Mouse Extra

Monday September 10 will be “NASA Space Day” at Epcot, as Disney honors the crew of the space shuttle mission STS-118 aboard Endeavor.  There is a great schedule of events throughout the day, including having the astronauts as grand marshals of the Magic Kingdom parade.  Most of the day’s events, however, will be focused around Epcot and Mission: Space.

If you can’t get there, Disney is offering a live webcast.  You can find it here.  This is how the program is described…

The webcast presents highlights of Barbara Morgan’s recognition ceremony and plaque dedication at the Mission: SPACE attraction; an engaging NASA education session focusing on STS-118 crew experiments; and a Q&A session with the entire Endeavour shuttle crew and local school children

Maybe I am making too much of this, but this seems to me like exactly the kind of thing Disney should be doing at Mission: Space and Epcot.  This is exactly the kind of thing Walt Disney would have wanted, and that is something a rarely ever say.  I can’t wait to watch.

We urge you to discuss this more and leave your comment below, or feel free to come over to the Disney News Network Forums where we discuss this and many other topics in the Mouse Extra Forums.

Well, some early reviews are in for the brand new version of the O! Canada Circlevision 360 film.  John Frost from the Disney Blog, a critic whom a place much faith and trust in, has posted a lengthy article about the film. 

All in all, I am pleasantly surprised by how well this new film version plays. Martin Short made a great host (sort of a counter to the Steve Martin hosted film over at Disneyland) and the parts of Canada that had changed so much since 1979 are now given appropriate due. I don’t think it will cause large crowds to materialize in the Canada Pavilion, but it’s exactly what Disney should be doing to some of the other outdated areas of the park. Nice to see it happen.

Mr. Frost draws the right conclusion.  This is a tourist film first and foremost, so let’s not pretends that we are going to get the next Curse of the Black Pearl here.  The last film did its job well, so simply updating it to not look like archive footage of the 1970’s is really all that needed to be done.  But in typical Disney fashion they have gone a step further.  It seems the film has been “plussed”, if only subtly.

Mr. Frost also gives a positive review to the film’s new narrator Martin Short, someone I was a bit nervous about when hearing of his inclusion.  I am looking forward to seeing this and hearing the new version of the old song.

There is just a terrific piece this morning by the Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Powers, the man who I envy for his job more than anyone else.  It’s a great story about the Muppet Mobile Lab and the test Disney is performing with this moving comedy show in Epcot’s Future World.   Check out the video as well.

The Muppet Mobile Lab, as the rig is called, is the star of a test that Walt Disney Imagineering is conducting at Epcot during the next few weeks. The lab gives the research-and-development staff a chance to try more-advanced robotic, interactive and transportation technologies — mixed with some human comedy talent. With remote-control and two-way communication, Disney operators are sending the show out and about Epcot’s Future World periodically to interact with the crowds.

There’s no guarantee the Muppet Mobile Lab will become a permanent feature. Disney Imagineering officials are as interested in testing the various components as they are the entire package, for possible transfer to other characters or locations, said Christopher Holm, director of the principal technical staff.

The first thing that stands out in my mind is that the reports this test was going to take place around the Imagination Pavilion were obviously incorrect as this was taped with Mission: Space in the background.  Also, the audio coming from Dr. Honeydew is terrific and the voice used is wonderful.

But let me just admit when I am wrong.  Last week when the story broke that the Mobile Lab was coming to Epcot, I complained that it didn’t seem a very good fit there and belonged over at the Studios Park.   Well, I can’t say exactly why, but something just seems right.  Seeing this contraption weaving its way around futuristic buildings and the monorail tracks just feels like it fits.  It’s almost as if Beaker and Dr. Bunson Honeydew somehow helped create this world with their own form of science.  Here’s hoping it stays, but chances are it will soon be just a great memory for a very select few Epcot guests.

Thanks to the LaughingPlace.com we have some additional details on the upcoming revision of the CircleVision 360 film over at the Canada Pavilion in Epcot.  The information, though not much more than we already reported, comes from the Canadian Tourism Commission.

Now, the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) and tourism industry partners have collaborated with the Walt Disney World Resort and Walt Disney Imagineering to give this movie a facelift. The newly enhanced film spotlights Canada in a modern, witty way - much like the CTC’s new Brand Canada - by showcasing Canada’s self-deprecating sense of humour and best-loved icons in a fresh, unexpected way.

This fall, the reworked version will light up the screen in the Canada pavilion at Epcot.   Actor Martin Short, a Hamilton, ON native, confronts Canadian misconceptions head- on and demystifies them. Viewers take a journey through a country they thought they knew, but discover Canada is so much more than vast landscapes.

The film is 14 minutes in length with 65% new footage, including six new aerials of Montréal, QC, Toronto, ON, Calgary, AB, Vancouver and Victoria, BC and Niagara Falls, ON. Instead of cars, clothes and cityscapes, the film takes in acrobatic Cirque du Soleil performances and rowdy rodeo action at the Calgary Stampede. Scenes portray Canada’s diverse people, culture and wilderness - a modern, young and beautiful nation. The soundtrack features 2006 “Canadian Idol” winner Eva Avila, a singer from Québec.

The Canadian Tourism Commission apparently had been receiving many complaints by Canadian citizens visiting Walt Disney World who found the film dated and therefore unflattering.  Considering it was shot over a quarter of a century ago, that is not so hard to believe.  The Commission worked for years to get the film changed to something that looks more like the Canada that exists now. 

I always enjoyed the old film, regardless of the “dated” aspects.  However, I do understand what the problem was.  Very few people who attend Epcot have any idea when the film was shot.  To them, it might as well have been shot last week.  With that in mind, the original was the reason I travelled to Canada on more than one occasion so it does deserve credit for being effective in its time.

According to many sources, the song used for this film will be the same song that has been used in the original film since it opened in 1982.  However, I am questioning that.  The song was a duet, and clearly written that way.  The information here states that only one performer will be singing it.  Unless that is not entirely correct, they will either need a different song or a major re-write.

Today marks the anniversary of Mission: Space which began soft openings on August 15, 2003 .  The intense fanfare began long before the grand opening in October of that same year.  Now four years old may not be the most significant or miraculous of milestones, but it has not been an easy four years for attraction that was to revolutionize thrill rides and the theme park industry as a whole.

Mission: Space reportedly cost well over $100 million to develop and launch, as well as an absolutely ridiculous amount of time and effort on the part of Imagineering and even some NASA consultants.  Everywhere you went in Orlando and beyond, the ride’s logo could be found.  Disney pulled out all the stops to hype this new thrill ride and it worked on me.  Being a sucker for the space program, this looked like a dream come true.  I mean to actually feel what those people feel during lift off??  I couldn’t wait.

During the initial testing phase, rumors circled that the Imagineers needed to tame down the intensity level because riders were getting terribly sick.  After it opened to the public, reports were somewhat mixed.  Some said it was an amazing experience, while others reported it was too physically taxing and the story was somewhat unimaginative.  Though I enjoyed it, it was too intense for me to ride it over and over again.  That same feeling worked its way through many fans, causing the initial honeymoon to wear off rather quickly.

Soon reports surfaced of people, especially older people, needing to be taken to the hospital for medical treatment after riding Mission: Space.  Then in June of 2005 a four year old boy died after the ride.  Only 10 months later, a woman died as well.  Both were found to have pre-existing conditions, but the damage was done.  Lines for the attraction disappeared and Disney needed to respond by offering a less intense version called the Green Team.

The ride that was supposed to be the most amazing new experience at Disney World, and the crowning achievement for Imagineering, turned into a public relations catastrophe.  Lines still rarely get too long and the attempt to use it for marketing purposes has all but stopped.  The attraction that replaced Horizons, beloved by purists everywhere, had everything going for it.  It had oodles of money invested and as much manpower as anyone can ask.  But perhaps the Imagineers reached to high.  Many think the failure of Mission: Space has forever backed Disney off the “ultra” thrill rides and re-focused them on to more family related attractions that are slightly less intense.  Only time will tell.

Not too long ago I received an email from Walt Disney World, and I am sorry I can’t recall exactly what email it was since I get so many, regarding something called “National Treasures”.  At first, I just assumed it was a promo of some kind for a mediocre Nicolas Cage movie, but after reading a bit it was regarding a new display opening at Epcot.  All I can remember about the email is that it was frustratingly short on detail and the link it offered went to a page that had nothing to do with it.  I simply ignored it.

Then yesterday, the Orlando Sentinel finally reported some details about “National Treasures”, and let me just say that for a history lover like me this sounds fantastic…

Abraham Lincoln’s hat, George Washington Carver’s microscope, Mark Twain’s pens and Sen. Daniel Inouye’s Purple Heart are coming to Walt Disney World’s Epcot as part of a new gallery exhibition called “National Treasures.”

Those items and about three dozen other American history artifacts, from such figures as Benjamin Franklin and Rosa Parks, and other items ranging from the original sheet music from the “Rosie the Riveter” song to a moon rock, will be displayed indefinitely in the American Heritage Gallery of the American Adventure pavilion.

I don’t know about you, but this sounds like it will quickly make the American Adventure Pavilion, which to me was never the most appealing outside the attraction, one of the most exciting at the World Showcase.  It is this kind of idea that really wows the audience.

With regards to my assumption that “National Treasures” must be a tie-in to the films, take a look at this paragraph from the article…

Show designers also looked for items that tied in with the newly updated American Adventure film, the main attraction at the pavilion. There is no tie-in with Disney’s National Treasure movie starring Nicholas Cage; Clark called the name coincidental.

How great does this sound?