Mousekingdom Blog

Tron is hot, so we expect to see a lot of Tron stuff appear the coming months. As a comic collector I am delighted to see a comic make it to the stands too. Marvel is releasing a Tron: The Betrayal comic book. It looks like the story in the comic will take place before the events in the upcoming Tron: Legacy movie.

Get a first look at the world of the upcoming Tron: Legacy! Following the events of the original Tron, the year is 1983 and Kevin Flynn is now in charge of Encom. He’s built it into the largest videogame company in the world. But that’s not all Kevin has accomplished – he’s also secretly built the Grid, a digital world filled with living programs! More than a place where he can race light cycles, it’s a place where he can build and test environments only limited by his imagination. But the Grid is far more complex than even its creator realizes, and even Flynn can’t be in two places at once. As this new world develops a life of its own, Flynn is going to first need the help of an old friend, a security program named Tron. Showcasing a key time of the mythology of the Tron world, part one of THE BETRAYAL will show the early days of the Grid, and the first appearances of the heroes and villains that will be seen in Tron: Legacy. (Marvel.com)

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Do you play those competitions you find in the paper or online and hope to be lucky enough to win something? Well, my son did. There was a competition related to the new Toy Story 3 movie. All he had to do was send a text message and pick the prize he wanted the mosts. Today, about 1 month later when we opened the post box there was an envelope with his name on it. What could it be? Who is it from?… Only when he opened the envelope he remembered the competition from a month ago. He had picked the new Wii Toy Story 3 game and that’s what he found in the postbox.

Thought it was fun to share! Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to go and play a game of Toy Story 3.

Don’t own the game yet? How about ordering it on Amazon via this link!

OK, what do you do when you go to the San Diego Comic Con? You check out the comic booths, check out the new toys, visit the big movie companies and find out about their next projects and you go and listen to a panel talking about their work and plans.

But there is more! Like de Cosplay, a nice extra, especially to the male visitors of the convention. Many gorgeous girls dress up as their favorite comic or movie character and make the camera’s from the many visitors get filled up very quickly.

Even the Orlando Sentinel has put 100 pictures of these beautiful woman online from the San Diego Comic Con that has just ended this year. So what does this have to do with Disney one might ask. Well, (and I am trying to keep this blog kid friendly), I am sure some fathers out their have a little crush on some of the princesses (even if they don’t want to admit it) and while at the convention some hearts might skip a beat when a couple of these girls all dressed up as your famous Disney character make an appearance. Is it difference to the characters inside the park? There is that little extra “sexy” added to it as you can see in the picture here and the others at the Orlando Sentinel site.

Picture copyrights Orlando Sentinel

If you would want to know how the Tron soundtrack will sound like you should visit the End 107.7 site. There is a collection of 6 short tracks from the soundtrack. It will give you a good idea on what to expect from Daft Punk, the group who wrote the music.

Some of these are only to be found here (at this time) and not even on the official website. Headsets up and enjoy!

There is the book, there is the movie, and now there is the room! De Alice Suite straight from the fairy tale. The room is not Disney related, however when visiting Disneyland Resort Paris you could still hop over to the capitol city itself for an extra night in the suite. The suite will set you back a hefty 440 Euro per night and might not be to everybody’s liking. Especially the double toilet does sound a little weird. The rest of the room does look wonderful and fabulous though.

“Suite Alice” design by LES AILES DU DESIGN
This is the world of Alice in Wonderland, subtly recreated, with many a nod to Carroll’s fairy tale. Funny clocks, tiles that turn bright and make films appear like magic, strange objects, large stuffed animal, a bathroom with shower and tub, and a curiously kinky toilet for 2 with a chess game in between the seats! The Suite Alice is also equipped with a top quality king-size bed, a TV screen diffusing four different mood fragrances, air conditioning, a large desk, mini-bar, electronic safe and bathrobes. (Seven Hotel Paris)

While it isn’t a direct link to Disney I thought it was fun to share and show that’s not only the good people at Disney that come up with some wonderful (and strange) ideas that work.

You can find the room in the Seven Hotel in the heart of Paris. Other rooms include a 007 Suite and the Marie Antoinette Suite

On our previous Walt Disney World trip we visited the Disney’s Portobello restaurant for a quick but very nice bite. The restaurant has undergone some changes and added a new fun item on their menu. They now have what they call the Meatball Bar where you can enjoy 4 kinds of different meatballs.

The flavors are Beef and Veal with Parsley, Spicy Pork, Chicken with Sage, and Salmon with Tarragon. Check out Mousesteps for their adventurous meatball story. After reading it I put the Portobello on my “to do” list again for our next trip. Sounds like a fun and nice thing to try.

Picture from Mousesteps.

After the great news, coming from the San Diego Comic Con, that Guillermo del Toro will be making a new Haunted Mansion movie we are already shown a teaser logo art from the newly announced Disney movie.

“Millions of people from around the world visit The Haunted Mansion each year, but no one has ever had a tour guide like Guillermo del Toro,” said Rich Ross, Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. “Guillermo is one of the most gifted and innovative filmmakers working today and he is going to take audiences on a visually-thrilling journey like they’ve never experienced before.” (via BloodyDisgusting.com)

The big version of the logo can be found on the horror movie site Bloody Disgusting where they also agree that it is the best news from the Comic Con so far!

OK, Avengers will not be distributed via a Disney company but via the Paramount company, but as Avenger is a part of Marvel Entertainment Company and Disney owns the Marvel Entertainment Company I have enough reason to do a little happy dance and write about it here on the blog after hearing the news that Joss Whedon confirmed his role as Director for the Avengers movie during his appearance at the San Diego Comic Con. I have always been a big fan of Buffy, love his Serenity movie and now can’t wait to see his Avengers movie.

This is not the first time Joss Whedon is involved in the comic industry. He wrote the Buffy Series 8 for Dark Horse, but also had a 24 part Astonishing X-Men series written for Marvel. For this run he was nominated for multiple Eisner Awards including Best Serialized Story, Best New Series, Best Writer and winning the Best Continuing Series award in 2006. Let’s hope this is enough to Joss Whedon bring the Avengers to the screen as they should be. We don’t want to see a repeat of Marvel’s the Fantastic Four 2, a disaster of a movie. But I have high hopes with Whedon in the director’s chair.

Did you know that Joss Whedon was one of the script writers of Toy Story. There! Another link with Disney, another reason to write about it on the Mousekingdom blog!

As promised in our post about the TRON panel at this year’s Comic-Con there were two huge surprises after the official end of that panel according to Deadline Hollywood well worthy of separate coverage if you ask me.

First there was a 3D clip of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow as we will meet him in the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides, the fourth movie of Disney’s hit franchise. Being the first of the series produced in 3D certainly will add an extra level to the experience of following Jack Sparrow in his search for the Fountain of Youth – which the clip sort of confirmed as one of the plot points for the movie – that is, if Jack receives all he needs for the quest, which according to him is “a bloody map…or a Bloody Mary…or both.”

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Normally Andy is our resident Comic-Con and TRON expert but just for once I’ll have to honor to forward the latest about the upcoming “TRON” movie to you, opening on the big screen (which is really big this time, as the movie will be presented not only on regular 3D screens but also IMAX 3D screens) in the US on December 17. So here we go…

Yesterday at Comic-Con the official theatrical trailer of TRON premiered following the early footage showcased in the past two years at Comic-Con as well as the teaser trailer from March. For your convenience here it is:

Looking for a HD version? Yahoo has that in several formats (as the teaser trailer and the material from last year’s Comic-Con). But wait, there is more… Read the rest of this entry »

The events are taking place and one of the first was the Tron press event where the whole crew of the movie was present to talk about the old and the new movie. Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen director Joe Kosinski, Bruce Boxleitner, Steven Lisberger and Jeff Bridges talked about the original movie, the technology used in today’s Tron, reaction about the sequel, the costumes and lot’s more.

How do you impress the public that’s seen all the Internet has to offer:

Steven Lisberger, director of original Tron: That won’t be a problem. You’ll find out soon the look of Tron is unique, it’s one of the strongest things about it. It’s moved on to the next generation. It’s a founding myth for an entire generation. It’s almost like it’s been held back, but now when it’s come back, you feel the energy we missed in the last 25 years. (UGO)

You can read all about it on UGO

The past weekend for fans of the Disney theme parks was certainly dominated by the 55th anniversary of the opening of the one Disneyland that started it all. Many fans made it to Anaheim to celebrate in Disneyland,. However, those who travelled to San Francisco to enjoy the celebrations organized by the Walt Disney Family Museum were treated to various lectures and discussions not only looking back onto the history of that magical place in Anaheim and its various brethren around the world but also the future.

The all new blog of the Walt Disney Family Museum gives a rough overview over the events without covering the actual presentations in detail but still mentioning that amongst others Craig Russell, Chief Design and Delivery Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, and Bruce Vaughn, Chief Creative Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, presented several slides of future projects for the various Disney parks. Unfortunately those are neither detailed nor reproduced (so no word whether anything regarding Disneyland Paris was presented). For that reason also there is no mentioning of one of the most anticipated artworks amongst fans that – unnannounced – was revealed during the lectures: official artwork for Disneyland Shanghai! Read the rest of this entry »

The San Diego Comic Con has started and as usual there will be a lot of hot news coming from the convention halls. For those that have been able to go to the opening preview night might already have seen some of the great gems that can be found on the convention floors. One of these gems and booths that will attract many fans is the Disney Tron booth. Big expectations after previous years convention so Disney will have to outdo themselves this year. Toy News International has a nice collection of pictures from the Tron booth. It shows the awesome Lightcycle, the new action figures are displayed, as well as the vehicle toys that will be released. Visit the TNI website to see the collection on display at the convention.

Picture copyrights Toy Story International

When the weather is good it’s hard to get a good spot at Typhoon Lagoon, but let’s be honest, it’s no place to be during a thunder storm… or is it? Amusement Insider was at the park during a storm and got to see it how many of us fans would love experience it. Empty, deserted and having the place to yourself.

Maybe the water was of limits but it gives you a great photo opportunity. Check out this great photo journey of the water park with empty pools and empty slides! The pictures of the deserted Typhoon Lagoon start on page 3.

The International Food and Wine Festival event is one of those very popular events in Walt Disney World’s Epcot where guest will have the chance to enjoy some culinary gems from both locals as well as goodies from all over the world. Today visitors can start booking some of the extra special events planned for the Food and Wine festivities in Epcot as Disney has opened their phone lines to make specific event reservations.

How about booking the “3D” Disney’s Dessert Discovery. For $45 you’ll get to taste some fine desserts and after that you’ll be entitled to a front row seat at the ever fantastic Illuminations show. I would sign up as once for this one and although I do like chocolates it’s the front row Illuminations seat that does it for me… honestly!

But that’s no the only event to look forwards too. There is a hole list of fun stuff to do during the Wine and Food Festival. Here you’ll find a full list of all the good stuff that is going on during the festivities.

Call 407-WDW-FEST to book for the 15th annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival events and seminars.

Oh, and make sure to visit the Belgium stand on the International Market place. It will be the first time a Belgium stall is in place and I would be very interested in what they’ll be serving there!