5/22: A Caroling

[Al Lutz]

Sue on the Christmas Carol train tour launch; What to expect. Discuss it here...

DIRECT ARTICLE LINK: MiceAge.com - A different look at Disney...

[twobluestripes]

sounds like a good promotion event, but i honestly probably won't see the film. A Muppet Christmas Carol is the definitive version, for me!

[pussnboots]

Yes, the train looks interesting and all, but what an awful idea that movie seems to be. Motion capture is creepy and a misguided, hideous middle ground between live action and animation, as we've seen in — brrr — The Polar Express.

Also, Jim Carrey's attempts at wholesome family entertainment haven't been all that successful.

[Sue Kruse]

I totally agree with you twobluestripes, A Muppet Christmas Carol is my favorite version of the story, but I think there is room for one more version and what I saw looked pretty good. It won't replace the Muppets (what could?) but it can have its own place in the Christmas Carol pantheon.

And yes, I agree with you too pussnboots, motion capture is creepy, up until now. Somehow, I think they have finally figured out how to use that process so it doesn't look wrong. Yeah Polar Express is horrible (I hate that film, how could they take such a fabulos book and do that to it?), but the scenes I saw from Christmas Carol looked really good. Specifically, they showed us when Marley visits Scrooge, wow! None of the usual creepy motion capture stuff, and Marley was very ethereal, very ghostly, and you really felt the weight of those chains he's bound up in and the heaviness of the cash boxes the ghost is doomed to drag through all eternity. It was very cool The film also stars Gary Oldman (love him), Colin Firth (love him too) and Bob Hoskins (love him as well) and I think they will keep Jim Carrey in check. Jim Carrey, I'm not much of a fan of (well, truth be told, I'm not a fan at all), but when he has a good director and isn't allowed to shamelessly mug for the camera, he can actually act. The scenes I saw with him were pretty good and I was pleasantly surprised. It's true that when I see the whole film, I may change my mind about Jim Carrey but for now, based on what I saw, I'm really looking forward to the film.

[pussnboots]

Originally Posted by Sue Kruse

I totally agree with you twobluestripes, A Muppet Christmas Carol is my favorite version of the story, but I think there is room for one more version and what I saw looked pretty good. It won't replace the Muppets (what could?) but it can have its own place in the Christmas Carol pantheon.

And yes, I agree with you too pussnboots, motion capture is creepy, up until now. Somehow, I think they have finally figured out how to use that process so it doesn't look wrong. Yeah Polar Express is horrible (I hate that film, how could they take such a fabulos book and do that to it?), but the scenes I saw from Christmas Carol looked really good. Specifically, they showed us when Marley visits Scrooge, wow! None of the usual creepy motion capture stuff, and Marley was very ethereal, very ghostly, and you really felt the weight of those chains he's bound up in and the heaviness of the cash boxes the ghost is doomed to drag through all eternity. It was very cool The film also stars Gary Oldman (love him), Colin Firth (love him too) and Bob Hoskins (love him as well) and I think they will keep Jim Carrey in check. Jim Carrey, I'm not much of a fan of (well, truth be told, I'm not a fan at all), but when he has a good director and isn't allowed to shamelessly mug for the camera, he can actually act. The scenes I saw with him were pretty good and I was pleasantly surprised. It's true that when I see the whole film, I may change my mind about Jim Carrey but for now, based on what I saw, I'm really looking forward to the film.

Well, when you put it that way it does sound less awful than I'd imagined. What about the eyes, though? The thing with those hyper-realistic CGI humans is always that Night of the Living Dead factor; some primal instinct inside us knows the difference between a real person and not a real person.

The problem with Zemeckis is that he seems to be more interested in the technological aspect than the plot. And although that worked out very well for Back to the Future and Roger Rabbit, everything he's done since has been an excuse to use some special effect. When he figured out how to make it look as though someone's head is on backwards, he wrote Death Becomes Her around it. Then some misguided soul showed him how to virtually recreate Tom Hanks while still needing him to act out the whole movie (something that seemingly benefits no one), and two panned attempts later he's still at it.

It's a shame. If he could just let go of that death grip on CGI trickery, I'm sure he would be a great director still.

[toemblem]

So I got the invite from WDP to come out and see the train and at first I was just bitter that there is no stop in San Diego. I reasoned that half the micechatters (it seems) are in San Diego, couldn't they make the 120 mile trip??? Anyway after reading your review Sue, it looks like it may be worth the trip to check this out. Thank you.

[Mr_Incredible]

This could have been good. But Zemeckis screwed it up with all the Mo-Cap. Again! Would someone please tell him that Mo-Cap should be for certain visual effects, not a whole movie!

[SnorkletsMom]

Originally Posted by toemblem

So I got the invite from WDP to come out and see the train and at first I was just bitter that there is no stop in San Diego. I reasoned that half the micechatters (it seems) are in San Diego, couldn't they make the 120 mile trip??? Anyway after reading your review Sue, it looks like it may be worth the trip to check this out. Thank you.

We went to the train yesterday. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend it, especially if you have to make a long drive. And pay for parking, of course. And stand in the sun for probably well over an hour. (it was 1 hour yesterday)

There are 2 maquettes, a few models, a couple of buildings, 'costumes' they used as references, a few authentic Dickens artifacts, a whole lot of monitors you can watch snippets of video about the making of the film, a suit and a few cameras that they use for motion capture...and the last part where you can take a webcam shot of your face and make a 'morphed' version which you can retrieve later online. Oh, and there's an inflatable theater where you can watch 10 or 15 minutes worth of video. The train is a standard Amtrak engine and 4 cars, with a skin applied over it with art from the movie.

So...I'm not saying you shouldn't go, but just that it's my opinion that it isn't worth much effort.

The motion capture is still rather creepy, bordering on cartoonish (not in a good way) Gary Oldman plays both Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim and looks odd in both roles.

I do have photos if anyone wants me to post them.

[Rex Dopey24]

Originally Posted by pussnboots

Yes, the train looks interesting and all, but what an awful idea that movie seems to be. Motion capture is creepy and a misguided, hideous middle ground between live action and animation, as we've seen in — brrr — The Polar Express.

Also, Jim Carrey's attempts at wholesome family entertainment haven't been all that successful.

I like that kinda style. its speaks to me lol.

[ktinca]

I was there on Friday, at 10am. Line already at 45min. When I left, line was at least 1.5 hours.

Not worth it if you have to wait more than 20min.

My picture essay:
Picasa Web Albums - Kevin - 2009_05_22_di...

[PEZZ Lightyear]

Got there at noon today and was told the wait was 5 hours. Nice building. Didn't hang around.

If you plan on going, be early or prepare to wait.

[Seahorse]

I was there today (Sunday) also. I arrived at 8:45 a.m. and the end of the line was at the top of the ramp to the platform. It took 1 hr 45 min to get through the line and onto the train. I was willing to wait, especially since I had traveled some 50 miles to get there, but the real problem was that the line was exposed to the sun. Even with some cloud cover I ended up with a little sunburn because I wasn't expecting to be outside that long. If anyone plans to see it tomorrow, my advise is to get there early and wear sunscreen.

[Pretzel]

Got there at 9 AM this morning, wait was about 1 hour 45 minutes from arriving until I got in to see the first train.

Disney hired a quartet of carolers, a hand-ball quartet, two jugglers, and a five piece jazz band to entertain the crowd. They also handed out Christmas Carol Activity sheets, very similar to the ones that they handed out during the opening days of the Finding Nemo submarine ride.

I agree with Sue - this was a huge missed opportunity for selling Christmas cookies, or food in general. A taco truck parked strategically next to the train was doing brisk business!

Was it worth it? I thought so, but that's because I live in Los Angeles. I was told that people were lined up as early as 7:45 am. If you showed up basically before 8:30, you still had to wait until they let people in at 9 AM, but at least you were first in line.

Hint - bring sunblock or a hat. You will be spending most of the last 1 hour waiting in direct sunlight. Yes, there are water misters, but you still have to worry about UV sun exposure.