"An History of Disneyland and Walt Disney World" Auction Include Dozens of Treasures for Disney Parks Fans - Note: Article Now Edited with Artworks in Better Definition !

The Van Eaton Galleries major auction of December will happen this year on Dec 7 and 8 and as usual there is some major pieces on sale in the auction titled "An History of Disneyland and Walt Disney World". We'll have a look at my favourite pieces, and you can have a look and order the auction catalog with details on each of the 1500 pieces (!) for $40 in its softcover version HERE.

We love artwork here at D&M so i suggest we have a look at the most interesting pieces, starting by the legendary Herb Ryman artwork for Disneyland above, done during a week-end with Walt on his side, and in its rare color version.

Next, is this never-seen-before blueline print of an artwork by Jim Michaelson, a proposal for Disneyland Paris Main Street arcade.




Always by Jim Michaelson, this other concept-art, also a concept for Disneyland Paris Main Street.




...as well as this one showing DLP Main Street Station.



Always by Jim Michaelson, this other concept map print is a never-seen-before concept for Shanghaî Disneyland, was done in 2009 and feature the earliest ideas of how will look the park and attractions, with a giant Tower of the Four Winds in its center.



Let's move to an artwork from Harper Goff for Epcot The Land pavilion with this one below for the "Listen to the Land attraction.



The next artwork for Snow White Grotto is a Disney Gallery print signed by Imagineer john Hench.



More artwork with this set of signed Carousel of Progress prints, signed by Sam Mc Kim, Colin Campbell and John Hench.







Always for Disneyland this a rare concept-art by Imagineer John Stone done for the Disneyland Indiana Jones Lost River Expedition project when there was supposed to be, in addition of the jeep ride, also the ore car rollercoaster ride like the one at DLP, as well as Jungle Cruise boats and the Disneyland Railroad passing though the show building.

And what about this great original concept-art for the Peter Pan's Flight mural?



Yes, there is also in auction some original Haunted Mansion stretching portraits.

Fans of Mary Blair will be interested by tehse rare silkscreened test prints for artworks to be displayed in WDW Contemporary Resort.

If you love original plans this Walt Disney World master plan should be for you!

Attraction posters fans will fall for some very rare ones like the one for the U.S Bi-Centennial, or the People Mover Superspeed Tunnel...

...or this fun one for Disney's Animal Kingdom It's Tough to be a Bug attraction.

Also in auction this gorgeous model of the General Electric Progressland pavilion for the 1964 New York World's Fair.


Another stunning model is teh oen below of the final float of the 1991 Celebration USA parade with a giant arm and hand of the Statue of Liberty.

Even more rare, this molded latex Lincoln head for Great Moments with Mr Lincoln attraction.




n But the top of the top for a Disneyland fans are this pair of Audio-Animatronics birds from WDW Enchanted Tiki Room, and they work!

To see all the 1500 lots and order the auction catalog, jump to Van Eaton Galleries website HERE.

The Mandalorian Chapter 2 Review ( No Spoilers )

Just watched the Chapter 2 of The Mandalorian, and personally I liked it a lot and even preferred it to the first one ( which i liked a lot ). Jon Favreau said that the series would be more faithful to the spirit of the the first Star Wars ( Episode 4, 1977 ) and this Chapter 2 is indeed even more "SW Episode 4", and with very few dialogues, even more refined than the first one ... but also even shorter - 30 min only!



I won't spoil the story to you, but what i can say is that the action of this Chapter 2 - titled "The Child" - happen on a dry planet where The Mandalorian will meet some famous Star Wars creatures, and more. It also does not have the flaws of the first chapter in which some actors playing second or third roles were sometime playing not perfectly well, though they didn't stay long on screen so it was not a huge problem. If you have access to Disney +, don't miss this Chapter 2! Also, like in the first chapter there is some great artworks during the end credits, you have two of them above, so don't miss them!

Artworks: copyright Lucasfilm

Hong Kong Disneyland Update : HKDL Castle Construction, Frozen Land, more...

Here we go for a Hong Kong Disneyland update with pictures and video, mostly coming from HK Main Street Gazette who is doing a great job of posting regularly on Twitter HERE pictures of Hong Kong Disneyland Castle construction. First, an important point about the picture above: this is NOT a real picture of HKDL Castle, it is an editing well done and posted on WDW Magic forum by Park Peeker who did it with a picture of the castle and what we can see on the latest released rendering.

HKDL castle is not finished yet, it'll take many months more, and the real thing looks much more like on the picture below.



Before going ahead with the pictures, here is the latest video posted on their Yourtube account two days ago by HK Main Street Gazette.




And now, a selection of the latest pictures of HK Main Street Gazette, many more await you on their Twitter page HERE.




The good news is that the stained glass are finally in place on the castle, on both sides of it....












As you can see, the works are far to be over...










The next pictures shows a sculpture of Mulan Dragon being installed on the top of a onion dome of a tower - yes, in addition to these multi colored onion domes they install on some of them sculptures!












The second part of this update is about the Frozen land. The land for it has been cleared and you can see it clearly the latest Google Maps satellite pictures ( on the left on the picture below ).


This HKDL official map will help you to see where will be what, including by the way the upcoming Avengers ride ( on the top ) in some years at HKDL Tomorrowland.




Below, the latest artwork for the land, including on the right the sleighs coaster...


...and WDI Imagineers at work on the Frozen village model.


Note the three grey buildings in the center? These in fact shouldn't be in the final village as they've been replaced by another open air building in the last artwork, see below the before / after - pictures thanks to This is Mr B that you can follow on his Facebook page HERE.



































Talking about Frozen, look at these themed fences...



One of the pavilion of the Fantasy Gardens has been slightly themed for upcoming meet and greet with Frozen characters anytime soon. Pictures thanks to This is Mr B.



And that's it for this HKDL update, make sure to follow D&M for more update on the castle construction as well as HK Main Street Gazette on Twitter HERE!

Pictures: copyright Disney, HK Main Street Gazette, This is Mr B

Disney + Launch : The Mandalorian Review

Today is the big day for the launch of Disney + streaming service and with it was released  the first awaited episode of The Mandalorian, and from what i'm being told this first episode is pretty good and looks like Star Wars original series ( Episodes 4-6 ), but if you're expecting space opera battles you won't find it in The Mandalorian as it is not the same budget or story as a Star Wars movie. But you'll find the same quality of visual effects whether it is for the ships or the creatures. Game of Thrones actor Pedro Pascal is playing the Mandalorian and legendary German director Werner Herzog, who directed the great movies with Klaus Kinski is playing an Imperial sympathizer who tasks the Mandalorian with a mission to find someone 50 years old. ( Note: the visuals below  in this article are artworks shown in the end credits )

The Mandalorian is apparently closer to a western, a genre where "you take your time without losing it" to quote the famous quote of François Truffault about John Ford, and for me who always rant about nowadays fast editings it sounds perfect.

There is a major twist at the end of this first episode, i know what it is but i won't spoil it to you, that won't be cool. NOTE: If you're among the ones who already watched this Episode 1, PLEASE don't reveal what we discover at the end of it, thanks!

Laughing Place just posted an enthusiastic review about this first chapter of The Mandalorian that you can read HERE.



There is 8 episodes for The Mandalorian - with an action happening in a time between Star Wars Episode 6 and 7 - and the second episode is coming as soon as this Friday, and then one episode per week. The first episode is a bit less than 40 min long which is a bit short but may be the next ones will be longer. In the meantime, here is a bit more from Entertainment Weekly:

"The Mandalorian is going to fill in some of the backstory of a big mystery in the current Star Wars trilogy. The upcoming Disney+ series is set to explore some of the early origins of the First Order — the dictatorship commanded by Supreme Leader Snoke that rose up to succeed the fallen Galactic Empire that was defeated in Return of the Jedi.

“This doesn’t turn into a good guy universe because you blew up two Death Stars,” Mandalorian director Dave Filoni quipped. “You get that the Rebels won and they’re trying to establish a Republic, but there’s no way that could have set in for everybody all at once. You have in a Western where you’re out on the frontier and there might be Washington and they might have some marshals, but sometimes good luck finding one.”

“Also, what could happen in the 30 years between celebrating the defeat of the Empire and then the First Order?” teased showrunner Jon Favreau. “You come in on Episode VII, [the First Order are] not just starting out. They’re pretty far along.”

“Pretty well equipped,” Filoni added.

“So somehow, things weren’t necessarily managed as well as they could have been if [the galaxy] ended up in hot water again like that,” Favreau said dryly.

In The Mandalorian, Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) plays Moff Gideon, a former Imperial governor now set adrift in the wake of the Emperor’s downfall. So one possibility could be that Gideon seeks to re-unite the scattered, broken factions, but that’s just our speculation.

There has been an explanation of the rise of the First Order in the Expanded Universe. The books Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig and Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray told of how Imperial remnants fled to the Outer Rim, waged a cold war against the New Republic, and solidified into the First Order six years before the events in The Force Awakens. The Mandalorian plans to use elements from across the Skywalker saga films, The Clone Wars and other animated series and the Extended Universe in its storytelling."


Pictures: copyright Lucasfilm

Disney's “Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom” Released on This Date in 1953 Was the First Cartoon in CinemaScope, and 1954 Academy Award Winner

The Walt Disney Archives reminds us that Disney's animated short “Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom” was released on this date in 1953. "This “study of musical instruments,” led by Professor Owl, teaches us four fundamentals in how we can produce sound. It went on to win the Academy Award for Best Cartoon".

“Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom” was the first ever cartoon in CinemaScope and is obviously in the Disney educative cartoon section. In this short subject - which mostly represents a departure from Disney's traditional approach to animation, a stuffy owl teacher lectures his feathered flock on the origins of Western musical instruments. Starting with cave people, whose crude implements could only "toot, whistle, plunk and boom," the owl explains how these beginnings led to the development of the four basic types of Western musical instruments: brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion.

The short was directed by Ward Kimball and C August Nichols, and animated by Marc Davis, Ward Kimball, Julius Svendsen, X Atencio, Henry Tanious and Art Stevens. I went on Yourtube to see if it was possible to find it, and it is, so you have the full cartoon below.




As said above, Disney won an Academy Award in 1954 for this short - as well as another one for the "two reels short subject picture" which was animal documentary in this case. You also have the video below of the moment during the 1954 Oscars when Walt comes on stage - twice! - to receive the Oscars. And the funny thing is when Walt did his acceptance speech for “Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom” cartoon, He thanks the "photographers who did such a part in the making of the nature films" - when in fact he was reciving the Oscar for the animated short! He comes back on stage a few minutes later to get the other award, this time for the "nature films".




Picture and videos: copyright Disney

Star Trek: Discovery – Away Mission, a Star Trek Discovery VR Experience Is At Last Coming, Debut on Nov 13 !

At last! Star Trek fans will be happy to hear that Sandbox has created a new VR experience inspired by “Star Trek: Discovery” and the iconic Holodeck and you'll be able to experience it at locations around the world.

If there is a VR experience that should have existed from the start it's a Star Trek one, the legendary Holodeck of the series being the closest to a VR experience. Now, Sandbox is bringing it to you, through a combination of real-time motion capture cameras and VR technology, players will immerse themselves in a unique social experience that brings the Star Trek universe to life with Star Trek: Discovery – Away Mission. Players will warp into an exciting adventure as a U.S.S. Discovery crew member on an away team mission.

Steve Zhao, CEO and founder of Sandbox VR said: “We want fans to know that this isn’t like any virtual reality you may have experienced or heard about before…this is something bigger and better. For those that may not know what to expect with the graphics or the hardware, we can describe the experience as VR as it’s meant to be…it’s not a game, it’s not a movie, it’s not traditional VR, it’s a full-body experience that completely transforms you, where you become the experience itself.”
 

Built in partnership with CBS Interactive, Star Trek: Discovery Away Mission fully immerses you in the world of Star Trek like never before. You and your friends will join the crew aboard the U.S.S. Discovery. In your role as Starfleet officers, you'll have the chance to stand on a transporter pad with your own two feet and get beamed to your Away Mission.






Guiding you on your mission is Starfleet officer Sylvia Tilly (voiced by Mary Wiseman). As an Away Team, you will investigate a mysterious distress signal originating from an unexplored alien world.


Using iconic Starfleet equipment like the phaser and tricorder, it is up to your crew to work together to solve the mystery and survive the perils along the way.



Star Trek: Discovery Away Mission is coming soon to a Sandbox VR location near you, and right now Sandbox VR centres are already open at Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, coming soon at New York, San Diego, Chicago, Austin and Dallas, and already open in Asia at Hong Kong, Jakarta, Macau and Singapore.  To experience Star Trek: Discovery – Away Mission is pricey, though, as it will cost you $48 for a mission that seems to be no longer than 40 minutes. You can book now on Sandbox website HERE and watch the trailer below!




Pictures: copyright Sandbox