Sunday, 11th February 2007

Conjuring up astonishment: Toon Studio revealed

After a Winter break so long that all confidence in the project was beginning to be lost, this beautiful new concept without doubt restores all hope in Toon Studio, the park, the resort, the world of Disney and maybe even the universe!! Apparently it shouldn’t have been released so soon, if at all, but now that the artwork is out in the real world, this is surely nothing but superb publicity for the resort and its 15th Anniversary. Take a deep breath before you look – the transformation is astonishing. From drab asphalt and uncomfortable yellow buildings to a unique, memorable and magical Disney land – and best of all, this looks like the closest concept art to reality we’ve seen yet.

Not only are the colours and design of Crush’s Coaster and Cars Race Rally at the back of the artwork spot on, but the new blue and pink colour scheme of Art of Disney Animation is also finally shown in true-to-life form, suggesting, perhaps, that the rest of the artwork may also make it all the way from sketch the reality!

Toon Studio Revealed

If a picture speaks a thousand words, a piece of concept art says a million and one – so let’s take a point-by-point look through this revealing new concept and see things we know, things we don’t and things we never would have dreamed of, a few months ago…

1 – The lines, stars and moon of the Sorcerer Hat all painted gold, as rumoured earlier and confirmed on the 2007 Resort Map. They have also been joined by extra gold lines, spiralling out of the hat to give a 3D effect to its design.

2 – Peter Pan characters (Tinkerbell, Peter and Wendy) circling the Hat from Walt Disney World’s Cinderella Castle.

3 – Extra characters we’ve never heard about before! Ariel and Flounder from The Little Mermaid above the canopy around Art of Disney Animation, and Dumbo and Winnie the Pooh on the Hat itself.

4 – The repaint of Art of Disney Animation continued around the entire building.

5 – The pistachio-coloured canopy of Flo’s V8 Café at Cars Race Rally, with a relocated Studio Catering Co. van in front.

6 – Crush’s Coaster

7 – Sorcerer Mickey statue. The bolt of magic coming from his wand can finally be seen, sparking out of the wand and then reappearing on the opposite side of the entrance to fall to the ground in the new planter. Strangely, the statue is entirely gold, whilst all other concepts have shown a full-colour red and blue statue.

8 – The recognisable lines and stars of the classic Sorcerer Hat have been translated to the blue base of the statue, and also appear on new decorations across the metal lighting rigs along the parade route, giving quite a stunning and consistent theme effect.

9 – Finally, the “Toon Studio” name itself!

The majority of these changes and additions are scheduled to take place from next month, though it remains to be seen how many of the new details will make it to the final design. The entire project will be completed with the June opening of the renamed land’s two new attractions. From the looks of it, picking up Yensid’s wand was the best decision Mickey ever made. It may be sorcery, but soon – the magic will be real.

Concept art (C) Disney.

Saturday, 10th February 2007

Sculpting Sorcerer Mickey!

The statue is shown being sculpted by an Imagineer in a full-page image, with a coloured concept art opposite giving an impression of the finished product. The statue is large, very rounded and depicts Mickey pointing his wand into the air – which rumours persist will be followed by a trail of gold stars leading across the parade route and into the planter outside Art of Disney Animation.

The preview for the article reads: “Tooning Up: A sneak peek at the new Toon Studios that will debut in June at the Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris with the executive producer Corey Sewelson;”

This marks the fourth statue of Mickey to be featured in the park, after his appearances at the Front Lot “Fantasia Fountain”, Disney Bros Plaza “Partners Statue” and miniature Art of Disney Animation Character statue. It will be installed at the park sometime in March, serving as a grand entrance for Toon Studio, with the name itself featured on the blue stone base below Mickey.

The first page of the article also features a previously unseen piece of concept art for Toon Studio, focusing on the Animation Courtyard side of the area. It shows not only the entrance statue, but the Peter Pan figures flying around the Sorcerer Hat, extra planters, beautified flooring and even a fountain in front of Animagique!

Look out for larger versions of the images featured in the article here and on www.wdsfans.com within the next few weeks.

Thursday, 8th February 2007

Forget the parade, what about the napkins?

“Who celebrates a 15th?” they may cry. But, if there were ever fears this anniversary would be a non event, these can truly be cast aside. Worries that guests won’t know what’s going on, a la the US “Year of a Million Dreams”? Not needed. Every document, every cup, every nametag, every park ticket, every park map, every lamppost… the Anniversary will seep into every single corner of the parks and resort.

To begin, the 15th Anniversary Celebration souvenirs that will cost absolutely nothing! (Well, perhaps in the case of the cup it’ll cost the price of a cup of coffee.) With two months to go until the official launch, the anniversary branding has already popped up on paper drinks cups and napkins at the resort’s restaurants, with candle-holding characters on the cups and a nice two-colour design for the napkins. Yes, you know a Disneyland obsession is bad when you get excited by these.

For Annual Passholders, aside from the 15th Anniversary-edition passes already available for newcomers, stationary and promotion has also adopted the 15th Anniversary colours, design and characters.

Whilst the first souvenirs are already available – albeit in scarce limited edition – in the form of the Anniversary Countdown series of pins. 100 days came in January, followed by 50 Days this month and due to be completed with countdowns 20, 10, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 days before the big day itself.

And if all this wasn’t enough, how about 12,000 walking advertisements for the anniversary? Yes, the Cast Members! Their new 15th Anniversary nametags were presented with much fanfare recently, and many have already swapped their previous 50th Anniversary “Happiest Celebration On Earth” badges for the new design – from 50 years to 15 overnight!

Unfortunately, I’ve received word from a Cast Member in Paris that the badges have been recalled and will soon be replaced again. It seems the “Where dreams come true” tagline used on the nametags is already in use by another company, and so a quick redesign may apparently be required to avoid any unwanted legal action. The ongoing use of the slogan on the Disney Parks website and elsewhere may suggest an agreement has since been made between the two parties, although it should be noted that all mention of “Where dreams come true” has now been totally removed from Paris’ 15th Anniversary logos and copy. Never a dull day at DLRP, eh?

So, now we have 12,000 walking mentions of the 15th Anniversary added to those tickets, maps, decorations, souvenirs and all-important napkins on the ground. But it doesn’t end there – the Anniversary will even take flight, 100 metres into the air above the resort, to be exact! The unmissable PanoraMagique balloon at Disney Village will be joining the celebration with a special overlay adding a new design around its middle, featuring several large “15” emblems joined together by a stylish red fabric (-styled) band.

We were promised a celebration as big as the historic 5th Anniversary – but as time passes and plans build, this is looking as big as – or perhaps even bigger – than the celebration Disneyland waited 50 years for. Luckily for us, we now only have to wait 50 days!

Cup photo by DJinspace on Disney Central Plaza forum, name badge and napkin photos by Photos Magiques.

Thursday, 8th February 2007

Refurbishment round-up

Beginning with a walk right down the middle of Main Street, U.S.A., the Tilyou Building and Boardwalk Candy Palace are fenced off for a major refurbishment similar in scope to that at The Emporium last year. The bright pistachio and pink façades were repainted before Christmas, and in early January the store closed to allow for a major refurbishment and remodelling. The displays and props of sweets inside had been looking a little less than tasty for a few years, so hopefully this will return a bit of the sparkle and sugary sweetness to the Atlantic City-themed boutique.

On Town Square, the Riverboat Excursions advertisement mural outside the Southern entrance to Liberty Arcade is being given a touch-up, following the completion of work on the buildings at its Northern end – see photo here.

Plaza Gardens has been looking a little worse for wear over recent months (and years), but whilst the rest of Main Street has seen copious amounts of new paint and rehabs the country park restaurant has been left overlooked. Now, the rehab crews have finally reached the end of Main Street and the restaurant is at last getting a well-deserved spot of TLC. The main building has been wrapped in scaffolding and tarps ready for work to begin.

Over on Central Plaza itself, it looks like a familiar Christmas gift will be here to stay. Whilst the flower beds and planters surrounding the hub were returned to their normal, non-elevated and non-snow-covered normality, the removal of fences around the plaza reveals the stage is now ready and waiting for the April launch of the new Candlabration show. The Christmas props have been entirely removed, and a hint of blue colouring even seems to have made its way onto the sides of the cleaned-up stage. The “Once Upon a Time” motif may sit rather oddly with the non-Princess-themed ceremony, but within a few months it could be that we won’t be able to remember Central Plaza without the addition, due to stay now until March 2008.

Now, with themeing, restaurants and boutiques all covered by refurbishments, shouldn’t the attractions get a polish-up too? Scheduled to finish tomorrow are the clean-ups of Le Carrousel de Lancelot and Les Mystères du Nautilus, whilst Casey Jr. – Le Petit Train du Cirque and Le Pays des Contes de Fées are also due to return for the new year.

With all this Disneyland Park-centred refurbishment beginning to rival the construction wall record of Walt Disney Studios Park, could the second gate be getting worried? It need not fear – the major resurfacing works in front of – and around – its grand entrance arch more than outdo the competition! All of the old searchlight and stars floor decoration has been scraped away, leaving a bare concrete base for new – and hopefully more resilient – flooring to come, ready for the park’s first ever new attraction openings in mid-June.

All photos by Photos Magiques. You can see much more here.

Tuesday, 6th February 2007

Casa Della Tires and more from Radiator Springs

Last week press photos revealed the life-size Luigi soon to be arriving in the Studios, and now we can see how the Imagineers are preparing his beloved House of Tires in Toon Studio. Three decorative tires have appeared atop the Mediterannean-styled building, wrapped in plastic for protection until the basic themeing surround them is complete.

Next to Casa Della Tires, two more facades are in preparation from the world of Radiator Springs. Though they can’t be pinned down exactly yet, the larger central storefront seems to belong to Lizzie’s Radiator Springs Curios, whilst the smaller facade to its right is harder to distinguish – is there a slight resemblance to the Radiator Springs Traffic Court, perhaps?

On the ride itself, progress has been made with the installation of the ride’s main control booth, seen in the final photo below. Nestled between the two boarding areas in the canopy of Flo’s V8 Café, it appears to feature a turquoise and cream colour scheme similar, perhaps, to Flo herself.

Whilst the past few weeks has seen the ride area filled with more scaffolding, both around the V8 Café canopy, on the miniaturised Willy’s Butte rock formation and in the foundations of the turntables themselves, La Rouquine at Disney Central Plaza forum today reports that work has started on installing the technical elements of the ride system in the two pairs of concrete platforms. The metal canopy for Flo’s V8 Café has received the first spots of turquoise paint similar to the control booth below, and, despite appearing to be complete, the rock formation continues to be wrapped in more scaffolding and tarps.

“More than 2000 miles all the way”… the finish line is still a long stretch away!

All construction photos by Photos Magiques. You can see more here.

Monday, 5th February 2007

Studio 5 fresque brings the EAC to WDS

The exciting unveiling today, captured by thebatman_1 in these photos posted on MagicForum, completes another piece of the puzzle for this new attraction, “turtally unique” to Paris.

The fresque is quite unlike anything used on a Disney attraction before, comparable only to the Hollywood backdrop on the Hyperion Theater at Disney’s California Adventure, or the billboard-style entrances of our own Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster or Studio Tram Tour.

It already appears a good attempt to solve the problem of how to theme a studio soundstage whilst still remaining within a “real working studio” theme, and with none of the vast expanses of bare walls seen elsewhere in the park upon its opening.

The covering to be used for the bare concerete walls still surrounding the main fresque on the front section of the building has yet to be confirmed.

All photos by thebatman_1 at magicforum. Join the discussion here.

Monday, 5th February 2007

Crush’s turtle testing

But before that, a quick look at how general construction on the new attraction is going. More scaffolding has just appeared around the exit of the ride, between the metal roof of the queue and the rockwork covering which guests will walk through to re-enter the park. Towards the back of the new area, the wall surrounding “Toon Studio” can be seen, now looking ready for paint after being moulded and given texture. The actual “Toon Town” backdrop will be constructed behind.

Inside the queue itself, the huge amount of new planting is certainly giving no favours to anyone wanting a sneaky preview from Flying Carpets Over Agrabah. It appears, though, that the first railings have just been put in place, and work on the sculpted plaster on the wall of showbuilding continues. Eventually, the area will look like the basin of a dried-up fishing pier, with moulded concrete floors to look like wooden decking and the outer wall of the building themed to a large pier wall.

Backstage, usually a no-go area for pictures of any kind, a very recognisable prop for the sunken submarine-themed lift hill was caught on camera by EricLovesTZToT…

We reported back in October that Bruce would be 4 metres long, and he certainly doesn’t disappoint! At the time the photo was taken, he appears to be a simple shell, with workers fitting him out ready for installation.

And finally, here it is – the very first glimpse of a Crush’s Coaster turtle shell in action, sweeping down the curved outside drop, caught by Jeremy06b on the French Coastersworld forum. It passes by the workers watching from behind the fences before dropping into the sudden dip in the track and off-camera…

You can see the test in video here: Download .Mov Video

It seems recent days have seen an increase in the number of tests taking place, and since Disney attractions are always tested rigorously for around six months before their official opening, this probably won’t be the last we see of Crush’s turtle testing.

Bruce shark photo by EricLovesTZTOT, Ameworld forum. Testing photos and video by Jeremy06b, Coastersworld. Latest construction photos by Photos Magiques – more here.

Monday, 5th February 2007

A new behind-the-magic studio tour

When the first construction walls arrived on the future site of the park’s new Hollywood Boulevard almost two weeks ago, they covered barely half of the walkway between Disney Bros. Plaza and Studio Tram Tour. Reports suggested the schedule called for work mainly around Studio Tram Tour until May, when the entire street would be blocked for full-scale construction. The entrance of the “Behind-the-Magic” studio tour itself was moved to the old Fastpass canopy, and everything seemed ready to go.

Next, we heard work was postponed until the very end of January. Now, we’ve got more construction fences than have perhaps ever been seen before – including those still at Toon Studio and the Animation Courtyard entrance.

The fences are now cleverly covering every section of the areas where Hollywood-themed sets and façades are reported to spring up, from the future location of “Gone Hollywood” next to Art of Disney Animation to the Hollywood Hills backdrop in front of the Studio Tram Tour station itself.

Work has now begun on removing trees in the area, specifically those on the La Terrasse side, keeping the roots intact so that they can be used elsewhere on the resort. Behind the fences on the Art of Disney Animation side, little has changed so far.

Meanwhile, guests can finally enjoy a cosier, more interesting walk around the Studios, surrounded by specially re-painted walls featuring customised signs pointing to the hidden attractions. Sure, they’re construction fences, but it’s already more exciting than empty tarmac, right?

All photos by Photos Magiques. You can see more here.

Wednesday, 31st January 2007

Pin Trading February 2007 releases

The 15th Anniversary pin this time counts down 50 days to the big day itself, with rumours suggesting pins will follow for J-20, J-10, J-5, J-4, J-3, J-2, J-1 and finally for the day itself in April. This month will also see the next major Pin Event, to be held at Disney’s Hotel New York – book now if you’d like to attend.

Saturday 3rd February 2007

Mystery Pack
Ref: 209401007086
Price: 12,50 €


Starter Kit Marie Cuties
Ref: 209411007003
Price: 19,90 €

Wednesday 14th February 2007


St Valentine LE
Ref: 209401007089
Limited Edition x900
Price: 10,50 €

Saturday 17th February 2007

PIN EVENT
L’étrange Pin Event de Monsieur Jack / Nightmare Pin Event

Disney’s® Hotel New York.
Times Square, Convention Center.
From 09.00 am.
Entrance : 33 € per adult.
Reservations and prices at 00.33.(0)825.30.60.60

The following pins will be available for pre-purchase, with
remaining stock then moved to the resort’s boutiques:


Mickey Jedi
Ref: 209401007030
Price: 6,00 €


Minnie Leia
Ref: 209401007031
Price: 6,00 €


Mickey and Yoda
Ref: 209401007032
Price: 6,00 €


15th Anniversary – 50 Days Countdown
Ref: 209401007048
Limited Edition x900
Price: 10,90 €


Stitch WDS Invasion #5
Ref: 209401007095
Limited Edition x900
Price: 10,50 €


Crown Princess Strass pin
Ref: 209401007054
Price: 7,90 €


Writing Princess Strass pin
Ref: 209401007055
Price: 7,90 €

Mickey Writing Strass pin
Ref: 209401007062
Price: 7,90 €

Minnie Writing Strass pin
Ref: 209401007063
Price: 7,90 €


Pirate Princess
Ref: 209401007027
Price: 8,90 €


Pirate Stitch
Ref: 209401007090
Price: 8,90 €


Pirate Skeleton Mickey
Ref: 209401007091
Price: 8,90 €


Pirate Donald Mickey Goofy
Ref: 209401007092
Price: 8,90 €

Jack Skellington open edition
Ref: 209401007074
Price: 6,00 €

Pirate Sabers Medal
Ref: 209401007097
Price: 6,00 €

Pirate Medal
Ref: 209401007096
Price: 6,00 €

Saturday 24th February 2007


Mickey and Minnie Hollywood WDS
Ref: 209401007087
Price: 6,00 €

Monday, 29th January 2007

Turtles, Cars and two fabulous dresses

We begin with Imagineer Beth Clapperton, who poses next to one the turtle shell ride vehicles from Crush’s Coaster in Toon Studio, holding plans to the entire track layout. The turtle shell follows all the usual standards of a Maurer Söhne Xtended SC-2000 car, with four seats back-to-back in rows of two. However, the car has also been extensively customised by the Disney Imagineers, extending the front and sides to perfectly resemble a turtle shell, with an incredible level of detail compared to other Disney ride vehicles.

The photo appears to have been taken on the break-run of the attraction’s “coaster” section, likely sometime in mid-2006 since the building does not appear to be fully enclosed. It also seems restraints and seat backs had yet to be fitted to the first vehicle at this point.

Next up, we move across to Cars Race Rally and into the backstage workshops of Walt Disney Imagineering, where a life-size Luigi is being crafted by hand for the upcoming attraction. Also sporting an exceptional level of detail, Luigi is due to appear at the Casa Della Tires photo location near the attraction’s entrance (see the map here), similar to the Mike Wazowski and CDA figures at the Monsters Inc Scream Scene location.

As you can see from the photo, it luckily seems that the resort have been given the rights to use the badge of this 1959 Fiat 500 on the real-life reproduction itself. Guido, Luigi’s forklift sidekick, is also expected to appear at the finished attraction, marking the first time these characters have been created in life-size 3D form.

Finally, the series of photos take us into the colourful Costuming Workshop at the ImagiNations building, backstage at Walt Disney Studios, for a glimpse at two stunning new dresses created exclusively for Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade. The dresses featured are Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, and the “one that started it all”, Snow White.

Along with rich, glistening fabrics and remarkable attention to detail, the dresses have been peppered with beautiful gold-laced leaves, petals and flowers (roses for Belle), allowing them to match perfectly with the garden-themed “Dreams of Romance” finale float where they will be featured. This is the first time such a high level of customisation has been used to allow the dresses to match their floats.

Sumptuous dresses, detailed props and “turtally” unique ride vehicles, all oozing Disney quality… as if the 15th Anniversary wasn’t an exciting enough prospect already!

All photos © Disney, courtesy of WDSfans.com and PhotosMagiques.com!

Subscribe to the Magic!

Ad: Disneyland Paris 30th Anniversary Offers and Deals

Tags & Archives

Twitter Updates

Ad: Disneyland Paris 30th Anniversary Offers and Deals