More information about the relaunch of the new Star Tours ride.  Today they announced the pilot of your next voyage on a Star Speeder.

Many fans were disappointed that Rex wouldn’t be returning, but I think they’ve picked another, even better-liked character to take on piloting duties.

From their blog:

As explained earlier, all Star Tours Starspeeder 1000s are flown using the latest AC-series Tour Droids. And in fact, our initial plans were for our flight to be piloted by AC-38 better known as “Ace.” However, in discussions with George Lucas during the course of our production, we decided to take the story in a very different direction.

So…while AC-38 is supposed to be our pilot, by the time we actually take off, the droid sitting in the pilot’s seat will be none other than…C-3PO!

That’s right.  C-3P0 will be handling the piloting duties for our next trip on a Star Tours vessel.  This sounds like it’s going to be trouble.  Threepio has never been one for starships and I can’t imagine him doing well in any of the situations like we’ve seen in the original iteration of Star Tours.

Since this is post Episode II, perhaps we’ll see him programming binary load-lifters and interacting with Captain Antilles…?

See-Threepio is back on board the set of Star Tours and the Disney Parks blog have given us our first glimpse of him on their site today.  Anthony Daniels, who portrayed him in all six of the original films and the original Star Tours reprises his role as the effeminate protocol droid.

From their site:

“Wow! Back in the gold suit for the first time since ‘Revenge of the Sith,’” was Anthony’s reply. “But on this occasion in front of a beloved Starspeeder, a bit like the one R2 and I’d repaired every day since Disneyland first opened the Star Tours Spaceport all those years ago. I’d enjoyed being a part of the original Star Tours, one of the most wonderful jobs I ever had. I’d been alerted that amazing things were in store for passengers on the new Starspeeder – and for me too – and so here I was again, working with many of the same creative teams, with even more spin and excitement than the first time.”

I’m guessing that this shoot happened sometime last year.  I reported on a pretty reliable report that Boba Fett had been spotted on a sound stage shooting and the guess was that he was there for Star Tours.  Since they’ve closed the last iteration of the ride, they haven’t been shy about letting details slip.  For example, we know that it’s been said that the ride won’t be the same, even if you ride it ten times.  (Hopefully that’s not an overstatement like it was with the Indiana Jones ride, which I loved, but the variation was pretty inconsequential.)

They’re doing a very good job at making it impossible for me to sit at home when this ride opens.  I’m sure I’ll have a full report then, and any in between I hear about.

There are many more pictures on the Disney blog.

How would you like to own one (or more!) Disney documentaries early? Disney Movie Collections is currently taking orders for Waking Sleeping Beauty, The Boys: The Sherman Brothers’ Story, and Walt & El Grupo. In addition, if you order all three DVDs before November 29, you will also receive three free lithographs.   

I have heard a lot of good things about Waking Sleeping Beauty, and it’s a documentary I definitely plan to see.  It looks at all the drama and creativity that gave Disney another Golden Age and gave viewers the magic and music of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King.  It was during this era that I fell in love with Disney films and briefly entertained the idea of becoming an animator.  It was a time when I believed in fairy tales.    

The Boys: The Sherman Brothers’ Story is one I hadn’t heard of before today, but I have long been familiar with the names Richard and Robert Sherman.  Maybe you know a little song called “It’s a Small World?”  They wrote it.  What about “The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room?”  No?  Then you haven’t visited the Enchanted Tiki Room at Walt Disney World.  I have, and I have that song in my head more than “It’s a Small World.”  Fortunately, it’s catchy and I love it.  They also wrote the songs for Mary Poppins.  Classic.  Timeless.  Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. 

Now that you know who they are, you can learn more about them in this documentary, which includes interviews with Roy E. Disney (Walt’s nephew), Angela Lansbury (Bedknobs & Broomsticks), and Dick Van Dyke (Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). 

The third available documentary entitled Walt & El Grupo peeks into the life of Walt when he served as a cultural ambassador to South America.  He and his artists achieved goodwill during this “WWII road trip,” and resulted in the films Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros (which inspired a ride at the Mexico Pavilion at Disney’s World Showcase). 

(from the press release)

Each DVD Includes:

• An exceptional look at Walt Disney and the studio from yesteryear
• Rare footage and interviews from Walt Disney insiders
• A unique, collectible piece of Disney history
• Extensive Bonus Material, taking you deep into the stories

Fans of Walt Disney and his movies will want to take a look at these DVDs, and the bonus lithographs are an additional incentive to collectors.  Visit Disney Movie Collections before the clock strikes midnight and your coach turns into a pumpkin.

Tron: Legacy is coming and I’m way excited. And if you want to see 20 minutes of the film in IMAX 3D, then starting tomorrow you can get your tickets to this special event. Go to the official website for Tron Night 2010 to see if this event is happening near you, then tomorrow at 1pm EST you can get your free tickets. Attached below is the official press release for this event and other Tron things coming up including the highly anticipated release of the soundtrack by Daft Punk.

WALT DISNEY PICTURES KICKS OFF

“TRON: LEGACY” 10-WEEK GLOBAL COUNTDOWN

20+ MINUTE 3D SNEAK PEEK ELECTRIFIES AUDIENCES

AROUND THE WORLD WITH “TRON NIGHT: AN IMAX 3D EXPERIENCE”

Walt Disney Pictures’ “TRON: Legacy” Opens in US Theaters

December 17, 2010

BURBANK, Calif. (October 10, 2010) —Walt Disney Studios announced today,

October 10, 2010 (“10-10-10”), the kickoff of the official 10-week countdown to the release

of “TRON: Legacy,” which opens in theaters December 17, 2010. Every week for the next

10 weeks marks a major milestone in the countdown as The Walt Disney Company rolls

out exciting new TRON events, film content, products and announcements in preparation

for the worldwide film launch, including:

TRON Night: An IMAX 3D Experience, a special event on October 28, 2010, that

will give audiences worldwide the first opportunity to step onto the Grid and into

the cutting-edge, 3D world of Walt Disney Pictures’ high-tech adventure “TRON:

Legacy,” during an exciting 20-plus-minute sneak peek of the highly anticipated

film, sponsored by Asus Computer International.

Select IMAX 3D theaters nationwide and 3D & IMAX 3D theaters internationally

will offer a special screening of thrilling, never-before-seen 3D footage. “It’s

exciting to offer fans an early, exclusive 3D preview of ‘TRON: Legacy’ in the

ultimate of formats. We can’t wait for audiences around the world to experience

the visually stunning and cutting-edge world that director Joe Kosinski has

created,” said Sean Bailey, President of Production, Walt Disney Studios Motion

Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment, is equally

enthusiastic. “We are ecstatic that the Disney team and the ‘TRON: Legacy’

filmmakers elected to debut this amazing footage exclusively in our network of

theaters,” said Foster. “This first-look in IMAX 3D is the most immersive way to

bring audiences into the world of ‘TRON: Legacy’ and kick-off the countdown to

the film’s highly-anticipated launch.”

Tickets to the October 28th TRON Night events are free and will be distributed for

US and Canadian screenings on a first-come, first-serve basis starting 10:00 a.m./

PDT on the first “TRON Tuesday,” October 12, 2010. Information for U.S. and

Canadian ticketing can be found on Facebook.com/TRON.

Beginning today, fans have the opportunity to purchase tickets to select IMAX 3D

midnight screenings of “TRON: Legacy.” Tickets may be purchased

at all participating IMAX locations and online at Disney.com/TRON.

“TRON Tuesdays”— every Tuesday for the next 10 weeks, exclusive new video

and film content, including behind-the-scenes exclusives, trailers and artwork, will

be released around the world online and through select broadcast outlets. To get

the latest on “TRON Tuesdays” and more, visit Disney.com and Facebook.com/

“10-10-10” also marks the launch of Disney.com’s TRON: Get on the Grid

Sweepstakes, featuring hundreds of prizes including a Grand Prize Trip

for four to experience ElecTRONica, the new street celebration at Disney

California Adventure™ Park. Details and official entry rules are available at

Disney.com/TRONsweeps.

ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 10-WEEK COUNTDOWN:

Walt Disney Records will release the “TRON: Legacy” official motion picture

Soundtrack, scored by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, on

December 7th.

In addition to new merchandise arriving to stores this month, Disney Consumer

Products will debut exciting, new “TRON: Legacy” products and promotions,

including a special line for women, a one-of-a-kind immersive retail

destination for products and a unique gadget line for music and gaming fans.

On December 7th, Disney Interactive Studios will launch the next-gen video

game “TRON: Evolution” for all major home video game consoles, Windows PC

and handheld platforms.

Disney Parks is celebrating “TRON: Legacy” with ElecTRONica, a nighttime

street event at Disney California Adventure™ Park, featuring a dynamic visual-

and music-based experience, a re-creation of Flynn’s Arcade and an opportunity

to see a special 3D preview of “TRON: Legacy.” ElecTRONica runs from now

until April 2011 every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night and nightly through the

Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday periods.

Information on all TRON activities can be found at Disney.com/TRON.

“TRON: Legacy” is a 3D action-packed adventure set in a digital world unlike

anything captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), a rebellious 27-year-

old, is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father Kevin Flynn (Oscar® and

Golden Globe® winner Jeff Bridges), a man once known as the world’s leading video-

game developer. When Sam investigates a strange signal sent from the abandoned

Flynn’s Arcade—that could have only come from his father—he finds himself pulled into

a world where Kevin has been trapped for 20 years. With the help of the fearless warrior

Quorra (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-or-death journey across a visually

stunning universe—created by Kevin Himself—which has become far more advanced with

never-before-imagined vehicles, weapons and landscapes, and a ruthless villain who will

stop at nothing to prevent their escape.

“TRON: Legacy” is directed by Joseph Kosinski, from a screenplay written by Eddy

Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, based on characters created by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie

MacBird. Presented in Disney Digital 3D™ and scored by Grammy Award®–winning

electronic music duo Daft Punk, “TRON: Legacy” hits theaters on December 17, 2010.

Disney’s beloved animated classic Beauty and the Beast returns to the big screen this week for an extremely limited engagement in a Sing-Along Event.  Disney has partnered with NCM Fathom to bring the film to over 500 theaters on on Wednesday, Sept. 29 at 6:30 p.m. local time and Saturday, Oct. 2 at Noon local time.   

The Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along Event will feature just what it says it will—a sing-along.  The audience can sing to the memorable “Beauty and the Beast”, the rousing “Gaston”, the lively “Be Our Guest”, and all the rest from this spectacular film.   

This movie, released in 1991, was the first animated film to be nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Picture.  Since then, an entire category has been created for animated films, but Beauty and the Beast paved the way. 

Beauty and the Beast is the story of a bookish and beautiful young woman named Belle, and she discovers an enchanted castle while searching for her father.  She discovers that the castle is home to a terrifying Beast and magical talking objects such as Cogsworth the stuffy mantel clock, flirtatious candelabra Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts the motherly teapot.    

This enchanting event will also feature pop singer Jordin Sparks who will take audiences on a unique adventure with behind-the-scenes looks at the newly restored high definition animated classic and give a sneak peek at her new music video, “Beauty and the Beast.” Guests will also be treated to surprise guest introductions, deleted scenes from the cutting room floor and lost characters, as well as commentary from producer Don Hahn.

Tickets for Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along Event are available at participating box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, please visit the website (theaters and participants may be subject to change).

Also, “Beauty and the Beast” will be released from the Disney vault for a limited time only, arriving on a Blu-ray Diamond Edition Combo Pack (2-Disc Blu-ray + 1-DVD in a single package) on October 5.

The Official Disney Park Blog let loose some juicy details about the Star Tours revamp today, as well as pictures of new droids involved in the ride.

They’re surprisingly forthcoming with information about this ride, though I suspect there is a method to their madness.  I’ve never been this rabidly craving more information about a ride before, and I’m dying to ride this one.  In fact, I’m going to have to start making arrangements now so that I’m one of the first on the ride.

The ride is set during the Dark Times and is probably going to be tremendous.  The pictures are of a pair of droids involved in the ride, including the new pilot, Ace.

Here’s more on the time period the ride is set in:

The existing Star Tours show we internally refer to as “6.5,” since it takes place time-wise after Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Story development for the new show began “a long time ago,” back in 1998, and a story treatment from that year carries the title “Episode 7 — A Star Tours Classic” — referring to the Boonta Classic race that was to be the main feature of the show.

But by the time Episode I hit the screens, we were all anxious to know what would surface in Episode III that we might build on for the show. Naturally, we were then curious how Episode III would complete the series. In the end, after numerous discussions, we decided to place our storyline between the two sets of Star Wars trilogies, giving the project the working title “Star Tours 3.5”

And here’s a tidbit about the pictured droids:

Our design team created a new Tour Droid for the show, an AC Series pilot we dubbed “Ace,” with a personality as different from Rex as you can imagine.

We also created a new “spokesbot” for Star Tours, modeled after the WA-7 “Waitress Droid” from the Attack of the Clones. George Lucas suggested the name “Aly San San,” in reference to Allison Janney, the wonderful actress who provides the voice for this new character. We had a terrific time with Allison in the recording sessions for the show – she brought a lot of warmth and humor to the part.

Be on the lookout soon, also, for my report and pictures from Florida’s Last Tour To Endor, and the less than spectacular experience I had closing the Disney World version of Star Tours.

To coincide with the release of Disney’s “Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue,” the spirited fairy Tinker Bell was honored wit her very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.

The exact location is at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard in front of the Disney Soda Fountain & Studio Store just next door to the El Capitan Theatre.

Tinker Bell first appeared in the pages of J.M. Barrie’s beloved classic “Peter Pan,” but she became the fairy that most people know and love when Disney animated her as the green-garbed and very attractive companion to Peter Pan in the film of the same name. She then went on to appear in “The Wonderful World of Color” hosted by Walt Disney and continues to soar nightly above the Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle  to signal the start to the fireworks extravaganza.

“Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue” follows Tinker Bell as she meets a human for the first time, and it isn’t Peter Pan.

From the press release:

Years before meeting Wendy and the Lost Boys, Tinker Bell met Lizzy, a little girl with a steadfast belief in the power of pixie dust and the magic land of fairies. During the fairies’ summer visit to the flowering meadows of England, two very different worlds unite for the first time and Tink develops a special bond with a curious child in need of a friend. As her fellow fairies launch a daring rescue, Tinker Bell takes a huge risk, putting her own safety and the future of all fairykind in jeopardy.

Voice talents include: Raven-Symoné (“That’s So Raven”), Pamela Adlon (“Californication”), Angela Bartys (“Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure”), Jeff Bennett (“Batman: The Brave and the Bold”), and Rob Paulsen (Yakko from “Animaniacs”).  For more information, visit  http://disney.go.com/fairies/.

In honor of its 25^th anniversary, the Walt Disney Company has released The Black Cauldron as a Special Edition DVD.  The film, Based on Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain books, is the story of a boy named Taran who find himself involved in a quest to locate the magical Black Cauldron before the Horned King finds it and uses it for evil.  Taran is aided by the pig Hen Wen, beautiful Princess Eilonwy, and furry little Gurgi during his daring quest.

In this scene, Taran first meets Princess Eilonwy, and it quite clear that she is not the typical damsel in distress:

The Black Cauldron was made after animator Don Bluth (The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail) left the studio.  Often considered dark by Disney standards, it was a failure at the box office and deviated quite a bit from Alexander’s books.  This was a low point in Disney animation history, when the styles of yesterday clashed with the new blood in the studio.  With Bluth and others gone, morale was low. It would be a few years before Disney found its way again with the successes of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. 

However, Cauldron is not a terrible film.  It just feels a bit out of place when compared to the brighter and happier Disney films with singing fish and dancing candlesticks.  The PG rating for an animated film also worked against it, particularly in the early 80’s.   

Bonus features include a deleted scene with the Fairfolk and The Witches’ Challenge Game, in which players must solve riddles to possess a magical sword.

Behind-the-scenes artwork and photos are also available on the DVD, as well as a trivia game and a classic Donald Duck cartoon from 1952.

It looks like Walt Disney Studios is going to take another crack at a film based on the “horror” attraction ride, The Haunted Mansion – and Guillermo del Toro is developing (writing, producing) it, as announced today at the San Diego Comic-Con. Shortly after, Disney released the following press release.

THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS AND GUILLERMO DEL TORO DEVELOPING DISNEY’S HAUNTED MANSION

Del Toro Set to Write and Produce Film for Disney

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – July 22, 2010 –Guillermo del Toro surprised the 6,500 fans gathered today at Comic-Con with the announcement that he is currently developing a new film for The Walt Disney Studios based on the classic Disney theme park attraction, The Haunted Mansion.

“Dark imagery is an integral part of the Walt Disney legacy. After all, Disney himself was the father of some really chilling moments and characters – think Chernabog from Fantasia or Maleficent as the Dragon or the Evil Queen in Snow White,” said del Toro. “I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of my own adaptation of the original theme park attraction Walt envisioned and that remains- for me- the most desirable piece of real estate in the whole world!”

“Millions of people from around the world visit The Haunted Mansion each year, but no one has ever had a tour guide like Guillermo del Toro,” said Rich Ross, Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. “Guillermo is one of the most gifted and innovative filmmakers working today and he is going to take audiences on a visually-thrilling journey like they’ve never experienced before.”

Since August 1969, foolish mortals have dared to trespass on the macabre grounds of Disney’s Haunted Mansion. A hallowed landmark in Disneyland’s New Orleans square, it’s the dwelling place of 999 happy haunts dying to meet new visitors each day. The plantation-style of the mansion’s facade is a sweet deception for visitors. Inside, ghostly doom buggies line the hallways. Since its construction, the mysteries of the mansion have transcended the attraction with stories surfacing about horrifying encounters with the supernatural. Versions of the daunting edifice have been built at other Disney theme parks in Orlando, Tokyo and Paris.

I am all about Guillermo del Toro, and if anyone can capture some of that Disney “dark imagery” and package it into a decent film, it’s going to be him. That said though, I still just can’t get that excited about a (or, another) film based on this Disney attraction.

Discuss Guillermo del Toro’s involvement in a Haunted Mansion film over at the BSR! Forum!