A Very Special Walt Christmas Film

© Disney

If you live in the Bay area or are planning to visit over the holidays, one of the must do things for you list is to visit the Walt Disney Family Museum. Starting on November 27 and running until January 4, the Museum will be presenting a very special film.

Christmas with Walt Disney

According to the press release, in the spring of 2009, The Walt Disney Family Museum approached veteran filmmaker Don Hahn with a proposal to create a film that would celebrate the holidays through the eyes of Walt Disney. Under the direction of Diane Disney Miller, her husband Ron, and executive director Richard Benefield, the genesis of this idea became Christmas with Walt Disney, an enchanting fifty-one minute film filled with the joy and merriment of the holidays.

Mr. Hahn, whose credits include The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, was tapped to produce this film that will now become an annual event for The Walt Disney Family Museum to stage and entertain their guests each year during the holidays.

Christmas with Walt Disney is full of surprises including scenes from the television specials and vintage commercials from early Disney sponsors such as Kodak and Coca Cola. The studio Dixieland band, Firehouse Five plus Two makes a spirited appearance, as do clips from dozens of Disney's films including Swiss Family Robinson, Lady and the Tramp, Fantasia and a clip from The Happiest Millionaire featuring Fred McMurray and Greer Garson singing “It Won’t be Long ‘til Christmas"— a very rare clip since this song was cut out of the picture.

“During our first screening of some selected clips to Ron and Diane, we showed clips of Walt skiing and ice skating with Lillian (Walt Disney’s wife), intercut with clips of Mickey and Goofy on ice,” said executive producer Craig Murray. “The quick cuts from Walt to Goofy did the trick and showed how much this man's life became his art.”

What:Christmas with Walt Disney

Where: The Walt Disney Family Museum Theater, 104 Montgomery Street, The Presidio of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94129

Admissions: $4-$10; check Website for details

When: November 27, 2009 - January 4, 2010
(except Tuesdays, December 25 and January 1)

Show Times: 10:30am, 12:00pm, 1:30pm, 3:30pm, 5:00pm and 6:30pm

Website: http://www.waltdisney.org/

Main Phone: 415-345-6800

SURPRISE: Disneyland Casey Jr. Circus Train

We all have our habits, our traditions. I have one for Casey Jr. Circus Train at Disneyland. For me, I just have to sit in the caboose. And I am even more delighted when I can face backwards.

Casey Jr. was supposed to be the first "thrill" ride at Disneyland. Kind of a gentle roller coaster. But it didn't quite turn out that way. The end result is a delightful trip interwoven with the Storybook Land Canal Boats. From the Casey Jr. rolling stock, you can get an excellent glimpse at the highly detailed structures and perfectly scaled landscaping.

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could."

After the hill the train rocks. Gets up to almost 15 mph at one point. You can really feel it especially from the back seat. The train crosses over itself in a figure 8 fashion. You get wonderful views of Fantasyland and the Matterhorn. A good chance to wave (quickly) at the people slowly moving along in canal boats.

For a real thrill I suggest you ride at night.

Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse's first film was Plane Crazy. But it wasn't until six months later, on November 18, 1928, that Mickey Mouse would become a household name when he made his synchronized sound debut in Steamboat Willie.

As you would imagine, the Walt Disney Family Museum is celebrating in a big way. When you visit the galleries, make sure you take a look at the Earliest Known Drawings of Mickey Mouse. You can also see the huge variety of Mickey merchandise and a special section dedicated to the Mickey Mouse Club. This exhibit really impressed original Mouseketeer Bobby Burgess in this interview.

To learn more about the Walt Disney Family Museum follow these links:

www.waltdisney.org

www.facebook.com/thewaltdisneyfamilymuseum

www.twitter.com/wdfmuseum

Book Review: Disneyland Challenge

DISNEYLAND CHALLENGE

By Jim Fanning

128 pages

2009

Disney Editions

Put Your Disneyland Resort Knowledge to the Test!

Facts, Figures, Trivia, and Info to Increase Your Expertise!

I picked up this book on a recent visit to Disneyland. The book is presented in an unusual format (Spiral bound, heavy paper stock, 8.5"x6") and Disney claims this is the "first interactive souvenir book". The objective is for you to carry the book around while touring the park. It provides a variety of information that may enhance your visit such as:

- Queue Views: Details to look for while waiting in the queue.

- What Used to Be: Disneyland is all about layers and it is amazing of how little of the original park still exists. This section points out those layers.

- Walt Was Here: Those places that Walt would recognize.

- By the Numbers: Statistics that may frighten you.

- Ask a Cast Member: Games you can play with Cast Members.

- Look Out!: Points of interest.

- Ears to You: Listen closely and you may hear a hidden treasure.

- Scavenger Hunt: Need I say more?

- Second Time Around: Bored with an attraction? Try focusing on these elements to freshen things up.

- Challenge: Quiz time. The answers are listen upside down directly under the question.

- Challenge Yourself!: The physical version of the challenges.

This book is filled with photos from the parks, resorts, and Downtown Disney. Graphics are bold and comic book-like. When pointing out details, they can really get into the weeds. For example, did you know that all of the hitching posts on Main Street are of horse heads but there is one that looks like a stick? Or that each night divers clean the ears of the hippos in the Jungle Cruise.

Here is the odd bit about this book. It is not new. Although the publishing date is 2009, the book was first released in 2008 under a different author's name. This is why a big chunk of the book is horribly out of date. Examples include no mention of the Sleeping Beauty walk through or the insertion of the Disney characters in its a small world. Don't get me started on the coverage of DCA. Let's just say this is a history book not a guide to the current or future park. Miss Golden Dreams? Relive the moment with a full page description.

Oh one last fascinating fact. Did you know that the Animation Building is the same size as a Bug's Land?

I give this book a mild recommendation. I prefer the Imagineering Field Guide if you are looking for trivia and design details. Another trivia book is Disneyland Detective by Kendra Trahan. I also really like Kevin Yee's Magic Quizdom and 101 Things. WDW has a number of interactive books including Tim Foster's The Lost Journals.

The first interactive souvenir book? Hmmm.

Please note that I purchased this book while visiting Disneyland. You can find it in the Disneyana store and other locations.

SURPRISE: The Real Pirates of the Caribbean

As you wait inside the queue for Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean, you surely have noticed the fine drawings on the wall of pirates. What you might not be aware of is that these are the real deal. Well most of them anyway. In doing research for the attraction, Imagineer Marc Davis was inspired by real pirates and their stories. In fact, the attraction was originally going to be a walk through of famous pirates. But the humor started to win out and the walk through became a boat ride and the rest is history. Let's take a look at the walls and meet the real pirates of the Caribbean.

Anne Bonny (March 8, 1700-possibly April 25, 1782)

Just as you enter the door, take a look to the right and tucked away is a painting of two women looking rather happy. One is Anne Bonny and the other is Mary Read. Their fame is due to being the only known women to be convicted of piracy in the Caribbean. What is known about Anne Bonny comes from Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates. She stabbed a servant girl when she was 13, married a small-time pirate James Bonny, then moved to the Bahamas only to have an affair with another pirate named John “Calico Jack” Rackham. James wants her flogged for adultery but she and Calico Jack escape to become successful pirates. She hooked up with Mary Read and they made a go of it until they were captured in October 1720. She left jail under unknown circumstances and died at the age of eighty-two in 1782.

Mary Read (unknown-1721)

When Mary Read was very young, her mother began to dress her as a boy after the death of her brother in order to continue receiving aide from a Grandmother. Mary continued to dress as a man when she got her first job on a ship. She fell in love and married a Flemish solider and dressed as a woman for the first time. However, he died and she got back into men’s clothes and went back to the sea. After her ship was taken over by pirate Calico Jack and Anne Bonny, she decided to join the crew. It seems Anne Bonny took a liking to Mary only to be surprised that she was a woman. That didn’t matter as the trio terrorized the Caribbean. She was captured in 1720 and sent to prison where she died in 1721.

Sir Francis Verney (1584-1615)

Sir Francis Verney was the product of a famous and powerful British family. Always pictured as the perfect country gentleman by his neighbors they were shocked when he got into an inheritance dispute with his family and decided to make some drastic changes. He left his wife and estate and “turned Turk”. He moved to Morocco and converted to Islam. He plied the Barbary Coast with great success. He was captured and died penniless in Sicily after two years.

Captain Jack Sparrow (Unknown)

Jack is most at home on the sea and was born onboard a ship caught in the middle of a typhoon. He was the son of Captain Teague but rejected the hectic life of being part of a pirate family and snuck away to Tortuga with only the clothes on his back. Always looking for opportunities, he lifted the Sword of Cortes, which gave him the ability to control storms. A very helpful tool if you are a sailor. After much success and many adventures he moved on to his most famous commission, the Black Pearl. He has been described as a blend of Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and Pepe Le Pew. The final chapters of his life are not well documented. But one thing was certain; he was known to enhance his reputation through fanciful tales.

Sir Henry Mainwaring (1587-1653)

While many pirates were products of poverty, Sir Maiwaring was born to an elite class. His family was contemporaries of William the Conqueror and his Grandfather was the Vice-Admiral of Sussex. He graduated from Oxford University at the age of 15 with a law degree. His sailing career began with a commission to hunt down a famous pirate. But he turned his weapons on anything Spanish. He was so dominant, the Spanish government decided to hire him and his fleet in exchange for a full pardon. Britain also granted him a full pardon and he went on to write a Discourse of Pirates in 1618. He was knighted in 1618 and became a Vice-Admiral. Not your typical pirate.

Captain Hector Barbossa

Known as the Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea, Hector Barbossa was born from unknown origins and extreme poverty. He went to sea at the age of 13. He led a successful career and ended up on the crew of the Black Pearl rising to the rank of First Mate. The stories of that time are legendary and would make for a good movie. He traveled all over the world including Singapore. Throughout his journeys the East India Trading Company pursued him. Another merciless pirate, his reputation for brutality was legendary as was his morbid sense of humor. At one point Tia Dalma also known as Calypso also resurrected him from the dead. He returned the favor by helping to release Calypso from her human bonds. From this point his story gets murky but research into his life continues with further tales sure to be told.

Charles Gibbs (November 5, 1798 – April 22, 1831)

Charles Gibbs real name was James D. Jeffers and was born in Newport, Rhode Island. He would be one of the last active pirates in the Caribbean and one of the last executed. He claims to have slaughter as many as 400 victims and his legend grew after his death. Born to a sea captain, Gibbs started his career in the United States Navy. His claim to fame was his brutality towards prisoners including chopping off their arms and legs or burning entire crews alive. He was captured in Long Island and executed on Ellis Island in 1831.

Edward “Ned” Low (1690 – 1724)

Ever since Ned low was young he was always in trouble. He was a pickpocket and burglar. After his wife died in childbirth, Ned Low set out to sea to become a pirate. He was a very successful pirate who captured at least a hundred ships in his brief three-year career. He had a nasty reputation and was known to torture his victims before killing them including burning a French cook alive (“greasy fellow who would fry well”) and the slaughter of 53 Spanish captives. Intimidation was his calling card. He was inevitability hanged in Martinique in 1724.

Mademoiselle Greenwell

As part of the release of the second Pirates of the Caribbean film Dead Man’s Chest in January 2008, Disney held a “Become a Disney Pirate” contest. The winner was Jenifer Greenwell of St. Petersburg, Florida. As part of the prize package she would be flown to Imagineering’s headquarters in Glendale, get dressed in full pirate regalia, and pose for artist Jim Crouch. Crouch also created the Johnny Depp (Captain Jack Sparrow) and Geoffrey Rush (Barbarossa) portraits in a style consistent with the original Marc Davis drawings. She would be transformed into "Mademoiselle Greenwell". The unveiling was on January 29 and included the artist and the prizewinner dressed as pirates joined by local marauders in a comedy filled show. The portrait was to be removed in June 2009 but has stayed around.

ONE PERSPECTIVE: Friday, November 13 @ 12:09 P.M.

Walt Disney from an interview with National Geographic:

"You know, I was stumped one day when a little boy asked, 'Do you draw Mickey Mouse?' I had to admit I do not draw anymore. 'Then you think up all the jokes and ideas?' 'No,' I said, 'I don't do that.' Finally, he looked at me and said, 'Mr. Disney, just what do you do?' 'Well, ' I said, 'Sometimes I think of myself as a little bee. I go from one area of the studio to another and gather pollen and sort of stimulate everybody.' I guess that's the job I do."

Book Review: Windows on Main Street

WINDOWS ON MAIN STREET

Discover the Real Stories of the Talented People Featured on the Windows of Main Street, U.S.A.

Chuck Snyder

26 pages

2009

$6.95

As is my tradition when visiting Walt Disney World, the final attraction I ride before heading back to the airport is Rock n Rollercoaster. My flight is sort of like the storyline in the attraction in the sense that I am arriving at LAX and rushing to get to the "venue" (home) as fast as possible. I have felt it is a fitting tribute to what reality usually feels like in a few hours.

On my way out I usually peak into Sid Cahuenga's place. It was here where I noticed Just this delightful little book published by Disney on the D23 label just placed on the shelf.

Many of you are familiar with the tradition of honoring key people with their name on a window on Main Street. In both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom, hundreds of imagineers, business, and operations people have been honored in this fashion. This is the theme park equivilant to the credits you see at the end of the movie.

As outlined by Marty Sklar (who recently got his windown on Main Street right over by City Hall) there are three criteria that must be met:

1. Only in retirement.

2. Only the highest level of service/respect/achievement.

3. Agreement between top individual park management and WDI, which creates the design and copy contents.

There are 149 windows honoring 126 people. Twenty-three people are featured in both parks. I found it interesting that Walt did not have a window at Disneyland until 2005. He is listed twice at the Magic Kingdom.

45 individuals are featured in the book. Each biography includes their contribution to the organization and something about the hobby that may have influenced their chosen (fictional) career featured on the window.

For example, Tom Nabbe started as Walt's handpicked Tom Sawyer and he worked for the mouse for 48 years. He was the last person who started in 1955 to retire. His window business is the Sawyer Fence Painting Co.

Or what about Ken Anderson's Bait Shop? Ken was an avid fly fisherman and Walt personally picked the bait company as a joke since fly fishing doesn't use bait.

Owen Pope was the horse trainer and he and his wife actually lived in the parks for a time the only people to have done so on both coasts. And the Casting Agency doors are fairly new and honor all of the cast members that make visiting the parks so special.

The book features many of the best known people in Disney history. I would have loved to learn more about some of the lessor known names. A volume two is certainly in order. Where is Lou Mongello?

As per new FTC guidelines, I purchased this book at Walt Disney World.