Minnie Needs Cash

I absolutely love this picture. Head on over to “to hell with beatnik sidearm” on livejournal for another much like it, which seems to tell the rest of the story.

Mickey and Minnie JAL Airplanes

I love these custom-painted JAL planes, seen recently on Dark Roasted Blend. There’s a whole bunch more on that page too, including a couple more Mickey but also fun Pokemon, Simpsons, and various other branding.

Random, and Somewhat Cranky, Round-Up

My friend Geoff just Facebook’ed an awesome 1985 video of the Skyway ride from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland.

Apparently, we have oneandatwo to thank for this fabulously retro moment. Thanks, oneandatwo!

In other news…..I’ve been irritated lately by the discussions around the recently-leaked Magic Kingdom Fantasyland expansion plans. It seems that every time this comes up, people are talking about how frustrating it is that Disney (and in particular Fantasyland) doesn’t have enough stuff “for boys”, that it’s all princesses and fairies and we need more pirates and villians. Um, I think there’s a lot in Fantasyland that’s pretty gender-neutral….Peter Pan, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White….

And I just always hate how we tend to break things out into “boys stuff” and “girls stuff.” I grew up playing with Barbies and Hot Wheels, and so did my brother. And I can’t help but remember the dirty looks I’d get from strangers when my son was younger, and liked to pretend to drive the Barbie Jeep at Toys’ R Us. I mean really, it had a phone and way more controls and accessories than the “boys” version….so why shouldn’t he like it?

Plus I can’t help but wonder….is there a Universal Parks fan community out there, and is there a similar level of uproar that there’s not enough girly stuff? Harumph.

But yes, I do agree with John Frost when he says:

Disney is essentially writing off the tween boys and focusing all their attention on the girls with the idea that moms and their daughters control the vacation purse strings.

What else am I cranky about? Well, I have no interest in guinea pigs saving the world in 3D, and yet I know I’m gonna end up seeing that movie and spending the extra bucks for the additional dimension.

But not everything in the world makes me cranky! I’m glad to learn that there is apparently an awesome Star Wars craft show going on in Fort Lauderdale through August 29, 2009: Stitch Wars. A Flickr set dedicated to the event describes it thusly:

Stitch Wars

A long stitch ago in a Gallery not so far, far away, an alliance of crafty rebel artists was formed to honor the epic fantasy world of Star Wars. Wielding mighty tools of knitting and crochet, cutting through the great expanse of felt, these daring individuals used their handmade patterns of survival to restore freedom to the galaxy. Beginning July 18th 2009, their Jedi mind tricks will bedazzle you and sway your thoughts to the Dark side of the Art World. May their farce be with you.

And hey, a question I’ll throw out to you European and/or well-traveled readers…has anybody been to Parc Festyland in the Normandy region of France? Their web site (French only, but Google can translate to English if you like) amuses me tremendously, especially the fact that they have a section called Prehistyland dedicated to, well, prehistory. I’m gonna be in the neighorhood next month and have a strange desire to drop in, but the reviews I’ve found online are so terribly bad I think I’ve been scared away.

Michael Jackson Disney Medley

The Best Possible Job blog ran a great Michael Jackson Walt Disney World video last month, which I just came across while catching up on too much unread stuff. I don’t have a good way to embed it, so please go there and watch it (don’t worry, I’ll wait here for you).

I don’t have any context for the clip, but can only assume it’s fairly contemporary with The Wiz, a 1970s glitter tour de force for not only Jackson, but also Nipsey Russell. In fact, I recall when my son and I watched The Wiz many years back, he and I argued over whether Jackson or Russell was the better dancer (I picked Jackson).

When I was a kid, I’d see clips like this about Disney parks and think that all those characters would just run around with you all day, riding the teacups and the Matterhorn, skipping along through Fantasyland. I suppose it must have been quite an eye opener for me when we finally went to Disneyland circa 1976. In the picture below, you can almost hear me thinking, “Who are all these other kids, anyway?”

Jentasmic: Taking Pictures, Making Memories

This week in Jentasmic!, I’m thinking back on special moments, and wondering what goes into making them:

On my office desk sits one of my most-treasured Disney photos: My son in a fit of laughter, in front of Disneyland Paris’ Sleeping Beauty Castle on an overcast day. I have no recollection of why he’s laughing, except the fact that it’s absolutely not posed; we were having a fit of giggles.

We hadn’t traveled across the Atlantic just for Disneyland Paris, though I can understand why some would. In our case, we’d come to Paris with my husband and my parents, as most of us had fallen in love with Paris on earlier trips, and one happy afternoon had realized we were all free the same week of August 2005. We spent that week in Paris, with my son and I taking a 2-day trip mid-week to Disneyland Paris, staying on site at Hotel Cheyenne (I still have the on-site ID card tacked to the bulletin board in my office, with my Carte Orange, just above the picture of my son).

(There’s a bit of a kicker in the story too….I wasn’t always so happy when I looked back at that moment. The rest of the story’s over on StudiosCentral, bien sur.)

And now with just 37 days left before my trip to Paris, I’m glad for the reminder to look back on my Disneyland Paris trip report from 2005. My son had been just a tiny bit on my case about the fact that we didn’t go to Pizza Planet that trip (which we discussed a bit on Those Darn Cats #57), and I am reassured to find that I have a good excuse for not taking him there:

We headed back to the park around 5:00 for a little dinner and maybe a couple more rides. We wanted to eat at Pizza Planet but it was closed, so we headed to Cafe Hyperion instead. I wasn’t crazy about the food, but DS loved the decor! Especially of course the big screen TVs, so he could watch cartoons. The cartoons had English and French interspersed, and they were all understandable even when you didn’t know the language.

Muppet gangster not returning for HSM4, Sez Jim Hill

A thoughtful friend this morning sent me news I definitely need (plus a headline I’ve totally stolen from her email), from Jim Hill’s update on High School Musical 4:

Now where this gets interesting is – rather than make use Matt Prokop, Justin Martin and Jemma McKenzie-Brown (whose Jimmie Zara, Donny Dion and Tiara Gold characters were deliberately introduced in “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” so that this Disney franchise would then have some recognizable-but-still-affordable performers to built future “HSM” installments around) – is that “High School Musical: East Meets West” is reportedly going to feature an all-new cast.

Mind you, that’s most likely because Ortega is no longer directing the “High School Musical” movies. Kenny’s moved on (Most recently, Ortega was the director / choreographer for the now-canceled Michael Jackson “This is It!” concert that was planned for London’s O2 Arena). In his place, Disney has hired Jeffrey Hornaday. Who is probably best known for the choreographer of “Flashdance” and “Captain EO.”

Thank goodness! I found those newly-introduced characters quite tedious. I’m guessing their HSM3 market-testing didn’t give quite the results Ortega might have been hoping for.

And while it’s not news that Ortega is moving on, nonetheless I’m still a bit disappointed every time I read it. It’s a bit like hearing that George Lucas wouldn’t be directing the next Star Wars installment….except wait, that would be a good thing.

In any case, I’m still wishing they’d make the Haunted High School Musical that turned out to be HSM3: Senior Year instead. So, I’m somewhat reassured that “Halloween” is one of the plot keywords listed for HSM4 on the Internet Movie Database.

RIP Austin Wuennenberg

Orlando Sentinel: Disney World monorail operator was working in his dream job.

A FaceBook page has been set up in his honor.

Une Table à Walt’s, S’il Vous Plaît

On a dreary July afternoon in New England, is it any wonder a girl’s thoughts turn to Disneyland Paris?

Yesterday, I finally made up my mind about the one table service dining reservation I’ll be making for this trip: I called to book a 3:45pm window table at Walt’s: An American Restaurant. It’s not like I’m really wanting a big meal at 3:45 in the afternoon…..it’s that everyone has suggested that one really should book this restaurant at a time that the parade should be going by (including Adam Goodger of the Disney Brit Podcast, whom BFF Lisa and I interviewed on Those Darn Cats Episodes 55 and 57). And that sure does sound good to me!

Calling to make the dining reservation was a reminder that I need to brush up on my French before this trip (45 days away!). Yes, the initial phone menu asked me to press 2 for English, but the Cast Member answered in French, sending me into a sputtering, “Um…..parlez-vous anglais?” Usually, I like to at least start out with “Pardon, je parle seulement un petit peu de Francais….parlez-vous anglais?” in my sweetest, most apologetic voice possible, because honestly I do know that I am essentially in their country, even when just calling their reservations line, and it would be polite of me to acknowledge their graciousness in speaking my native tongue instead of their own.

But I digress….the Cast Member did speak English, the reservation has been made, and I’ve got the confirmation number. And a little reminder that I can’t keep procrastinating on my French practice.