Terrific “A Goofy Movie” Reenactments!

I love “A Goofy Movie.”  As unpopular as it may seem, I honestly think it may be my favorite Disney film.  It gives me all of the feels.  Like, if Powerline ever toured, I would go to MULTIPLE shows.

In case you have forgotten it, it’s about Goofy and his son Max.  Max is a high school misfit that’s into rock and roll and girls.  One particular girl, Roxanne, whom he’d love to impress — so much so that he dresses up as his favorite musician, Powerline, on the last day of school before summer vacation and performs his hit single “Stand Out” in front of the entire school! Max gets into a lot of trouble for the stunt and Goofy decides to take Max on a father/son road trip/bonding experience. Max, still wanting to impress, tells Roxanne that he’s going to the Powerline concert in LA. He re-routes him and his pop to LA where, lo and behold, they not only make it into the show but perform on stage with Powerline — and Roxanne saw it all on Pay-per-view!

Well, after seeing that in the film, it was something I always wanted to do.  It may have even been what got me interested in being in a band, performing on stage, writing, EVERYTHING!  I’m telling you, this film meant a LOT to me as a kid!  Well, these kids did exactly that!  With 5 minutes during a school assembly to do whatever they wanted, they did this awesome bit:

Compare that awesome performance to the original!

Not to diminish the originators of “A Goofy Movie” reenactments, check out what these guys imagineered back in 2009!

What a rush! I think they really nailed it. What about you?

Photo Essay: Tokyo DisneySea!

 

It feel like just yesterday and 3 years ago at the same time.  In reality, it’s only been about 6 months since we were at the Tokyo Disney Resort and I conclude my photo essay with the creme-de-la-creme of Disney parks: Tokyo DisneySea!  You may be interested in checking out our Tokyo DisneySea episode of the Remain Seated, Please Podcast while you read along!  You can also check out this video compilation I made of the footage from the park!

We took the subway to the resort that morning and figured we could walk to DisneySea in the same way we walked over to Disneyland — not the case!  I guess we are so used to walking to Disneyland here in Anaheim that we take it for granted.  For this park, we got to board the monorail! (for a small fee.)

These were fun!
These were fun!
Riding past Tokyo Disneyland on the Monorail!
Riding past Tokyo Disneyland on the Monorail!

Once at the park entrance, we noticed how much shorter the line to get in was.  Thank goodness!  We weren’t sure we could handle another day like the previous in terms of crowds.  We did catch a glimpse of some more amazing kids in costumes, though!

It's Donald!
It’s Donald!

We got in and walked quickly to the American Waterfront section of the park to get our Tower of Terror fastpasses and our dinner reservations on the SS Columbia.

It's hard not to be in awe of this park's "weenie" Mount Prometheus
It’s hard not to be in awe of this park’s “weenie” Mount Prometheus
The Columbia in the early morning hours!
The Columbia in the early morning hours!
Their Tower is HUGE!
Their Tower is HUGE!
It's ALL in the details!
It’s ALL in the details!

We then headed to the next E-ticket attraction to stand in what we thought would be a huge line — “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” which is over at Mysterious Island — an INCREDIBLY detailed area of the park that is unlike anything else you have ever seen, I assure you!

A panorama shot of Mysterious Island!
A panorama shot of Mysterious Island!
Walking INTO Mount Prometheus!
Walking INTO Mount Prometheus!
The start of the queue for "Journey to the Center of the Earth!"
The start of the queue for “Journey to the Center of the Earth!”

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Queue details!
Queue details!

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I love these lifts!
I love these lifts!

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The ride vehicles!
The ride vehicles!

After THAT whirlwind experience, we grabbed a bite to eat.  I had heard about the Gyoza Dog, but I HAD to have one!  So I did and I REALLY liked it.  More of a Bao-like texture on the outside dumpling but inside was more of the Gyoza dumpling kind of texture.

Gyoza Dog and Oolong Tea
Gyoza Dog and Oolong Tea

Then, we headed over to the Lost River Delta to check out the Indiana Jones attraction.  It was still VERY early in the day and the park was still pretty slow which was GREAT for us.  I LOVED the queue for Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull.  The ride is very similar to the Indiana Jones attraction at Disneyland, but this queue was incredible.

Indy!
Indy!

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Just to give you some perspective. This room is HUGE!
Just to give you some perspective. This room is HUGE!

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Loved these skeletons!
Loved these skeletons!

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Details...
Details…

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THIS looks familiar!
THIS looks familiar!  Just above the load-in area.

Next up was Port Discovery.  The aesthetic and design of this area reminded me of Discovery Land at Disneyland Resort Paris.  Lots of blues and golds and a steam punk vibe.  I was very interested in the Aquatopia attraction which is a trackless ride system on water.  It sounds cooler than it was, but it was fun nonetheless.

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We were now ready.  It was time.  TOWER OF TERROR!  This would be the first time we had been on a Tower attraction that was not themed after The Twilight Zone and this would also mark the final Tower we needed to ride to be able to say we had ridden them all!  Here’s what we saw:

Looks a little like Liberty Square to me!
Heading back to the American Waterfront, I snapped this. Looks a little like Liberty Square to me!
It looms!
It looms!
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The “CLOSED” side-entrance. Just a part of the details
The Japanese version of the famous elevator scene in the lobby!
The Japanese version of the famous elevator scene in the lobby!

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The tiki idol!
The tiki idol!
The idol vanishes right before your eyes!
The idol vanishes right before your eyes!
The warehouse queue after the idol scene.
The warehouse queue after the idol scene.

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Time to go!

It’s VERY similar to the DCA and Paris version in terms of ride experience, but the story and visuals are much different and in some ways better.

Just before lunch, we walked thru the Mediterranean Harbor area of the park and snapped some shots.

Toy Story area adjacent to the American Waterfront
Toy Story area adjacent to the American Waterfront
SO beautiful!
SO beautiful!
AWESOME characters out in the parks!
AWESOME characters out in the parks!

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Lunch at Café Portofino!
Lunch at Café Portofino!
Lunch at Café Portofino!
Lunch at Café Portofino!

From here, we first heard Mount Prometheus erupt!  We had no idea it would, but it only makes sense!  Took some great video of it, too!  Now, it was back to Mysterious Island to ride “Journey…” again and see what else there was to offer.  Glad we went back, and it wouldn’t be our last time!

Corn Popcorn!  I loved it -- maybe my favorite flavor.
Corn Potage Popcorn! I loved it — maybe my favorite flavor.
20k Leagues Under the Sea!  What a treat!
20k Leagues Under the Sea! What a treat!
"20k..." queue details
“20k…” queue details

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Then, it was back to Port Discovery to check out the other attraction there, StormRider!  This is a mix between Honey I Shrunk the Audience and Star Tours and the queue is much better than the attraction.  Still, unlike any other Disney attraction I’ve been on.

Cool funnel inside StormRider
Cool funnel inside StormRider
Safety spiel/ pre-show
Safety spiel/ pre-show

Mermaid Lagoon and Triton’s Kingdom.  This is the children’s area of the park but the concept is genius — at least for Triton’s Kingdom.  Think of the interactive queue for Dumbo at Magic Kingdom park at WDW on a much larger scale.  It’s completely indoors and looks JUST like the Under the Sea scene in Ariel’s Undersea Adventure at Disney California Adventure Park and Magic Kingdom but you can walk around it.  Many of the kiddy rides from DCA show up here but walking thru it is WELL worth it.  Plus, there’s a Cirque Du Soleil-level Little Mermaid show!

Mermaid Lagoon
Mermaid Lagoon
Triton's Kingdom signage
Triton’s Kingdom signage
MAGNIFICENT!
MAGNIFICENT!
Little Mermaid show queue
Little Mermaid show queue
I got yelled at for taking pictures here.
I got yelled at for taking pictures here.
It's performed in the round with the show happening above you.
It’s performed in the round with the show happening above you.
The gift shop looks like the inside of a whale's mouth!
The gift shop looks like the inside of a whale’s mouth!

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The Arabian Coast was next.  Had no idea what to expect here.  I saw there was a magic show which we ultimately skipped due to less than stellar (literally, not facetiously), and some boat ride that sounded cool.  This, however, was cool on the level of New Orleans Square at Disneyland in the sense that there were quiet areas with great detail and you could just stroll the streets of a middle-eastern street market.  Very cool!  And that boat ride?  One of the greatest surprises of the entire two-day stay at the parks: Sinbad’s Voyage!

Arabian fountain.
Arabian fountain.

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So quiet here!
So quiet here!
Jafar!
Jafar!
Sinbad's Storybook Voyage!
Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage!

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This animatronic is HUGE.  Too bad I didn't get anything to compare it to in this shot.
This animatronic is HUGE. Too bad I didn’t get anything to compare it to in this shot.

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With a song from Alan Menken, this is the “…Small World” for today’s kids in the sense that it’s a repetitive song that’s super catchy and small animatronics telling the story.  These are mostly the size and feel of the Mary Blair models in “…Small World” but with an updated look and feel.  REALLY well done!

The rest of the day was re-riding things, snapping shots, and waiting for Fantasmic! You can see those photos in the gallery below.  Outside of that, we did two more cool things: The Fortress Explorations section of the park at the base of Mount Prometheus and dinner and drinks aboard the Columbia!

Fortress Explorations details!
Fortress Explorations details!
We had so much fun here, we forgot to take a lot of pics!
We had so much fun here, we forgot to take a lot of pics!
Mount Prometheus at twilight
Mount Prometheus at twilight
Dinner Menu!
Dinner Menu!

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Appetizer
Appetizer
Salmon Appetizer
Salmon Appetizer
Soup
Soup
Sirloin Steak
Sirloin Steak
Surf and Turf
Surf and Turf
Dessert!
Dessert!

You’ll have to forgive me for not writing down what we got.  Drinks were at my favorite publicly accessible Disney lounge, The Teddy Roosevelt Lounge, aboard the SS Columbia!

So beautiful and just great!
So beautiful and just great!

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Teddy!
Teddy!

And lastly, Fantasmic!  This show is different from the other two versions of the show at Disneyland and Hollywood Studios at WDW.  Thin Illuminations at Epcot meets the WDW version of Fantasmic!  The mirror effect and dragon were the best parts of this show, for sure!

Waiting for the show to start
Waiting for the show to start
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The dragon is finished!

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The huge hat which is the centerpiece of the show
The huge hat which is the centerpiece of the show

This was a huge day for us. A new Disney Park at another country.  We ate a ton of popcorn and we had much fewer guests to contend with.  It was a super awesome day and an incredibly beautiful park!

Night Time Details at Mysterious Island
Night Time Details at Mysterious Island
Night Time Details at Mysterious Island
Night Time Details at Mysterious Island
Night Time Details at Mysterious Island
Night Time Details at Mysterious Island
The globe at the front entrance
The globe at the front entrance
"Journey..." attraction poster at the park entrance
“Journey…” attraction poster at the park entrance
"20k..." attraction poster at the park entrance
“20k…” attraction poster at the park entrance

And now for the entire gallery!  Enjoy!

Cell Phone Crashing: Disneyland Edition

I was linked to this video yesterday and couldn’t stop laughing — I HAD TO SHARE! I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen this guy or heard of him and this sketch but he’s hilarious.  MediocreFilms puts out his borderline Dad-joke level of humor videos and they come off as hilarious.  And now, he’s taken Disneyland!

Watch these two videos — a main edit and an outtakes edit.  Super funny and SUPER awkward… for some.


Photo Essay: Tokyo Disneyland!

It’s been a while since we did a photo blog but I have so many great pictures and videos from Tokyo Disneyland that I just had to share.  Start off your journey with our latest podcast which describes the trip in great detail.  Then, check out this video I cut together from the clips I shot on our first day to the resort!

And now, fill in the gaps with some of the photos from that trip. Any questions? Leave us a comment down below and I’ll do my best to answer what I can! Check back soon for our second Tokyo Disney podcast and I’ll be sure to accompany that episode with more pictures and another video.

Enjoy!

Live-Action Toy Story: Profile

Yesterday, I posted about an incredible feat of ingiuity and dedication: a shot-for-shot recreation of Pixar’s first feature-length animated film Toy Story.  It was so incredible and I was so impressed that I had to reach out to the film-makers themselves to figure out how and why they did it.  They were gracious enough to answer the few questions I (and apparently a bunch of other blogs around the interweb) had for them regarding the film:

Remain Seated Please: What inspired you to pull off such a daunting task of recreating a feature-length pixar film, shot for shot?

 Jesse Perrotta:  I think part of what started the fire in us to make us want to do this was the release of Toy Story 3. The months following the movie’s release, we were in constant Toy Story mode, haha. Also, we wanted make something that would be historical (the first shot-for-shot recreation of an animated film in live action.) Nobody did it before, and we wanted to be the first!

RSP: How long from start to finish did this take?

Jesse: Without counting preparation, it took us almost 2 years to the day (August 2010 to August 2012).

RSP: What film making inspiration did you have (outside of Toy Story, obviously?)

Jesse: It’s hard to think of another answer besides Toy Story, haha. I wasn’t really inspired to do it but anything else

Jonason Pauley: I was also inspired by the kids in the 80s who re-made Raiders of the Lost Ark, the guys who re-made the Goofy Movie song in a similar way… I just loved watching shot-for-shot type low budget re-makes (Be Kind Rewind would have been better if they had more of those type of scenes.)

RSP: What was the most difficult sequence to shoot? 4.) what did you edit this in?

Jesse: I would say the hardest scene was the shot after Buzz jumps on Scud’s face, when Scud is trying to shake Buzz of while the camera is moving away from them. It took us countless takes until Scud finally did what he was supposed to do.

Jonason: For the most part, shooting all day we completed about a minute of the film, but it seemed to take twice as long for the chase scene. Also, working with kids and Scud wasn’t too easy either. It was fun, just not easy.

RSP: What did you shoot this on (camera type?)

Jonason: I filmed with just a normal consumer camcorder. Panasonic HDD (that’s not High Def Delux, that’s Hard Drive Disk)

RSP: What program did you use for editorial?

Jesse: We edited the movie on Adobe Premiere Pro.

Jonason:  I did the majority of the editing, like Jesse said, on Adobe, but you, Jesse, edited a scene in Vegas.

RSP: Did you have any “technical advisors” or was a lot of it improvised between the two of you? (ie – stop motion stuff, marionette, puppetry, etc?)

Jesse: It was pretty much all on-the-spot decisions. (e.g., “I can’t get his arms to do what I want. let’s use the wire.”, or, “This shot’s so hard to do! Let’s film it backwards!”) Also, Jonason’s dad would sometimes be around and give us some tips on how to accomplish a certain scene.

Jonason: A.D. is credited as “Technical Expertize” because he resurrected my computer from the dead to a zombie-like state once.

RSP: Is film production a dream of yours?

Jesse: I can answer this for both of us… yes! We definitely want to have careers in film-making. I, personally, would love to compose music for films and television shows.

Jonason: I want to make good movies.

RSP: What’s next for you two?

Jesse: I’m planning on riding this Live Action Toy Story success train for a while, and see where it takes me. I’m also going to be working on a new series called Billy and Chucky (it’s a puppet show.)

Jonason: I’m going to school for a film degree and it doesn’t really matter to me what I do, as long as I have a part in making movies and videos that people will enjoy as much as I do. For now, more internet stuff.

RSP: What has the reception been like? 5.5M* views in just 5 days is unheard-of!

Jesse: I’m so amazed to see how much this movie has been getting attention these past few days! We’re not just popular on Youtube, but it seems like we’re showing up everywhere on the internet! It’s really exciting, and it feels so rewarding to know that people are enjoying it, and watching it with their families

Jonason: I am amazed at how well received it has been as well.

*6.3M as of today!

I had never done an interview before this one but these kids and their project inspired it. Very inspiring seeing what they pulled off and from their points of view, it’d appear that it was also very rewarding.

As I went on and did more homework on these kids, I learned that they took a trip to Emeryville, California with no promise (or success as far as I could tell) of getting in but just to hand out DVD copies of the film to Pixar employees and they were met with a smile from security who seemed to be expecting them.  Although Pixar has a history of never commenting on fan-projects (because then we would all do fan-projects), they have received accolades from a few Pixar insiders including Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3!

It also turns out that these are the same kids behind the live-action Toy Story 3 finale released last year which is what first gained the interest of Unkrich as well as 2.6M other viewers since it was released.

These kids have two major viral hits on their hands and we here at Remain Seated Please are glad to be in their corner early-on!  To the next few-million hits!

Frankenweenie (1984)

I know I am behind the times but I only just watched the original live-action black and white Tim Burton production of Frankenweenie from 1984 and I absolutely LOVED it!  It’s available on your “Nightmare Before Christmas” DVD, if you own it.

If not, check it out below!  It is seriously one of his best films and really shows his love of monster movies of the 30s and 40s as well as his potential as a blossoming director.  Unfortunately, he was fired from Disney soon after this film in an almost Ed-Wood-ian fashion for wasting the studio’s time and resources.  For a long time, it had only been screened in the UK before “The Neverending Story” as both films starred Barret Oliver.  It was later released in a re-edited and censored form to try to recoup some money most likely.  Then, after being shelved for a long time and Tim Burton’s enormous success, it was released in its original uncensored form with the “Nightmare…” DVD.

After seeing the extended preview now playing at DCA, I can say that the new film seems to stay pretty true to the original down to the tiniest details!  So, if you have not seen this original masterpiece and want to be surprised by the 2012 feature-length remake, I would suggest steering clear.  I cannot confirm that the ending is in any way similar in the 2012 version but I want to give fair warning that this version has an ending that I was very happy with and would be excited to see in a stop-motion remake.

And now, sit back, grab some cocoa and enjoy Frankenweenie (1984):

What did you think of the film?!  Leave your impressions below or, obviously, in the YouTube comments page!  I would have to say that this film has shot up into my top 5 of Burton’s films.

Throwback Thursday – Glow With the Show: World of Color

I can’t believe we never posted this video on our site!  Perhaps it was our excitement over the new DCA with Buena Vista St., Carthay Circle, and Cars Land but I seriously forgot (unless I am just missing it completely) to post this.

Here’s our video compilation we threw together for the World of Color premiere of Glow With the Show this past June.  This will whet your pallette for what’s to come with our epic Fantasmic! Glow With the Show video coverage.  Be sure to check out my review of the show here!

Enjoy our video of WoC GWTS!

Video Updates From This Past Weekend!

Here I have compiled some of the videos I took this past weekend.  More to come but thought I would share!

 

Here we see a DCA Cast Member doing his best impression of this classic Twilight Zone character:
© CBS – The Twilight Zone “A Piano in the House” (1962)

 

Here we see the nightly lighting ceremony at Cars Land inside Disney California Adventure Park. True to the movie, even down to the 3rd light flashing slower than the others!

 

This is a full ride-thru on the Red Car Trolley from the Tower station to the Buena Vista Street station by way for Carthay Circle. This park looks truly amazing lit up at night!

The Grand Canyon and Primeval World

A few weeks ago, we went down to the parks and the first thing we did was ride the Disneyland Railroad.  Our plan was to do a grand circle tour plus one stop to NOS.  On the ride, I decided to see how well we could capture the Grand Canyon Diorama and Primeval World and what came out looked really great!

Let us know what other video content you would like to see on the site!  We hope to have some great interviews coming in the next few months.

Disneyland Custodial Artwork

This was one of the coolest things I have seen at the park.  A quick google search will show that the custodial team at TDA has been at this for a while, but with as much time as I have spent at the parks I have never seen this!

We had just finished out Fantasmic! 20th anniversary showing, had already ridden on Big Thunder Mountain and were headed to Pirates… when we saw a few people admiring something on the ground.  We saw some water on the ground and as our eyes adjusted to the ground in front of Riverbell Terrace, we realized that it was artwork!

Here are some pictures we snapped of a few of the characters drawn on the ground and to boot, I caught some video of the cast member drawing a huge Mickey Mouse in front of Pirates!  Enjoy!