Should Disney Celebrate Oswald’s 85th?

As an Oswald fan, I’m glad to see his merchandise showing up in more places. I’m even willing to accept that his image is being updated with the times, much as Mickey doesn’t look like he did in the 1920’s anymore.

But I’ve gotta stop a moment and take note of the fact that Disney’s spinning some of this new merchandise not with the Epic Mickey 2 release, which makes sense, but rather with Oswald’s 85th birthday. Oswald was at Universal for 78 of those 85 years, and for most of that time he just sat in a vault alone.

Should we think of this 85th birthday celebration as a make-up party for all those milestones missed? Or is this a little bit like celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary, despite having been legally separated and living apart for 47 of those years?

All I’m sure of is this: There’s no such thing as a bad reason to watch an Oswald cartoon. So here’s one of my favorites: The Mechanical Cow. I’m especially enamored of the scene with the baby, which starts around 3:20.

Walt Disnizzle Mixtape!

Attention Disney hipsters: You’re already at least 20 seconds late for downloading Walt Disnizzle Mixtape. Here’s how to fix that.

Hat tip: BoingBoing.

Disney Store Selling Bust Enhancement Cream

Yeah, I know that title might land this straight in your spam filter. But it’s true! The new Disney Baby collection that many of us Disney fans got email about this morning includes skin care products for new moms, including Bounce Back Bust Butter. And I find this hilarious.

Jentasmic! Have You Thanked a Cast Member Lately?

Towel animals don’t just make themselves, y’know. And yeah I have no idea what animal this is. Sloth? Puppy? Reindeer?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Cast Members need love too. This week I’m saying it at Studios Central in my Jentasmic! column.

If you’ve ever had a great, magical time at Walt Disney World, there have been Cast Members to thank for it. Perhaps it was a cheerful face as you boarded an attraction, or a Princess lavishing attention on your child, or a friendly bus driver welcoming you aboard. Or maybe it was something truly exceptional, such as the time a kind Guest Services Cast Member gave my son a new Buzz Lightyear mug to replace one he’d lost in the mens’ room, or the manager at Le Cellier who replaced my entire outfit after an unfortunate experience with a tray of drinks. Or maybe it was people you never saw: The Imagineers who designed an attraction, the housekeepers who left towel animals on your bed, or the people who prepared your meals.

Head on over to StudiosCentral for the full article.

Jentasmic on Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom

I was instantly hooked on Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. So how’s about Disney bringing that technology to Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Here’s a snippet from this week’s Jentasmic! column, over on StudiosCentral:

SOTMK is more complex (both in technology and game mechanic) and has greater potential for expansion and re-themeing than its Epcot equivalent, Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure (which recently replaced an almost-identical game themed to Kim Possible). Aaron DelPrince recently reviewed this game here on StudiosCentral. I agree with Aaron that the Agent P experience is a step up from the Kim Possible version. But SOTMK is in another league entirely, using full-movement animation and a wider variety of variables which will affect each specific interaction in the game.

Disneyana at Geppi’s Entertainment Museum

You have got to be kidding me. Does it include its own spindle?

Baltimore’s an odd little city in some ways. For one thing, who thought it was a good idea to put a large convention center across the street from the baseball stadium? Throughout Otakon, cosplaying anime fans and befuddled Orioles fans competed for space on the sidewalks.

My family flew into town the day before Otakon, knowing that we’d be able to pick up our pre-registered badges that evening. (We didn’t get into the crazy long line that snaked around the convention center all afternoon; we just waited until we saw someone tweet that there was only a 10-minute wait. Shazam, done.)

But maybe it’s not so bad that the stadium is so close to the convention center, because the Sports Legends museum shares a building with a great find for any fan of vintage Disney comics and merchandise: Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, which a friend was kind enough to suggest we visit that afternoon.

The Geppi’s web site explains their mission:

Geppi’s Entertainment Museum is dedicated to presenting the story of popular culture since the nation’s earliest days in an entertaining and educational fashion so that our guests have the unique opportunity to walk through a timeline that parallels and is entwined with history as a whole.

I’m not sure how well they accomplish the entwinement of history; I didn’t notice any references to historical events other than those specifically referenced in the pop culture materials they’ve archived. But they’ve done a great job of collecting and displaying nostalgic ephemera, from comic books to underpants. We spent an hour or so working our way through the collections, constantly tugging at each others’ sleeves and exclaiming, “You’ve got to see this one!”

My only disappointment in the museum is that their Local Heroes collection only has a small John Waters section. Museum staff explained that this is because they’d like to keep the museum family-friendly, which means they really can’t reference most of his films (they did have a couple of pink flamingos, referencing his least family-friendly movie).

Below is a photo gallery of just a few of the Disney items I saw at the Geppi Museum on July 26, 2012. If you’re in Baltimore, with or without tens of thousands of anime fans, I’d encourage you to drop in and visit the collections.

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I’ve also got to include one non-Disney image, because it makes me giggle.

If Foxy Grandpa Hat Party isn’t already a euphemism, it should be.

Nemo and Ponyo Cosplay at Otakon 2012

 

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Photos from Otakon 2012, last weekend at the Baltimore Convention Center.

 

Hidden Mary Blair in Walt Disney World’s “it’s a small world”

I’ve always been terrible at spotting hidden Mickeys. I’ve got the guide and all, but even with incredibly explicit directions, I still can’t see half the things I go looking for, unless I’ve got a personal guide.

One of my favorite Easter Eggs at Walt Disney World is the hidden Mary Blair in “it’s a small world.” She’s hidden in plain sight, and large enough that I can find her just fine. But she’s in such an odd spot that I never noticed until my friend Trace showed her to me. So on my trip to Walt Disney World last month, I captured this video.

Trace tells me that there are hidden Mary Blairs in every “it’s a small world,” but the only other one I could find info on is the one at Disneyland, which interestingly enough is also located with the Eiffel Tower. Anybody out there got the scoop on Paris, Tokyo, or Hong Kong?

WDW Fantasyland Construction View from Dumbo

I love the updated Dumbo attraction at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom! The twin spires of Dumbo are a joy to behold, especially at night. And yes, I unabashedly ride Dumbo all by myself, and I am a middle-aged lady.

Right now one of the bonuses of riding Dumbo is the view of the Fantasyland construction. If you’re not already familiar with the Fantasyland expansion plans, AllEars has a great overview and recent updates.

Below are a video I captured while flying high on Dumbo on July 18, 2012, and a screen shot of perhaps the clearest view of the construction from the video:

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Jentasmic: Why Stitch is My Hero

Stitch at MouseFest 2008, getting ready to board the Tomorrowland Speedway

Lilo and Stitch is one of my favorite Disney movies. This week’s Jentasmic! at StudiosCentral is an exploration of why Stitch means so much to me.

It’s easy to live by the spirit of ‘ohana when times are good. Making sure nobody gets left behind isn’t so tough when everybody can keep up with the same pace. And why would you forget someone when they’re still there? And I think we all know life isn’t always like that.

Please visit StudiosCentral for the rest of the story.