Friday, August 9, 2013

The D23 Expo Starts Today and Alan Menken and Richard Sherman are in The Lounge


Day one of the D23 Expo kicks off today as tens of thousands of crazed, over-caffeinated Disney fans from 48 states and 21 countries descend upon the Anaheim Convention Center. Yes, I am one of them.

Alan Menken
There's going to be a lot to see this weekend, especially on a sold-out Saturday when Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Tony Baxter, Glen Keane and others will be named Disney Legends and where musical legends Richard Sherman and Alan Menken will put on a highly-anticipated concert.

Earlier this week, I had a chance to take part in a conference call with Sherman and Menken. You can hear the best of it in the latest episode of The Mouse Castle Lounge. It's a wonderful conversation with two extremely talented and gracious men who will perform songs from a Disney songbook that spans over 50 years.

Richard Sherman
For today, I'll be checking out the latest from Disney animation in a presentation that will include appearances by Bob Iger, John Lasseter, Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel from Frozen, and Dane Cook from Planes. I'm also going to find out what's up with the 40-foot tall Waffle-inator that's taking up space in front of the Convention Center. Evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz is up to something. I hope Phineas & Ferb and Agent P can do something about it.  Or, maybe we'll all just have some waffles.

I'll be doing updates on Facebook and Twitter all weekend, so if you're not following me already, it's high time you did. You don't want to miss out.

The D23 Expo is always crazy, crowded and exhausting, but it's also a lot of fun. I'll see you on the show floor. Enjoy!


The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Talking 'Walt's People' with Didier Ghez in 'The Mouse Castle Lounge'


You have to admire someone who takes on a project he admits will take 20 to 30 years to complete.

Didier Ghez is nine years into that project.

Didier Ghez
In a few weeks, he'll release Volume 13(!) of Walt's People, a collection of in-depth interviews with the men and women who knew, worked with, and were inspired by Walt Disney. Like its 12 predecessors, the contributors to these volumes read like a Who's Who of Disney historians: John Canemaker, Jim Korkis, Michael Barrier, Paul Anderson and many others. Of course, the interview subjects are pretty impressive too: Woolie Reitherman, Floyd Gottfredson, Fess Parker, Virginia Davis and Roy E. Disney, just to name a few.

Walt's People was born from an e-mail conversation Didier had with Jim Korkis in 2004 lamenting the dearth of serious Disney history that was available to researchers and armchair historians. As Didier wrote in Volume 1, "Huge amounts of amazing material was sleeping in working cabinets of serious Disney historians, unavailable to Disney enthusiasts for lack of publishing venues. Some would surface from time to time in a book released by Hyperion, some would see the light of day in a fanzine or on a website, but this seemed to happen less and less often."

And so, Didier got to work, reaching out to his fellow historians to clean out those working cabinets and dust off those under-utilized conversations with the greats of Disney history. Thirteen volumes later, he has amassed an astounding oral history of Disney, told by the animators, directors, artists and Imagineers who were there.

In my conversation with Didier in The Mouse Castle Lounge, we talk about his passion for Disney history and all the work he's put into making Walt's People a reality. We also discuss his upcoming book projects, which include the story of Walt Disney's trip to Europe in 1935 and how it continued to influence the Walt Disney Studios decades later.

We've got nothing but good people--Walt's people--in this week's Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

For more about Didier Ghez, visit disneybooks.blogspot.com or didierghez.com.

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Ghosts of the New York World's Fair in 'The Mouse Castle Lounge'



Very little remains of the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. Nearly 50 years after this mass celebration of 20th century technology, cultural diversity and peaceful understanding took over Flushing Meadows in New York City, all that's left are mostly shells. The Unisphere, a 12-story Earth's globe surrounded by shooting fountains--the centerpiece of the Fair--is the rare exception, although its fountains are turned on sporadically at best anymore. Nearby are three rusted observation towers overlooking a crumbling arena of steel and concrete. In its heyday, this was the New York State Pavilion with its futuristic "Sky-Streak" elevators and the "Tent of Tomorrow" housing a huge floor map of New York State made of terrazzo. Unlike most of the surrounding attractions, there were plans to keep this pavilion open long after the fair closed, to find some use for it in the heart of New York City's fourth-largest public park, but they never materialized. And so, for decades, public officials have been handing off the responsibility of what to do with the New York State Pavilion to the next set of public officials and no one has really done anything. Private interests have occasionally found use for it. There were brief periods when the venue was used as a skating rink or a concert arena, but little else. Today, the pavilion is fenced off due to safety concerns and to discourage vandals.

Matthew Silva at what remains of
the New York State Pavilion
The New York World's Fair was the birthplace of some of Walt Disney's greatest attractions. It's a Small World opened here. So did the Carousel of Progress and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Dinosaurs from Ford's Magic Skyway would be transplanted to Disneyland to make up the Primeval World. These were among the most popular of the more than 150 attractions and pavilions at the fair certainly because of their cutting-edge audio-animatronic technology, but also because, well, they were just Disney and Walt always knew how to put on a good show.

As a Disney fan, it was impossible for me to wander around Flushing Meadows and not think about the great successes Walt had here. That's why its important for me to try to preserve the few physical remnants left over from the New York World's Fair. Matthew Silva, a filmmaker and native New Yorker, wants to see the New York State Pavilion saved simply because he grew up in the shadow of the observation towers and doesn't want to lose them. They're iconic symbols of the great city and state of New York and it would be a tragedy to see them torn down, or worse, to continue to slowly deteriorate. In The Mouse Castle Lounge this week, I talk to Matthew about his work to save the pavilion and to produce a documentary about its history. It's a fascinating conversation with a young man who has a passion for preservation and a great appreciation for history.

Also in the Lounge, I wrap up my conversation with Tim O'Day, who has been sharing his wonderful stories about his 40-year association with the Walt Disney Company. This week, Tim talks about the craziness that ensued hosting the world premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest at Disneyland, especially when Johnny Depp decided to show up late.

It's preservation and pirates in this week's episode of The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

For more information about Matthew and what you can do to help save the New York State Pavilion, please visit:
www.aquarelapictures.com
nyspavilion.blogspot.com

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

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