tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.comments2023-11-08T01:46:00.346-07:00Yesterday, Tomorrow and FantasyCory Grosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141983255020503557noreply@blogger.comBlogger174125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-79062216692317244462020-01-06T11:51:08.741-07:002020-01-06T11:51:08.741-07:00Where is the game?Where is the game?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15442055106458258425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-72688194225785558972019-12-07T22:23:03.063-07:002019-12-07T22:23:03.063-07:00I haven't played Tron 2.0, but from the compar...I haven't played Tron 2.0, but from the comparison pics, I think Legacy did a much better job at updating the look of the Tron world. Sure, it's less faithful to the original movie's visuals, but I don't see that as a negative, as I don't think said visuals have aged that well.<br /><br />Also, this may be because I have no experience with 2.0, the from looking at the Mercury pic, she looks like an ugly and creepy robot thingie. I seriously cannot believe that she passes for a love interest. Quorra all the way, baby!<br /><br />Gotta play 2.0 at some point, though.cyan-birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09877642186239966068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-10286346920399542622019-07-23T15:44:34.143-06:002019-07-23T15:44:34.143-06:00I had never heard that before. Interesting!I had never heard that before. Interesting!Cory Grosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12141983255020503557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-12938086672718063682019-07-23T12:12:01.473-06:002019-07-23T12:12:01.473-06:00Do you recall the plans for the Grand Teton Dioram...Do you recall the plans for the Grand Teton Diorama along the WDW Railroad. <br /><br />It was to be the equivalent of the Grand Canyon Diorama at Disneyland.<br />Tim Pat McRavenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08799317323910388964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-8735438562242641152018-07-25T15:51:09.849-06:002018-07-25T15:51:09.849-06:00I as worried too about the changes in Frontierland...I as worried too about the changes in Frontierland as I am a big Disney Train Fan. It looks great from what I have seen. I like Star Wars too and I think it is a good idea to keep them seperate. As far as changes to the park are concerned I understand. I grew up in OC. We went every year. Of course when the park opened they were under a lot of time pressure and financial limitations. I like to think of the "New Improvements" as icing on the cake. I like to think what Walt and the imagineering folks could've done with a couple of thousand acres and todays budget. But only time will tell. I will go with an open mind and enjoy the new additionsTaos Kidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07343484519152136921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-23586643248724305872017-12-03T19:37:22.784-07:002017-12-03T19:37:22.784-07:00I think you may be reading accusations into my pos...I think you may be reading accusations into my post that are not there, or at least not intended.Karalorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760419621066274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-4846251806967567272017-12-02T18:59:40.532-07:002017-12-02T18:59:40.532-07:00Very interesting. Very interesting. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08310889247279647169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-84739518261247438622017-11-29T10:50:29.166-07:002017-11-29T10:50:29.166-07:00I certainly don't deny that these stories have...I certainly don't deny that these stories have pre-Christian versions, sources, and parallels. Versions of <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> go back 4000 years, and versions of <i>Cinderella</i> go back to the first century BCE and are found all over the world. They deal with timeless themes, fears, and hopes. But as with my Halloween article, I absolutely, emphatically reject the modernist, Enlightenment Era myth that 2000 years of Christian influence offered nothing but Puritans and Inquisitors. As a Christian, I'm admittedly confused by the assertion that mermaids, swans, and snow queens should be absent from a "pure Christian worldview." Who says? Compared to what? Stories of warring angels, zombie armies, giant-killers, men being swallowed up by whales, and paladins killing dragons? Christianity, especially during the Middle Ages, has been robustly creative, imaginative, and fertile for stories of strange happenings and cosmic dramas. Cory Grosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12141983255020503557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-63469611760230665672017-11-29T08:18:42.827-07:002017-11-29T08:18:42.827-07:00How like a Christian to see everything he loves as...How like a Christian to see everything he loves as a meditation upon his own religion...when any true scholar knows the classic tales are meditations on *mine*. ;)<br /><br />In all seriousness, though, a great many fairy tales constitute survivals of pre-Christian European folklore, disguised as children's stories in order to protect them from the Inquisitors and Puritans who would tolerate no other worldview. The *fairies* in these fairy tales are personifications of natural forces; some of them are even reduced Pagan deities (such as the Grimms' Mother Hulda).<br /><br />Snow White is a seasonal allegory: the Maiden of spring bites an apple (an autumnal fruit, also containing echoes of Persephone's pomegranate) and "dies," only to return to life when spring comes again.<br /><br />Cinderella? The Fairy Godmother is Mother Earth herself--consider the versions where this role is played by the spirit of Cinderella's own mother embodied in a tree (and not just any tree, but an ash tree, like Yggdrasil).<br /><br />And so on. Even an "original" writer like H.C. Andersen was mostly putting a new spin on existing themes in folklore. Of course, he did express his spirituality (as well as rafts and rafts of psychological issues) through his writing...say, what does the C stand for again? ;) Even he couldn't get away from the powerful pull of mermaids and swans and snow-queens...ideas which would have no place in a "pure" Christian worldview.<br /><br />Of course, the applicability of such stories across different religious worldviews goes to show that maybe we're all looking for the same thing after all. Food for thought?Karalorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760419621066274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-17295974007640125252017-11-04T10:45:57.533-06:002017-11-04T10:45:57.533-06:00My apologies... I wish we did have time to keep do...My apologies... I wish we did have time to keep doing this blog, but at the same time, Disney is doing it's best to discourage us. It was almost on cue that they announced "Hey, look at the Pixar stuff we're slapping on Paradise Pier because sure I guess?" But as I said, I'll still be posting on my Victorian Sci-Fi blog, which will necessarily include a fair bit of Disney content still, because it's unavoidable in the genre. Who knows, if I really have an urge to get something Disney-specific off my chest, maybe I'll hit you up about writing a guest post for your blog ;) Cory Grosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12141983255020503557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-16834993573032636052017-11-02T20:09:37.605-06:002017-11-02T20:09:37.605-06:00Well, that's a kick in the teeth. I understand...Well, that's a kick in the teeth. I understand your reasoning of course - I'm hardly one to talk considering my current disposition - but where are all the good Disney blogs going these days?Karalorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760419621066274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-90867827754569418922017-09-03T23:10:26.365-06:002017-09-03T23:10:26.365-06:00It's a shorthand honourific.It's a shorthand honourific.Cory Grosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12141983255020503557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-57495369424149551672017-09-03T21:57:28.824-06:002017-09-03T21:57:28.824-06:00"One doesn't watch "Casablanca"..."One doesn't watch "Casablanca" or "King Kong", for example, because they're classics... One watches them because they are brilliant, fantastic, genuinely great works of art and that's why they are classics."<br /><br />That just makes the "classic" designation seem like a redundant middleman term.Karalorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760419621066274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-67456492628794689602017-09-02T11:27:00.844-06:002017-09-02T11:27:00.844-06:00Well, of course, the implication is that a classic...Well, of course, the implication is that a classic should be retained. I sympathize with your trials in literature class, but that's just a good example of how not to teach the classics. You don't retain a classic or read a classic (or watch a classic or whatever) BECAUSE it's a classic. You retain or read it or watch for the things that make it a classic... BECAUSE it's historically important, BECAUSE it's great, BECAUSE of its place in the culture, BECAUSE of how they speak to the human condition, etc. One doesn't watch "Casablanca" or "King Kong", for example, because they're classics... One watches them because they are brilliant, fantastic, genuinely great works of art and that's why they are classics. <br /><br />To keep this post in context, it was a reaction to a video that was dissecting the term "classic" out of existence to validate destroying any Disney ride willy-nilly. If nothing is a classic then everything is fair game. Cory Grosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12141983255020503557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-75668398297814183882017-09-02T10:17:01.446-06:002017-09-02T10:17:01.446-06:00"Classic" is one of those words I have t..."Classic" is one of those words I have trouble with. One reason is that, like "E ticket," it doesn't seem to have a solid definition. The question isn't merely "How do you determine what gets designated a 'classic'?" but also "Having designated something a 'classic'...okay, now what?"<br /><br />The other reason is bad memories of Literature classes. "You have to read this; it's a classic." "But it's boring me to tears, I hate all the characters, and the author keeps digressing to talk about the cotton gin." "Keep up that kind of talk, and you'll be lucky to get a C minus. It's a CLASSIC; if you don't like it then you are a defective reader." (I am paraphrasing here.)<br /><br />I would much rather discuss the actual REASONS why, for example, a Disneyland attraction should be considered sacrosanct, then throw labels on things and expect the labels to speak for themselves.Karalorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760419621066274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-85021549322108465232017-08-05T07:37:35.269-06:002017-08-05T07:37:35.269-06:00I am still of the opinion that we have reached the...I am still of the opinion that we have reached the point where the original auction scene is no longer acceptable, but it sounds like they just made it *worse*. WTF, Disney?<br /><br />I'm slightly dreading the new Fantasmic!, as the original story was basically the perfect crossover. It's never sat well with me when Disney puts live-action characters and animated characters on the same "plane" as it were, and I can't even articulate why. (There are exceptions--Mary Poppins can pal around with Toons, because she just can.)<br /><br />I am very much looking forward to the new train route. I've been studiously avoiding videos of it because I want my first impressions to be live and in-person.Karalorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760419621066274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-55716763930086658462017-07-27T07:37:02.379-06:002017-07-27T07:37:02.379-06:00The Main Street Cinema is a great place to take a ...The Main Street Cinema is a great place to take a load off for a few minutes on a hot day. It's cool, quiet, and *dark*, so your eyes get a break from the blazing sunshine.Karalorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760419621066274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-12108383380845934542017-07-13T18:22:20.296-06:002017-07-13T18:22:20.296-06:00Learning that fun fact about the Ren & Stimpy ...Learning that fun fact about the Ren & Stimpy quote gave me quite the spit-take! It's amazing where you'll find Disney films sampled.Karalorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760419621066274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-16032183025895897022017-07-02T11:16:46.244-06:002017-07-02T11:16:46.244-06:00To respond to your points:
1) The issue is not th...To respond to your points:<br /><br />1) The issue is not that pirates should not be seen to do bad things, it's what *kind* of bad things we are comfortable depicting in a humorous context. It's not often brought up - perhaps because it is so obvious - but the direct counterpart to the auction scene is the preceding well-dunking scene, which also features captives (all the same gender) roped together in a line and awaiting a terrible fate. I think it garners far less criticism because a) we as a society are more comfortable with men being victimized than women (which is its own set of issues, beyond the scope of this discussion), b) the crime being committed against them (torture for information) is not gendered, and c) it hits less close to home, in that torture for information is not a systemic crime in the real world the way sex slavery is. Even if you assume that all those dudes are getting shot as soon as one of them gives up the goods, it's not something that most men fear happening to them.<br /><br />All of this is a rather long-winded way of saying that sex crimes are generally viewed more harshly than other sorts of violent crimes and we may be reaching a tipping point where it's just not acceptable for theme park entertainment.<br /><br />2) Those subtleties are not lost on me...but they improve matters only slightly. Elsewhere online, someone summed up the fat woman's coy expression as "Homely woman is grateful for a chance at being raped," which is itself a sentiment I think we have had more than enough of. It's not *quite* as bad as the surface-level reading of the scene where the captive girls are completely terrified *and* we're supposed to find it entertaining, but it's bad enough.<br /><br />3) I never said it wasn't a real dilemma. Art is valuable, even art that makes us uncomfortable. But so much cover gets given to genuinely harmful B.S. on the grounds of "historical accuracy" or "product of its time," and I want to be careful to hold the things *I* love to the same standard as things that other people love.<br /><br />4) I'm not busting out the sackcloth and ashes over a single piece of concept art in any case. If you can't think of a way to get humor out of the visual presentation of inanimate objects, then we must not be thinking of the same ride.<br /><br />As for your wife's suggestion, I think that might work if Pirates were built from the start as more of a narrative ride, but it's not, is it? It's weird enough that they tried to force a narrative with the Jack Sparrow animatronics. No other character appears multiple times on the ride, because we're meant to view all these events as happening more-or-less simultaneously in different parts of the town.Karalorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760419621066274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-48601824038020952452017-07-01T08:04:51.765-06:002017-07-01T08:04:51.765-06:00I get those concerns... Listening to the original ...I get those concerns... Listening to the original soundtrack, the lines by the pirate who has the woman trapped in the barrel basically amount to saying that he wants to rape her and pass her around to be raped by the other pirates. It's disgusting and disturbing. So it doesn't terribly hurt my feelings that this scene is gone from a social justice perspective.<br /><br />That said, there are a couple caveats:<br /><br />1) Pirates were bad people. If we follow the logic through that pirates should not be depicted doing bad things, then we really ought to get rid of the ride entirely. I'm actually MORE bugged by the implicit softening of the message that pirates were bad (i.e.: Jack, and now the Redhead, are heroes) than seeing them do bad things.<br /><br />2) There is more subtlety to the scene in question than simply human sex trafficking. The humour of it is built on those subtleties and comic reversals (i.e.: the fat one actually looks eager for a husband, and the Redhead is deliberately upstaging them all).<br /><br />3) It's perhaps the third most iconic scene in the ride, after the jailed pirates and the skeleton at the helm. Changing it is like the Sr. VP of Imagineering talking about how they "thought long and hard" about getting rid of Madame Leota, taking out the flight over Neverland, or removing the bathing pool of elephants. <br /><br />4) They're replacing it with nothing. Based on the concept art, it's a dead scene with nothing interesting happening. You can see the humour and subtlety of the scene already in Marc Davis' concept art (because the guy was an absolute MASTER of his craft... Imagineering should be learning from his work, not effacing it). This new scene has nothing. And if the humour is going to come in from other sources (like the dialogue) then it is a failed themed attraction scene. It would have softened the blow a little bit (like a brick wrapped in a blanket) if they at least replaced it with something. <br /><br />My wife (who does fundraising and awareness work for groups fighting human sex trafficking, BTW) actually had a good idea about this. Her's was that if they wanted to redress the auction scene, they should have put the Redhead in as a pirate later on in the ride, ordering the other pirates around. That would empower her (by having her go from victim...ish... to a full-fledged pirate) as well as mirror how historical women pirates actually did rise to their station. But I'm sure that even that would be lost on whatever hypothetical guest was offended by the scene to begin with, if indeed anyone was. <br /><br />Anyways, thanks for the Canada Day wellwishing... We're celebrating in appropriately Canadian fashion, which is to be ashamed and embarrassed of ourselves and our history. Sorry! Cory Grosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12141983255020503557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-56369930042725309662017-07-01T07:04:06.752-06:002017-07-01T07:04:06.752-06:00I have mixed feelings about this move, and the neg...I have mixed feelings about this move, and the negativity is more to do with Imagineering's recent track record than the inherent qualities of a scene where one pirate auctions off her loot to other pirates. <br /><br />Sooner or later we have to engage with the fact that we are expected to be entertained - and obligingly *are* entertained - by a scene of women being sex trafficked. If the ride were built today we'd never tolerate it. At some point you have to weigh the preservation of a classic against the fact that said classic depicts something undeniably horrible as a source of humor.<br /><br />Happy Canada Day, by the way.Karalorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760419621066274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-34352940797354605692017-06-04T09:10:03.895-06:002017-06-04T09:10:03.895-06:00Nuh-uh. There's no way that person is real. Yo...Nuh-uh. There's no way that person is real. You made them up to scare me.<br /><br />All joking aside, this person evidently recognizes that Pirates of the Caribbean began as a ride, and that its perennial popularity as a ride is what made a movie a viable concept. And yet they think now that the movies exist, the ride is inferior unless it references them? Pardon my Anglo-Saxon, but that is some bullshit right there.Karalorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760419621066274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-75972727885085130882017-05-31T13:34:04.687-06:002017-05-31T13:34:04.687-06:00I was reminded of your comment here in the course ...I was reminded of your comment here in the course of a discussion I was having today over the inclusion of Jack Sparrow in Disneyland Paris' Pirates of the Caribbean: <br /><br />"...hes been dead for 50 years so its hardly relevant to the company and the theme parks of today. One of the only disappointments i had on my visit last year was the lack of movie tie in from this ride, that has now been rectified. Hopefully they will also disassemble captain Nemos Nautilus and replace it with something more modern at some point."<br /><br />I worry that it even goes beyond the thoughtlessness you describe here to an active antipathy towards "old things". Y'know, get rid of the Nautilus, it's old, HOPEFULLY it will be replaced some day. Cory Grosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12141983255020503557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-16659122207762211832017-05-25T08:27:58.693-06:002017-05-25T08:27:58.693-06:00I've been reading and re-reading both this art...I've been reading and re-reading both this article and FoxxFurr's. You guys both make excellent observations on the subject of what makes a Disney park/resort "Disney enough." I think what it boils down to is that there are two answers...and the one you and I and FoxxFurr would give may be getting shouted out by the easier to understand (and therefore more popular) one.<br /><br />Most people never study the art of theme park design and in fact it probably never occurs to them that there's anything there to study. To these people, "Disney" is a brand: a set of recognizable IPs and trademarks owned by a corporation. You know you're at Disney World because there are Disney characters everywhere. How else would you know?<br /><br />And unfortunately, I think that's the view the higher-ups want to promote, because it's both a) easy (the characters and symbols already exist and have been popularized), and b) exclusive (no one else can use these characters and symbols in their parks, whereas a sufficiently motivated designer could realize a top-notch themed experience).Karalorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760419621066274867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280650245524507557.post-22874851614930035162017-05-15T08:14:52.273-06:002017-05-15T08:14:52.273-06:00Thank you for sharing your family's story! Ari...Thank you for sharing your family's story! Arigato gozaimasu! Cory Grosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12141983255020503557noreply@blogger.com