Trailer Mania

Everything about Super Bowl LVII was exciting. Football fans watched a nail biter of a game, Rihanna fans got one of the best Halftime shows in recent memory, and movie fans

some amazing trailers. Disney’s entries in the million dollar spots did not disappoint.

Kicking off (pun intended) the big three was the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 4. The new trailer included footage from the prior trailer while adding some new clips matched with a killer track from the band Rainbow. We knew there was going to be funny and heartbreaking moments being that this is the last in the series. Watch the trailer below.

Next up is the trailer from Lucasfilm’s new entry in the Indiana Jones franchise: Indiana Jones and Dial of Destiny. Here we see a de-aged Harrison Ford as a younger Indy. While there are some previously included clips, new scenes give us a glimpse into Indy’s (possibly) last time in the fedora. Watch the trailer below.

Finally, Disney thanks their fans for sharing in the company’s 100 year anniversary. In a promotional reel, the company traces their history through the multiple generations who have found magic through Disney’s films, cartoons, and theme parks. While short on 100th Anniversary celebration details, the commercial is a nostalgic trip to the past. Watch the trailer below.

2023 looks to be an exciting year for Disney fans young and old!

Exciting New Walt Disney World Announcements

 

The Disney Company is celebrating Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary with magical surprise announcements.  Disney Chairman Bob Chapek announced the changes in a small meeting of remaining Chapek loyalists.  "We listened to our guests who are asking for entirely new and exciting experiences.” said Chapek. “We will be responding those requests by creating cost effective temporary overlays to existing attractions." Cheapek went on to say that each park will have new attractions featuring fan favorite Disney classic movies from the 90's and 2000's.  The following is a park by park summary of the announcements.  

Chapek announced "Disney’s The Magical Kingdom will have two new features that paying customers are going to love!" The first announced change will be for Frontierland.  Guests will be transported to the Little Patch of Heaven Ranch and have interactive experiences with characters from the critically lauded classic Disney film "Home on the Range."  The"Milking Maggie" experience will feature a lifelike animatronic cow with realistic milk dispensing udder (they’re not real). The milk will be available to purchase in collectable cups for a "reasonable price." The Country Bear Jamboree will be renamed the “Yodeling with Alameda Slim Show" where guests can yodel along with Slim and the Bears during the nearly 5 minute performance. 

Tomorrowland will see new activity in the former Mission to Mars /Stitch's Great Escape show building. The attraction will be renamed Mission to Mars Needs Moms and will feature characters and themes from the Disney smash hit movie.  Guests will fly to Mars with Milo and Gribble to save Milo's mom who was kidnapped by Martians for some reason. 

"Disney’s The Hollywood Movie Studios will also get into the revenue generating fun with the triumphant return of the Hunchback of Notre Dame stage show” added Chapek. “To maximize revenue while limiting resources, we will basically be using the same costumes, music, and props from the original heavily attended show."  To keep the show current, unused scaffolding will be put in front of the Notre Dame background to accurately recreate the current condition of the original building being reconstructed in Paris.  

Another excitingly unnecessary redesign to celebrate the 50th will be the conversion of 50's Prime Time restaurant into the Mr. Magoo Diner.  "I hear that people love the interactivity of the Prime Time place there and we want to add something new." Paycheck said. "Imagine the fun of having that blind rascal, Mr. Magoo as you waiter! Guests will laugh with glee at Mr. Magoo's visual deficits as he risks physical harm by tripping and spilling hot soup and food on them." An added bonus will be the hiring of actual blind white elderly males to inhabit the role!

"Disney's Kingdom of Animals will go wild with a new addition!" Chapek said.  The safari ride will be rethemed to the hit Disney film "The Wild."  Cheapskate noted. "We will reference everyone's favorite jungle friends Samson and his son Ryan by placing signs with their names on them in front of our real lions."  Additional animals that look like characters from the film will also get signs!  Chapek's eyes light up uncannily as he describes another new change. "Since we already have a Dinosaur ride, we won't change anything, just add the label "Based on the Hit Film"."  DVD's will be sold at a new cart at the exit so people will know the film even exists.

Lastly, EPCOT gets into the celebration. Fan favorite ride Soarin' will receive a new update. "We are excited to announce the update based on the wildly popular Disney classic film, "Valiant" adding new interactive features!" screamed Chapstick.  Visitors will get a pigeon-eye view while flying with everyone's favorite poorly rendered pigeons, Valiant, Bugsy and Lofty. Guests will use squirt bottles filled with white and yellow viscous fluid to emulate birds defecating on people and cars below.  The guest with the most “poop hits” will receive a 5% off coupon for souvenir purchases on their next visit!  

 "We are halfway through the 50th Anniversary celebration and we haven't seen the uptick in attendance we expected, so we hope this will improve attendance and revenue for the company without having to add any costly creativity and innovation." 

Sync Up Your Calendars!

 There comes a time when the cycles converge and the past becomes the future.

Along with the hope for a better year, 2022 also brings a special surprise for fans of 2011’s TRON:Legacy. If you still have your calendar from 2011, you can use it for 2022! How can this be? It just so happens that 2011 and 2022 share the same days and dates in perfect sync. 

Unfortunately, There is no 1983 OG TRON calendar, because that year works as well.

So dust off that old calendar, and go back to The Grid!

TRON Legacy Boredom Busters

Stay-at-home orders got you down? While we are all doing our part to stop the spread of Coronavirus, those who are stuck at home are getting bored and stressed. While we can’t escape to The Grid of TRON, we can find some things to occupy our time in the “real world.” To supplement repeated watchings of TRON and TRON legacy on Disney+, Lightears has found some print-at-home activities to keep cabin fever at bay.

Back when TRON Legacy was released, the Disney Family website created printable models that you could make at home with a color printer and some card stock. Available are Sam Flynn’s and Clu’s Lightcycles, and a Recognizer vehicle from the film.

Additionally, you can download a coloring page. While not nearly as complex as a Mandala page, this should keep you distracted for a good ten to twenty minutes.

At home with kids? The Disney Family site also has activities to print/make with the kiddos including a disk toss game, Shrinky Dink style key chain charms, and door hangers.
You can download all these and more activities from https://family.disney.com/search/Tron/.
Stay safe and healthy Programs!

Disney rereleasing Virtual Magic Kingdom

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, Disney parks around the world are closed indefinitely. In light of this, new Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced that the company will be rereleasing the popular Virtual Magic Kingdom online experience. "We want Disney Parks fans to enjoy our one-of-a-kind storytelling experience while staying at home practicing social distancing." said Chapek.

Created in 2006, Virtual Magic Kingdom or VMK was a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game where participants could create custom avatars, rooms, shop in-game stores, and interact with other players in a virtual Disney theme park setting. Players would log on with their DSL modems while sitting comfortably at their Dell or HP desktop computer. The experience included navigating the isometric landscape while participating in mini games and contests to earn credits and items.

While remaining true to the original version, the release will have a few changes. Most notably, character interactions will be limited to a six foot distance as indicated by a visual representation of Goofy's large shoe.  Additionally, the Grim Grinning Ghosts from The Haunted Mansion will refrain from coming out to socialize.

System requirements to access the game include a desktop PC running Windows Vista or Apple iMac running OS-X (Tiger). Connection to the internet may be achieved via a DSL modem.  "We are expecting many Millennials to flock to the game, which may overload the original servers. So please be patient." said Chapek.  So while you are cooped up at home, visit the Virtual Magic Kingdom.  It's better than Club Penguin!
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Ok, this was an April Fool's joke brought to you by your friends here at LightEars and Tomorrowland Metro Retro Historical Society.  We hope this post gave you a reason to smile in these trying times.  Remember to "Just keep swimming" and "Keep moving forward" so that we can all get through this together. Also, If you want to relive your VMK memories, and make new ones with the next generation, there is a fan-made version still active called MyVMK.  You can find it at myvmk.com.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Review

There has never been a fandom as vocal and as passionate as that of the Star Wars franchise. The reactions to the George Lucas prequels and Disney’s sequel trilogy have been either hot or cold with little middle ground given, and fans have been mocked and depicted in the media as toxic trolls. The final film of the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, continues to elicit the same passionate reactions from fans. I find myself experiencing difficulty unpacking all the details from a single viewing of the film, but I’ll try my best. I enjoyed the film as a whole, and found it to be a fitting end to the Disney-produced trilogy. Not treating it as a true finale of the entire saga is a safe place by which to effectively review its merits.

The original trilogy ended with Return of the Jedi, itself an imperfect film that would’ve likely been skewered by fans had it been released in the social media days.  Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker doesn’t have the benefit of following arguably the best film of the entire saga. On the contrary, it has to contend with the baggage left by Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi. It’s that scenario that likely led Lucasfilm/Disney to return the stewardship of their trilogy to J.J. Abrams. After Johnson’s film turned the dangling storyline on its head (for better or worse), Abrams had the task of rebuilding his narrative. Much of the film attempts to do just that, revealing Rey’s parentage as being Palpatine and downplaying the role of Supreme Leader Snoke. I was not put off by Palpatine’s sudden reappearance, as his Modus Operandi has always been to be working the long game from within the shadows. The film logically continues Rey’s hero’s journey in the fashion of a certain former whiny farm boy. The interactions of Rey, Poe, and Finn are more akin to the camaraderie established in The Force Awakens. It’s the ease and chemistry these characters have with each other that carries the film. 

If the film suffers from anything, it’s trying to tie up too many loose ends while attempting to please everyone, which ultimately weighs down the pacing and storytelling. That being said, the film packs an emotional wallop, evident by the outward sobbing I heard from the audience. I admit that I teared up more than I would during a Pixar film. The redemption of Kylo Ren seems earned, rather than contrived. The amazing acting of Adam Driver as Ben Solo/Kylo Ren made the character’s turn to the Light Side of the Force all the more believable. The action is riveting and the special effects are incredible. The cameos and callbacks don’t feel shoehorned in, and serve to forward the story. Aside from the annoyingly unresolved “thing” that Finn was trying to tell Rey throughout the film, I found that very little was left dangling. It was as good a film as it could be to bring the saga to an end. It is important to note that there has never been such a thing as a perfect Star Wars film, although The Empire Strikes Back certainly comes close. Recalling the lack of any cohesive plan to rescue Han in Return of the Jedi, I can only imagine the fan base blowing up the Internet, had it existed and the conversation extended beyond the water cooler. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the film that will be remembered as the one that tried to do much more than it needed to, being weighed down by its history. Again, as a conclusion to the Episode VII-IX trilogy, the film works well enough. 

Hicks vs Aliens: Spaced Invaders Review

Ask anyone what their favorite Disney Halloween film is and chances are they will respond with Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, or The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. There is a pretty good chance that they won’t respond with 1990’s Spaced Invaders. There isn’t a lot of love for this Touchstone Halloween gem. It managed to score a dismal 8% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and got a less than stellar review from Robert Ebert. The film did poorly in the cinemas and quickly faded from the public consciousness. I first saw the film on cable and the 7 year-old in me enjoyed the slapstick elements while the adult in me found the premise and culture clash hilarious.

The premise is that a rag-tag band of Martian outcasts are given the menial duty of patrolling asteroid belts while the Martian Imperial Space Navy attacks their enemy in Arcturus. The Martian forces are defeated due to the forced reliance on Enforcer Droids. The outcasts search for a signal from the fleet and instead overhear a rebroadcast of the famous Orsen Wells Halloween prank broadcast of The War of the Worlds. Like many Americans during the broadcast, the actual Martians believe the attack on Grover’s Mill is real. The band makes a beeline to Earth to join the invading Martian vanguard. They end up in the fictional rural town of Big Bean Illinois and hilarity ensues. The good people of Big Bean are a mix of stereotypes including a down on his luck old farmer played by veteran actor Royal Dano and the “New Sheriff in town” Sam played by Douglas Barr and his daughter Kathy played by future Jurassic Park alum Ariana Richards.

The Martians get into trouble right away by being clocked at 3000 miles an hour in a 35 zone by the Sherriff's deputy and pull a Back to the Future style crash in farmer Wrenchmuller’s barn. The crew consist of a mix of characters including the militaristic Giggywig whose favorite line is “Prepare to die Earth scum!” and the Jack Nicholson-cool pilot Blaznee. Being that the events occur on Halloween, the group is initially mistaken as trick-or-treaters until the dim-witted townsfolk realize what they are.

While the inhabitants of Big Bean are two dimensional stereotypical small town types, this works to the comedic betterment of the film. One standout character is a boy in a duck costume, played by J.J. Anderson,who steals every scene he is in.  The characteristics of the Martians are a nice throwback to sci-fi troupes of the 50's. The effects hold up remarkably well, due to Director Patrick Read Johnson’s early career work as a practical effects expert on 2010:The Year We Made Contact and the TV miniseries V, although my daughter commented that the Martian's heads look like talking watermelons.  Many parts of the film work and some don't but for a light-hearted, seasonal offering Spaced Invaders is an enjoyable Halloween watch with the kiddos.