Imagineering the Magic DVD release and signing

[Coheteboy]

Ok well, enough of the DVD. How about the event? I thought that it went rather smooth. The only thing I didn't care for (and I'm thinking in Disney's best interests here) is that we got slips of paper to get signed without needing to open the dvd. Was this to make things go quicker without requiring the guest to open it all up?

Either way, I don't care anymore but it really doesn't make sense to do that since anyone could just return the unopened dvd now and keep the autographs. If disney wanted to ensure that sales for the dvd stayed unreturned, then we should of opened it up for the signatures.


I snapped a few photos of the event so people can see....





There was only a small queue outside Disneyanna to buy the dvds but it only meant that the line outside the Cinema was getting longer and longer. Guests were allowed to buy either the dvd or whatever imagineer books were on sale. Limit 2 autographs per person, and no personal items.

Here's the line for the Cinema right after 8am.



Looking the other way...




Great thing here was that the signing wasn't scheduled until 9, but they went ahead and started closer to 8:45 / 8:50! Great indeed!

Inside the cinema




Tony Baxter was first



Then David Fisher, the host of the dvd (sorta)



Kevin Rafferty




and Michael Sprout



The end.

[dcs287]

Coyheteboy, great photos - thanks for sharing them with us all.

[filmfreak11]

I agree 100% about the poor DVD. Although I did kind of expect a poor production, I just didn't think it was going to be THAT poor! Especially advertising a 2-disc set when it can be clearly put into 1. I had the DVD in my computer and thought the aspect ratio would be corrected on a TV, guess not.

[Neverlandtink]

Fun pictures, thanks for sharing! I'm also glad I didn't waste the $30 bucks. It's really too bad that Bruce Gordon and David Mumford are gone. Being the fans that they were, they would have totally made a b!&$#%n (excuse my french) Imagineering DVD for all the geeks out there like me.

[Coheteboy]

Originally Posted by Neverlandtink

Fun pictures, thanks for sharing! I'm also glad I didn't waste the $30 bucks. It's really too bad that Bruce Gordon and David Mumford are gone. Being the fans that they were, they would have totally made a b!&$#%n (excuse my french) Imagineering DVD for all the geeks out there like me.

Definitely! And I'd pay $50 for a quality Imagineering DVD. But maybe people like me just aren't enough for Disney to even consider an adventure like that. I really hope they try again because there's so many MORE stories to tell that they did not. And I really would like to see the Imagineers talking about the rides AT the park, after hours, behind the scenes, whatever! They gotta trump the Travel Channel programs is what they gotta do!

[NeverNeverland]

Originally Posted by Coheteboy

Definitely! And I'd pay $50 for a quality Imagineering DVD. But maybe people like me just aren't enough for Disney to even consider an adventure like that. I really hope they try again because there's so many MORE stories to tell that they did not. And I really would like to see the Imagineers talking about the rides AT the park, after hours, behind the scenes, whatever! They gotta trump the Travel Channel programs is what they gotta do!

Despite appearances, i'm really not a huge Disney freak, but even I would pay that amount for a detailed behind the scenes look.

[MasterGracey]

Originally Posted by Neverlandtink

Fun pictures, thanks for sharing! I'm also glad I didn't waste the $30 bucks. It's really too bad that Bruce Gordon and David Mumford are gone. Being the fans that they were, they would have totally made a b!&$#%n (excuse my french) Imagineering DVD for all the geeks out there like me.

I don't think the Imagineers are totally to blame for this. A lot of this seems like it was created and pushed by marketing departments and PR departments. Tony Baxter, as always, is a delight to watch - even if he is telling us the same stories that we've already heard. Tony is the ultimate fanboy, it seems, and his appreciation and admiration for Disneyland and Walt Disney is very apparent when he is on screen. Truly, for me, the only redeeming part of this whole mess is Tony's interview segments. You can definitely tell he's just a big kid living out his dreams.

Unfortunately, the rest is really underwhelming. And if you want really good Tony Baxter, you'd be better off just to buy the Walt Disney Treasures: Disneyland - Secrets, Stories, and Magic DVD set from last year. Tony's audio commentary on the People and Places: Disneyland USA Cinemascope film is lightyears better than anything on Imagineering the Magic.

Nevertheless, it's a shame this DVD fails on so many levels. It had incredible potential -- and it's also insulting that they put only 90 minutes of content in the entire set. I mean, REALLY? That's it? You've got 2 discs here -- USE THEM.


A couple things this DVD should have had:

• A featurette on the daily life of an Imagineer
• Walking the park with Imagineers like Tony Baxter.
• Behind-the-scenes tours of important attractions like Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, etc.
• CG reproductions of select past attractions
• Never-before-seen concept art and models
• Featurettes on famous projects that never were built like Discovery Bay, Tomorrowland 2055, WestCot, Thunder Mesa/Western River Expedition, Edison Square, etc.
• Full ride-throughs with Imagineers (like a Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage ride-through with Baxter commentary)

What an enormous missed opportunity.

[Coheteboy]

^^Agreed 100%

[Aladdin]

Love your Ideas MG. Good grief! No one could fill Dave or Bruce's shoes,
but golly, there must be someone, somewhere in imagineering that could be
a liason with Disney fans!!!! Please someone!

[MasterGracey]

Another good idea for the DVD: A tour of the Walt Disney Imagineering campus in Glendale.

[Melonballer]

As long as we are talking about DVD ideas, what if Disney were to film all attractions, shows, and parades and then when one closes, goes away or is significantly changed they could release DVDs with the footage. There are fan made dvds like that, but if they wanted they could make top notch recordings with quality sound and video. Throw in some bells and whistles, like documentaries about the attraction's life and creation, and we could have something really neat.

[Coheteboy]

On the subject of imagineering, I have long hoped for an imagineering companion on the animated features that have been released on DVD.

For example if you were to buy Alice in Wonderland the movie, have a bonus feature that shows you all of the ways the film inspired something in t he theme parks all over the world. What better way than to sell a disney park than on the very movie that they just bought?

If Little Mermaid dvd could give us a "what if" ride through, then why not do the ones that HAVE made it. Not everyone is fortunate like us here in southern california or florida to enjoy the parks whenever we please.

[Melonballer]

Originally Posted by Coheteboy

On the subject of imagineering, I have long hoped for an imagineering companion on the animated features that have been released on DVD.

For example if you were to buy Alice in Wonderland the movie, have a bonus feature that shows you all of the ways the film inspired something in t he theme parks all over the world. What better way than to sell a disney park than on the very movie that they just bought?

If Little Mermaid dvd could give us a "what if" ride through, then why not do the ones that HAVE made it. Not everyone is fortunate like us here in southern california or florida to enjoy the parks whenever we please.

Here, here! As one of those unfortunate people not in CA or FL i would like it. Just imagine how many more copies of the Haunted Mansion DVD they would sell if it had a Haunted Mansion ride-thru on it.

[MasterGracey]

Originally Posted by Coheteboy

On the subject of imagineering, I have long hoped for an imagineering companion on the animated features that have been released on DVD.

For example if you were to buy Alice in Wonderland the movie, have a bonus feature that shows you all of the ways the film inspired something in t he theme parks all over the world. What better way than to sell a disney park than on the very movie that they just bought?

If Little Mermaid dvd could give us a "what if" ride through, then why not do the ones that HAVE made it. Not everyone is fortunate like us here in southern california or florida to enjoy the parks whenever we please.

Similar to this idea, Mr. Baxter told me at the signing that there will be a CG recreation of the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-Through on the Sleeping Beauty 50th Anniversary DVD coming out this fall. And when I asked him about bringing back the real deal, he said with a big grin - "We're working on it!"

[Coheteboy]

Originally Posted by MasterGracey

Similar to this idea, Mr. Baxter told me at the signing that there will be a CG recreation of the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-Through on the Sleeping Beauty 50th Anniversary DVD coming out this fall. And when I asked him about bringing back the real deal, he said with a big grin - "We're working on it!"

See, that's great! And I would only want ride-thrus for attractions that are history. I wouldn't want ride-thru's for attractions or restaurants currently in the parks (sorry, mellonballer) as I'm thinking in Disney's best interests in keeping current attractions magical but at least give us some fun stories about making them, paired with conceptual paintings and what not.