News Update: May 1st 2014

The cast has been revealed! Disney and Lucasfilm have officially unveiled the cast line-up for Star Wars VII set to hit theaters next December. The announcement brings back original cast members Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels and Peter Mayhew. Newcomers to the scene include actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow and Andy Serkis (who you may be familiar as Gollum from the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit films. We speculate that Serkis’ character will follow something along that line.) 

A group photo of the cast has been released as seen above.

Disney Interactive made a giant announcement this week around Disney Infinity, and at an event in Los Angeles Wednesday morning April 30th, they revealed that Marvel’s Avengers are coming to Disney Infinity, joining a large cast of already existing characters, but until yesterday, Marvel characters were absent from the game. You can now play as any of the Avengers, consisting of Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man, Hawkeye and Thor. You can play with many different devices and locations by purchasing additional power discs, one including Agent Phil Coulson’s “Lola” vehicle from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. What more could you possibly ask for? 

With the opening of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train just weeks away, Disney Parks continues to tease at the the upcoming ride, and released yet another video of almost the entire ride-through of the attraction. The construction walls recently came down around the ride, and the carts going around the track can be seen quite frequently on regular days in Magic Kingdom, so expect a release date to be announced soon. We’re suspecting of possibly an end of May opening.

Just a few weeks ago, we announced a brand new upcoming home video film starring Mickey and the rest of the gang from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The film, Around the Clubhouse World, takes the gang on a journey across the globe, learning about different cultures in various different countries. Below is a clip that became available this week. The film is available on DVD May 20th, 2014. 

Going viral in Disney circles this week is this hilarious fan-made video made by two fans of the film Frozen and filmed in Disneyland. The video features a couple singing to the hit Frozen song, “Love is an Open Door”, and it shines among many of the other Frozen parodies found on the internet. 

Love is an Open Door Fan: 

A week ago we reviewed Disneynature’s latest film, Bears, a truly wonderful film. Disneynature promised to donate part of the movie’s financial success with the National Park Foundation for every ticket sold on opening weekend. We’re super excited to hear that many people saw the film and Disney delivered the donations to the NPF, and announced that it will be expanding it’s commitment to conservation and would be donating an additional amount than the one previously promised. If you missed seeing the film opening weekend, Disney will also give a portion to the NPF if you purchase any of the following: 

•       Young fans unlocked an exclusive bear costume on Disney Club Penguin to support the National Park Foundation: www.ClubPenguin.com.
•       The Disney Music Group is contributing a portion of each iTunes download of Olivia Holt’s Friends for Change anthem “Carry On”: iTunes.com/CarryOn. 
• The Disney Store committed a portion of “Bears” plush purchases to the National Park Foundation:www.disneystore.com.
•       At Disney Parks, a special Duffy the Disney Bear benefited the National Park Foundation in April.
•          Disney Cruise Line made a contribution in celebration of the movie, which also premiered on the high seas.
•       Regal Entertainment Group introduced a gift card program in conjunction with “Bears” that resulted in a contribution to the National Park Foundation: www.regmovies.com.
•      New York jewelry designer Alex Woo designed eco-friendly pendants inspired by the film, available in Sterling Silver & 14kt Gold—a portion of each sale benefits the National Park Foundation: www.alexwoo.com.

More details have been unveiled about the It's a Small World film which is being developed at Disney. Director John Turtletaub (National Treasure, The Sorcerer's Apprentice) has been signed on to direct the film. No release date has yet been announced.

Muppets Most Wanted, Disney's latest fantastic Muppet adventure hits Blu-Ray and DVD August 5th 2014! No bonus features have been revealed yet, but the film will be available this summer to own. Muppets Most Wanted takes the Muppet gang on an adventure throughout Europe, only to get caught up with Constantine, the World's Most Dangerous Frog and get tangled up in a jewel hesit caper. The film is still playing in theaters worldwide. Read our review of the film here on The Mickey Mindset as well as our review on our other site, The Muppet Mindset. 

And in very sad news this week, legendary actor Bob Hoskins has passed away at the age of 71 on Tuesday. Hoskins was well known in the Disney circles as Eddie Valiant in Disney/Touchstone's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. We pay tribute to Hoskins for his brilliant acting in this video below, showcasing his wonderful acting talents, and what process he went through to film the Roger Rabbit movie.

The Mickey Mindset: mickeymindset@gmail.com

Disney and the Academy Awards

Mitchell Stein- Once again, it's time for Hollywood's Biggest night. The night where millionaires stand up on stage and present tiny golden statues to other millionaires, people analyze what some celebrity is wearing, and why their favorite movie didn't win the award for "Sound Mixing".

Today as we prepare for the 86th Academy Awards, we take a look back at Disney's most significant history at the Oscars and Disney's biggest and greatest wins, from the beginning up until today.

Even since his death in 1966, Walt Disney still holds the records for the person with the most Oscars won in a lifetime with 32 awards. Becuase it would take over a week to list every nominee, let's take a look at some of the Disney Company's biggest wins from the beginning.

The Three Little Pigs: This film won Walt his second Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, previously earning an award for Flowers and Trees the year earlier. 

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: While Walt's first animated 

film did not actually win an Oscar, Walt received an honorary Oscar from the Academy for his first full-length feature film. The Oscar include one, full sized Oscar figure along with seven smaller Oscars, in honor of the film. This award was on display at Disney's Hollywood Studios for a short time and is now on display at the Walt Disney Family Museum. 

Pinocchio: Pinocchio was Walt's first feature length film award, but not for best animated film, rather for Best Score and Best Original Song ("When You Wish Upon A Star"), as did Dumbo the year later. 

The beloved film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea won the significant awards of Best Art Director and Best Visual Effects, along with The Vanishing Prairie, which won an award for best Documentary Feature. The Vanishing Prairie was a part of the nature documentary features that Walt produced in the 50s and 60s. 

Then, in 1964, Mary Poppins flew in and swooped up five Academy Awards, including Best Actress (Julie Andrews) Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Original Song (Chim-Chim Cher-ee) and Best Special Effects! Mary Poppins remains a legendary film for the Disney Company until today, and more info about the film can be found in Saving Mr. Banks, available on Blu-Ray on March 18th

2014!

Another very important film in Disney history was of course, Who Framed Roger Rabbit which took in Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects, which it clearly deserved. The movie was unlike anything else seen at the time, blending live-action with hand-drawn animation. The movie was released under Disney's Touchstone Pictures banner, but the award of course went to the Disney Company. 

Beauty and the Beast was the first animated feature to ever be nominated for the Best Picture category, but sadly did not take home the little golden statue in that category, but it did win Best Song and Best Original Score. Other winners in that category for that decade include The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Tarzan. 

Pixar then stepped into the picture and snagged a whole bunch of awards for their short films, Tin Toy, Geni's Game and For the Birds. Pixar won awards for Best Animated Feature throughout the years for their work on Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and Toy Story 3. 

Finally, in 2011 The Muppets won their first Oscar for Best Original Song for "Man or Muppet". The Muppets have been nominated for various different categories since the 1966, but always got snagged, finally they got the honor they always deserved. 

Last year, Pixar's Brave took home the award for Best Animated Feature, other Disney nominees included Wreck-It Ralph and Frankenweenie. Disney's Paperman was awarded for Best Animated Short Film as well, which was well deserved once again. 

Now we reached the 86th Academy Awards hosted by Ellen Degeneres. Watch it all tonight to cheer on Frozen, Saving Mr. Banks, The Lone Ranger, Iron Man 3, and The Wind Rises for those awards. Go Disney! 

Where to find Roger Rabbit in Walt Disney World

Mitchell Stein- Many people complain that there is no Who Framed Roger Rabbit items or attractions to be found in Walt Disney World. Sure, he got a dark ride in Disneyland California, but why is Roger completely absent from the Orlando parks?

 After visiting the parks last week, I come to realize that you can find a lot of Roger Rabbit related locations in Disney’s Hollywood Studios itself! If you know where to look.
Today we’ll tour through the Hollywood Studios Park showcasing all the various different places you can find lots of hidden Roger Rabbi gems and secrets.

The first stop you might want to make is to see the Maroon Cartoons billboard just off of Hollywood Boulevard, across from Echo Lake and Hollywood & Vine. They usually set up a FP+ kiosk around there. On the sign (picture included) you’ll see Roger, Jessica and Baby Herman with the familiar Warner Bros. red back around. It seems to have faded throughout it’s time since it was put there in 1990’s and no one ever took care of it, but it’s still pretty cool and you should check it out.

While you’re there, do a 180-turn and face Hollywood & Vine. Above the restaurant, you see a window that reads “Valiant & Valiant Private Investigators” and right next to that, you’ll see a hole in the window that’s well…rabbit shaped, inspired by the scene where Roger emotionally breaks down and smashes through Eddie Valiant’s window!

Photos: StudioCentral.com

According to Disney historian Jim Korkis, if you follow the direct path from the window that leads to behind the Animation Courtyard, there’s a painting of Roger on the wall. It’s to be as if Roger ran out the window and headed straight for the courtyard. Sadly, you can only see that in the cast member section, so unless you happen to work there, you might not be able to see it.

You may have heard that after the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, many plans were pitched for a Roger Rabbit themed ride in the location where Rock N’ Roller Coaster stands today. As much as I love Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, a Roger Rabbit area would’ve been cool too. It’s unfortunate those never got made, as Disney (especially Michael Eisner) was very eager to make it.

They were so eager in fact, that they already started building it! As you walk down Sunset Blvd towards The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror! Pay attention to what you’re walking on. See those railroad tracks? That was intended for a Baby Herman inspired trolley that would go up and down Sunset Blvd leading in to this planned Roger themed area. Once the plans fell through, they ditched the area and painted over the tracks. The tracks remain there today, but they lead nowhere.

Turn around and head towards the recreation of the Grauman’s Chinese Theater (you know, the building behind the giant hat). There you’ll see the hand/foot prints of many famous celebrities, including Dick Van Dyke, Judy Garland, Julie Andrews, Jim Henson (and Kermit), Charlton Heston and Roger Rabbit! Look around for Roger’s print. He left quite an impression on the park (Wocka Wocka!)  It’s near the left side of the theater. If you can’t find it, ask one of the cast members in front of the ride, who are usually more than happy to help.

Now that you’ve seen his footprints, head towards the Backlot Tour.
The Backlot Tour is probably where you’ll see the most Roger Rabbit stuff in the parks. In the pre-boarding area, the room is filled with thousands of actual movie props. Sadly, they’re not labeled but rather just dumped into a big mess. The only props I currently found was above the Muppet car (you can’t miss it. It’s a giant car and has the word “Muppet Car” stamped on the side) and was several boxes of Acme Eye Balls which are in the Acme warehouse in the final scenes.

When you board the trams, be on the lookout for an Acme vehicle and the steamroller from the final scene. It’s the actual cars, so make sure you keep an eye out for those constantly. They’ll be found on both sides, so keep turning your head.

After the ride is over, you’ll be led into a gift shop (of course). This shop is actually designed to look exactly like the interior of Acme warehouse in the film. Keep an eye out for lots of hidden details and references.

When you walk out, continue in the park circle towards the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. Right in-between Indy and the Star Wars area, there’s a restaurant that most people don’t seem to notice (it’s directly across from the WDW Radio building, home of the former Sounds Dangerous with Drew Carey). 

When you enter, you’ll notice an outdoor eating area and an indoor eating area (Forgive me, as I forget the name of the restaurant. It might be known as the Backlot Express). On the outside you’ll easily spot the Toon Patrol Car. This is probably one of my favorite hidden gems in the whole park. It’s really cool and it makes a great photo op. You can’t go inside the car, but you can touch it, which was pretty amazing anyway.

After you’re done drooling over the vehicle, walk inside the restaurant and look around. What you’ll see in here is just as cool.
In this restaurant, you’ll be able to find Benny the Cab. No, not a constructed Benny statue, but rather the car that Bob Hoskins sat on before Benny was drawn over him in the movie. It’s really cool and the pictures surrounding it show how the animators drew over it and some before and after scenes. It’s a must see! Take a picture too!

That’s all the Roger Rabbit locations I could think of for Walt Disney World. There of course used to be Mickey’s Toontown, in the Magic Kingdom which was inspired by the Toontown from the movie, but that sadly no longer exists as it made way for the very exciting New Fantasyland expansion (which probably will just be called “Fantasyland” one day).

Another location is off Disney's Hollywood Studios and at Disney's Pop Century resort. They have a section based off Roger. See blow in this beautiful photo from James Brandon!

                                                         Photo: James Brandon

If you can think of any other locations that I left out, p-p-please let us know in an email at mickeymindset@gmail.com and we’ll feature it in the article! Feel free to include pictures as well. 

Retro Reviews: Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Mitchell Stein- Not exactly a Disney movie, per say, but worth the title of a Disney Classic by far.

Released under Disney's Touchstone Pictures banner, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, directed by Robert Zemeckis (who also directed my other favorite movie of-all time, Back To The Future) and produced by Stephen Spielberg, is a masterpiece which combined brilliant animation with the classic “film noir” 1940’s detective style and created something really unique which will live on forever.

When I saw this movie for the first time a few years ago, I don’t think I appreciated it as much as I did today. In traditional movies, like Mary Poppins, Pete’s Dragon, and Song of the South, the animation was a lot less sophisticated and usually was the animation pasted on to the already existing live action sequences, creating a flat looking 2D effect, but still cool. Who Framed Roger Rabbit created a highly sophisticated new style to animated-live action films. Every sequence had to be drawn over stand-in puppets, and some of the sequences call for some really wacky cartoon acts, and the Toons are usually holding an actual item, ( i.e. a gun, or handcuffs, cigar) so the animation must have taken them months to fill in and a lot of work as well. 

To ensure the effect of cartoons living in our world, the camera had to move as much as possible. 2D sequences barely exist in this movie, not to make it look like the characters were just pasted over the scene. Once you start paying attention to the small details in this movie, you’ll come to appreciate it a lot more than you already do. Every sequence had to be filmed with stand in puppets or costumes (depending on how big the character was) and in some scenes, the actors had to act a two-man scene with themselves since the animation hasn’t been filled in yet. The work that went into this movie was tremendous and was worth it all.

The film starts off with a classic style cartoon, with a familiar style opening, trademarked as the Warner Bros. cartoon openings. In this scene we are introduced to Roger Rabbit and Baby Herman who as you see until the director yells cut, work at a cartoon film industry. The transition from the first scene into the real world is incredibly brilliant. I can’t think of a better way to move that wacky cartoon-ish type scene into our real world. It also establishes the fact that characters actually exist in this movie, and are not actually drawn by anyone.

But don't be fooled by the cartoon-ish style of the film. This movie is by far not a kids movie. There's violence, language and other innuendo that might be considered a PG-13 rating in today's style of movies.  Be aware. The first scene when we're introduced to Judge Doom still creeps me out 'till today. 

Another one of the incredible feats that Who Framed Roger Rabbit accomplished was managing to be able to include not just original characters, such as Roger and Jessica Rabbit, Benny the Cab and Baby Herman, but rather to be able to include several well-known and copyrighted cartoons owned by several Disney companies. 

Managing to land these characters a spot in the movie created some of the most iconic sequences in Disney history. Only in Roger Rabbit will you see Warners Bros.’ Daffy Duck duel piano with Disney’s Donald Duck, Mickey and Bugs Bunny share a memorable scene, and include other characters like Droopy, Betty Boop, Woody Woodpecker, Dumbo, and much, much more.

Overall,  Who Framed Roger Rabbit is one of my favorite animated movies of all time. A true Disney classic and surprisingly, doesn't have a sequel. That’s probably a good thing anyway. 

Looking Ahead to 2014

Mitchell Stein- As we prepare to close 2013 and now look ahead to 2014, instead of taking a look back at the year that was 2013 like most Disney fan sites are doing, we decided to go the other way and look ahead to what we're most looking forward to and hoping for in the coming year in no particular order at all.

Muppets Most Wanted: 

The Muppets (2011) was awesome. It had great humor, story and some really touching scenes that brought the Muppets back together after a long 12-year hiatus with a brand new movie that completely re-launched the franchise. It only made sense that another (and many more!) Muppet movie should be produced, and Disney jumped right on that only four months after the last one came out. 

Now that there are posters and trailers and all, we know this movie is going to be incredible, and maybe even better than the first one. Plus, our site's co-runner Ryan attended a filming for the movie which he said was incredible, and guaranteed this movie will be awesome, and that's all he'll tell us. 

If you've been behind on news, we've been talking about it like crazy on our sister site The Muppet Mindset. Check it out here!    

Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier

Continuing in the Avengers saga is the avenger Captain America, continuing right where The Avengers (2012) left off. The last Captain America movie was awesome, and it's another prep for The Avengers: Days of Ultron which is coming to theaters May 2015.


Phineas and Ferb Star Wars Special: 
While the Marvel/Phineas and Ferb special could've been better, I have high hopes for this one. It should be fun, exciting and maybe even take a look at Star Wars Episode 7, coming out in the far, far away date of December 2015.

More ARGs from Disney: 

This summer Disney launched the greatest thing ever. They called it The Optimist. 

The Optimist was an 'alternate reality game' (or ARG for short) that took Disney fans on adventures through the actual Disney park and online world and uncovering many Disney secrets and visiting other legendary locations in promotion for their upcoming movie, Tomorrowland. Tomorrowland's release date has been pushed off to May 2015, but writer Damon Lindelof promised Optimists that more ARGs would be coming before the movie's release. 

The Optimist was not only a lot of fun, but it created many friendships and spawned a fantastic close-knit community of fans. I hope more ARGs will be made in the future, whether connected to The Optimist or not, it was a lot of fun. 

(Visit the official main website: http://optimist.disney.com/ and read some more about it: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2013/07/disney-the-optimist-arg/) 

Guardians of The Galaxy: 

Another Marvel movie, but this will mark the first time to make a superhero film not related to The Avengers since being bought out by Disney. It's a little unclear as to what the movie will be about, or if it will have any connection/reference to The Avengers. But, it is the last Marvel movie until The Avengers: Days of Ultron in May 2015. It opens on August 1st, 2014. 

More Roger Rabbit Appearances: 

Seriously, whenever this guy makes an appearance in the parks, the Disney fan community goes crazy.                            There's a major demand for more Roger and other characters from the film in the parks, so whenever he finally does make an appearance, the lines can be over three hours long to meet Roger.                                                                 C'mon Disney! Make these meet-and-greets a regular thing! It only makes sense that Roger should be hanging out by his own ride in Toontown, and give him a spot at Walt Disney World as well. 

Also, once you're at it, give Sweetums a meet and greet at Muppet-Vision 3D as well! There would be a major demand for that! 

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Opens in Magic Kingdom: 

There's no official date, but it's set to open sometime in 2014. 

The last stage in the New Fantasyland expansion will finally open this upcoming year, and being placed half in the spot of it's preceding ride Snow White's Scary Adventures. It looks like it's a super fun ride, so we're super excited. 

Star Wars Rebels: 

Another attempt at a Star Wars TV show. After The Clone Wars ended earlier this year, Disney/Lucasfilm is producing another series, this time based on the timeline in-between Episode 3-4 as the Sith hunts down the final living Jedi in the world. It sounds like a much darker, less kid-friendly and more intense series. You had us at 'Star Wars'. 

Into the Woods: 

Looks like Disney is continuing in their fairy-tale reboots since the success of Once Upon a Time on ABC, but this movie looks somewhat different. This story is actually based off the 1987 Tony Award winning Broadway musical of the same name.
The film centers on a baker and his wife's quest to break a witch's curse in order to start a family.
On the way, they encounter many fairy-tale characters including Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf, Rapunzel, Cinderella, and many more.

The movie stars Meryl Streep (pictured), Johnny Depp, Emily Blunt, James Cordon and many more. Film opens December 25th 2014.

Three Disney Channel Shows Ending: 
If there's anything I mock Disney for, it's for their current Disney Channel shows. Some of them are bland and un-enjoyable, especially compared to what Disney Channel and Disney Afternoon would produce years ago.
I'm excited for Fish Hooks, A.N.T. Farm and Good Luck Charlie to air their series finales. I'm starting to get tired of all three of them. I don't know if there's a big fan-base for these things, but I personally just can't stand them anymore. Hopefully we can start getting some better shows on the channel, it's too bad Tron: Uprising didn't work out.


Big Hero 6: 
The next animated feature from Disney is a Marvel crossover, but not technically a Marvel film. It will focus on a group of six heroes protecting a fictional city of San Fransyoko (a mix of San Francisco and Tokyo). It looks like lots of fun is to be had around.

The movie opens November 7th.






That's it folks! Have a Happy New Year!