Tales from the Laughing Place Magazine Issue #14 Announced

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(March 20, 2009 - London, England & Celebration, FL) Today Tales from the Laughing Place Magazine announced the contents for their fourteenth issue that is due for release in early April.

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Issue 14 will focus on the development of Tokyo Disneyland with an extensive interview with five key imagineers that were instrumental in the execution of the first international Magic Kingdom. “In previous issues of Tales we have highlighted the creative process behind the planning, development and construction of Disney theme parks,” Tales publisher Lee J MacDonald begins. “Issue nine featured legendary imagineers Tony Baxter, Tim Delaney, Tom Morris and Chris Tietz discussing the creation of EuroDisneyland, the cornerstone of issue eleven was an exclusive interview with Imagineering Ambassador and Disney Legend Marty Sklar about the conception of Epcot Center and recently Joe Rohde talked about the invention of Disney’s Animal Kingdom in issue twelve. Every single article was accompanied by a wealth of artwork from the Walt Disney Imagineering archives and issue fourteen is no exception. Five current imagineers talked exclusively to Tales about their involvement in the creation of Tokyo Disneyland in the early eighties. The twenty page spread features twenty nine rare and never-before-seen images that aptly demonstrate the unique features of this Magic Kingdom. In addition current Tokyo Disney Resort portfolio leader for Walt Disney Imagineering Joe Lanzisero discusses the particular issues that his team encounter when developing new attractions for the Tokyo Disney Resort in the twenty-first century.”

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Issue 14 of Tales from the Laughing Place Magazine (52 pages) features the following articles:

Why? Because We Like You! A personal take on the enduring appeal of Mickey Mouse by Tales creative director Lindsay Cave;

Felixcious Clay Wants to be a Rock Star & Other Whatnot Stories: The development of the Muppet Whatnot Workshop in New York City’s iconic FAO Schwarz toy store;

Once Upon A Stage: Worldwide exclusive coverage of BBC Radio 2’s Music of Disney Concert featuring Josh Groban, Heather Headley, Adam Pascal, Kerry Butler and other West End and Broadway performing stars;

Making A Song & Dance Out of It! A look at the development of Toy Story – The Musical on Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Wonder ship;

Re-Made in Japan: The story of Tokyo Disneyland as told by the small team of imagineers charged with defending Disney quality at the first licensed Disney theme park with over twenty-five rare or never-before-seen images from the Walt Disney Imagineering archives. The piece is accompanied by an interview with current lead imagineer for the Tokyo Disney Resort Joe Lanzisero who discusses the unique challenges to developing attractions for Japan; and

The First Star I See Tonight: A photo-essay from the Grand Opening of The American Idol Experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios featuring host Ryan Seacrest, past American Idol winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks and David Cook plus a host of former finalists.

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“Tokyo Disneyland is an incredibly successful Disney theme park with hundreds of millions of guests passing through its turnstiles over the past twenty six years but the majority of Tales readers will never visit this international outpost,” Lee concludes. “We hope that we are able to bring a small piece of this incredible theme park to our readers and explain the uniqueness of this theme park that looks superficially similar to Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom but has a different execution targeted specifically at the local guests. We are delighted that we have once again partnered with our friends at Walt Disney Imagineering to share some of the extraordinary stories and images from the development of Tokyo Disneyland between 1977 and 1983. Much of the artwork is exclusive to Tales and continues our long-standing tradition of presenting rare and never-before-seen artwork to our readers. We will continue this convention with a future issue that will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Disney’s Hollywood Studios which was formerly known as Disney/MGM Studios.”

Tales is a 52-page quarterly high-quality advertising-free magazine dedicated to the creativity of the Walt Disney Company and its business units such as the theme parks, movies and musicals. The magazine has a strong emphasis on photography and artwork from the Disney libraries and is printed on quality paper-stock to help preserve the publication for years to come.

Issue 14 is due for release in early April 2009. Tales from the Laughing Place Magazine is available as part of a four-issue subscription or individually with worldwide shipping. Issues 2 through 13 inclusive are available as back issues and Issues 1 through 6 inclusive are now available on a CD-ROM in high-resolution PDF for home printing.

For further information about Tales please visit our website: http://www.talesfromthelaughingplace.com

To purchase Issue #14 please visit The Laughing Place Store

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-- Posted March 20, 2009