VINYL NATION

OK I've finally got some time to sit and blog about my latest toy obsession. Disney's Vinylmation. These are 3" and 9" Vinyl Mickey's that are each designed by an artist to fit the sub-genres of each release. A few months ago the first batch of these came out, Disney Vinylmation Parks Series 1. 18 designs that reflected the spirit of the Theme Parks were chosen (12 Small, 6 Large)

Exhibit A)

So here is the first set of 12 3" figures, 11 of these are known and there is 1 rare chase figure. These figures are blindboxed so you don't know what you get til you've opened it.

Here is a better look at the 11; Mickey in the Electrical Parade, Fireworks Mickey, Mickey as Monorail Red, Mickey as Poison Apple from Snow White, The Yeti from The Matterhorn, Kermit the Mouse,Figment the Dragon from WDW, Some funky stars like the Disneyland hotel, Mickey as SMRT-1 the robot from Epcot, Teacups Mickey, and Haunted Mansion Wallpaper Mickey.
and here's a better look at the Chase Red Mickey balloon.

The 9" figures are...


Small World, Animal Kingdom Safari, Disney Cruisline, Waterparks (Innertube), The Infamous E ticket Coupon, and Haunted Mansion (this one came with a special black 3" which gives you a cool sense of scale between the 3 and 9 inch figures)

Then came the Urban Series made up of 11 3" figures, 1 chase 3" figure, and 4 9" figures
Exhibit B)

These are the 11 blindboxed figures. The chase figure in this collection is an all gold figure designed by Randy Noble. It's probably my favorite of the set.


Then there are the 4 9" ones...


This time around there is Robot, Mummy, Dragon, and Mortimer


All the figures in this collection are just fun designs the artists threw onto some Mickeys, they don't necessarily have any connection to Disney. Of course there are some exceptions, of the smaller figures "OOPSIE" is an upside down Mickey Mouse, and "PIRATES" has a pattern and logos based on the Pirates of the Caribbean films. In the larger ones, the Mummy allegedly has some relationship to Tim Burton's the Nightmare Before Christmas, and Mortimer was Mickey's original name and is also the name of Mickey's Nemesis.

A cast exclusive Mickey was released last week (yes, i did get it ;p) It's just Mickey wearing a cast member name badge. And Park Series 2 will be releasing in MAY. There is so much info regarding these awesome toys that I can't really throw it all in a blog. But a great place to check out if you are interested in these is VinylNation. They just listed some news on an upcoming Muppet line which would be absolutely sick. I dig em. Go browse around.

Thanks for nothing D23

What a waste of a great viral marketing campaign. D23 opened its site yesterday, and disappointing doesn't even completely cover the feeling. All D23 turned out to be is a club for Disney die-hards. You pay $75 a year and you get some Disney trinkets, a quarterly magazine, and a bi-weekly email newsletter. WEAK!

This campaign appealed to people all over the web, but even someone like me who practically lived at Disneyland and loves the legacy isn't gonna pay that much money to read emails. This is for HARDCORE Disney lovers with way too much spare change. What a let down.

D is of course for Disney and the 23 stands for 1923 when Walt moved out to CA and started the studio that would become Disney studio. Many Disney fans think of the year 1955 in reference to Disney since that is the year Disneyland opened, but recently the number 23 has been used more and more often. In Downtown Disney in CA there is a store filled with Disney couture and hard to find clothing and accessories, this store "VAULT 23" is probably the most obvious reference to 1923 in the parks.

The only somewhat interesting news here is that this coming September from the 10th to the 13th the Anaheim convention center will host the D23 Expo. A keynote address will be given by Disney CEO Robert Iger and other Disney company guys including John Lassiter (Pixar and Disney animation). There will be other fun programming that will span the entire Disney gamut including ABC and ESPN. Classic films will be shown: Sleeping Beauty, Darby O'Gill and the Little People and The Shaggy Dog, with panels to discuss the legacy of each one. It's still developing but this could be really cool, and it doesn't look like it is limited to just members. The Anaheim area has played host to many unofficial Disney conventions (we went to one when we we're kids where my little sister met the woman who did the live action reference footage for Tinkerbell, i think she still has an autograph somewhere) so It is actually really smart that Disney host a larger, better one and reap all the financial gains.

In actuality, there is no reason for Disney to have already had this club up and running. I know plenty of lunatics are eager to throw them their hard earned dollars. It's just the way it was launched, the marketing was just too much build for something like this.

SO, the worst part is that now Disney can't even do another viral campaign without everyone online saying its just another tease. They gave up their street cred. Its a shame.

In other news, I watched Pinocchio on Blu-ray. It was super bombastic amazingness. When I opened it, it had a flyer for the NEW CLUB D23 inside... lame.

Let Me Holler at Ya Right Quick...

Just wanna throw up a quick bloggy blog.
Reminders: Disney's "Pinocchio" is being released tomorrow as a Platinum edition DVD and Blu-ray. The movie looks great, they've cleaned up every frame of the film and all the audio. Online reviews have compared it to the Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray, which I am telling you now is spectacular. Disney seems to really be taking care of their catalog, if you love Classic Disney films, you have to finally throw out that old VHS collection and switch over to Blu-ray. I will definitely be up early tomorrow to go get this.


In more Disney news, that "Are You 23?" Campaign is supposed to be explained tomorrow. Anyone who's curious can see what its all about here.

And finally I just want to throw up a short review of this movie Scarlett and I watched last night called "Azur and Asmar: The Princes' Quest" or as we dubbed it "Azur and Asmar go to White Castle". This is a French animated film that was showcased at Cannes in 2006. The film is about 2 'brothers', one french the other arab. The brothers learn as children the fairy tale of the Djinn Fairy, and that whomever rescues her will marry her. The brothers are separated as kids, as adults they both seek to find her. Their paths are reunited and they must get beyond their past separation to find the fairy. The box of this movie showed some really beautiful 2d artwork, but when we watched it the movie was a combination of 2d backgrounds with 3d animated characters. This would have been really interesting if the characters didnt look like they were Sims: the movie. It really seemed like the movie was cut scenes from a long lost PS2 game. Everything in the film was detailed EXCEPT for the characters. The opening scene features a woman breastfeeding the 2 babies; with a zoomed in, poorly rendered titty, it sets a weak tone for the rest of the film. It is not until about the last 30 minutes that the costumes become more detailed and we see beautiful mythical creatures. By then the characters are riding lions and giant birds... so to actually make it that far, you're probably going to have to be high. Basically, if you love animation and good storytelling, just save yourself the hassle and watch "Pinocchio" or "Cats Don't Dance". This movie sets animators back like 10 years and is hugely unsatisfying. K? Just say No! The cover art WILL decieve you! JUST SAY NO!

New UP Poster

Bolt

It's absolutely wonderful. Go see it. What are you doing still reading? Just go see it already! haha. Bolt's the newest film from Walt Disney Animation Studios, the crew behind "Chicken Little" and "Meet The Robinsons". For those who still don't get it, this is not from Pixar, this is from Disney (the same studio that did Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, etc.) Disney's stories always seem to have a more mainstream storyline (compared to the sometimes avant garde -ish storylines of Pixar) and "Bolt" follows suit. The animation is fantastic and the comedic timing is spot on. It's got everything; adventure, comedy, and heart. I really enjoyed it. and yes, the Hamster steals the show. Go see it.

Sleeping Beauty Platinum Edition Blu-Ray

I want to do a really quick review on the Blu-ray that recently came out for Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Normally I don't review the special features and specs on a movie but this one is pretty stand out. First of all if you are a lover of Disney films you HAVE to get this. It's 2 blu-ray discs and 1 DVD version of the film. Disney has decided to include the DVD for people who have yet to upgrade, meaning buy this package now and when you do eventually upgrade to bd you will already have it (instead of having to repurchase). Its kind of cool. Now, the movie itself has been completely restored, each frame has been meticulously cleaned. It was originally shot on 70mm which is bigger than theater screens, meaning that this is the very FIRST time audiences have been able to see the entire frame. The original audio tracks were discovered and since those were originally recorded in 6 channel stereo, audio techs were able to clean out all the clicks and hisses and put the audio on this release in 7.1 DTS HD. The colors are amazingly beautiful. This film took almost a decade to create and almost bankrupted the studio, but it was all in an effort to create the most stunning animated film to date. Each cell is hand painted. Blu-ray finally gives audiences the chance to fully appreciate the spectacular art that is this film. The picture in picture commentary with Leonard Maltin and John Lassiter is one of the best movie commentaries I've ever listened to, its nice when people are passionate about what they are talking about. Plus the picture in picture makes it really enjoyable and allows for supplemental images to be shown. There are several other great special features, one is a clip from the Disneyland TV show where 4 of the films artists paint the same tree in 4 distinct manners. Another is the original short that played before Sleeping Beauty in Theaters back in the 50's called the Grand Canyon, it is essentially documentary style footage of the Grand Canyon, but reminds viewers that the theater used to be a spectacle. Those along with several making of and other reference material make this setup really exciting for fans of the film as well as fans of animation in general. This movie is truly a striking piece of art that has been restored to its original brilliance. Disney has set the bar high, we'll have to see if the future's releases like the upcoming Pinocchio can live up to the standard set.

UP

yay Here's the first long trailer for Pixar's next film "UP"