Mousekingdom Blog

It has always been on my mind if animals should be kept in prison for the pleasure of mankind. I thought about it a lot and thought that animals should be kept in the free. It was a program about a couple of eagles, close to extension, caught by the San Diego zoo that changed my mind on this. Not only did they took good care of the animals, but they made sure that their species would not get lost. After a while they could release a whole new “nest” of eagles in the wild preventing the lost of these unique creatures. I still believe animals should be kept in the free as much as possible, but I do understand that keeping some of them in (good) zoo’s they still can have a quality life. I am sure this is something we could debate about for a very long time, but might never come to a clear answer that is good for all animals.

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With Cars “on the road” now, more and more people will be able to enjoy another PIXAR masterpiece. To learn more about the process of making such a movie check out this great interview; “Pixar Mastermind John Lasseter”.

You’ll find out about the first idea up to the voices, the involvement of Steve McQueen and how Lightning McQueen’s got his number 95. There is also some information on the Disney deal and a hint to possible PIXAR sequels.

…because we had a deal with Disney for 5 movies and sequels didn’t count, so we wanted to make these films. So now, it’s like we’ll see. Now that we have this new deal, now that limitation is taken off of us…

Dapper Dan’s Hair Cuts (Disneyland Resort Paris)

Talking about weird things here is a Disney park many of you might not have heard about. This trip report is about a park in Manila, Philippines called Star City. This park looks wrong in all possible ways, especially when we see what kind of rides they have. A “Lion King” water ride, A kids coaster with a well known “Little Mermaid” in the queue line, A “Peter Pan” walk thru experience (with dolls that look more scary then the worst evil creature in any fairytale), another walk thru with the “Little Mermaid” and a “Snow White” Dark ride. The painting of Snow white doesn’t look to bad but it doesn’t take away the overall weirdness of this park… I wonder what Disney has to say about this.

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This one is very exciting, at least it is for me. Chow Yun Fat is my favorite actor so I was very exited when they announced he would be in the Pirates of the Caribbean 3. As I am a big fan of Asian cinema I visit some great sites about those movies, including Kung Fu Cult Cinema. Browsing this web today I found what could be the first picture of Chow Yun Fat in the role of the pirate Sao Feng from the third pirates movie. I am looking forwards for part two, but am overly excited about number 3.

One day in July 2005 we got a phone call directly from Disneyland Resort Paris. They asked us whether we would be interested to be a part of the German TV show “Disney Filmparade”, which airs each Sunday on Pro7 [basically some short reports from the world of Disney before and after a full length Disney feature]. Well, obviously we said yes - I was so happy. They would pay for everything, I would be interviewed by Steven Gätjen and be a part of the parade! Before we flew to Paris the producer called me and discussed what kind of story they could do. I told him that I love Fantasyland and especially it’s a small world. When asked which character was my favourite, I told him Minnie Mouse. Based on that he planed to prepare a story… (more…)

If you can’t make a trip to Walt Disney World for the Star Wars weekend maybe you’ll make it over to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. With the lack of official Star Wars Weekends or events at the park in California some fans have taken it in their own hands and are inviting all fans for an unofficial Star Wars Fan day at Disneyland.

This is the second time they organize this event. Not only do they promise it to be a nice day but they also sell some T-Shirts for the event and will donate the money to the American Cancer Society. Last year they had 120 people at their event, this year they want more. Why?

Why not? It started as a protest to Disney about the lack of Star Wars Weekends here at our Disneyland and has now turned into a massive fan get together! This year, we’re pushing harder for a cause, all shirt sale proceeds for the event go straight to the American Cancel Society!

Today, 30.000 fans will be able to enjoy the world premiere of the PIXAR animation CARS on 4 big screens (115-feet wide and 50-feet tall) at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. NASCAR. The event has been sold out for a while now, however some tickets have been going at a much higher price on Ebay for those who missed the preview ticket sales.

For those going; enjoy, have fun and share your thoughts about the movie and the adventures of the event somewhere on the World Wide Web

Michael Eisner, who presents his own talk show on CNBC; “Conversations With Michael Eisner”, met up with his Disney successor Bob Iger to talk about Disney, the PIXAR deal and underwear… Intrigued? If you missed the show or are not able to see it you can read about it on the LA-Times site

Here is yet another chance to own some land next to Walt Disney World as they are selling of some more of their property that they see no use for on their long term plan.

…a 349-acre parcel going to the developers of the massive Horizon West community in west Orange County.

The new Disney land sales also include a 60-acre site south of Seidel Road that would be reserved for a new high school serving the Horizon West area.

The Walt Disney Co. reportedly is selling the 349-acre site, set around Panther Lake, north of Seidel and southeast of the Orange County National Golf Center, to Centex Homes.

Orlando Sentinel brings the full story

Part 3; to sum it all up….

As much as I enjoyed the day , loved the fireworks and enjoyed and amazing dinner at the Crystal lotus (after using the impressive fitness centre in the hotel) it was the next day which definitely made me realise what a great job Disney did in Hong Kong.
You see my original plan was to work for my company on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday , staying in a business hotel in the centre of Hong Kong and visiting the place during business breaks. As I had done every available offer in Disneyland I decided to take the Monday morning for exploring Hong Kong City so I hopped over to the city through the MTR trains and……

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Part 2; “different” yet “home”

Passing the turnstiles one would believe to be in Anaheim! Only two small details give away the Hong Kong location of the park; the trademark Mickey Mouse face topiary smiles at you from under a perfect recreation of the Disneyland station but here the sign says “Hong Kong Disneyland” and “population “5 Million”, also the famous sign under the tunnels “here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy” here has a Chinese translation under it.

Crossing the tunnels and entering the park itself I found myself  thinking “this is Disneyland as Walt built it in 1955”! The feeling of deja-vu and, most of all, the same charm and quaintness of Walt’s original Anaheim themepark are all there! Buildings , colours , scales and propositions are all perfectly matched to Disneyland’s and to the ones of those old photo’s which we have learnt to love from such books as the E-Ticket etc.

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Disney, more than any other venue, know how to throw a party. The last evening of the travel trade show, Pow Wow, featured Disney’s Farewell Party, an event every media member looks forward to, for the food, drink and all-out fabulous entertainment. The park takes on a completely different feel in the evening, especially when it becomes a nearly-private playground, the queues are non-existent and the food is several steps above even the best theme park fare.

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Hurricane season is not far away. It starts from June 1 up to November 30 and if the article in the Orlando Sentinel is correct we can expect another record year with a prediction of 16 named storms and four to six major hurricanes for this year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts eight to ten hurricanes overall during the upcoming season, which runs from June 1-Nov. 30. The 16 named storms would be five more than the average of 11 during the past 40 years.

Last year I was at Walt Disney World during WILMA. The parks where closed and all we could do was wait.

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Would you like to turn you’re room into a “CARS” place? Here are two reasons why you should; It could look cool and you can win big prices from the upcoming CARS Pixar production. Just check out the ABC radio website and their “Create your own CARS room sweepstakes” (Open to US only)

The release date of the sequel to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe has been postponed by several months.

Prince Caspian is now scheduled for summer 2008, said a spokesman for Disney, which is behind the project. Director Andrew Adamson required more time to work on the special effects-laden project, he added.

Prince Caspian was expected to follow the first film with a US release pencilled in for Christmas 2007.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe became Disney’s most successful live-action film of all time, taking an estimated $742m (€578m) around the globe.

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(or: how Hong Kong Disneyland reminded me of why I fell in love with the mouse)
Dear friends,

Today I would like to talk to you about something different, or at least about the newest Disney themepark (Hong Kong Disneyland)  in a different way; from the point of view of someone who, during a visit to this little charming themepark, realised once again why he fell in love with the mouse when he was young ! 

This might be seen as a personal trip report by some, but for me it is an “F – File” with the “F” standing for “feelings this time! As it is a mixed bag of feelings, trip reports and emotions I am editing it here in the blog, into a few separate pieces….
Hope you enjoy it !

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Since friday the 19th EPCOT at World Disney World is running a new version of Mission: SPACE. They changed the ride a bit, after the last accident! Now they are running 2 different versions of the ride, the old original version and the new less intense version!

I was there on Thursday, because 2 days before the regular openning the CastMembers had some extra rides on it! I went there in my break from the German Pavilion to ride the new version. I was there in my costume, so that was really funny! Normally we can never go to some attractions in our costume, but on that 2 days we used the backstage entry!

Anyway, the new ride itself is the same then the original version, but without the spinning! The kabin is a bit shaking and the movie is the same, but there are no G´s! When you enter the ride you can choose between 2 different teams, the orange and the green team!

• Orange Team - More Intense Training
  This is the original thrilling voyage to Mars based on the astronaut training technique.or
• Green Team - Less Intense Training
  This new adventure is a less intense experience, featuring the same voyage to Mars without the spinning!

So, I prefer the old version, but for some people with heart problems or motion sickness it is really a good thing. They can go on the less intense ride and if it was okay they can go on the original version, after that. Also when they are scarred of the original version, they can go on the ride without fear!

The opening of the Tower of Terror at DisneySea is getting closer so we will get more and more information on the web. The new DisneySea Tower looks very promising, not that the ride system is new, but the background story looks very refreshing. I guess I have this thing for evil looking creatures.

Have a look at the DisneySea Tower Of Terror site and if you know Japanese send us a translation of the story shown in the flash presentation. Nothing after the intro yet, but worth putting it in your bookmark collection to check back for future updates.