Forever Magical
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April 28th: A Celebration of Marc Davis
Marc Davis, Kathryn Beaumont and some of Marc's
creations
On April 28th collegues and fans alike gathered at the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences to pay tribute to a great, Marc Davis, who died on January 12th. On this particular evening, as the emcee pointed out, a bomb directed at the Academy would completely change the face of the animated world. It was a who’s who of Disney legends, animators, imagineers, actors, etc. that had gathered. The creative energy in the room was electrifying. Leonard Maltin hosted two panel discussions which included Ward Kimball, Richard Sherman, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Glen Keane and others. Animator Andreas Deja also gave a wonderful presentation of Mr. Davis' work. Several clips of Mr. Davis’ work were displayed on the large screen which was wonderful as I hadn’t seen many of these classic films on anything larger than a television screen in a very long time. I learned that Marc created one of my favorite Disney sequences. It's a sequence from Bambi when Flower the skunk becomes twitterpatted after meeting a young lady skunk. He also animated the sequence from Cinderella where her dress tears and she runs out into the garden sobbing and the fairy godmother appears. I learned so much about Marc Davis and the world of animation at this event.
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All Year Long: Disneyland Resort Construction
During the past year LaughingPlace.com has done frequent construction updates on the Disneyland Resort. The former Disneyland parking lot area has been transformed into a theme park, hotel and entertainment center. Several streets have been moved and renamed including West Street. The Pacific Hotel has be re-themed to the new park. It has been interesting project to watch the concept art slowly come to life. At Walt Disney World they are able to build without being under the watchful eye of the Disney fans, but here at Disneyland we've had the unique opportunity to watch a theme park evolve before our eyes. Each week provides new discoveries. Soon it will be complete and I will no longer wonder what it will feel like to ride through the rapids of Grizzly River Run or to soar over California in the new hangliding attraction. I’m also dying to beat Doobie at basketball over at the ESPN Zone. In a few short weeks it will finally be complete and open for the public to enjoy.
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February 2000: Believe…There’s Magic in the Stars
"Believe... There's Magic in the Stars"
Through the LaughingPlace discussion boards we heard that the much-anticipated new fireworks show was going to quietly premiere at Disneyland, so we traveled to the Magic Kingdom to have a look. It was the middle of the week and there were "suits" (Disneyland executive types) everywhere. The show began quietly with very little color. It was obvious that this was not going to be a firework show like we had ever seen before. Beautiful blues were introduced during the next segment and fireworks in the shape of stars erupted during the Under the Sea. Certain segments made people laugh and sometimes they would ooh and aah like when the hearts exploded during the Tarzan sequence. And then there was the overwhelming Hell Fire when it seemed like the castle itself was erupting in flames as the red fireworks shot from the Fantasyland turrets. But where was Tinkerbell? It seemed as if the show was over and some people began to applaud when suddenly Tinkerbell appeared and flew along her famous path as the sky ignited once with colorful fireworks. Then, before our astonished eyes, appeared the silhouette of our favorite star, Mickey Mouse. All the employees and guests erupted in a loud cheer. I must admit I got teary eyed and pretty much stayed that way through the rest of the show. I have since filmed or seen that show from nearly a dozen other locations and certain portions still bring a tear to my eye. The most unusual location I’ve seen it from is Huntington Beach 14 miles away…pretty unbelievable, eh? We were shocked when were driving down Pacific Coast Highway one night and realized we could see "Believe" off in the distance. Instead of the beautiful soundtrack the fireworks were accompanied by the sound of crashing waves.
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