Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[Goofyernmost]

The blank napkins taste better then the fries.

They would wouldn't they? No ink! That sometimes alters the flavor of napkins.

I always get a kick out of the Trans Fat, Trans whatever else, that everyone worries about. One can enjoy the life that we have. Understand that absolutely everything that we do contains an element of risk. Giving up something enjoyable under that heading of "healthy", just so we can live an extra year in a wheelchair, drooling all over ourselves, no thanks. Not worth it.

No one is guaranteed a tomorrow, no matter how healthy we eat. From what I have observed, when one dies and what they die from is pretty much random.

 

[Jane Doe]

but they always give me my 10% cast discount .

Ah, so you have a broken leg then?

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

OOOOOOooooohhhhhh, let me go first.

To start with, that show was bugnuts insane. It was held in the Festival arena, a circular expanse of concrete shoved way in the back of Disneyland and ringed by the trees of Frontierland. Even to this day, the place feels like you've stumbled into a clearing in the forest.

Into this clearing, they built what felt like an entire medieval village. The show was a theater in the round, so while there was a stage at the center, the rest of the set surrounded the seating area. The audience was let into this area and sat on the ground, so that the stages and platforms towered over and wrapped around the audience, and together with the trees this was so enveloping that it really felt like being in some ancient, old provincial town.

And the set, Oh that set! It was the most elaborate, three-level wooden set you can imagine. It looked all rickety and the railings were all jagged and there were platforms and landings that jutted out all over and all manner of ladders and hooks and twisty staircases to get up and down it. There were ropes criss-crossing where Quasimodo would swing to and fro. There was a magnificent bell that hung over everything that would ring during the title song.

Then the "festival" would start, and it seriously was just bedlam. The set filled to the brim with performers, so that everywhere your head swiveled there was something to look at. There would be performers on one side wearing goofy masks doing some magic tricks and squires in clothes with bright patches waving flags all about and Frollo in black to one side glowering and Phoebus on the other side pacing back and forth and and more crazy jesters doing flips down the aisles and wenches hanging on the railings waving handkerchiefs and Quasimodo up above swinging his way about and Esmeralda down below doing her dance and Clopin in the middle orchestrating it all.

All was bustle and apparently carefully orchestrated confusion and before you even had time to see it all or cheer the latest crazy brightly colored parading paper head, somehow all the characters have gotten to the top of the set and Frollo falls to his death and Quasimodo's won but he doesn't get the girl and "huzzah!" the confetti falls and the bell is swinging, and the colors are going crazy and every festival attendee is doing something or other and Clopin hits that crazy note at the end of "Bells" and show's over and everybody's cheering like crazy.

And despite the Festival arena still emptily sitting there, Disney never tried a show like this ever again.

This. I remember seeing this and being so wowed by the spectacle of it all... It almost made the rest of the park dull in comparison. You left this theater thinking "the hell did I just see?" But in a good way.

The festival of fools was an incredible set up, we'll done and very entertaining. And you're right, they haven't tried anything quite on this scale since. It's a shame. The show was awesome.

I really wish they would do movie specific parades again. Remember the lion king parade? Best ever. I had to see every performance of it during my three day trip to Disneyland.

The good old days.

 

[danlb_2000]

Do I like them? Mulan, yes. Hunchback- no.

I enjoyed Mulan, but I still think Five Guys is better.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Haven't confirmed it, but strong buzz says Starbucks at Studios will be going into the shop that used to be Villians and now is a mess at the corner of Hollywood and Sunset. ...

I had been hearing Starring Rolls not Villains in Vogue/Sweet Spells.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Spirited Friday Musings: So it's a Friday over a four-day holiday weekend (one in which many Americans take the entire week off as vacation) and where are the breathless 'Phased closings' and 'FOUR HOUR WAIT FOR SOARIN!!!' threads?

There were phased closings on the 4th, but I've been checking wait times all week and the highest ones I've seen were 120 for Mermaid at one point, and 130 at Test Track. Around fireworks time at MK on the 4th, the highest wait was Thunder at 80 minutes.

 

[RSoxNo1]

The steak fries are shared from the Yachtsman, but the Parmesian Garlic fries, which are thinner with the peels on, are exclusive to the lounge

How do these compare to the Parmesan Garlic fries at Cafe Orleans?

 

[asianway]

How do these compare to the Parmesan Garlic fries at Cafe Orleans?

Boatwrights? Haven't been in forever but want to go try the prime rib, I'll have to compare. Crews cup are great but definItely an indulgence

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Strangely enough, the concept of the gargoyles was appropriately grown up for the film: they were a manifestation of Quasimodo's, hallucinations created by his mind to cope with the loneliness of his isolation. That's pretty creepy.

But that was left up to interprestation. Remember that Djali can see them too, and their actions affect the guards at the climax fighting to get into the cathedral.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I saw The Lone Ranger last night and I was very pleased. I caught a late showing, and my local theater has lazy boy recliners so I did have to fight back nodding off towards the end. It's a little long, but not unnecessarily so. It's also not really hard to see where they spent their money. There are some great action sequences and they make a view choices for when to acknowledge the original source material that were very well executed. Without spoiling it, I'll make a comparison to The Avengers. Going into The Avengers some of the things people wanted to see were all of the Avengers assembled, and what they're going to do with the Hulk. A poor movie would have had this done in Act 1, but instead there was a slow build to both. Comparitively in Jaws, you don't see the shark in Act 1 either. These are good choices. For The Lone Ranger, an acknowledgement of the more widely familiar source material could have been done in Act 1 but it wasn't and I really like that choice.

As for evaluating the movie as a whole. There are obviously going to be Pirates of the Caribbean comparisons. Johnny Depp as Tonto is a different enough character than Jack Sparrow. The similarities for me are in his resourcefulness during the action sequences. There's also some strong personality parallels but I'd still regard them as two separate characters. I liked Armie Hammer in the Social Network and I thought he did a great job opposite Depp in this. It's not an Orlando Bloom scenario where you have one actor who is clearly better than the other. Overall, I'd say that The Lone Ranger holds up pretty well against the first Pirates of the Caribbean, but I don't feel it's as good. The differentiators for me are that Barbosa, Norrington and many other secondary characters are stronger than the supporting cast in The Lone Ranger. Having said that, The Lone Ranger is just as good, if not better than any of the other Pirates movies.

 

[culturenthrills]

Hunchback is one of Disney's best. The opening is amazing, the story is awesome and the soundtrack is one of the greatest I've ever heard. "The Bells of Notre Dame", "Out There", "God Help the Outcasts", "Hellfire", "Heaven's Light"... Legit. And Frollo is Disney's greatest villain. It's a shame its only representation in Disneyland is a music box.

God I love Hunchback. The opening is amazing and after all that you follow it up with Out There one of the most beautiful Disney songs and sequences. Hellfire has there been a darker song and sequence in any Disney animated movie. I still remember seeing it in the theaters and walking out at the end and not believing what I just saw. So many moments in that movie that I tear up and many of them are just from the shear beauty of the music and visuals.

 

[culturenthrills]

"I See The Light" is my absolute favorite piece of Disney animation- ever! Gorgeous- and the song is pretty good, too. Packs quite an emotional punch if you ask me. Tangled was a very good film!

I second that. That sequence is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen out of any of the CG movies. My jaw was on the floor when I saw it for the first time and I couldn't help tearing up.

 

[culturenthrills]

Speaking of cutbacks what is it with Disney releasing these half assed no extra blu rays of Lilo and Stich, Atlantis and Emperors New Groove. What a joke. At least I have my dvd special editions. I refuse to buy these. What the hell were they thinking. How hard is it to at least put the extras that where on the dvds on here. Who ever made this decision should be fired.

I have nothing to say about In and Out or 5 guys cause I don't eat beef. However we have a new chain Burger 21 and they make a good turkey burger. I know sacrilege. I do like 5 guys fries.

 

[Figments Friend]

Burger King used to make a pretty decent veggie burger a few years back when they first introduced it to the menu.
It has been literally a ice age since i have eaten at a BK, so do not know if it is still on the menu and if the quality is still decent.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Speaking of cutbacks what is it with Disney releasing these half assed no extra blu rays of Lilo and Stich, Atlantis and Emperors New Groove. What a joke. At least I have my dvd special editions. I refuse to buy these. What the hell were they thinking. How hard is it to at least put the extras that where on the dvds on here. Who ever made this decision should be fired.

Atlantis does have bonus features, but I'm at a loss for what's going on with Lilo and Groove. Pretty much any other catalogue Disney Blu-ray release has something on it (Mulan, Brother Bear, Hunchback, Oliver and Company, Pete's Dragon). Not carrying over content from previous laserdisc and DVD releases is one of my biggest and most consistent complaint about WDSHE, but this takes the cake for sheer laziness.

 

[Figments Friend]

Regarding Frollo, In the original novel He is the Pastor of Notre Dame Cathedral and is a somewhat more sympathetic character. In the Disney adaptation he was made a judge probably to prevent backlash from certain Religious groups (Who they were already on thin ice with because of the supposed subliminal messages inserted into Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Lion King). That said it is quite amazing that they kept as much of the religious aspects of Frollo's character as they did. I honestly don't think a film like Hunchback could be made (at least not by Disney) today since commenting on organized religion in any film (Especially, a "Family film") is considered taboo.

Agree.
When 'Hunchback' was released i was stunned.
I enjoyed the film, and the quality of the animation is fantastic, but some of the story points and obvious innuendos blew my mind.
Disney received a lot of flack for it at the time, but if it came out today it would probably cause even more PC outcries.
It was a animated film that was definately in a class of it's own at that time and took a lot of people by surprise.
That is not always a bad thing....

When i first saw it unspool , I could not believe what i was seeing in a 'Disney' film...but back then DFA was feeling good about themselves.
They felt that they had finally crossed over into being more fully embraced by adult viewers ( thanks to the success of 'The Lion King' ) and started treading much more adult themes.
Studio heads at the time may have also pushed the content into a more mature direction feeling their was now a audience for that.

I think for a lot of people 'Pocahontas' and 'Hunchback' came as a surprise because of them both being more 'adult' films in their tone and subject matter.

I clearly remember catching a showing of 'Pocahontas' on Opening Weekend and seeing that the full theatre was having trouble staying attentive. All the talk, and the love story was putting the kids to sleep. When it was over it was a overall dissapointment for many...at least that was the vibe i came away with after the showing.

'Hunchback' i really enjoy when it focuses on that more mature, serious tone and some of the animation sequences are spectacular visually. The FX animators really had a ball on this film...and it adds a lot to the drama.
When i saw this at a early showing i think some parents actually pulled kids from their seats and left. Had not seen that since the time i saw 'The Black Cauldron' upon it's release and parents were cleaning house towards the end of the film ( The Horned King and his Deathless Warriors freaked out the kiddies apparently....)

It is a shame the film is sometimes kind of 'forgotten' these days, but it is understandable considering some folks may not been overly keen on having the kiddies watch it.

 

[Computer Magic]

Agree.
When 'Hunchback' was released i was stunned.
I enjoyed the film, and the quality of the animation is fantastic, but some of the story points and obvious innuendos blew my mind.
Disney received a lot of flack for it at the time, but if it came out today it would probably cause even more PC outcries.
It was a animated film that was definately in a class of it's own at that time and took a lot of people by surprise.
That is not always a bad thing....

When i first saw it unspool , I could not believe what i was seeing in a 'Disney' film...but back then DFA was feeling good about themselves.
They felt that they had finally crossed over into being more fully embraced by adult viewers ( thanks to the success of 'The Lion King' ) and started treading much more adult themes.
Studio heads at the time may have also pushed the content into a more mature direction feeling their was now a audience for that.

I think for a lot of people 'Pocahontas' and 'Hunchback' came as a surprise because of them both being more 'adult' films in their tone and subject matter.

I clearly remember catching a showing of 'Pocahontas' on Opening Weekend and seeing that the full theatre was having trouble staying attentive. All the talk, and the love story was putting the kids to sleep. When it was over it was a overall dissapointment for many...at least that was the vibe i came away with after the showing.

'Hunchback' i really enjoy when it focuses on that more mature, serious tone and some of the animation sequences are spectacular visually. The FX animators really had a ball on this film...and it adds a lot to the drama.
When i saw this at a early showing i think some parents actually pulled kids from their seats and left. Had not seen that since the time i saw 'The Black Cauldron' upon it's release and parents were cleaning house towards the end of the film ( The Horned King and his Deathless Warriors freaked out the kiddies apparently....)

It is a shame the film is sometimes kind of 'forgotten' these days, but it is understandable considering some folks may not been overly keen on having the kiddies watch it.

This makes a lot of sense as Disney was moving WDW towards adults around that time. Now they moved towards kids and princesses too much. They need to find a middle ground

 

[NoChesterHester]

I had been hearing Starring Rolls not Villains in Vogue/Sweet Spells.

That would be a shame. Starring Rolls is the only counter service at the Studios that is worth a rip.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

That would be a shame. Starring Rolls is the only counter service at the Studios that is worth a rip.

I can't imagine Starring Rolls having enough space to deal with Starbucks-sized crowds.

 

[doctornick]

This makes a lot of sense as Disney was moving WDW towards adults around that time. Now they moved towards kids and princesses too much. They need to find a middle ground

I think Wreck It Ralph was a good compromise. It's not like little kids would get the references to older video games.