Progress City, U.S.A.

Ramayana

By Michael - June 2nd, 2010

So, people have poured into Progress City today from the four corners of the web looking for information about Ramayana, the long, long rumored animated feature based on the Hindu epic which I’ve previously mentioned in passing.

Now while I’ve been trying to collect information on this project, which to all outwards appearances seems long dead, I really haven’t come up with much. The few pieces of concept art that circulate online were actually created for another project entirely.

So the question I ask you, dear reader, is what do you know about Ramayana? Is this little-known project just an echo of Eisner’s abandoned plans to infiltrate the Indian media market? Is it a relic of a more ambitious age, consigned to the dustbin with Fraidy Cat, My Peoples and Don Quixote? And what about Scarecrow’s brain? And what will be your fate?

Radio Silence

By Michael - May 27th, 2010

If you’ve noticed it’s been a touch silent lately, you can blame an electrical storm last weekend that knocked out the internet at PCUSAHQ. It might be a few days before service is restored, but keep checking back because there are loads of stories and posts waiting in the wings. I shouldn’t be surprised that the week I’m without internet is a week in which all tons of Disney-related news breaks.

I have lots to say about the Carrousel.

But that will all have to wait; I just wanted you to know that I wasn’t neglecting you by design. In the meantime, feel free to browse the archives or, of course, check out the links page for other great sites…

A Brief Interlude With Herb Ryman

By Michael - May 19th, 2010

A rarely-seen and never-used concept painting for EPCOT Center by Herb Ryman (Special thanks to John Donaldson)

The greatest casualty of my real-world existence lately has been a series of book reviews that need writing (and books to review that need reading). First on my list is John Donaldson’s Warp and Weft: The Life Canvas of Herbert Ryman, a combination biography and memoir of the legendary Disney artist and Imagineer. While I’ve finally been able to pick up a book again, the reviews are yet to come. But in the meantime I thought I’d share a nice video that Donaldson made in support of the book’s release; it’s a visual triptych through Ryman’s life and it gives a peek at the scope of this amazing artist’s accomplishments.

The book itself is perhaps the most surprising and unusual – and eyebrow raising – Disney title to emerge in quite some time; it’s also, as far as I know, the most detailed biography of any of Walt’s great artists. There’s a lot more to say but it’ll have to wait for my review; in the meantime, if you can’t wait, you can always order the book from its website.

View the video

It’s Tina Fey’s Birthday!

By Michael - May 18th, 2010

Off-topic, you say? Self-indulgent, you say? Oh, wait a sec, let me see, is your name up there on the masthead? Oh wait no it isn’t.

I love Tina Fey. Love her. Not in a weird or creepy way, I just admire her work. OK, in kind of a creepy way. I mean, just in a misdemeanor trespassing way, not a felony kidnapping way. A crowded-elevator hair-sniffer way, not a subway-groper way.

But I’m getting way off the point.

The way I’m going to justify this post is that apparently Fey is a Disney fan. She seems to go to Walt Disney World quite a bit, and there have been scads of Disney references on 30 Rock lately. She’s good people. She even did voice-over work of Disney’s stateside release of Miyazaki’s Ponyo.

So what do you know – this is on-topic.

So happy birthday Tina, and as a present for the rest of us – here’s a bunch of pictures of Tina at Disney World!

Tina Fey and husband Jeff Richmond ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

That’s Fey with her husband Jeff Richmond. Richmond is a really talented composer whom I respect a great deal, but for my own purposes I refer to him as “that effin’ guy.” Nothing personal.

Tina, that effin’ guy, and their daughter Alice with Snow White at Walt Disney World

Tina Fey, daughter Alice, and Ms. Snow White

Alice, Tina, and Snow

I never expected that so much of my life would be spent in envy of cartoon dogs…

Somewhere deep in my subconscious, this is happening right now. And yeah, I cropped John Stamos out of this picture. Wanna make something of it?

I’ll point out that a few of these pictures were taken within a day of my trip to the Magic Kingdom in March. Missed it by that much.

I’ll also point out that if Ms. Fey is indeed a Disney fan, there’s a one-in-a-billion chance that she or someone she knows will come across this blog. I mean, just sayin’. Blurg.

Happy Birthday, Lemon!