Rediscovering (Walt) Disney

And these are just the variants! There are three more prints with different coloring and the corrected "Return of the Jedi" title. tstout.com UGO.com

... and Happy New Year!!!

A long gestating project that I finally was inspired/compelled to finish. This piece is based on the Hot Rod Movie posters of the 50's and 60's.

See the artist's other work at deviantART

Samuel Leroy Jackson - December 21, 1948

More Disney movie ads from Boxoffice Magazine. August 1960 November 1960 February 1961

ERIC TAN

Okay, this is just plain fun! You gotta love a show that'll take on the naysayers and profits of doom with this much humor and self-assurance. FRINGE on FOX

Project Movie House

Well I do like a lot of what I'm seeing here. This is clearly an attempt to return to form after the big let down of "At World's End". Visit the Pirates Official Website .

So what do you think of that? I stitched together this image of the entrance to the Indian Ladder Drive-In using still frames from an 8mm film. The owner of the film was kind enough to lend me a DVD copy of the footage taken in 1957. The one-minute of drive-in footage was shot while attending a Methodist Church service held at the theater. Below are three of the stills so you can get a close-up view of them. As soon as I have written permission I am going to post a video of the home movie.

While doing research for Project Movie House I came across these Disney movie ads from Boxoffice Magazine. February 1940 June 1949 November 1949 Boxoffice Magazine: The Vault

[This missive is being re-posted for those that may not have seen it on FILM+TV, 6/16/10] I recently read an article on HBO's new series " Game of Thrones " that's premiering in 2011. That simple announcement woke a sleeping geek that has been dormant for a while now. The Sword & Sorcery Geek . (The SSG, also know as the D&D Geek, or that poor guy Mintz-Plasse played in "Role Models.) Early on in my geek days I was a total superhero nut - JLA, Spiderman, Legion of Super-heroes - reaching it's zenith with the Byrne & Claremont Uncanny X-men era. Next came Blasters and Lightsabers (Of course!). Then, for a brief shining moment in the 80's, I fell in love with the realm of fantasy. I had (unsucessfully) tried my hand at D&D when I was in high school. And fantasy was always on the perifery of my geekdar but I had not been sucked in yet. That is until 1981 and the release of three movies that would alter the course of history! (Not really, but ...

So I finally finished "A Feast for Crows", the fourth book of A Song of Fire and Ice , and I have never been less enthused to read a book before. That's not to say it isn't a good book (it is) and that the entire series isn't good (it is), but it has been TEN years since the author said we would see book five! And now HBO is making a television series based on these books and the story isn't even finished yet!!! Granted the author, George R. R. Martin, is a producer on the series and that will allow them to proceed according to his overall vision. But I don't want him to NOT write the rest of the series because he's distracted be the TV show. Will I watch the series? Heck yeah! I can't wait to see these characters in the flesh. It really is a well written, exciting, violent, mystical yet realistic world full of intrigue, back-stabbing, honor, betrayal and even love. Check out the teasers and the first trailer below, then follow the link to the offi...

Next weekend I'll be headed back to New York for more research and to conduct an interview with Bob Conahan Jr. and his sister. They are the son and daughter of Robert C. Conahan who built the Mayfair Drive-In Theatre in Slingerlands. Yeah so? Well let me tell you this is pretty exciting for our project to land this interview. To date I have been able to find almost ZERO information, photos or memorabilia for this theater. Its like it never existed. Mr. Conahan Jr. admits that he and his family didn't save any photos (or anything else) from the theater. Mr. Conahan Sr. died two weeks before the theater opened in 1957, and the family sold the business after the '58 season ended. The Mayfair never reopened after that and the land changed hand several times. Currently home to a professional building it is being further developed for apartments. And if time allows I'll swing by the Voorheesville Public Library and the Albany Public Library to do research and look at some m...

I saw this article in the latest issue of Post magazine... IVC Uses DaVinci Systems to Restore “Planet of the Apes” By Sean McKee, Director of Restoration, IVC. We recently finished restoring “Planet of the Apes” for 20th Century Fox, the classic 1968 sci-fi adventure film starring Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowall. The film, which won several awards and was nominated for two Academy Awards, tells the story of a futuristic world where apes view themselves as the dominant species and enslave the humans. The film was so popular that it spawned a television series and several remakes. You can read the entire article at Blackmagic-design.com . Needless to say I am VERY excited to add this Sci-fi classic to my Blu-ray wish list. A good friend of mine and I made our own ape costumes for Halloween one year (I was a gorilla, he was chimp). I do own the massive "Planet of the Apes" - The Ultimate DVD Collection (see image below) and I'm sort of interested in the new prequel bei...

Cowboys & Aliens on Yahoo!

Pixar on YouTube

Walt Disney Animation Studios returns to the Hundred Acre Wood with "Winnie the Pooh," the first big-screen Pooh adventure from Disney animation in more than 35 years. With the charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical "bear of very little brain" and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga, Roo—and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail. Hooray for the silly ol' bear! As much as I enjoyed "Bolt" and am looking forward to "Tangled", its a relief to see Disney still employing traditional, hand-drawn animation for feature films. I thought "The Princess and the Frog" was a beautiful movie and can't wait to see "Pooh" and hopefully " King of the Elves " will be along for its projected 2012 release. disney.com/pooh

On November 30th Disney will release three new documentaries on DVD. For the casual fan or the serious Disneyphile this is a great way to discover some of the great stories from behind the scenes at Walt Disney Studios. Having purchased " Magic Kingdom Imagineering the Magic " while down in WDW in October I'm really looking forward to adding these three DVD's to our collection as well. Here are the official synopses of each movie and the trailers for you to watch as well... It was 1941, a critical time for the world and for the Walt Disney Studio. When the U.S. Government asked Disney to be a cultural ambassador to South America, the stage was set for Walt's very own real-life adventure. With a group of handpicked artists, later called 'El Grupo,' Disney's WWII road trip achieved the impossible: goodwill. And in the process paved the way for two classic Disney films, "Saludos Amigos" and "The Three Caballeros". Brought to life throu...

Today is a good day for Disney/Pixar fans. We get both "Toy Story 3" and "Cars Toon: Mater's Tall Tales" on Blu-ray Combo Pack & DVD. Since we did not get to the theater to see TS3, I can't wait until Lisa gets home so we can sit down with Maddy and enjoy the latest from Buzz, Woody and the rest of the toy gang. But Maddy and I will dive right into Mater's Tall Tales as soon as she gets home from school - Dadgum! And included with the other DVD inserts is a 'Coming Soon/Available Now' flyer. And (you know it) my favorite Disney/Pixar movie will be released on Blu-ray Spring of 2011. WOOHOO! " The Incredibles " in all its glorious digital beauty presented in dazzling Blu-ray High Definition!!! But that's not all, there will be a new 60th Anniversary Edition of "Alice in Wonderland" on Blu-ray (Spring 2011) and this month (Nov. 30th) we'll get the "Fantasia" 2-Movie Collection on Blu-ray. I'll gladly ...

More "TRON: Legacy" video goodness... TRON: Legacy on YouTube

I was going to wait to post this but I just watched the video again and enjoyed it so much I'll share with you now... Daft Punk TRON: Legacy

While searching the Boxoffice Magazine Vault I came across this reprint of a 1964 ad for "Mary Poppins" and thought I'd share with the rest of the class.

I successfully cracked the code to Boxoffice Magazine's online Vault. Not really, it was free and pretty easy to do. But, I did find three interesting clippings, one each for the Turnpike Drive-In, Indian Ladder Drive-In and the Mayfair Drive-in. 1957 1949 1957

As many of you know, "The Incredibles" is my favorite Pixar film to date. I think I might just be as excited for this as I am for "The Lion King" to be released on Blu-ray! Read more on Collider . See more at Pixar .

Underwire Exclusive: First Look at Disney Mag’s Tron: Legacy Preview The winter issue of Disney twenty-three, the quarterly magazine of the Disney fan club, will feature a nine-page special on Tron: Legacy. Wired.com has an exclusive first look. The story includes interviews with the film's creators, including personal Tron memories from director Joseph Kosinski and writer Steven Lisberger, among others. Read more here... Underwire

Okay, two more retro aviation posters done. The first is an homage to one of the greatest sci-fi, action cartoons ever; Jonny Quest. The second is a travel poster, reminiscent of the designs from the 30's and 40's.

Home movies (not so well shot) from WDW in 1979... Music: "The Bare Necessities" by Los Lobos

Inspired by a conversation I had with Mark D. as we walked through Animal Kingdom. I chose a handful of photos from our most recent Disney vacation and converted them to greyscale in PS. I played with them a bit, all to varying degrees of success.

While away at Walt Disney World last week, we stayed in touch with the outside world via Facebook. Here is a full week recap of our trip -- from beginning to end -- using my Facebook posts.