A Spirited Perfect Ten

coolbeans14

coolbeans14

Active Member
That's interesting about Big hero six. I have to admit the UK advertising (where it's yet to be real eased) has been... Odd. Lots of bay max telling us about the next show on television, and it's effect on our brain activity. No idea. To add to the confusion, they're releasing it in the middle of January, traditionally when a disney movie gets delayed its put to the February school holidays (a la wreck-it Ralph) or Christmas.

We went on Celebrity eclipse in 2014(first cruise) and the glowing review of disney cruises is certainly enticing. I may need to consider that...

I'm going to miss these spirited threads, even though I've never kept up. Maybe this time, eh?
 
Finallyinflorida

Finallyinflorida

Member
WDW1974 said:
As things have stabilized (to some degree) in the real world, I thought it was 'now or never' to begin what will likely be my last Spirited thread here (no, I am not leaving, just pulling back and putting priorities where they should be). I'll still be around from time to time and I won't forget my friends here.

I know that not having these threads will likely cause consternation from the halls of Glendale and Burbank to the office cubicles in Celebration Place to the Twitverse. But it's a new year and one thing I won't do is argue with people who never visited WDW when a giant cartoon hat wasn't plopped down like a giant piece of (blank) about the difference between theme and whoring a BRAND, or the difference between decoration and theme or the difference in real social media communication and TWDC's version of propaganda. Been there. Done that. No time to do so again.

So, let's start by saying this will be typical of the threads that have come before. While I have news about what has been going on from Beijing to Burbank, from Anaheim to Arendelle ... well, I'm going to place it here at my pace and after I get the OKs.

Since my time will be limited, it would help if folks didn't inundate me with questions like ''what's going to be in Star Wars Land and when can we expect it?''

BTW, the answer to that is 'some really kewl stuff IF the budgets don't get slashed (truly cutting edge stuff ... yes, from Disney ... shocking, right?!?!)' and 'I have no idea, but my best guess is 4-6 years from now.' Really.

I have had a habit, not intentional, of starting these threads after a major trip to the parks or a visit with friends in the business or both. I tend to pick up more info that way ... and they tend to be a logical jumping off point for what follows.

But there's a few items on my mind that don't fit and I'd rather drop them here first.

Like:

WDI lost a truly great man over the holidays when Pat Burke passed away. Most folks here have no clue who he was, but you've experienced some of his great work if you've visited the Disney parks, any of them around the globe. From his work on all FOUR Big Thunders worldwide (he was passionate about mining and it shows in the attention to detail) to Indy at DL (I think he also did Tokyo's too!) to Pirates at MK and TDL to MSUSA at HKDL to the American Waterfront area of TDS, Pat helped create amazing environments that truly transported guests in the best tradition of Imagineering. While he was someone I met casually, I can't claim to have known him, but I wish I had. When you read or hear folks like myself talking about the amazing loss of talent that Disney has suffered over the past 10-15 years it is easy to jump on the big names, the ones who created the concept of a 'Celebrity Imagineer' ... but people like Pat were just as important.

BTW, the Disney and More blog has some fantastic interviews and history about Pat's contributions to Disney parks.

WDW is now trying to woo the Floridians into the parks since the crazy holidays are over. Of course, the old three days for $99 is now three days for $139. Is that a deal? Sure ... if you haven't visited in quite a while.

Is it wrong for me, in my first post back, to make fun of my good pal @Lee who will likely not sleep tonight in anticipation over Marvel's Agent Carter's premiere tomorrow? If it is, I don't care.

OK, here's one for the UNI fanbois: after many meetings and behind the scenes machinations, it appears (again, appears) that cooler, saner heads have prevailed and Tom Williams and Co won't be taking the budget ax to future projects just because they didn't get another 30% bump from Diagon. Yes, I have more UNI news (from O-Town to Hollywood to China), but I do like to tease a bit, so I'll drop it as the discussion develops. But no, I still am not thrilled with the Kong screen-based attraction or the Jimmy Fallon/30 Rock screen-based Twister replacement. I do like (no, I love) some of what I am hearing about UNI projects that are not in O-Town!

Now, as I said, these threads usually are formed after I take a trip. And I did. It was last-minute (relatively speaking) and it didn't go as planned (a death and a serious illness/hospitalization in the family will do that). My SO ('Angie M') is a high-level German official and she had wanted to experience an American Thanksgiving. So, before all the chaos, we had planned for her to spend a week with myself and the Spirited family, followed by a week on the Disney Fantasy to get the cruise bug out of our systems (it, naturally, did the opposite!) and a week in O-Town (mostly at WDW but with UNI thrown in too).

So ... thanks for reading. And thanks for participating. And thanks to all of you who have been in touch during a very lousy holiday season. I don't forget things like that!

Now ... on with the show ...
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Thank you for posting. We've missed you. Praying you have a better 2015!
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
Few quickees and then I'll be back when I can ...

Merchandise on the Fantasy was a bit weak. Lots of pricey watches and jewelry and perfume ... things I have never bought on a cruise ship. But almost no Fantasy merchandise, just DCL logo stuff. I think the pin I bought was the only actual Fantasy item. I find that odd because the Magic had loads of stuff last fall and the Wonder had at least a few items (like the magnet on my new fridge!)

I know I teased this on my last thread, but Iger and Co were privately very disappointed in Big Hero 6's domestic take (at least as of a few weeks ago). No, they didn't think it would pull in Frozen numbers. But a very well-placed source on the left coast says that they really thought it would do ''closer to double'' than what it did (oh, and no, I didn't see it ... planned to on the cruise and didn't find time!)

Oh, and said source says work is ''well underway'' on Frozen 2: Olaf Melts ... (that is true ... the first part, not the title!) despite what Burbank and Iger will claim.

Speaking of Olaf: first Frozen merchandise I own? A $1.99 Oaf note pad that my dearest Angie bought me while picking up food items at a local Publix. Better than ANY Frozen merchandise I have seen at the parks.

Y'all have MAGICal weeks!!!
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Some domestic box office numbers:
Frozen: $400,738,009
Big Hero 6: $211,207,306
Tangled: $200,821,936
Wreck-It-Ralph: $189,422,889

Maybe they wanted in the $250-$300 range, but I really don't think it had the same buzz leading up to it as the Princess movies or even Wreck-It-Ralph. I liked it more than the other 3, but the box office numbers are about where I expected it, maybe a bit better.
 
dupac

dupac

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
My SO ('Angie M') is a high-level German official and she had wanted to experience an American Thanksgiving. So, before all the chaos, we had planned for her to spend a week with myself and the Spirited family, followed by a week on the Disney Fantasy to get the cruise bug out of our systems (it, naturally, did the opposite!) and a week in O-Town (mostly at WDW but with UNI thrown in too).
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I'm glad Angie M was able to take a vacation before the ordeal with Greece! ;)

So excited to see another Spirited thread and happy to hear that things have stabilized on your end. Praying for a more peaceful 2015!
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
I don't know why anyone would choose WDW over DLR for a 2015 trip.
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A few hours after you posted that, the Miceage Update crew dropped a big 'ol update on us out here in California. It's an interesting mix of Christmas Recap, 60th Anniversary Rumors, and Star Wars/Marvel Future Projects. All about Anaheim though, as per Miceage usual.

According to Miceage, TDA is planning a big media event on January 28th and 29th to announce the 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration offerings. It's quite a rundown of stuff, if you believe Miceage. (And I do.) http://micechat.com/91544-disneyland-diamond-anniversary/

Oh, and the Miceage Update also says the Disney Parks Blog kids will release 60th Anniversary artwork of the new offerings on Friday, January 30th, for the fans on sites like this one.
 
71jason

71jason

Well-Known Member
RSoxNo1 said:
Some domestic box office numbers:
Frozen: $400,738,009
Big Hero 6: $211,207,306
Tangled: $200,821,936
Wreck-It-Ralph: $189,422,889

Maybe they wanted in the $250-$300 range, but I really don't think it had the same buzz leading up to it as the Princess movies or even Wreck-It-Ralph. I liked it more than the other 3, but the box office numbers are about where I expected it, maybe a bit better.
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While they sanitized all the Marvel Universe references/characters--presumably at least in part so the IP could be used at WDW--this was a Marvel-inspired movie, and should probably be compared to Iron Man/Avengers/Cap as well as traditional animation.
 
ChrisFL

ChrisFL

Premium Member
AtHomeBoy_2000 said:
I looked up Big Hero 6, I knew it didnt really take off like they had hoped. but, I never realized it barely doubled the production budget (aka breaking even)
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That's the problem...in Hollywood, even the most basic movies (meaning no need to film on location or do anything theoretically outside of a few studio buildings) still costs way too much money IMO
 
Magic Feather

Magic Feather

Well-Known Member
Hey Spirit! As a long time "watcher of the threads" (I joined Semi- recently) I always found your threads to be some of the best as well as most informative. I will very much miss your spirited threads! Wishing you as we'll as your family the best, and in regards to your cruise, we recently took one on the dream and we thought it was spectacular, and I hear the Fantasy if very similar. Hope to hear info from you occasionally, just as well I hope your newfound time is spent well in all of the right places.
-C
 
FrankLapidus

FrankLapidus

Well-Known Member
71jason said:
While they sanitized all the Marvel Universe references/characters--presumably at least in part so the IP could be used at WDW--this was a Marvel-inspired movie, and should probably be compared to Iron Man/Avengers/Cap as well as traditional animation.
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Not really, its a sole WDAS production and Marvel have distanced themselves from any real involvement in the making of the film beyond giving Disney free reign to make the film they wanted.

Its inspired by a very obscure Marvel property in any event so comparing it to their crown jewels is a bit unfair.
 
W

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
ChrisFL said:
That's the problem...in Hollywood, even the most basic movies (meaning no need to film on location or do anything theoretically outside of a few studio buildings) still costs way too much money IMO
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It is not exactly the problem in this case for Big Hero 6 since AtHomeBoy_2000 typed it way too premature. Big Hero 6 hasn't been open in 24 countries yet including some big markets like UK and France as an example. This is a movie that is going past 550 million dollars once it is all done. After this weekend, it's going to be past the 400 million worldwide mark Easily with big hero 6 opening up in Hungary on Thursday, and Lithuania, and Pakistan on Friday.
 
DocMcHulk

DocMcHulk

Well-Known Member
ChrisFL said:
That's the problem...in Hollywood, even the most basic movies (meaning no need to film on location or do anything theoretically outside of a few studio buildings) still costs way too much money IMO
Click to expand...
It amazes me that an animated move cost $165m (per box office mojo), while Into the Woods was $50m and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 cost $125m.
 
CBOMB

CBOMB

Active Member
So did Angie M enjoy her first Thanksgiving here WDW 1974? Does she plan on retiring from her present position so she can move to South Florida to start a turkey farm?
 

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