MetaFilter posts tagged with disney

Voddler riding the hype as the Spotify for Video-On-Demand

filthy light thief — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:34:11 -0800

Last year, Spotify made news as a revelation in music availability, by providing ad-supported free access or paid subscriptions to more than 6 million streaming songs. This year, Sweden is the home to another streaming media landmark, with Voddler. Currently limited to Sweden but with goals of reaching the world, the streaming video-on-demand provider was well-received, but initial movie selection did not impress all. That should change, as Voddler recently expanded the potential list of movies when they signed The Walt Disney Company Ltd and Paramount Pictures, netting access to the Disney assets and the Paramount library. A deal with Sony may be forthcoming. Videos are accessed with stand-alone software, which is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The company released a new interface screenshot recently, and older screenshots and details have been compiled for people without access to the system.

Pantone pink No. 241 corona

mippy — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:52:13 -0800

As parents scramble to get one of the 25,000 items in the Disney Princess range, this article, What's Wrong with Cinderella?, gives perspective from a mother and feminist. (Yes, I realise this article isn't new, but I came across it when doing research for work, and found it interesting indeed. Especially learning that Tinker Bell was dropped from the princess canon...)

Before hippies, even.

mikesch — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:57:26 -0800

Jeff Altman took some of his grandfather's 16mm Kodachrome home movies and made some really nice HD transfers out of them: San Francisco circa 1958, Disneyland in 1956 (part 2).

It all started with Alice...

Ambrosia Voyeur — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:04:32 -0800

Last month, Virginia Davis passed away at 90 years of age. She was the real life (warning: lousy formatting) little girl (warning: teh kyoot) whom Walt Disney sent into the land of cartoons, responding to the popularity of Max Fleisher's Out of the Inkwell series, which used his "rotoscope" and brought cartoon figures into filmed space. Walt reversed the formula, and found his first star.
1923: Alice's Wonderland 1924: Alice's Day at Sea 1 2 Alice's Spooky Adventure Alice's Wild West Show Alice's Fishy Story 1 2 Alice and the Dog Catcher 1 2 Alice Gets in Dutch Alice and the Three Bears 1925: Alice Cans the Cannibals Alice the Toreador Alice Gets Stung Alice Solves the Puzzle Alice Loses Out Alice is Stage Struck Alice Picks the Champ Alice the Jail Bird Alice's Tin Pony Alice Chops the Suey Alice Rattled By Rats Alice in the Jungle

Religious Studies 101: A Handful of Thorns

fearthehat — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:17:19 -0800

Religious Studies 101: A Handful of Thorns - A Radio Play Crossover Event (Intro, Act 1, Act 2, Act 3). Producer and scriptwriter Greg Weisman unites the characters of the critically acclaimed animated series Gargoyles and The Spectacular Spider-Man in a script originally performed at the 2009 Gathering of the Gargoyles fan convention. Please be warned that the script contains spoilers for the aforementioned shows. The script, although not part of canon for either series, is welcome new material for fans of the shows, both of which face uncertain futures, especially in the wake of Disney's recent purchase of Marvel (previously on MeFi). While both shows were primarily aimed at a younger audience, the script acknowledges that the shows, and Gargoyles in particular, draw much of their support from an older Periphery Demographic. There are several Parental Bonuses ("Not that kind of threesome") and even a shout out to pornographic comic company Blue Mug Productions (very NSFW, obviously). There's also a rather brief appearance by previously unused Spidey villain Carnage, who was presumably included in an attempt to dispel persistent rumours (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) that Weisman does not like the character. Previous discussion of 'Ask Greg' and Gargoyles on MetaFilter.

Iron Mouse?

Fuzzy Monster — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 06:55:16 -0800

Iron Mouse? Disney to buy Marvel for 4 Billion dollars. This is good news for Marvel Shareholders but is it good news for Marvel fans?

"Party in the Fire Island Pines!"

ericb — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:11:28 -0800

Seven gay friends who summer on Fire Island Pines [note: autoload music] decided on a whim to make a lip-sync video (in Speedos) of tween favorite Miley Cyrus' song "Party in the USA". She loves it. And it turns out that the family-oriented, intellectual property "überprotective" company that represents Miley also loves and endorses the fan video.

"'I assumed it would be taken down pretty much immediately, particularly because of the music rights issue,' said David Fudge, a 27-year-old marketing executive at Esquire who made the video, titled 'Party in the Fire Island Pines.' But Disney left the ditty alone and it soon exploded in an underground way, collecting 200,000 views in just three days. Disney employees started emailing it to each other, and before long Mr. Fudge’s office telephone rang. On the other end: Rich Ross, the president of Disney Channels Worldwide. 'I was like, who?' Mr. Fudge said. 'He just said that he loved it and wanted to tell us that. He was extremely nice.' Mr. Ross declined to comment, but another Disney executive noted that the video (and the reaction to it) demonstrates how Ms. Cyrus is broadening her fan base beyond little girls."

Oswald, Mickey, and Mortimer

filthy light thief — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:51:29 -0800

Mickey Mouse's early road to fame (yt playlist with ~160 videos) has some odd twists and turns. One of Walt Disney's early cartoon creations was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the star of Trolley Troubles (5:45, 1927) and other early shorts. Disney had big plans for the popular little rabbit, and wanted to increase his budget from Universal Pictures. Unfortunately, Charles B. Mintz wanted to scale back the budget, and in the end Universal kept control of Oswald Rabbit. Without Oswald, Disney needed something new. Jack Dunham, one of Disney's Nine Old Men recalled animating Oswald and "the one without the ears." Initially, this one was called Mortimer, but Lillian Disney, Walt Disney's wife, believed the name "Mortimer" sounded too pompous and suggested the name Mickey, though Mickey Rooney claims he was the inspiration. Either way, the mouse was renamed Mickey in short order, and he starred in Plane Crazy (video, 6:00, 1928, previously). By 1929, he was wearing his iconic gloves (and talking), in The Karnival Kid (video, 7:41). But Mortimer returned, as Mickey's Rival (8:16, 1936), eventually getting his own themesong (1:56, modern recording off of TV; better quality song with a still image, 1:35) and again in a modern short (1:30, 2000), amongst other appearances. Then there's Uncle Mortimer, who first traveled with Mickey Mouse in Death Valley, though it's not always clear whose uncle he is. And in the alternate universe that is Bloom County, Mickey's fraternal twin is Mortimer (technically, he resides in Outland).

Begone ye earthling creatures bold, there are no women here.

tellurian — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:14:06 -0800

Disney's Man and the Moon (1 of 6). One-horned unigoats versus SCIENCE! featuring Werner von Braun who, to the nose adds a small atomic reactor in preparation for [cue dramatic music] a trip around the moon. [via]

Mecha-zombie Goofy... Hu-yuck, Gawrsh

pixlboi — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:55:33 -0800

Epic Mickey: a dystopian, steampunk version of the Disney world and characters we all know and love (we love them, right?) from Junction Point Studios. Deux Ex designer Warren Spector, now of Junction Point Studios, owned by Disney, is heading a team developing Epic Mickey, a video game that explores a fantastical, dystopian Disney World. First confirmed last December, concept art has now been discovered. Rotting Epcots, machines wearing the faces of the Seven Dwarves, scorpion-Country Bears, oh my! Whether something this, ermm.... dark, makes it into the final game is another matter. But enjoy the possibilities.

Dali's Destino Completed

hippybear — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:23:47 -0800

In 1946 legendary surrealist Salvador Dali formed an unlikely friendship with Walt Disney, and they spent some time collaborating on a short film called Destino. Dali and Disney artist John Hench worked on a lot of storyboards, but only 18 seconds of test footage were shot before the project was abandoned. Previously

Walt Disney World Monorail Collision Leaves 1 Dead

Lokheed — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:02:33 -0800

Early this morning, Two monorail trains collided at Walt Disney World, causing the death of one of the drivers. The Walt Disney World Monorail System first opened in 1971 with two routes servicing The Magic Kingdom, and then expanded to a third line servicing Epcot in 1982. This is the first incident resulting in a fatality in 38 years of operation. The most serious incident previously was a fire in 1985 caused by tire failure in which two cars were burned badly, but there were no injuries. The monorail trains have numerous safety features, including a "Moving-blocklight anti-collision system", referred to as MAPO (the term was coined by Walt Disney himself, who formed a new company to deal with Disneyland's transportation system directly from the profits made by Mary Poppins). As of this morning, the monorail system at Walt Disney World is out of service pending investigation.

What's Opera, Doc?

litterateur — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:34:35 -0800

And now presenting the 10 Best Uses Of Classical Music In Classic Cartoons!

Graduate of Hogwarts

hippybear — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:09:24 -0800

Mike Jittlov worked in special effects back before computers took over. His legendary film short, The Wizard Of Speed And Time, was actually a self-created remake of an earlier short. That short was expanded into a full length motion picture also called The Wizard Of Speed And Time, which Jittlov has released online under a "karma license", a sort of self-created version of the Creative Commons license. His early work included much brilliant work for Disney (link includes the original Wizard short, plus his entire 30 minute demo reel, strung together as a playlist.) Whether his work will receive legitimate release is unclear, even still. He does still have his own website, full of Web 0.5 deliciousness. Previously, sort of.

Video excerpts from the AMPAS' Milt Kahl tribute.

archagon — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:45:47 -0800

Video excerpts of the panel discussions from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' recent Milt Kahl tribute. One of Disney's famous Nine Old Men, Kahl was renown for his incredible skill in all things related to animation, particularly draftsmanship. If you'd like to learn more about the early Disney Studios (as well as animation in general), I would highly recommend picking up The Illusion of Life by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas.

My prince has come - and gone

divabat — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:18:56 -0800

Fallen Princesses : Dina Goldstein explores what life might have been like for Rapunzel, Snow White, and others after happily-ever-after. (via)

SQUIRREL!

Artw — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:26:02 -0800

The real world location behind “Up’s” Paradise Falls. But could that house really fly?

A real cut-up

flatluigi — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:54:39 -0800

You've probably seen (and heard) his version of Alice in Wonderland, but have you seen The King and I, Harry Potter, The Sword in the Stone, or Mary Poppins?

Bill Peet

null terminated — Thu, 21 May 2009 00:52:47 -0800

Bill Peet (born Bill Peed) 1915-2002, was a Disney animator and children's book author. His work defined the Disney style, served as an inspiration for the movie Cars, and has amazed readers with the depth and expression of its characters. An exhibit of his work is running at the Art Institute of Chicago through May 24, 2009 (this Sunday). Peet worked at Disney for 27 years, where he was the only person to ever storyboard an entire film (and he did it twice, for The Sword and the Stone and 101 Dalmations). He was involved in ten films. Peet was also involved a number of shorts (all links youtube):

Goofy - Tiger Trouble (1945)
Goofy - African Diary (1945)
Goofy - Californy 'er Bust (1945)
Goofy - A Knight for a Day (1946)
Pluto - Wonder Dog (1950)
Lambert the Sheepish Lion (1952)
The Little House (1952) (adapted by Peet)
Ben and Me (1953) Part 1 Part 2
The Truth About Mother Goose (1957) Part 1 Part 2
Goliath II (1960) Part 1 Part 2

One short, Susie the Blue Coupe (1952) (Wikipedia), was "among the biggest design inspirations for" the Pixar movie Cars (pdf on Cars). The short deals with the selling into marriage, aging, abuse, alcoholism, and finally a happy ending (or deluded, dying hallucination) of a female car. The full 8 minute short can be seen here. Storyboards (more storyboards).

Peet had numerous disagreements with Walt Disey, detailed in his sprawling and award winning autobiography (See What was Walt like? (scans from the autobiography) and a fascinating interview about Walt and other topics).

Peet left Disney and published his first book, Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure, in 1959. He would go on to publish 36 books.

Peet published the first environmental book for children, Farewell to Shady Glade in 1966. In 1970 he published The Wump World (full low-quality book scan). (The Wump was based on the Capybara, large rodents which Peet was "ashamed to admit" he owned as a pet). Both books bear similarities to The Lorax by Dr. Suess, which was published a year later.

For any cartooning nerds, more storyboards by Peet (all from Michael Sporn's blog):
101 Dalmations
Dumbo Bath from Dumbo
The Tar Baby scene from Song of the South (more)

More large scans from a blog talking about Bill Peet as an inspiration.

Peet was also involved in some of the most controversial of Disney's scenes, including the "Jim Crows" from Dumbo and the Tar Baby from Song of the South. He talks about this in the interview linked above. (This was intentionally pushed to the bottom so as not to become the focus of this post).

Brazil - a good neighbor

PercussivePaul — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:25:50 -0800

If you've ever heard the song Aquarela do Brasil (often called simply "Brazil" -- here's my favourite cover), then you'll probably enjoy this classic 1942 animation which first made it famous. The clip is the finale from the feature Saludos Amigos (hello friends), created during a US government-funded goodwill tour of South America aimed at strengthening Pan-American relations, which some argue may have helped bring South America onto the side of the Allies in World War II. The goodwill tour is the subject of the 2008 documentary film Walt & El Grupo.

Welcome to movies .... in the Third Dimension!

filthy light thief — Fri, 08 May 2009 11:24:43 -0800

People have been trying to make the appearance of three-dimensional movement almost as far back as the first movie cameras. The very first efforts used stereoscopy (more pre-vious-ly), which wasn't functional for theater-settings. In 1915, the first public test of 3D film was deemed unsuccessful, as images presented with green/red lenses detracted from the plot, but that didn't stop people from trying to make 3D films. Polarized glasses are another inexpensive method of simulated 3D, while shutterglasses are a more costly method. Up to 1998 or so, there were approximately 187 3D movies made, not counting porn, cartoons and shorts (which bring the 1998 total to 263). 2009 is supposedly the year that 3D movies really take off, as it has been reported that 3D films are expected to gross over $1bn (£700m) at the box office next year, a five-fold increase on their $200m haul in 2008. There are some really big titles coming, including the "3D drug trip" that is Avatar, and all of the announced future Pixar releases will get the Digital Disney 3-D treatment. But 3D isn't limited to the big screen and big companies. The next format war could be over 3D TV. And now the independent production company MeniThings has released the feature-length movie, Battle for Terra. [via mefi projects, and a bit more on the movie after the jump] Battle for Terra is based the short film Terra, about a peaceful alien planet which faces destruction from colonization by the displaced remainder of the human race. But don't worry, it's not one of those movies, like the propaganda-lite Wall-E. You can see the trailer at Apple.com or on YouTube, or learn about the making of Battle for Terra. Here are showtimes in the US. If you think some of those voices sound familiar, it's probably because they are. Inspiration for the post title from Don Hertzfeldt's Intermission In the Third Dimension

Not so "magical" anymore, is it?

Zambrano — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:45:23 -0800

Disney made one movie, and they've been tracing it ever since.

Body of Unknown Vagrant Found in Greenwich Village -- New York -- March 30, 1968

jbickers — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:57:26 -0800

This month marks both the birth and the death of Bobby Driscoll, child star, Peter Pan, "Walt Disney's golden boy." He was penniless, drug-addled and buried in an unmarked grave by the age of 31. Some of his notable early work for Disney included Song of the South and Treasure Island. He won a special Academy Award for his performance in "The Window," a film that won the Edgar Allen Poe award in 1950. Three years later he turned in the performance that he would be best remembered for, the voice of Disney's "Peter Pan." Shortly thereafter, puberty struck, and with it a bad case of acne; Disney terminated his contract, saying he needed too much makeup, and things were never the same for Bobby. He ran afoul of the law. He started taking drugs at the age of 17; at 31, he ventured into a New York tenement and never emerged. The body was unidentifiable, and was buried in an umarked pauper's grave. Nearly two years later, his mother tried to locate him to reunite him with his dying father; it was only then that a fingerprint match told her what had become of her son.

Your Kid's Band Sucks!

ericb — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:41:59 -0800

A Jonas Brothers Guide for Adults . "If you're expecting them to fade away...think again." Tweens unite! "It's full scream ahead!" Ohhhh, myyyyy! Huffington Post: Tweens To Freak For Jonas Brothers In 3D. ParentDish: 5 Reasons Why I Truly, Madly, Deeply Love the Jonas Brothers. StarPlus.com: Jonas Brothers Win 'Worst Album,' 'Worst Band' Honors at last evening's NME Awards.

Real guitars are't just for old people

darkripper — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:52:45 -0800

Little Big Star (free software, currently in beta - video) it's the first guitar rythm game with support for real instruments. In the next months two more products of the same kind should be released, Disney Star Guitar and Guitar Rising. Real istruments or - at least - more realistic fake ones; is this the future of the genre? No one knows yet if this kind of software will help people to learn or get better at playing, but it will sure turn the difficulty up to eleven. [bonus track: Don't forget you can also use your rockband drums as electronic drums but you might want to buy a second set.]