Despite having attended the D23 2011 Expo and the subject of this review,
Destination D: 75 Years of Animated Disney Features, I'm not actually a D23 member. Thankfully, you don't need to be a member to get in, but nonetheless I felt
very fortunate to have been able to attend the two-day, weekend-long event. I spent the fun (and expensive) occasion with my sister, her roommate, new acquaintances from Canada (a married couple with a website of their own; see footnote) and former Fantasmic Kingdom role-player and friend Emma (Hercules).
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www.animationmagazine.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Destination-D-post-21.jpg[/img]Destination D is an event held by D23, the official Disney fanclub. It’s much smaller and more focused than the D23 Expo, and though the price of admission is way pricier (a hundred dollars more, give or take), it’s definitely not as hyped as the Expo, at least from my viewpoint. My knowledge of D23 is shaky, but I think Destination D and the Expo rotate: one year D23 hosts Destination D, the next year the Expo, the following year DD, the year after that the Expo, etc. That seems to be the format so far, but if I’m wrong about any of this please correct me.
This year, Destination D: 75 Years of Disney Animated Features was held in Disneyland Hotel’s event center, and I believe the queue was held in a large ballroom. I already mentioned the pretty cool merchandise that was available to buy in, so I’ll just jump right into my humble opinions.
cdn.d23.disney.go.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/D23_Event_DestD_Agenda_v04-FINAL.pdfDay 1 – Saturday, August 119:30 AM –
Welcome!Quite unlike the D23 Expo, it was a cinch to get good seats just by waiting in line cordially,
like how it should be. There were no BS moments regarding space, and getting in was
never an issue here, unlike the Expo. The opening presentation was a pretty standard “hai guyz, welcome to D23 omg” affair, but then a flash mob (obviously ‘employed’ by Disney) barged in and performed dance routines. I would like to say it was cute, but for me it was just plain awkward.
“Heffalumps and Woozles” was remixed for the dancers. It wasn’t as cool as it sounds.10:10 AM –
WALT AND THE FIRST GOLDEN AGE OF DISNEY ANIMATION. Quite unlike the Expo, it was a cinch to get good seats just by waiting in line honestly,
like how it should be. The first presentation (they weren’t called panels) was hosted by the director of the Walt Disney Archives, Becky Cline. Disney Legend Burny Mattinson, Disney layout artist and producer Joe Hale, and documentary director Ted Thomas (son of Frank Thomas) were interviewed. Burny and Joe were particularly amusing, and Burny especially seems like a happy, life-loving guy. Walt Disney was explained, as were the Nine Old Men. Joe Hale did something very few Disney big men do: publicly criticize an animated feature. He criticized
Beauty and the Beast’s animation, in particular, having said something along the lines of, “I’m sure some of those animators are thinking, ‘What was I thinking? Why did I make that eye move like that?’” Becky seemed uncomfortable by the criticism and hurried the show away from the subject.
This man had the stones to criticize some of the animation in Beauty and the Beast in front of Disneyphiles.The presentation didn’t really give intense Disney fans something they never heard before, but it was an entertaining and engaging presentation all the same.
[Break time]
11:30 AM –
ROY E. DISNEY AND THE SECOND GOLDEN AGE OF DISNEY ANIMATION. This presentation was hosted by Tim O’Day, a Disney historian and author. I’m just going to come out and say it: I really did not like how Tim moderated the presentations. His jokes were unfunny yet aggressive, desperate and trying way too hard for a laugh. It was simply uncomfortable to watch a G-rated pseudo-comedian fall so flat on his face. (Imagine Danny Tanner trying to be hip and cool, and you’ll see where I’m getting at.) Also, for a historian he made frequent mistakes, and tossed off errors with confidence. When you try way too hard to be funny
and make continuous mistakes simultaneously, it makes Joe more like Grumpy instead of Happy... he was just Dopey. That out of the way, this particular presentation was touching. Disney Imagineer Roy Patrick Disney (the son of the late Roy E.), Disney animation producer Don Hahn, writers/directors/producers John Musker (“Thanks, appreciate it”), Ron Clements, and Dave Bossert all discussed Roy E. Disney’s life, from his early childhood up to his death. Roy E. was praised, which is to be expected from a presentation like this, and credited for his crucial role in saving Walt Disney Feature Animation from dying. In the most touching moment, Roy E. was honored a Mousecar, with Roy Patrick as the recipient.
One of the more heartfelt presentations.2:15 PM –
Inside the Walt Disney Animation Studios TodayAfter a lengthy afternoon break, the Disney Animation Studios presentation was kicked off by a screening of the recent animated short,
Tangled Ever After. For those of you who’ve never watched this short, it begins with Rapunzel and Eugene’s wedding. Maximus the horse and Pascal the chameleon lose the wedding rings, and slapstick ensues. The short is cute and fun, but admittedly a slight companion to
Tangled.
Presented by animator Darrin Butters,
Frozen was discussed. The movie has a logo (hint, the text is ice), and the character designs were revealed. The movie’s two leads are sisters, Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell,
Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel,
Wicked,
Enchanted). Two sidekicks in the movie will be a burly man named Kristoff (no voice yet, if I recall correctly) and Olaf, a living snowman. I’m digging the movie’s artwork, premise, and story (they practically gave the whole bloody thing away, even the ending!), but I have to say Olaf has the strong potential to be a very annoying supporting character. Darrin came out with an Olaf puppet and made ‘funny’ jokes with an obnoxious voice. Most of the audience loved it, but it tried my patience. The songs in
Frozen are by married couple Robert Lopez and Kristen-Anderson Lopez, who composed six songs in
Winnie the Pooh (2011). Robert Lopez is best known for his collaborations on two huge Broadway hits,
Avenue Q and
The Book of Mormon. One song by the songwriting couple from
Frozen was performed. The song is titled “Let it Go.” I love the Lopezes, so I’m excited for their involvement. “Let it Go” wasn’t exactly memorable, but it was played out of context and without Idina Menzel’s voice, so I won’t write it off yet. Besides, I didn’t like
Tangled’s songs at first, but over time they grew on me.
Frozen is slated to chill theaters everywhere in 2013.
Let it go…Wreck-It Ralph looks freakin’ awesome and I can’t wait to watch it! November 2 couldn’t come soon enough. I watched the first five minutes of the film last year, but the bulk of it was made up of storyboards. At D23, about six minutes of footage was screened, and it looks funny, heartfelt, and a love letter to gamers. There are some really cool video game character cameos, and I won’t even tell you any of them. I want you to be surprised! Four of the major game worlds were discussed, and each ‘game’ has a very different, distinctive art style, which is great for variety. Also, it’s been revealed that the four leading voice actors (John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch) recorded any scenes their characters had together in the same room. According to the presentation’s hosts, John C. Reilly confessed being nervous and hesitant to record his lines alone and he would have felt more comfortable with others. It definitely looks like anyone involved with the movie had a blast, and I’m totally excited for it! Wrecking time happens on November 2 this year.
Finally, the presentation screened another animated short, and this one will be attached to
Wreck-It Ralph. The short is “Paperman,” and it is
amazing. It is a wonderful, funny, heartfelt short. The animation style is very different and experimental, too; while the bulk of the characters are CG, they have 2D eyes that complement each other better than the whales in
Fantasia 2000’s “Pines of Rome.” I won’t give the story away, but it really is a touching, funny short oozing with charm.
"Paperman" is freakin' awesome. It almost makes Wreck-It Ralph look like the side feature.3:00 PM –
The Greatest Disney Animation You Never SawThis presentation’s title is a misnomer, because most of the clips screened are stuff you can watch online, or even DVD extra features. Fortunately, the somewhat disappointing bait-and-switch title was made up for some great gems. Hosted by Don Hahn and Dave Bossert, the duo kept things lively and entertaining. Don Hahn is a genuinely funny guy, always has been, so it’s always a treat to see him host something. Many commercials were screened, mostly advertisements for Peter Pan Peanut Butter (“It’s the P-NUTTIEST!”). The “pigheaded” sequence from
Who Framed Roger Rabbit was shown, as was “Tummy Trouble.” Again, these aren’t footage we’ve never seen. The now-defunct WDW attraction Cranium Command’s queue animation was screened in high quality. Please forgive me, but I can’t remember if these two shorts were part of this presentation or something else. My memory might be faulty. But I
think it was in this presentation where Mickey Mouse’s ‘audition’ video was played. This hammy yet undeniably fun short featured many celebrity cameos, including Angela Lansbury as a secretary, Mel Brooks as a boisterous director, and even Jonathan Winters and the late Dom DeLuise had bit parts. The other, I gather but could be wrong, was a training video of some kind for Disney workers in the late 80’s. The featurette starred Walter Cronkite and a very wild (wilder than usual, I mean) Robin Williams. I believe the featurette is called “Back to Neverland.”
The highlight of the presentation, for me, was the inclusion of the original “Pomp and Circumstance” treatment pitched for
Fantasia 2000. The premise is that the Disney princesses have their babies, and many Disney characters are featured, all in synch with the music. I had heard this before, but I assumed it was a rumor/myth. But it
was an actually planned treatment. Michael Eisner was the one who suggested Pomp and Circumstance March #1 for the music, and what was screened in this presentation was the animatrics (storyboards in sequence) synchronized with the music piece.
This is from memory, but the sequence started with the camera panning into a storybook. The then-current Disney royal couples—from Snow White and her Prince all the way up to Jasmine and Aladdin—marched to an evidently important platform, up some stairs. Alice (woo!) made a cameo appearance, bestowing what looked like an Unbirthday Cake. The Mad Hatter and the March Hare also appeared for a second. Donald was once again in an important role. He had the duty of presenting the arriving children with crowns. Though initially nervous, Daisy blew him a kiss, and he gained confidence and strutted proudly, like the Donald we all know. One particular woman in the eager crowd eyed the crowns Donald carried in jealousy and desire: the Queen of Hearts (I do love how prominently
Alice in Wonderland was featured in this!). Serving as the first antagonist of numerous to come, the Queen confronted Donald, demanding the crowns. Donald was then caught up with many Disney villains. I believe Kaa was there, along with Jafar and the like. At one point, Donald rides the magic carpet (the
Aladdin character) and battles Maleficent’s dragon form. The villains are stopped, and Donald barely makes it in time to meet with the Disney couples, whose babies are delivered via storks. Donald places a crown on each of the babies’ heads, with the exception of Snow White’s. He’s missing the last crown and panics, but the Three Good Fairies from
Sleeping Beauty craft the final one. Grateful, Snow White kisses Donald, and the latter is comically bashful (he fills up with red). The camera pulls up, the book closes, and that’s “Pomp and Circumstance.”
Don and Dave had an exaggerated buildup. They repeated that this pitch fell very flatly and everyone in the studio hated it, and they described it as “disturbing,” “disgusting,” and a “painful five minutes.” To be honest, I didn’t think it was disturbing at all. Strange and bizarre, maybe, but not disturbing. This is the closest to
Fantasmic Kingdom: The Movie as it could get, and Emma and I giggled like children throughout. I loved it! I actually kinda wish it was used in the final sequence after all, instead of Noah’s Ark. My guess is that everyone thought the disturbing aspect was how the Princesses got their babies. Personally, I wonder what’s so shocking about storks, considering they’ve been used as deliveries forever, even in Disney films such as
Dumbo. Honestly, with all the dramatic buildup Don and Dave made, I expected them to actually have their babies outright! Picture Snow White in stirrups, delivered by Friend Owl—now
that would have been uncomfortable! I don’t know if this deleted material appears in the
Fantasia Legacy bonus DVD in the
Anthology set released years ago, or if it’s part of the BD-Live feature in the recent Blu-Ray release. If anyone can confirm or deny this, I’d be most grateful!
Bad news for
Song of the South fans, and by bad news I mean, “Not a surprise but it’s still unfortunate.” Don Hahn himself said, “We don’t know when or
if this movie will be released.” With that said, they screened the “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” sequence to wrap up the presentation.
4:30 PM –
Animating the Disney ParksHosted by Becky Cline (who barely said a thing) and Tim O’Day (who said too much), this presentation didn’t strike much interest in me. It featured Tony Baxter, Tom Morris, and Eddie Sotto, and they all talked about the Disney parks and individual Imagineers. I hate to sound rude, but I was falling asleep big time during this presentation. Tim O’Day wondered what the hell the picture of Marc Davis below was about. Heffy knows, he told me. Ask him!
Western River Expedition.8:00 PM –
An Evening with Dick Van Dyke and the VantastixI can’t believe I saw Dick Van Dyke twice now. This was the second consecutive year I saw him in concert along with the Vantastix, an a capella group. Dick, as always, exuded in warmth, humor, and fun. He did very noticeably make more blunders with lyrics than he did last year, and he had to watch a co-singer’s face intently at times to stay on track. But the man is 86 years old, so cut him some slack! He’s Dick freakin’ Van Dyke! About half of the songs they performed last year at the Expo returned. New songs were included, mostly gospel. Dick really loves gospel. His (much younger, well done!) wife was also in attendance and sang a few songs with him. But the best moment of the concert, for me, was when Dick sang “Baby Mine” (he pronounced it “Baby
of Mine”). He introduced the song by dedicating it to his daughter, whom he expressed an undying love for. This tender dedication, along with the song itself (the Vantastix hummed, with Dick giving a heartfelt performance), brought tears to my eyes. A ‘vantastic’ conclusion to the night.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.Well, it wasn’t exactly the end, but I had to bail out. At 9:15 was
a screening of Walt & El Grupo: The Director’s Cut, but none of us in our group really attended. It would have ended at 11:20 PM, it was late, and, me, personally, I watched the documentary before and wasn’t interested to watch it again. This was the
only presentation I skipped out on.
Can you believe that this was only the first day? I’ll bring you my review of Day 2 soon. Take it easy until then!
