Progress City, U.S.A. » Imagineering

Hardly A Hoop, Not Yet A Holler

Michael — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:56:17 +0000

"Your bathing suit might catch on something on the way down..."

In February of 1976, River Country was hardly a water jamboree. It was still under construction, as we see from this picture which was published on February 27th.

Well, “thar’s bin aplenty goin’ up” in River Country since our last status report. The photo below may look like the skeleton structure from the “Wild Mouse” at amusement parks or some kind of strange staircase … but it’s actually the initial construction on the “belly slides” at River Country.

River Country would go on to open June 20, 1976 (with a guest appearance by presidential daughter Susan Ford!) and, sadly, would close forever in November of 2001. It continues to sit there, disused and overgrown, today. And, weirdly, just a few months after River Country’s closure, Walt Disney World would get one of those “amusement park” Wild Mouse coasters in the form of Primeval Whirl at Animal Kingdom. Coincidence? Believe it… or not!

Sub For One…

Michael — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 05:49:08 +0000

Not pictured: Tom 1.0

I just happened upon this picture of a “solosub” undergoing animation testing at WED Enterprises in January 1983. Later that year it would be packed and shipped to Orlando for installation in Horizons, which opened that October.

All I’m saying is that it’s been almost thirty years since the ride opened, and more than a decade since it closed, and I still want one of these suckers really bad.

20 ans

Michael — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:13:21 +0000

This last weekend, Disneyland Paris kicked off the press events marking the arrival of its – brace yourself – 20th anniversary celebration. That’s right – twenty years! I’ll pause if you, like me, need to take a moment and breathe.

Anyway, you can read a lot of coverage of the events at Disney and More, but the main point of interest is the new night-time show, Dreams. Now I haven’t been a fan of how the newfangled castle-projection technology has been used so far at the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. The technology has loads of potential, but the shows in the American resort are the typical “memory/magic/dream/wish/memory/dream/magic” boilerplate that I’m so tired of. I don’t want to look at other people’s vacation photos while I, myself, am on vacation. Anyway… The good news is that Steve Davison’s team has really knocked it out of the park on this one and has delivered a show that is not only technically interesting but also entertaining and fresh. Sure it relies on the “clip show” motif of classic Disney songs, but there’s no shopworn “Sorcerer Mickey” running the show and nary a hint of an over-wrought, saccharine gimmick.

It’s a great show. Incorporating the new projection technology with low-level pyro and advanced LED fountains and water screens similar to California Adventure’s World of Color, it’s a technological tour de force that’s also easy on the eyes. The scene which ties in with Tangled (!) looks spectacular, and I’d love to see it in person. It’s great to see Rapunzel in a major show, along with nods to Princess and the Frog and even The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I know it’s Paris, but it’s still kind of bizarre to see Quasimodo in a huge Disney show in 2012. I do rather wish they’d used more of Facilier’s number from his film, along with its unique color stylings, but the demented clockwork creation was so cool I can’t complain.

Paris really came out ahead with this one; not only is it their highest-quality addition in a long, long time but it outclasses its peers here in America. Check out this high-resolution video; despite the rather irritatingly bad direction and editing, it still gets across the scope and impact of the new show:

It’s good to see Disneyland Paris get a break after two decades of tribulation; the resort is still saddled with the consequences of Michael Eisner’s decision to overbuild its hotel inventory in 1992. That debt has haunted it through the years despite excellent attendance, and has kept it from adding the new attractions that are needed to keep folks interested. Maintenance has suffered too – at times, over the years, the park has been so ill-maintained that it more closely resembled one of those abandoned knock-off parks you see pictures of from China or Japan.

Things seem to be turning around, though. The Disney company has poured some money into EuroDisney SCA’s coffers which has gone to long-overdue repairs and enhancements. The park is starting to shine again. A ride based on Ratatouille is coming to the moribund Studio park. Possibilities remain for replacements or enhancements of shopworn attractions like Star Tours and Captain EO.

Hopefully it will pan out. Things were turning around for the resort around the turn of the millennium, but Disney was contractually obligated to add a second gate and so EuroDisney SCA was saddled with not only more debt but also a park that was hardly up to snuff. Not only is the Walt Disney Studios the absolute worst – and worst-attended – theme park in the Disney empire (not even cracking the top 25 parks worldwide), but it forced upon EuroDisney the expense of operating an entire separate park. Without an adequate slate of offerings to draw and keep guests, it will remain a leech on the resort’s resources until it receives a sweeping and complete rehab even more grand (and expensive) than the one seen recently at California Adventure.

The original park needs additions as well – it’s been a long, long, long time since Disneyland Paris received a new attraction, and – as you will see – there were plenty of things planned way back in 1992 that have yet to emerge. There are twenty years of pent-up dreams waiting to burst onto the scene at Disneyland Paris; I hope they get their shot.

But let’s travel back to a more optimistic era – back in 1992, when “EuroDisneyland” first threw open its gates. This seems like a good time (if there ever was a “good” time to watch this!) The Grand Opening of Euro Disney. Broadcast on CBS on April 11th, 1992, this odd special features some of the most awkward moments in any Disney televised event, ever. But it also has some nice looks at a park that few Americans ever get to see.

For some reason the park opening is hosted by the incredibly awkward pairing of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. A “celebrity couple” at the time, these two have no obvious connection to Disney or France, and certainly don’t seem to have any live television broadcasting experience. Even more fascinating is the ever-present feeling that they completely and absolutely loathe each other; Johnson seems contemptuous of Griffith throughout, as she obliviously reads from cue cards like a poorly-programmed animatronic.

No really, it’s worse that I’m saying. I watched this live when I was a kid, and was incredibly uncomfortable throughout. It was like watching some unbelievably awkward public-access television event, like when my hometown of 15,000 would live-broadcast the small town Christmas parade. Cringeworthy throughout.

But what a lineup of talent! Cher! The Four Seasons! The Gipsy Kings! Pat O’Brien! I wonder how many drunken calls he made to Melanie while they were there…

Witness the awkward interactions! Not only our hosts, but Pat O’Brien surrounded by children! Pat O’Brien aggressively interviewing a French child about baseball with a dragon in the background! Candace Bergen going off-script and making fun of the French! And – because I can’t mention it enough – the awkward, awkward strangeness of our hosts. Why were they picked? Why does he keep blowing her off? Why does she keep making weird noises and giggling at inappropriate times? Why are they both wearing old-timey flasher-style trenchcoats? Did anyone else who was on the production staff think that was really weird? Why do they cut away to them talking over the fireworks? Why was this pre-taped event so awkward and roughly put together?

And then there’s spectacle! Witness the splendors of a park filmed, always, underneath an oppressive and gloomy grey sky! Witness actual park footage in an opening special, with actually trumps Walt Disney World. Enjoy the man getting killed as part of the wacky tale of Frontierland! And lots and lots of… acting! Enjoy Jules Verne getting really excited about Michael Jackson!

Be sure to notice (and laugh) when Candace Bergen is putting her hands in cement – the logo is for the Disney-MGM Studios Europe. That never-built park also gets a nod later in the show, when a sad list of “coming soons” are rattled off. We’re still waiting for many of them!

Between stern celebrities, lipsynching children, and live musical performances that fade out weirdly it’s a good old-fashioned time. Of course we get a visit from Uncle Michael E., and an always-welcome appearance from Roy E. Disney. At least Eisner’s scissors worked. And then there’s the cute-as-a-button Sabine Marcon, Disneyland Paris’s first ambassador. She was everywhere back in the day.

So sit back and enjoy a trip back to the start of the “Disney Decade”, when Westcot was a thing! I can’t wait until Russia opens in World Showcase!

And if that wasn’t enough to sate your appetite for Parisian wackiness…

The Dream Called EPCOT

Michael — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:45:06 +0000

In 1981, The Walt Disney Story – the attraction which once occupied the area in the Magic Kingdom where the Town Square Theater currently resides – took a brief absence as its queue, theater area, and postshow area were appropriated to become The EPCOT Center Preview Center. In the year leading up to EPCOT’s October, 1982 opening, the Preview Center invited the public to view concept art and models of the new park, and presented a short film detailing the park’s offerings.

This is that film – The Dream Called EPCOT. In it you can hear a number of early versions of familiar EPCOT songs, as well as one – the Sherman Brothers’ Reach for New Horizons – that was never used in the park. There’s also some fabulous animation which brings some of the very familiar concept art to life; it makes me wish we could see an animated film which takes place in Horizons!

Did you work at WED and see yourself anywhere in this footage? Let us know!

Behind The Masterpiece, 1967

Michael — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:14:00 +0000

Fans of Imagineering will no doubt recognize this artwork by the great Herb Ryman; said to be the first painting of Walt Disney World’s Cinderella Castle, it became an iconic image during the creation and promotion of Disney’s Florida resort. Much as he had done with Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle years earlier, Ryman provided the first inspirational concept pieces that would define the look and feel of the new theme park.

Now, from Ryman friend and biographer John Donaldson, come these slides which were part of Ryman’s own personal trove. The images, dated November 1967, show what was possibly the first Imagineering model for Cinderella Castle. Taken from a number of different angles, it seems clear that these images provided the reference for Ryman’s iconic painting.

How about that great Mickey logo on the wall, there?

Now, let’s have an anonymous someone come hold a bright light up to simulate the effects of the harsh Florida sunlight…

The Magic Kingdom at sunset…

This is the key image, though:

Featuring the notation “1″ on its white sleeve, this clearly seems to be the reference image that provided the basis for Ryman’s painting. This simple, early model would be transformed through Ryman’s skill into an image still famous today.

Goofy About Health

Michael — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 00:19:13 +0000

Amongst Disney watchers, there is a subset of us which could glibly be referred to as the “WED did it better” crowd. With a historical view of Disney attraction offerings, one can come to the conclusion that the old-guard Imagineering that created Pirates of the Caribbean, the Country Bear Jamboree and Horizons possessed a certain flair that the Imagineering that created Stitch’s Great Escape, Journey into YOUR Imagination, and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor lacks.

The real reasons for this perceived shift are hard to single out; there’s certainly not a lack of artistic talent or technical wizardry at Imagineering, even after several waves of layoff and attrition. There are a variety of opinions out there as to why things are the way they are, and at what level the responsibility lies. And the blame doesn’t all fall squarely on Imagineering’s shoulders either; after all, they can only build what they are asked by the parks division to build, and only with the budget they’re allotted by Disney corporate.

It’s a complicated issue, and the subject for another post. But even for those of us who sense these changes it’s occasionally difficult to put into words just what is different. It’s easier, though, when a situation presents itself where you can compare apples to apples and the difference between the two ages of Imagineering crystallize. These are “one to one” comparisons; the aforementioned Journey into YOUR Imagination is a perfect example. It’s predecessor, Journey into Imagination, was an omnimover-based darkride about imagination. Subsequent versions were also omnimover-based darkrides about imagination, both of which used parts of the original ride’s track and one of which featured a character from the original. Yet the original Imagination attraction was an artfully-created favorite that is still considered a masterpiece, while its followups are considered two of the most loathed attractions in Disney history.

Another one of these easy comparisons came to light recently with some negative press coverage of an new exhibit at Epcot’s Innoventions pavilion. The new exhibit, Habit Heroes, is ostensibly intended to encourage better eating habits and exercise in young people. But according to the Calgary Herald, it has come under criticism from anti-obesity advocates and public health groups for its rather clumsy and clueless lessons about the epidemiology of obesity and the negative messages it conveys to young visitors. Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, an assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa, calls it a “gross oversimplification”, while George Washington University professor Rebecca Scritchfield simply said, “I would love to know what sickos thought this up.”

While it could be said I have more than a passing interest in Epcot, I rarely bother to pay attention when new exhibits open in Innoventions. This is, of course, mostly because Innoventions is terrible. It’s improved somewhat since its early days, when it felt cobbled together from cast-off industry trade show displays; at least now its exhibits feel custom designed and represent some level of investment. But as we’ve discussed with Carsland, just because a project is well-funded doesn’t mean that it’s well thought out. Innoventions still feels like a dark, dark box where all the leftover pieces of string and rubber bands have been swept.

When I scrolled up the video of Habit Heroes to see what the fuss was about, my opinion of Innovations was not changed. As seems to be par for the course these days, it’s really loud and really dumb. Basically, the message is that fat people are supervillains that can be reformed by peer pressure… and also you can shoot broccoli at fast food, or something. It’s truly insightful stuff. Take a look:

Of course, Epcot used to have an entire pavilion dedicated to good health. The fields of health and medicine were considered a key element of Epcot’s mandate, and work on a “Life & Health” pavilion began back in the 1970s. And this is where the difference between WED and WDI begins to become clear.

To assist in the crafting of Life & Health’s content, Disney assembled a team of medical professionals and academics from a number of fields. The chief adviser for the pavilion was Dr. Charles Lewis, a UCLA professor and expert in the fields of preventative medicine and health education. According to Rolly Crump, who led the pavilion’s design team, Lewis (who Crump called “Dr. Chuck”) was intent on incorporating positive messages into the attraction and keeping things entertaining. Lewis’s opinion, says Crump, was “If it’s a ton of fun, and an ounce of information, you’ll reach a teachable moment.” Continues Crump, “Now it doesn’t get any better than that. And that’s exactly what we used as our motto for all the different parts that we designed for EPCOT.” Lewis would later say that such a pavilion could only work “only to the extent that it primarily provides entertainment and enjoyment.”

Lewis was insistent on this point. Part of his mandate which is relevant to this discussion was that:

Thou shalt not increase fear or anxiety, send put-down messages to any group related to their “health habits”, or increase the dependency of individuals on others.

Lewis felt that, unique among Epcot’s pavilions, Life & Health faced the dilemma of not only having to be inspirational but also motivational. It had to help encourage visitors to take specific action, whether that be exercise, improving habits, or quitting smoking. To achieve this end the pavilion’s messages should be clear and simple, and the tone positive. The information received was less important to Lewis than the emotion experienced, for that is what would encourage guests to seek out more information and take meaningful action once they returned to life outside the theme park. This required information presented in the pavilion to be free of ethical judgments.

The difference between the tone of the Life & Health pavilion and something like Habit Heroes is clear. But there was even a more direct comparison to be made from among Life & Health’s offerings. One of the key elements of the pavilion was to be an interactive arcade called – amazingly – the “You Bet Your Life” Gambling Hall and Shooting Gallery. Now, if that name alone isn’t testament enough to how awesome WED was, nothing is.

No seriously, this was a thing.

The Gambling Hall and Shooting Gallery was to feature a number of custom-created games emphasizing different aspects of health and fitness. Apropos to this discussion was this shooting gallery game:

In this game, various foodstuffs would pop up at the bottom of the display and guests would shoot at them a la a shooting gallery. The animated cyclist at the top of the game would race against other players like a midway steeplechase game. His speed would be determined by which food items players shot out; higher-calorie items would require him to cycle longer to burn them off and would delay his arrival at the finish line.

It seems so simple, but you can see how this game – from around 1978! – compares to the shoot-em-up action in Habit Heroes. The Life & Health version is aspirational, not punitive. People are trying to achieve something, not prevent something. It illustrates, in a fun way, how one can make choices and affect change. And it educates, providing information about the caloric value of different foods, and what is required in order to work those calories off. And all while being fun.

This game, sadly, never came to be; Disney struggled to find a sponsor for Life & Health and by the time Wonders of Life opened in 1989 the company had new leadership and the pavilion had been handed off to another creative team. But even Wonders of Life had a few examples of fun-motivated health exhibits – who remembers fondly riding through Disneyland while burning calories on the Wonder Cycles?

These kinds of analysis seem esoteric and nitpicky, but it is these small shades of tone and meaning that separate an effective attraction from preachy unpleasantness. And, unfortunately, it is increasingly this level of subtlety and finesse that separates EPCOT from Epcot.

UPDATE: Word is on the Disney travel planning sites that “Habit Heroes” has closed today pending changes. Some are berating Walt Disney World for giving in to pressure, but I obviously feel this is a good decision on their part and hopefully motivated not merely by bad publicity but by realizing that it is a flawed attraction. But whatever it takes, I guess.

There’s also been a weird backlash against the closure, most of which reads like “fatties should suck it up and stop whining” and “THIS IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH AMERICAZ!!1!”. To this I would counter that obviously this is a huge epidemiological issue which is precisely why it should be tackled with finesse. People don’t respond well to scolding or shaming, which is what this entire post is about – earlier attempts at addressing the theme went out of their way to consult health professionals who stressed this point.

And ultimately this isn’t a “free to be you and me” issue of feelings anyway – it’s a matter of information. I’ve seen some refer to Habit Heroes as “edutainment”, which is beyond laughable. There is nothing remotely educational about it. Do you really think “junk food is bad” is a huge moment of enlightenment and education for most people? Even children? As I mentioned, this is a major societal issue which is why people need to be informed and inspired, and merely parroting “you should get some exercise” is not cutting it. It’s window dressing for just another flat-screen videogame; an attempt to cloak the fact that they’re just re-using the Toy Story Midway Mania technology with a veneer of respectability because the show is now about “health.” There is an enormous difference between having a message that is “simple” and a message that is “facile”. This is facile.

It’s facile, and a microcosm of what plagues modern Epcot. Mission:SPACE isn’t really about the promise of colonizing space, it’s just a thrill ride. Test Track isn’t about… anything, really, it’s just a thrill ride. Energy is based on Exxon-approved information from twenty years ago. And the Seas is about selling Nemo merchandise. I’ll ask you this – would it have cost them any more to have used the exact same show scenes currently in the Nemo ride, but made the plot about “Mr. Ray” taking Nemo’s class through the ocean and talking about all the cool stuff out there? Probably not, but instead they just repeated the plot of the film. This is my problem – I’m not talking about building California Adventure because it cost less than Westcot, I’m talking about not taking the time to think about what you’re doing and make it relevant to Epcot’s mission. These are cases in which good taste literally does not cost any more. And in Habit Heroes it would cost less, since they wouldn’t have to retool it.

One more thing – I’ve had some folks interpret my lead-in as a blanket criticism of WDI, which was not the case. As I’ve said, there are a lot of very talented people at Imagineering working very, very hard to keep the old ways alive. But somehow, that effort on the bottom doesn’t always filter its way through the system and into the parks. While WDI’s output has seen a marked decline over the years, I honestly do not place the majority of the blame at Imagineering’s doorstep – at least, at the sub-managerial level of Imagineering. There are so many places along the project pipeline where things can go awry. As I said: Imagineering can only build what the parks request, and with the budget they are given. And at every step in the process there are managers and meddlers trying to foul things up. It’s a miracle anything makes it though at all, so we should cherish those triumphs when they do.

There are many Imagineers who agree wholeheartedly with you and I about all the things we grouse about. And they have my respect (and sympathy) as they work extremely hard to right the ship and push through projects worthy of the Disney legacy. However in this specific instance the fault has to be placed with the content creators. The exhibit doesn’t appear overtly cheap, and the mandate – a show about health and exercise – is sound. I did not mean to say that every problem in the Disney parks is the fault of WDI, however, and if it reads that way I apologize.

And yes, I changed the title of the article. Epcot Explorer name-checked the old “Goofy About Health” show and I was so angry at myself for not thinking of that as a title.

Now get out there and do some jumping jacks before I have to throw broccoli at you!

RuncoToons… OF THE FUTURE!

Michael — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:30:41 +0000

It’s the curse of the Disney researcher that Disney, historically, has published far more documents for internal use than they have for fandom or the general public. Whether Eyes & Ears of Walt Disney World, Disneyland Line, Disney Newsreel, or one of a million old departmental newsletters, there’s a huge paper trail that’s always turning up new surprises.

One of the best sources of information from the development of EPCOT Center and Tokyo Disneyland is Imaginews, an employee newsletter for the Imagineers of WED and MAPO which ran from the late 1970s until sometime in the mid 1980s. As with most old cast publications, it’s a less-glossy look at Disney, full of in-jokes and the kind of in-the-trenches humor that arises from tight deadlines.

Several cast publications made a stab at including employee-drawn cartoons at some point during their run, but these usually were high school newspaper-grade gags. A notable exception is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Imaginews. Imagineer Chris Runco (also responsible for “Go-Bots“) created a series of gags which were printed during the early 1980s and played on some of the iconography of EPCOT – especially the pavilion logos. They also convey some of the mood at WED at the time – the above gag takes its cue from the driving slogan behind the creation of EPCOT Center and Tokyo Disneyland, “We Can Do It!” It’s a nice bit of history for EPCOT fans and, most importantly, they’re pretty funny.

The guy on the right is thinking of Flash-animated cartoons

It's a fun gag, but I would buy the heck out of those balloons - and those omnimover toys!

The first Julie Reihm-bot was designed by John Hench in 1965... they evolved... they rebelled... there are many copies... and they have a plan

Neverworlds – EPCOT Center’s Lost Scandinavia Pavilion

Michael — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 06:35:50 +0000

"How Not To Be Seen: Bathroom Edition"

We’ve spoken at length – some might say disturbing length – about the fabled “Lost Danish Potties” of World Showcase. Essentially, what are now the bathrooms for EPCOT’s Norway pavilion (opened in 1988) were originally constructed as a stand-alone building in 1982. They were intended for a never-built Denmark pavilion, and even though the facilities were later annexed by the Norse, we’ve looked at how Disney repeatedly tried to bring Denmark into World Showcase afterward.

Before the Imagineers slotted Denmark into the site currently occupied by Norway, they considered other possible locations in World Showcase. One potential site was between the French and United Kingdom pavilions; another, show below from a 1979 rendering, was the area currently occupied by the China pavilion.

After the park opened, plans for a Denmark pavilion faded in favor of building a “Scandinavia” pavilion which would represent several nations in the region. This was, naturally, an issue of money; if a single nation couldn’t underwrite a pavilion, perhaps several could.

In the end, only Norwegian corporations (and the Norwegian government) came through with sponsorship cash, so “Scandinavia” became simply “Norway: Gateway to Scandinavia”. By billing the pavilion as such, it left the door open for future participation by other nations yet let Norway have the spotlight to themselves.

But what of this mystery “Scandinavia” pavilion, sandwiched (Handwiched?) historically between the Denmark and Norway pavilion concepts? Take a look…

EPCOT's Scandinavia, as seen from the promenade

A closer look at EPCOT's Scandinavia pavilion

These undated pieces of art show a pavilion much more similar to today’s Norway than to the original Denmark concepts. They also appear to depict a somewhat larger pavilion, which would make sense considering that it was to represent multiple nations.

In the end, only Norway came to pass, but we live in hope that someday the eleven nations of World Showcase will get some new company.

82IF…

Michael — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:49:43 +0000

"Buddy Baker, Director of Music at WED & MAPO, conducting the National Philharmonic Orchestra inside the EMI/Abbey Road Studio in London"

In 1982 Buddy Baker was a busy man, jetting around the world to record the scores for a slew of new attractions and films for EPCOT Center. For the French pavilion’s Impressions de France, Baker and other Disney personnel traveled to London to record the National Philharmonic Orchestra at the fabled EMI/Abbey Road Studios. This marked the first time a film had been produced with an entirely digital soundtrack.

And, obviously, you can’t visit Abbey Road without the requisite photo op…

"Buddy Baker of Show Design, Rick Harper, formerly of Show Design and Glenn Barker and Dave Spencer of the Audio/Video Dept. cross London's Abbey Road"

Some Sketchy Ideas About Italy

Michael — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:22:44 +0000

Courtesy of John Donaldson come these sketches by Herb Ryman; they are preliminary studies for EPCOT’s Italy pavilion. While they are merely sketches, they do convey a Rymanesque sense of atmosphere and – of course – hint at a cast of interesting characters in the foreground.

The landmarks depicted do differ somewhat from the pavilion as we know it. The campanile and the building in the rear resemble the St. Mark’s Square replicas found in EPCOT today, but the obelisk is more reminiscent of one found in Vatican City than in Venice. In the foreground, you can make out the caption “view from the Rialto”; this alludes to Venice’s Rialto Bridge, which does receive a nod in the current pavilion’s design.

Here’s another perspective on Ryman’s design. Note the caption for the puppet show and the organ grinder – and also that the art was due Wednesday afternoon!

While these pieces were never intended to be seen by the public, they are an interesting look at the early phases of Imagineering artwork. And perhaps they can make us mere mortals feel a little better that even the greats had to sketch things out first instead of going straight into painting a masterpiece!