The Mouse Castle Lounge 03-16-2016 - Walt Disney Family Museum Director of Collections Michael Labrie

By Tim Callaway

Tyrus Wong's "Chinese Jesus."

A few weeks ago, it was my pleasure to have filmmaker Pamela Tom in the Lounge to talk about her documentary Tyrus, the story of Chinese-American artist and Disney Legend Tyrus Wong. Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to finally see Tyrus on the big screen. The film opened CAAMFest, an annual film festival in the San Francisco Bay Area that supports and celebrates Asian art and culture.

It was a delightful evening, with the screening held at San Francisco’s historic Castro Theatre. It was followed by a gala at the Asian Art Museum. On display at the event was an 80-year old watercolor masterpiece by Tyrus Wong called "Chinese Jesus." It depicts an ethereal Christ-like figure floating in a partially clouded sky. For decades, the painting was thought to have been lost, only to be rediscovered a few years ago stashed away in a San Francisco church. The painting came full circle on March 9, when, during a ceremony designating the day as “Tyrus Wong Day” in San Francisco, Tyrus Wong, at 105-years old, signed the painting.

Last Friday, since I was in the neighborhood, I dropped by the Walt Disney Family Museum and spent time with Michael Labrie, the museum’s director of collections. In 2013, Michael curated Water to Paper, Paint to Sky an exhibition of Tyrus Wong’s work. In our conversation, Michael and I talked about Tyrus, as well as a contemporary of Tyrus’s at Disney, Mel Shaw. Mel is the subject of a current retrospective at the Museum, Mel Shaw: An Animator on Horseback.

Tyrus Wong

After talking with Michael, imagine my surprise to run into none other than Tyrus Wong at the Museum. He was the guest of honor at a member event later that evening, but he had arrived early to take in the Mel Shaw exhibition. We only chatted briefly, but as always, Tyrus was charming, good humored and an absolute pleasure to talk with.

CAAMFest runs through March 20, so if you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area this week, I highly recommend seeing one of the many fascinating films screening during the festival. In fact, the Walt Disney Family Museum, in celebration of Tyrus Wong, is showing Bambi this Saturday and Sunday. Plus, you can catch an encore showing of Tyrus at the New Parkway Theater in Oakland also on Sunday. For times and ticket information, visit caamfest.com/2016/schedule.

Michael Labrie is my guest today in The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

Michael Labrie and Tyrus Wong at the Walt Disney Family Museum in 2013.

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The Mouse Castle Lounge 02-21-2016 - Filmmaker Pamela Tom Talks About Disney Legend Tyrus Wong

Tyrus Wong

Tyrus Wong is a Disney Legend. Though his time at the Disney Studios was brief—only three years from 1938-1941—his contributions there were profound. It was Tyrus’ artistic vision that gave Disney’s Bambi it’s lush impressionistic forest backgrounds, a look that still influences and inspires artists and animators nearly 75 years after the film’s release.

Tyrus’ work on Bambi represents only a small portion of his life’s prolific artistic output. Tyrus was part of the “Orientalist” art movement popular in the U.S. in the 1930s. After leaving Disney, Tyrus would spend over 25 years at Warner Bros. as a production illustrator and concept artists on such films as The Sands of Iwo Jima, Rebel Without a Cause, Harper and The Wild Bunch. He designed menus for restaurants and greeting cards for Hallmark. Today, at 105 years old, he still creates art, most notably ornate kites that he flies once a month on the beach at Santa Monica.

Bambi concept art by Tyrus Wong.

Two and a half years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Tyrus Wong for an episode of The Mouse Castle Lounge. We were at the opening of an art exhibition at The Walt Disney Family Museum--Water to Paper, Paint to Sky—that celebrated Tyrus’ life’s work. Our interview remains one of my all-time favorites as I was charmed by the man’s modesty, good humor and immense talent. It was also at this exhibition where I first met filmmaker Pamela Tom, who was in the middle of shooting a documentary about Tyrus. Today, that film is complete and Pamela is my guest.

Pamela Tom

Her film, appropriately titled Tyrus, is a moving and inspiring story of a man who overcame the hardships of poverty and racism to succeed as both a popular and fine artist. Completing this film has been a labor of love for Pamela as she met Tyrus Wong and conducted her first interview with him over 15 years ago.

Pamela is an award winning producer and director who has been involved with numerous film projects on PBS including WW2: Behind Closed Doors, Wired Science and the short film Two Lies. She is a respected educator who has taught at UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount and UCLA Extension.

Tyrus will open CAAMFest in San Francisco on March 10, 2016. Save $15 on tickets to the opening night screening and gala. Use discount code CAAMTYRUS.

For more information about Tyrus, visit www.tyrusthemovie.com.

Enjoy!

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By Tim Callaway

Inside The Mouse Castle 03-30-2015 - Springtime at Disneyland, Trader Sam's at Walt Disney World, 'Rogue One' vs. 'Rogue Nation'

By Tim Callaway

Sleeping Beauty Castle at 60.

Spring has sprung all over the Disney parks, especially at Disneyland where they're ramping up for the Happiest Place on Earth's 60th birthday. Silver and blue Diamond Celebration decorations are showing up all over Disneyland, most notably on Sleeping Beauty Castle, which may look sharper now than it did during the 50th anniversary. And yet, with all this hoopla ready to commence, Anthony and I are more fascinated with the soft opening of Trader Sam's Grog Grotto at Walt Disney World's Polynesian Village Resort. It must be the tropical ambiance or the high-tech Tiki effects that hooked us.

Naah....it's the booze. I want a Nautilus cocktail badly.

Here's what else we've got going on in this edition of Inside The Mouse Castle:

• Innoventions West at Epcot is closing down for a spring refurb and will eventually welcome new sponsors to replace departing T. Rowe Price and Liberty Mutual. At least it will be back. Innoventions at Disneyland is done today.
• Have you ever wondered how you'd look as a Star Wars action figure? You can find out next month during Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios where they're bringing back D-Tech Me. Get a 3D scan of your face done and it will be rendered on a 7-inch or 16-inch Star Wars figure. You can be a Stormtrooper, a Jedi Knight, or even a hapless prisoner frozen in carbonite. Prices start at a hundred bucks. Find out more on the Disney Parks Blog.
• runDisney posted their upcoming schedule of events at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Time to start training.

runDisney 2015-2016 Calendar.

• Broadway star Audra McDonald will play the Wardrobe in Disney's upcoming Beauty and the Beast, which I have to spell out because Anthony has no idea what "BatB" means.
• Cinderella continues to perform strongly at the box office, especially overseas. The reboot of Disney's animated classic just passed the $300 million mark at the worldwide box office. Want to know why Disney keeps remaking their animated films in live action? Because they make obscene amounts of money, hello!
• Are you getting Star Wars: Rogue One confused with Mission: Impossible, Rogue Nation? Me neither, but Disney/Lucasfilm and Paramount have cut a deal to keep Rogue One away from mainstream advertising until Rogue Nation has run its course. Rogue Nation, starring Tom Cruise, will hit theaters on July 31st. Rogue One will get a solid mention at Star Wars Celebration in a couple of weeks, but don't expect to hear anything else significant about it until December when Star Wars: The Force Awakens makes its debut.

Bambi concept art by Tyrus Wong.

• Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong was a remarkable exhibit at the Walt Disney Family Museum in 2013. You can now catch it on the East Coast at New York's Museum of Chinese in America through September 13, 2015. It's a wonderful celebration of the Disney Legend who gave life to Bambi and, at age 104, is still producing art. 
• Fancy Nancy, the title character of a successful series of children's books, will see her adventures turned into a movie on Disney Junior. My granddaughter is giddy.
• Does your child have a unique vision of the future? Hopefully, everyone's child does, but the right idea could get your kid $3,000 and some other cool prizes in Disney's Create Tomorrowland--XPRIZE Challenge. Find out more at www.xprizechallenge.org. 

Enjoy!

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Win Stuff in the Mouse Castle Fan Appreciation Giveaway!

This week, we hit 1,500 likes on The Mouse Castle Facebook page. To celebrate this momentous occasion, I'm cleaning out the gift closet and giving away a bunch of Disney stuff. You could win one of these very cool prizes:

• Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong by Michael Labrie, companion book to the current exhibit at the Walt Disney Family Museum plus two tickets to the museum.
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Art and Creation of Walt Disney's Classic Animated Film by J. B. Kaufman, signed by Lella Smith, creative director with the Walt Disney Animation Research Library and curator of the former WDFM exhibit.
• The Fairest One of All: The Making of Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by J. B. Kaufman.
• The Sword in the Stone 50th Anniversary Blu-ray Combo Pack.
• Robin Hood 40th Anniversary Blu-ray Combo Pack.
• Disneynature's Chimpanzee Blu-ray/DVD.
• Oz the Great and Powerful DVD.
• Disneynature's Crimson Wing DVD.

To be entered in the drawing, all you have to do is LIKE our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/themousecastle and JOIN our event at www.facebook.com/events/180775945440694/. You must be a U.S. resident to enter. Only one entry per person, please. Winners will be announced on our Facebook page after the entry deadline. Thanks for supporting The Mouse Castle and The Mouse Castle Lounge. Good luck!

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The Art of Tyrus Wong in the 'The Mouse Castle Lounge'

Tyrus Wong. Photo by
Sara Boyers

I'm back in The Mouse Castle Lounge with a terrific episode celebrating the life and art of Chinese-American artist Tyrus Wong. Wong is best known to Disney fans for his exquisite design artwork for Bambi, but his life has been so much more than that. In the 1930s, he was part of the Orientalist art movement that meshed traditional Asian styles of painting with modern Western techniques. For over 25 years, he was a pre-production artist for Warner Bros., contributing to the design and look of films ranging from Rebel Without a Cause to Auntie Mame to The Wild Bunch. At 102 years old, he's still producing art, most notably beautiful and ornate kites that he flies on the beach at Santa Monica once a month.

The Walt Disney Family Museum is showing a retrospective of his work now through February 3, 2014. Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong features over 150 paintings, sculptures and sketches from Wong's prolific and masterful career. Last month, I attended the opening of the exhibit and not only was able to sit down and speak with Mr. Wong himself, I also chatted with exhibit curator Michael Labrie, Pixar director and animator Pete Docter, historian J. B. Kaufman and Disney artist (and the voice of Donald Duck) Tony Anselmo. It was a memorable evening that made for a fantastic visit to The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

Bambi concept art by Tyrus Wong.

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The Walt Disney Family Museum, Paula Sigman Lowery and BEER in This Week's 'Mouse Castle Lounge'

I'm phoning it in on The Mouse Castle Lounge. Well, two of my guests are anyway. This week, I'm happy to welcome back Gabriella Calicchio, CEO of the Walt Disney Family Museum. Last November, I was at her place for the opening of the Museum's Snow White exhibit. This time, Gabriella calls up the Lounge and brings me up to speed on what new exhibitions are in store at WDFM in 2013. The diverse nature of these exhibitions is proof positive of why the Walt Disney Family Museum is beginning to thrive not just as a tribute to the legacy of Walt Disney, but also as a showcase for gifted artists, past and present, who were influenced by his life's work.

Camille Rose Garcia: Down the Rabbit Hole
May 9 to November 3, 2013

Camille Rose Garcia challenges fairy tale archetypes with her vivid gothic reinterpretations of classic characters ranging from Snow White to Alice in Wonderland.

Maurice Sendak: 50 Years, 50 Works, 50 Reasons
Opening May 23, 2013

Maurice Sendak is best known for his seminal children's book Where the Wild Things Are, but had a long and prolific career as a writer and illustrator. He often acknowledged Disney as an artistic influence, particularly Mickey Mouse and Fantasia.

Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong
Opening August 17, 2013 

Tyrus Wong's association with Disney was brief but profound. He created the dreamy and evocative watercolor forest backgrounds for Bambi before moving to Warner Bros. where he spent over 30 years as a motion picture illustrator. Still active in the arts at age 102, Wong is a master kite builder who flies his colorful and fanciful creations regularly from the Santa Monica Pier.

Also in the Lounge, I have part two of my conversation with Disney historian Paula Sigman Lowery. We continue our discussion of the evolution of the Walt Disney Family Museum from its virtual origins to its real-life presence in San Francisco's Presidio. Paula tells a great story of how builders and designers told Museum consultant Bruce Gordon that his idea for a curving ramp in WDFM's Gallery 9 simply wasn't possible. Gordon gleefully proved them wrong.
 

You can't build a ramp in here! Oh, wait....Never mind.

Finally, I'll talk on the phone with Tina, who was attending baseball Spring Training in Arizona with the Angels when suddenly a beer festival broke out.

Play beer!

It's all part of the fun and excitement that is The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

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