Pirates of Caribbean 4 Premiere at Cannes Film Festival

Yesterday was the big day for Pirates of Caribbean 4 as the movie had its European Premiere at legendary Cannes Film Festival. D&M have all the pics for you and we'll begin by the photo call which happenend in the morning.

The cast also did a press conference and you'll see parts of it in the video below or you can watch it full screen entirely on the Cannes Film Festival web site in english HERE or with french translation HERE. Good news: Johnny declared that he wil be pleased to do more POTC movies "as long as there is a good story, great scripts and talented directors like Rob Marshall, we will be in good hands”.

On the pictures below actors Geoffrey Rush, Sam Caflin, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, and Ian McShane.







Then arrived the evening and the Premiere screening and here are pictures of the cast on the red carpet and at the top of the Palais des Festivals steps before entering the huge theatre of the Palais. On the pictures below: actors Penelope Cruz, director Rob Marshall, Sam Claflin, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Geoffrey Rush, Johnny Depp, and Ian McShane. No surprise, the crowd went crazy when Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz appeared on the red carpet.















Here is a new featurette showing the cast at Cannes press conference and on the red carpet.




Pictures: copyright image.net - Getty Pictures

Video: copyright Disney

Marvel Super Heroes 4D Attraction

Here is the part two of my London report and this one is about a great Marvel Super-Heroes attraction! We are all wondering about where and when WDI will begin to build Marvel super heroes attraction in Disney theme park but this Marvel attraction which opened last summer inside London's Madame Tussaud's museum and is a real good one! Even better it's a 4D attraction with in-theatre effects!



What they did is that they've transformed the old Planetarium located at the end of the visit of the wax museum in a 4D theatre with lot of effects. Before guests enter the theatre they access the "Hall of Heroes" with interactive displays where you can see what you'd look like if you turned into The Hulk and hang out on the ceiling with Spider-Man. They are welcome by a huge Incredible Hulk...



...the Fantastic Four Invisible woman - Jessica Alba ...



...and Iron Man standing in a kind of Stark Industries decor. By the way, this reminds me the rumor of an Iron Man attraction envisioned for Disneyland's Tomorrowland with the Innoventions building transformed in a Stark Industries decor. I don't know if this rumor is right or not, but hopefully we'll know more in the future.



Let's come back to this Marvel 4D attraction. When guests enter inside the old Planetarium theatre - and once they took the 3D glasses - they sit in the brand new theatre chairs equipped with sensory special effects which include water, smoke and tremors that bring all the action right to your seat. The theatre floor is not moving like it does in Honey i schrunk the audience but all along the movie guests experience many effects like the Honey i schrunk the audience "mouse effect" (hitting your legs) or also like the effect in It's Tough to be a bug (hitting your back) or like the one with the dog at the end of Honey (when water is spray in your face), etc...

And what about the movie itself, you ask? Well, this ten minutes movie is really fun. It's not a live action movie but 3D CGI animation which is pretty good and, considering that the attraction budget was certainly not a "WDI budget", i think they did a pretty good job. It's non stop action all along the ten minutes with a lot of "pop up in your face" 3D effect. Obviously someone at Tussaud's asked the production to don't be afraid to put as much as possible 3D effects and they were right as the audience was constantly laughing and surprised by the effects and enjoyed the movie very much. And so did I.

The story itself is pretty simple: Spidey, Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine and the Incredible Hulk try to save London which is under attack by Doctor Doom. What a casting! Doom has created huge robots and after a fight with the first of them near Buckingham Palace the threat is getting closer to Madame Tussaud's museum ( that is to say where guests are watching the movie ) up to the point when Dr Doom released big mechanical flying bugs that will invade the theatre. Not a bad plot, actually. I must add that the music score is very good too. Actually, and considering that the action doesn't stop all along the ten minutes, the whole movie is really enjoyable. For sure it would have been better if it has been filmed in live action instead of 3D animation but that shouldn't stop you to see this new London attraction during your next visit.

As i supposed you'd like to see some images from the movie itself, i found on youtube these videos.

The first one is a short video showing you the making-of of the pre-show area and a bit of the movie...




The second one is the official trailer of the attraction...




And now a big spoiler warning! If you intend to do the attraction anytime soon it's probably better to don't watch the next two videos! The first one will show you the first and a half minute of the movie, the very beginning...




...and this last one will show you the WHOLE movie, starting approximately where the above video ended. No need to say that it is in-theatre filming, so the quality is not perfect. That said it's in 3D and eventually if you have 3D glasses at home and watch the video full screen you may experience some of the 3D effects, but of course not the in-theatre effects. The kind of 3D glasses you need is the one they give you for "Honey" or "Captain EO".




Pictures: copyright Disney and more - Madame Tussaud's

Video: copyright Madame Tussaud's

Cars 2 Third Trailer !

Pixar released a fantastic third trailer of Cars 2, with lot of new shots of the awaited movie, and here it is!



Picture and video: copyright Disney

New Little Mermaid video shows a lot of the ride !

WDI Imagineers had the good idea to invite original Little Mermaid animators, Andreas Deja, Mark Henn and Glen Keane to come at DCA and tour the awaited "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure", opening June 3rd.

They filmed the three animators inside the ride, comparing the audio-animatronic figures in the attraction to their original drawings produced for the film. And the video include dozens of new footage wthat will delight any Disney fan who can't wait to ride the attraction. If you're planning to visit DCA or to attend little Mermaid opening day - and keep the surprise - i prefer to warn you that there is some spoilers in the video below as not only you'll see Scuttle the seabird the animatronic host of the story (above), but also new footage of the incredible "Under the sea" sequence which include 128 animated characters...







...and the Ariel projection effect that guests will see over them when their omnimover will go down under sea...



...as well as Ariel Audio-Animatronic...



...not to mention a new shot of Ursula with the projection effect of Ariel inside Ursula's crystal globe...



AND the first shot of Ariel and Eric Audio-Animatronics in the "Kiss the Girl" sequence.



More awaits you in this new video which is very promising, i'm sure a lot of you can't wait to ride this 6 minutes long dark ride!





Pictures and video: copyright Disney

Disneyland Paris Update - Magical Moments Festival Videos

Disneyland Paris Magical Moments Festival began last month and the park released a series of short videos about what's new at DLP for the new season. The first one will show you a bit of Mickey's Magical Celebration, the new show on Central Plaza, and quite a good show, by the way.




The next video shows the Disney Dance Express, going up or down Main Street to Central Plaza several times each day. Basically, it's the same train than the previous years, with new colors and music, and of course always with Disney characters.




"Tarzan, la Rencontre" the show at Chapparal Stage in the back of Frontierland is back this summer, from June 1 until September 4. It's a good show, very popular, and if you're coming at DLP this summer, don't miss it!




In Adventureland, "Following the Leader with Peter Pan" is playing each day and is a cute new show that children will love.





New at Disney Village the "Little Circus" will play this summer each friday at 18.30 pm and 20h.30 pm, saturday at 18.30, 20.30 and 22.00 pm and sunday at 16.30, 18.30 and 20.30 pm.




Some news about the Princess meet and greet pavilion near the exit of It's a Small World: Although it is supposed to be part of the Magical Moments Festival the park don't communicate on an opening date as it is still under constructio, but apparently it won't open before August and it might be a bit later if there is some delay.

Videos: copyright Disney

Pirates of Caribbean 4 Premiere at Disneyland - Red Carpet Videos

It was Pirates of Caribbean "On Stranger Tides" Premiere yesterday at Disneyland and here is a choice of videos showing the red carpet on Main Street. We begin by Geoffrey Rush, and please note that i may update this article later today with new videos, so come back later to see more!




Here comes Penelope Cruz.




The legendary Rolling Stones Keith Richards.





The Pirates of Caribbean "Mermaids".




...and of course Johnny Depp.





Look well the next video showing Johnny walking on Main Street. Obviously Johnny wanted to get closer to his fans but was stopped to do so by his body guard...




...and on this next one you'll see Johnny showing to his fans how he is sorry to don't be able to get closer to them.




That said, it seems that it was the same for all the POTC 4 stars who apparently were asked to stay in the "middle" of the red carpet. May be it was for security reasons but as we are at Disneyland, one of the safest place on Earth, it may have been for a "timing" reason. The screening in Frontierland had to begin at a certain time and may be they thought that if Johnny began to sign autographs to each fan the show will have too much delay.

Edited: You'll find on Mice Age a great report about yesterday's POTC Premiere and as you will see on the video below Johnny was able to sign autographs to some of his fans, at least at the beginning of Main Street. More about the Premiere HERE.




Videos: copyright Maximo TV, jkj308, nightclubbing12 and KJohnson2083

POTC Update ! Jack Sparrow AAs coming at DLP POTC for the 20th Anniversary, Blackbeard projection effect replaces Davy Jones at DL, and more...

A big POTC update to end the week, and a great news as i can confirm that Jack Sparrow Audio-Animatronics will be installed at DLP Pirates of Caribbean for the 20th Anniversary! More about this below but before let's begin by the big news that was announced by WDI Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald today (and also revealed by Jim Hill earlier this week): "Captain Blackbeard will make his appearance on the ghostly waterfall in the grotto scenes of the park attractions beginning May 20, coinciding with the release of the new film, “Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides,” in which Ian McShane plays a starring role."



In two words, it means that this new Blackbeard projection effect will replace the Davy Jones projection effect BUT as Tom also says in his Disney Parks article; Davy Jones (will come back) later this year. Does it mean that they will regularly change the two characters on the ghostly waterfall - or will they install another "waterfall"? We'll see this later this year but for now, Disneyland fans will be happy to learn that something new is coming in the POTC ride in less than two weeks from now. More about this in Tom Fitzgerald article HERE.

Tomorrow is the day of the big POTC 4 Premiere at Disneyland and they've built a fantastic stage and a "90-foot-wide, six-story-tall motion picture screen on an island created especially for this event"...



...as well as "a state-of-the-art outdoor amphitheater – fully carpeted with stadium seating – is being built right on the Rivers of America just outside of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction".



For sure it's going to be a memorable evening and as soon as videos of the event will be uploaded on Youtube i will embed the best of them on Disney and more, so be sure to come back this week-end to watch this!


Talking about POTC, the movie, you may have read that screenwriter Terry Rossio has just turned in his script this past weekend to Disney for a planned fifth POTC movie. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Johnny Depp said "It boils down to story, script and filmmaker,"..but the actor isn't clamoring to jump back into the puffy shirt until a little time has passed after Pirates 4. He didn't relish the brutal schedule that saw him making Pirates 2 and Pirates 3 back-to-back in order to meet studio-mandated release dates in summer 2006 and 2007, respectively. "It's not something where I would say, 'Let's shoot it next month to get it out by Christmas 2012,'" he says. "We should hold off for a bit. They should be special, just like they are special to me."

And if you want my opinion, i think that Johnny is right. There is no good reasons to rush for a POTC 5, the most important thing is to take all the needed time to make sure it will be a good movie.

Let's come now to the other big news of this POTC update: Jack Sparrow audio-Animatronics will be installed next year at DLP Pirates of Caribbean, and this will include the Barbossa AA in the Pirate ship AND the "ghostly waterfall" projection effect, just like at DL and WDW.

I told you before that new effects were envisioned inside Phantom Manor and Big Thunder Mountain but for now - and unfortunately - these are on hold. In terms of enhancements on classic attractions, only POTC is sure for the 20th. No decision has been taken yet on Star Tours 2 for DLP - which doesn't mean that it won't happen as they still have time to change their mind.

So, where will they put the Jack Sparrow AA inside DLP POTC? According to my good sources Tom Fitzgerald apparently decided that the AAs will be placed at the same scenes that you can see them at DL or WDW. Which means that in 12 months from now Disneyland Paris fans will be able to salute Captain Jack Sparrow near the "mayor in the well" scene, hiding behind the clothes...



...and also a bit later in the ride, popping out of the barrel...



...and of course near the end of the ride for his final appearance. As the big treasure scene in DLP POTC is not the perfect place to put Jack's AA it seems that his Audio-Animatronic will be placed just in front of the treasure scene, on the left side, where you can see now the two skeletons drinking wine. They have more room to put this last scene with Jack AA there and it's quite logical.



Barbossa Audio-Animatronic will also appear on the pirate ship, except if in the meantime WDI Imagineers decide to replace him by a Blackbeard AA, which would make sense - and, by the way, why not having both of them?



But where DLP Imagineers will put the "ghostly waterfall" either with Blackbeard or Davy Jones projection effect? At Disneyland, the projection effect is inside the caves. But at DL the caves scenes are at the beginning of the ride, at DLP they are at the end. As it is better for the storyline to have it at the beginning of the ride and not at the end DLP Imagineers have decided to put the ghostly waterfall effect during the first lift, i.e right after the blue lagoon scenes, when we climb up inside the sunken fortress. Whether they will put it at the beginning, in the middle or at the top of the lift i can't tell you, but from what i know this is where the ghostly waterfall effect will appear next year inside DLP POTC.

My only regret is that Tom Fitzgerald didn't decided to put one Sparrow AA in the duelist pirates scene. That scene is unique and only exist at DLP POTC and it would have been great to see Captain Jack swashbuckling in that scene. Technically speaking it is pretty easy to do as they only have to change the head, hands and clothes, but apparently the reason why they will not do it is because these two AAs can have technical problems and when it's the case they usually put a curtain in front of them which means that in this case we will not see the Jack Sparrow AA. It's a good reason i admit, but, still, i think they should do it.

I'm sure this 20th Anniversary news will delight DLP fans - although i'm also sure some will think it's a sacrilege to the original ride - but whether you like it or not Captain Jack is coming at DLP POTC next year. AND, as Johnny Depp is living in France when he's not on a set i won't be surprised to see him at the Jack Sparrow AAs inauguration when it will happen next year, just like he did at Disneyland in 2006 on the video below!




All pictures and video: copyright Disney