Hello, everybody! It’s December, time for candy canes and eggnog…lattes. Hey, it’s California. Let’s keep the Holiday spirit of peace on earth alive and have some fun today. I want to thank my Patreon supporters and my sponsor DVC Resale Market for their support. You are all fantastic!

First off, some great news!

Forecast for February: Snow!

video

Available for the First Time Ever on Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere (DMA) January 19th
and on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack February 2nd

snow white logo 

 Marking the launch of The Walt Disney Signature Collection  

Featuring In-Depth Brand New Bonus Material Including “In Walt’s Words: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Iconography,” “@DisneyAnimation: Designing Disney’s First Princess,” “The Fairest Facts of Them All: 7 Facts You May Not Know About Snow White,” “Snow White in Seventy Seconds,” “Alternate Sequence: The Prince Meets Snow White” and Much More!

Richard Sherman: Songs of a Lifetime a Treasure Trove of Songs and Stories from the Man Himself

Don Hahn is an animation god, and I’ve written about him here before, most recently when I covered The Emperor’s New Groove at the El Cap from those whatever-they-are-but-I-like-them at Oh My Disney. He’s also a huge Disney Dweeb just like you and me, and he goes to the D23 EXPO and other events right beside us and loves the hell out of everything Walt did and stood for. He also noticed that while a lot of people were holding up phones and recording, there didn’t seem to be a lot of official recording, and he feared that these songs and stories from the now 87-year old national treasure would be lost forever if they weren’t recorded soon.

Richard Sherman

“I’m from the Midwest,” he explained, “we like to preserve things.”

Don Hahn

So he called Richard, who immediately agreed, and they went into the studio and Richard just played songs and told stories from the beginning of his career through his times with and without Disney, including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Charlotte’s Web. Joining him were Ashley Brown from Mary Poppins on Broadway:

Ashley Brown

and Juliana Hansen, from DCA’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular.

Juliana Hansen & Richard Sherman

They finished shooting earlier this week, in Walt Disney’s restored office. Archivist Rebecca Cline had ensured that everything was exactly where it had been when Dave Smith had catalogued it before it was packed away after Walt’s death. Even a certain book was on the same place on the same shelf, and, of course, a piano there, for a very special song, just for Walt.

Hahn knew he had something really special, so he put a call in to PBS. They jumped at the chance to air the show. “Richard M. Sherman: Songs of a Lifetime” Airs Thursday, December 17 at 7:00 p.m. on PBS SoCal. Everybody else, check your local listings.

My Fabulous Things!

favorite_things

So, here are the first few of Shelly’s Fabulous Things 2015. This will continue throughout the month of Deccember. I’m including books, film, experiences, art, vacations, you name it – whatever would make a really good gift for Fab News readers. Suggestions are deeply appreciated!

Cleaning the Kingdom!

, Fab News: Good News, Great Music and Fabulous Things

Cleaning the Kingdom: Insider Tales of Keeping Walt’s Dream Spotless – There’s now an insider look at the world-famous Disneyland Custodial operation by two former Custodial Foreman. Ken Pellman and Lynn Barron also detail general happenings at the original Magic Kingdom during the years they were Cast Members (1990-2007), which was a time of significant change, growth, tragedy and triumph. Their book takes you literally from the top of the Matterhorn to the bottom of the Rivers of America and gives you a perspective of Disneyland you can’t get anywhere else. It’s unauthorized, honest, and affectionate, and they keep the really disgusting stuff to one chapter with fair warnings, so have no fear! It’s over 450 pages with mostly self-contained chapters. Get signed paperbacks from their official website: http://www.thesweepspot.com and it is also on Kindle and Nook.

Kevin-John TIKI MAUI!

This is a limited edition of 50, painted just for fans, friends, and Fabulous Things. You won’t find it in any commercial gallery. Each one is hand-signed and numbered by the artist and is $55.00.

TIKI MAUI Limited Edition 50 Lithograph

Order on Kevin-John’s website.

, Fab News: Good News, Great Music and Fabulous Things

Here’s Kevin-John with another of his works. And also his shoes, which are spectacular. The original didn’t make it a full day at The Disney Gallery in Florida before going home with a die-hard Tower of Terror fan for five thousand smackers. .

D23 Gold Membership!

Out of ideas for a fantastic gift for all of the Disney fans you know and love? May I suggest a D23 Gold membership? They’ll get the gorgeous quarterly magazine Twenty-Three, which has broken exclusive Disney, Marvel and Star Wars news and images in the past; They’ll get crazy discounts on Good Neighbor Hotels, Disney Store, Ghirardelli, Downtown Disney/Disney Springs eateries, spas, galleries, even the Walt Disney Family Museum! They’ll also get a bunch of cool stuff, including a sweet Annual Membership Gift, and this year’s is a doozy. a copy of the Disneyland Pitch Portfolio. These folks are not kidding. They know exactly where to find our soft underbellies. I must own this. You probably must, too, if you are a Disney fan. So those are a given, right? But this is a GIFT guide. You will be someone’s best Disney pal forever if you buy them this, especially if they are new members.

D23 Magazine and Member Benefits

And don’t even get me started on the meets and experiences and the screenings on the Disney lot and anniversary celebrations and lunch (someday) with a Disney (someday) legend (someday)! Excluside tours of the studios and archives…and a special, supercalisecret location to be revealed in the future! D23 members also often get to see films before they’re released to the general public, and can receive free tickets at random, because the club is just that cool. They get special nights during tours of some Disney shows, and lots of meets and mixers all over the country. Seriously, look at the event calendar below:

Here’s even more information.

Current event calendar: 

  • January 29: D23 Behind-the-Scenes Experience, TBA, Burbank, Calif.
  • February 20: Alice in Wonderland, Burbank, Calif.
  • March 18: Lunch with a Disney Legend: Charlie Ridgway, Walt Disney World Resort
  • March 19: Alice in Wonderland, Walt Disney World Resort
  • April 8: Lunch with a Disney Legend: TBA, Burbank, Calif.
  • April 9: D23 Day at The Walt Disney Studios and Archives, Burbank, Calif.
  • April 20: D23 Member Night at Newsies—On Tour, Portland, Ore.
  • May 21: Finding Nemo, Walt Disney World Resort
  • June 4: Finding Nemo, Burbank, Calif.
  • June 8: D23 Member Night at Newsies—On Tour, Salt Lake City, Utah
  • June 25: D23 Day at The Walt Disney Studios and Archives, Burbank, Calif.
  • July 18: D23 Behind-the-Scenes Experience, TBA, Burbank, Calif.
  • August 20: The Reluctant Dragon 75th anniversary screening event, Burbank, Calif.
  • September 23: Lunch with a Disney Legend: TBA, Walt Disney World Resort
  • September 24: Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Walt Disney World Resort
  • Fall: D23 Disney Fanniversary Celebration: Beauty and the Beast, more info coming in 2016
  • October 8: Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Burbank, Calif.
  • October 22: Sip & Scream, Walt Disney World Resort
  • November 18: Lunch with a Disney Legend: TBA, Burbank, Calif.
  • November 19: D23 Day at The Walt Disney Studios and Archives, Burbank, Calif.

A family membership is less than a hundred bucks and a single one less than 80 before S&H for ALL OF THAT.

BECAUSE IT’S CHRISTMAS!

christmas decorations

Our family has been attending these for a few years, and it’s truly beautiful, a genuine delight. Steve Davison puts together a beautiful, elegant evening of holiday cheer in a gorgeous church in downtown Long Beach. We love it, and I think it would make a fantastic gift for the live music lover in your life.

Join us on Saturday, December 19th at 8pm for our traditional holiday concert featuring the amazing voices of the Steampunk Theater Company accompanied by a chamber orchestra in the beautiful, historic sanctuary of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. With classic carols like J.S. Bach’s Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring and Carol of the Bells to traditional carols including The First Noel, Hark The Herald Angels Sing and Silent Night, this will be a perfect evening to get you in the holiday spirit. St. Luke’s is located at 525 E 7th St, Long Beach, CA 90813 (the corner of 7th and Atlantic Blvd.)

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Seating is limited.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/because-its-christmas-tickets-…

A Lifetime of Magic with DVC Resale Market!

Pre-pay your vacations by buying points for their favorite Disney Vacation Club resort, and save money by buying it through Fab News’ sponsor, DVC Resale Market.  Check out some of the resorts and points available here. In case you missed it earlier this week, here’s their introduction video:

If you go to their website and poke around, you’ll actually learn a lot, and pretty painlessly too, about how all of this works. Also, they’re just really swell folks. I’m really stoked to be working with them. If you work with them I think you’ll be happy too, and so will whomever you buy those points for.

Next week, I’ll have even more Fabulous Things, news, and merriment. Hope your weekend is fantastic!

If you want to reach me I’m on Twitter, on Facebook, and also available at [email protected] . If you’d like to support Fab News, I’d appreciate it. You can pledge a dollar or more a month through Patreon or you can make a one-time donation of a dollar or more through Square. Just click on the banners below. Thanks!

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.