Goodbye to My Favorite Disney Villain

Today I say goodbye to my favorite Disney villain, Ursula, from The Little Mermaid. Actually, her voice was provided by the wonderful Pat Carroll. I remember seeing her on television in the 1960's and her terrific, iconic, one of a kind laugh. You could tell, she just couldn't have been a nicer lady.

Dare I say that Pat as Ursula and Jodi Benson as Ariel made the movie memorable. Yes, the music by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken is phenomenal, and yes, the animation superb. But the two main characters were charmingly dastardly and sweetly lovable, respectively. How great they played against each other!

At the opening of the Little Mermaid ride at California Adventure.

RIP, Pat! No one will ever have that great laugh!

What?!? Zendaya to Play Ariel in The Little Mermaid?

If the rumors are true, actress and singer Zendaya has been offered the part of Ariel in the live action remake of the classic The Little Mermaid. What are those in charge thinking? Can she really play the part? I mean, Hello! Yes! Absolutely! Hers was a relative star turn in the musical The Greatest Showman, holding her own with Zac Efron and Hugh Jackman. Perfect casting as far as I'm concerned. 

Do I care that she's a woman of color? No. The most qualified person should always play the part. Does an actor have to be straight to play a straight guy? No- and it happens all the time. An actress doesn't have to be "conventionally" gay and be a "gay looking" lesbian to play the new Batwoman either. Or does she? 

Time to grow up, people. Why do we twist the truth when it is to our advantage but cry "Foul!" when the same truth results in something we don't like? I guess the agenda gets revealed and the ends must justify the means. Pure hypocrisy. 

Sorry, Ruby Rose. Seems your strongest fans and advocates have turned against you.

When Reality is Better Than Imagineering Art: Tokyo DisneySea's Mermaid Lagoon

Back before its revision, the Disney Parks Blog featured jaw droppingly beautiful concept art not seen by most people outside the halls of Imagineering.  Take a look at this piece from Tokyo Disney Sea! Here's Mermaid Lagoon in all it's splendor. Now, that's how you design an area primarily for children and young families.  (Click on it to see it in the largest size.)   

Although gorgeous, this is nothing compared to what they really built. Here's a photograph to prove it is possible for the  marketeers to deliver what is promised:

Tokyo DisneySea continues to be the summit of what can be  accomplished by Imagineering when Imagineers are supported by the suits and accountants with the appropriate funding. 

Unfortunately, Ariel doesn't have as spectacular a home in California or Florida. Ariel's Undersea Adventure is a "D" Ticket at best, with an "E" Ticket exterior in a prime location, giving guests the expectation of an attraction on par with Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean but delivering an experience that is a hybrid of these with Peter Pan's Flight.

Yes, concept art can be wishful thinking or even intentionally deceiving. When it comes to Tokyo DisneySea, however, brick and mortar is more beautiful than the artistic vision!

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Tokyo DisneySea Mermaid Lagoon Concept

Every once in awhile, the Disney Parks Blog dishes up a piece of beautiful concept art previously unseen by many outside Imagineering. Like today. Just checking in to see if there's anything of interest, and while the articles were not, the header art certainly was!

Tokyo DisneySea's beautiful Mermaid Lagoon. There it was in its rendering glory- even more stunning in the large image. You can click on it. Yes, we Disney park fans know TDS is the epitome of what Imagineering can do when given the right vision and elaborate budget. Just as we know what happens when corners are cut in budget, space planning, and vision. (Yes, I'm looking at you Ariel's Undersea Adventure- a "D" Ticket that is enjoyable but had the potential to be a super "E" as in the glory days of Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Sadly it is not.)

As with many things Disney, the planning art can be deceiving. But in this case, all you have to do is find photos and video of the end result to know Tokyo DisneySea and its Mermaid Lagoon really deliver what was promised.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Authorized Minnie and Bootleg Belle

During my recent travels overseas, I ran into a couple of Disney images I thought were worth saving. The one at top shows Disney's Minnie Mouse gracing the cover of a fashion magazine.

These images shown above display an unauthorized Ariel, Tiana, and Belle. All very well done, I might mention. But it was the human face characters at the benefit that were not. No images for that. Just goes to show, it always pays to keep your eyes open when you travel!

(Photographs copyright Mark Taft.)

Living in Fantasyland

Thanks to the wonderful folks at WDWMagic for the photo of the brand new Tangled-themed restrooms in Fantasyland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom... but it's not enough to make me want to visit the complex at this point in time.  Love the movie Tangled, and yes, I really do want to see the New Fantasyland eventually. 

From an aesthetic point of view, this is a very nice looking piece of work- as is much of the expansion of the realm of Fantasy. I am sure all the enhanced queues (Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad) provide pleasant diversion for those guests stuck in very long lines. And I know that the chance to eat in Beast's dining room will draw in the numbers. 

All these new little touches are part of what makes a trip to Walt Disney World full of eye candy. A part. A small part. A very small part. Thanks to the astounding success of Cars Land at California Adventure and the incredible attraction Radiator Springs Racers, perhaps the suits are realizing that it is the combination of wonderfully innovative attractions and immersive environments that will bring in the crowds. This should change the future of the parks. But if the suits think they can continue on ignoring the need for new and amazing adventures in Florida, they are the ones living in Fantasyland. 

(Photograph copyright WDWMagic.)

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Indeed

Here's a summertime movie that makes it impossible for you to move your eyes from the screen... waiting for something incredible to happen! Pirates of the Caribbean 4, On Stranger Tides, is in fact quite strange. Not horrible by any means, but it is a single plot line movie with plenty of gaps in the story, new but underused characters with great potential, and some clumsy, occasionally clever, dialogue.

Captain Jack Sparrow has to be one of the most iconic characters ever created and exploited by the Walt Disney Company. Johnny Depp was born to play the part, but too many times throughout the film, it seems he is playing a caricature of himself. Yet, there's not much to work with. Penelope Cruz is stunning to watch and effective. Ian McShane could have been great as Blackbeard, but it is Geoffrey Rush's Hector Barbosa that gives the film its depth. While there are no spoilers here, let's just say if you are the parent of a young daughter who loves Disney's Little Mermaid Ariel, well, you may just want her to skip the film.

(Photo copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Ariel's Risky Undersea Adventure

Just as it was in 1989 when this movie debuted to (thankfully) critical acclaim, The Little Mermaid plays a very significant and potentially fortune changing role for today's Walt Disney Company. This time, it's not the animation division needing some punch, it is a couple of the theme parks.

Between Ariel's attraction being the centerpiece of the new Fantasy Forest in Florida's Magic Kingdom and being the star of the first real new attraction at California Adventure since the billion dollar overhaul was announced, there's a lot riding on her poor little tail!

You wouldn't have to read the Disney blogworld for long to discover that many in Disney fandom believe the days of impressive "E" Tickets like the ones of the Golden Age of Imagineering are behind us. Disney's artists struggle to prove otherwise. Yet, to date, what has been produced that compares to the Marc Davis era? Not much, I say. Finally, here is their chance.

Certainly, the accounting folks at the Company are banking on the Little Mermaid to turn around the fortunes of California Adventure as well as fend off Harry Potter. It's a tall order.

Will it work or does it really matter in Florida? At Walt Disney World, tourists flock to second hand tripe like the Stitch disasters since they are placed in the Magic Kingdom alongside the true must-sees.

Not so at California Adventure. Without first rate attractions beyond Soarin' Over California, more is at risk. Will the first Audio-Animatronic extravaganza in Anaheim's second gate become a must see headliner? I hope so, but any way you view it, this is quite the task to accomplish. Disney put all their chips on the line for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror to turn around the park. Unfortunately, a half-baked version of the terrific Florida original resulted in disappointment for fan and company alike. The same mistake cannot be made twice.

California theme park fans are giving the Walt Disney Company another chance to impress us. We'll be a forgiving bunch one more time as we not so patiently wait through a revamped Sun Wheel and Orange Stinger. But you cannot fool us twice. This time the company had better deliver the real deal or lose us for good. There's more fish in the sea beyond another pretty little mermaid.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)