Imagineer Alice Davis To Receive Window On Main Street USA

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

From Erin Glover on the Disney Parks Blog:

“Imagineer
Last night, during a special event at Club 33 inside Disneyland park, Kim Irvine announced that her fellow Imagineer – and Disney Legend – Alice Davis will be honored with her own window on Main Street, U.S.A., on May 10.

Alice Davis is well known for her costume design work and has styled some of the most beloved characters at Disney Parks – including those found in the classic attractions, “it’s a small world” and Pirates of the Caribbean. She first designed costumes for the Walt Disney Studios during the production of “Sleeping Beauty.” It was common for animators to use live-action footage as reference – it helped them to see how the actors, fabrics, hair and other elements moved. And you Disney history fans may remember that it was her former art instructor (and future husband), Marc Davis, who recruited her to make the dress that would be worn by the actress portraying Briar Rose in the reference footage.

Dolls on the 'it’s a small world' Attraction at Disneyland Park Designed by Disney Legends Alice Davis and Mary Blair
She continued to design costumes for the Walt Disney Studios until 1963, when she undertook a costuming project that would go on to become one of the most famous theme park attractions in the world. Along with fellow Disney Legend Mary Blair, Alice supervised the creation of more than 150 costumes for “it’s a small world,” helping to bring to life the iconic dolls who would sing the unforgettable theme song.

Concept Art for the Pirates of the Caribbean Attraction at Disneyland Park
Two years later, she translated her husband’s drawings for the Pirates of the Caribbean into designs and patterns for all the costumes that would be seen in the new attraction.

In addition to the extraordinary work seen by thousands of Disney Parks guests through the years, Alice’s influence at Walt Disney Imagineering extended to the development of manufacturing, quality control and refurbishment standards for the three-dimensional characters created by Walt Disney Imagineering.

The Disneyland Resort is proud to award Alice Davis one of the highest honors one can receive at the Walt Disney Company – her own window on Main Street, U.S.A.

Andy’s Tokyo Toys

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

Who knew? It seems as though Andy from the Pixar Toy Story franchise went away to college to become an artist:

Straight from our friends over at the Vinylmation Japan Blog (an unofficial fan site), we have revealed four Toy Story Vinylmation that will be released at Tokyo Disney Sea on July 5th at McDucks Department Store. They are to commemorate the summer opening of the Toy Story Midway Mania attraction at Tokyo Disney. They will cost 1200 Yen or $15 USD. It seems to be a four figure series that includes Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the Alien all designed from the stand point that Andy actually drew them. And as you can see above, Andy actually signs them as the artist!

To me, these are an absolutely beautifully designed series. Such a unique take that makes so much sense in the Toy Story universe.

“See Ya’ Real Late” with Tom Corless Returns Tonight

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

IT’S BACK! The extremely popular and revolutionary late night talk show for Disney fans is returning for a third season tonight! Combining guest interviews and WDWNT’s unique brand of comedy in a LIVE 60 minute program, “See Ya’ Real Late” is ready to begin another “reign of terror” on WDWNTunes.com.

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Tonight, Tom welcomes guests Jeff Heimbuch of Communicore Weekly and The 626 on MiceAge.com and Brandon Struve, host of the Super Obscure Show (S.O.S.) on WDWNTunes. The fun begins LIVE at 8PM PST, only on www.WDWNTunes.com!

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Ryan Marella

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

To have your custom work spotlighted, please send an email to DestinationVinylmation@gmail.com
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Destination Vinylmation: Today, we would like to feature your Avengers customs. You seem to have assembled the whole team here. Why don’t you run down the list and point out a detail from each you are most proud of.
Ryan Marella: Creating the Avengers was a lot of fun. I started work on  Captain America first, then I made the HULK, Iron-Man, Thor, Black Widow, Nick Fury and finally Hawkeye. I’m most proud of how all their faces turned out, that really makes a difference when trying to create movie characters. I actually researched each actors faces to see their expressions.

DV: Which one was the hardest to create?
RM: The hardest ones to create would have to be Thor & Black Widow. Getting the right look on their hair and faces took some time.
DV: Do you have a favorite? Both in the comics and as a custom?
RM: My favorite would have to be Black Widow from the customs and Iron Man in the comics.

DV: You also created a 9″ Spiderman and 3″ Peter Parker combo. There is a ton of detail here, but I especially notice the city scape in the eyes and ears. How long did it take to paint this one?
RM: There is a lot of detail I put into both these customs. Inspiration is one thing that drives me to create these amazing customs. I worked all night and all morning on the 9″ Spider-Man which took me 15 hours to finish. I finished the next day and then after I started work on the 3″ Peter Parker in Spidey suit, which I finished within 5 hours time. The cityscape on the eyes came from the Image I was using, I was just going to paint it all white at first, but later changed my mind and used the cityscape to give the effect of glare on his eyes.I also put it on the ears to show that look as if was swinging through the city.

DV: Visit Ryan’s website at www.ryactiv.sketchlab7.com.