This image from October 1964 shows Disney’s “Mary Poppins” playing at the famed Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Released on August 27, 1964, the blockbuster hit continues to be a source of revenue for the Disney Corporation. A closeup of the posters on both sides of the theatre:
I could not match the style of the poster shown; the original one-sheet is slightly different from what Grauman’s has in their display case:
This publicity still can be seen in the case, lower right below the poster:
On the right side is a poster highlighting the cast of the film:
A few years back, I was able to see the original neon dragon from Grauman’s at the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale:
Switching gears to a very hot topic in the Disney community: the recently unveiled Walt Disney animatronic figure. The DSNY Newscast is one of many fan outlets that have released a video from the highly anticipated media preview. Kudos to Jack from DSNY for doing a great review of the figure and the show. It was much less dramatic and peppered with more thoughtful feedback than the Disney fan community usually gets. I read USA Today’s review and wondered if they had been sniffing glue beforehand, it was so over-the-top enthusiastic. Disney Imagineers created a slightly-walking-talking Walt Disney robot. It is apparent that there was a lot of work put into this figure, but it still does not transcend the creepy factor. More Stepford Wives than Walt Disney, the all-too-youthful sounding voice does not match the cigarette-scarred voice of the real man at the time of his life that this animatronic is supposed to represent. Had they let the animatronic smoke, I would have REALLY been impressed! Videos of Walt also show his motions as being much quicker than what the robot is capable of doing. I won’t pan the efforts as hard as what most Disney fans seem to be doing out there; when you attempt to re-create an iconic real person such as Walt Disney, the expectations are going to be higher than for someone like Abe Lincoln, for which none of us have ever seen in person. You are basically fighting a losing battle. I also want to applaud the efforts of Imagineers for making an attempt to keep the Man behind the Mouse in front of the public, so that he is able to stay “alive” and relevant for future generations.
I was really anxious to go to the Park to see this show in person (which debuts to the public tomorrow, July 17), but after seeing the video, the chances of that happening any time soon have been dampened. Hopefully the figure can be upgraded and the likeness of the face can be improved with time and feedback. We shall see…
See more Grauman’s Chinese Theatre photos at my main website.
3 comments:
(Cracks knuckles) You knew I'd be here in the comments. Let's do this.
Even if the official Disney corporation explanation is "Walt never expressly said no" the implications were there, not to mention a direct "no" from existing family. Even if Walt did say "no", his statement would be buried under the Epstein client list and they'd make sure we never saw it. Yes, it's good that they keep the founder alive and in the forefront, and in a way it's almost surprising they never did this before, but WDI would have shown more character in using self-restraint over "Can we get away with it?" Like Ian Malcom said, "You were so preoccupied with whether or not you could, you didn't stop to ask if you should." If a fictional character quote doesn't do it, then try one from Blaine Gibson instead.
November 2, 2011 by Jim Korkis
Disney Legend Blaine Gibson ( in 1995 ):
“There are several reasons I would be against doing that…and it isn’t just the ‘sacred’ aspect of it. I know just how crude our medium is, relative to the human figure. You can’t get Walt’s smile…you can’t program that smile that I’ve got on Walt’s statue and have him be able to go into that. You’d have to move from a scrowl to a smile, because Walt at times would get a twisted up expression and one eyebrow would go up. He had a facial range that was absolutely beyond our capability.
“Lincoln is believable because we have no personal memories or films of his speech and mannerisms…Walt was a man whose movements meant something, and his expressions were so lively and enthusiastic. You can’t get that with an animatronic figure. The statue to me is of Walt during one of those moments when he’d say, ‘Let’s do it this way…’”
Personally, what kills it for me isn't even that face which is absolutely not right. ( ...and could be done better by Garner Holt or even Universal Creative. ) It's the arms. Once again WDI was so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. Many of these new generation animatronics ( Navi priestess, Tiana, now Walt ) have these waggling arms. WDI can't wait to show you how smooth they are by waving them around like an inflatable wacky car sales gimmick. For me it's not so much that Walt moved much quicker ( but Dave's right about that ) as much as it is they were using his arms and hands like a mime trying to convey a story, not as Walt did when addressing the camera. It's not storytelling, it's overwriting the truth.
"Many of these new generation animatronics ( Navi priestess, Tiana, now Walt ) have these waggling arms. WDI can't wait to show you how smooth they are by waving them around like an inflatable wacky car sales gimmick."
100%! You left out the Hondo Ohnaka animatronic in the Millennium Falcon pre-show. I find myself just staring at his arms any time I visit that attraction.
Hondo! I forgot that one. Yeah, he'd be more impressive if he could just tone it down a bit. His arms go like a person in a movie theater trying to get the attention of their friend who stepped out for popcorn and got lost coming back in.
Post a Comment