Mouse Extra

Here’s a quick FYI for those of you who are pin collectors.  This morning begins DisneyShopping.com’s semi-annual pin sale.  I don’t like to promote Disney’s various retail outlets, because let’s be serious, they don’t need my help.  But this is a great sale for the casual collector.  Many of the pins are half-price and there is usually some nice choices.

The reason why I am telling you is because I want our readers to know about it early.  The best pins can go very fast and you’ll be shut out.  So if you’re a pin collector, go check it out.  But come back to Mouse Extra as we have some more to talk about later today.

The guidebook is a very popular subject with Disney afficinadoes. The various drawbacks and benefits are often a topic of discussion. Even Disney fans who know the parks better than the back’s of their hands get the new guides as they come out. To me, the top books have always been The Unofficial Guide and The Passporter. Well, I will now mention the Complete Walt Disney World from Coconut Press in the same breath. Its a great book written by Julie and Mike Neal. The couple spent a year researching the book by spending time at WDW (not a bad gig if you can get it). For example, Julie claims to have spent a whole day riding the Tower of Terror to study its little nuisances and the like.

And it was worth it. The details provided about each attraction are extraordinary and the best of any guide no question. Full pages are dedicated to attractions like the Liberty Square Riverboats or Pocohontas and Her Forest Friends. Several pages are set aside for the e-tickets like Space Moutian and the Kilimanjaroo Safari. In addition, these larger descriptions are typically followed by a “Fun Facts” section with little bits of trivia. For example, at Soarin’, we are told the reasoning behind the selection of Flight Number 5505, we get Patrick Warburton’s Disney resume, and we find out about all the locales used in the film.

All of this information does come at a price. The book does not provide a lot of details on the resorts. There is some good information on what to do in planning and packing for a Disney vacation but its not as deatiled. of course, no guide comes close to the Unofficial Guide in that department. Restaurants are not covered extensively either but the basics are there. You are given the location and cuisine but there’s no effort at critiques.

Before I get to negative, I will point out that one of the best things about this book is the photos, over 400 of them and all beautifully done. You can even get some behind the scenes looks. Its easily the best WDW guide in terms of photography and is worth the cover price alone.

There is also a great deal of effort by authors to provide you with details on what they call diversions. That is, the book is a great source for information on Downtown Disney, golfing, and the water parks. There is also more pages spent on the specialty tours and the special events, like the Osborn Lights and the Halloween party, then in any other book of its kind. Perhaps the best thing about this book (besides the photography) is the detail on the little, well, details. Several pages are spent discussing the architecture of the World Showcase pavillons and the biology of the animals found throughout Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

But lets not stop there. The book provides a good outline of the various shops in and out of the parks. There are fine historical recounts of the parks, the characters, and the man himself, Walt. Only the Unofficial Guide provides more of a historical backround. I also like the “Park Puzzlers” which are sets of trivia questions. At the bottom of eack page are little tidbits such as hidden places to rest, details on the best place to sit for a ride, and the like. Similiar to Fun Facts, the authors provide “Fun Finds” which are basically scavenger hunts for the big attractions. An example of this is the listing of 36 ghosts to be spotted at the Haunted Mansion.

For Disney fans, I would certainly go out and buy the Complete Walt Disney World. Although it was just published, I was unable to find a copy at Borders or Barnes&Noble. However, it is available at Amazon.com, and believe me its worth it.

Today’s merchandise review is from Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra.

Disney was scheduled to release their newest imagineering field guide on June 1st, but instead it has already been released. This last one is based on Disney’s Animal Kingdom. You may have read my glowing review of the Magic Kingdom edition of these guides. Like that book, the premise is based on the wildlife field guides so popular with hikers, birders, and other nature buffs. The book itself is thin and small for easy use “in the field.”

Like the other guides, I very much enjoyed reading the information on how the Animal Kingdom was imagineered. Also, like the previous books, this one provides a wealth of photos, illustrations, and concept art. These alone are worth the $9.95 sticker price. Some examples include early depiction by Joe Rohde of the entrance where guests cross a bridge and walk-thru a giant Noah’s ark. An early design of a carousel (something I think the park could use) for the Oasis also sheds light on some of the early ideas.

Any Disney fan, even those not particularly enamored of this park, will find something interesting in this volume. If you own the other books in this series, you will note that the Animal Kingdom’s design is very different from the other parks. Landscaping is a very important aspect, for example. Perhaps most notably, this park is in part a zoo which makes it a different breed of animal (pun intended) in the theme park world. Feeding, caring for, housing, and exhibiting live creatures separates this park from the others and the book spends a considerable amount of space on those distinctions. As an example, the book illustrates the differences between the Oasis and Main Street, USA. Both areas provide similar functions, i.e. funneling people to the center of the park. However, the Oasis hides the centerpiece, the Tree of Life, from view until you are nearly on top of it, making it more impressive when first seen. There is a discussion on the landscaping issues as well as the choice in animals- all non-aggressive, calm species.

Another difference with the Animal Kingdom is the travel schedule of the imagineers. These designers traveled periodically to Africa, Asia and other places to research motifs, architecture, and exhibitory in order to gain inspirations for Harambe and Anandapur, the fictitious places at the park. You will also note the design of Discovery Island which is influenced by various tropical island cultures. Each section of the park gets its own section, including for some reason Theater of the Wild, as its own chapter.

There are some minor drawbacks to this book. First of all, out of the 125 pages, the first thirteen is reprinted information in the other books of the series. This section , titled “Imagineering 101″, gives you the basic background and glossary of terms for the discipline. I understand why its in every volume, but I would think the vast majority of people who book this book also have the Epcot and Magic Kingdom versions, as well. Still, there are new illustrations and pictures in this section such as a mold from the Yeti’s head or an early survey of the park. The authors also spend a decent amount of time explaining the choices behind Chester and Hester’s Dinorama, the often ridiculed mini-land at Dinoland USA. While I have never had as big of a problem with the area as many others (heck, I have fun on Primeval Whirl), I’m not sure we need several pages of how difficult it is to make the concrete look cheap or the area to look cheesy.

My biggest problem is actually with omission. Perhaps the most famous “lost land” of any Disney park, is the legendary Beastly Kingdomme, the would be land of mythical beasts such as dragons. Even up to and well past the park’s opening, Disney was planning to create this area. Even today, we still get rumors of its impending construction. Numerous articles, both unofficial and official, describe the imagineered ideas that we were being conceptualized. Yet, there is not one peep about it in the book.

Still, all in all, I love this series and I hope it continues to the Studios, to California, and beyond-perhaps even a volume on the Resorts or the Cruise line. Pick this book up and enjoy the background information it provides on how this places are dreamt up. Its fascinating. And bring it with you to the Animal Kingdom.

 Today’s merchandise review is from Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra

You are probably wondering why there is a review of Spider Man DVDs on a Disney website. Well, get this, Disney owns the rights to the Spider Man animated series from the mid-90s-the heyday of comics. This show often played along with other action adventure fare, such as the Power Rangers, on Disney’s Jetix block of shows on its various cable channels. The company has also released several DVDs for this series. Unfortunately, Disney has chosen to release single DVDs containing 4 or 5 related (some barely so) episodes at a time. Thus, Disney is charging you about $16 for 5 cartoons instead of $40 for an entire season in what I can only assume is an attempt to milk the consumer even more, since most animated series release whole seasons at a time.

The series itself is very good. Its is the forbearer of the resurgence in quality comic-based animation such as its contemporary, Fox’s X-men series to the more recent Batman and Justice League shows. It was on of the first of its kind not to treat its audience like a bunch of morons. Like much of Disney’s children’s entertainment creations, it is not “dumbed down.” It addresses issues that people actually have-a hallmark of Marvel since its birth in the early 1960s. Issues like racism in the X-Men to teen angst in Spider Man, set Marvel apart. It understood, as is demonstrated in this series, that any good science fiction must have real people in extraordinary situations. We see Peter Parker struggle with being a college student and photographer while trying to save New York City on a seemingly nightly basis.

So far, Disney has only released 5 DVDs. The last of which, “The Venom Saga”, was released in June 2005. The rest of the series- “Spider Man vs. Daredevil”, “The Return of the Green Goblin”, “The Ultimate Villain Showdown”, and “Spider Man vs. Doc Ock”- are of roughly the same quality. Some do have interesting bonus features like episodes for the 1960s series or a villains’ guide. Plus, interest has increased with the recently released mega-hit Spider Man 3. Its unclear if Disney has any plans to release more DVDs, but I do hope they release the entire run at some point.

Today’s merchandise review is from Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra.

Putting out Princess merchandise is like printing money for Disney. You can go to any Disney Store and at least a third of it is filled with princess items from clothes, shoes, dolls, toys, sleepwear, make-up kits, purses, candy, CDs, key chains, books of all kinds to, of course, DVDs. At the parks, whole stores are dedicated to these gals. Stage productions and ice spectacles have been created to feed this frenzy. Disney has now started a Pirate & Princess ticket event at the Magic Kingdom. An odd combo for sure, but a hit nonetheless.

I will focus specifically on the DVDs Disney has put out to take advantage of the interest seemingly every young girl in the US of A has in them. More specifically, I will discuss the Princess Stories and Princess Sing-A-Longs which my daughter absolutely loves. For older girls, Disney has recently released Princess Party DVDs which are more interactive with games, recipes and the like. Those are a little advanced for my toddler but I’m sure I’ll get there someday as she gobbles up anything with Cinderella, Jasmine, Belle, Aurora, or Ariel on it.

The sing alongs are fun for the little ones in particular. They take a portion of the movies and plunk it down like a music video with the words scrolling on the bottom. Volume One contains many of the classics like “Whole New World”, “Beauty and the Beast”, and “Once Upon a Dream.” Volume Two has less of the classics and more second-string songs like “Something There” or songs from direct-to-dvd sequels such as Cinderella 2. Volume 3 really delves into obscurity. Presumably a Volume 4 would be scraping the bottom of the barrel. Still kids love them and there are some fun bonus features like karaoke and dance-alongs.

The Stories line of DVDs is less compelling. These invariably include three or four stories, two of which always seem to be from the Disney Channel series-Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Unfortunately, the animation on those shows was less than spectacular as were the basic plots. There are also stories based on older personalities like Cinderella and Snow White. However, these are simple narration over slow moving frames much like someone reading a picture book. It seems to me that Disney could have put in a little effort and created short cartoons instead of cheaping out on us. Some of them are interactive to a small degree and kids, anyway, seem to like them, which is I suppose the point.

Today’s merchandise review is by Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra

I just want to apologize for the delay in updating the site.  We had some technical problems at the end of last week, and then I was out of town over the weekend.  Thanks to everyone who stopped by, and keep a weather eye for lots of new stuff in the next couple of days.  We start with a book review from contributing writer Mike.  He takes a look at on of the Imagineering Field Guides.

Disney has begun publishing a series of “Field Guides” dedicated at least to this point on their Florida theme parks. I will discuss the first, the Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. The subtitle is “An Imagineer’s-eye view.” The authors are listed simply as the Imagineers.

The book begins with an interesting review of what Imagineering is, entitled “Imagineering 101.” This chapter of the book gives a relatively short synopsis on the history of Imagineering from its foundations in 1952. It also breaks down the various aspects from concept/design to engineering, props, graphics, construction, media design and other disciplines. There is also two pages of definitions for Imagineering terms of art.

We then get to an overview of the Magic Kingdom itself. The park’s history is detailed with early conceptual designs and photographs of Walt working on his secret project. The book goes into some detail about how Walt wanted to avoid creating a Disneyland East and his instructions to the Imagineers on that problem. It also demonstrates how Imagineers want you to experience the park itself. It shows you how they design the way you fist glimpse the castle and how you only really view what’s inside after you walk under the train station.

The book is then broken down into the various Lands at the Magic Kingdom. This is where we get to the meat of the book, and its where it really shines. Disney fans will love the inside dirt on how attractions and buildings are designed and themed. Each section is chock full of facts, figures, pictures, and perhaps of most interest, conceptual art. For example, under the Liberty Square section, we learn about the origins of the colonial section of the park and the styles behind the architecture. The Hall of Presidents is discussed in detail as we are told the story behind the sculpting of the figures and the use of massive illustrations during the show. There is also a “Quick Facts” section.

The idea behind the book is simple. Like nature field guides, the book is small for easy transport. You can easily take this book to the Kingdom and spot the Imagineering points of interest as you walk around. You can note, for instance, the jousting lances holding up the medieval tent of It’s a Small World. Or you can note how as you travel “west” across Frontierland, the architecture itself becomes more “westerly” from old St. Louis to gold-rush California.

I do love this book. The concept art is a big highlight for me. Real Disney fans will get a huge kick out of the historical information and the details of the Imagineering process behind some of the most (and least) popular attractions. I hope these keep coming. They have already done an Epcot book (perhaps I will review that at some point) and this June will see a Disney’s Animal Kingdom volume. I hope someday to see Imagineering guides to Disneyland and the Resorts, as well.