It’s been a bittersweet week, Micechateers. Dickens said, “Life is full of meetings and partings. That is the way of it.” Simple and true.

Sometimes the Bear Eats You

Because it didn’t go in the first or second round of demolitions, and because it showed up on the Disney Springs model at the D23 Expo 2013, fans of the Adventurers’ Club thought that at least the shell of the club we knew and loved as our second home would be saved. Alas, that was not to be. The building that housed our club is being torn down this week. My friend Tim McKenny was kind enough to post this photo taken by Dave Cobb, and pal k. d. Younger enhanced it a bit. It’s from the front, looking into the Library. You can see the stage and the hole where Fingers’ organ crashed through to the floor, part of the Zebra Mezzanine and part of the Main Salon. Heartbreaking.

, Fab News: The Circle of Life
Photo by Dave Cobb

More Beginnings

Back in April, we talked a little about “When Did It Start For You” where we’re all learning how each of us first fell for The Mouse. Everyone taking part has a story to share, famous folks and ordinary people alike. We all love Disney! Now, the cast of InsideOut has joined in the fun, revealing #WDIS4U.

, Fab News: The Circle of Life
This is the calmest I have ever seen him.

Important Background Information You’ll Never Forget

Last Friday, my mother-in-law and I prepped my late father-in-law’s grave for Father’s Day, and talked while we trimmed around the headstone and made sure everything looked nice for Sunday. He’d been killed very suddenly, in an accident at work. “You feel cheated.” she said, and explained further: they were cheated out of the rest of their lives that they should have had; even with some younger deaths, at least you and your loved ones have time to prepare. But with something like this, there is no preparation. There’s just sudden, empty loss. They are just torn from your lives.

Many of my friends, especially those in the film and music industry, are feeling that right now, because Monday, composer James Horner was killed when the plane he was flying crashed. He was no novice – he had military-level aircraft training. He loved to fly. He left such a mark on the people he was friends with and with whom he worked, but I want you to know that you and I, who never met him, have lost something too.

He was one of the greatest and most prolific composers of our age. Yes, he wrote Titanic and Avatar and A Beautiful Mind and A Perfect Storm and even Krull and I could go on and on. He was, and will continue to be, part of the movie soundtrack of history. But there’s so much more. When you’re strolling through Tomorrowland at Disneyland and you hear the jaunty theme to The Rocketeer, that’s him. Same for when you are in Future World West and you hear Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. He might be with us when the Sanderson Sisters make their debut in front of Cinderella’s Castle, because he did the soundtrack for Hocus Pocus. And Captain EO. And yes, back to Avatar. For people like us, the background music of Disney theme parks becomes part of our DNA. He wrote quite a bit of it, so, unconsciously, he’s been a part of some of the happiest times in our lives. Next time you’re in one of the parks, pause for a moment and listen to the beautiful music.

, Fab News: The Circle of Life
…and we’ll definitely be hearing his music in the future in Disney Parks.

On a More Adorable Note

A few newses ago, we were talking about Universal’s deal with Nintendo, and I was trying to imagine how unbelievably adorable it would be. I wonder even more so, now that I’ve seen those Amiibo at the Nintendo booth at E3

, Fab News: The Circle of Life

Well, one thing I know for sure, and that’s that nothing can get cuter than Nintendo over at Universal. Nope. Nothing. Nada. I mean, come ON. Yoshi! What could possibly be cuter than…

, Fab News: The Circle of Life

Oh. Okay. Yep. That’s pret-ty darn cute. But, hey, it’s a store, not an island or land or whatever they’re going to Shiggy up with Nintendo. But this is going to be a heck of a thing. Not a little Sanrio store like in the mall. This is a big, splashy affair. They might even sell one of the Hello Kitty cars in there. Pick me up a couple if you go, willya? Noe needs a new pair of slippers.

Wonderful people die and places we love get knocked down. We meet new friends, our families grow, and new things get built. Life is full of meetings and partings. That is the way of it.

If you haven’t told #WDIS4U how you “met” Disney, why not tell your story? Or tell it in the comments below. I’d love to hear it.  If you have any news you’d like to share, my email is [email protected]

 

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Shelly Valladolid
Shelly Valladolid, aka Fab, has been writing about Disney and theme parks for about two decades. She has written for various fan and pop culture sites, Disney Magazine and OCRegister.com and participated in several books, including Passporter's Disneyland and Southern California and Disney World Dreams. She was co-founder and president of the Orlando, Florida chapter of the NFFC (now Disneyana Fan Club). She taught a class on theme park history at a Southern California University. She is creator and co-owner of Jim Hill Media, one of the creators of MousePlanet and was a consultant on MSNBC, The Motley Fool and others about Disney and various media matters. She was a Heel wrestling manager on TV and a voice artist on the radio in Honolulu, HI, where she grew up. She has a blog and a podcast with her daughter, Mission:Breakout Obsessive Alice Hill. She and her husband, MiceChat columnist Noe Valladolid, live in Southern California with Alice.