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Radio Silence

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…

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A Brief Interlude With Herb Ryman

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

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It’s Tina Fey’s Birthday!

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
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!

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Kingdom Construction

The Magic Kingdom under construction; the Utilidor entrance is towards the bottom right and the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea site is to its left

A quick note that Progress Citizen Matt Feige has posted some interesting photographs of the Magic Kingdom under construction. Check them out!

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Flamers At Work

I love this mysterious and moody picture of two Imagineers working on Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean in 1965. And who knew Bob Dobbs worked at WED?

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