Disney To Release A Live Action Version Of “Night On Bald Mountain” From “Fantasia”

WDWNT on June 5, 2015

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney is developing a live action version of the “Night On Bald Mountain” sequence from Disney’s classic animated film “Fantasia.”

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless will write the script for the project — which is in early development at the studio — based on the 1940’s animated film. The hot writing duo is also executive producing the film.

The “Night on Bald Mountain” section of Fantasia centered on a dark winged creature who raised spirits from the dead. They dance, fly through the air and enjoy an night of mayhem until they fade away as the night ends and the sun begins to rise. (Watch video below.)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLCuL-K39eQ]

Fantasia was comprised of eight animated segments that were set to pieces of classical music. Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky first created the music used in the “Night on Bald Mountain” section in 1867, and it was arranged by Leopold Stokowski for the film, introducing the now-well-known music to a much wider audience.

Sources say the live-action take will be similar to what Disney did with Maleficent, which starred Angelina Jolie as the iconic witch. Maleficent earned a spell-binding $758.4 million worldwide when it was released in May 2014.

Disney has been diving head first into its animated classics to remake them as live action versions. Following Maleficent, Cinderella was released earlier in 2015, and has earned a stellar $531.8 million worldwide. A live-action version of Beauty and the Beast will star Emma Watson; Mia Wasikowska and Johnny Depp are set to star in sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass for 2016; and the studio’s live-action The Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau, will also be released in 2016. Disney is also working on live action versions of Mulan, Dumbo (Tim Burton will direct) and a Tinker Bell story starring Reese Witherspoon.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Disney Concerts and D23 to Present “Disney in Concert: A Silly Symphony Celebration”

WDWNT on June 5, 2015

Sunday, August 16,  D23 EXPO 2015 will feature the world premiere of Disney in Concert: A Silly Symphony Celebration—a live concert performance featuring a 32-piece orchestra celebrating the Silly Symphony animated short films and their accompanying music, hosted by film historian Leonard Maltin.

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Fans will delight in watching selected Silly Symphony shorts from Disney’s archives while the music is performed live in synchronization with the picture, presented using high-quality, newly restored digital film masters. The music will be performed as it would have been recorded during those historic days at the Disney Studios on Hyperion Avenue in the 1920s and ’30s.

This very special concert event will showcase the music of the Three Little Pigs, The Old Mill and many other classics. To ensure as many guests are able to see the concert as possible, two 70-minute presentations will take place on Sunday, August 16, one at 11 a.m. and the second at 2 p.m. in Stage 23.

For the first time ever, Disney Music Emporium, the online destination for collectible Disney music products, is creating a pop-up store on the show floor of D23 EXPO 2015. Over the three-day Ultimate Disney Fan Event, the Emporium will feature album signings by composers and Grammy®-winning Disney music producers.

Limited quantities of a wide assortment of music products, including Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels vinyl, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Master Score music sheet book, picture disc vinyl, plus lithographs and posters will also be available.

Additionally, visitors to the Disney Music Emporium will be able to pre-order the long-awaited The Silly Symphony Collection box set, featuring the complete restored soundtracks from all 75 Silly Symphony shorts from 1929–1939, with over eight hours of music on 16 vinyl LPs.

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For more information on The Silly Symphony Collection and Disney in Concert: A Silly Symphony Celebration, please visit: http://waltdisneyrecords.com/d23expo/sillysymphonies.html

The Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection CDs, including The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Fantasia, Pinocchio, and Disneyland, will be available in the Emporium. A limited quantity of lithographs for each title featuring the back cover artwork designed by Lorelay Bove (Visual Development Artist, Walt Disney Animation Studios) will be a gift with purchase. For more information on the Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection, please visit: http://waltdisneyrecords.com/d23expo/legacycollection.html

With the purchase of select music products at the Disney Music Emporium, guests will be issued a wristband to secure a space for an album signing. For a list of album signings and artist appearances at the Pavilion, please visit: http://waltdisneyrecords.com/d23expo/signings.html

Keep checking WDWNT.com for upcoming D23 Expo 2015 news and info.

VIDEO: New Clip From PIXAR’s “Inside Out”

WDWNT on June 5, 2015

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Disney/Pixar has released a brand new clip from their upcoming movie, “Inside Out.”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W6rntBADUQ]

When Riley’s family relocates to a scary new city, the Emotions are on the job, eager to help guide her through the difficult transition. But when Joy and Sadness are inadvertently swept into the far reaches of Riley’s mind—taking some of her core memories with them—Fear, Anger and Disgust are left reluctantly in charge. Joy and Sadness must venture through unfamiliar places—Long Term Memory, Imagination Land, Abstract Thought and Dream Productions—in a desperate effort to get back to Headquarters, and Riley.

Directed by Academy Award® winner Pete Docter (“Monsters, Inc.”, “Up”), produced by Jonas Rivera, p.g.a. (“Up”) and featuring an original score by Michael Giacchino (“The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille,” “Up”), Disney•Pixar’s “Inside Out” opens in theaters on June 19, 2015. 

VIDEO: New “Ant-Man” TV Spot Released

WDWNT on June 5, 2015

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Marvel has released a brand new TV spot for their upcoming movie, “Ant-Man.”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XggTiK8hmHc]

The next evolution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings a founding member of The Avengers to the big screen for the first time with Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man.” Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

Marvel’s “Ant-Man” stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang aka Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, Corey Stoll as Darren Cross aka Yellowjacket, Bobby Cannavale as Paxton, Michael Peña as Luis, Tip “T.I.” Harris as Dave, Wood Harris as Gale, Judy Greer as Maggie, David Dastmalchian as Kurt, and Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym.

Peyton Reed directs Marvel’s “Ant-Man” with Kevin Feige producing and Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo, Edgar Wright and Stan Lee serving as executive producers. The story is by Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish and the screenplay is by Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish and Adam McKay & Paul Rudd. Marvel’s “Ant-Man” delivers a high-stakes, tension-filled adventure on July 17, 2015.

Walt Disney Records Set To Release PIXAR’s “Inside Out” Soundtrack

WDWNT on June 5, 2015

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Disney•Pixar’s “Inside Out” features an original score that captures the emotional spirit of the story by award-winning composer Michael Giacchino.  The soundtrack will be released by Walt Disney Records on June 16, 2015.

Directed by Academy Award winner Pete Docter (“Monsters, Inc.”, “Up”) and produced by Jonas Rivera, p.g.a. (“Up”), Disney•Pixar’s “Inside Out” opens in U.S. theaters on June 19, 2015.

Giacchino worked with director Pete Docter on “Up” (garnering an Academy Award® for best original score) and also counts Disney•Pixar’s films “Cars 2,” “Ratatouille” and “The Incredibles” among his credits. But, says the composer, “Inside Out” was different. “Pete wanted the music to feel as if it was coming from the inside—from internal thoughts,” says Giacchino. “We were going for something atmospheric. Something that wasn’t traditional film score.”

According to the composer, the goal of the music mirrored the goal of the film. “It had to feel emotional,” says Giacchino. “I wasn’t sure how I wanted it to sound, but I knew how I wanted it to feel. This film is personal.”

The score was recorded with a 70-piece orchestra with an organ and a rhythm section that consisted of guitars and a drummer.

“I had a lot of fun writing the music,” continues Giacchino. “There’s a 1930s jazzy section we wrote for the Forgetters, and we channel classic horror in the Subconscious. The film really goes all over the map musically, but what I love most about it is that we never forgot that it’s an emotional story that’s being told.”

“Inside Out” is preceded by the short “LAVA” from Pixar Animation Studios, director James Ford Murphy and producer Andrea Warren. Inspired by the isolated beauty of tropical islands and the explosive allure of ocean volcanoes, “LAVA” is a musical love story that takes place over millions of years.  The short features the theme performed by Kuana Torres Kahele (Uku & Narrator) and Napua Greig (Lele).  The “Lava” theme will be available at digital retail on June 16, 2015.

New Images For Disney Infinity 3.0’s “Star Wars: Rise Against The Empire” Playset

WDWNT on June 5, 2015

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Disney Interactive has released brand new photos of the upcoming Disney Infinity 3.0 Play Set, “Star Wars: Rise Against The Empire.” Check out the first detailed look at the playable Star Wars characters such as Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie and Darth Vader. We also get our first glimpse of adventures on Tatooine, Hoth, Endor and the Rebel Alliance attack on the Death Star!

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th_EMP_IGP_Chewbacca th_EMP_IGP_DarthVader   th_EMP_PackShot_PlaySet th_RATE_PlaySet_All th_RATE_PlaySet_Cantina th_RATE_PlaySet_Chewbacca th_RATE_PlaySet_Chewbacca_2 th_RATE_PlaySet_Han_1 th_RATE_PlaySet_Han_2 th_RATE_PlaySet_Hoth th_RATE_PlaySet_JabbaPalace th_RATE_PlaySet_Leia_1 th_RATE_PlaySet_Leia_2 th_RATE_PlaySet_Luke_1 th_RATE_PlaySet_Luke_2 th_RATE_PlaySet_MillenniumFalcon th_RATE_PlaySet_Tatooine th_RATE_PlaySet_TrenchRun

Source: Nintendo Everything

Dirk Wallen’s 4/13/15 WDW Photo Report (Frozen, AVATAR, Rivers of Light, Harambe Marketplace, ETC.)

WDWNT on May 5, 2015

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Animal Kingdom and Epcot this week and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip, so let’s take a look:

 Work has begun on the Frozen meet and greet pavilion between Mexico and Norway at Epcot

Still no visible progress on the Frozen attraction

Moving over to Animal Kingdom, the annual DisneyNature sand sculpture can be found outside of this park instead of at Epcot this year

Walls came down around Island Mercantile revealing new planters

It doesn’t look like the pin cart will be returning to this spot anytime soon

Rivers of Light construction from above… looks like something is being constructed out in the water

AVATAR construction as seen from the parking lot at Animal Kingdom; this building will hold the flying Banshee ride

The building from afar

What appears to be construction of an outdoor seating area for the Beastly Bazaar Starbucks

The viewing area for Rivers of Light is coming along slowly

Meanwhile, a hyena habitat is being constructed on Kilimanjaro Safaris

Should be a cool addition when the nighttime safaris debut

The Africa Marketplace and Harambe Marketplace restaurant should be opening soon

 The water tower looks ready to go, but some work remains on the ground level

A Trip Report from Rob, and a “WDWNT NOW!” Update

WDWNT on May 5, 2015

As you might have seen (or not), I was visiting Disney World last Wednesday and Thursday. My mom turned 60 (happy birthday, Mom!) and I surprised her at the Magic Kingdom. It was awesome.

Actually, there were lots of things that were awesome, and I wanted to take a minute to share them with you.

Let’s get a few things straight first:
1 – I’m not a “Disney expert” but I know lots of stuff and care deeply about the World
2 – this visit was my first encounter with MyMagic+, FastPass+, MagicBand+, Paperless+, etc.
3 – This is all my opinion. Your opinion may differ, and you probably know and understand more than I do – please share!

Alright, where to begin…

I flew from Indianapolis to Atlanta to Orlando, got off the plane, got a rental car, and drove right to Epcot. From plane to rental car to the Epcot parking lot took less than an hour. How you ask? It was just me and my backpack.

Rental Car
My family has never gotten a rental car before, but I’m almost positive I’ll never go down there again and not have one. It was simple to pick up and drop off, and being able to come and go wherever and whenever I wanted was amazing. I love the Magical Express and the transportation Disney provides, but this was a glorious thing.

MyMagic+
As I mentioned earlier this was my first encounter using a MagicBand and FastPass+. I got to the Epcot main gates and placed my MagicBand against it, pressed my pointer finger on the fingerprint scanner, and away I went.

Let me just say, as an IT/dev guy who loves technology, the simplest thing like the ring around the Mickey head glowing white, spinning faster, and then glowing green when it read my band was magical. A very nice touch if I do say so myself.

I had FastPasses for Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, and the Seas with Nemo. I met some friends when I got there and we ate at Sunshine Seasons. My FastPass time for Soarin’ came, so I rode that (again, magical green spinning circles) and then I went over to Spaceship Earth. There was no wait so I rode that. I decided to skip the Seas with Nemo and went to Test Track for the single-rider line. I did a few more things before Illuminations and then headed out for the day.

Overall, I loved not having paper to worry about. Nothing for the hotel, old school FastPass tickets, receipts, whatever.

I did however have two qualms:
1 – Since I didn’t use all of my FastPasses, I could’ve gone to a kiosk and re-booked or canceled them. I tried using the My Disney Experience app and website to no avail, and ended up just giving up. This lead to me thinking “Perhaps having 2 FastPasses would’ve been better?” More on that later…
2 – Using the WDWNT Now! site (which I made) proved to be great about 10% of the time. I was bummed. Trying to find menus, wait times, meet and greets – all of it took too long. The reason I wanted to make the Now! site was to help people, not frustrate them. More on that later too…

MyMagic+ with matching watch

MyMagic+ with matching watch

The Polynesian
Quick side note – go visit the Polynesian Village Resort. You won’t be disappointed. I had breakfast there on Thursday morning (Tonga Toast FTW!) and the new lobby is beautiful.

Isn't he so cute?

Isn’t he so cute?

The Magic Kingdom
Much like Epcot the day before, I was in love with using my MagicBand. We had a FastPass for meeting Mickey at 9:20am, then Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 11:20am, and then Peter Pan at 2pm. The Magic Kingdom closed at 1am that day so I was prepared to use my 3 FastPasses and book more.

(By the way, I’m now joined by my mom, sister, brother-in-law, and their 2 kids who are both 3).

We had a magical day. It was sunny, hot, and beautiful. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday for my mom.

It was around the 2 or 3 o’clock mark that my family started feeling the effects of the heat. All being from Indianapolis and just coming off of winter it seems that we didn’t adjust well to the climate and temperature changes. We ended up splitting our group and I took my sister to First Aid to cool off while everyone else went and rode some rides. (I tell you all of this because I didn’t use my Peter Pan FastPass)

We had dinner at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, and my sister’s family went back to their room. My mom and I hung out at the Magic Kingdom until about 10:30pm, and then we left.

Alright, to sum up and add my thoughts:
1 – Just like at Epcot, I would’ve loved to have canceled my Peter Pan FastPass and booked Space Mountain (which I did get to ride later) or something else easily (ie – no kiosk visit).
2 – My niece really wanted to meet Jasmine. As a dad myself I wanted to help and take care of her, so I pulled out my phone and went to the Now! site – the “character appearances” page was difficult to navigate to and usually wouldn’t load. My own site! My own creation! How dare you!?
3 – The new Hub is beautiful. Take some time to wander.
4 – The Magic Kingdom is beautiful. Take some time to wander.
5 – Having “planned” our vacation months in advance and “locking” ourselves into what we’re doing when (as people claim you’re doing) proved to be the complete opposite. We were able to see, watch, and do so much in one day.

Here’s what I did in 48 hours at Walt Disney World
Rode

  • The monorail
  • Soarin’
  • Test Track
  • Spaceship Earth (twice)
  • Gran Fiesta Tour
  • Jungle Cruise
  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
  • “it’s a small world”
  • Tomorrowland Transit Authority
  • Space Mountain
  • Carousel of Progress
  • Under the Sea (Little Mermaid)
  • Pirates
  • Haunted Mansion

Saw

  • Festival of Fantasy parade
  • Main Street Electrical Parade
  • Wishes
  • New Fantasyland (new to me)
  • New Hub

Ate

  • Sunshine Seasons
  • Refreshment Port (croissant donut!)
  • Kona Cafe
  • Columbia Harbor House
  • Tony’s
  • Gaston’s Tavern (to try Lefou’s Brew)

Still with me? Thanks!

I would like to conclude with this:
1 – Booking FastPasses in advance proved both awesome and not so awesome. I loved knowing I would get to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine train. Never once did I feel like my whole day was “ruined” because I had “everything” planned out. See that list above? We got to do FastPass+ attractions during spring break. Think about that…
2 – However, as I mentioned, canceling FastPasses to be able to book more proved to be a tad more difficult than I thought it would be. Again – is 3 too much?
3 – Having a car is magical.
4 – My own creation, the Now! site, left me more frustrated than I’d hoped. Sure, it was cool seeing the “What’s Near Me?” actually work (instead of mocking me with “Far, far away”…who wrote that code?!). I’ve made some changes since I’ve been back that would’ve been nice to have during my trip (like sending a text message that says “#meet jasmine” and getting a reply with her meet and greet times and locations or simply navigating here).

So, dear reader, what do you think? Do you think 3 FastPasses is too much? Do you think I’m crazy? Do you love Tonga Toast as much as I did?

It works! It's not mocking me!

It works! It’s not mocking me!

Disneyland to Give Away Dazzling Prizes for “Diamond Days” as Part of 60th Anniversary Festivities

WDWNT on May 5, 2015

Similar to the Year of a million Dreams, guests who attend Disneyland’s Diamond Celebration starting in May will have a chance to win fabulous prizes as part of Disneyland Diamond Days sweepstakes that begins May 22, 2015.

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Disneyland Diamond Days is a sweepstakes in which daily prizes are awarded to select visitors while they are in the park as part of the Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration. In addition to the daily prizes, Disneyland Diamond Days will offer guests a weekly opportunity to win other prizes and experiences.

Appropriately, the most exciting prizes are authentic diamonds, custom-engraved for the celebration. One and two-carat Disney Diamonds will be awarded throughout the celebration, and the one-carat Disney Diamonds will even be paired with a stay in the Disneyland Dream Suite. Other weekly prizes include a clear, crystal Cinderella slipper adorned with a diamond-and-topaz pendant, and unique experiences, such as a private party in Fantasyland, a romantic cruise aboard the Mark Twain Riverboat, or a tailgate party in Cars Land. The available prize will vary each week.

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Full official rules will be available at Disneyland.com/DiamondDays on May 22, 2015.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S., D.C., Mexico and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are age of majority as of date of entry. Specific prizes to be awarded in the weekly sweepstakes will be announced online at Disneyland.com/DiamondDays the preceding week. Sponsor: Disney Memories, 500 S. Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA 91521, U.S.A.