UP!

I took the boys to see this film yesterday, not sure what to expect, but I promise, I won't doubt the Lamp again. I wondered what they'd do with a bunch of automobiles. I wondered how they'd make a story about a rat and food interesting. And I wondered about this one. What could be so good about a crotchety old man who floats his house with helium balloons? I wondered if the previews might show the best parts of the movie.

(I hope that my comments don't spoil any plot bits for anyone who might be reading...then again, what am I worrying about? That would only be an issue if I had readers...)

As usual, my wondering was off base. The folks at Pixar have told a touching story about these characters without hitting you over the head with any of the sentimental stuff. I was touched by the opening sequence where Carl meets Ellie, grows up and finally grows old with her, then loses her, and the loss becomes such a huge hole in his life, a hole that he doesn't want to fill.

But he's forced to fill it, unwillingly, as Russell, the Wilderness Explorer Scout, is carried along for Carl's adventure. Even the big colorful bird (improbably tagged "Kevin" by Russell) and the floppy eared, loyal pooch named Doug help to fill it. In the end, this is a movie about having a family, and Carl finally gets a sort of family to help fill in that big hole that Ellie's loss left him with. I could go into more depth about the ways that this theme is developed, but that isn't really my purpose here. I'm not big into deep analysis.

Suffice it to say that this was a success, and may be the Lamp's best to date.

The short film that preceded the feature was called PARTLY CLOUDY, and it fit right in with UP thematically. My boys love these little shorts; they have the funniest bits of, say, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner with the emotion of a Disney short subject. This one was a worthy addition to the collection of Pixar shorts.

A big thumbs up for UP!

Mary Poppins - The Musical

We went to see the Disney/Cameron Mackintosh presentation of Mary Poppins at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theater last week, and it was a resounding hit with all members of my family. My two boys, Disney nuts both, were entranced by the music and the action, and my wife thought it was one of the best musicals she's ever seen.

I have to agree with my family members. It was a triumph! Spectacular scenery and effects, wonderful performers and a familiar story made for a really entertaining afternoon. It features the stars of the Broadway version, Ashley Brown as Poppins herself, and Gavin Lee as Bert. Almost all of the familiar songs from the Disney movie (except "I Love To Laugh") were part of the show, though reworked into the story in slightly different order and to slightly different purposes.

The story itself is different than the one told in the movie. I've not read the P.L. Travers book, so I can't say how closely it follows that story. But as most Disneyphiles know, Walt and Ms. Travers didn't see eye to eye on the version that Disney brought to the screen, and she hated the final product. When she was approached about bringing the story to the stage, she allowed it on the condition that no one from Disney would be involved in the creative process. I don't know how strictly this was interpreted, but it did apparently preclude the Sherman Brothers from writing new songs for the musical (though they were still writing in the nineties when this began to be conceived, according to the Wikipedia article).

Anyway, the story they've come up with is in fact better, deeper, darker, and more emotional than the Disney version. There is more about George Banks' own problems and how they reflect on the Banks household. There is the undercurrent of marital discord, however understated it might be. And there is a more realistic, believable reason for Mr. Banks' concerns about his job at the bank.

The sets were outstanding. The Banks house opens to the audience like a lifesized dollhouse, and the park and the bank sets were really well done. I wondered how they would handle "Jolly Holiday" without animation, but they did it with color, and it was a very effective number.

And when Mary Poppins flies off into the sky, it connects you right back to the beloved movie.

I don't know if we'll get the chance, but I'd love to go see it before it leaves Chicago.

D23 Magazines and gifts

I thought my membership gift for D23 was the cute little fan they sent with my membership card, which I thought was a nice thing to have but sort of cheap... But today, the real membership gift came - a very nice lithograph of Mickey Mouse, suitable for framing, if one does that sort of thing. (And we might do just that, because my kids love the Mouse...)

Because I was a late joiner, they started me with the summer issue, with Donald Duck on the cover. So I hurried over to my Disney Store, where I was able to obtain a copy of the first issue. I gladly forked over the 16+ dollars for the magazine.

And I read them both. I have to say, I really enjoyed them. Both magazines were packed with details, well written stories, and nice photos. I don't remember the specifics at this time, but perhaps I'll blog about the content in another future entry. (Or the way things have been going lately, maybe I won't...)

"Why Western River Went South" by Jim Hill Media

A while back I linked to one part of a series on Jim Hill Media, titled "Why Western River Went South". I was looking for links to the proposed theme park development in St. Louis that Disney considered, then dropped, before putting all the corporate eggs into the Florida basket.

The discussion in that segment that interested me in that post was mostly about how they would have built a cold weather, indoor amusement park along St. Louis' riverfront. But today I went back and reread it, and realized that there was an incredible story that I had just touched upon by reading that post. It was the story of an attraction called Western River Expedition, the brainchild of Imagineering Legend Marc Davis, that never got built.

Today I read the entire article (I had a long period of inactivity at work) and found it to be very interesting. It's in ten parts, and there is quite a lot of detail in the story.

I'm linking to the "search" page on the Jim Hill Media site where you can see all nine parts, and go from one to the other. The parts are not listed in order, so remember which one you just read before you go back to look for your next target.

Give it a read if you have a bit of time and haven't read this already.

"Why Western River Went South", Jim Hill Media

A Visit to Michigan's Adventure Amusement Park

Over the Memorial Day weekend, we decided to take a quick jaunt to Michigan. We enjoy the southwest corner of the state, with its quaint towns and beaches, attractions and especially the wineries. We usually seem to end up there at least once a year, and this was our first trip to the area of 2009.

This year we decided to go a little further north along the Lake Michigan coast to Muskegon, Michigan. We didn't find much around Muskegon to recommend it as a destination, but our real purpose for going that far north was to visit Michigan's Adventure Amusement Park, which our kids were excited about doing.



Michigan's Adventure is one of the Cedar Fair parks, which include Cedar Point, King's Island, and Knott's Berry Farm among others. I've never been to any of their other parks, though I've heard really good things about Cedar Point (in Sandusky, Ohio) and Knott's Berry Farm (near Anaheim, California). It was, on this Sunday before Memorial Day, very uncrowded. Almost all the attractions had no wait, the lone exception being the Shivering Timbers wooden rollercoaster. (Once was enough for me on it, anyway. It shook so much that I had a headache and a neck ache when I got off it.) They have several coasters, none overly large. Their biggest (besides maybe Shivering Timbers) appeared to be a suspended coaster called Thunderhawk. There were several others, including the Wolverine Wildcat, the Corkscrew, Zack's Zoomer, one called the Mad Mouse (not running when we were there) and a kiddie one called the Big Dipper.




There was also a nice selection of other rides, including a Ferris Wheel, a swing ride, a driving ride, a whitewater raft ride, a log ride, and a whole bunch of spinning rides. They also feature a nice water park which is included in your admission, with plenty of slides and tube rides, a lazy river, and three wave pools.



The park was very clean, and there were a whole bunch of employees running around, including security and lots of management types. One sit down restaurant (a counter service place) was in the park, and plenty of other little stands and carts to buy food and drinks, including "Dippin' Dots". At $25.00 per person admission (less $3.00 per person because of a coupon we found in one of the brochures we picked up at the Michigan Welcome Center) with a parking fee of $8.00, I wondered how they can be profitable, especially if crowds like Sunday's are normal for a good part of the year.

I could see going back to this park on our next visit to southwest Michigan. Combined with attractions in Saugatauk and Holland, and with Warren Dunes State Park and Beach and all the wineries and shops, it wouldn't be difficult to fill up a week in the area.

D23 membership stuff arrives...

I got my D23 magazine and my "special perk" today in the mail. It's the summer magazine; I'm going to run to the Disney Store tonight and see if they have any of the first issue left. I haven't had a chance to look at it in depth, but it looks nice on the flip through.

My special gift is a fan. It says it's a "souvenir of Disneyland", copyrighted by Walt Disney Productions, 1955. It suggests that I'm in for "acres of fun"! That's good, I guess. Among the attractions pictured on the fold-out blades of the fan are the Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Tropical River Ride (looks sorta like Jungle Cruise?), the Casey, Jr. Ride, the Pirate Ship, the Clock of the World (and Rocket to the Moon), the Mark Twain River Boat Ride, Astrojet (Fly-It-Yourself), the Skyway Ride, the Stage Coach Ride, and the Canal Boat Ride (Storybookland Boats).

I was hoping for something a little more ... collectible ... but this is kind of cool. We'll see whether this membership is worth the price. Only one way to find out.

Off Topic - CD by Jeff Boyle

I know it's not really Disney-related, but remember, I reserved the right to occasionally post something about an non-Disney topic.

My friend Jeff Boyle has released his 5th CD, titled DOWNTOWN. It's a collection of adult contemporary music demonstrating the varied and various influences on Jeff's songwriting. From the rocking EDISON WATCHED TV to the melancholy YOU DON'T PICK UP, it is a hook filled album of songs that I find myself humming at odd times.

If anyone is interested in checking this out, here's the link.

JEFF BOYLE: DOWNTOWN