Disneyland Lunar New Year

Keith and Peter made their way to Disneyland last weekend to check out the Lunar New Year Celebration at California Adventure. Since Keith has a small portion of Chinese heritage, he wanted to check out the festivities along with seeing some characters and making his wish for the year of the sheep!

Keith Lapinig
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Top 5: New Mickey Mouse Shorts

In early 2013, it was announced that Mickey Mouse would be returning to short cartoons. In an effort to make the character new again as well as using the internet as a new medium, Disney took on Paul Rudish, probably most well known as a writer and director for Cartoon Network shows like Powerpuff Girls and Dexter’s Laboratory, and gave him the ball to roll with. As new head of Mickey shorts, Rudish produced and directed the first season of shorts. Rudish made some brash changes to the Mickey Mouse shorts. The characters looks changed and became more stylized. Some of the humor was much more “gross out” than Disney had ever done before. The technology used was better and more fluid. Backgrounds were also stylized and foreign language was used in scenes set in non-English countries. Despite all of these changes, Rudish kept the charming quality and heart synonymous with the original Mickey Mouse shorts. They are still fun, cute, and silly. Now with over and year and a half of material, I’d like to share what I think are the top 5 new Mickey Mouse Shorts.

#5-“Mickey Monkey”. Maybe it’s because it’s newer and fresh in my mind but I loved this short as it was cute and it pays homage to several things. First off, it involves Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. That’s something that not all of the shorts have. If it had Daisy it would have been even better but I won’t complain. This jungle boat ride down the river is a tribute to the Jungle Cruise attraction. The boat they are in looks exactly like one of the boats from the classic Disney ride. It also salute Steamboat Willy, Mickey’s first major success. The jokes are pretty good, even if they are farfetched. The colors and animation are gorgeous. It has everything you’d really want in a Mickey cartoon.

#4-“O Futebol Classico”. Based around the World Cup in Brazil, this short hits home with me for one simple reason: Jose Carioca. The parrot from Brazil, most known as one of the Three Caballeros, makes a great appearance here. This short also just stands out as it’s in Portuguese, Brazil’s native language, and it’s filled with enough characters to pack a stadium…literally. This short had some serious animation work put in. It also features a great musical samba score fitting the overall theme. It’s very memorable, especially for myself as I love the sounds of South America and Jose.

#3-“Space Walkies”. One of the best relationships in the world of Mickey Mouse is the one between the mouse and his loyal pooch Pluto. Mickey would do anything for Pluto out of his love for him. When Pluto needs to use the bathroom, it presents a different challenge when they are space astronauts. The loyalty of Mickey leads them outside with less than 3 minutes until descent back to Earth. The short has a cameo from Chip and Dale and it includes jokes about space junk, space stations, and of course, the sad “not a planet” Pluto. The short, which simplifies the theme of the film “Gravity” in some way (A fun homage if it truly is.) ends with a Pluto and Mickey safely landing back in Florida right in front of Space Mountain, another great little throw to the parks division.

#2-“Croissant de Triompe”. I’m not alone in stating this cartoon as one of the best. It won a Primetime Emmy award for short animated program. It’s another of the foreign shorts which takes place in France. Mickey saves Minnie as he brings her thriving cafe croissants which everyone is asking for even though she has run out. The character animations are quick and cute, but the show stealer is actually Mickey’s scooter. His “beep” and expressions are extremely cute. The city scape and camera angles as Mickey zooms through Paris is some of the best of any of these new Mickey shorts. It was one of Paul Rudish’s first outings as the new runner of the Mickey shorts and after decades without Mickey it was nice to see the character in this light.

#1-“No Service”. Another of Rudish’s first shorts with Mickey but definitely one of the best. This short brings Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy into the short. There is always extra credit when you can fit a majority of classic characters into the same short. “No Service” laid everything out on the table as to what these new shorts would be. Rudish plays off of the fact that these characters are really only half clothed. He also makes Goofy somewhat gross and when you combo that with serving food, it’s a recipe for Rudish’s “gross out” animation. We also get our first real glimpse at Daisy and it’s always wonderful to see Daisy and Donald’s relationship put up against Mickey and Minnie’s relationship. The short also uses a pastel color pallete for the beach boardwalk and as the characters walk down the boardwalk, the motions and background move with fluidity and it looks wonderful.

What are your favorite new Mickey Mouse shorts? What are some of your favorite classic Mickey shorts? Who’s your favorite character? Let me know! I’d love to hear.

Josh Taylor
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Top 5: Angie’s Favorite Disney Collectibles

As two Disney fanatics who have come together to form a super powered Disney fanatic bi-force, Josh and I have tons, and I means TONS of Disney merchandise. But just like with children, you pretend you love them all equally, but you secretly, and sometimes not-so-secretly have favorites. So, what are my Top 5 favorite collectors items I have in my collection? Well, let me tell you!

5. Signed Photo of Richard Sherman – The Sherman Brothers are 2 of my favorite Disney legends. I mean, their songs defined my childhood. I will cherish this photograph until the day I die!

4. Framed Replicas of Disney Attraction Posters – These are something Josh and I just started collecting (I got them for him for his birthday), but have wanted for a while. So far we have 11×17’s of the Disneyland opening ceremony poster, Peter Pan’s Flight, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Adventureland featuring the Jungle Cruise, and one of the Holiday version – Jungle Jungle Cruise.

3. Mickey & Minnie “Plane Crazy” lamp with Pins – I’m not a huge pin collector, but I like having them on this lamp as a conversation piece!

2. Tower of Terror “Idol” Figurine – Keith got this for Josh and I when he went to Disney Sea in Tokyo. The Idol is from their version of the Tower of terror, which is a little different from ours since The Twilight Zone isn’t as popular of a show their, and therefore not relevant.

1. I love Josh with all my heart, and that’s why I am marrying him! Anything he gets me from a cup of coffee, to an engagement ring is special to me because it means he was thinking about me when he got him. Make that “something” a “Disney something” and it’s value goes up a little bit and that’s why Any Disney Collectable from Josh is my #1 favorite Disney Collectable!

What are some of your favorite Disney items in your collection? Leave your answers in the comments below!

Angie Carreiro
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Top 5: Disney Costumed Characters Sure to Creep You Out

Disney Parks have always had characters to meet while visiting your favorite park. From the usual Mickey and Minnie to the very specific like the Little Orange Bird, these characters have come in many packages and have changed over the years. Just recently we’ve been able to make suited characters talk (The Talking Mickey) and we’ve seen purely robotic characters Wall-E) and we’ve been able to chat along with digital recreations (Crush). It’s part of going to the parks. Whether or not you stand in line to get a hug and an autograph, you’ll still see them as they chat with kids and make dreams come true….or nightmares. At times, Disney has unveiled some hideous costumes and characters that are sure to bring your reality of meeting some of your favorite characters to a hault. What am I talking about? Here are my top 5 Disney costumed characters sure to give you the creeps!

#5-Mad Hatter. Over the years, the Mad Hatter apparently went from having a magnificently creepy giant head to being the face character (a person where you see their head and not a costume) we see at the parks today. I’m weirded out by the nose they have on the current Mad Hatter but this gigantic head is way scarier than the Queen of Hearts! Also, let me point out those eyebrows. Why are you upset today Mad Hatter. Are you sick? Are you sad about something? Let’s talk and work this out my friend.

#4-Three Little Pigs. Like, the Mad Hatter, I just have to say, “What’s with the big heads?” More importantly, why does this pig have a death stare. There is no wolf in site but he looks like he is going to kill every child in line to meet him. No thanks. I hope his house actually gets blown down. He deserves it. Child Killer!

#3-Jessica Rabbit. What happened? This should be a face character first and foremost. Then this should be one of the easiest costumes to pull off. This looks like a drag queen decided to get hired at Disney as a April Fools joke. This creature of the black lagoon is from Disneyland Paris and I feel like French women know an thing or two about beauty and model-like looks. Instead, the French park has decided to crush everyone’s spirits with this thing.

#2-Jack and Sally. This has been baffling me every since I first saw it. Sally isn’t a bad character and could be a great meet and greet character during Halloween. Unfortunately, everyone wants to see Jack and Sally together but Jack Skellington is supposed to have a round head and be completely white. I think this one is too hard to pull off, so let’s just say that Jack can’t be a character at the parks, because this zombie/skeleton couple is all but too scary for anyone to meet, Halloween time or not!

#1-Mickey and Minnie. Transformations have never been so obvious. The Talking Mickey and the non-talking Minnie that we have today are more than acceptable. I love them actually. The costumes are colorful and are very photogenic. Back in 1955, Disney’s parks needed the mouse and his girlfriend to meet guests but this is what they got. Two skinny people in black leotards with giant creepy mice heads. Any child of the 50s must have banished away any times they went to Disneyland otherwise they would have had nightmares. I assume this is similar to some sort of posttraumatic stress disorder. Sorry children of the early days of Disneyland, I understand your pain.

Do you have any characters that creep you out or anything you’ve seen that just doesn’t look right? Send the pics my way or leave a comment/link below to keep this post moving right along.

Josh Taylor
ModernMouseRadio@Yahoo.com
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Disney Trip Planning: Souvenirs

Our personal Mickey and Minnie Mouse collection

Everyone wants to take home a piece of Disney with them when they go to one of the Disney resorts on vacation, that’s why God made souvenirs. A souvenir can be a physical representation of the great memories you’ve had during your trip, and it can also be something you might have always wanted. I, for example, have always wanted a caricature done of myself, so for Josh and my upcoming trip, I plan on getting that as my souvenir. In this case, it is something I’ve been waiting a while to get, and it is also a great memory of our trip! A souvenir that serves multiple purposes is great!

Josh’s favorites from his Vinyl collection

 

Now, you may be like me and want to own every piece of Disney merchandise there is, so it’s a good idea to limit yourself. You can either limit by quantity or price or be like me – I tend to try and do both! Say, everyone in the party gets one “big” souvenir (maybe a large plush, piece of costume jewelry, caricature, t-shirt, etc. – i.e. something that is going to be in the $20-$40 price range or so), and one small souvenir (say a $10 mug, keychain, small figurine/plush, or magnet), or they have the option of combining the two price ranges and buy one really big souvenir!

Keep in mind when picking something out, what purpose it’ll serve back home. Sure, just about everything on the shelves in the Disney gift shops looks like you just gotta have it when they are sitting in a Disney Park, but sometimes when you bring it home, it loses its appeal and ends up in a box at home in storage later on in the year. This is one reason I like mugs and collectibles. I always use mugs (though I work at a pottery studio and just make my own Disney mugs there), Josh collects Vinyls and we both collect Minnie and Mickey things, so they always have a place in our house and a story to go along with them – “I got this from my trip back in blah blah blah because we had a great interaction with this Meet and Greet character the day before at Magic Kingdom,” or something along those lines.

a few of the mugs we have

There are so many different types of souvenirs to choose from, here is a list of some types, but the list really goes on and on and on and on and on and on and……………………….

• mugs, cups
• keychains
• magnets
• pins/lanyards
• Vinymations
• Posters
• Original Artwork
• Cels
• clothing (t-shirts, socks, sweatshirts, jackets, children’s outfits, etc.)
• hats (ear hats, baseball caps, bucket caps, visors, fancy hats, etc.)
• shoes (crocs, flip flops, ballet flat and ked-type kids shoes)
• housewares (measuring cups, serving spoons, trays/platters, etc.)
• Christmas decor (ornaments, tree skirts, figurines, etc.)
• Sometimes pet stuff (I’ve found leashes, bowls, collars, toys)
• food (dry pasta, cookies, etc. the food might not be a lasting souvenir, but maybe you can keep the packaging!)
• jewelry (costume and diamond, gold, etc., also, charm bracelets and watches)
• Plushes (everything you can possibly think of)
• Toys (Disney character playsets, figurines, barbies, dolls, toy guns/lasers, cars, Mr. Potato Head, legos, light sabers, other movie specific merchandise, this list could be a-whole-nother post because it can go on forever!)
• Costumes and costume accessories- mostly the most well-known Disney princesses or generic pirate
• pens, pencils
• autograph books
• scrapbooking supplies (scrapbooks, stickers, paper, etc.)
• crystal figurines
• picture frames
• Photopass photographer pictures (which I will be doing a post about soon regarding packages, etc.!)
• Caricatures or silhouettes
• light up things (necklaces, spinning wands, etc. – usually for parades, one of those things that get thrown away or put in storage usually)
• Balloons – (fun for the day, but if you do this you can’t really keep it for home, unless you fill it up)
• Animation workshop drawings – (these are free! You just go to one of the animation workshop locations, learn to draw a character, then take the drawing home!)
• Family photos (either you can take your own family photos or ask a cast member to with your own camera/smart-phone, then print them out at home!)
• Replicas (in toy form) of the monorail, monorail resorts, and train set! (something I’ve been wanting)
• throw blankets, pillows
• Towels
• Robes
• Soaps, shampoo, lotion, etc.
• Specific Attraction/Hotel merchandise (usually comes in the form of something already mentioned above)

I’m not a pin collector, but here are some I either just HAD to have or were gifts (The Lion King ones were both!) or from tours!

I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot, and it’s probably really obvious stuff, but that’s my basic list on what types of souvenirs you can find at the Disney Parks and Resorts. I hope you enjoyed some of my tips for buying souvenirs in the parks!

What are your favorite types of souvenirs to buy in the parks? What is something you wish you could buy and/or know you will eventually save for it? What are some souvenir buying tips you live by when visiting the Disney parks? Leave your answers in the comment below!

Angie Carreiro
Angie.Carreiro@Gmail.com
http://www.Twitter.com/ModernMouseAng
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