Mousekingdom Blog

If you can’t get enough of the pirates and you’re planning a trip to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim how about staying at the Disneyland Hotel in the all-new “Pirates of the Caribbean Suite” (formerly one of the hotel’s Presidential Suites).

“This is the kind of experience you could only have at a Disney resort,” says Tony Bruno, vice president, Disneyland Resort Hotels. “Along with our other rooms and suites, the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean Suite’ enables guests to feel they’re really living the Disney entertainment experience.”

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China has pulled the plug on Pirates, no matter how much money it makes, or how popular it is in the US.

Why? Because cannibalism in a movie is something that is not tolerated in china. As this is a key element to the story and this can not be censored out of the movie, “Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead man’s Chest” will not be shown in Chinese theaters. (Source; AFX News Limited)

Did they ever think that the first movie “The Pirates of the Caribbean; The Curse of the Black Pearl” would be the success it was? Or that the second movie, “Pirates of the Caribbean; Dead Man’s Chest” would break all these records? What where they thinking in the first place making a pirate movie… How did they ever come to the idea that a pirate movie, even if taken from a very popular attraction at the Disney Resorts worldwide, would become the biggest movies of all time (or at least is going into the right direction to become the biggest movie ever)?

Looking at the history of Pirate movies how could they have been sure it would work? Why this questions? Well I just finished watching “Cutthroat Island” and was wondering how this movie from 1995 never became the success Carolco Pictures had hoped for (Because of this movie they even had to file for bankruptcy).

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Anyone out there seen the Walt Disney Picture remake “The Shaggy Dog” starring Tim Allen? I haven’t and I guess most probably you, dear reader, have neither. While this is just an assumption, I am pretty confidend here based on how terrible the reviews were and how fast it was gone from all multiplex cinemas in my area. So why would we need to talk about it? Well, because of its soundtrack (available e.g. from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, …) - which features a score by noone else but ALAN MENKEN, composer of such eternal Disney classics as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin. (more…)

It has been done, the Spider-Man record of the box opening weekend grossing $114.8 million has been broken. The Pirates of the Caribbean ‘Dead Man’s Chest’ has set the record on an incredible estimated $132 million opening weekend total. But that is not the only record it broke. It is the first movie to make $100 in just two days of playing. Analyst predicted high numbers but even Jerry Bruckheimer didn’t expect them to look like this.

“When people in the industry predicted these high numbers, I thought they were just trying to be mean. So no matter how good we did, if we did $100 million, we’d be failures,” Bruckheimer said Sunday. “I didn’t think we’d get near these numbers.” (source: CNN.com)

The Tower of Terror is making fast progress at the Walt Disney Studios Paris. Still, for more than a year to come fans from Europe will have to travel to Anaheim, Orlando or as of September Tokyo if they want to get some Tower Action, or? Well, if you believe the announcements of a certain Italian theme park European fans can get their fix already this year without any intercontinental traveling. I am speaking of the Movieland Studios at the Canevaworld Resort not far from Gardaland.

The young park is similar in concept to the Walt Disney Studios at DLRP and the Disney MGM Studios at WDW but is not just a cheap also-run. Instead it even invested in several high profile licenses, allowing it to present attractions as e.g. “Terminator 2″ or the “Rambo Action Show”. It’s special effects tour “Magma” has been gaining rave reviews among fans some of which compared it favorably to the Backlot Tram Tour at the WDS. (more…)

It’s amazing where you find the Disney Connection cropping up these days. You expect it in the media, in the movies, at McDonald’s and, of course, at theme parks. But Disney’s influence is seemingly everywhere. The latest example of this phenomenon of Disneyana Omnipresentiae occurred for us on the tiny islet of Mackinac Island in Michigan (between Lakes Huron and Michigan), close to the Canadian border. Now, as a quick history lesson, Mackinac Island is a unique Victorian resort that banned all automotive transport in 1898 and is much the better for it.

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It’s ‘all’ Pirates at the moment and like most Disney fans out there I am exited about it too. One thing I would love to see for real is the Pirates Ghost Ship at Castaway Cay, but at this time I will have to do with a picture. So I went looking for one (even checking some forums), but it is the Mickey News site that made my day by putting a great one online. Most of you Disney fans might already seen this picture, but if not, I just wanted to point you in the right direction so you would not miss this great shot of the “Flying Dutchman”

make it Disney…

Look at this; I do have internet connection on my holiday at the sea side. Although limited to the restaurant of our resort I can access the internet for my daily Disney fix. It makes me happy that I can be here with all my Disney Friends. (Some might say it is an addiction, I call it passionate)

Until my next visit online check out my Disney Fix of the day on this Non-Disney holiday. I found this Mickey head keychain in a shop near the sea side. Not sure if I’ll find something tomorrow, but with the possibility to go online I will not have to worry about a Non-Disney Day…

Until my next visit online… Have a magical Disney Day…

Psst … I need to tell you a secret … there is a world full of wonders outside the Disney resorts as well. But shhhh … don’t tell anyone, we don’t want them to run all over the place

Enough of the kidding - but there is something true about that, after all when we as Disney fans finally get to a Disney resort there is a certain urge to enjoy as much of the offerings from Disney as possible, which also means there is less time for the famous tourist highlights and especially the hidden gems in the vincinity. That (and the fact that I realized that I tent to not post as much here as I originally promised) has prompted me to come up with a new series which I hope to publish more or less regularly every Saturday or every other Saturday: DETOUR

For the inauguration part I thought I bring something up for all of us visiting the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. After all with the 50th Anniversary celebrations still going strong their is already a strong urge for us fans to drop by Anaheim..

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The countdown for the official opening of Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest in the US is down to less than 24 hours … for us in Europe unfortunately, depending on the location, the wait is still a few weeks long. But there is something to shorten the wait: the CD-single Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest REMIXES!

As posted earlier DJ Tiësto, who performed a “concert” last year in the Walt Disney Studios Paris to celebrate the opening of Space Mountain Mission 2, and has “outed” himself as a Disney-fan, has created a remix of “He’s a Pirate” from the original score by Klaus Badelt for the first movie of the trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. The CD-single features a “Tiësto Radio Edit” (4:05), a “Tiësto Remix” (7:03) and a “Tiësto Orchestral Remix” (7:03). (more…)

Hi all. Just got back from seeing Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (don’t wish to brag) and I suppose you’re all expecting a review. You’d be wrong.

To my surprise the movie started with something I hadn’t seen before… a new enchanted 3D animation of the traditional “Walt Disney Pictures” introduction (not seen above). Beginning with a dark blue twilight sky, you fly through some hazy clouds to reveal some of the Cinderella Castle turrets coated in gold, to an enhanced orchestral “sting”. As the screen exposes more of the castle, the spectacle gets more magical as the entirety of the castle forms the backdrop to the “Walt Disney Pictures” logo. Why the change in castle… who knows, but it does look incredible none-the-less.

That’s all I can remember for now and I apologise if this has been used in previous films (not a huge Disney movie fan if being honest), but I thought it would be nice to celebrate this tiny feature before the reviews of the actual release. The whole clip gave me goosebumps and just had that Disney x-factor. A great way to start such an epic movie!

… make it Disney…

You might notice my absence at this moment but that’s because I am on holiday with my family and internet access is limited. We are on a Non-Disney Holiday (Yeah, I know… don’t ask) so I am really missing everything Disney at the moment. So what to do when you’re not on a Disney holiday and you start to miss the Disney Magic? Make it a Disney Holiday yourself. How? Well, I look around and try to find anything related to Disney. So far we found ourselves back in a Dolfinarium where they played “Pirates of the Caribbean” music while we where waiting for the show itself to start. Today I looked on the children’s menu and found a Pluto ice-cream, so my son wasn’t the only one ordering one of those. I don’t think this happens a lot in the hotel we are staying at, as the waiters thought it was funny that a grown up ordered one of the Children’s ice-creams, but I got to keep the Pluto mug, got my Disney moment of the day, and I am happy.

I’ll be gone for another week without my daily Disney fix. The chances of internet connections are slim. There will be catching up to do when I al back, but until then, I’ll try to find something Disney every day…

Disney fans might be described as compulsive now and then, but even we know how to take a “normal” family vacation with endless days of relaxing on the beach …. after all … when else are we supposed to read all those books about Disney?

In fact there are so many good (and also average) books about Disney topics out there a fan would need to go on an eternal beach vacation if he would want to read all of them. So which books could be this summer in your carry-on luggage for the plane flight or the days on the beach, together with the sun-protection? Looking through the book shelves I found two titles I would like to recommend, carefully avoiding any books that center too much on the theme parks and would make you want to rush off the beach right away for the next Disney resort. (more…)

(Dumbo at Disneyland Resort Paris)

You sure know The Incredibles, the super heros from the Disney Pixar hit with the same title? And you are not alone with that … something that the Electronic Frontier Foundation is well aware of. So when the EFF was looking for a new way to get their message across they let themselves inspire by The Incredibles. The result are The Corruptibles. To make sure that everyone in the audience gets the connection to The Incredibles one scene features even a DVD cover for a movie called “The Invincibles” by Disney Pixar. But back to The Corruptibles… (more…)

4th of July is not only a day of celebrations with barbecues, parades and fireworks (not to be missed especially at EPCOT which adds a grand patriotic finale to its already in the “normal” version breathtaking “Illuminations” fireworks extravaganza). No, thanks to the fact that it is a public holiday it is also a day the big movie studios love to push their latest blockbusters. For that purpose it is a long standing tradition, that specially adapted ads are released. Thanks to the LA Times we can now browse through 11 of this special ads from the last years. Among them also Disney’s Lilo & Stitch as members of a fife and drums corps from 2002 - for sure a sight to behold … even so I have to admit that “George Washington” Shrek accompanied by “Betsy Ross” Fiona and “Paul Revere” Donkey from the 2004 ad for “Shrek 2″ by Disney’s competitor Dreamworks is a great campaign as well. By the way, Dreamworks came up with another great 4th of July ad for Madagascar…From all of us here at the Mousekingdom Blog: have a great 4th of July!

Cartoonists are some of the best indicators when something enters the mind of the general public and becomes an household topic, everyone is interested in or at least has heared of.
Well, if the Cartoons of the Week on Time.com from June 17th, 2006 are any indicator the latest Disney Pixar feature CARS has already accomplished this incredible task. Only a selected few of every year’s crop of movies can even try to achieve this but CARS managed to do it right away from the starting date. Congratulations!

P.S.: seen here is only a small excerpt of the cartoon - after all you knew there had to be a punch to be delivered in the cartoon … the full cartoon titled “Cineperplexed” is available at this link.

As un-official Disneyland Resort Paris 15th anniversary correspondent, I have the sudden urge to bring you more news. Le Château De La Belle-Au-Bois-Dormant will get a decorative makeover in time for the celebrations! It may not be as full-on as the 1997 “Festival Of Fools” lay-over, but it still has charm for sure. See full image…

As you can see by the concept-art, miniature characters are set to climb all over the castle to mark the occasion. Each clutching a birthday candle, the likes of Winnie The Pooh, Tinkerbell, Mickey and Dumbo are planned to decorated golden turrets to subtly spruce up the château. Even Gaston will form part of the centrepiece “15” plaque in the centre, just above the draw-bridge, under the supervision of wise Jiminy Cricket.

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Walt Disney World’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” new animatronics of Jack Sparrow has found its way to the internet. A soft opening on the 1st of July was enough for the “Inside the Magic” website crew to get a really good video of the ride and the new inhabitants. The video will show you a lot of the new parts of the ride. In case you don’t like spoilers or want to be surprised on your next visit, don’t watch it, but if you can’t wait (like me) click on the link and enjoy the ride, the new faces and some of the new soundtrack….