Continue reading »]]> As mentioned in my trip report from the Dickens Fair this past weekend I attended the Pre-Raphaelite Artist Salon at the Adventures Club at the event. Here we were transported to a period drawing session with models recreating a religious scene while live harp music was played and poetry recited. It was a pretty awesome experience that I would recommend all artist visit when at the fair. The salon was at 3:30pm and ran about 45 min.

Warm up sketches while the event was getting set-up…

My drawing from the posed models… (note: the club seal was actually on the back of the drawing paper, but I photoshoped it on front so you could see it)

And some photos from the session…

Continue reading »]]> I have been wanting to go to the Great Dickens Fair in San Francisco for at least have of my life and this year I took the plunge and went today, Sunday November 27, 2011 with a friend of mine. This is just some highlights and not every detail.

I apologize that the photos are pretty ‘ghostly’ with the dark environments being hard to capture on my camera. I will posting more photos on my FLICKR page later this week.

I started off taking BART to the Glen Park station and took the FREE shuttle to the Cow Palace in South San Francisco. The fair starts at 11 am and the first shuttle did not arrive till 11:15 am, but the trip takes about 10 minuets and we had per-bought are ticket and were able to get in fairly fast.

You enter the Cow Palace through a switchback and find your self on a ‘movie set’ with false front buildings filling the space to create Victorian London. At first it seems odd as you enter a world of perpetual ‘twilight’, but that helps mentally to help hide the limits of a show like buildings with no roofs. Here the characters from Charles Dickens’ books wander the streets with the people of London on Christmas Eve and go about their business whether they have an audience or not.

I did not wear a costume per-say, but tried to be in spirit at least with a dress shirt, vest and cap. I think it is a good way to feel part of the fair’s story if you can accommodate it. When I was younger they actually gave away a poster that had tips on simple costumes for guests to wear. I have not seen that for a long while, but I bet you can find something online to give you some ideas.

Our first stop was to the Victoria and Albert theater to see a classic Christmas Pantomime ‘Cinderella and Aladdin meet the Monkey King’ with a mixture of music hall spirit in a family friendly production. Here fairy tale characters are mixed together with all rules thrown out and some men are played by women and some women are played by men. There is a happy ending followed by sing-alongs and slap stick fun. Next time I would like to also catch their production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Mikado’ that plays once a day.

Next we headed to food and I tried Haggis for the first time and maybe the last. It actually tasted good, but there are other things I prefer. I also had some Chocolate EggNog that was really really tasty.

While sitting down to eat we found a flyer for a life drawing art salon and 3:30 pm at the Adventures Club and we both agreed we wanted to go. We learned how to play the harp and wandered the streets looking into specialty stores. San Francisco’s Dark Garden had a store front selling period corsets and had live ‘manikins’ in the windows. The store always had a male heavy crowd gaping at the lovely girls in the windows and I noticed that there were service men in dress uniforms that seemed to always be there gazing as we passed by, but as a guy I can see why.

A procession of carolers passed by with Father Christmas in tow shouting ‘Happy Christmas’ and the temperance society stopped to tell me about their cause and at the nearby Adventures Club some officers were having some naughty fun with some lovely ladies till they fled their revelry when a high ranking general confronted them. The adventures club was an area that I would have liked to have experienced more with lots of tableaux and presentations throughout the day. For example, near the end of the day we found Prince Albert presenting a model of the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851.

On a friend recommendation who was working one of the booths we tried the Hard Black Cherry Cider which was really good and really relaxes you and puts you in a holiday spirit. There was a royal precision of Queen Victoria and her husband Albert that marched by on their way to Fezziwig’s Dance Party. Next time I would like to learn some of the period dances as well, the dancers were still going at closing time with a large crowd.

Along the way we stopped by the steam-punk inspired La Legion Fantastique, but sadly seemed to miss most of their presentations. Next time I would make an effort to see some of them from a steam powered robot to giant squid feeding. Another thing is to keep an eye open for characters like Scrooge walking with the Ghost of Christmas Future as the stories of Charles Dickens play out thorough out the day.

After doing some shopping we headed back for the Artist Salon at the Adventures Club where they provided paper and pencils to draw from costumed models while live music is played and poetry is read. I would have loved for them to have their own space and have events going all day cause it was lots of fun and the models were very good. The life drawing session was at 3:30 pm if you are going, but be early enough to get a good seat.

(I will post my drawing later this week when I have some more time.)

As we got closer to the end of the day we sat down for some dinner where I had Yorkshire Pudding which was tasty, but I should have purchased a side dish to go with it. I also got some rich roasted chestnuts. While a few of the food items at the fair can be pricy, they are mostly all unique items and at full range of different prices. If you are worried about diet or on a budget, I would make sure to eat a hearty breakfast/brunch before coming and then enjoy the special food/treats knowing that you had something substantial before coming. Next time I want to get one of the small meat pies run that about $6.50 and looked really good.

While my friend shopped I headed back to the La Legion Fantastique and found an impromptu boxing match in progress first with street ladies and then with Gorgeous George vs Charles the Chap who had posters announcing the fight throughout the streets. I was impressed that they had gone to the detail of the posters announcing the fight.

At the Legion Fantastique I chatted with Professor Phineas J. Flockmocker III F.H.S.C about his new discovery: electricity (he claims it might catch on some day a little) and his plans to harpoon his way to the moon. The gent was really in character and was surrounded with props to help tell his story. Definitely worth a visit.

As we neared the end of the fair’s day (the events run till 7:00 pm with the last shuttle at 7:15 pm) we headed to the 6 pm performance of Mad Sal’s Music Hall Extravaganza (featuring the Le Can Can Bijou) which featured all the performers from that day coming together for a bit naughty, raunchy fun. The most adult material in the show was sexual innuendo and lyrics about booze. The other big night time show was the 18 and over only Saucy French Postcard Tableaux Review at the Albert and Victoria Music Hall, but you have to get a FREE ticket to get in due to popularity. Tickets were gone when we check, so go early in the day to get one if you want to see it.

The show runs about 50 min which gave us enough time to stroll to the exit and catch the shuttle back to the BART station. Note: the last shuttle is 7:15 pm by-the-way.

So, was it worth it?

Heck ya. It really was a great way to celebrate the holidays and it feels very organic and alive. The tickets run $25 per-person (unless you have a 2-for-1 coupon to use at the door or buy your ticket early) but you really get your money’s worth with just the entertainment alone. There were so many events/productions that I would have loved to have seen that I would think of trying to get discount tickets early next year and even planning to go more than once. We went on a Sunday and the crowds were never to crazy, so if you don’t like crowds that might be helpful since they say they get more busy as we get near to Christmas. The biggest cost beyond your entrance ticket is transportation and food and drink, but if you are on a budget you can still do a lot with some careful planning. I definitely plan to go back next year and maybe even with more of a costume.

So…

- If you want to see the Saucy French Postcard Tableaux Review, make sure to get a ticket early in the day (tickets are free, ages 18+), if you can’t, don’t worry and go to Mad Sal’s.
- Eat a hearty, nutritious meal before you come and then explore some of the unique food and treats at the fair with out fear.
- Interact with the characters and be part of the story. Feel free to pretend you are from the Victorian era yourself.
- Get there early in the day to get your moneys worth and avoid the crowds.
- Dress the part, even if it’s just a hint of Victorian London to make you feel part of the story.
- The Adventures Club hosted an artist salon with costume models which was a blast. 3:30pm this year when I went.
- Be open to follow your ‘bliss’ and to not feel guilty missing something cause there is a lot going on.
- Use this as a chance to recharge your adventurist spirit and get ready for the holidays and don’t forget to try something new.
- Sunday early in their season might be a great day to go.

Continue reading »]]> I have written in the past in my Motion Comic Magic posts where I talk about re-purposing artwork from comics and books into animation, but today’s post is about re-purposing architecture with animation using video/architectural mapping. Basically a high-tech technique in which video is seamlessly projected on unusual surfaces to wrap it in animation and visuals.They have been using this technique in the last decade years for planetariums and for theme park shows like this one at Disneyland in Anaheim CA…

Even some home holiday light shows are using this technique since it allows you to do a lot more then just flashing a string of lights on and off. So…

Last night I headed into San Francisco not to shop, but to experience all the holiday decorations, spirit and displays. By chance I saw a sign for a new holiday show: Illuminique  at Westfield Mall a.k.a San Francisco Center. The mall was open late for Black Friday and so I headed up to the top floor to check it out.

When I arrived at 9:10 pm there was Christmas music playing and a ‘screen saver’ of video outlined the architecture of the historical Emporium dome that was re-built after the 1908 earthquake from the previous 1896 one. There were a few variations of visuals that changed every few songs.

The schedule for Illuminique is 6pm to 8:30pm (running on the half hour), but I guessed that since the mall was open late they would just keep running the show as well. So I walked around a bit then found a nice chair to sit in and waited to see what would happen at 9:30pm.

Sure enough the 4 min show started as I expected. The show transforms the dome into a whimsical mechanical music box with the architectural elements open and close like a coo coo clock. The animation was done with CGI 3D images.
when projected CGI animation transforms the historic dome into a whimsical mechanical musicbox.

Some of my photos had the flash on and so the actual show will look a bit darker and richer.

Pretty neat stuff and a great way for them to re-purpose  the classic space in a new way. It might not be worth a special trip just for this holiday show, but there are museums (Cartoon Art Museum, Moma, MoAD, Jewish Contemporary, CA history society), Yerba Buena Gardens, shopping and restaurants all right off the BART line to make the day special and meaningful along with this unique show.

The show was created by: obscuradigital.com

Continue reading »]]>

A post on re-purposing comics and illustration into animation

One thing that is exciting to me is how modern animation techniques to re-purpose images of all sorts can be used to recreate and explain the past, present and future. I just saw an example that, while simple is a good.

At the D23 Expo (official Disney Fan Club) last weekend in Anaheim Tony Baxter presented a simulation of a theme park attraction that was meant to be built at Walt Disney World (WDW) in Florida when the parked opened instead of the classic E-Ticket attraction…Pirates of the Caribbean. The ride would be a musical trip through a stylized old-west called The Western River Expedition that would feature many Audio Animatronic figures and a big flume drop at the end. The problem is that guest coming to WDW wanted to know where the Pirate ride that they had heard about was. So the new western themed ride idea was scrapped for a clone of the Disneyland pirate ride. Many Disney theme park fans are still hoping that someday the ride might become a reality in some form, but that is not so likely.

To see examples of the concept art and read about the history, visit HERE.

But thanks to Disney having a huge archive of concept art and rare footage that can put it together  in a simple form with some background music and presented it as a visual discription of how the ride might have been. Below is a video of that presentation which features art by one of my favorites Marc Davis and with live narration by Imagineers Tony Baxter and Josh Shipley.

Below is the description from the youtube.com video…

On Sunday, August 21, Walt Disney Imagineers Tony Baxter and Josh Shipley lead a fascinating presentation of rare footage from 1950s and 1960s-era Disneyland for D23 Expo attendees. As part of the presentation, Tony and Josh took guests aboard a complete ride-through of the never-built Western River Expedition attraction, designed for the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida. Though never built, numerous conceptual renderings as well as a complete model of the attraction were built and have been preserved by Walt Disney Imagineering. This video is a ride-through of the attraction as guests would have experienced it, recreated with concept art and photos of the attraction model. Live commentary is provided by Tony Baxter and Josh Shipley.

Continue reading »]]> As you know from my previous posts, I participated in the Cartoon Art Museum’s Sketch-A-Thon at the SDCC2011.

Most of the time we created original art for a donation to the Museum for an individual, but sometimes we did drawings that were just examples while waiting for a customer. A few of mine that did not sell I was able to borrow from the Cartoon Art Museum to Scan and return.

YOU can buy a drawing if it’s still available for a donation of $10+ (plus shipping and handling if needed) and all proceeds go to the Cartoon Art Museum.

All characters are © there respective owners and these are only done as fan tributes and not for reproduction.

I did a few drawings that were “Kick Butt” version of Disney Princesses. This one is Princess Tiana from the “Princess and the Frog” who I saw as a warrior with voodoo powers. (below) To see my version of Belle from “Beauty and the Beast” visit my previous post.

Another Disney character I drew is the mysterious Hat Box Ghost which was a character in the famous Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland. The character did not last long in the ride and was removed shortly after it opened making it a mystery that the fans love. Me too.

The last piece of art is my version of DC Comics Superman as a steam punk hero.

Continue reading »]]> When I was at the San Diego Comic-Con 2011 (July 20-23) I got a few sketches to add to my collection that were drawn in a cool blank picture book I got at Artist and Craftsman Supply. Some I got from the booth of certain artists and some I bought during the Cartoon Art Museum Sketch-A-Thon. All are very cool.

The art is by Chris Giarrusso, creator of the all-ages comics G-Man. The comic is really fun and a good read.

- www.chrisgcomics.com/

The art is by Dan Goodsell creator of Mr. Toast. I got the sketch when I bought a small book of the Mr. Toast characters as superheros. (BUY IT HERE)

- www.theimaginaryworld.com

The art is by Chris Houghton the artist on a great new all-ages comic series about Reed Gunther and his best friend and steed Sterling the Bear. I got the first three issues of the comic and have read and re-read and keep enjoying them.

- reedgunther.com/

The art is by T.Cypress who is the creator of Rodd Racer, a new graphic novel. I love Toby’s style which I feel inspired by with my own work with brush and ink. This drawing is marker, dry brush, splattered ink, and charcoal. It was really great to watch him create it.

- www.tobycypress.daportfolio.com

The art is by Scott Shaw who is just super-dupper-awesome. He has done everything from storyboards and animation to comic books. See more of her work on this post on the Sketch-A-Thon.

- www.shawcartoons.com/

The art is by Jamaica Dyer who is a talented bay area artist. See more of her work on this post on the Sketch-A-Thon.

- www.jamaicad.com/

The art is by Travis Hanson the creator of the web-comic “the Bean” which you can buy from his website or even better, help out with a current Kickstarter fundraiser.  The comic is really a great read for all-ages.

- www.beanleafpress.com/

The art is by Kostas Kiriakakis is just amazing. I saw his first sketch during the Sketch-A-Thon and knew I wanted one. I had to quickly figure out what I wanted him to draw and so I had him draw Samurai from the Superfriends cartoon series. He has work in the new issue of the comic anthology Flight.

- wwww.kiriakakis.net

AND as a bonus, here is a cool drawing of Sabrina the Teen Witch last weekend at the Cartoon Art Museum’s Archie Family Fun Day. The exhibit that it celebrates is really good and here is a review.

The art is by Rich Koslowski who did free sketches to everyone who came to the event which was really really cool. He is a very versatile artist, so go check out his work at the URL below.

- www.richkoslowski.com

Continue reading »]]> On my recent trip to SoCal I went to the Oak Glen Apple growing region in the San Bernardino Mountains. The area is best known for growing Apples and is most busy in the fall, but even off season it’s worth taking a couple hours to explore the region.

In the Summer there are lots of places that are closed until the fall, but we decided to visit the The Wildlands Conservancy nature trail at Los Rios Rancho. (Winter hours are currently 10 a m. – 5 p. m., Wednesday – Sunday ) The trail is quite a nice short hike and there are areas of shade to keep you cool. The weather is usually at least 10 degrees cooler then lower altitudes so it’s usually pretty nice on a hot day.

Here are some panoramas photos I took. The place does not look like what we think of when we hear Southern California.

The clouds were amazing that day.

The next stop was to drive down to Riley’s Farm which features berry picking and, a bit oddly Colonial theming. The owners seem to make sure there is something always going on at their land to attract people to visit with Civil War reenactments, pirate festivals, jazz concerts, summer camp and more. In the past we have picked berries, but this time we were just going for lunch at their Hawks Head Public Inn which features some really good food. I had the Chicken Pot Pie which was served with some really fresh green beans. There you can sit in the natural light of the Inn in your high back wooden bench drinking out of a faux pewter stien and enjoying the mellowness of it all. Next time I am there I would like to try their Apple Dumplings.

With a full tummy we headed back, stopping only to get a mile-high Apple Pie to go with the steak we had for dinner that night.

Someday I will go to Oak Glen during the apple season. I hear the Apple Cider Donuts are really awesome.

Continue reading »]]> So here is the second chunk of photos from the first day of the Cartoon Art Museum Sketch-a-Thon at the San Diego Comic-Con 2011. We were doing a fundraiser to help the museum by having artist rotate ever hour and create original art pieces for donation of $10 or more. As you can tell that most folks got their money’s worth.

To go back and see PART 1, FOLLOW THIS LINK.

Anthony Hon busy drawing.

Scott Shaw’s Captain Carrot.

A drawing I got of Fred Flintstone as Batman.

Another amazing drawing by Mike Dubisch.

Scott Shaw and Chari Pere busy drawing for their fans.

Anthony’s awesome Hulk drawing.

Dirk Tiede draws Batgirl.

Museum Curator, author and artist Andrew Farago draws his version of Daffy Duck.

Brad Rader’s drawing of Goliath from the TV show Gargoyles which he worked on.

Wow, someone got a drawing by Chari and Scott. Lucky lucky lucky.

My first ‘kick butt’ Disney Princess drawing.

The amazing Jamaica Dyer gives us the mysterious adversary of Batman, Poison Ivy.

And one more from Seamus Smith.

To go back and see PART 1, FOLLOW THIS LINK.

Continue reading »]]> This year I again volunteered to help one of my most favorite organization at the San Diego Comic-Con 2011, the Cartoon Art Museum of San Francisco. I can only wonder around the convention so much before getting burned-out and this was a way to also promote my art as well as help a great non-profit.

The idea is that the Museum has artist scheduled every hour to do original art for a donation of $10 or more. The art was amazing and it was great to hang out with other artist.

These photos are from the first full day of the convention Wen July 21, 2011. I did not get photos of everyone and every drawing I am sad to say. This is just the start of posting a lot of images of the artist at work as well as the final results.

Enjoy.

a drawing by…Me of Adventure Time characters

a drawing by Seamus Smith

Rick Lucey and Renee making art

The fabled Hat Box Ghost from the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland by…Me.

Andrew Farago draws Captain America

Mike Dubisch painting a very cool dragon.

World famous Captain America from Marvel Comics and the new movie.

Continue reading »]]> So, for my first post on the San Diego Comic-Con 2011 (SDCC) I thought I would post some pictures and talk about an exciting trend that, to me seems to be altering the convention forever.

These pictures are from my first day in San Diego, Wen July 20, 2011. The convention was going to kick of with it’s Wednesday Preview Night and I had arrived early enough to sight see and take some time to explore. I arrived at where I was staying in the Gas Lamp district and the first thing I saw was this…

note: click on the images to see a bigger version at Flickr.com

At the top of the building is an inflatable of two of the most popular animated characters on TV today, Jake the morphing dog and Finn a funny kid with a hat with bear ears from Adventure Time! They are best friends and live in the land of Ooo where they have adventures fighting monsters and rescuing princesses. The show is one of the best things on TV today and it’s fresh and original and attracts fans of all ages. I am myself a big fan.

Let me take a few steps back to the last time I was at the SDCC, in 2009. One of the new things that year was that the Sci-Fi Channel (SyFi) had partnered with a local restaurant a block from the convention center to transform the business into Cafe Diem from the series TV Eureka. That meant that instead of having a big booth in the convention center, they choose to basically have a restaurant as their temporary home. That meant that they were not dictated by the rules and hours at the convention center and the business they partnered with stood out even more then they would with out the new branding. CLICK HERE to see what it looked like this year.

The idea of breaking out of the convention center into downtown was so cool and different…fast forward to this Summer, 2011. Now there are many of these temporary pop-up businesses that have skipped the convention center and partnered with local businesses. This year there was the 3rd year for SyFi Channel  joined by Spike TV, Conan O’Brian, South Park/Comedy Central, EA Games, some Marvel monster truck thing, a stand alone video game convention and more. But there are two pop-up businesses that stood out to me…

The characters above were part of Cartoon Network’s take over Ciro’s Pizza to the hit show Adventure Time. Outside you are meant with graphics that feature a graphic of Lady Rainacorn (a magical creature and girlfriend of Jake the Dog) and an inflatable candy person (the Candy Kingdom is a major location in the show). Inside all the walls were covered with a digitally printed mural of the locations and characters and enhanced with colored lighting and TV’s played clips from the show as well as interviews with the creators and fans. Here on the walls we see images of the snowy kingdom of the evil Ice King bathed in blue and purple lighting by the Soda Machines and then transitioning to more bright and sunny lighting at Finn and Jake’s tree house and over to the Candy Kingdom.

And to even stand out more, they had a group of young guys who were dressed as Finn and passing out tokens for a free slice of Pizza and a Drink from 2pm to 4pm every day of the con, how cool is that.

And they also have a parade of characters from the show twice a day for a meet and greet.

Most of this would have been impossible to do in the crowded convention center, but this temporary business was one of the stand-out elements of the event.

Another of the standout elements of the SDCC was Trickster, a pop-up store featuring the art, comics and other goodies by some of the hottest artists today. The Trickster was set-up by a group of artist frustrated with the heavy movie/TV heavy attention at the convention and wanted to focus instead on art and artists. Inside a converted wine shop there was a FREE retail space filled with drool worthy merchandise and room for small classes that cost extra. At night they had live models, drinking and partying and someone outside was selling sushi. Words can not explain the energy in the place. Here are some photos at a quieter moment on Wednesday before the crowds invaded.

During the convention they had great artist signing books and meeting and greeting peers and fans alike. HP was on hand to print out files for free and the publisher of the Trickster hardcover book was on hand to discuss printing services. Simply an amazing achievement and possibly a game changer for the identity of the convention.

So, the question on my mind is where will this trend of pop-up businesses for the convention go next. I can clearly see it being doubled by next year as some of the biggest players forgo the convention center for a more visible spaces in the Gas Lamp district. That is good since there will be more room in the hall for some that could not get a space and the big companies can take their brand to new levels on the outside. We’ll see what happens in July 2012.

Continue reading »]]> Hey all, I just got back from my big summer trip to the San Diego Comic-Con and Disneyland. Instead of a couple of super posts here on the blog, I plan on a bunch of short ones that are maybe easier to get out to you my audience.

These photos are from last Monday 7-25-11 and are taken from the back of the Alpine Inn hotel in Anaheim. The hotel is not fancy, but it’s only a 10 min walk to the parks which is really all you need with a place to stay. What were seeing is the back side of the new area to open Summer 2012…CARS Land, based on the PIXAR movie. The area is going to be massive as it recreates the sleepy town of Radiator Springs and the surrounding mountains. Many are saying it’s the largest amount of rock work done for any theme park ever.

And here is a photo of the new entrance to DCA, based on the Pan Pacific auditorium in LA. It’s really classy and cool and at night it is all list up pretty. In fact the entrance makes the one for Disneyland across look kind of dull, especially at night.

Well, there is a start on the trip report(s). Stay tuned for more later this week.

Continue reading »]]> The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland just turned 41 and to celebrate I thought I would post some fan art inspired by the attraction.

There is an event in Anaheim held by the 1313 clube that I wished I was going too next week called the Marvelous Mechanized Magic Kingdom.  They will have on displays actual Animatronics from Disney themeparks as well as have speakers like actor Neil Patrick Harris, designer of the monorail Bob Gurr, the voice of Wendy and Alice Kathryn Beaumont, costume designer for Pirates and Small World Alice Davis, script and song writer Xavier Atencio (‘grim grinning ghosts’), animator/artist Floyd Norman, Garner Holt
who’s company does all of Disney’s ride animatronics now, ride concept artist Larry Nikolai, Chef Mayhem of DoomBuggies.com, and many more.

Find out more at: http://the1313club.com/Main_Page.html

OK, now onto the art….

First off a painting from 2003: (click for bigger image)

and some of the artwork I did for the fan podcast “Story of the Haunted Mansion” that was created by Patrick Hurd. The work below is only about half of what I contributed.

To watch the final video podcast and find out more about the project, visit http://atomicbearpress.com/2009/05/01/the-story-of-the-haunted-mansion/

(click for bigger image)

Continue reading »]]> To celebrate my birthday I decided to invite friends to join me with my first visit to the Walt Disney Family Museum (WDFM) in the San Francisco Presidio. The Presidio is a former military base that is now being converted for other things like housing Lucas Digital (ILM) and the Bay School (who one of my students go too).

So, it’s April 24th, 2010 when our adventure takes place…. (click on the photos to see bigger images)

Traveling to the Presidio.

Going to someplace new is always an adventure, but to make it even more so I decided to take the bus instead of driving. So I started my day by catching the MUNI 45 bus at 8:15am in San Francisco outside the Ritz Charlton on 3rd street. There was only a few folks waiting at the bus stop on a quite beautiful morning in San Francisco. The bus arrives and all of a sudden it seems that a couple dozen Chinese elders appeared out of nowhere and entered the bus by way of the back door. So when I entered the bus it was standing room, but it was no problem since it emptied by the second stop in China Town. (note: at the writing Muni cost $2 a ride with a included transfer of aprox. 1.5 hours after the time you pay the driver. A coupon to save $.25 each way to and from BART is available before you exit the stations fair gates.)

The bus moved along smoothly and took about a 30 minuets to arrive at the edge of the Presidio at the Lombard St Gate. Entering the park there are these wonderful sculpted entryway stones.

Fairly quickly the roads split and I took the one to the right, Letterman Ave. (not named after the famous late night host).

I had heard there was a cool statue along the way thanks to the folks at Lucas Digital too….

I then took my time strolling towards the WDFM to explore the area.

There is a bus that does a loop through the Presidio, but it only runs once an hour on Saturdays and does not start running until 11:30 so it was out of the question. But that was fine with me, the walk is really nice and not that long to do anyways. (The bus runs more often on weekdays I believe)

I found this cool cannon on the way. I have more pictures to post of it since there was a lot of detail on it.

To walk into this central area that surrounding the parade ground parking will take on average about 15-20 min if you are enjoying the vistas on your way like me. The officers club is now the Visitor Center. The area is really stunning, especially on a nice day. Note: not shown in the photo below to it’s right is a bowling alley with food services.

The Museum

At 9:40 I found a nice spot on the porch of the nondescript building that runs along the former parade ground which is now parking. There is only a simple signage since they want to keep the historical nature of the area. Note: seems like the parking, at least on the weekend was free. At least that is what I was told.

The weather was sunny and lovely and the air was fresh with the breeze from the sea. There where even two groups of marching bands practicing marching on the Parade Ground. Imagine it being used for what is was made for.

I met up with Linda, Karen Luk and Rinley. The museum was not open yet so we went and walked up to the Bowling Alley where Linda got some coffee. I have been the told the food is pretty decent and a lot cheaper then the Museum, but I have not personal tried it.

We headed back and entered the museum, first going down to the bottom floor to check in our coats and bags. The bottom floor is where the theater is and is open to visitors even if they are not going into the museum. There are Mary Blair themed inlayed floors and old posters from foreign movie releases and Disneyland attractions. Also downstairs, in the theater lobby is an temporary exhibit on Disney’s Peter Pan with lots of concept art from Mary Blair.  It runs through June 27th so don’t miss it.

Note: when you visit the Walt Disney Family Museum (WDFM) you need to pre-buy your entrance which is set for a certain time. I had gotten a ticket for entering at 10am. They do this to keep the crowds flowing an to make sure you have a pleasant visit. I wanted the earliest so I could do the whole day if I wished.

I also checked my camera in my backpack, since there is not photography allowed. But I am glad I did since I was better able to enjoy the vast amounts of materials with out trying to badly photographing them in secret.

Inside

There is so much to write about what you see inside and and their is no way for me to do it justice, so I will just offer my thoughts on highlights of the museum. I will try to keep them in order as I remember them.

But first…To get a nice overview, let’s watch with a story from CBS news:

Also to find out more about the specifics of the museum, visit this link at MousePlanet.com that goes room by room with photos to get an overview… http://www.mouseplanet.com/9001/The_Walt_Disney_Family_Museum_A_Photo_Tour or a nice overview article by D23: http://d23.disney.go.com/articles/073109_NF_FEAT_WaltDisFamPreview.html

- You start in a lobby of the museum with walls covered with the awards Walt received in his life. Some of them are works of art to themselves so give yourself a minute or two to check them out. There is also a touch screen display that gives info about each item in the collection.

- There is 200 video screens thought out the museum and they also have stations to listen to audio and interactive digital screens to find out more information. So if you don’t read all the info, you still can get a very rich experience.

- The 4 animated screens in the first room of Gallery 1 are created to look like puppet theaters with hinged paper puppets. Very neat.

- The elevator going from Gallery 1 to Gallery 2 is themed as a train to represent Walt going to Hollywood. You even hear Walt talk for a few seconds. Very simple and clever.

- In Gallery 2 Hollywood (1923-1928) I loved the movie poster that are really video screens for a multi-media montage of Walt’s first big success the ‘Alice Comedies’.

- In Galleries 3 New Horizons: The Emergence of the Walt Disney Studio (1928 to 1940) there is an interactive experience where three patrons can do the sound effects for the first sound Mickey Mouse cartoon Steam Boat Willy. Fun.
- Also in Gallery 3 is a touch screen that gives info for all the very cool retro Mickey Mouse merchandise.

- Don’t forget to listen to the audio clips scattered through out the galleries. They really do enhance the tale. I really enjoyed hearing Walt talking about his first contract for a sound system for his early cartoons and how he was bamboozled. It’s nice to know that he had to keep ‘getting back up on the horse’ just like all us creative folks do.

- In Gallery 4 I really liked the reference models for Ferdinande the Bull and the Three Little Pigs. Here we also  start to see the connection with music with “Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf”.

- Ah, the background paintings and sketches. So amazing and beautiful.

- There is a giant touch screen table in Gallery 5 New Success and Greater Ambitions that features to scrap book of special effects master Herman Schultheis which has been lovingly digitized so you can explore it in a new way. I must have been at the station for 20 min and wanted to see more of it. Cool and inspiring.

- In the same gallery look down at the REAL multiplane camera that created depth in films like Snow White, Bambi, and Pinocchio.

About 12 noon we went down to the cafe and met up with Summerlea and Nathan. Most of us bought sandwiches from the Wolfgang Puck Café that is located near the elevator you take down from the upper floors. We sat outside on the porch and had a nice lunch. Summerlea had brought grapes and cupcakes. While the sandwich I had was fine, it was kind of plain and expensive. I would pack a nice deli sandwich and just buy a drink and treat at the Café instead. There are a few tables inside as well, but I am not sure if they would allow bringing your own food in.

We headed downstairs to use the restrooms and to check out the exhibit in the theater lobby.

- The floor around the stairs is inspired Mary Blair’s Small World art.

- Look at all the classic movie and theme park posters. Some are really stunning.

- Outside the theater (which on the lower floor) there is a temporary show (through June 2010) on the art of Peter Pan. Here there was at least 10 Mary Blair concept art pieces. Very awesome stuff.

Summerlea, Nathan and Linda had to go and we headed back up-stairs in the elevator by the café and gift shop.

- It was interesting to hear thoughts on the Big Strike in Gallery 6 The Late ‘30s to Mid ‘40s.

- Make sure to try the unique interactive digital gallery stations in Gallery 7 Post-War Rebuilding: Mid-‘40s to the early 1950s. It’s actually a projection that you are touch on the surface of a table to select photos that appear on a screen on the wall. You can also sort the images by category making it very web 2.0.
- The room is highlighted with a ribbon of videos in an amazing multi-media presentation of classic films including: Alice in Wonderland and Lady and the Tramp.

- As you walk down to the back section, pause to look at the amazing view of the golden gate bridge. Yes, you can take a photo here which I came back to do for my friend Linda.

- Gallery 9 The 1950s and 1960s: The Big Screen and Beyond is the highlight with it’s imaginative space and onslaught of multi-media including a globe that uses 8 video projectors to cover it in videos about DISNEYLAND!
- Must check out the large model of Disneyland of Walt’s dreams that has lighting to highlight details of each land in sync with vintage audio. Woot. My only complaint was it was hard to get close look at some of it to see the details.
- Some of the employees are quite knowledgeable so don’t be shy about chatting with them and asking questions.
- There is a great seating area with a multi-screen extravaganza that features old school TV’s with new flat panel screen inside and features Davy Crockett and other TV shows as well as videos from Disneyland.
- A peppers ghost projected Dick Van Dyke explains the Optical Printer in miniature standing on the actual machine. That is how they did compositings in movies like Marry Poppins before the digital solutions we know today.

- Gallery 10 Remembering Walt Disney is much smaller and simpler as a simple old TV shows videos of those who knew him talking how his death effected them. In the background is the song “feed the birds” which was Walt’s favorite. I have to say that I was tearing up a bit.
- It ends with simple white walls and a multi-screen mural of changing video images.

- I bought my first collectible Pin at the gift store of Mickey Mouse from Plane Crazy.

Final Thoughts: Wow. Just an amazing experience. A really thorough telling of the life of Walt Disney. I hardly read the text on the walls, but did not feel cheated as there were audio and video and interactive stations that really enhanced the experience to a higher level. This is really a very modern museum. The collection of art and artifacts is mind blowing, especially the production art from films like the watercolor painted backgrounds.

The adult admission for the Museum is $20 which I felt was well worth it. I was almost there the whole day and would have stayed a bit more if I was not fatigued by all the information.

Who should go: Artist, Disney fans, film makers, animators, lovers of machines/technology and history buffs. Though children might not find the experience as meaningful as Adults will.

To end my trip report…Walt Disney is a figure most of know in some form. Love him or hate him, the museum shows him as a real person with his own loves, dreams, faults, and heartaches. He was a man that was always looking to the future and he loved technology and telling stories. He pushed his creative teams to go to new heights and to help shape modern animation, theme park and entertainment to what it is today and for that we all owe him big time.

I would love to know your thoughts in the comments below.

(click here if you are viewing on facebook or other sites that cut out images and links-http://atomicbearpress.com/2010/04/28/adventures-at-…-family-museum/)

Continue reading »]]> I am going to let my Geek Flag Fly and post a video clip of the premiere of the new animatronic dragon in the Disneyland show Fantasmic!. Due to technical difficulties it did not premiere at the start of summer like they wanted (like when I was there).

In the show the evil fairy Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty turns into a dragon to fight Prince Philp, but here it’s Mickey Mouse as the brave little tailor. Originally the dragon was mostly just a big head on a stick, now it’s a fully realized creature with full body and even eyes that show some expression.

I have posted a clip of the full public performance tonight and a sample video Disney released this morning.

p.s. I hope to see it in person in the future.

Video by MintCrocodile

Disney’s press video

Previous show dragon

Continue reading »]]> It was on July,17 1955 that a new entertainment destination appeared…the first theme park. 53 years ago Disneyland was revealed and changed our idea of what an amusement park could be. Disneyland was opened on July,17 1955. I have not be able to go for a few years, but a trip is in order for my next big birthday.

The Disney and More blog has scans of the first ever souvenir book for Disneyland. Go check it out.

One of the best shows at the park is Fantasmic:

The classic Disney’s (Main Street) Electrical Parade (which is now at DCA):

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These are the new “Enchanted” fireworks for the summer at Euro Disneyland in Paris. I know that showing a fireworks show in France is probably not that patriotic of me, but this one is very cool and well done. The show does not have the usual Disney character voice overs and lots of bells and whistles, but the fire works themselves are pretty cool and the score is just music from the movie “Enchanted”. It’s only 7min, so take a break and take a look.

I hope you all had a great 4th of July.

Continue reading »]]> I was proud to recently help create the Graphics for the Cartoon Art Museums new show The Wit and Flair of Mary Blair. The show is amazing and I was pleased as punch to be able to work with a scan of one of her concept pieces for Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. Ms. Blair was an amazing painter and it makes you want to get out your watercolors and goash and create something cool, emotional and real.

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Continue reading »]]> I just discovered FRJTZ fries in the Mission in San Francisco. They serve Belgian Style Fries and boy are they fantastic. Crisp on the outside and moist in the inside. AND they come with multiple choices (18) of dipping sauces, I had Pesto Mayo. The single order was easily enough for two people.

I also found a great website on fries including the history of why they are called ‘French’. Check it Out HERE. Belgianfries.com

Tags: belgian|fries|