Welcome to Disneyland’s Magic!

I seriously mean it when I say that the video below is one of the most amazing and most beautiful things I have ever seen.  Trust me on this.

Image from The Disney Blog post.

From John Frost at The Disney Blog: “Welcome to the Magic is a Disneyland Timelapse by Matt Givot and Dan Douglas, both Orange County based photographers. They took over 20,000 images to showcase Disneyland and Disney California Adventure using timelapse photography.”

The way that Givot and Douglas captured the magic of Disneyland in the lighting, crowd scenes, and colors is just breathtaking.  And personally, I love the little touch of Pogo’s “Wishery'” remix.

Trust me, you will not regret hitting the “play” button.


Welcome to The Magic - A Disneyland Timelapse from Givot on Vimeo.

As Douglas told The Disney Blog, “’If this makes people smile, then we’ve done our job.’”

I certainly smiled.  Didn’t you?

ttfn!

Welcome to Monsters University!

Welcome to Monsters University -- the place where monsters learn how to be real monsters!

I'm sure by now you've heard all about the upcoming prequel to Pixar's Monsters, Inc.  And the genius of Pixar has already done something pretty clever for advertising.

They've created an authentic-looking college website!

You can even buy the merchandise.  Shopping spree time!

ttfn!

PS: For those of you interested, John Frost at The Disney Blog says there's some sort of alternate reality game available...

Could...Could It Be?

The Disney Princess, a tumblr blog, has shared photos of what looks to be the new Merida at Disney Parks!

Merida?
Got bow?
All pictures from The Disney Princess.

Those eyes...gorgeous!
And that hair...is it too perfect to be real?
Disney announced they preferred someone
from Scotland with actual curly red
hair but had wigs if needed...
Your takes?

Full-length...

"Mum tries taming my wild mop of hair,
but I like it just as it is."

Another missing bow?

Could it be?

I can't wait to meet her!  I know I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm thinking Merida's going to turn out to be one pretty cool character.

***UPDATE***

Yes it is!  The Disney Blog just shared videos of Merida being spotted in Epcot for her soft opening.  I haven't watched the videos quite yet, but I will do soon and post them with my thoughts in a different post later today!

Almost There...!

No, I am not referring to Tiana's classy song about almost hitting it famous.

Actually, I'm referring to a new picture for Brave.  I found it on the Disney Blog today.

Merida: I've almost got it...almost!
Me: The tension is too strong!  What will happen next?
It kind of left off here in the trailer too, but in slow motion.  Which was kind of fun.
Picture from the Disney Blog.

If you saw the last trailer, the picture should look pretty familiar.  It does to me.  But seeing this as a picture reminded me of a question I have (which I shared on the Disney Blog in the comments).

Who's the second bear (the one trying to help Merida out)?  All I know about Brave is that there's Mordu (the bear with just the razor-clawed paw showing), the demon-like bear from folklore.  Obviously the movie has something about Merida defeating him.  But that's just a hunch.

I'm also curious why the second bear is helping Merida, it seems.

Could that second bear possibly be Mordu's mate...and/or the mother of these three?

The three little bears.
They'll be at the Parks with Merida!
Could they be the cubs of the second bear...and/or possibly Mordu?
Picture also from the Disney Blog.

We'll just have to wait and see.

Can you stand the tension?

***UPDATE***

My Disney-unnamed sister mentioned her theory on the bears:

• Because of the curse, the queen turns into that second bear who helps Merida out.
• The triplets turn into the trio of bears.
• Only the king stays as he is (not counting Merida of course), and Mordu is himself.

Some good "proof" that this could be so:

• The triplets match in number with the trio of cubs
• The maid doesn't like the triplets (such as when they steal the cookies in one trailer).  And...
• She runs away from the bear cubs

I don't really have any "proof" for Queen Elinor turning into a bear.

What do you think?  I think my sister may be onto something.

Thomas Kinkade Goodbye

He filled the world with light.

Thomas Kinkade, also known as the "Painter of Light," died yesterday from natural causes at his home in California, according to The Disney Blog.  He was 54.

He gave himself the title, explaining that "my mission as an artist is to capture those special moments in life adorned with beauty and light.  I work to create images that project a serene simplicity that can be appreciated and enjoyed by everyone.  That's what I mean by sharing the light" (Thomas Kinkade, "The Artist" page on website).

Many people know Kinkade from the beautiful paintings of houses and landscapes he created.  I myself knew him from these paintings.

This picture shows one of Kinkade's paintings.  The river's
movement was added later by someone, I don't know who.
It obviously doesn't flow on canvas.
Picture from an email I received several years ago.
I could not locate it.

It was only a few months ago that I discovered he'd painted simply breathtaking paintings of Disney characters.  The paintings are even featured on the homepage of his website (number 3 on the slide show).

The Disney Blog says, "Disney fans will be familiar with Kinkade as he frequently painted scenes from Disney’s animated classics and the theme parks. Kinkade often spoke of parallels between his life and Walt Disney’s. Both traveled to California as young men with just a few dollars to their name and a portfolio to show their talent. Paintings from Kinkade’s Disney Collection are sure to immediately become more valued."

The Disney paintings are known to include several scenes from the movie into one painting.  For example, in the Bambi painting, Bambi is shown as both an adult and a fawn, with his mother and fawn Faline looking on.  His father is shown on the side of the river where the adult Bambi stands.  If you look at the painting closely, it really does look alive...filled with light.

We will truly miss the Painter of Light.

Comments: Do you own any of his paintings?  If so, please tell us which ones!  I'd also love to hear your thoughts on his death.  Thank you.