So Much to See and Experience at Disney Magic Kingdom
All of Walt Disney World literally sparkles with magic and whimsy, but the Disney Magic Kingdom is certainly the most special part of the Disney World complex. While many refer to the entire Disney resort as the Magic Kingdom, indeed, there is one special park that bears the name.
The Disney Magic Kingdom was the very first park to open at the Orlando, Florida resort. Modeled after the original Disneyland Park, which opened in Anaheim, California in 1955, Florida's Disney Magic Kingdom arrived in 1971 boasting new and better attractions, a larger castle, and much, much more. When the pa...
Tinkerbell was the jealous pixie/fairy who glowed brightest for Peter Pan. Her voice sang like a tinkling bell and a sprinkle of her pixie dust could make you fly. Tinkerbell is traditionally staged as a flying point of light beamed from offstage. She was called Tinker Bell because she mended the pots and kettles, a tinker is a tin worker, and with her magic wand led Peter Pan through the ins and outs of Never Never Land reminding us of a time in everyone's childhood when danger and adventure lured us into the possibilities of the imagination to believe in Fairies, to this day she is one o...
Beast is, in my opinion, one of the very finest pieces of Disney character animation. A complex and interesting character, he was bought into being by Glen Keane, a Supervising Animator who has since worked on the characters of Aladdin and Pocahontas, and is currently scheduled to do lead animation for the forthcoming Tarzan.
So why do I reckon that Beast is such a great example of Keane's work?
Well, great animation is largely about emotion - evoking and building that emotional response in an audience. When you see a piece of animation for the first time, you have no earlier referen...
While Glen Keane was deliberately kept from seeing Robby Benson during his work on Beast, Dave Pruiksma studied Angela Lansbury in order to create the character of Mrs Potts - although, apparently, he never actually met her. He was impressed by her subtle mannerisms, and incorporated many of them into the final character.
While Mrs Potts is very much an interpretation of Angela Lansbury, her teacup-son emerged from the shadows thanks to Bradley Pierce, the boy who provided his voice. Jeffrey Katzenburg liked his performance so much that he insisted Chip's role (initially minor) was stren...
The self-styled 'ideal man' for Belle underwent some changes during Deja's development of him. Early loutish charicatures went (along with a dubious moustache) and in came a smoother, more handsome village braggart. Apparently research for the Gaston physique (and the attitude too, perhaps) came from visits to an LA gym - where real-life counterparts of the character worked out...
Deja sums up Gaston:
'God, I know such people; Los Angeles is full of them.'
After joining Disney in 1980, Deja was one of the team who worked on The Black Cauldron. Later credits include...
Once upon a time . . . as a merchant set off for market, he asked each of his three daughters what she would like as a present on his return. The first daughter wanted a brocade dress, the second a pearl necklace, but the third, whose name was Beauty, the youngest, prettiest and sweetest of them all, said to her father:
"All I'd like is a rose you've picked specially for me!"
When the merchant had finished his business, he set off for home. However, a sudden storm blew up, and his horse could hardly make headway in the howling gale. Cold and weary, the merchant had lost all hope of...
[Gaston:] The Beast will make off with your children.
[Mob:] {gasp}
[Gaston:] He'll come after them in the night.
[Belle:] No!
[Gaston:] We're not safe till his head is mounted on my wall! I
say we kill the Beast!
[Mob:] Kill him!
[Man I:] We're not safe until he's dead
[Man II:] He'll come stalking us at night
[Woman:] Set to sacrifice our children to his monstrous appetite
[Man III:] He'll wreak havoc on our village if we let him wander free
[Gaston:] So it's tim...
[Maurice:] Help! Someone help me!
[Tavern keeper:] Maurice?
[Maurice:] Please! Please, I need your help. He's got her - he's
got her locked in the dungeon!
[LeFou:] Who?
[Maurice:] Belle. We must go. N-not a minute to lose!
[Gaston:] Whoa! Slow down, Maurice. Who's got Belle locked in a
dungeon?
[Maurice:] A beast! A horrible, monstrous beast!
[Patron I:] Is it a big beast?
[Maurice:] Huge!
[Patron II:] With a long, ugly snout?
[Maurice:] Hideously ugly!
[Drinker III:] And sharp, cruel f...
[Gaston:] Who does she think she is? That girl has tangled with
the wrong man! No one says "no" to Gaston!
[LeFou:] Heh heh. Darn right.
[Gaston:] Dismissed! Rejected! Publicly Humiliated! Why, it's
more than I can bear.
[LeFou:] More beer?
[Gaston:] What for? Nothing helps. I'm disgraced.
[LeFou:] Who, you? Never! Gaston, you've got to pull yourself
together.
Gosh it disturbs me to see you, Gaston
Looking so down in the dumps
Every guy...
[Belle:] Little town
It's a quiet village
Ev'ry day
Like the one before
Little town
Full of little people
Waking up to say:
[Townsfolk:] Bonjour!
Bonjour!
Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour!
[Belle:] There goes the baker with his tray, like always
The same old bread and rolls to sell
Ev'ry morning just the same
Since the morning that we came
To this poor provincial to...
Men
In sixteen hundred seven
We sail the open sea
For glory, God, and gold
And The Virginia Company
For the New World is like heaven
And we'll all be rich and free
Or so we have been told
By The Virginia Company
For glory, God and gold
And The Virginia Company
On the beaches of Virginny
There's diamonds like debris
There's silver rivers flow
And gold you pick right off a tree
With a nugget for my Winnie
And another one for me
And all the rest'll go
To The Virginia Company
It's glory, God and gold
And The Virginia Company...
Pocahontas
You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
Now can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know ...
You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name
You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you ...
The second star to the right
Shines in the night for you
To tell you that the dreams you plan
Really can come true
The second star to the right
Shines with a light that's rare
And if it's Never Land you need
It's light will lead you there
Twinkle, twinkle little star
So I'll know where you are
Gleaming in the skies above
Lead me to the one who loves me
And when you bring him my way
Each time we say "Goodnight"
We'll thank the little star that shines
The second from the right
Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly
Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the Beast
Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
Ever just as sure
As the sun will rise
Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong
Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
B...
Ma chere Mademoiselle, it is with deepest pride
and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight.
And now we invite you to relax, let us pull up a
chair as the dining room proudly presents - your
dinner!
Be our guest
Be our guest
Put our service to the test
Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie
And we provide the rest
Soup du jour
Hot hors d'oeuvres
hy, we only live to serve
Try the grey stuff, it's delicious
Don't believe me? Ask the dishes
They can sing
They can dance
After all, Miss, this is France
And a dinner here is never second b...
Hup two three four
Keep it up two three four
Hup two three four
Keep it up two three four
Company sound off!
Ho, the aim of our patrol
Is a question rather droll
For to march and drill
Over field and hill
Is a military goal!
Is a military goal!
Hup two three four
Dress it up two three four
Hup two three four
Dress it up two three four
By the ranks or single file
Over every jungle mile
Oh we stamp and crush
Through the underbrush
In a military style!
In a military style!
Hup two three four
Keep it up two three four
Proud mother-to-be, Coral is a freethinker who opts for the more creative name of "Nemo"for one of her babies. Coral provides strength and optimism in her relationship with Marlin, and is the first to believe in him when he doubts his parenting skills.
Fly with Peter Pan over the rooftops of London towards the second star to the right, which leads you to Neverland - the home of the Lost Boys, Tinkerbell, Tiger Lilly and Captain Hook...
Surly one of Disneyland Paris's most enchanting rides, Peter Pans Flight takes guests on a magical journey through the moonlit skies above London and on to Neverland.
The attraction begins as guests board one of the magic galleons which are suspended on tracks from above (therefore helping creating the illusion of flight), each galleon seats up to 4 people in 2 rows of 2.
In 1992, Disney's animated film "Aladdin" opened to great critical acclaim and boffo box office biz (as they say in the industry). "Aladdin" has since become one of the most successful animated movies of all time. Success breeds success, so it should come as no surprise that Disney has opted to turn "Aladdin" into a Broadway-style musical. But, unlike the wildly popular "Beauty and the Beast" that become a favorite on the Great White Way, Disney has ignored Broadway in favor of a new locale: Disney's California Adventure.
That's right. Disney's "Aladdin-a Musical Spectacula...