Pixar Place Update

WDWNT on June 10, 2008

With Toy Story Mania now operating, bigger plans for the entire Pixar Place area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios are firming up. Imagineering is already beginning to work on upgrades for Toy Story Mania, with holiday version of the ride planned to debut in 2011 and an updated Toy Story 3 inspired version coming Summer 2010.

Across the street, the new shop, small-scale food service area, and the “top secret” Toy Story meet and greet spot are all nearing completion. According to Disney, the waiting area for the meet and greet will feature something they “have never done before”, to quote an Imagineer. Also slated to debut on the street, around the same time in June as the other Pixar Place offerings, is the Wall-E interactive living character animatronic. Plans are to have the “living” character roam the street now through January 2009, where he will be put away until work is completed on the second phase of the Pixar Place project.

Already rumored for the next phase of the project is a Monsters Inc. roller-coaster to fill in soundstage 1 and a smaller-scale version of the Car’s inspired Radiator Springs Racers attraction debuting Disney’s at California Adventure park in a few years, replacing the Studio Backlot Tour. By the end of the project, Pixar Place will extend from the Narnia exhibit to New York Street, wrapping around the northeast end of the Great Movie Ride. Other minor changes include some minor theme changes, including changing the Honey I Shrunk The Kids Movie Set into a set from “It’s Tough To Be a Bug”, changing the Backlot Caterers food location into a Monsters Inc. or Ratatouille themed eatery, and changing the theme of the small store that used to be “The Loony Bin” to a Monsters Inc. themed shop.

While most of these points are still completely rumor, many of these plans should eventually be executed. The current plan has the final pieces of Pixar Place (the Cars E-Ticket attraction and Monsters Inc. roller-coaster) being put into place by 2015, with the minor pieces all completed by 2011. Be sure to stay tuned to WDW News Today as more info on Pixar Place progress becomes available.

Animatronic Wall-E Coming to Disney’s California Adventure

WDWNT on June 9, 2008

A real-world mobile audio-animatronic Wall-E robot will roam around Disney’s California Adventure and interact with theme park visitors later this year, according to the monthly newsletter mailed to Disneyland Annual Passholders.

“Be sure to keep your Visual Input Devices (also known as ‘eyes’) peeled as you play in the park this summer,” reported the Backstage Pass newsletter. “You might just catch a glimpse of the newest Pixar pal mingling with our human guests. Of course, Wall-E’s in-park appearances are subject to change without notice.”

The adorable remote-controlled, 3-foot-tall robot built by Walt Disney Imagineering has been spotted on the streets of Los Angeles and at a Philadelphia science center, but the Mouse House has remained mum on future theme park visits by Wall-E.

According to video of the real-world robot, the animatronic Wall-E rolls on his tread feet, moves his arms and hands, tilts his head, blinks his eyes and responds to questions in his own E.T.-like language.

Don’t expect to see Wall-E at California Adventure until long after the Disney-Pixar computer-animated movie opens in theaters June 27. The animatronic robot’s schedule becomes more booked every day with television interviews and a planned world tour.

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

It’s Alive!!!

WDWNT on May 15, 2008

It appears Disney has already tested the Wall-E living character that will start appearing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios over in Los Angeles. Here is a video of the amazing character’s short test:


Wall-E Spotted in LA! from Blink on Vimeo.

Waaaalllll Eeeeee!

WDWNT on May 15, 2008

The latest character in the Living Character Initiative is going to be Wall-E. He should start appearing in Tomorrowland later this year, but a little video from an event in LA has surfaced, & one word sums up this walk-around animatronic… AMAZING!


Wall-E Spotted in LA! from Blink on Vimeo.

Living Robot Initiative

WDWNT on March 17, 2008

The latest in the line of “living characters” at Walt Disney World (Such as Muppet Mobile Labs, Lucky the Dinosaur, and Mr. Potato Head) will be debuting soon at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Rumors are swirling that a living character of Wall-E from the upcoming Disney-Pixar film of the same name will begin roaming the streets of Pixar Place within a few weeks. Stay tuned to WDW News Today as more info becomes available on this story.

2 Great YouTube Videos

WDWNT on March 1, 2008

MiceAge‘s Andy Castro has put up a couple of really good videos on his YouTube account!

The first is of the new Wall-E preview in DCA’s Animation Academy, with Andrew Stanton of PIXAR:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DB79wUsAgA[/youtube]

 

And the second is from the 2008 Disney Parks Vacation Planning DVD, which has a sneak preview of the new PIXAR Play Parade with Marilyn Magness of Disney Parks Creative Entertainment:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=859dqsnV-sk[/youtube]

Wall-E in Animation Academy

WDWNT on February 22, 2008

A new pre-show of sorts has been added to the Animation Academy in Disney’s California Adventure. It’s a preview look at the new Disney-PIXAR movie Wall-E, hosted by Andrew Stanton of PIXAR.

Also, Dopey has been added to the characters that you could draw in the Animation Academy, as a tie in to the Snow White 70th Anniversary event going on elsewhere in Disney Animation.