Sam Gennawey's Blog, page 21

A Preview Look at Ollivanders

Vegas Baby!

This week, I am going beyond the Disney theme parks to tell you about a pair of interesting things. First up, a very interesting talk and book about the planning history of Los Angeles. Then we'll take a look at the most expensive privately funded construction project in United States history - CityCenter in Las Vegas. Walt Disney thought that big. Does this project in the desert measure up? 
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Disneyland Guide 1971

I just love old Disneyland Guides. They really spent some money and paid attention to this valuable keepsake. This was at a time that the Disney folks knew you would take this home, leave it on the table, and know that the brochure would be a constant reminder of the fun one can have during their visit.


This was back in the day when you bought your general admission ticket as well a tickets for each of the attractions. How you allocated your tickets made a big difference on how you enjoyed the park. They do a great job of breaking down the value of each ticket and make the system very easy to understand.

Compared with today's guidebooks, Disneyland looks loaded with things to do, see, and eat.
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TICKET BOOTHS

Once upon a time you used to reach into your pocket, grab your book of tickets, and rip out the right one to ride an attraction at Disneyland. In the case of Fantasyland, three of the original ticket booths still stand although you would not know it by looking at the structures. Got your ticket ready?

An Education in Magic at the Magic Kingdom - pt 2

Last week I started a column (An Education In Magic) on a walkabout of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World with a class of honor students from Western Illinois University (WIU).The class was called Communication Around the World and was put together by David Zanolla from the Communications Department. The my challenge was to help them "discover the layers of non-verbal communication utilized by the Disney Imagineers."

The walkabout was focused on the west side of the park and included Liberty Square, Frontierland, and Adventureland. I talked about Liberty Square in the last article and it is amazing how the Imagineers used the language of architectural styles to create a sense of time and place. Then they clustered the facades by region (Hudson Valley, Philadelphia, New Amsterdam, Williamsburg, etc.).

By the time you have walked over to the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon, you have metaphorically reached the edge of civilization and are about to cross into wild frontier. So let's continue our journey at that edge. Welcome to Frontierland.

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THE NON-PC MOUSE

Walt Disney Family Museum May Events

FOR THE MONTH OF MAY THE WALT DISNEY FAMILY MUSEUM SHOWCASES The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men Also Opening Special Exhibition in the Museum's Theater Gallery
Heinrich Kley: From Fantasy to FantasiaMay 11 to September 17, 2012San Francisco, CA – April 6, 2012—Before they were the classic Disney films we know and love, fairytales were tales as old as time with quite different storylines. Explore what Walt saw in these stories and how he gave each film their own "Disney Treatment." Among these classic tales was The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men. In honor of its 60th Anniversary, the film will be screened daily at 1 and 4 p.m.  in The Walt Disney Family Museum's state-of-the-art digital theater throughout the month of May. At the end of World War II, Walt Disney wanted to reboot The Walt Disney Studios so that all his "eggs weren't in the cartoon basket." He and his brother Roy met the challenges of the postwar years by diversifying their production and expanding beyond the animation industry—and, more than 20 years after his arrival in Hollywood—Walt finally realized his dream of becoming a producer of live-action. Originally released 1952, The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men was the Disney Studios second feature-length live action film after the 1950 release of Treasure Island. With the success of these two films combined, the Studios gained the confidence and funds to test out new techniques with the next—and arguably the most successful and technologically advanced—live action film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.Heinrich Kley: From Fantasy to FantasiaThe Walt Disney Family Museum is also pleased to present the special exhibition Heinrich Kley: From Fantasy to Fantasia featuring drawings by Heinrich Kley—Walt Disney's most admired European illustrator—paired with art from Disney's famed animated film Fantasia (1940). On view from May 11 to September 17, 2012, this exhibition features 29 drawings by Kley and alongside more than 25 sketches, concept art, and maquettes from the Walt Disney classic film. Also on view are four of Kley's sketchbooks which feature some 50 pages of intricate drawings. The Kley artworks are from Walt Disney's personal collection and are on view for the first time as a collection in the United States.SPECIAL EXHIBITIONHeinrich Kley: From Fantasy to FantasiaMay 11 to September 17, 2012 | Theater GalleryThis special exhibition is free with Museum admission.FILM SCREENINGSThe Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952)Screens daily at 1 and 4 p.m. (except Tuesdays and May 5, 19, and 20)Admission to the film is $7 general; $5 under 17SPECIAL PROGRAMSThe Disney Treatment: Walt's Versions of Classic StoriesPixar Director, Brad BirdSaturday, May 19 at 3 p.m.$12 general; $9 under 17Pixar Director (The Iron Giant, Mission: Impossible/Ghost Protocol) and two-time Academy Award®-winner (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) Brad Bird will discuss how Walt adapted well-known and even previously-filmed stories and created what are widely regarded as "definitive," versions. From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men; Treasure Island to Swiss Family Robinson, Bird will explore the appeal of these tales to Walt—and how his individual and personal viewpoint made them enduring classics.    Look Closer: The Work of Heinrich Kley: Bizarre, Imaginative, and InspirationalFriday, May 25; Saturday, May 26; and Sunday, May 27 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. | Theater GalleryFree with Museum admission.Get a more detailed view and background of our special exhibition located in our Theater Gallery.CLASSES + ACTIVITIESSaturday, May 12 and Sunday, May 13Disney Discoveries!1–3 p.m. (drop-in program) | Learning Center Art Studio Attention all young merry men and women! Come ye, come all to our Disney Discovery celebrating the 60th anniversary of Walt Disney's live action film, The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men. For this activity, we will be creating Robin Hood hats and Maid Marian tiaras. Free with Museum admission.Saturday, May 19Voice-over: Basic Acting & Character/Voice DevelopmentClass 1: 10 a.m.–1 p.m. | Learning Center Media StudioClass 2: 2 p.m.–5 p.m. | Learning Center Media StudioThese classes—taught by Disney voice-over artist Ned Lott—will focus on performance for different applications in the art of voice-over acting. You will receive training on how to develop your acting for creative character voices.  Space is limited. Registration and additional fee required. Contact: education@wdfmuseum.orgSaturday, May 26Teen Animation 1.010 a.m.–1 p.m. | Learning CenterLearn the classical art form of hand-drawn animation. This class will prepare you with the techniques needed to begin your own animated scene. Using the latest technology, you will get to test your animation and receive critical feedback to improve your sills. Space is limited. Registration and additional fee required. Contact: education@wdfmuseum.orgTickets for all films and programs are available at the Walt Disney Family Museum Member Services and Reception Desk or online at waltdisney.org. 
THE WALT DISNEY FAMILY MUSEUM PRESENTS SPECIAL EXHIBITION OF WORK BY HEINRICH KLEY FROM WALT DISNEY'S COLLECTION
Exhibition is First of Kley's Work in United States
[image error] (Left): Heinrich Kley's Jugend Titelblatt, courtesy The Walt Disney Family Foundation(Right): Chernabog Concept Drawing, ©Disney
The Walt Disney Family Museum is pleased to present the special exhibition Heinrich Kley: From Fantasy to Fantasia featuring drawings by Heinrich Kley—Walt Disney's most admired European illustrator—paired with art from Disney's famed animated film Fantasia (1940). On view from May 11 to September 17, 2012, this exhibition features 29 drawings by Kley and alongside more than 25 sketches, concept art, and maquettes from the Walt Disney classic film. Also on view are four of Kley's sketchbooks which feature some 50 pages of intricate drawings. The Kley artworks are from Walt Disney's collection and are on public view for the first time in the United States.
Walt Disney was known to seek great inspiration from European fairy tales for his films; not only was he inspired by them, he made them his own. Walt also looked to European art as a source of inspiration, especially book illustration. Heinrich Kley was one of Walt's favorite illustrators and he collected Kley's work in depth. During a trip to Europe in 1935, it is well documented that Walt returned with some 350 illustrated books and artworks that he acquired with the intention of using as a source of inspiration for future projects. He responded to the beauty, drama, and powerful visual narrative and irony of Kley's work. In a 1964 television interview Walt said, "Without the wonderful drawings of Heinrich Kley, I could not conduct my art school classes for my animators."
Disney's work Ben Ali-Gator holding Hyacinth Hippo, (c. 1940), which depicts an alligator holding a hippo ballerina above his head is similar in ironic nature to Kley's The Steeplechaser, (c. 1920), where the slowest animal, the tortoise, is portrayed jumping over a fence with a frog riding on his back. According to film historian John Culhane, "The tradition of caricaturing human aspirations with animal analogies stretches from Grandville and Tenniel to T.S. Sullivant and Heinrich Kley.  It is a tradition that Disney artists had been consciously studying since the early thirties."
In Kley's work Kesselschmiede (Kettle Forge), (c. 1920), the kettle takes on a human face which was also a direct influence on the Disney drawing of Casey, Jr.where the train takes on a similar human face. Walt and Kley both had a love of machines.
Disney's Chernabog Concept Drawing, (c. 1940), for Fantasia's "Night on Bald Mountain" scene where the devil Chernabog summons evil spirits and restless souls from their graves is deeply influenced by Kley's work Jugend Titelblatt (Title Page of Youth), (c. 1920), where two demons lord over a mechanical factory, turning it into their own industrial playground.
Kley's artworks for example, showcase animals dancing, mice playing fiddles to an audience of snails, and rabbits boxing, in response, Fantasia's "Dance of the Hours" features dancing crocodiles, elephants, alligators, and the aforementioned hippo ballerinas. As Walt said in a memorandum to Ted Sears, first head of the story department in 1935, "Some of these little books that I brought back with me from Europe have very fascinating illustrations of little peoples, bees, and small insects, who live in mushrooms, pumpkins, etc. This quaint atmosphere fascinates me and I was thinking how we could build some little story that would incorporate all of these cute little characters…..Mickey and Minnie might take a ride on a magic carpet and arrive in a weird land or forest, meet little elves of the forest, or be captured by an old witch or giant or ogres."
About Heinrich KleyHeinrich Kley (1863–1945) was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, and studied art with Ferdinand Keller at the Karlsruhe Academy and later with C. Frithjob Smith in Munich. He began his career as an illustrator and a mural painter focusing on portraits, animals, landscapes, and architecture.By the turn of the century Kley's interest changed to modern industrial life, including factories, blast furnaces, ship docks, industrial buildings, and machinery. One of his best-known oil paintings from the time is Tiegelstahlguss bei Krupp (Crucible steel casting with Krupp).With his move to Munich c.1910, Kley gave up painting to concentrate on pen and ink drawing. His bizarre and imaginative juxtapositions of humans and animals engaged in social situations, (dancing, eating, etc.) or in dream-like, surreal situations were imbued with his sarcastic wit. He quickly became famous for his work as it appeared in satirical magazines of the day including Jugend and the notable humor periodical Simplizissimus.In 1937, Kley was first introduced to the American audience through Coronet Magazine which published his work in three consecutive issues. According to Disney animator Joe Grant, Kley was an enormous influence on the look of the film. "The Dance of the Hours," a ballet with music from Ponchielli's opera Gioconda, features dancing animals that could be right out of the pages of one of Kley's sketchbooks.To this day, Kley's drawings rank among the most imaginative and satirical cartoons of all time.
# # #ABOUT THE MUSEUMThe Walt Disney Family Museum presents the fascinating story and achievements of Walt Disney, the man who raised animation to an art, transformed the film industry, tirelessly pursued innovation, and created a global and distinctively American legacy. Opened in October 2009, the 40,000 square foot facility features the newest technology and historic materials and artifacts to bring Disney's achievements to life, with interactive galleries that include early drawings and animation, movies, music, listening stations, a spectacular model of Disneyland and much more.  Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesdays through Monday; closed on Tuesdays and the following public holidays: New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.Tickets: $20 adults, $15 seniors and students, and $12 children ages 6 to 17; Admission is free for members.Where: 104 Montgomery Street, The Presidio of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94129  415-345-6800Website: www.waltdisney.org www.facebook.com/thewaltdisneyfamilymuseum www.twitter.com/WDFMuseum 

HAUNTED MANSION GRAVEYARD AT THE MAGIC KINGDOM

A Tour of the Magic Kingdom

Imagine you are an honors student at Western Illinois University (WIU) and you ran across this advertisement back in March 2010:

"Not only is the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, one of the most popular vacation destinations in the world, it's also a great example of effective communication by a multinational corporation. Communication of messages and information is planned is the smallest detail yet it is blended seamlessly so that the casual visitor never notices the flurry of communication going on around them.

This Study Abroad Course allows participants a glimpse inside these carefully thought out communication processes. Three main areas of communication will be studied: nonverbal, organizational, and computer-mediated. By experiencing various tours and attractions at the resort, students will discover the layers of non-verbal communication utilized by the Disney Imagineers. Study of Disney's organizational communication will be compared to actual on-site conditions. Specialized guest lecturers will round out the first-hand experiences."
Sounds pretty cool, eh?

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WATERWORLD POOL WITHOUT WATER

Back in 2011, the theater for the Waterworld stunt spectaular at Universal Studios Hollywood was refurbished. At that time they drained the pool. If I recall, the depth various from about 4 feet to over 30 feet where the guy on fire falls. All in all, a very complex show. Kudos to the professionals who pull it off safely as often as they do.