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By Michael - December 24th, 2009 There’s been some rumbling recently about upcoming projects in EPCOT that, while so far unannounced and unheralded, will mark a fairly significant change in the visual and epicurean landscape of World Showcase.
 Better visit while you can (Disney) First, there’s the Cantina de San Angel at the Mexico Pavilion. Sitting along the World Showcase lagoon, and across the promenade from the pavilion’s main building, this counter-service restaurant has never been a favorite. Its position obstructs guest traffic, its lines are usually long, and its seating areas often seem inadequate during peak dining hours.
All that may change soon. A complete refurbishment of the area, which has been rumored for some time, is set to begin with the Cantina’s demolition in early 2010 according to WDWMagic. The new facility is said to improve seating capacity and reduce obstructions to guest traffic, while providing better viewing conditions for Illuminations. The current building, designed years before the debut of Illuminations, creates a huge dead zone along the promenade where the nightly fireworks cannot be seen. While construction is underway on the new building, guests in need of a taco fix will be able to get a snack from Mexico’s booth from this fall’s Food and Wine Festival. The booth was retained and expanded after the Festival ended, and will allegedly remain until the new Cantina opens.
We’re waiting for official information about the timeline, layout, and look of the new Cantina, but it appears to be on the way at last. Hopefully the new building will have a consistent look with the current location – for all its problems, the Cantina always looked good from the lagoon – and will not throw the area out of scale. And, most importantly, its food will hopefully be better – it’s been fairly dire as long as I can remember.
From Mexico we hop to Italy, and an expansion that comes as a bit of a surprise. We’ve discussed how a second restaurant was part of the Italy pavilion’s expansion plans from the very beginning, as part of a planned second phase with a Romain ruins area and gondola-based dark ride. Agreements for the second restaurant were even signed with the same company that operated the pavilion’s original restaurant, L’ Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante.
 The Italy pavilion from above. World Showcase promenade and the lagoon are to the north. Spoiler alert – that never happened. Until, possibly, now.
While we may never get those Roman ruins or the much-needed dark ride, it looks like we will be getting a second restaurant in Italy. Shockingly, when you consider how popular Italian cuisine is, there’s never been a quick-service facility in the pavilion. There’s also never been a place to get that most Italian of foods, pizza. Pizza, and especially good pizza, is strangely difficult to come by in Walt Disney World.
Recently, though, Disney filed plans with Orange County for what they so elegantly dub “new construction of pizzeria.” According to the permit, the new restaurant will be owned and operated by the Patina Restaurant Group – the same enterprise that operates the pavilion’s current restaurant, Tutto Italia. But what will be the nature of this new pizzeria? How much will $713,000, the estimated cost of the expansion, buy us?
The construction notice gives us little information about the new facility, but it does show us what the area’s footprint will be. The diagram of the construction site is drawn relative to the specific local land parcel, with no illustration of how it connects to the existing pavilion. I was curious about its intended size, so I took a picture of the Italy pavilion from Google maps and matched the scale (1″ = 100′) to the construction site’s diagram. This was the somewhat surprising result:
 Aerial view of Italy pavilion with possible site of new restaurant Now, the location of the restaurant in this image is pure speculation on my part. It makes the best sense, though, considering how it fits with the existing pavilion and how, if you’ll look at the current view of the pavilion, it requires the relocation of nothing more than a few trailers. There are other possible alignments that would overlap with existing backstage areas, but it’s most likely that this will be our construction site.
How big will the actual building be? How will it be themed? And is there a chance that poor Italy will ever earn itself an attraction? After all, this construction site takes up the pad once intended for the ride and the Roman ruins; back in 1983, the second restaurant was originally intended to occupy an upper floor of the expansion.
Hopefully, we’ll find out more soon. For now, at least we know that one glaring hole in EPCOT’s culinary lineup is going to be filled after nearly thirty years. Who knew that it’d take so long to build something that would be – from a financial and guest services standpoint – a slam dunk?
So, well done. Now, let’s talk about those Roman ruins…
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By Michael - December 23rd, 2009 It hasn’t been long since word emerged that one of the directors had been removed from King of the Elves, the computer animated film from Walt Disney Animation Studios that had been publicly announced for release in 2012. Since then, I’ve received lots of visitors to the site from Google searches about the film being canceled. On many animation sites, it seems that the conventional wisdom is that the film’s production has been halted. I was uncertain about this – after all, animated films go back for retooling all the time – but I noticed with sadness today that the film had been removed from the official Disney Animation site. Previously, there had been a link and a blurb for the film right beneath the one for Rapunzel.
So, is it in turnaround or has it gone the way of Fraidy Cat, My Peoples, and Wild Life? I certainly hope not. A Disney animated film based on a story by Philip K. Dick is too good to turn down. It would also be a break from fairy tales before Snow Queen hits, so that would be nice.
So what’s the story? Does anyone know?
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By Michael - December 22nd, 2009 While any good Disney fan knows that EPCOT Center opened in October of 1982, it’s easy to forget just how busy that first month was. While the opening date of October 1st is well-known, the park itself wasn’t dedicated until the 24th. Throughout the rest of the month, on different days, each individual pavilion and showcase had its own grand opening ceremony. On October 18th, it was EPCOT Computer Central’s turn.
EPCOT Computer Central, sponsored by Sperry Univac, was an attraction that could only have existed at EPCOT in its prime. It was, essentially, the computerized nerve center of the entire park. Guests could look down upon the mainframes from above, while a brief show (using the same Pepper’s Ghost effect as the Haunted Mansion’s ballroom) explained how the operation worked. “Earlie the Pearlie,” played by Broadway actor Ken Jennings, was the Cockney song-and-dance man who hosted the show and performed the Sherman Brothers’ cult classic, The Computer Song.
The Astuter Computer Revue, though, was less than a hit. In fact, it was more like EPCOT’s version of California Adventure’s Superstar Limousine; its short life ended in January of 1984. In a weird twist that is hard to conceive of today, the show was retooled to make it less silly and more informative. It re-opened as Backstage Magic, which remained open until 1993.
I found this video on YouTube quite by accident, and was immediately mes-mo-rized. It is such pure early 80s futurism – jumpsuits, bland colors but the occasional use of sequins, and barely-contained man batch. And interpretive dance. I love those standard-bearers holding the Communicore logo; what’s really funny is that at the EPCOT 25th anniversary presentation they used pretty much the same idea. This is hard-core vintage 1980s at its finest:
The Sperry Univac executive continues in part two, but despite the fact that I doubt he or Card Walker ever set the Toastmasters on fire, I encourage you to watch because what happens after the speeches are finished is simply… indescribable. Oh wait, it’s totally describable – it’s sparkly.
Love it. I especially love all the people in suits watching intently. Oh, 1982.
Despite the obvious camp value and the rather stodgy speeches, there’s a nugget of brilliance here. Those speeches do invoke what EPCOT is meant to embody, and which has unfortunately been forgotten. While they’re not delivered with much zing, they do get across what EPCOT was trying to celebrate – the latest and greatest innovations in technology, and the excitement about the potential they held for improving our lives. Almost thirty years later, it’s still forward looking; I’ll also remind you that all this pomp and circumstance was celebrating the opening of what was essentially a giant bank of computers. No ride, or interactivity, or “thrill” – the cool tech was the draw. While EPCOT Computer Central was never an E-ticket, obviously, it was unique and something that could only be seen at EPCOT. That’s a goal as worthy today as it was then.
I’ll pass on the glittery yellow derby hat, though.
One last thing – out there, somewhere, is a better quality video of this ceremony. There’s also lots of other video from those early days of EPCOT. I want to see that video. You hear me world??
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By Michael - December 21st, 2009  Storyboard from Disney’s previous attempt to animate The Snow QueenWith the wonderful white Christmas that’s made so many of our lives unexpectedly interesting over this pre-holiday weekend, I thought it might be apropos to take another look at The Snow Queen. We’ve talked a little about the history of this project, which is now back in development at Disney. The studio has taken several stabs at animating the Hans Christian Andersen tale over the years, most recently from around 2000-2003.
 Storyboard sketches by story artist Woody Woodman  Sadly, we don’t know a lot about those earlier versions of The Snow Queen. Not a lot has leaked out over the years since the project was canceled, and what art exists online consists solely of some character concepts by veteran artist Harald Siepermann and some story sketches by Woody Woodman.
Woodman’s sketches show a conversation between a penguin and a polar bear – two characters that could possibly be the film’s comedic sidekick characters. A larger storyboard image, shown at the top of this article and whose artist is unknown, shows a scene featuring the Snow Queen herself and her retinue. The scene also appears to have a distinctly comedic tone, as a seemingly exasperated Snow Queen deals with her army of snowmen and what appear to be trolls. One snowman is angry, possibly because he knows that his film is going to be taken out of production.
 Concept art for The Snow Queen by artist Harald Siepermann Siepermann’s wonderful art spans a range of possible looks for the Queen herself, from classical figures reminiscent of Alphonse Mucha’s work to far more cartoony designs. As you can see in the storyboard samples, it appears that they eventually decided to go with the more exaggerated, cartoonish look for the character. More of Siepermann’s design ideas for the Snow Queen can be seen below, but you’re best served by visiting his great blog and checking out his designs yourself.
But while you’re looking at the artwork, you’ll need some inspirational music. Thankfully now we not only know what Snow Queen would have looked like, but also possibly what it would have sounded like. After development on the film ended, it was announced that Alan Menken was developing a stage musical for Tokyo Disneyland based on the same story. It’s possible that some of these song ideas were adapted from work he’d done for the animated film; sadly, work on the stage musical was canceled about the time that the film was revived by the new management at Disney and it’s unknown if we’ll ever hear those songs. Except for one.
In September of 2005, the Kaufman Center’s Merkin Hall in New York City presented a tribute to Alan Menken. “Part of Your World: The Music of Alan Menken” presented an evening of Menken’s music performed by a number of prominent Broadway vocalists, many of whom had worked with Menken previously. One of the numbers, performed by Brian d’Arcy James, was Love Can’t Be Denied – one of Menken’s songs then being composed for The Snow Queen. The song can be heard below – it’s a rare listen at what could have been.
[audio:https://progresscityusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Brian-dArcy-James-Love-Cant-Be-Denied.mp3]
Continue reading Let It Snow… Queen
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By Michael - December 19th, 2009 How about a musical interlude? This clip from 1978’s Christmas at Walt Disney World is supremely goofy and random, but at least it’s not as horrifying as the Clinkers (although they make a cameo at the beginning of the clip!) and grotesque megababies. It also gives some sweet footage of aquatic recreation on Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon!
There’s a lot to laugh at in this video, but let’s watch first. Prepare for a megadose of 70’s machismo, as rockers Pablo Cruise (and their team of parrots) jam on the beaches of Discovery Island and yuk it up on the waters of the World:
Wow, right? Nothing like a little piratey molestation to kick off a fun evening at the beach! At least each of the band members got their very own parrot, even if they mostly have to stand around and watch the lead singer (who looks like Gordon Lightfoot got turned out by a Gibb brother). I especially enjoy the part in the middle where the guy does a huge air guitar solo during the song’s piano bit, then later we see the piano player (Benicio del Toro?) banging the ivories while we hear the guitar solo. Amazing.
Then there are the good times on the Seven Seas Lagoon. This is a retro watercraft bonanza. We get jet skis, water sprites, the old Disney catamarans, and the bumper boats. I especially enjoy the out-of-control water skier who nearly plows into the catamaran. No wake zone, dummies! At least the ever-responsible members of Pablo Cruise are sagacious enough to wear their lifejackets whilst motoring about.
If you really want the full Christmas at Walt Disney World experience, and want to truly understand how bizarre and confusing this special is, you’ll create the following playlist. Immediately after show’s opening credits, it went without prologue or explanation into the Clinkers clip. That, as you can tell, segued into this number. Call me an ignoramus, but I was unaware of the Pablo Cruise phenomenon so this was doubly baffling. Then, after this segment, we fade straight into the baby thing. All without any explanation, or context, or anything.
And, although I’ve mentioned it already, there were the parrots. Man, Pablo Cruise must have loved parrots. Someone was dead set on keeping those parrots front and center. “Look! We have parrots at Walt Disney World! Book today!”
Too bad they couldn’t fit in a trip to River Country…
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Better visit while you can (Disney)
The Italy pavilion from above. World Showcase promenade and the lagoon are to the north.
Aerial view of Italy pavilion with possible site of new restaurant
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