begin of running low on the english version of the book. Also note that this offer is of course okay whether you order an english or french version of the book (both versions are available).

For those of you who have never seen a copy of the book you'll find below a video presentation of the full book which will show you each of the 320 pages of the book. And, most of all don't miss the comments of those who have already received the book at the end of the book presentation HERE!

For those of you who don't know what is the Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality collector's edition here is more details: the collector's edition is printed on a luxury glossy paper, it has a gold printing on the cover and dust jacket, is limited at 2000 copies in english ( and 2000 in french ), each copy has a number, AND each copy include four beautiful "lithographs" of WDI artwork for the Walt Disney Studios. Each of these lithographs can be put under frame. Also, the contents of the book is exactly the same than the first collector's copies printed ten years ago. And only the collector's edition is available, the regular edition is sold out.



Here is how to do to order the book:

So, how to pre-order a copy of this collector's edition? First, send us an email at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com ( with as subject: "dlp book order" ) to let us know that you want to order a copy, how many copies you want, in which language ( english or french edition? ) , and your shipping address.

How to proceed for your payment: We prefer a Paypal payment. Paypal is a very safe way to pay without giving your credit card number. For a payment with Paypal the total amount must be sent through Paypal at the email adress: neverlandeditions@gmail.com

OR, even more easy, you can now order the book directly from this page and proceed to the payment with Paypal by clicking on the "Buy it Now" Paypal button below! Order two or more copies an enjoy an additional discount!
Also, don't forget to let me know your shipping address and to confirm your order and payment AND to say if you want the book in english or french edition by sending us an email at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com
IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ: Whatever the book quantity you will choose you'll see that in the next page that will open the quantity written in the "quantity box" is "1". I tried everything possible to change this and to have the right quantity appearing but it still doesn't work. SO, when you will do your Paypal payment please don't forget to write in the text box the book quantity that you have ordered, AND also tell it to me by email. No worries, though, as i will also be able to identify instantly how many copies have been ordered when i will see the amount paid. Thanks!





Choose quantity and enjoy an additional discount !





If you don't have a Paypal account: either you know someone who have one and through which you can send the payment, or you can pay by check if you live in france or with a bank wire transfer ( no foreign checks, sorry ). If you want to do a wire transfer please let us know in your email and we will send you the bank infos.

Below you'll find a description of the book as well as visuals of the inside pages ( click on the mosaic pictures to see them in larger scale ). The printer did an incredible job, and the printing and binding is just perfect! I did a video to show you the final product, exactly the same one than you will receive if you order the book, and you can watch the video below!




Although you've probably heard about this beautiful book, many of you may have never seen a copy of it. So we've done a video presentation of the full book which will show you each of the 320 pages of the book! The book includes 750 pictures of the park, including 250 gorgeous renderings of Walt Disney Imagineering and stunning pictures of the park seen from above. The book is so big that it took us seven and a half minutes to show you the full book, and that's without stopping turning each pages! So, if you want to have a closer look at a page don't hesitate to stop the video. Finally, because we didn't had any more a collector edition copy the video is showing the regular edition of the book, not the collector's edition that you will receive if you place your order, but the inside pages are exactly the same.




Description of the book:



The book is a gorgeous "coffee table book" with 320 pages and 750 pictures - of which 500 are park and attractions photos and 250 are Walt Disney Imagineering renderings!

The size is 9 x 12 inches, all pages are in color and it's hardbound with a glossy dust jacket. The text (by Disney historian Didier Ghez), was written after more than 75 interviews he conducted with all the Imagineers who created the park. He goes into just about everything you wanted to know about this unique place that many describe as the best "Magic Kingdom" ever created by WDI.

It took five years to create the book, but it was worth all the time we spent on it, and the book looks just as good as we had hoped for at the beginning - in fact Imagineer Bruce Gordon told us that it was "probably the best book ever done on a Disney theme park". Coming from Bruce who did with David Mumford the great "Disneyland, The Nickel Tour" book, it was more than a compliment.

The first chapter about Main Street has 52 pages and introduces the reader to the "legend" of Main Street, USA. You'll learn all about the Disneyland Paris Railroad, the unique "Discovery" and "Liberty" Arcades; find out about the architecture, the restaurants (like "Walt's," a tribute to Walt Disney, but also inspired by Club 33 in Anaheim) and the shops; with dozens of photos, renderings, models, and reproduced for the first time here, all the "cities of the future" posters located in "Discovery Arcade."



The second chapter on Frontierland discusses the park's western side with extensive sections about its major attractions, "Big Thunder Mountain" and "Phantom Manor." In fact the book has the longest sections ever put together in a book on all the major attractions. The Pirates of Caribbean section in the Adventureland chapter is 26 pages, Phantom Manor has 16 pages devoted to it, as does Space Mountain, it's a small world, etc. The photo material was so great that we kept adding more pages to the book, which was supposed to have only 240 pages when we started... we ended up with 320 upon completion!



The Frontierland chapter also covers the Mark Twain, the River Rogue Keelboats, Fort Comstock, all the restaurants, the shops and Cottonwood Creek Ranch.and featuring stunning photos of Disneyland Paris from the air by Yann Arthus Bertrand, author of The Earth from Above that make spectacular "double-pages," and allow the reader to discover the park from a whole different angle.



The Adventureland chapter is even more interesting, as many elements of the land exist only in Paris - such as the Bazaar and Aladdin to Africa and the ex-"Explorer's Club." Plus there's a long section about "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril," "Adventure Isle" and "The Swiss Robinson Treehouse" and, of course, "Pirates of Caribbean" the land's major attraction and featuring its amazing Audio-Animatronics! All in all there are 56 full pages about Adventureland, and as in the previous chapters, there are dozens of photos, lots of concept art, and many shots of Imagineers at work. There's even a great bonus here, with the Marc Davis artwork for "Pirates" also included.



56 full pages are also dedicated to Fantasyland. There's an extensive look at Sleeping Beauty Castle, sections on all the dark rides (Snow White, Peter Pan and Pinocchio), as well as a look at "Alice's Curious Labyrinth," the "Mad Hatter's Tea Cups," "Storybookland," and "Casey Jr." There are even 14 pages about "it's a small world" with stunning photos of nearly all the scenes in it. Here the reader can discover a new attraction that exists only at Disneyland Paris, with a great view from above of Alice's Labyrinth.

Discoveryland also gets 52 pages of special treatment, with sections on the Visionarium, the Nautilus, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and everything you wanted to know about the other attractions in this land – Autopia and Orbitron. In fact the Nautilus chapter takes you on a visit with photos of every room of this detailed walk-through and two double page photo spreads, one which makes you feel you're inside Captain Nemo's grand salon, and the other showing you a unique view of Discoveyland featuring the Nautilus and Space Mountain in a kind of "CinemaScope" view.



When the book was released in early 2002, the Walt Disney Studios didn't exist, so you won't see them in the book. But there's still one last chapter about the hotels of the park, and Disney Village too, with the great Buffalo Bill Wild West show that entertains hundreds each evening.

And because every day in a Magic Kingdom should end with a parade and fireworks, we have the Main Street Electrical Parade that close the book, with also an Herb Ryman gorgeous painting in the very last pages!



Order the book directly from this page and proceed to the payment with Paypal by clicking on the "Buy it Now" Paypal button below! Order two or more copies an enjoy an additional discount!
Also, don't forget to let me know your shipping address and to confirm your order and payment AND to say if you want the book in english or french edition by sending us an email at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com
IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ: Whatever the book quantity you will choose you'll see that in the next page that will open the quantity written in the "quantity box" is "1". I tried everything possible to change this and to have the right quantity appearing but it still doesn't work. SO, when you will do your Paypal payment please don't forget to write in the text box the book quantity that you have ordered, AND also tell it to me by email. No worries, though, as i will also be able to identify instantly how many copies have been ordered when i will see the amount paid. Thanks!





Choose quantity and enjoy an additional discount !





Pictures: copyright Disney

Video: copyright Alain Littaye 2012

Saturday, 1 September 2012

The Lone Ranger Filming " Almost a Wrap "



It's Jerry Bruckheimer himself who announces it on his blog: The Lone Ranger filming is "almost a wrap", which means that they've almost finished the shooting and that the movie will enter soon in post-production.

However there is another great news as some of The Lone Ranger scenes were filmed recently at the legendary Monument Valley, in Utah. Monument Valley became famous thanks to John Ford who found in love with its gorgeous scenery and filmed there many of his most famous western movies. It's difficult to think about another place more emblematic of westerns than Monument Valley. At the instant you see Monument Valley in a movie it makes you think to cowboys and indians chasing one each other. I love Monument Valley and thinking that scenes of the Lone Ranger were filmed there is one more good reason for me to see the movie when it will be released next year!



Anyone else here loving Monument Valley?

Pictures: copyright Jerry Bruckheimer

What If Pixar Made The Expendables 2?



Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables 2 was released 10 days ago and is doing pretty well at the box office, but the guys a IGN asked the question " What if Pixar made The Expendables 2 " and did a fake trailer using Pixar Toy Story scenes with sound and voices coming from The Expendables 2! Have a look!




Picture and video: copyright Pixar, editing by IGN
 

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