Tag Archives: Disney

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Posted on by
Reply

Where is the line between Bill Nighy’s live performance and the CGI effects? That was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen…reminded me of the whole debate that went into the foam suit for Ben Grimm (The Thing) in Fantastic Four…live versus animated. Those had to be his eyes and I think maybe his cheeks (with makeup)…but those tentacles…maybe half were animatronics (the ones that flop about or puff steam) and half CG…absolutely incredible.

As the credits roll (9 minutes total…seems kind of tame for a film with such gorgeous CG), I scream at the screen when they say “Soundtrack available on Walt Disney Records”…the soundtrack doesn’t come out until July 27th…bastards! I mean…that’s what everyone told me Leave it to me to never do independent research…it’s available now…damn it!

I love the new Walt Disney Pictures logo…but why now? Celebrating the 50th? That was the only logic people could suggest to me. The logo is all about the castle, and the first castle is celebrating it’s 50th…and of course with that I do a little business query and go: what does John Lasseter (as the new creative king of Disney) have to say about all this? Did he have anything to do with it at all as this was all set up by the previous regime?

God bless Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot…they have a masterful story here and they weave so many mythological concepts together while keeping it plausible and well explained. Although Tia Dalma’s (Naomi Harris) incredible accent was a little difficult to follow at times and they gave her a lot of the exposition…if ever there was a time for subtitles.

How do the changes to the ride affect what is going on with the story? Jerry Bruckheimer denied Disney the right to change the Wicked Wench to the Black Pearl…clue or non-sequitur? Barbossa is the captain of the Wicked Wench and he is searching for Jack Sparrow…is he searching for Jack in the context of the first film or in the context of the second and third? Why search in the context of the first film AND weave Davy Jones into the introduction of the ride?

Pirates of the Caribbean Returns

Posted on by
Reply

So as part of my preparation for my trip to Amsterdam, I was up at 6am yesterday. Not knowing what else to do that early, I headed to Disneyland for the grand re-opening of Pirates of The Caribbean.


The Esplanade at 7:17 am.

There was a family scuttling from one letter to another doing that photo collage that EVERYBODY does.


Nicely done with the F.


The Esplanade at 7:54 am.


Nice line to get into the park.

Park opened at 8:00 dull, and people start running. Security guard says, no point, the line for pirates is already 2 hours.


The 2 hour line, stretching from the flag pole all the way down Main Street…

Through Frontierland…


and straight into the ride.

Apparently I missed the new mural in the lobby that features Jack Sparrow. Oops. The ride was lots of fun. A lot darker than I remember it…which of course makes digital photography on the fly rather difficult…if you’re an amateur like me and you’re willing to obey the rules that say no flash photography (curse the guy behind me!). But fortunately my digital camera films really well. What follows are the “best” captures from those videos.


The opening sequence got cleaned up.


The hat (kind of hard to see in this shot) looks fresher and redder.


New lightning effects behind the shipwrecked skeleton.


We’ve got some new patrons at the tavern


The drinking effect looks sharper than it has in years…new technology maybe?


The captain is now (or was he always?) a British admiral (or captain or whatever)…he’s got a red coat and a wig.


And a parrot…


Gee, that treasure chest doesn’t look familiar….


Another waterfall?


Nope…the coolest damn effect I’ve ever seen…

No longer are we warned of the cursed treasure.

“Ah ha ha ha. Tales there be a plenty in this cursed place…”

That’s all the audio I can distinguish…I hope Disney has released a new soundtrack. I forgot to check!


“Where be Captain Jack Sparrow?” cries the infamous Barbossa, captain of the…Wicked Wench? Wait, what?


Jack hides from the pirates torturing the mayor. Why? Because they’re looking for him, of course.


Jack sneaks a peek at the pooped pirate’s treasure map.


Jack enjoys his treasure trove as we escape back up the waterfall.

The only other thing to talk about is how fantastic the ride sounds. (To the best of my knowledge) they replaced all the speakers so that the digitally re-mastered music comes through so much clearer. I’m so happy I want to cry! This was definitely worth the wait.

Ever get a hankering for a Monte Cristo sandwich after the Blue Bayou has finished serving lunch? Now you can get it across the street at the Cafe Orleans for dinner. Only problem is, don’t expect to walk right in. Cafe Orleans is now a table service restaurant. Kind of a “down-scale Blue Bayou.” You can make reservations (priority seating) for later in the day, or you can try their walk-in line which they open every hour based on available seating.

On a side note I was remembering all the online chatter about what Disneyland was planning for it’s 50th anniversary. A lot of people speculated on an improvement of the “Big 5″ rides, which I think were Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room and Small World (the Big 5 obviously related to attractions directly influenced by/resulting from the ’64 World’s Fair). They have completed 3 out of 5 (Haunted Mansion’s story has evolved to focus more on the bride than on Master Gracey, Captain Jack Sparrow has arrived, and Jungle Cruise has that new finale)…interesting, no?

Dead Man’s Chest

Posted on by
Reply

UPDATE: Apple Trailers now has the trailer available for download.

While exploring around the web, I found a teaser trailer for the sequel (due out July 9, 2006). Holy cow does it look like fun. But it also gives us some answers as to how Bootstrap Bill (Will Turner’s father) and Captain Barbossa show up again. It’s all about Davy Jones (who looks freaking awesome!) and the supernatural, so a dead guy can easily make a deal with Davey and end up on his damned crew (Barbossa). But Bootstrap Bill requires some review of what happened to him. He starts out on the Black Pearl under Jack Sparrow. Jack Sparrow is marooned. Dead Man’s Cove is discovered and the cursed Aztec treasure is plundered. With the curse revealed and Bootstrap still feeling bad about marooning Jack, he sends off his piece of the treasure to his son (who is later orphaned on the crossing to England when the Black Pearl attacks (opening scene of the first movie)). Due to Bootstrap’s sympathy for Jack, Barbossa straps a cannon to Bootstrap’s bootstraps and sends him off…to Davey Jones maybe? Now that doesn’t kill him (the pirates walk underwater to get to the final battle scene), but it’s really difficult to find land underwater in the middle of the Atlantic. So he either made a deal with Davey Jones at that point or he had bargained with him before and when the curse was broken at the end of the first movie, Davey came to collect “his soul.” Check out the trailer, listen to Bootstrap’s line (“You won’t be able to talk your way out of this one”) and tell me what you think. And hey, I just figured out where I’ve seen Stellan Skarsgård (Bootstrap Bill) before…he was the Saxon leader in King Arthur. You know, the one who sounded like he was from this century instead of the 1200′s?

Sequined Sequels

Posted on by
Reply

UPDATED AGAIN…LAST TIME, I PROMISE

After watching “Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl” for the umpteenth time, it again occurred to me how structurally similar Pirates is to “The Mummy” (starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz). In Mummy, you have a girl who, with her brother, goes to the middle of the desert with a muscular tough guy, unleashes this cursed mummy upon the world and have to defeat it. In Pirates, you have a blacksmith who wants to marry a high society chick, a half-crazed pirate seeking revenge, and a Caribbean-threatening cursed pirate who wants to take over the world.

Type Of Character

POTC

THE MUMMY

Adventurous Hero

Orlando Bloom

Brendan Fraser

Comely, Intelligent Heroine

Kiera Knightly

Rachel Weisz

Drunken/Lucky Sidekick

Johnny Depp

John Hannah
World Protecting Agency British Navy Elite Egyptian Guard

World Threatening Evil

Geoffrey Rush

Arnold Vosloo

A heroine, a hero, an amusing side kick, and a world-threatening evil; where could I possibly be going with this? In “The Mummy Returns”, they brought back the hero and heroine as a married couple and gave them a kid, then put them in a race against the mummy to get to the ultimate power. Maybe Pirates 2 would be similarly scripted? As in Elizabeth and Will marry and have a little one and they join Jack on the Black Pearl in a race to a mystical power that Barbossa could use to conquer the Caribbean and then . . . THE WORLD!! HAHAHAHA! Sorry, I got a little sidetracked. But how could Barbossa be alive? Wasn’t he shot and the curse was broken and he felt cold? Could the monkey be the one calling the shots now? Wouldn’t that make for an interesting climax. Jack Sparrow and Jack the monkey battling it out for this legendary treasure and Will and Elizabeth and little Johnny Turner fighting pirates and such? Keira Knightly said she would get to do more fighting if there was a sequel. Who knows? I certainly don’t. But Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio, the two guys who got screen credit for the final script, have done lots of scripts and couldn’t possibly be influenced by a Stephen Sommers film. Could they? I mean, isn’t it true that once a movie is released to the public that the scenarios presented are the intellectual property of the public? Why, the only reason not to do it like this is that people will say that it was a complete rip-off of “The Mummy Returns”. Maybe I’m reading too far into this. I think that Ted and Terry understand this phenomenon and will write a brand-spankin’ new story for Pirates 2. I mean Pirates 2 and 3. Eisner is a Matrix convert…ugh…that’s almost as scary as all those photos and Larry and Andy and their dominatrix buddies.

Dead Zone

Posted on by
Reply

Here I am, sitting at my computer, eating a pint of Ben & Jerry’s (mind your P’s and Q’s damn it) and I just realized (I think for the second time) that I can’t tell the difference. Between Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring’s widescreen edition and extended edition, that is. I can’t tell how they inserted an additional 45 minutes and I don’t notice it, which is strange for me. I’m such an anal-retentive bastard that details should matter. Even so, I’m able to ignore these thoughts and enjoy one hell of a good movie which gives name recognition to some of the coolest action heroes now in existence (who else do you think I’m talking about but Orlando Bloom and Viggo Mortensen). It makes a hell of a good story, these novels that I read in junior high and can’t read ever again. Yeah I’ve always got beef that the story is edited from book to movie, but it’s a phenomenal epic that I still enjoy.

Why did people get all pissed off when they found out Liv Tyler was in this movie? I mean maybe they figured someone with better acting skills could portray Arwen, and at times I agree. But she is pretty hot.

Now to the heart of the matter, or article as some would say, which is: Season One of the USA Networks Series THE DEAD ZONE, based on characters from the book by Stephen King. I received it as a gift sometime ago (whether for birthday or graduation, I know not and it doesn’t matter since they were so close together) from Susan, a friend and business associate of my father’s who has a phenomenally large collection of VHS and a growing collection of DVD. What’s great about the series is it’s like The Sixth Sense but with a much more scientific thesis.

In the first episode, we meet Johnny Smith and his lifetime girlfriend Sarah who plan to marry and have enough kids to make their own family hockey team. But Johnny is torn from his girlfriends side in a tragic accident that puts him in a coma for six years. Awakening suddenly, he discovers that he is now psychic. The doctor cannot believe that he’s even coherent, because there is extensive brain damage from a childhood injury. But none the less, he is coherent because his brain has rerouted basic senses through a normally dormant area of his brain. A dead zone that alters the way Johnny uses his senses. With a single touch, he experiences visions that show him the future or the past or whatever. I’m almost finished watching the first season, but by far, the funniest one is the 11th episode, titled Dinner with Dana.

The series takes place in Maine, (just like every Stephen King novel, although I just realized that he is probably most familiar with this area, just as the South-Eastern states are John Grisham’s area of expertise) in a town called Bangor. Dana is a reporter for the Bangor Daily News, and is on a date with Johnny for a newspaper exclusive. Well, one thing leads to another, and soon their clothes are coming off. But Johnny’s psychic visions are screwing with his head, and he ends up with six different people commenting on the sex he has with Dana, including his mother (GASP! The Horror!). It was very funny. I’m gonna finish watching Lord of the Rings now, so you go on and have a good night. Or day. Or whatever. I’m sorry, I can’t get that speech pattern out of my head, it’s from the Disney Animated Film Robin Hood. I’m leaving now. I’m serious. Stop following me damn it!

Sequined Sequels

Posted on by
Reply

THIS WAS UPDATED, I MADE IT BETTER!

After watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl for the umpteenth time (I downloaded an illegal, bootlegged copy of the movie, so sue me (please don’t!)), it finally occurred to me how structurally similar Pirates is to The Mummy (starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz). In The Mummy, you have a girl who, with her brother, goes to the middle of the desert with a muscular tough guy, unleashes this cursed mummy upon the world and have to defeat it. In Pirates, you have a blacksmith who wants to marry a high society chick, a half-crazed pirate seeking revenge, and a Caribbean-threatening cursed pirate who wants to take over the world. A heroine, a hero, an amusing side kick, and a world-threatening evil; where could I possibly be going with this? In Return of the Mummy, they brought back the hero and heroine as a married couple and gave them a kid, then put them in a race against the mummy to get to the ultimate power. Maybe Pirates 2 would be similarly themed? As in Elizabeth and Will marry and have a little one and they join Jack on the Black Pearl in a race to a mystical power that Barbossa could use to conquer the Caribbean and then . . . THE WORLD!! HAHAHAHA! Sorry, I got a little sidetracked. But how could Barbossa be alive? Wasn’t he shot and the curse was broken and he felt cold? Could the monkey be the one calling the shots now? Wouldn’t that make for an interesting climax. Jack Sparrow and Jack the monkey battling it out for this legendary treasure and Will and Elizabeth and little Johnny Turner fighting pirates (Keira Knightly said she would get to do more fighting if there was a sequel) and such? Who knows? I certainly don’t. But those two guys who got screen credit for the final script have done lots of scripts and couldn’t possibly be influenced by a Stephen Sommers film. Could they? I mean, after all, once a movie is made, doesn’t it’s thematic underpinnings stay with us until the film-makers are all dead? I have no idea what I’m saying anymore, so this is the end.

Disney Ramble

Posted on by
Reply

I need a story idea. I have no idea what I’m typing right now; I just need to make it look like I’m working. My thoughts are all jumbled and I can’t concentrate, I just keep thinking about Disneyland Resort. This weekend was the final weekend of some special deal where Southern Californians get two parks for the price of one and everybody had gone to Disneyland first and now they needed to use up the rest of their tickets so they bum rushed DCA in an attempt to take up time. I walked in and it was like an episode from the Twilight Zone, lines were everywhere, people crowded the streets. It pissed me off.

And it’s not that DCA is a bad park, it just lacks that unifying magic. All it needs is a better theme. Eisner tried to make it so that nobody would want to visit the rest of California by coming to the resort and he failed miserably. The innovations the attractions presented are phenomenal; it’s just the wrapping. There have been online discussions (just web articles by Al Lutz, not actual news events) of how Disney’s America would make a better theme. They wouldn’t even have to tear down any attractions, just do some slight re-theming. ‘Course it doesn’t help matters that the economy is in the toilet and Disney doesn’t have the money to pull that off.

They’re struggling with the 50th Anniversary as it is. See, in two years (approximately) Disneyland will have been open for 50 years (ever since July 17, 1955) and Disney has been planning renovations for the “Golden Anniversary” for some time now. When plans first started appearing, they were rumors of updating the five “classic” attractions that really define the park: Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, It’s A Small World, Space Mountain, and Haunted Mansion. Unfortunately, Paul Pressler (head of Disney Parks and Resorts at the time) was more interested in turning the resort into a shopping center. When Pressler first came to Disney, his only experience had been with shopping malls, but he felt he could handle the challenge of running the theme park division of a multi-national corporation. He couldn’t. Now that he’s gone (he left last year to be CEO of GAP) there’s good news and bad news. The good news is his replacement is Jay Rasulo, formerly of Disneyland Paris, who is interested in saving the park, not shooting himself in the foot. The bad news is Pressler left behind all his mall flunkies and they’re slowing Rasulo down. But the “Golden Anniversary” is still coming and it needs to be planned out. Pressler’s chief flunky, Cynthia Hariss (President of the Disneyland Resort) had just planned on slapping together a new parade and fireworks show while focusing on producing fantastic merchandise. Now, not only is Space Mountain getting re-themed, but a new attraction has been green-lighted and a bi-park fireworks show is in the works.

Then there’s the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie that comes out July 9 and is guaranteed to make beaucoup bucks. Not only that, but Disney has got this insane movie premiere planned that is going to play havoc with tourists. They are going to shut the park down at 6:00 P.M., lay out a red carpet down Main Street, through Adventureland and up to the shores of the Rivers of America, where a giant movie screen will display the movie for premium (as in high-priced) guests and the best of Hollywood sitting in hastily erected bleachers. It’s going to be awesome.

Gargoyles

Posted on by
Reply

Gargoyles

Back when I was younger, Disney had a really cool afternoon program arrangement that aired on K-CAL 9 (at least where I was). It was entitled The Disney Afternoon. I really enjoyed it because it was fun to come home from school and watch the next generation of Disney toons. (Heh, Next Generation. I love Star Trek). Speaking of Star Trek, there was one of those new toons that I came to thoroughly enjoy and celebrate. Gargoyles.

“In 1994, Buena Vista Television released the animated series Gargoyles. The show followed the adventures of a band of Scottish gargoyles in present-day New York after sleeping in stone under a magic spell for a thousand years. Gargoyles quickly became a hit with fans and lasted for two more seasons. Unfortunately, in early 1997 Buena Vista Television cancelled Gargoyles, despite the millions of fans who loved it.”

The above quote is from a Gargoyles fan-site that I discovered while pondering the ponderosa. I mean, surfing the web. If you want to check it out, here’s a link. Gargoyles Fan-site

I am a big fan of P2P (Peer to peer for all you uneducated schmucks out there) and it has helped me gain access to all the old episodes of my childhood. Of course, I’m not condoning the downloading and sharing of copyrighted material. I mean, here I am, on a public website, and I would have the balls to say “YES, I CONDONE THE ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL!” Those aren’t my words, but what the hey. By-the-by, it’s only illegal if you sell it. But enough about dodging the police and hiring a scum-bag (lawyer, that is). Lets talk about voice-overs. I was recently watching episodes and I was again faced with that dilemma of the voices sounding familiar. I am a Star Trek: Next Generation fan. I always have trouble putting two and two together. I usually do more research than is necessary and have discovered that, OMIGOSH! David Xanatos is voiced by none other than Commander William T. Riker (AKA Jonathon Frakes) and Demona is voiced by Counselor Troi (AKA Marina Sirtis). Oh yeah, a minor player, Coldstone (rookery brother of Goliath) is voiced by Worf (AKA Michael Dorn). Another discovery is that Captain Kathryn Janeway of Voyager is the voice of Titania, wife of Oberon and ruler of all the fairies. For one episode only, but still it’s a notable Star Trek-Gargoyles cameo. If you’ve read my ramble, this may or may not make sense to you, but like I said, if you don’t like, I don’t care! HAHAHAHAHA! Don’t forget to tip your waitress on the way out! Buh-Bye now! Buh-Bye!