Mouse Extra

Yesterday, StarWars.com released some photos and details of new Star Wars related Disney merchandise scheduled to be released this fall.  These are not Star Wars Weekends merchandise, but they are collectables that will be sold only in the parks.

This round of merchandise includes a Disney Star Wars Racers Vader Race Case.  It is a case shaped like Darth Vader’s head that includes die cast cars.  (It looks exactly like the one I had when I was 8 that you put figures in!  Holy Flashback!!)  There are also more figurines, an essentially useless looking R2-D2 Light Chaser for sale during fireworks and the like, as well as a collection of “Hot Buttons” that apparently will say three different quotes made famous by the characters they depict.  (The Vader one had better say, “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”  Best line from any of the films!)

photo courtesy of StarWars.com

So, what do my fellow Star Wars fanatics think of these new collectables?  I would especially like to hear from the parents, or even a few little ones on this.  Personally, I think the inventiveness and quality of the Star Wars/Disney mash-ups are starting to go down.  But that was always expected.  The first few items were all together fun and hilarious.

For quite some time now, we have been hearing rumors of a major project that would change the face of the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland at Walt Disney World.  Everything from new and re-imagined attractions and eateries to an expansion of the areas entire footprint has all been part of the rumors.  But over the last 48 hours this story has really picked up steam and now it appears to include all of the above.

You can’t seem to find a Disney related website that isn’t covering this to some extent, but let me point you to a couple so you can get up to speed on the particulars of this rumor.  First, click here for a posting by Dewayne Bevil of the Orlando Sentinel’s Theme Park Rangers Blog.  He has published a blueprint of what this new Fantasyland would look like, however no one can seem to confirm whether or not these plans are actually genuine.  But the blueprint is the engine that has launched this rocket.  (Okay, I have been watching too much on the 40th Anniversary of the Lunar Landing!!)

Then I would suggest reading this morning’s posting by Kevin Yee over at MiceAge.com.  He does an exhaustive look into these blueprints and extrapolates from it what it may all mean.  There is a lot to digest here, but Disney fans should find this to be an exciting rumor and worth talking about even if it is all only an elaborate hoax by a princess-obsessed fanatic.

The highlights of the rumor include an Ariel dark ride that could well be the same as that going up in California, a “Be Our Guest” restaurant that is likely an audio-animatronics based eatery, and even a second Dumbo ride.  (I can’t believe it took 35 years to come up with that idea!)  This is a gigantic project with an undoubtedly enormous budget, so just on the financial end alone one has to question whether Disney has really green lit this project or if it isn’t just pie-in-the-sky stuff from hopeful Imagineers.

The one thing you will notice, and something most have been discussing, is that this new Fantasyland is clearly riding the coattails of the Princess franchise and therefore very girl-centric.  In fact, I would imagine boys over kindergarten age will find little to do here.  But to that I say, “It’s about time!”  The Magic Kingdom has always been mostly boy-centric and if the girls get one corner geared just for them then so be it.

As I am sure you have read from me a dozen times in the past, Fantasyland is not my favorite place at Walt Disney World.  In fact, I usually do everything I can to bypass it in order to save my ankles from the pain of what appears to be drunken stroller drivers, or worse, the stroller driver on a cell phone!!  So I need to hear from those of you who do truly love the current Fantasyland, and I know there are many of you.  I invite you to add your comments below and tell us what you think.  Do you like this idea?  Are you afraid of a change to your favorite area of the Magic Kingdom?  Are you giddy about the possibility of cutting the line at Dumbo in half?  Or are you concerned about seeing construction walls for years to come?

Well, I thank all of you for being patient with us the last couple of weeks as the entire staff of Mouse Extra has been on vacation on the coast of Maine.  It is an absolutely gorgeous place to go, and we all love it, but it is also very difficult to obtain internet service on a regular basis.  So please forgive us for disappearing for a while.

While there, we once again came across this wonderful vessel pictured below.  She is the HMS Bounty, and she was built in 1960 for the Marlon Brando film classic “Mutiny on the Bounty”.  In recent years she has been refitted in Boothbay Harbor, Maine and has been used in a certain set of Pirate films starring Johnny Depp.

HMS Bounty

Here she is pictured tied up on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, a river best known for being the launching point of Benedict Arnold’s invasion of Quebec.  The local legend has it that the Bounty has been asked once again to be used in the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean films and has recently “vanished” for a few weeks, perhaps for some filming that is being kept secret.  I can’t verify any of this.  It could be true, or could just be another fish story.

The Obama Administration has certainly set the bar for official government use of Youtube.com, and this clip, posted yesterday, is an absolutely terrific example of it.  It shows the president recording his part for the newly remodeled Hall of Presidents attraction in the Magic Kingdom, and features Pamela Fisher and Eric Jacobsen from Walt Disney Imagineering explaining audio-animatronics to President Obama.  (My thanks to the Disney Blog for finding this one.)

Behind the Scenes: President Obama & Disney’s Hall of Presidents

To go along with that video, here is the best one I have seen of President Obama’s audio-animatronic figure at work.  It comes from Orlando Attractions Magazine.

Disney Hall of Presidents update with Obama animatronic

Okay, call me cynical, but am I the only one who thinks they did not do a very good job on making this particular AA look like its subject?  The movements are amazingly fluid and when you watch the White House video you can see how well they matched the mannerisms.  But let me withhold judgment here until, I see it in person.  This was designed to see in a dark theater from afar, not through the lens of a zoomed in videotape.