A Taste of Epcot Comes to the West Coast

Are you a fan of all the cultural activities, music, and food that can be found in the various countries of Epcot's World Showcase pavilions? I am! Do you wish some of this could be found at the Disneyland Resort? Well, good news! Disney's California Adventure hosts the Lunar New Year festivities, and it brings the flavor of Epcot to California. Though not nearly as extensive as what can be done around the World Showcase Lagoon, at Disney's second California park, from Paradise Park down to  the Pacific Wharf and even Grizzly Peak, the cultures, music, and flavors, of China, Vietnam and Korea can be found. A colorful parade featuring Mulan and Mushu sets the park aglow with a blaze of color and music fills the air. 

Bringing other festivals to the forefront such as El Día de los Reyes Magos (Three Kings Day) makes California Adventure feel a bit like World Showcase few weeks a year. There's no matching architecture or even culturally based rides, but it is still with a visit when these are in the calendar. Perhaps one day that rumored Coco boat ride will debut, but for now these festivals bring some true diversity to a park that doesn't really know what its theme is anymore. I call it making the most of what you've got.

The great photo site Westcoaster provided the photos above and has tons more to see. Go there now to see more. 

(Photograph copyright Westcoaster.)

 

Harmonious is an Elegant Disaster

How can the words elegant and disaster be used to describe a single presentation? Well, when it comes to EPCOT's brand new nighttime show Harmonious, it's an apt description. There were big shoes to fill, and the Imagineering design team went over the top to satisfy guests. 

It was at once a charming multi-cultural experience with an ugly underbelly. Taking mostly well known songs from Disney films, the expectations were turned upside down as each was presented in the native languages represented by the cultures in the source material. From Moana to Coco, Lion King to Mulan, and just about everything in between, the music swelled and the vocal performances excelled. It was lovely and rich while presenting the now expected new century focus on self-discovery. There's no connective tissue, however, leaving it an odd "Greatest Hits" feel.

Where did the show fail? Where was it a disaster? Largely, the misfires were in the use and form of the large metal barges and humongous, just monstrous, ugly metal center ring. The swinging arms added little to the presentation. The projected video elements seemed almost unnecessary. For a generation glued to screens, it was a necessity, but they certainly came at a cost.

Harmonious is a show worth watching. The large tapestry of nations represented is fitting to World Showcase (and whatever world you happen to be in while at the park). The international flare has its charms, even if little use was made of the architecture of the national pavilions.

The goodbye exhortation by a young woman who seemed much too emotionally young to have real wisdom was odd at best. The overall lighting and fireworks were quite nice- but for all its strengths, none of the show- not a single bit- came close to being worth the dismantling of what was once a beautiful day or night time view of the most lovely of Disney parks.  

That, my friends is absolutely unforgivable and is the disaster part of the Harmonious equation.

The official Disney video of the show:

Raya and the Last Dragon- A Girl Worth Fighting For?

Raya and the Last Dragon succeeds, but it also fails miserably. The animation is stunning- the strongest element of the film- making the most of the landscapes and cultural art styles of locations such as Thailand and Cambodia. The story is unique as it is based on Southeast Asian folklore, and it has one of the cutest sidekicks ever, an animal-meets-Segway named Tuk-Tuk. Parents, between Raya's buddy and all those colorful dragons, get ready to open your wallets for all that cheaply made plush at the Disney Stores.

In a nod to classic Disney animation, our heroine has only one parent. What is it with Disney and this angle? While Pixar artists seem to struggle with deep troubling emotions as evidenced by their art, Disney animators must not know what to do with a hero or heroine that comes from an alive and kicking two parent traditional family. Tangled is the only recent film that breaks this unfortunate aspect. 

Unfortunately, the content and flow of this beautiful looking piece of art is faulty. Very faulty. The film loses its soul over a plot line that takes much too long to develop to a winning and satisfying finale. By the end of the two hour long presentation, its excessive preachiness, the lack of depth of its characters, and its almost laughable and rushed kumbaya camp fire sing-a-long type conclusion, the viewer loses any lasting connection to its characters and its strengths. So much wasted potential.

Not is all lost, it would still make a wonderful dark ride cruise in a theme park. (Epcot 2.0 could certainly use a new World Showcase pavilion, now that I think about it.)

Raya has great intentions, forging a reminder to love your enemies, (Gee, I think Jesus of Nazareth was the first to speak this truth) but it forgets to tell a great story in a concise manner that holds the viewers interest. That's Storytelling 101. Ultimately, Raya and the Last Dragon is just one more Disney animated movie that's a one and done. If you want an Asian themed animated movie with staying power, Mulan is still the girl worth fighting for.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

The Next Addition to World Showcase at Epcot

Could it be this? Is it possible that the suits at Disney, and therefore the Imagineers, bypass Mulan and make this the next in their character based infusion (intrusion) at Epcot? I guess stranger things have happened! But this first look at Raya and the Last Dragon certainly looks appealing. The question is "When will this movie come out?"

And isn't that the thought on movie lovers' minds?

Charlie's Angels Reboot? No, Just No

What do you get when you mix a classic campy television show with woman power in the latter half of this decade? A big mistake in the case of the most recent and misguided Charlie's Angels reboot. A big mistake.  Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith, and Kate Jackson are still the best of the angels lot. 

Leave the classic television show alone.

The more recent remake with the very talented cast of Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu was just passable even if a bit humorous as was the original. Solid "C" film, nothing more than summer fluff.

Bad but at least a likable cast.

This time around, it's the talented Naomi Scott (fresh from playing Jasmine in Aladdin), playing next to the extremely unlikable Kristen Stewart. This makes it an all around pass. Not even worth a viewing. Sorry, ladies.

(The new live action Mulan, however, looks like a winner...)

Christina Going Bionic

Love her, hate her, or tolerate her, former Mouseketeer Miss Christina Aguilera has a great voice. I keep hoping she'll do something with a bit more class than acting like the slut next door. Doesn't seem like the new album will fit the bill. Maybe next time, next year.