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March At The Walt Disney Family Museum

March is almost here, so let’s see what the Walt Disney Family Museum has in store. There are some really cool events for you lucky souls out on the west coast…

The Walt Disney Family Museum
March 2010 Events Calendar

Disney Innovators, Sean Connery and a String Quartet top the list of March 2010 activities at the Walt Disney Family Museum

MARCH LECTURES

March 20 –Disney Innovator Don Iwerks discusses the Nodal Point Camera invented by his legendary father, Ub
3:00 pm, Theater
tickets available online at www.waltdisney.org

The making of Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959) presented particular challenges. Walt Disney wanted the audience to believe that Darby was talking and singing with the King at the Leprechauns but the scale had to be perfect. To tackle this technical problem, he turned to Ub Iwerks, Join Don Iwerks—former Disney executive, founder of Iwerks Entertainment, and son of Ub as he talks about Ub’s creation, the Nodal Point Camera.

March 28 –Disney’s first Female Imagineer, Harriet Burns, visits during Women’s History Month
3:00 pm, Theater
tickets available online at www.waltdisney.org

Harriet Burns became the first woman to work at WED Enterprises, adding her special touch to Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, the Haunted Mansion, and the Enchanted Tiki Room. Her daughter, Pam Burns-Clair, and Don Peri, author of “Working with Walt: Interview with Disney Artists,” will introduce you to a woman who worked beside legends and became one herself.

FILM OF THE MONTH

Darby O’Gill and the Little People
1:00pm and 4:00pm, Theater
(except Tuesdays, March 13, March 20 and March 28)
tickets available online at www.waltdisney.org

Before he was James Bond, actor Sean Connery was Michael Murphy, an Irishman caught up in the magical adventures of Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959). Follow Darby (Albert Sharpe) as he tries to out trick the King of the Leprechauns and reach that pot of gold. Does he succeed? You will have to come to one of our screenings to find out.

MUSIC BY MOZART

March 13 – String Circle Quartet
4:00 p.m., Special Exhibition Hall
tickets available online at www.waltdisney.org

This musical adventure will pair the last string quartet of Mozart’s with the first of Benjamin Britten’s; these are both pieces of sparkling wit, great beauty, and off beat character. Jonathan Dimmock will join the quartet on piano in a quintet arrangement written by Mozart for glass harmonica.

PUBLIC PROGRAMMING FOR MARCH

DISNEY DISCOVERIES: Second Saturday of each month

March 13 – An Enchanted Tiki Bird
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, Learning Center: Art Studio

Imaginations and creativity will soar with our new Disney Discoveries! The second Saturday of each month, join us for family fun and activities in the Learning Center. The activities planned by our education staff will inspire the hidden artist in young visitors while learning about the life and work of Walt Disney.

The Disney Discoveries! activities are free with paid admission to the Museum. No ticket is needed for members—just show your membership card.

LOOK CLOSER:

March 26 & 27 – Inside Audio-Animatronics: The Making of Mr. Lincoln
11:00 am and 3:00 pm, Gallery 9, Lower Level

Would you like to know more about one of the artifacts in the galleries? Our Look Closer series will give you that opportunity—staff will reveal little known facts—and behind the scenes information during the 30-minute gallery talk.

The Look Closer series is free with paid admission or paid membership.

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Hooray For Bollywood!

OK, I’m actually at work so I can’t linger but I’ll bet that when you woke up this morning you didn’t think your day would involve seeing a 1977 Bollywood musical that was filmed guerrilla-style at Walt Disney World. I mean, I always hope my day will wind up that way but it never does. Except for today. There’s even something in there for you Magic Mountain fans…

It just goes to show ya, anything can happen in the movies. Care to take odds on anyone getting away with something like this today?

Thanks to BoingBoing

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A Not-So-Modest Proposal for Disney Nightlife (Part 3)

Here’s a cure all solution to the previous article…..  THIS is what needs to happen!

… I can’t tell you how excited I was to see that this still existed in Disneyland.   It just ’bout made my life

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A Not-So-Modest Proposal For Disney Nightlife (Part 2)

Beacon Joe has returned from his shanty on the Rivers of America to continue a series started in OCTOBER 2008!  Though much has changed since this article was written, you should read the first part of this series before continuing further….

Yes, I know.  My blog posting frequency or (lack thereof) is absurd.  Yet I feel that this series about nightlife at Walt Disney World is just as valid as it was when WDW execs decided to shutter Pleasure Island in late 2008.

Much has changed on the Island since last we spoke, most notably the additions of Ragalin Road (very popular) and right next door the monstrous T Rex (completing the bookend volcano look for Marketplace that goes so well with craftsmen architecture).

Good news is, no awful plan has come into place for Pleasure Island yet – we’ve got a giant balloon which seems rather unoffensive, and West Side is changing various third party forces – yet Pleasure Island seems more or less untouched at the moment.

So great!  Let’s continue where we left off, shall we?  In the first article I explained my opinion that the blandness of the Pleasure Island experience most likely lead to its downfall, but it provides an interesting template and supplies a necessary need for the Walt Disney World experience – nightlife! Walt Disney World seems to die off fairly early in the evening, and it’s fairly hard to find something to do into the wee hours of the evening, and I’d love to see that change.  I’d love to see the unique Disney experience extend to adults who want to stay up and maybe enjoy a cocktail or two.

So instead of a sweeping armchair quarterback idea of a new themed nighttime district, I came up with a few essentials to what I think would work (and has already worked) to address this problem.

Back In Walt’s Day…. there was Disneyland

DISNEYLAND!  Disneyland?  Oh yes, there are Date Night at Disneyland and Disneyland After Dark specials I love, which show a hoppin theme park, with Louis Armstrong on the Mark Twain, and…. this….

Okay, so Bobby Rydell might not be the answer anymore, but perhaps keeping the parks open till a decent time might help.  E Ticket nights were popular, as are the current extra magical hours.  But even more intriguing about these specials is….

THE IMPORTANCE OF LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

Live entertainment works at Disneyland, and it hasn’t been working too great, or just as much, at Walt Disney World.  Michael and I were shocked to see how many viable musical ensembles exist in Disneyland, most likely due to the difference in crowd perhaps (more local Annual Passholder folk).  Even so, live entertainment – good, unique live entertainment, has been a Disney staple leading back to its formative days in Anaheim, where some of the first contractors were the Marching Band.

Frankie and the West End Boys covered Smashmouth,  I’m more interested in these guys –

… and here’s a shiny example to show you I’m not all grumps.  YeHaa Bob at the River Roost Lounge at Dixie Landings, or umm Riverside – is a glimpse into what I’m talking about.  A more unique experience than listening to poor covers of Barenaked Ladies.  There’s nothing too unique about that.  To boot, at Disneyland, local or otherwise unknown bands often played and made waves on the national scene – including The Osmonds and No Doubt.   Could there be a venue other than House of Blues for up and comers to play at Walt Disney World?

Story continues below the fold…

Continue reading A Not-So-Modest Proposal For Disney Nightlife (Part 2)

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Meanwhile In Waterford, Oklahoma…

…at Southwestern Oklahoma State University:

Mr. Brad Fitzgerald, Instructor, Department of Industrial & Engineering Technology, received $13,607 from The Disney Corporation for SWOSU/Disney RFID Project Phase II – FY09 to support real time learning experiences for SWOSU students, encompassing quality control, manufacturing operations, statistical analysis, and marketing.

Now I wonder what interest the Disney company would have in RFID research…

Source

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