TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
I really got out of Orlando RIGHT before things started to hit the fan. OMG.
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The Sorcerer's Apprentice Season 6: ODYSSEY
- Thread starter Pi on my Cake
- Start date
I really got out of Orlando RIGHT before things started to hit the fan. OMG.
mickeyfan5534
Well-Known Member
At least CMs are getting paid.
- In the Parks
- Yes
This is really shocking news! Other than New Mutants getting delayed again. Everyone knows that movie will never actually be released lol
On a personal note, I actually recently accepted a position as a cast member at WDW that was supposed to start in mid-May. I'm really curious what is actually gonna happen with that
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
And here...we...GO!
spacemt354
Chili's
mickeyfan5534
Well-Known Member
Proudly Presents
A Watery Cavalcade of Villainy
There are five elements in classical Chinese legend: Earth, Water, Wood, Metal, and Fire. Though they have their good uses, there is also dark evil in these elements. The Disney Villains, those that rule this Dark Kingdom, plan to show that power to the people who dare trespass on their kingdom.
The cavalcade around the waters of the Dark Kingdom begins with a simple title barge representing all five elements. A floating cliff face with the parade's title in silver is framed by raging flames, towering waterfalls, and threatening brambles, starting the watery cavalcade with the sounds of a Chinese orchestra.
The first element, Earth floats out with some lesser-seen characters. A large barge comes floating in with a recreation of the staircase and champagne fountain from The World's Greatest Criminal Mind. The fountains pull off an elaborate mini-World of Color dance to the music. Generic "bad guy" dancers dance around a rather terrifying costumed Ratigan performer designed exclusively for the parade. In the background of the float is be the face of Big Ben, looming in the distance as a reminder of Ratigan's eventual demise.
Then, a rather unconventional float will be about 10% stage and 90% vehicle. Crafted after McLeach's terrain-destroying truck from The Rescuers Down Under, this metallic monster of a float will careen through the water seemingly swallowing everything in its past. A George C. Scott look-alike McLeach face character will sit atop the driver's seat laughing maniacally with a menacing puppet of Joanna the iguana by his side.
Earth makes way for Water as Ursula herself floats past, holding a trident as her tentacles writhe threateningly on the water while she commands the seas to do her bidding with fountains surrounding her creating waves of fearsome water while Flotsam and Jetsam float next to her.
While most floats in this parade are made up of barges, the Flying Dutchman will be a legitimate ship in the middle of the action. Elaborate costuming and makeup effects will bring Davy Jones and his crew to life. The Davy Jones costume, in particular, will be a feat and feature the world's first wearable audio-animatronic in the form of the tentacle beard donned by the actor. This in addition to the next generation makeup worn by the crew members will sure to make this scene a feat in that department.
The parade then goes from a wooden ship to Wood. First, a puppet Scar stands proud over a twisted Pride Rock, surrounded by hyenas and twisted, dead trees.
Then, the Mistress of all Evil arrives as Maleficent stands tall on a tower of brambles and briars, with parts of it almost resembling a beastly dragon.
What better to follow Wood than Metal? Metal is represented by two of the most powerful villains in the Disney canon: the Evil Queen and Jafar. First, the Evil Queen floats out on the water on a steel tower rising from her cauldron while she orders the Magic MIrror behind her to tell her who is the fairest one of all. Then, Jafar arrives on a bronze boat shaped like a snake with a sinister chuckle, casting spells all around him that change the barge in unexpected ways like making a large cobra rise up and then disappear in a plume of smoke.
In the grand finale, the Fantasia villains come to life in a bold way as we see a large and very literal "mountain" of a barge, easily the biggest scale in the parade. Towering over the mountain is a massive puppet of Chernabog, similar in scale to the Maleficent dragon from Magic Kingdom's day time parade. While not a full-blown AA, it can still pose dramatically. Wrapped around Bald Mountain is the titular Firebird. This will be more in line with the dragon from Escape from Gringott's. Stationary but very visually impressive. Of course, it wouldn't be the Firebird if it wasn't actually on fire, so the whole area of the unit is essentially one big safety controlled wick in the shape of the Firebird, able to be turned on and off by the flick of a switch. This way guests will really feel the heat as the float swoops in for the showstopping moment.
This daytime spectacular is sure to entertain guests in the afternoon, whether they are exploring the park, searching for dark secrets, or simply rushing past on their way to the next ride of the day along the canals of Disney's Dark Kingdom.
- In the Parks
- Yes
The teams succeeded in their mission and collected the mysterious, unknown artifact in Hong Kong before L.A.N.D. Agents could! It seems strange that we haven't heard much from L.A.N.D. recently? Doesn't it? Wonder why that is?
So, anyways what was the mysterious artifact?
What plot twist (twists?) could this have been used to hide? We'll find out shortly! But we now know how to find the final artifact!
The Guide to Twists is safely in the hands of S.E.A. and there is only one final artifact left to find!
Team Tomorrow in the Disney Adventure and Team Yesterday in the Disney Adventure have set sail for the location of the next artifact, while they don't know exactly where it is, their ships do! Our ships are currently traveling at a speed of 42 1/5 knots, which puts our arrival time by 23:59 EST Sunday.
Until then, sit back, relax, and enjoy the fact that you can still safely ride cruise ships in the SAU while you wait for the reviews!
- In the Parks
- Yes
Before I get into any reviews, I wanted to give some insight to how I, personally, handle reviewing art heavy projects. Or art in general. I try to never judge by how “good” the art is. That’s just not fair. Nor is it fun. But it is always tough to compare some masterpiece by @D Hindley to someone’s first attempt at a pencil sketch. Yet, when you host a competition like this, you kind of have to compare those. So, how do you do it? Personally, I have a few criteria I use.
- How does it compare to previous art by the same person? - Did they try any new techniques or try to draw something different then they usually do? A new program? Have they shown growth from previous work? I don’t like to compare art by one person to the art of another, but comparing someone to themself makes sense.
- Does the art communicate information effectively? - They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but that’s more of a general estimate. Some pictures are worth a lot more, others are worth way less. A good piece of art can basically sell a project by itself.
- Was there effort put into it? - This is the trickiest part. Because it is often tough to know whether effort was put into something or how much. And all art takes effort. But sometimes you can look at an amazing logo and think “That probably took 15 minutes in PowerPoint” and then look at a really cheesey looking drawing that isn’t great and think “That probably took 3 hours.” I know I’ve personally popped out logos that I’ve been super proud of before that take next to no time or effort and then spent HOURS on a character sketch that still looked like something a 12 year old did in the margins of their textbook while half asleep. But again, this is a slippery slope judging on “effort” because that is something that is so tough to see. So, this usually gets folded into point 1.
So, with that out of the way, let's get to the reviews! This project is mostly art, and the concepts of the two parades are rather similar. So, there’s gonna be a lot of me saying “That’s great!” Over and over again and a winner being decided based on very small differences. There’s a reason this round is in Act 2 where who wins each individual round isn’t quite as important since there are no eliminations. So, I wanted to give that warning up front that small stuff that doesn’t really matter much is gonna have to be the deciding factor.
- The presentation is simple, yet very effective! Slides are perfect for a parade and little touches like angry eyes on the title slide help sell it. I almost wish you had gone farther with that! Choose a spooky font, add more angry eyes to the other slides, maybe some blood splatter to the corners. Stuff like that. But what you do have is really fun added details! Especially since I know time was tight for the team this round. Even just having a few “plusses” like that is nice!
- Speaking of “plusses”, the music playlist was a great touch! The Instrumental of “Our House Now” would be a great framing song, even if it isn’t the most recognizable choice. Music is such a big part of parades, even something as relatively simple as adding a playlist to the presentation adds a lot to it!
- I love the concept of Pete gathering up all the underappreciated villains and minions! That is such a fun concept for a parade! A perfect way to add some more goofy fun to the park as well as set up the nighttime show! It is also a very practical way to compliment the nighttime show without stepping on its toes by using the same characters. A very smart decision.
- Another smart decision was having the parade be water based. It helps with crowd flow as you mentioned, but it also takes great advantage of the unique park layout to create an equally unique parade! Plus, it helps to again reestablish this as a prologue of sorts to the big nighttime spectacular.
- Details like the map showing the route and the float storage are nice “plusses”
- @Puffs you have definitely grown as an artist this season! Each thing you draw has more detail than the last! I love it!
- The first float with Pete as the “Maestro of Mayhem” kicking things off and inviting all his other less respected villains and all is a really fun and clever way to kick off the parade! Plus, it lets you have a “Classic” character in the place where Mickey or Donald or whoever would usually be. Great way to kick things off!
- The Coachmen float was such a great idea! But I don’t think it translates as well to the water parade format. This was brilliant for a standards parade! Donkey eared dancers “pulling” it, the large imposing steel cage, it is amazing! I just think this could have been cut when you decided for sure to do a water parade. I think you all would have noticed this and changed it, but it slipped through the cracks due to the timing issues this team had this stanza (Entirely understandable issues considering what all is going on right now). Even though it doesn’t work as well on water, it is still a really cool float!
- @spacemt354 your art is always great! I know you didn’t have as much time this stanza, but you got some great stuff here! I know character art isn’t what you usually do, so I really appreciate the time and effort into Pain, Panic, and Shan Yu! Even old veterans like you can find ways to push themselves in new ways!
- The Hyena Float sounds striking! I love the use of lighting to add dramatic effect to it! The Be Prepared sequence always had such amazing visual flair to it, it would translate amazingly well to a float!
- The Pain and Panic Float is another great one! I don’t have much to say about it, but I like it! Visually, the heavy focus on rockwork makes it a bit similar to the Hyene float (Plus, they both have more of a minion focus). It wouldn’t be an issue except for the fact that they’re both right next to each other. If they were spaced out a bit it would have helped.
- The Mr. Smee Float is a lot of fun! Captain Hook’s ship has been done a LOT in floats and shows, but that’s partly because it just works so well! Plus, the focus on Smee and sea shanties rather than Peter Pan and sword fights and movie music makes this float really unique and stand out!
- @Disney Dad 3000 great work on the art getting it in at the last minute even with things being busy this round! It looks really nice! The visuals of the technicolor pipes would be such a fun float! I like the Emperor’s New School reference in the soundtrack! It fits the parade even if most people won’t have ever heard of the show.
- The Shan Yu float is a really cool one too. I like the illuminated Chinese dragon around the float!
- The Wreck-It-Ralph float is a kind of an odd inclusion. But I do really love the idea of Ralph just kind of being there like “I don’t really know what’s going on, but I’ll never say no to a party!” and just kind of rolling with it lol.
- I love the 3D art for the Lotso Float! Great job DDad! That is a medium we really see very rarely on the forum, so it is nice getting to see something 3D. Which isn’t easy as I am learning because of something I am trying to do for an upcoming comic.
- Pink Heffalumps is amazing! It would be the definite standout! I absolutely love it! @Brer Panther once again showing that you’ve become one of the better artists on the forum! Absolutely fantastic character work! Very bright and vibrant!
- I love the Epic Mickey float! While the popularity of the games might have died out by now, characters like Phantom Blot and Mad Doctor are timeless villain concepts that will always be relevant! Plus, the float looks fantastic! Great artwork and design work by @Brer Oswald!
- Hellfire would be another great stand out! I love the Firebird! And that song would be an amazing and powerful finale song for the parade! Frollo hosting the Firebird float just works so well! It is just an incredible finale!
- Also, shoutout to @Evilgidgit for doing a lot of the writing! It gave the parade a great, consistent tone!
Overall, this is a great parade! I absolutely love the focus on original art! This team has been absolutely killing it in the art department lately! Plus, the team itself did a great job coming together! The only possible issue is whether there was enough focus on polishing the presentation and writing enough detail since nearly everyone was working on art for the floats? Again, a very small thing, but in a round like this, the small things wind up being the deciding factor.
- In the Parks
- Yes
The other review will be a bit delayed and come a bit later tonight. Due to me taking a quick break to eat a bunch of cookies and watch 30 Rock on Amazon Prime. Through a network of friends and family, I now have Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, AND Disney+! I'm gonna stream all the things!
DisneyManOne
Well-Known Member
Regarding the Guide to Twists...
I wouldn't really consider Ruenard a villain, especially considering that 1) he was already long dead by the time the events of the film kicked off and 2) the crux of Frozen II's climax involves righting what he did wrong. He's more like a "small character, big impact" kind of guy.
- In the Parks
- Yes
If you didn't read my notes about how I review projects with a lot of art on Team Tomorrow's review, you should check that out. Though there isn't too much art here, it still might be helpful to get some insight into how reviews are handled.
I love the concept of this parade! The Elements of Evil is very strong and a perfect fit for Dark Kingdom! The park has a strong thematic and philosophical base it is based on with the Yin Yang theme added to the resort as a whole. It ties it to Chinese culture is a unique and interesting way! The parade tying into elements the way it does continues this tradition of a strong cultural tie! I absolutely adore this theme and I can't give it enough praise! Unfortunately, this parade was perhaps a bit too ambitious for what the team was able to do in the time they had and the theme doesn't feel fully developed for a lot of the floats. But the concept is so strong and a the floats are awesome!
- The logo poster is fantastic! Great work @gam3rprincess! I've loved seeing you grow as an artist!
- The Title Float for the parade is incredible! It helps the parade feel like it has the class and depth of a non-IP show/parade like Illuminations or Rivers of Light while still having the fun and grand attitude of a IP party like Happily Ever After or Festival of Fantasy. A really great start!
- Also, just like with Team Tomorrow, I think a boat parade was a great idea! Absolutely fantastic!
- On to the second float! This is where some of the problems start to arise. This Rattigan Float is incredible!!! But I really don't see how it ties into Earth at all? All you really describe is a fountain (water) and a clock (metal). It just doesn't tie into the theme even though it is a really fun float!
- The McLeach Float sounds incredible once again! It would be a truly amazing sight to behold and a great tribute to a lesser known movie, but like the Coachman float from Tomorrow's project it doesn't really work as well for a water parade as it does for a land parade. Plus, I don't really see a strong connection to Earth. It feels more like Metal since it is a big "Metal Monster" as you yourself describe it. Though this is still an amazing float and very intimidating even if it doesn't fully work with the theme/boats.
- A giant Ursala with fountains along the path! Now this is more like it! It takes full advantage of the setting of a water parade! It fits the elemental theme to a tee (Ursula is using the element for evil! Like the title of the parade says!)
- This leads right into the Flying Dutchman which also fits the theme and takes advantage of the setting and the theme! I don't know if the super in depth and high tech make up and prosthetics are needed since a water parade won't be really seen up close. But the R&D can be used for other settings to, so it isn't really an issue over producing the costumes a bit. Especially since Davy Jones is such an incredibly popular and enduring villain! Another great float!
- Scar and Pride Rock feels more like Earth, which was the element you had trouble finding floats for earlier lol. Though at least the dead trees were added to tie it more into wood. Not too much detail to the float, but I always love seeing Scar and the Hyenas.
- The Maleficent float is another perfect one though! It is simple, but it fits "Wood" like a glove. A dragon made of brambles would be an incredible float too!
- Tying the Evil Queen and he cauldron/the mirror into Metal was a great idea! It would make such a cool and unique float! I love it!
- The bronze Jafar float is another great fit! It is really simple in how it was described, but something about it just sparks my mind. I feel like I can visualize it perfectly.
- The Finale float would be absolutely incredible! I really adore how realistically it is described. Even some little details about Fire Safety. This is exactly the type of details and "plusses" that I love to see! It would be a great finale and a great representaton Fire! Especially the one two punch of Chernabog and Firebird together! A really truly great and grand finale!!
- Big shout out to @mickeyfan5534 for doing a great job leading this project and taking charge of it!
Overall, this parade has an incredibly strong concept and some truly special floats! This project was just held back by the team not having enough time to fully develop it leading to a lack of visuals and some thematic issues. Though even with some issues, each and every float is great and would be a treat to see! With a lot of stuff going on right now and the shorter time frame of these stanzas, it is still very impressive what you were able to do!
- In the Parks
- Yes
That's fair. It definitely is a way less extreme case of the twist, but it still is someone you didn't think was evil being revealed to be evil. I really enjoyed Frozen 2's lack of a real villain though! It's got a great adventure vibe to it!
DisneyManOne
Well-Known Member
To me, how the film talks about Ruenard is kind of like learning about Christopher Columbus as you go through school. When you're in elementary school, you hear about how he was this great explorer. Then, when you get to high school, they tell you what a massive jerkface the guy was. Same basic principle here.
pix
Well-Known Member
I just wanted to be part of the discussion! Also while Ruenard is the easiest identifiable character for the villain role I would argue that like Moana even if you can "name a villain" the true villain is not person v person but person v self and that's why both these movies are two of my favorites. HOWEVER can we have a movie with a real villain and a villain song that slaps again Dr. Facilier left me with some high hopes for some new villain songs. Also I type villain as villian EVERY TIME
- In the Parks
- Yes
And @NateD1226 with an incredible edited together soundtrack!!! I can't believe I foegot to mention it! I had it at the top of the reviews, but then i erased it thinking the writing would flow better if I mentioned the soudntrack at the end to top it off and then I forgot to add it back in lol. But @NateD1226 I wanted to make sure you were recognized here! Great job!
- In the Parks
- Yes
- In the Parks
- Yes
Another Optional Bonus Prompt! For anyone who wants some extra stuff to do!
Your Optional Bonus Mission, should you choose to accept it, is to design a themed drinking fountain for Shanghai Disneyland!
This one's for you @D Hindley
D Hulk
Well-Known Member
View attachment 456443
Another Optional Bonus Prompt! For anyone who wants some extra stuff to do!
Your Optional Bonus Mission, should you choose to accept it, is to design a themed drinking fountain for Shanghai Disneyland!
This one's for you @D Hindley
ZOOTOPIA ALL-SPECIES FOUNTAIN
By order of Mayor Lionheart, Shanghai Disneyland's new Zootopia land - under construction now - will include a drinking fountain designed to be accessible by all species: a tall spigot for giraffes, a low bowl for dogs, a gigantic pool for elephants, a bottle feeder for hamsters, even the traditional design for humans. This fountain shall serve as a symbol of peace and unity for all animalkind!
PerGron
Well-Known Member
So these reviews aren't gonna be very long because the projects were much more focused on artwork, and honestly, I don't feel one can critique art based on quality like you can with writing.
So, I'll break it down in a different way than I normally do. Piece by piece.
Premise
So the idea of having Pete scrounging up the "extra" villains up for a celebration is definitely an idea I wouldn't have come up with. I do think that not including the major villains like Maleficent, Jafar, Ursula, etc. is a risky idea. However, I must say, you guys really knocked it out of the park in a way that I was worried about originally.
I also think the idea of a water parade is a great decision. The layout for Dark Kingdom is like Epcot where a street parade wouldn't really fit, so making this parade more suitable for the park was a really smart idea.
The music was great and may honestly go on to be some working music for me.
Pete's Invitation
This was a great way to include an original Disney animation character without including Mickey and friends. Pete is a character I've always wanted to be able to meet at a Disney park and somehow they just haven't added him in. @Puffs, you've come super far as an artist throughout the game, so I wanted to commend you on that.
Coachman of Pleasure Island
I really really like this idea! Pinocchio is one of my favorite Disney movies, and one that doesn't get as much love as I feel it should (besides When You Wish Upon a Star of course), so including this float would be a great idea. I like the inclusion of Foulfellow and Gideon being included here as I feel like they're staple walking characters in parades, so even if they can't walk here, it's a nice inclusion.
Laughter in the Elephant Graveyard
So as popular as The Lion King is, it doesn't really get as much love in the parks outside of Animal Kingdom really. I love the idea of having the hyenas, and I'm probably one of the few people on Earth who likes the walk around hyena costumes at the parks, so seeing them (I imagine) would be really neat!
Pain and Panic
So I really don't have much to say about this one. I love the artwork from @spacemt354, but the float itself is probably the more forgettable of the ones in this parade. That being said, the idea of a Cerberus puppet is a really good one and I'd love to see that.
A Pirate's Life
Peter Pan is obviously one of the most popular parts of a lot of parades, and Captain Hook's pirate ship is one of the more popular floats. I really like the idea of having Smee and Tick Tock being the Peter Pan reps for this one. I also once again want to commend @Puffs on their artwork here too.
Yzma's Empire
I adore the Emperor's New Groove and I think this would be a really popular float. Having the classic lever and the roller coaster cart is great, and I'm really glad to see Kronk get some love here! I was worried he wasn't gonna make the cut.
Victory of the Huns
So, admittedly, I haven't seen Mulan in years as I'm not a huge fan of it as a movie. That being said, the Chinese inspiration with the dragon wrapped around the float is a really cool visual that, despite not knowing if it appears in the movie, would fit the parade really well.
Wreck-It Ralph
This is the only float I'm not a big fan of, mainly because of the main joke that Ralph isn't really a villain. It's funny, but it kind of throws off the vibe of the parade in my opinion. That being said, the 3D artwork by @AceAstro was great and I must commend that.
Shadow of Toys
Stinky Pete can enter and exit his body?! That's terrifying!!
Pink Heffalumps on Parade
Reading this title, I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, but it felt off. It took me longer than I'd like to admit for me to figure out that Heffalumps and the Pink Elephants are different properties. That being said, the artwork by @Brer Panther is phenomenal and is really showing you as one of the best artists in the game right now! This is easily my favorite float in the parade.
Darkness of the Wasteland
I'm so glad you stuck around for this round @Brer Oswald because without your involvement we wouldn't have gotten this phenomenal float. Not only is the artwork great, but the idea of using Epic Mickey as an inspiration is, well, inspired. It's a favorite game of mine that doesn't really get any love by Disney anymore. If you still have your mind set on leaving, I understand, but after this performance especially, we'd love for you to hang around into the next round.
Hellfire
Honestly, this is a dang good photoshop, it really looks straight out of the movie. I love having two IPs sharing a float, and this one is a great one. Besides Pink Heffalumps, this is one of my favorite floats and I really wanted to commend you guys on this one!
Overall
Overall, this parade was really successful and while I know you guys weren't super excited about this round or the short rounds in general, you guys pulled through this one really well and I'm very proud of each and every one of you. Fantastic job!
