Saturday, January 29, 2011

Vulcania Treasures

Next week, i'll have for you great pictures about 20000 Leagues under the Sea and the great Tom Scherman. As you know without Tom we wouldn't have Disneyland Paris Nautilus, but did you know that Tom did also great Nautilus paintings and "napkin" drawings - as they were done on "napkin" paper? In this article, you will see rare Tom Scherman artworks of the Nautilus AND artwork who inspired Tokyo Disney Sea Mysterious Island. And all the artworks below are limited editions available for purchase, printed on high quality "art paper".

Have a look at this great Nautilus art and if you wish to place an order, please send me an email to: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr and tell me precisely which artwork, which quantity and the country where the artwork has to be sent. I will send you a Paypal invoice, including shipping price, so you will be able to proceed to the Paypal payment. If you don't have a Paypal account, let us know in your email.


TOM SCHERMAN PAINTINGS
: Color prints on Art Paper


Reference NO 1: Nautilus 1: Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 14" length. Price: $75 + shipping





Reference NO 2: Nautilus Underwater: Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 14" length. Price: $75 + shipping






Reference NO 3: Nautilus on Vulcania Island: Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 14" length. Price: $75 + shipping






Reference NO 4: Nautilus on the rocks: Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 14" length. Price: $75 + shipping






Reference NO 5: Nautilus TWO: Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 14" length. Price: $75 + shipping





VULCANIA ISLAND ARTWORK: B&W prints on Art Paper



Reference NO 6: Vulcania overview. Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 16" length. Price: $75 + shipping






Reference NO 7: Nautilus in Lagoon. Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 16" length. Price: $75 + shipping






Reference NO 8: Captain Nemo's Machines. Limited edition of 100. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 16" length. Price: $75 + shipping






Reference NO 9: Journey to the Center of the Earth. Limited edition of 100. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 16" length. Price: $75 + shipping






Reference NO 10: Journey to the Center of the Earth TWO. Limited edition of 100. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 16" length. Price: $75 + shipping





All artwork: copyright Tom Scherman Estate.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

China's first Disney Store to open in 2012 - Plus Last News from Shanghaî Disneyland

Here is my (almost) weekly article about Shanghaî Disneyland last news. But first, another interesting news as Disney just announced they will open their first Disney Store in China in 2012. It's obviously part of Disney's strategy not only to sell Disney's merchandise to Chineses but also to introduce to them little by little the Disney characters which will be important for the opening of Shanghaî Disneyland, as they are less known in China than in occidental countries - except the characters from the latest Disney-Pixar animated features:javascript:void(0)

"Walt Disney Company said Thursday it planned to open its first store in mainland China by the middle of next year as it moves to further expand its presence in the fast-growing market.

The US entertainment giant said its strategy would be to secure locations in upscale shopping centres and department stores, where it will open Disney Stores similar to those in Europe and North America.

"The kids? branded retail market in China is growing and we are uniquely positioned to provide a family shopping environment," Stanley Cheung, Disney's Greater China executive vice president and managing director, said in a statement.

"Our Disney Stores aim to deliver the best 30 minutes of a child's day," he added.

The company did not say how many stores it aimed to open in China.

Outside China, Disney said it was on track to add more than 25 new and remodelled stores this year and ultimately planned to refresh its more than 350 locations worldwide."

About Shanghaî, now: "Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said in his annual report earlier this month that the city would push to start work this year on a Disney Park that is reportedly scheduled to open in 2014.

However, Disney has said although its discussions with the Shanghai government were advancing, China's central government has yet to approve the joint venture companies and regulatory requirements for the project."

But, in another news called "Shanghai plans to avoid a 'Mickey Mouse' operation" we can read that the financial debate is not over yet and that political consultants wants "to try to lower the risk of building a money-losing park". Here is the full China Daily article:

"Political consultants to the Shanghai municipal government urged the city to get more deeply involved in its joint venture with Walt Disney Co before signing the final agreements on Shanghai Disneyland.

Tu Haiming, president and general manager of Shanghai Hodoor Real Estate Development Company and a member of Shanghai People's Political Consultative Conference, said the city should avoid a similar scenario to that which occurred at Hong Kong Disneyland, which took five years to turn a profit.

"We need to try to lower the risk of building a money-losing park and the solution lies in participating in more of Walt Disney's most profitable businesses such as the Disney Channel, the Disneyland Hotel and Disney's English teaching program in China," said Tu in a proposal to the city's political consultative body.

In the same proposal, Tu noted that Shanghai's upcoming Disneyland is 57 percent owned by Shanghai Shendi Group, a State-owned company specifically established for the project in August, and 43 percent owned by Walt Disney Co.

"The distribution ratio between US and Chinese investors (in the project) is exactly the same as it was with Hong Kong Disneyland," said Tu.

Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened in 2005, reported its first pre-tax profit on Tuesday, after more than five years of operation.

Its pre-tax profit for the 2010 fiscal year, which ended on Oct 2, was HK$221 million ($28.4 million), compared with a loss of HK$70 million in the previous fiscal year, the company said in a statement.

"The concept of cost-control should be built into the Shanghai project right from the initial stage," said Tu. "Shanghai Disneyland should be a good compromise between the needs of its Chinese customers and being pure American.

Chang Qing, another member of Shanghai People's Political Consultative Conference, said: "We don't need to import an American theme park to Shanghai - if Disney wants to stay here, it needs to be creative in terms of including Chinese culture".

Compared with Hong Kong's Disneyland, the Tokyo Disneyland model has instead proven to be a winner.

Oriental Land Company, Walt Disney Co's Japanese partner, has entered into a licensing agreement with the US-based company at a cost of $51 million a year.

Disney licensed its names and characters and acted as a consultant in the park's construction and operation. It is also involved in the associated hotels.

Qi Xiaozhai, director of Shanghai Commercial Economic Research Center, said Tu's proposal provides valuable insights.

Facilities for meetings, conferences and exhibitions in the nearby area will be promoted in Shanghai's southeast corner as the upcoming theme park finds its home in Pudong, said Qi.

Shanghai Disneyland, which will be finished in 2014, will be the US entertainment giant's third theme park in Asia after Tokyo and Hong Kong."

And one last news for the road: "Plans for Shanghai Disneyland could include a major media agreement between Walt Disney Co and the Shanghai government that could give the company unrivalled access to the market, documents obtained by Reuters show.

The joint venture agreement would give Disney a huge advantage over U.S. media rivals by allowing it to bypass foreign film import quotas and summer and holiday blackout periods, as well as television censorship, both imposed by the central government."

See you soon for more SDL news!

Text: copyright AFP and China Daily

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Beautiful Disneyland Fantasyland Pirate Ship Replica to be released January 29



Disneyland will release on January 29 a new great collectible item, a replica of the legendary - and unfortunately extinct since a long time - Fantasyland Pirate Ship! And, as it is Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily - the two great artists who always design more than perfect collectibles - no need to say that this Fantasyland Pirate Ship will be beautiful.

For those of you who were too young to know the Fantasyland Pirate Ship and his "Chicken of the Sea" Restaurant here is a picture of it found on the excellent Disneyland postcards.com web site.



The replica will be in Metal and Resin on Wood Base, the dimensions of the item are 14" long x 12-1/2" tall x 5-3/4" wide and of course it's a limited edition of 500 with a retail price of $250. Here is some closer shots to see more details and the presentation text:

"A Pirate Ship with a front door? This isn't your normal pirate ship! For over 25 years, Captain Hook's galleon was one of the most imaginative restaurants in Disneyland. Guests entered its hold over a gangway and (after ordering lunch!) could explore the three-masted vessel from stem to stern. The Fantasyland Pirate Ship was one of Disneyland's finest creations, from the cannons lining the forecastle, to the intricate mermaid figurehead on the bow.

Studying the drafting's and hundreds of photographs, Kevin & Jody bring you a scale replica with all the color and wonderful details of the original. The ship's wheel stands ready on the poop-deck, and the boat's anchor hangs from a length of metal chain.

The galleon rests on a special wooden display base with a classic "Disneyland" brass plaque. Included is a separate special bonus: a replica of the restaurant's original sign - only 2-1/2" tall!"



This collectible item might also interest Disneyland Paris fans as, although the Pirate Ship is no longer at Disneyland, we do have the same one at DLP's Adventureland!

Online sales began January 11 and those of you interested might go at this link HERE and to place your order you have to go HERE.

Now, as this is an article about collectibles i'd like to let you know - and especially fans of SHAG artwork - that on Monday January 31st SHAG will be at WDW Magic Kingdom Main Street Gallery to sign his new Walt Disney World 40th Anniversary artwork. "Showcasing the original icons of the Magic Kingdom, Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Polynesian Resort, and Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground - SHAG has captured the essence of fun and wonder that has comprised this magical kingdom since it opened its gates on October 1, 1971".



Deluxe Print dimensions are 16x20 inches, complete with double mat and the retail price is $35. This event will be the first time the Walt Disney World Resort has hosted the Artist SHAG and you'll be able to meet and greet the artist at this premier artist signing. At the conclusion of this event the original artwork will go back into the vaults not to be released until the full SHAG Walt Disney World 40th Anniversary collection is unveiled in the Summer of this year.

Pictures: copyright Disney

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

New Paradise Pier Attraction Posters



Just in case you've missed these new Paradise Pier attraction posters... I wish i could have find them in higher-res...but Disney released them only in very low-res. They're going to sell them in the park anytime soon and, hey, the Mouse just want to make sure you'll buy them!



Thanks to nonob88 from Mice Chat for the Silly Symphony Swings picture!

Pictures: copyright Disney

Monday, January 24, 2011

A closer look to WDW New Fantasyland artwork reveal interesting details on upcoming attractions



As promised last week here is the new artwork for WDW New Fantasyland in high-res. Actually, i had to reduce a bit the size of the file as the weight of the one released by WDW was 35 Mb and too "heavy" to be uploaded on Photobucket. Even reduced it's still in high-res and this great artwork by Greg Pro should pleased most of you.

We must also thanks WDW to have released this file in hyper-resolution as it gives the possibility to "zoom" inside the artwork...and to discover interesting unnoticed details at first sight about the new upcoming attractions.

Of course the zooming helps to see in details some decor elements like Belle's Village...



...and Gaston's fountain that you can also see in this other rendering...



...but also to discover that Beast Castle - and the rocks around it - is designed to look partly covered by (fake) snow!



A zoom on the Circus/Dumbo area provide a closer look on the Circus land entrance...



...and show how close the two Dumbo carousels will be...



...but also reveal something interesting, i.e the Circus themed "splash" zone where young childrens will get wet with pleasure.



Even more interesting are details of the seven dwarfs mine coaster. If you look closely to the rendering, not only you'll see better the dwarfs cottage but also you can have a better idea of the coaster train design which will look like elongated seven dwarfs mine wagons.



And more zooming on the same part of the artwork reveal the shining multicolored diamonds that guests will see in the mine.



In the WDW press release from last week we could read that "The journey will be accompanied by music from the classic Disney film and animated figures of Snow White and the Dwarfs..." and may be you're wondering where will be located these animated figures? Well, the most interesting detail of this seven dwarfs mine coaster gives partly the answer with this outside scene with the seven dwarfs "coming back home", standing on a big tree trunk. The coaster train will go of course under the trunk and there is no doubt that the seven dwarfs figures will be partly animated in this scene...



...paying tribute to Snow White's memorable sequence.



But the ride might include another scene with animated seven dwarfs as we can see in this new rendering below posted on Miceage today in Kevin Yee's article and showing a scene with the dwarfs, this time inside the mine.




Your thoughts?


All pictures: copyright Disney

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Looking for a great Disney book ? Then, the Disneyland Paris book is the perfect gift for any Disney fan !



If you're looking for a great gift to offer to anyone you love - including you! - my "Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality" book with its 320 pages and 750 pictures - including 250 renderings from Walt Disney Imagineering - would be a GREAT gift for any Disney fan!

VERY IMPORTANT EDITING: The book is now out of stock everywhere whether it is at the publisher or at the park. NO RE-PRINTING of the book is schedule by the publisher. It is very sad, as this means it's the end of the book. I will look at which and how many copies i still have and will let you know soon. In the meantime, if you desperately want one copy, you can also send me an email at: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr

As i am the one who designed the book, i'm not really at the good place to send compliments about it, but if you are a reader who already own the book, please leave a comment at the end of the article to let other readers know what you think about it.
Previous comments can be read at the bottom of this page where the article below was previously posted.

So, here is a little description of the book, now - See below some pictures of the book pages - click on each of them to see the photo-montage pictures in big size.



The book is a gorgeous "coffee table book" with 320 pages and 750 pictures - of which 500 are park and attractions photos and 250 are Walt Disney Imagineering renderings!

The size is 9 x 12 inches, all pages are in color and it's hardbound with a glossy dust jacket. The text (by Disney historian Didier Ghez), was written after more than 75 interviews he conducted with all the Imagineers who created the park. He goes into just about everything you wanted to know about this unique place that many describe as the best "Magic Kingdom" ever created by WDI.

It took five years to create the book, but it was worth all the time we spent on it, and the book looks just as good as we had hoped for at the beginning - in fact Imagineer Bruce Gordon told us that it was "probably the best book ever done on a Disney theme park". Coming from Bruce who did with David Mumford the great "Disneyland, The Nickel Tour" book, it was more than a compliment.

The first chapter about Main Street has 52 pages and introduces the reader to the "legend" of Main Street, USA. You'll learn all about the Disneyland Paris Railroad, the unique "Discovery" and "Liberty" Arcades; find out about the architecture, the restaurants (like "Walt's," a tribute to Walt Disney, but also inspired by Club 33 in Anaheim) and the shops; with dozens of photos, renderings, models, and reproduced for the first time here, all the "cities of the future" posters located in "Discovery Arcade."



The second chapter on Frontierland discusses the park's western side with extensive sections about its major attractions, "Big Thunder Mountain" and "Phantom Manor." In fact the book has the longest sections ever put together in a book on all the major attractions. The Pirates of Caribbean section in the Adventureland chapter is 26 pages, Phantom Manor has 16 pages devoted to it, as does Space Mountain, it's a small world, etc. The photo material was so great that we kept adding more pages to the book, which was supposed to have only 240 pages when we started... we ended up with 320 upon completion!



The Frontierland chapter also covers the Mark Twain, the River Rogue Keelboats, Fort Comstock, all the restaurants, the shops and Cottonwood Creek Ranch.and featuring stunning photos of Disneyland Paris from the air by Yann Arthus Bertrand, author of The Earth from Above that make spectacular "double-pages," and allow the reader to discover the park from a whole different angle.



The Adventureland chapter is even more interesting, as many elements of the land exist only in Paris - such as the Bazaar and Aladdin to Africa and the ex-"Explorer's Club." Plus there's a long section about "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril," "Adventure Isle" and "The Swiss Robinson Treehouse" and, of course, "Pirates of Caribbean" the land's major attraction and featuring its amazing Audio-Animatronics! All in all there are 56 full pages about Adventureland, and as in the previous chapters, there are dozens of photos, lots of concept art, and many shots of Imagineers at work. There's even a great bonus here, with the Marc Davis artwork for "Pirates" also included.



56 full pages are also dedicated to Fantasyland. There's an extensive look at Sleeping Beauty Castle, sections on all the dark rides (Snow White, Peter Pan and Pinocchio), as well as a look at "Alice's Curious Labyrinth," the "Mad Hatter's Tea Cups," "Storybookland," and "Casey Jr." There are even 14 pages about "it's a small world" with stunning photos of nearly all the scenes in it. Here the reader can discover a new attraction that exists only at Disneyland Paris, with a great view from above of Alice's Labyrinth.

Discoveryland also gets 52 pages of special treatment, with sections on the Visionarium, the Nautilus, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and everything you wanted to know about the other attractions in this land – Autopia and Orbitron. In fact the Nautilus chapter takes you on a visit with photos of every room of this detailed walk-through and two double page photo spreads, one which makes you feel you're inside Captain Nemo's grand salon, and the other showing you a unique view of Discoveyland featuring the Nautilus and Space Mountain in a kind of "CinemaScope" view.



When the book was released in early 2002, the Walt Disney Studios didn't exist, so you won't see them in the book. But there's still one last chapter about the hotels of the park, and Disney Village too, with the great Buffalo Bill Wild West show that entertains hundreds each evening.

And because every day in a Magic Kingdom should end with a parade and fireworks, we have the Main Street Electrical Parade that close the book, with an Herb Ryman gorgeous painting!



Pictures: copyright Disney