As a former servicemember, I have to admit that I'm alwaysintrigued by how various entertainment entities observe Veterans Day.
Take — for example — PBS
. Their way of acknowledging that today
is November 11th (i.e., the date that our nation honors all those who have
served in both wartime and peacetime) is by airing a two hour-long documentary on
the Navy Seals.
Meanwhile over at Disney Junior
, they're showing a special
episode of " Doc McStuffins
"
called "Training Army Al." Which deals with the emotions that
young kids typically deal with when they have a parent or loved one in the
military and that family member is then deployed.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
Over at AMC
, the focus is on America's
more recent military operations with back-to-back screenings of "The Green
Berets," "Heartbreak Ridge" and "We Were Soldiers."
Meanwhile over at Turner Classic Movies
, it's the Greatest Generation's
greatest hits. With tonight's schedule at that cable channel piled high with
World War II-era films like "The Fighting Sullivans," "Pride of
the Marines" and "Patton."
Mind you, there used to be people in the entertainment
business who genuinely did want to do right by our men & women in uniform.Who wanted to do more for these folks than just scheduling a night full of John
Wayne movies.
Take — for example — Walt Disney. As John Baxter points
out in his excellent new book, " Disney During World War II: How the Walt
Disney Studios Contributed to Victory in the War
" (Disney Editions,
November 2014) …
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All right reserved
… When America's war began on December 7, 1941, the armed
forces of the United States were suddenly in desperate need of efficient
training methods to process the huge numbers of enlistees and draftees that
were about to report to duty. Civilians with no relevant background experience
had to learn how to be warriors and how to operate and maintain the
increasingly complex aircraft, tanks, naval vessels, weaponry and other
machinery of the period. Walt Disney helped the government meet that challenge
by effectively transforming his studio from an entertainment factory that
specialized in whimsy into a virtual war plant that churned out high-quality
instructional films for the military nonstop for nearly four years, without
profit and sometimes at a loss.
So why did Walt take on this difficult war-time assignment?
To be honest, there was a practical component. As the clouds of war began
gathering over Europe & Asia in the late 1930s, the revenue stream that came
from screening Disney's animated features & shorts overseas began drying
up. So to keep the Mouse Factory up & running during this difficult time,
Walt and his brother Roy pursued dozens of government contracts and wound up
producing training films for the U.S. Army & Navy as well as corporate
clients like Lockheed.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
But then there was the personal responsibility that Walt
felt toward these men & women in uniform. After all, 10 years earlier,these soldiers, sailors and marines were the kids who had helped to make Mickey
Mouse so hugely popular with Depression-era moviegoers.
Disney felt indebted to these folks. Which is why (againquoting from John Baxter's new book) …
… perhaps the purest expression of Walt's genuine
patriotism during the war years was his decision to establish a unite devoted
to producing customized military insignia free of charge for the Armed Forces
of America and her allies. Headed by the talented draftsman Hank Porter
, whom
Walt referred to as "a one man art department," the unit worked
steadily throughout the war, turning out nearly 1,300 insignia upon request.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
Just to be clear here: It wasn't just Walt Disney who went
out of his way to do right by the troops back during World War II. As Richard
Zoglin
recounts in " Hope: Entertainer of the Century
" (Simon &
Schuster, November 2014), Bob Hope
kind of redefined going out of your way when
it came to America's
men & women in uniform. Bob got his start doing this back …
… in the summer of 1942, (when) one of Hope's former movie
stand-ins, now an army sergeant, dropped by the Paramount lot and suggested
that Hope pay a visit to the US troops stationed in Alaska, guarding the
Aleutian Islands against a possible Japanese attack.
(That) Alaska
trip made a powerful impression on Hope, and he talked soberly about it
afterwards. "I wouldn't trade this trip for my last five years in show
business – my lucky years," he told a reporter. "I tell you, a guy
gets to seeing himself in the proper focus in a setup like that. It's touching
that the visit from a mere human being can mean so much."
Bob Hope entertains the troop during World War II.
Having gotten his first taste of entertaining the troops,
Bob made immediate plans to get back in front of that amazingly appreciative
audience. Which is why — as soon as Hope & Crosby wrapped up production of
"Road to Morocco"
and Bob had buttoned up his hugely popular radio show for its 1942 – 1943
season, during …
… his summer radio hiatus in July and August of 1943, Hope
made plans for his first overseas tour of military bases: a two-month trip to
the British Isles and North Africa,
under the auspice of the USO Camp Shows.
All told, (Bob) spent eleven weeks overseas, doing some 250 shows for an
estimated 1.5 million men. He came back with scores of names and addresses
scrawled on pieces of paper — of the mothers and wives and sweethearts of the
men he had entertained, who asked Hope if he would contact their loved ones and
send greetings. Which he did.
Bob Hope visits with the wounded as he & his troupe tour a hospital ward. (Here's a
bit of trivia for Disney fans: The gentleman to the extreme right in the above photo is
Jerry Colonna, the radio comedian best known these days for providing the voice
of the March Hare in Disney's 1951 animated version of "Alice in Wonderland."
That might have been enough for your average entertainer.
But not Bob Hope. In June of 1944, he and a hand-picked team of pros headed off
for the Pacific Theater. Where …
… they stopped first in the Hawaiian Islands,
where they spent nine days and did some thirty-five shows, the largest for
twenty-five thousand civilian employees at the Pearl Harbor Naval Yards. Then
they flew off to Christmas Island and began hopscotching
islands on the "pineapple circuit."
The long trip back to the United States
went through Wake Island and took fifty hours. In all,
Hope's Pacific tour had encompassed thirty thousand miles and 150 shows in
eight weeks.
Bob Hope chats with the troops during his Christmas 1950 visit to Korea
And once World War II wrapped … Well, that didn't stunt
Bob's desire to do right by our men & women in uniform. Which is why assoon as the Korean War got underway in June of 1950, Hope immediately began
making plans to head overseas to entertain the troops there.
This tradition continued for decades. Though …
… by the early 1960s, Hope's annual Christmas tours to
entertain the troops overseas were starting to draw some criticism … Inside
the military, some grumbled that Hope's tours were talking too much money away
from other, more mundane but equally important projects. "Hope did a valid
service. But it was an expensive project, and it took a good deal of the budget,"
said Dorothy Reilly, whose husband, Colonel Alvin E. Reilly, as head of
entertainment and recreation for the Air Force, argued internally that the
trips ought to be cut back. "That budget had to cover everything —
libraries, R-and-R centers. There were so many ways that money could be
used." She couldn't forget the sight of thousands of GIs in Korea
in 1957, waiting on a hillside for hours in the subzero cold while Hope and his
troupe were preparing and rehearsing. "I thought it was kind of a selfish
use of the military."
Copyright 2014 Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved
That's what's genuinely great about "Hope: Entertainer
of the Century." Richard Zoglin honestly doesn't pull any punches with
this definitive biography of Bob Hope. He celebrates those moments where Bob —
just like Walt Disney — really went the extra mile for our men & women in
uniform. But as the same time, Zoglin isn't afraid to shine a spotlight on the
more controversial aspects of Hope's career. Like his 1969 tour of Vietnam,
where as Bob stood onstage and …
… told the troops he had just been to the White House and
assured them that Nixon had "a plan to end the war." He was greeted
with boos.
So if you'd like to get the inside scoop on two Hollywood
legends who did everything they could for the troops, be sure and pick a copy
of John Baxter's "Disney During
World War II: How the Walt Disney Studios Contributed to Victory in the
War"and Richard Zoglin's "Hope: Entertainer of the Century."
This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Tuesday, November 11, 2014
General
Seward Johnson bronzes add a surreal, artistic touch to NYC’s Garment District
Greetings from NYC. Nancy and I drove down from New
Hampshire yesterday because we'll be checking out
Disney Consumer Products
' annual Holiday Showcase later today.
Anyway … After checking into our hotel (i.e., The Paul.
Which is located down in NYC's NoMad district), we decided to grab some dinner.Which is how we wound up at the Melt Shop
.
Photo by Jim Hill
Which is this restaurant that only sells grilled cheese sandwiches.This comfort food was delicious, but kind of on the heavy side.
Photo by Jim Hill
Which is why — given that it was a beautiful summer night
— we'd then try and walk off our meals. We started our stroll down by the Empire
State Building
…
Photo by Jim Hill
… and eventually wound up just below Times
Square
(right behind where the Waterford Crystal Times Square New
Year's Eve Ball
is kept).
Photo by Jim Hill
But you know what we discovered en route? Right in the heart
of Manhattan's Garment Districtalong Broadway between 36th and 41st? This incredibly cool series of life-like
and life-sized sculptures that Seward
Johnson has created
.
Photo by Jim Hill
And — yes — that is Abraham Lincoln (who seems to have
slipped out of WDW's Hall of Presidents
when no one was looking and is now
leading tourists around Times Square). These 18 painted
bronze pieces (which were just installed late this past Sunday night / early
Monday morning) range from the surreal to the all-too-real.
Photo by Jim Hill
Some of these pieces look like typical New Yorkers. Like thebusiness woman planning out her day …
Photo by Jim Hill
… the postman delivering the mail …
Photo by Jim Hill
… the hot dog vendor working at his cart …
Photo by Jim Hill
Photo by Jim Hill
… the street musician playing for tourists …
Photo by Jim Hill
Not to mention the tourists themselves.
Photo by Jim Hill
But right alongside the bronze businessmen …
Photo by Jim Hill
… and the tired grandmother hauling her groceries home …
Photo by Jim Hill
… there were also statues representing people who werefrom out-of-town …
Photo by Jim Hill
… or — for that matter — out-of-time.
Photo by Jim Hill
These were the Seward Johnson pieces that genuinely beguiled. Famous impressionist paintings brought to life in three dimensions.
Note the out-of-period water bottle that some tourist left
behind. Photo by Jim Hill
Some of them so lifelike that you actually had to pause for
a moment (especially as day gave way to night in the city) and say to yourself"Is that one of the bronzes? Or just someone pretending to be one of these
bronzes?"
Mind you, for those of you who aren't big fans of theimpressionists …
Photo by Jim Hill
… there's also an array of American icons. Among themMarilyn Monroe …
Photo by Jim Hill
… and that farmer couple from Grant Wood's "AmericanGothic."
Photo by Jim Hill
But for those of you who know your NYC history, it's hard tobeat that piece which recreates Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous photograph of V-J Day in Times Square.
Photo by Jim Hill
By the way, a 25-foot-tall version of this particular Seward
Johnson piece ( which — FYI — is entitled "Embracing Peace") will actuallybe placed in Times Square for a few days on or around August 14th to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of Victory Over Japan Day (V-J Day).
Photo by Jim Hill
By the way, if you'd like to check these Seward Johnson bronzes in
person (which — it should be noted — are part of the part of the Garment
District Alliance
's new public art offering) — you'd best schedule a trip to
the City sometime over the next three months. For these pieces will only be on
display now through September 15th.
General
Wondering what you should “Boldly Go” see at the movies next year? The 2015 Licensing Expo offers you some clues
Greeting from the 2015 Licensing Expo
, which is being held
at the Mandalay Bay
Convention Center in Las
Vegas.
Photo by Jim Hill
I have to admit that I enjoy covering the Licensing Expo.
Mostly becomes it allows bloggers & entertainment writers like myself to
get a peek over the horizon. Scope out some of the major motion pictures &
TV shows that today's vertically integrated entertainment conglomerates
(Remember when these companies used to be called movie studios?) will be
sending our way over the next two years or so.
Photo by Jim Hill
Take — for example — all of " The Secret Life of
Pets
" banners that greeted Expo attendees as they made their way to the
show floor today. I actually got to see some footage from this new Illumination
Entertainment
production (which will hit theaters on July 8, 2016) the last time I was in Vegas. Which
was for CinemaCon
back in April. And the five or so minutes of film that I viewed
suggested that "The Secret Life of Pets" will be a really funny
animated feature.
Photo by Jim Hill
Mind you, Universal Pictures wanted to make sure that Expo
attendees remembered that there was another Illumination Entertainment production
coming-to-a-theater-near-them before "The Secret Life of Pets" (And
that's " Minions
," the "Despicable Me" prequel. Which
premieres at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival next week but
won't be screened stateside 'til July 10th of this year). Which is why they had
three minions who were made entirely out of LEGOS loitering out in the lobby.
Photo by Jim Hill
And Warner Bros. — because they wanted " Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice
" to start trending on Twitter today — brought
the Batmobile to Las Vegas.
Photo by Jim Hill
Not to mention full-sized macquettes of Batman, Superman and
Wonder Woman. Just so conventioneers could then see what these DC superheroes
would actually look like in this eagerly anticipated, March 25, 2016 release.
Photo by Jim Hill
That's the thing that can sometimes be a wee bit frustrating
about the Licensing Expo. It's all about delayed gratification. You'll come
around a corner and see this 100 foot-long ad for " The Peanuts Movie
"
and think "Hey, that looks great. I want to see that Blue Sky Studios
production
right now." It's only then that you notice the fine print and realize that
"The Peanuts Movie" doesn't actually open in theaters 'til November
6th of this year.
Photo by Jim Hill
And fan of Blue Sky's " Ice Age
" film franchise are in for an even
longer wait. Given that the latest installment in that top grossing series
doesn't arrive in theaters 'til July
15, 2016.
Photo by Jim Hill
Of course, if you're one of those people who needs immediate
gratification when it comes to your entertainment, there was stuff like that to
be found at this year's Licensing Expo. Take — for example — how the WWE
booth was actually shaped like a wrestling ring. Which — I'm guessing — meant
that if the executives of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
didn't like
the offer that you were making, they were then allowed to toss you out over the
top rope, Royal Rumble
-style.
Photo by Jim Hill
I also have to admit that — as a longtime Star Trek
fan —
it was cool to see the enormous Starship Enterprise that hung in place over the
CBS
booth. Not to mention getting a glimpse of the official Star Trek 50th
Anniversary logo.
Photo by Jim Hill
I was also pleased to see lots of activity in The Jim Henson
Company booth. Which suggests that JHC has actually finally carved out apost- Muppets
identity for itself.
Photo by Jim Hill
Likewise for all of us who were getting a little concerned
about DreamWorks Animation
(what with all the layoffs
& write-downs
&
projects that were put into turnaround or outright cancelled
last year), it was
nice to see that booth bustling.
Photo by Jim Hill
Every so often, you'd come across some people who were
promoting a movie that you weren't entirely sure that you actually wanted to
see (EX: " Angry Birds
," which Sony Pictures Entertainment / Columbia
Pictures
will be releasing to theaters on May 20, 2016). But then you remembered that Clay Kaytis
—
who's this hugely talented former Walt Disney Animation Studios
animator — is
riding herd on "Angry Birds" with Fergal Reilly
. And you'd think
"Well, if Clay's working on 'Angry Birds,' I'm sure this animated feature
will turn out fine."
Photo by Jim Hill
Mind you, there were reminders at this year's Licensing Expo
of great animated features that we're never going to get to see now. I still
can't believe — especially after that brilliant proof-of-concept footage
popped up online last year — that Sony execs decided not to go forward
with production
of Genndy Tartakovsky
's
"Popeye" movie. But that's the
cruel thing about the entertainment business, folks. It will sometime break
your heart.
Photo by Jim Hill
And make no mistake about this. The Licensing Expo is all
about business. That point was clearly driven home at this year's show when —
as you walked through the doors of the Mandalay
Bay Convention Center
— the first thing that you saw was the Hasbros Booth. Which was this gleaming,
sleek two story-tall affair full of people who were negotiating deals &
signing contracts for all of the would-be summer blockbusters that have already
announced release dates for 2019 & beyond.
Photo by Jim Hill
"But what about The Walt Disney Company?," you
ask. "Weren't they represented on the show floor at this year's LicensingExpo?" Not really, not. I mean, sure. There were a few companies there hyping
Disney-related products. Take — for example — the Disney Wikkeez people.
Photo by Jim Hill
I'm assuming that some Disney Consumer Products exec is
hoping that Wikkeez will eventually become the new Tsum Tsum. But to be blunt,
these little hard plastic figures don't seem to have the same huggable charm
that those stackable plush do. But I've been wrong before. So let's see what
happens with Disney Wikkeez once they start showing up on the shelves of the
Company's North American retail partners.
Photo by Jim Hill
And speaking of Disney's retail partners … They were
meeting with Mouse House executives behind closed doors one floor down from the
official show floor for this year's Licensing Expo.
Photo by Jim Hill
And the theme for this year's invitation-only Disney shindig? "Timeless
Stories" involving the Disney
, Pixar
, Marvel
& Lucasfilm
brands that
would then appeal to "tomorrow's consumer."
Photo by Jim Hill
And just to sort of hammer home the idea that Disney is no
longer the Company which cornered the market when it comes to little girls
(i.e., its Disney Princess
and Disney Fairies
franchises), check out this
wall-sized Star Wars
-related image that DCP put up just outside of one of its
many private meeting rooms. "See?," this carefully crafted photo
screams. "It isn't just little boys who want to wield the Force. Little
girls also want to grow up and be Lords of the Sith."
Photo by Jim Hill
One final, kind-of-ironic note: According to this banner,
Paramount Pictures
will be releasing a movie called "Amusement Park"
to theaters sometime in 2017.
Photo by Jim Hill
Well, given all the "Blackfish" -related issues
that have been dogged SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
over the past two years, I'm
just hoping that they'll still be in the amusement park business come 2017.
Your thoughts?
General
It takes more than three circles to craft a Classic version of Mickey Mouse
You know what Mickey Mouse looks like, right? Little guy,
big ears?
Truth be told, Disney's corporate symbol has a lot of
different looks. If Mickey's interacting with Guests at Disneyland
Park
(especially this summer, when
the Happiest Place on Earth
is celebrating its 60th anniversary
), he looks & dresses like this.
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc.
All rights reserved
Or when he's appearing in one of those Emmy Award-winning shorts
that Disney
Television Animation has produced (EX: "Bronco Busted," which debuts
on the Disney Channel
tonight at 8 p.m. ET / PT), Mickey is drawn in a such a
way that he looks hip, cool, edgy & retro all at the same time.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights
reserved
Looking ahead to 2017 now, when Disney Junior
rolls out " Mickey and the
Roadster Racers
," this brand-new animated series will feature a sportier version
of Disney's corporate symbol. One that Mouse House managers hope will persuade
preschool boys to more fully embrace this now 86 year-old character.
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved
That's what most people don't realize about the Mouse. The
Walt Disney Company deliberately tailors Mickey's look, even his style of
movement, depending on what sort of project / production he's appearing in.
Take — for example — Disney
California Adventure
Park
's " World of Color:
Celebrate!
" Because Disney's main mouse would be co-hosting this new
nighttime lagoon show with ace emcee Neil Patrick Harris
, Eric Goldberg
really had
to step up Mickey's game. Which is why this master Disney animator created
several minutes of all-new Mouse animation which then showed that Mickey was
just as skilled a showman as Neil was.
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc.
All rights reserved
Better yet, let's take a look at what the folks at Avalanche Studios
just went
through as they attempted to create a Classic version of Mickey & Minnie.
One that would then allow this popular pair to become part of Disney Infinity
3.0.
"I won't lie to you. We were under a lot of pressure to
get the look of this particular version of Mickey — he's called Red Pants
Mickey around here — just right," said Jeff Bunker, the VP of Art
Development at Avalanche Studios, during a recent phone interview. "When
we brought Sorcerer Mickey into Disney Infinity 1.0 back in January of 2014,
that one was relatively easy because … Well, everyone knows what Mickey Mouse
looked like when he appeared in ' Fantasia
.' "
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved
"But this time around, we were being asked to design
THEMickey & Minnie," Bunker continued. "And given that these Classic
Disney characters have been around in various different forms for the better
part of the last century … Well, which look was the right look?"
Which is why Jeff and his team at Avalanche Studios began watching hours &
hours of Mickey Mouse shorts. As they tried to get a handle on which look would
work best for these characters in Disney Infinity 3.0.
Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
"And we went all the way back to the very start of Mickey's career. We began
with 'Steamboat Willie' and then watched all of those black & white Mickey shorts
that Walt made back in the late 1920s & early 1930s. From there, we
transitioned to his Technicolor shorts. Which is when Mickey went from being
this pie-eyed, really feisty character to more of a well-behaved leading
man," Bunker recalled. "We then finished out our Mouse marathon by
watching all of those new Mickey shorts that Paul Rudish & his team have
been creating for Disney Television Animation. Those cartoons really recapture
a lot of the spirit and wild slapstick fun that Mickey's early, black &
white shorts had."
But given that the specific assignment that Avalanche Studios had been handed
was to create the most appealing looking, likeable version of Mickey Mouse
possible … In the end, Jeff and his team wound up borrowing bits & pieces
from a lot of different versions of the world's most famous mouse. So that
Classic Mickey would then look & move in a way that best fit the sort of
gameplay which people would soon be able to experience with Disney Infinity
3.0.
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved
"That — in a lot of ways — was actually the toughest
part of the Classic Mickey design project. You have to remember that one of the
key creative conceits of Disney Infinity
is that all the characters which appear in this game are toys," Bunker
stated. "Okay. So they're beautifully detailed, highly stylized toy
versions of beloved Disney
, Pixar
, Marvel
& Lucasfilm
characters. But
they're still supposed to be toys. So our Classic versions of Mickey &
Minnie have the same sort of thickness & sturdiness to them that toys have.
So that they'll then be able to fit right in with all of the rest of the
characters that Avalanche Studios had previously designed for Disney Infinity."
And then there was the matter of coming up with just the
right pose for Classic Mickey & Minnie. Which — to hear Jeff tell the
story — involved input from a lot of Disney upper management.
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved
"Everyone within the Company seemed to have an opinion
about how Mickey & Minnie should be posed. More to the point, if you Google
Mickey, you then discover that there are literally thousands of poses out there
for these two. Though — truth be told — a lot of those kind of play off the
way Mickey poses when he's being Disney's corporate symbol," Bunker said.
"But what I was most concerned about was that Mickey's pose had to work
with Minnie's pose. Because we were bringing the Classic versions of these
characters up into Disney Infinity 3.0 at the exact same time. And we wanted to
make sure — especially for those fans who like to put their Disney Infinity
figures on display — that Mickey's pose would then complement Minnie.
Which is why Jeff & the crew at Avalanche Studios
decided — when it came to Classic Mickey & Minnie's pose — that they
should go all the way back to the beginning. Which is why these two Disney icons
are sculpted in such a way that it almost seems as though you're witnessing the
very first time Mickey set eyes on Minnie.
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved
"And what was really great about that was — as soon as
we began showing people within the Company this pose — everyone at Disney
quickly got on board with the idea. I mean, the Classic Mickey that we sculpted
for Disney Infinity 3.0 is clearly a very playful, spunky character. But at the
same time, he's obviously got eyes for Minnie," Bunker concluded. "So
in the end, we were able to come up with Classic versions of these characters
that will work well within the creative confines of Disney Infinity 3.0 but at
the same time please those Disney fans who just collect these figures because
they like the way the Disney Infinity characters look."
So now that this particular design project is over, does
Jeff regret that Mouse House upper management was so hands-on when it came tomaking sure that the Classic versions of Mickey & Minnie were specifically
tailored to fit the look & style of gameplay found in Disney Infinity 3.0?
Copyright Lucasfilm / Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
"To be blunt, we go through this every time we add a new character to the
game. The folks at Lucasfilm were just as hands-on when we were designing the
versions of Darth Vader and Yoda that will also soon be appearing in Disney
Infinity 3.0," Bunker laughed. "So in the end, if the character's
creators ANDthe fans are happy, then I'm happy."
This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Tuesday, June 9, 2015
