Very Sad News : The Great WDI Imagineer Skip Lange Passed Away on Oct. 14

A very sad news as i learned today that the great WDI Imagineer Skip Lange passed away on Oct. 14. Skip lange joined Imagineering in 1970 as a dimensional designer, and went on to be a field designer on several attractions at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Park. During the creation of Epcot he was the production designer for two Future World pavilions, and he was the show producer for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Tokyo Disneyland. Later he would act as field art director for each of the five themed lands at Disneyland Paris, and he was the show director for the fantastic Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland Anaheim.






The picture above shows Skip Lange ( right ) working in late 70's on Disneyland Big Thunder mountain with Imagineer and friend Pat Burke. 

Retired Imagineer Chalmer Day shared some thoughts about his colleague: “My fondest memories of working with Skip include when he was the overall field rockwork art director for Mysterious Island at Tokyo DisneySea. I also recall when we were working on Adventureland for Hong Kong Disneyland and he was given the last-minute direction to add an entire ‘wow’ scene to the jungle river ride. It was a huge challenge and he pulled it off beautifully. Skip was an amazing Imagineer and an even greater friend who did so much good in the world.”




On this last picture above, shot at Tam-O-Shanter restaurant after the funeral of Imagineer Pat Burke in January 2015 Skip Lange is on the right with, from left, Imagineers Matt McKim ( Sam McKim's son), Tony Baxter, Chris Runco, Tim Delaney, Julie Svendsen - and Skip Lange.

Picture: copyright Disney

King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej Died Today in Bangkok, Thailand, at 88 - Rare Pictures with Walt Disney of a 1960 Royal Visit at Disneyland,

The King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej died today in Bangkok, Thailand, at 88. He was King of Thailand since 70 years, and was the King with the longest reign - longer than Queen Elizabeth. He was also the greatest King alive, wonderful human being who saved many times the country, he was revered like a semi-God by all Thaïs.  He was also a photographer and a Jazz musician, among many others talents. His son, the crown Prince will become king soon, but it will be hard for him to replace in the hearts of Thaïs his incredibly beloved father.

I succeeded to find pictures of Rama 9 - Bhumibol Adulyadej name as King - at Disneyland with Walt Disney on June 22, 1960 during a royal visit in the U.S.A with his wife, Queen Sirikit, and their children Prince Vajiralongkorn and Princess Ubol Ratana Rajakanya. The young boy that you will see on the pictures below is the crown Prince who will become king in a few days.

Before moving to Disneyland here are two pictures of their arrival in the U.S.A. On the picture below, King Bhumibol Adulyadej with Queen Sirikit arriving at Ontario International Airport on June 18, 1960. He was greeted by about 50 Thai students living in the area.

On June 22, 1960, King Bhumibol Adulyadej with Queen Sirikit and Prince Vajiralongkorn and Princess Ubol Ratana visited Disneyland and on the picture below they are entering Disneyland.

On the top picture, King Bhumibol Adulyadej stands with Walt, Queen Sirikit and their children the young Prince Vajiralongkorn and Princess Ubol Ratana Rajakanya on the steps of Disneyland City Hall.

Always at Disneyland City Hall, Walt offered to the young Prince what looks to be a Disneyland flag with Mickey!

A color version of this picture is also available!




King Bhumibol Adulyadej with the young Prince and Walt aboard Disneyland C.K.Holliday locomotive.

On the next picture, King Bhumibol Adulyadej with Queen Sirikit in one of Alice in Wonderland vehicle.

With Walt and their two children, King Bhumibol Adulyadej with Queen Sirikit in a boat of Story Book Land, with Captain Hook ship in the background.

Believe it or not but there is some short very rare footage existing of this Royal visit at Disneyland, and here is the video below.





On June 21, 1960, so before going to Disneyland King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit met some representatives of U.S State Dept as well as American business men during a special reception for the visit of the King in the U.S.A.






On this last picture King Bhumibol Adulyadej  is greeted by Don Douglas Jr who had organized a lunch in his honor at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The King was 3é years old at the time of this visit in the U.S.A.

Don't miss Disney and more part two tribute to King Bhumibol Adulyadej in which you'll see fantastic pictures in glorious colors, also shot by LIFE magazine in 1960! The part two article is now online HERE.

Your comments to this article are very welcome, just note that it might take a few hours before the comment will appear on this page.

Final Poster and Trailer for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”

The final poster and trailer for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” has been released. We can see Jyn Erso along with the other members of Rogue One, while Darth Vader and The Death Star loom in the background. The trailer is more convincing than the previous one so may be there is hopes that the movie will be great, after all. And, yes, there is a shot with Darth Vader!


 

"In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.”
Picture and video: copyright Lucasfilm

BIG Announcement About Disneyland Paris Coming Next MONDAY !

A short post to let you know that Euro Disney S.A.S Catherine Powell will do a BIG announcement about Disneyland Paris next MONDAY. She most probably will talk about DLP 25th Anniversary but who knows, may be there will be something else and Dedicated to DLP makes the list of what could be announced HERE.

Shanghaî Disneyland : Concept-Art of a "Main Street" That Never Was

Someone named Fukuhomu posted on Twitter this very interesting rendering done in 2008 by Imagineer Luc Mayrand. Luc Mayrand is VP, Creative Portfolio Executive for Hong Kong and Shanghai Disney Resorts at Walt Disney Imagineering as well as Executive Creative Director/ Senior Show Producer at WDI since 1999. And this rendering is supposed to show an early concept for a “Main Street” or at least the “entrance street” of Shanghaî Disneyland! 

It would have been entirely covered by a canopy like at Tokyo Disneyland World Bazaar, it don't mean that it would have looked like a covered regular Main Street U.S.A - probably not - but in this concept SDL entrance street was definitely under a canopy. The castle design too doesn’t look the same than it is now, the lands are not located at the same place, etc, so in two words: everything on this SDL artwork looks different than it is now.

On the picture below, Luc Mayrand ( left ) stands with Catherynne jean ( right ) at SDL Treasure Cove for a November 2015 Shanghai Daily article that you can read HERE.




This covered entrance street reminds me this other early concept for SDL entrance and “Main Street” that was shown by Bob Iger in 2013 or 14 during a presentation, and which seems inspired by Luc Mayrand rendering.


Have look also at this interview of Luc Mayrand filmed three years ago, talking about projecting oneself in the future to design new products for today, the importance of team work, prototyping, iterating and developing a point of view.


New Product Design at Disney Imagineering - YULBCN 2013 from Mosaic HEC on Vimeo.

Pictures: copyright Disney

Disneyland Paris 2016 Halloween Season Update

Last week the Halloween season started at Disneyland Paris, so here is a special DLP Halloween update with plenty of pics and videos thanks to Max, D&M contributor and DLPWelcome webmaster!

Main Street USA is now in Orange and black, the ghosts residents of the town are back and the street citizens have decorated their buildings with little pumpkins .The decoration, as in previous years, is simple and effective, well integrated and well thought. Disneyland Paris don't change what works well in the Park ( for once! ).

The first and main event of the day is the « Mickey’s Halloween Celebration » cavalcade. Like last year the parade of 3 floats awaits a new one, and with the years, the small size of the parade could harm it. Let's hope something new for its 5 years, next year, during DLP 25th Anniversary.

But this cavalcade is great with his music, his rythm, the large number of performers and the variety of Disney characters more or less well-known.

And here is the video of the full cavalcade!




The second news is about the show « It’s Good to be Bad with the Disney Villains! »

This event allows all visitors to meet the main Disney villains in 1 hour. 2 shows of 8 minutes. One in English with the evil Queen, and one in french with Cruella Devil. Those two shows allow Disney to offer an entertaiment more qualitative than last year, despite the choice of a dubious musical medley.

Here is the video of the version of the show with Cruella...




And here is the version with the evil Queen.




Meet and greet with the characters is always what guests love during Halloween and for once they can meet the Cheshire Cat! You just have to be patient to meet him as everyone wants to!

Maleficent has a new costume this year, nicer in its colors and more details than the previous one. Also, Mickey and Minnie Mouse can be meet with their Halloween costume. Marie from the Aristocats can be meet on Town Square, Stitch or Daisy near Casey Corner and Jack Skellington near Phantom Manor.

Here is Max video showing the Halloween meet and greet with the characters!

Finally, this season has as new merchandise, the arrival of the themed « Poison Apple » mug sold in the kiosks of popcorn, empty for 8€ or 9€ with popcorn. It is larger than it looks and with a quality plastic. It also allows good interaction when it is presented to the Disney characters. Only downside: Disney should think to propose a special price for all people with this mug for the recharge of popcorns and avoid paying the full fare. Disney could make itself more money (with more sales) and get a satisfaction improved of the visitors. One last thing: the item is so popular that it was already out of stock this week and no one apparently knows if it'll be back soon!

Max will be back soon with a new DLP update,In the meantime i remind you that you can still order the Disneyland Paris "From Sketch to Reality" book while we still have copies available for 75€ ( + 15€ shipping ), pay with the Paypal button below and send me an email with your order at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com

Jump to the book website HERE to learn more about it and watch a video showing the whole book! See you soon for a new DLP update!

 

Disneyland Paris From Sketch to Reality Book

1 Disneyland Paris Book English or French Edition €75.00 EUR 1 Disneyland Paris Book English or French SIGNED Edition €90.00 EUR 2 Disneyland Paris Book English or French Edition €140.00 EUR 2 Disneyland Paris Book English or French SIGNED Edition €170.00 EUR

Those of you who have never seen the book will find below a video presentation of the full book which will show you each of the 320 pages of the book AND you can see more pictures on the book website HERE.

Although you've probably heard about this beautiful book, many of you may have never seen a copy of it. So we've done a video presentation of the full book which will show you each of the 320 pages of the book! The book includes 750 pictures of the park, including 250 gorgeous renderings of Walt Disney Imagineering and stunning pictures of the park seen from above. The book is so big that it took us seven and a half minutes to show you the full book, and that's without stopping turning each pages! So, if you want to have a closer look at a page don't hesitate to stop the video!


 
Videos: copyright Alain Littaye, DLPWelcome
Pictures: copyright DLPWelcome

Legendary French TV Figure Pierre Tchernia, Friend of Walt Disney, Dies at 88

A legendary figure of french television, Pierre Tchernia, passed away today at 88. Incredibly sympathetic and having an astonishing memory of the whole Cinema history he was beloved by French audience since 60 years and had participated to French television since its creation in 1948. Along creating many famous TV shows about Cinema he was also script writer, movie director, and much more. He was the one who introduced the original Zorro TV series to French audience in the 60's.  I had the luck to knew Pierre Tchernia personally a long time ago and he has always been extremely kind with me, back at a time when i was in my twenties.



Pierre Tchernia knew well Walt Disney and in this rare1962 short interview you'll see him with Walt introducing "The seven dwarfs soup" a sequence that was not included in the final Snow White movie and totally unknown at that time.




Each year at Christmas, French could see the famous "L'Ami Public Numéro Un" TV show ( Number One Public Friend ) or SVP Disney who was all about Walt Disney animated films and spectators could choose which clip they would like to see first.



Below, a short clip showing one of the SVP Disney shows which was aired in December 1966 shortly after Walt passed away. That was back in in the 60's when french television was still in B&W, a long time ago...