No day off for me would be complete without a visit to an antique and collectible shop. Next to that is the old standby: The Charity Shop! I Usually frequent Value Village, but this past weekend, I found a new shop called Talize.
I walked through the place looking for Disney items, and found a few things, but nothing worth ‘saving’ into my collection or for future resale. But my wife admitted she had seen something I would probably like (you see, she doesn’t always want to help me feed my collecting bug) and took me back to the glassware aisle to show me:
Not one set, but two!
Karen and I don’t have a lot of wine glasses as we don’t drink much. But as these were wedding-themed, and we have just passed our 25th Anniversary, I felt they needed to call our cupboard home!
Looking neat and pretty!
These cost me a whopping 69 cents each. They are glass with a stencil, and not the more expensive crystal type with engraving. A set of those would be upwards of $50 a pair. These may be worth about $5.00 a pair.
But a night sipping wine or champagne out of them with my lady fair? Priceless!
Disney/Pixar’s latest movie success came from the mind of a teenage girl. Well, not exactly, it obviously came from the minds of hundreds of very talented and creative people! But it was about the mind of a teenage girl.
I suppose we could get into a discussion of how creepy it would be to have two males inside the head of a teenage girl at all times, but let’s skip that for the sake of this post! I especially want to skip this because my favorite character was:
ANGER (in his Anger Management suit)
We visited a Disney store this past weekend and were delighted to find that Inside Out merchandise was still on display. The above plush is one of the best versions of this character I’ve seen.
The Disney Store does create some very good exclusive items. This piece is one:
This little hothead set me back a reasonable $16.95 CAN (but don’t tell him I said that, I want him to think I’m angry about the price!) But my American readers can pick him up for $14.95 US.
Anger was voiced by Lewis Black. For another piece of Anger merchandise, as well as a few of the other emotions, please see the post entitled DMR: Inside Out Pop!s
So what is your favorite emotion from Riley’s head?
Today we are sharing tips on how to get great photos during your Disney vacation.
We all like to get our pictures taken with Disney characters! But with the long lines and the short time available for posing, it can be hard to get anything other than the standard stand-and-smile shot like the one above.
So today I’m here to help you one and all break out of the same-old same-old with tips on how to get great character photos:
T I P o n e T I P
Photograph Characters on Their Own
This is perhaps one of the hardest things to achieve due to the popularity of the characters, especially with the youngsters, who tend to rush up almost before the last guest has cleared the posing area. But with patience and good timing, a great shot can be had!
The one above was taken just before the meet-and-greet officially opened, so Aladdin and Jasmine were waiting off to the side, away from the crowds.
The picture of Mary Poppins was achieved through the miracle of cropping. A little guest was rushing over to the Practically Perfect Nanny when I saw my opportunity. With just two feet remaining between this shot and the inevitable hug-filled greeting, I had room to isolate my subject in post-editing!
Donald was easier, as he was on the way down the ramp from the Aztec Temple in the Mexico Pavilion. He saw me lining up the shot and struck this pose. Thanks Donald!
T I P t w o T I P
Photograph Characters Interacting
Photo Credit: The Mousekatools Mom
We all know Olaf loves hugs, so this shot really plays to his strength. With everyone in on the premise, we have a great , and heartwarming, moment captured forever!
Most face characters will take the time to speak and interact with each guest, especially if the guest is a cute little child! Both Alice and Mary Poppins took the time to engage these little girls. One with a conversation, and the other by putting the little one to work! Can you imagine how thrilling it would be to hold Mary Poppins’ umbrella?
These kinds of shots capture a moment in time that will never be repeated by your child, and not exactly by another child. This makes each shot priceless!
T I P t h r e e T I P
Photograph Characters in Close-ups
If you just have to have the obligatory stand-and-smile shot, make it more interesting by cropping out the extra stuff that does not add to the finished product. Legs, for example, aren’t that interesting and so can be amputated in post-editing.
Another tip for making this kind of shot better is to, if possible, choose a neutral background. Nothing can wreck a great shot like an unintentional photo bomb from some other park guest who is unaware they are in the frame. Hence the weird facial expressions or nose-picking moments that are all too common among the background extras when taking a character shot!
T I P f o u r T I P
Photograph Characters Being Funny
Photo Credit: Home is Where the Mouse Is
Welcome to Alice in Funland as she introduces this guest to a new way of getting an autograph! As you can imagine, this was fun for the subject, and is much more interesting for those who will look at the picture later.
This is a nice shot because it shows a bit of the personality behind the character. Chip is being silly as he helps his littlest poser obtain the same height as her brother. Mischievous. And priceless!
Doing something funny with a character is a great way to get a unique shot. Of course, if you want to try the pose above, you might want to bring your own apple. I’m just saying.
Don’t be afraid to really ham it up! Most costumed and face characters love it when they get a ‘live one’ to break up the shift.
T I P b o n u s T I P
Utilize PhotoPass Add-ons
If you’re OK with spending some extra money to get the professional shots from the PhotoPass Photographers, be sure to check out all of the great add-ons and fun extras available to you.
For example, you can add borders:
You can add Disney characters, and pretend they are posing with you, or photo bombing you:
And don’t forget the ride photos. Because a ride is a character too!
And last but not least, be sure to ask your PhotoPass Photographer if they can add any special elements to your picture in post-production. Like this:
Tradespeople are heroes too. Don’t believe me? What about the last time a plumber showed up to unplug your toilet one hour before that big party you’d been planning for weeks? Come on: You felt like carrying that guy around on your shoulders didn’t you?
Why? Because he saved the day! Superheroes do that. Green Lantern does that.
Green Lantern is a character from DC comics. Each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants them a variety of powers. The ring’s abilities have two consistent traits: It grants the power of flight and its effects are accompanied by a green light. The signature power of all Green Lanterns is the ability to conjure “constructs:” solid green objects that the Green Lantern can control telekinetically. These can be anything, such as a disembodied fist to beat a foe, a shield to block an attack, a sword to cut a rope, or chains to bind a prisoner.
Fans of this superhero know well his famous oath:
In brightest day
and blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evils might,
beware my power:
Green Lanterns light!
Now, you’re probably wondering what’s up with the plumbing reference at the beginning of this post. Well, it has to do with where I work and something I saw recently that resembled this shape:
Symbol, or signature shape, of the Lantern and power ring
This is a pretty distinctive shape used to identify the Green Lantern Corps. While working with a plumber in the building that I manage, we had to turn off the water to the entire building (which I guess makes us the villains of this whole thing). The shut-off valve was right next to what I now affectionately call Green Lantern’s Coupling:
Look familiar?
Come on, it’s even green! I’ve worked at my present job for almost two years and have been in this room dozens of times, but never made the connection between the shape of this coupling and the famous lantern of Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern!
From now on, whenever I need energy to complete my day, or power to fix yet another water leak, I’ll come to the Green Lantern Coupling and chant the famous words:
Disney filmmakers are notorious for slipping old movie references, in-jokes, and running gags into their projects. Most times even the avid viewer would never pick up on them, especially the younger ones, nor would the casual movie-goer.
So this post contains three of the best ones I have seen to date. We’ll start with the most obvious one first, and then move on to the most obscure.
R E F E R E N C E O N E
Wall-E: Hello, Dolly!
We all saw the film clips (via hi-tech VCR tape) that Wall-E played again and again of the man and woman who make a connection by holding hands. This becomes pivotal to his romance with Eve:
The film clips were from the blockbuster movie Hello, Dolly! starring Barbara Streisand, and the man who taught Wall-E to hold hands was Michael Crawford (the Phantom of the Opera). The movie is a 1969 romantic comedy musical. It follows the story of Dolly Levi (a strong-willed matchmaker), as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly “well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder. In doing so she convinces his niece, his niece’s intended, and Horace’s two clerks to travel to New York City.
But did you know that these two clerks, Cornelius (Crawford, below far right) and his friend Barnaby (below far left) weren’t interested in holding hands? In the song “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” (the first song you hear on Wall-E’s tape) the boys sing about visiting New York City, and they vow not to return until they kiss a girl. So although Cornelius does eventually hold hands with his lady fair (below, second from right), he succeeded in his mission only after he kissed her.
I guess the makers thought it would be easier to show robots holding ‘hands’ than to have them kiss without lips.
FUN FACT: “It Only Takes a Moment” is the second song from Hello, Dolly! that you hear on Wall-E’s vintage tape.
R E F E R E N C E T W O
The Emperor’s New Groove: The Fly
This movie reference is indeed classic, going all the way back to 1958 to the Vincent Price film The Fly. In this movie, an earnest scientist, intent on creating the first working teleportation device, gets over-confident and turns himself into a monster with a large fly head and one fly arm. In the process, he also creates a small fly with his head and arm on it. You can’t make this stuff up, folks!
The iconic scene from the film happens near the end when the scientist, now a fly, is trapped in a spider’s web. As the spider inches closer and closer, you can hear the famous “Help me! Help me!” plea that chilled audiences to the bone back in 1958. And it’s still one of the creepiest moments in film history today! If you dare, see it for yourself:
In The Emperor’s New Groove, Kuzco is lost in the woods and getting more creeped out by the minute, when he too comes across a spider’s web. He hears the famous “Help me! Help me!” line before witnessing, and hearing, the crunch of the fly’s demise. Ick. Want to see that too?
For the full impact, please pop in your copy of The Emperor’s New Groove. It really is more chilling if you hear the plea for help and the crunch!
FUN FACT: A theory about this moment in the film surfaced on Facebook. The writer postulates that the fly who dies in this scene must have been a human at one point in the film, and thus this was actually equivalent to watching a murder. He supposes that only animals that were once human talk in the film, like Kuzco (Llama), Yzma (kitten), and the guards (“Hey, I’ve been turned into a cow. May I go home?”). So if the fly is talking, it too must have been a human at one time. The writer goes even further to assume that it would be the old guy that Kuzco had thrown out the window earlier in the film (but that guy is seen by Pacha soon after, and returns in the end scenes).
Obviously, this theory is wrong, and the scene of the spider and the fly was only an homage.
R E F E R E N C E T H R E E
The Muppets: The Fork Dance
For this last example, we have to go back to the silent era of film, to 1925 to be exact. The movie is Gold Rush and it stars the immortal Charlie Chaplin. One of the signature comedy gags in the film is the famous ‘Fork Dance’, pictured below:
These dancing ‘feet’ become one of the funniest moments in silent film history! Have a look for yourself:
It’s a small moment in the movie, The Muppets, but Amy Adams rocks this homage to Chaplin during her duet with Miss Piggy called “Me Party”:
Again, this moment in the musical number goes by pretty fast, but it is very funny and stuck out in my mind, but perhaps only because I’m such a huge Chaplin fan and remembered the iconic scene from Gold Rush.
FUN FACT: Although Chaplin is accredited by many as using potatoes for his ‘feet’, Adams definitely uses bread rolls.
By now, I think it goes without saying, that we all need to pay close attention while watching Disney movies! Did you catch these brilliant homages to earlier classic films? Do you have a favorite that you like to point out to family and friends? If so, please leave it in the comments below and we’ll all look out for it the next time we watch a Disney classic!
Back in the 1950’s everyone wanted to be Davy Crockett. But it wasn’t too long after that when everyone changed their minds and Zorro was the character and hero of choice!
I have a few original pieces of Zorro merchandise and I always enjoy finding more. Today, while on the hunt, I found (but did not buy) this great collectible:
Zorro Cape and Mask
This was produced by the Make Believe Play Suits company which was a division of Norben Togs, Inc. They were based in Montreal, Canada.
The costume is made to fit kids sizes 4 to 10 years. The packaging was a bit worn with some pencil prices scribbled on the front card. The back plastic had been ripped, but I don’t think the product had been removed. This particular cape/mask was style #817 of its product line.
It is an officially licensed Disney product as it bears the WDP trademark in the bottom left corner of the artwork. The seller wanted $39.00 CAN for it but I may return later and offer $30.00 instead. A similar cowboy-based costume was for sale on eBay recently for about this price but it did not sell, so they are likely on the high end of retail with the pricing.
K – E – Y (“Why? Because I need the blog traffic!”)
P – L – U – G – Geeeeeeeeee!
OK, that last line had one too many capital Gs (and lots of cute little e’s), but I had to make it match the famous chant. The Mickey Mouse Club started in 1955 with many of the original Mouseketeers being on board before Disneyland was actually opened. So it was a natural cross-promotional move to have them present at the parks grand opening.
And of course, the merchandise wasn’t far behind their own television debut!
Copyrighted 1975
The original Mickey Mouse Club was long off the air by the time this Special Souvenir Edition was sold for just $2.50 (I had to pay $4.95 in 2015 at an antique shop). This may have been an attempt to restore interest in the Club before the 1977 debut of the New Mickey Mouse Club. For the new show, the concept was modernized cosmetically, with a disco re-recording of the theme song and a more ethnically diverse group of young cast members. The sets were brightly colored and simpler than the detailed black and white artwork of the original. Like the original, nearly each day’s episode included a vintage cartoon, though usually in color from the late 1930s and onward.
According to the back cover, this book was intended to be a Where-Are-They-Now expose. The book starts with acknowledgments, and an introduction of what the original club was:
It has audition photos and stories for each of the original cast members:
It then gives a review of the show segments, as follows:
Monday: Fun With Music Day. Mickey says – “Big doings this week!”
Tuesday: Guest Star Day. Mickey says – “Everybody neat and pretty?”
Wednesday: Anything Can Happen Day. Mickey says – “Anything goes.”
Next to be featured are the serials. These include:
White Shadow (1955)
The Hardy Boys (1956)
Clint and Mac (1957)
Annette (1957)
The Adventures of Spin and Marty (1956-7)
What comes next is very cool:
Three more songs are featured with music sheets: Anything Can Happen Day; Here Comes the Circus!; and Talent Roundup.
Why not sing along, or better yet, sit down at your piano and play along!
Next comes The Mouseketeers Today, a great section with a head shot of the subject all grown up along with a brief blurb about their life today.
There were also 7 original Club members that the compilers of this book couldn’t find at the time of publishing:
Unfortunately, Jimmie Dodd passed away many years ago (1910-1964) but you can read all about this beautiful person at OriginalMMC.com by clicking the link.
All in all this is a wonderful keepsake with much insider information about everyone’s favorite mice!
To conclude, I just couldn’t end this post without publishing pictures of the other three song sheets included in the book. I apologize for the poor color quality in advance, but you can still enlarge them to read the lyrics or play along on your instruments:
This book was compiled by Keith Keller and published by Grosset & Dunlap of New York.
I would give this book a 5 out of 5 stars for being so full of nostalgia! Any fan of the show, Annette, or early Disney lore will love it!
Every Disney character embarks on a journey of personal discovery and change. None are the same at the end of their movie. Usually the character is stronger and better for the effort, and we cheer when we see the ‘New Them’!
But do we always see them in their new and improved versions? Here is a list of my Top 5 Disney characters that we stubbornly insist on seeing as they started, not as they finished:
N U M B E R F I V E
Rapunzel
Rapunzel went through quite a change in the course of her movie. From a shy, dominated shut-in to an independent go-getter with a frying pan! She chose to follow her dream and found true love by helping to redeem a lost soul. Not bad in just under 2 hours of screen time!
The most visible change was the cutting of her hair at the end of her movie, which robbed her of her healing powers (mostly) and her trademark long golden locks. But we refuse to see her as a short-haired brunette and so she is forever stuck in our minds and hearts as a blonde with mile-long strands of hair.
N U M B E R F O U R
Ariel
Ariel is another Princess who had a lot to learn before she matured. Making the journey from an irresponsible daughter to a strong bridge between two worlds wasn’t easy, but Ariel made the journey one step at a time. And that brings us to our premise.
Ariel starts off as a mermaid, complete with tail and land-based mobility issues. But thanks to some undersea magic, she switches to legs and… what are those things called again? Oh yeah: feet! Ariel is lower on this list because we do see her in both configurations.
But with a nickname like The Little Mermaid, I think it’s safe to assume that the vast majority of us still see her with a tail, even though she walked into her happily ever after on two strong legs.
N U M B E R T H R E E
Beast
For the majority of his time in the movie Beauty and the Beast, the Beast was, well… a beast, not a man. It wasn’t until he won the love of Belle in the last few minutes of screen time that he became the human prince of Belle’s dreams.
But we definitely see him as he was, not as what he became. And after all, if we didn’t, we’d have to change the title of the movie to Beauty and the Prince, which we all can agree just wouldn’t be the same!
N U M B E R T W O
Bambi
The Prince of the Forest made quite a transformation in his movie, actually growing up into a majestic stag before our very eyes by the end credits. But just like overly possessive parents, we still think of Bambi as our little baby!
Bambi is high on this list, although not Number One, because he made one of the most drastic transformations, but we still refuse to acknowledge it.
N U M B E R O N E
Pinocchio
So who went through more changes than our Number One Disney character stuck in time? Pinocchio started off as just a piece of wood carved to resemble a little boy. Then, this marionette came to life, walking and talking and getting into all sorts of mischief. But this wasn’t the end of little Pinocchio’s journey!
By the end of the film, Pinocchio achieves his fondest wish: To become a real boy. The Blue Fairy deems the puppet worthy because of his selfless act to save his ‘father’, Geppetto. Now that’s a change, not only worthy of cheering, but remembering!
But poor Pinocchio! He is doomed to live out his time in our memories as an animated piece of wood, and not the real boy he worked so hard to become.
disH O N O R A B L E M E N T I O N
Yzma
Yzma spends most of her screen time in The Emperor’s New Groove as a very old woman who most describe as ‘scary beyond belief’ before becoming a cute little white kitten. A cute little white kitten with homicidal tendencies, but a cute little white kitten nonetheless.
However, despite transforming into a completely different life-form, we still remember her as that scary-beyond-belief woman of our nightmares. Doesn’t seem fair somehow…
So did I miss any Disney characters that you feel are stuck in time? If so, fill us all in by leaving a comment below!
Our first (and only) Disney Cruise didn’t turn out the way we had hoped. And we are unlikely to ever shell out the serious cash to take one again. But there were highlights to the adventure!
One was the booze.
For our 25th Anniversary from our friends, Paul and Karen
So I’ve misled you somewhat. Well, a lot what. We aren’t big alcohol drinkers, so when we found this in our stateroom upon arrival, we got excited… but not drunk. In fact, we still have this bottle of wine nine months later!
Martini & Rossi Asti Sparkling Wine (750 ml)
This is what Binny’s Beverage Depot has to say about this wine: “It is light bodied, fragrant and refreshing and is bubbling with a youthful character. It’s perfect on its own, or as the key ingredient to bring its unique sparkle to any cocktail.” Regular price is a reasonable $11.99 US for this Italian wine from the Piedmont region.
We’re waiting for a special occasion to finally open this up, preferably with friends, because we would never finish a whole bottle in one night ourselves!
On the last night of our cruise, which fell on January 13th, our actual anniversary day, we found this in our room:
“Stone Cellars by Beringer is a new line of smooth classically structured varietal wines that reflect the tradition of quality set forth 125 years ago by Jacob Beringer. In the decades since then, Beringer has been at the forefront viniculture and winemaking innovation to ensure consistent high quality across all product lines, and these new wines are no exception.” Or so says their press agent.
And let’s add what the bottle itself has to say about this reasonably priced ($12.99 CAN) wine:
And yes, we still have this bottle as well!
If you read our Trip Report about our ill-fated Disney Cruise, you will probably understand why we never got around to drinking these wines. Of course, if we had, the trip may have been easier to take!
So we have two nice reminders from our 25th Anniversary vacation. And by the time we open them, we will probably be celebrating our 26th!
Disney made many very good live-action films in the 1960’s and 70’s, all of which starred a dependable group of performers. That Darn Cat featured Hayley Mills and Dean Jones, both of which starred in multiple Disney comedies.
This book, credited to the Gordons, was released by Golden Press in 1965. It is illustrated with photographs from the motion picture which are accompanied by an adaption of the script. That Darn Cat the movie was itself an adaption from a book entitled Undercover Cat released in 1963.
The back cover of That Darn Cat the book shows the main cast, and as I’ve said, it features a real who’s-who of Disney comedy!
Inside front and back covers
A close-up of D.C. who played That Darn Cat
Dean Jones has just recently passed away (January 25, 1931 – September 1, 2015) leaving a Disney legacy that fans will never forget! His movies include The Ugly Dachshund, Monkeys Go Home, Blackbeard’s Ghost, The Love Bug movies, and the Shaggy D.A. just to name a few.
Sample of page layouts
Although not credited with the cast on the back cover, Ed Wynn was also in That Darn Cat. Originally this book sold for 89 cents in 1965, but I had to pay $3.00 to get it in 2015. It makes a great keepsake of the movie!
After reading through the book, I had an urge to re-watch the movie, but was unable to find it in my Disney movie collection. The horror! So I had to settle for re-watching The Cat From Outer Space instead. This movie was released in 1978 and just goes to show that if a movie formula works once, it can work again!
Disleelandia 