Thursday, January 03, 2008

Thursday's This & That: Disney Style

As I massage my Wii muscles that have been overworked by video bowling and tennis, let me bring you the latest news around the web...

Get your t-shirts with inside jokes of Disneyland park. T-shirts read "Real Men Shoot Hippos" and "We Want the Redhead!" The t-shirt company that makes them, Cryogenically Frozen, refers to the urban legend that Walt Disney requested his head be frozen upon his death.

Mercury News reviews 3 new "Disney Treasures" released to DVD. I personally bought Disneyland: Secrets, Stories and Magic expecting some great insight in to the park that I haven't read about before. (A far stretch of the imagination with all I've read up on the subject.) But what really made me excited was the description of the plot on Amazon.com:

Steve Martin, a former Disneyland cast member, takes viewers through the history of Walt Disney's original theme park in Anaheim, California, while being constantly interrupted by the stubborn but hilarious Donald Duck.

Unfortunately Amazon's plot outline is completely inaccurate. So is their mention of stars such as Sammy Davis, Jr. making an appearance. There was nothing on either of these discs that featured Steve Martin or any big stars' appearances. Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen are shown wandering through the park as it's being built, as well as Annette Funnicello singing at the park, but those have been featured elsewhere (another Disney Treasures DVD compilation entitled "Disneyland USA"). In fact, there's a lot of overlap between the two sets. Worse yet, it's a bit dated by some awkward screen time by Michael Eisner (ptooey ptooey!).

What it turns out to be is a great look back at Disneyland from the 50's to the 60's...with a great commentary by Leonard Maltin and imagineers and other creatives who worked on the project. But as far as any insight or a secret, behind-the-scenes look at the park, it falls short.

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