The Mouse Castle Lounge 01-28-2016 - Journalist and Former Disney Imagineer Mark Eades

By Tim Callaway

Mark Eades in front of where his career began at Disney,
the River Belle Terrace.

In our last show, historian Sam Gennawey and journalist Mark Eades shared their thoughts about Disneyland’s upcoming Star Wars Land expansion. We had some lively conversations and after the dust settled, Mark stuck around. He’s back today to tell us about his fascinating career, not only in his current role as multimedia reporter with the Orange County Register, but also as a 20-plus year veteran at the Walt Disney Company.

In 1972, Mark started out bussing tables at the River Belle Terrace at Disneyland before becoming a ride operator in Tomorrowland. After graduating from college, he interned at the Walt Disney Studios and eventually worked his way into WED Enterprises, later known as Walt Disney Imagineering. Mark had his hand in developing attractions for the openings of Epcot and Tokyo Disneyland, attractions that included Magic Journeys and Horizons. He worked on the Circle-Vision 360 film American Journeys for the Magic Kingdom and researched the use of motion simulators for what would become Star Tours.

Mark left Disney and a few years after that, began working at the Orange County Register. He’s now a multimedia reporter for the Register and Disneyland is his beat. Today, Mark shares with us what it was like to be inside Disney Imagineering and what you can learn by camping out on Main Street U.S.A. for an entire day. Mark Eades is my guest today in The Mouse Castle Lounge.

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Inside The Mouse Castle 01-20-2016 - Oscar Nominations, a New Boss at Disney Imagineering and Ten Years of "High School Musical'

By Tim Callaway

Millennium Falcon at the
Star Wars Launch Bay.

I was at Disneyland last weekend for the Star Wars Half Marathon and finished the 13.1-mile course in just under two hours and eleven minutes on a sore left foot. Nick Arciniaga, the overall winner of the event, finished in about half that time. 

Sore foot. Yeah, that's my excuse.

The weekend also gave me some time to finally explore the Star Wars Launch Bay in Tomorrowland, which I somehow managed to miss since it opened a couple months ago. It's a fun exhibit full of ship models, prop replicas and costumes, not to mention meet-and-greets with Chewbacca and Darth Vader. The Launch Bay has received some criticism for not being quite "WOW!" enough for Disneyland, but I think it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do: engage Star Wars fans with some real live stuff they can see and interact with until Star Wars Land finally makes its debut at the park, we hope, in 2018. 

Here's what else Anthony and I have going on in this week's episode of Inside The Mouse Castle:

• Oscar nominations were announced last week and films under the Disney umbrella fared well, although there were a few disappointments. Neither Star Wars: The Force Awakens nor Inside Out landed Best Picture nominations. Star Wars was recognized with five noms in mostly technical categories, while Inside Out landed nominations for Best Animated Feature and Original Screenplay. Sanjay's Super Team was nominated for Best Animated Short Film while Cinderella did likewise for Costume Design. The Oscars will air on February 28 on ABC.
• Bob Weis is the new president of Walt Disney Imagineering. He's been heading up the Shanghai Disney Resort project (which we now know is opening June 16) and was creative lead for the Disney California Adventure expansion and the original Disney/MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios).

Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

• The Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show will end at Disney's Hollywood Studios on April 2 to make way for the upcoming Star Wars and Toy Story expansions at the park.
• Inside The Mouse Castle sends its condolences to the family and friends of former Disney Channel star Michael Galeota and actor Brian Bedford. Galeota passed away January 10 at age 31. Bedford, a respected stage and screen actor who voiced the title role in Disney's animated Robin Hood, died at the age of 80 on January 13.

The cast of High School Musical returns for a 10-year reunion.

• It's hard to believe, but Disney's High School Musical is ten years old. The Disney Channel celebrated with an anniversary special this week featuring the original cast.

Enjoy!

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The Making of the New Harold Inside Disneyland's Matterhorn

By Tim Callaway

Walt Disney Imagineering shares a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Matterhorn's new abominable snowman at Disneyland. The updated Harold is more active and more fierce and he only gets better each time you see him. The attraction also has a great homage to Matterhorns past inside the mountain--keep your eyes peeled as your bobsled zooms through.

And yes, the ride is still as bumpy as hell, but I digress.

If you have yet to experience the new Matterhorn Bobsleds for yourself, be warned. This video contains many spoilers, but it's an amazing look at Imagineering magic.

The Mouse Castle Lounge 12-03-2014 - Disney Imagineer Terri Hardin Jackson, Part Two

The Dragon's Lair at Disneyland Paris

Terri Hardin Jackson calls the Dragon's Lair at Disneyland Paris her "favorite Disney project she ever worked on" as an Imagineer. It was her passion and persistence on the project that would ultimately introduce her to Tony Baxter and mark the beginning of a longtime collaboration and friendship with the Disney Legend.

Terri would meet other greats during her time at Disney including artist Herb Ryman and sculptor Blaine Gibson. She talks about the thrill of meeting both of them in part two of our conversation in The Mouse Castle Lounge. She also shares how she scored points with Roy E. Disney by throwing a helmet at him--no, really. And for aspiring Imagineers, she offers advice on how to survive and thrive in a profession that can be in turns frustrating and incredibly rewarding. The key she says is to focus on having fun.

Enjoy!

Tony Baxter

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Related Story: The Mouse Castle Lounge 11-26-2014 - Disney Imagineer Terri Hardin Jackson, Part One

The Mouse Castle Lounge 11-26-2014 - Disney Imagineer Terri Hardin Jackson, Part One

Terri Hardin Jackson

Terri Hardin Jackson is a woman of many talents. The former Disney Imagineer is an artist and sculptor, not to mention a puppeteer, an actress and a writer. Her creative output spans from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Dragon's Lair at Disneyland Paris to the films Ghostbusters, Men in Black II and The Flintstones. In The Mouse Castle Lounge, Terri talks with me about her Imagineering career, how she ended up at Disney and how she almost became the voice of Figment at Epcot. We also share our mutual obsession for Disneyland's Flying Saucers because THEY WERE THE FLYING SAUCERS, THE COOLEST RIDE EVER!





Enjoy!

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Related Story: The Mouse Castle Lounge 12-03-2014 - Disney Imagineer Terri Hardin Jackson, Part Two