Day and Night: Date Night
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Last night I finally went out and saw Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny! I am a huge fan of the Indiana Jones franchise, and I really enjoyed the film’s story line.
Without going into a full review of the film, I had a wonderful time looking for Easter eggs, and felt the film-makers did a wonderful job world-building and creating memorable moments for the audience. I have been eagerly awaiting the release of this film and it did not disappoint.
I have been away this past week on a long overdue beach vacation. I was able to spend time quality time with some of my extended family, and enjoy the ocean. The time away was relaxing, and I’m pleased to say I was able to put away my screens and, and take a break from work. That being said, I was excited to return home to watch the film.
If you are like me, I was also excited to see the trailers playing before the movie. These too did not disappoint! Two of my favorite trailers were the for The Marvels (2023) and the new Haunted Mansion film, based on the Disneyland New Orleans mansion. Here are the trailers in case you haven’t seen them.
Disney+ To Debut 27 Newly Restored Walt Disney Animation Studios Classic Shorts Starting On July 7 To Celebrate Disney’s 100th Anniversary
Disney+ will begin debuting a collection of 27 newly restored Walt Disney Animation Studios classic shorts starting on July 7, featuring classics titles, such as: Disney’s earliest theatrical shorts (“Trolley Troubles” and “All Wet,” both from 1927 and starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit); Silly Symphony classics like “The Skeleton Dance,” “Merbabies” and “Wynken, Blynken and Nod,” as well as a wide range of entertaining shorts featuring Disney’s most beloved characters.
Restoration to these films shorts was spearheaded by the Walt Disney Studios Restoration and Preservation team, led by director Kevin Schaeffer. Schaeffer and his team recently restored “Cinderella,” and are presently working on a restoration of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
The following shorts are debuting this week on Disney+: Aquamania (1961), Bath Day (1946), Building a Building (1933), Figaro and Frankie (1947), Goofy Gymnastics (1949) and The Skeleton Dance (1929).
This Week in Disney History: July 8th-July 15th
July 8, 1877: Actor Nigel De Brulier, the inspiration for the model of the Sorcerer in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment of Fantasia, is born in Bristol, England.
Actor Nigel De Brulier was born in Bristol on August 8, 1877. Although he never starred in a Disney film, he is known for being the live action inspiration for the Sorcerer Yensid in Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940) .
Nigel launched his career as an actor on the stage in the United Kingdom, and later moved to the American stage after moving to the United States in 1898.
De Brulier was one of the few actors of the silent era who reached reasonable success in talkies, with 120 film credits to his name. He portrayed Cardinal Richelieu in four Musketeer films, The Three Musketeers (1921), The Iron Mask (1929), The Three Musketeers (1935) and The Man in the Iron Mask (1939).
He also appeared with Douglas Fairbanks in The Gaucho (1927) and he played the wizard Shazam in the 1941 Republic serial Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941).
July 9, 1982: Walt Disney's Tron premieres in the United States
Tron was released on July 9, 1982, in 1,091 theaters in the United States and Canada, grossing $4 million on its opening weekend. Tron was one of the first major motion picture films to use computer-generated imagery (CGI). While the film received mixed critical reactions upon its release, it became a cult hit and was lauded as a pioneering work in cinematic visual effects.
The inspiration for Tron dates back to 1976, when screen writer and director Steven Lisberger became intrigued with video games after seeing the game Pong. Lisberger and producer Donald Kushner set up an animation studio to develop Tron with the intention of making it an animated film. To promote the studio itself, Lisberger and his team created a 30-second animation featuring the first appearance of the title character. Eventually, Lisberger decided to include live-action elements with both backlit and computer animation for the actual feature-length film.
Various studios had rejected the storyboards for the film before Walt Disney Productions agreed to finance and distribute Tron. There, backlit animation was finally combined with the 2D computer animation and the live action.
July 10, 2014: Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy opens in Disneyland Paris.
On July 10, 2014, Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy ("Ratatouille: Rémy's Totally Crazy Adventure"), a motion-based trackless 3D dark ride based on the 2007 Disney/Pixar animated film, Ratatouille, opens in Disneyland Paris.
The attraction was formally announced in March 2013 at the Euro Disney S.C.A. annual shareholders meeting, with construction completed in June 2014. On June 21, 2014, the attraction was officially inaugurated by the president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Bob Iger. The attraction opened to the public on July 10, 2014.
July 11, 1956: Walt Disney visits the Pike Forest Fossil Beds in Florissant, Colorado, and purchases a petrified stump for Disneyland.
The ten-foot high stump, weighing in at five tons, was purchased for the sum of $1,650. The stump is believed to have come from a tree that stood over 200 feet tall, right there in (prehistoric) Colorado.
Legend has it Walt was driving with his wife Lillian through the mountains outside of Colorado Springs during a 1956 summer trip to the Centennial State, and after seeing a sign that read “Pike’s Petrified Forest”. Walt decided to pull in and do a little anniversary shopping; just two days shy of their 31st wedding anniversary.
Walt ventured in, while Lillian decided to wait in the car. It was just about closing time, but the young boy in charge of giving the tours opted to receive Walt, not yet knowing who he was, for the sum of 35 cents. Walt enjoyed the tour. Perhaps a little too much, in fact. He was in there way longer than Lillian would have liked, and he knew it.
Walt’s brother Roy later recalled, “He was gone quite a long time and when he came back he knew she would be provoked with him. It was near their anniversary, so he said, ‘Honey, I bought you an anniversary present.’ ”
Walt then purchased the petrified stump for Lillian as the anniversary present gag. it was later rumored that Lillian tolerated the stump at their Carolwood home for a whole year before donating it to Disneyland.
July 12, 1961: The first draft of a screenplay is completed for a new Disney film titled Mary Poppins.
July 10, 1961, writers Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi finished the first draft of the screen play to Mary Poppins (1964). Walt Disney's daughters fell in love with the Mary Poppins books and made their father promise to make a film based on the novels. The plot of the film is based on events found in the first Mary Poppins novel by author P.L. Travers.
For more than 20 years, Disney periodically made efforts to convince Travers to allow him to make a Poppins film, which included making visits to Travers' home in Chelsea, London. He finally succeeded in 1961, although Travers demanded and obtained script approval rights.
The Sherman Brothers composed the music score and were also involved in the film's development, suggesting the setting be changed from the 1930s to the Edwardian era. Pre-production and song composition took about two years.
Disney first attempted to purchase the film rights to Mary Poppins from P. L. Travers as early as 1938. However, Travers refused; she did not believe a film version of her books would do justice to her creation.
The events surrounding the early production of Mary Poppins were later chronicled in the 2013 film Saving Mr. Banks.
July 13, 1935: Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Garden is released.
Directed by Wilfred Jackson, it is the second Mickey cartoon produced in color.
This cartoon is Pluto's second color appearance. His first color appearance was in the special color film "Parade of The Award Nominees" for the 1932 Academy Awards, however he appeared in grey. "Mickey's Garden" from 1935 can be considered Pluto's first actual color appearance, because he appears in his traditional yellow color.
It is also the first film short Ollie Johnston — one of Walt’s nine old men, who was a cleanup artist at this time — worked on for the Disney Studio. Voice Credits include; Walt Disney as Mickey Mouse, Clarence Nash as Donald Duck and Pinto Colvig as Pluto.
July 14, 1999: The Disney Wonder departs from Venice, Italy and is enroute to Port Canaveral, Florida.
On July 14, 1999, the Disney Wonder leaves the Fincatieri ship yard in Venice, Italy to make the trip across the Atlantic to her new home in Port Canaveral, Florida. Two weeks later, on August 15, 1999, she will set sail on her maiden voyage; a four-night cruise to the Bahamas.
The Disney Wonder is the second Cruise Ship from the Disney Cruise Line. She is nearly identical in construction to her sister ship, the Disney Magic. Both ships have 11 public decks, can accommodate 2,400 passengers in 875 staterooms, and have a crew of approximately 950.
The Disney Wonder originally sailed three and four night cruises to The Bahamas. In 2011, the Disney Dream took over these itineraries and Wonder was re-positioned to the Pacific Coast. On sailings in April and October 2012, the Disney Wonder made her first-ever calls on Hawaii with stops at Hilo, Kahului and Honolulu.
The Disney Wonder features a statue of Ariel in the main atrium, and Donald Duck is featured swinging across the stern. The ship's horn sounds the first seven notes of When You Wish Upon A Star, and the ship’s godmother is Tinker Bell.
Here is a quick clip of the Wonder sounding the horn while sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge.
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Stay optimistic, and see you real soon!
Sincerely,
Harper