Jingles II!

WDWNT on April 10, 2008

ANAHEIM, Calif., April 8, 2008 — In beloved recognition and gratitude for her service as Honorary Ambassador of Disneyland’s 50th anniversary celebration, Disneyland Resort Cast Members today presented legendary star Julie Andrews with a unique dedication that will forever ensure her place in Disneyland’s storied history.

This dedication shines in a most appropriate place, on King Arthur’s Carrousel in Fantasyland. The Carrousel was one of the 15 Disneyland attractions that were “goldenized” in 2005, in honor of the “Happiest Homecoming on Earth” celebration for Disneyland’s 50th anniversary. Jingles, the lead and most popular horse on the attraction, was painted gold for Disneyland’s special milestone and Julie was photographed with the horse during the festivities.  To acknowledge Julie’s role as an honorary cast member, Disneyland Resort has given Jingles a magical makeover and is dedicating the cherished horse in her honor.

Carrousels have a special meaning at Disneyland as Walt Disney had a fond appreciation for them and included carrousels in many of his biggest and most notable endeavors.  As a father, he took his young daughters to ride merry-go-rounds on many weekends and those happy and memorable times were the seed of his dream called Disneyland.  Julie Andrews’ association with carrousel horses dates back to the classic 1964 film, “Mary Poppins,” and her lead role as the magical nanny.   During one escapade, Mary Poppins embarks on a “horse race” with the two young children and her friend Bert. With a little bit of luck – and stunning visual effects – their carrousel ponies break free and gallop through the countryside.  The movie won five Academy Awards – including one for Julie Andrews – spawned the cheerful song “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!,” and left a sentimental spot forever in the hearts of movie-lovers worldwide.

Since Jingles’ 2005 golden transformation, the popular carrousel horse now dons a new and hand-painted, colorful jewel-tone palette.  Special features have been added to honor the screen legend, including embellishments of gold leaf horseshoes, flowers representing Julie’s love of gardening and Mary Poppins’ themeing on Jingles’ enhanced golden saddle. Hand-painted features on the saddle include Julie’s initials, the number “50” representing Disneyland’s 50th anniversary, Mary Poppins’ boots and a flying silhouette of the beloved Mary Poppins character.  Golden, wooden jingle bells also adorn the horse’s body.

Disneyland Cast Members also presented a miniature, one-of-kind replica of Jingles for Julie.  The commissioned, hand-carved wood piece stands nearly 2 ½ feet tall and wears a special broach that is a replica of the custom-made Disneyland Ambassador pin that Julie received for being an Ambassador for Disneyland’s 50th anniversary.

While at Disneyland for the unveiling ceremony of Jingles, Julie signed copies of her new autobiography “Home: A Memoir of My Early Years” for Cast Members and Guests.  In her new book, the critically-acclaimed writer shares numerous personal photos and anecdotes of her time on Broadway, including stories of performing in “My Fair Lady” with Rex Harrison and in “Camelot” with Richard Burton; her first marriage to famed set and costume designer Tony Walton, with whom Julie gave birth to daughter Emma; her meeting with Walt Disney, and her departure for Hollywood.

Jingles!

WDWNT on April 9, 2008

From the OC Register:

Thousands of Disneyland park guests gathered around King Arthur’s Carousel on Tuesday morning to watch Disney’s top brass dedicate a special carousel horse to legendary performer Julie Andrews.

The gesture recognizes Andrews’ service as the theme park’s ambassador during its 50th anniversary, as well as her contributions to the company over the past 44 years.

The carousel horse is decorated with emblems and logos that recall some of Andrews’ most well-known roles. Its name is ‘Jingles.’

Andrews achieved icon status after the 1964 debut of Mary Poppins, in which she played the title role. In the movie, she rode cartoon carousel horses and used one to win a horse race.

On Tuesday, Andrews told the gathering of resort officials and theme park employees: “I hope this horse is here for a long time.”

MiceAge DLR Rumor Update

WDWNT on April 9, 2008

The plans for the DCA renovations always keep changing, & the latest changes were reported today in Al Lutz’s latest column on MiceAge. We’ll also take a look at some other new stuff supposedly coming to Disneyland, & the resort as a whole:

  • The Walt Disney Story show that was supposed to of gone into the new Walt Disney Plaza has been dropped from the plans. Team Disney Anaheim’s idea behind this is that DCA already has too many shows, & too little good rides. So the last thing DCA needs is another new show! But the extravagant Carthay Circle Theater will still be built, but will only be a facade.
  • With the Walt Disney Story not happening, this now may have Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln being re-installed into the Opera House on Main Street.
  • When Sunshine Plaza is under refurbishment, the temporary entrance may now be the big gate right by Soarin’ Over California, instead of the Millionaire building. You can see exactly where this is by viewing this picture.
  • A water play area themed to King Triton is now planned to be put right next to the new Little Mermaid attraction.
  • The Ariels Grotto restaurant may be re-themed a general Princess restaurant, Princess Palace. The more modern sections of the current exterior of the restaurant would be made more “Princessy”.
  • Originally, the renovation plans for the Disneyland Hotel was to of had each building extensively refurbished, one at a time. Well now, TDA & WDI are looking to completely rip down the current Disneyland Hotel, & re-build it all from scratch!
  • This summer, a Indiana Jones stunt show should take place in Adventureland. We’re not sure if it will last past the summer though.
  • No new attractions are currently planned for the resort in 2009, except for the new It’s a Small World. So Disneyland Park will have a major entertainment themed ad campaign, which will include the proposed new Wonder day-time parade, a new ending to Remember… Dreams Come True, new effects added to Fantasmic, & get this… the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade!

For complete details on all of the things mentioned above & more, check out this MiceAge article!

The Animation World Talks Back

WDWNT on April 7, 2008

The Animation World talks back on Re-Imagineering about the planned It’s a Small World changes! Here’s one of the 11 comments made:

“Mary Blair is one of the most remarkable artists of our time, and her work on “It’s a Small World” one of her crowning achievements. The attraction is the result of many talented artists working at the peak of their creative powers. Restoration aside, I can’t imagine improving on the original ride.”

Pete Docter
Director / Monsters Inc.

Big Thunder Mountain Mini-Refurb?

WDWNT on April 5, 2008

A refurbishment for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was/is planned for April 28th through May 1st. But looking through Disneyland.com, it seems that the planned refurbishment has been removed.

Stay tuned to Disneyland News Today to see if this refurbishment happens or not.

More Tiki Room 45th Anniversary Collectibles

WDWNT on April 5, 2008

The Enchanted Tiki Room will be celebrating its 45th anniversary this Summer. A couple of days ago, we showed you some of the first pieces of merchandise revealed for the occasion. Well now some even better pieces are to be released as well! Let’s take a look at some of them:


Various acrylic posters, like this varition of the attraction poster, will be available for $800+


A limited edition T-Shirt with this graphic will be available for $26


This pillow will be available for a currently unknown price


The back of the pillow


This mouse-pad will be available for $10.50


This very nice looking mug will be available for the great price of $12.95


And different drinking glasses like these will be released for $8

To see the rest of the products coming out, click here!

A Magic Kingdom of All the World’s Children

WDWNT on April 5, 2008

A local newspaper reporter got it right when she wrote that, after we updated Pirates of the Caribbean last year, “many fans grudgingly acknowledged that… the additions may make the ride more appealing to young park goers.” Now, based purely on rumors that are mostly inaccurate, we are being criticized for touching another one of Walt Disney’s “classics.”

We all agree that “It’s A Small World” is a Disney classic. But the greatest “change agent” who ever walked down Main Street at Disneyland was Walt himself. In fact, the park had not been open 24 hours when Walt began to “plus” Disneyland, and he never stopped. Having started my Disney career at Disneyland one month before the park opened in 1955, I can cite countless examples.

Like all my colleagues at Walt Disney Imagineering, I was pressed into action to help make “It’s A Small World” happen at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. We were all working to complete and open Ford’s “Magic Skyway” and General Electric’s “Carousel of Progress” (I worked on both) as well as “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” for the State of Illinois. But 11 months before the World’s Fair opening, Walt agreed to do “a salute to the children of the world” for UNICEF, and all the Imagineers somehow made it happen.

Mary Blair’s illustrations were, of course, the spark. But this was one of those great Disney “team efforts,” and many Disney legends joined her: Marc Davis; Blaine Gibson; Rolly Crump, Harriet Burns and numerous others. And, of course, Bob and Dick Sherman added that song we can’t get out of our heads. I interfaced with all of them to write and produce a 24-page souvenir book that was sold at the Fair, because Walt wanted to showcase and thank the team for an extraordinary accomplishment.

Now the rumors are swirling that we are “ruining Walt’s creation.” I’ve heard that we are planning to remove the rainforest, add Mickey and Minnie Mouse, create an “Up with America” tribute, to effectively “marginalize” the Mary Blair style and Walt’s classic (all not true).

In fact, just the opposite is true. We want the message of brotherhood and good will among all children around the world to resonate with more people than ever before, especially today’s young people. Our objective is to have everyone who experiences “It’s a Small World” understand (in the words the Shermans’ wrote 44 years ago) that “there is just one moon, and one golden sun, and a smile means friendship to everyone.”

To make “It’s A Small World” even more relevant to our guests, Tony Baxter (who created the concepts for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain and other Disneyland classics) and I arrived at the same place eight years ago. To accomplish our objective, we decided to seamlessly integrate Disney characters into appropriate thematic scenes in the attraction, and do it completely in the distinctive “Mary Blair style.” We spent many long months exploring ways to accomplish this.

We are not turning this classic attraction into a marketing pitch for Disney plush toys (rumors to the contrary). Between Tony, our chief designer Kim Irvine, and me, we represent 128 years creating Disney park entertainment and fun for literally billions of guests around the world. We are not “young marketing whizzes” trying to make a name for ourselves. We were fortunate to have trained, and worked with, all of Walt’s original Imagineers.

In the Shermans’ song, it’s the oceans that are wide, and the mountains that divide. Our goal was, and always will be, to bring people together, and keep this classic “the happiest cruise that ever sailed around the world” (words I personally wrote for that souvenir guide nearly half a century ago).

Or, as Walt Disney phrased it in his introduction to that guide, “a magic kingdom of all the world’s children.”

Martin A. Sklar
Executive Vice President
Walt Disney Imagineering
Imagineering Ambassador

Potato Head Preview

WDWNT on April 4, 2008

Here is a look at Toy Story Mania’s Mr. Potato Head animatronic barker, now performing inside Disney’s California Adventure park at the Disneyland Resort:

An identical animatronic Mr. Potato Head will begin performing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios starting later this month on Pixar Place at the entrance to Toy Story Mania.