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Woody’s Roundup 01-22-2008

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, so there’s been a pileup of Disney detritus in my links folder. Now that I find myself bereft of anything that I’m bothered to write about, it’s time to share some of the actually interesting things that other writers are blogging about.

Tower of TerrorParis is getting their very own Tower of Terror. In an attempt to woo visitors to the truly pathetic Disney Studios Paris park, Disneyland Paris management is ushering in 2008 with this new E-ticket attraction. While the ride is a clone of the pared-down California Adventure iteration rather than the ‘deluxe’ Walt Disney World original, it still should prove a shot in the arm for Disney’s least “Disney” park. Alain Littaye has official press photos as well as scans of the promotional brochure sent to journalists. Oi Disney, how about putting me on that list? I’m not a real journalist but I can fake a nifty faux-1930’s hard boiled reporter patois.

As National Treasure continues to cash in at the box office ($197 million as of last weekend), it’s accompanied by the first product of Disney’s new animated shorts program. The co-director of How To Hook Up Your Home Theater, Stevie Wermers-Skelton, has been interviewed by the WIA Chicago blog. My favorite part:

There were six extremely talented and well-known animators who helped us out: Dale Baer, Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Alex Kupershmidt, Randy Haycock and Eric Goldberg. Like Kevin says, it was an embarrassment of riches, “kind of like calling the SWAT team to get a cat out of a tree.”

My least favorite part?

Initially, some of our colleagues thought that using the classic characters might be a bit too old-fashioned and that the public wouldn’t find them interesting.

Boo! If the public doesn’t think that the classic characters are interesting, it’s because Disney has assiduously refused to do anything interesting with them in years. I’m a bit troubled that anyone at Feature Animation would find them old-fashioned or neglect to see any way in which they could be used in an entertaining fashion. The characters are evergreen, but you do actually have to use them in some way rather than just as merchandising icons.

And finally, the Re-Imagineering blog has posted a great commentary on the mortuary complex of the future that currently occupies EPCOT’s entry plaza. They hint that, mercifully, there may be plans for its removal circulating at WDI. They also feature the following illustration, which might be my favorite piece of fan-created Disney art ever:

Leave a Legacy... of DEATH!!!

That’s going to do it for this update, as I’m going to try and keep these short. There’s plenty more stuff circulating out there, so look for more soon.

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