OUR D23/DISNEYLAND ADVENTURE: PART 1 THE EXPO

This year we were having trouble trying to decide where to go for our vacation. We hemmed and hawed over a bunch of fun destinations, but we finally decided on a repeat trip and visit the second D23 Expo. We had such a swell time at the first expo in 2009, our choice was an easy one. The “first lady” and yours truly jumped on a jet plane and zoomed out to Anaheim.

We had three days at D23, which we eventually nicknamed Disneyline because of the super long lines for everything. Long lines for the panels, the stores, the booths, the displays and even for cupcakes!


Yes, we really waited in line for a cupcake and it was yummy! Worth the wait!

We attended the Legends ceremony where a deserving group of folks were added to Disney’s version of a hall of fame. One highlight was seeing the much deserved entry for Guy Williams, the amazing actor who is best known in the title role for Disney’s Zorro and as Professor John Robinson in the cult TV show Lost in Space. With Guy’s Zorro sword in hand, Guy Williams Jr. and family accepted for the late actor.


After the ceremony, we had the pleasure of briefly meeting Guy Williams Jr. It was a nice and unexpected opportunity to give a much deserving congrats.

Another highlight from the Legend ceremony was the honoring of Jim Henson. Both of us grew up watching the Muppets and Jim Henson has always been one of my heroes. It was a real treat watching his son Brian recreate Jim’s famous “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Your Face” bit.


You can view Brian’s performance here.

Hey check it out! We met Disney Legend Bob Gurr after the Legends ceremony!


It was an honor to meet the imagineer behind so many important Disneyland attractions. Such a super-nice guy!

The big draw for us and what sealed the deal to attend D23, was the chance to see Dick Van Dyke and the Vantastix perform.


The performance was, well...nothing short of Vantastic!!! It was worth the three hour wait in line! Watch the complete performance here.

We met television royalty! A big surprise was that funny lady Rose Marie was in the audience.


After the performance, the Dick Van Dyke Show alum started holding court for a small group of folks in the hall. We could have listened to her talk all night as she still can bring the funny!

The next day we visited the Carousel of Projects, an exhibit that shows off the latest developments for Disney’s parks and various resorts. Neat stuff inside for sure, but we thought it fell short compared to the display back in 2009. The best part was the nifty sign!


I'm excited to see they're going to build a replica of the old Carthay Circle Theatre, the theater where Snow White premiered. The photo below is a model they had on display inside the Carousel of Projects.


The Expo could have easily been called PixarCon as the studio had a huge presence at D23. It was nice seeing all the Pixar love and it was exciting to learn more about the new projects.





We almost got run over by Mater! Whew, that was a close one!

Wreck-It Ralph looks like it might be a fun movie. I’m loving all the nostalgia related to classic arcade games nowadays and this movie looks to be a love letter to the arcades of my youth.


Not sure who the kid is here, but it looks like he’s enjoying the game. (Shh...don’t tell him the game was only a demo and wasn’t set up for people to play.) Click here to watch a video of the game.

This zebra was supposed to be part of the Jungle Cruise, but he never made it to the attraction. Nevertheless, he was sold for $6,000 at the auction.


Uncle Walt had a sweet ride back in the day! A couple of shots of his 1962 Cadillac Fleetwood limo.



My favorite thing of the expo was viewing the Disney Treasures. Last year we weren’t allowed to snap photos. This year we could snap away! The first shot and the first thing when you enter the Treasures room is this plush Engineer Mickey, who rode with Walt on the train during Disneyland’s opening day back 1955.


Next is a close-up of Annette’s Mousketeer Special Deputy badge.


Hero costumes from one of my favorite films, The Rocketeer.


I snapped a close-up of the jet pack and I’m now using it as my new desktop wallpaper. Click on the photo below and give it the old right-click if you want to use it for wallpaper.


Tron got its own special room complete with ambient lighting and sound effects.


This mayor program was geeking out standing in the room and didn’t want to leave. Basically, the “first lady” had to drag me out.

It was nice to see some Who Framed Roger Rabbit props!


The Acme Disappearing & Re-Appearing Ink was my favorite!

Z is for Zorro! The Zorro collection of costumes and memorabilia was also a treat to see.




Since we’ve been back we’ve been on a Zorro kick watching the old TV show.

A special exhibit of props from the latest Pirates of Caribbean movie were on display on the Expo floor. Here’s the Black Pearl stuck in a bottle.




Wow, a booth filled with animatronics. Oh wait, these are TropiTronics!


There was a lot of cool stuff to buy and we did our share and bought a few souvenirs to take home. One item I wished I could have purchased was this replica of the Bulldog Cafe Set Director’s Model. It was left over from the 20th Anniversary Rocketeer event at the El Capitan.


That’s it for my D23 report, but that’s not all from our vacation. I have two more parts to share! A Disneyland/California Adventure post followed by a Tron post! Also, I’ll try to upload more D23 photos over on flickr.

RETRO VIDEO ARCADE OPENS IN INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI

If President Harry S. Truman were alive today, you might find him going for high score on Donkey Kong at the new Electric Theatre Vintage Arcade. Yep, the historic square in Independence, Missouri, the town that Harry made famous, is getting its first retro arcade.


This is a dream come true for my pal Mike Freeland who’s been an arcade enthusiast and coin-op collector for over 15 years. I’ve known Mike for at least that many years and he’s always talked about opening an arcade to house his collection of coin-ops. Mike already knows a bit about riding the entrepreneurial merry-go-round as he owns Freeland Photography, a successful photography business in Kansas City. So he’s familiar with the ups and downs of starting a business. Attempting to open a vintage arcade has been just that - full of ups and downs. Really, Mike’s journey has been similar to some of the 8-Bit characters that live in the video games of his collection. Filled with zaps, crashes and new lives! Last year, Ken and Cindy McClain, Independence Square preservationists and business owners, inserted a token into the arcade dream. They own Square Pizza and decided this would be a great temporary location for the arcade. If everything goes as planned, eventually the arcade will move into the old Plaza Theatre building, hence the name Electric Theatre Vintage Arcade. (The name is actually a double homage. First to the old Electric Theatre that used to be located on the square and second to Mike's childhood arcade on the square, the Electric Company Arcade.) I’ve seen some of the plans and designs for this building and when it happens, it should be one of the premier retro arcades in the country.

Apparently, every step of creating the Electric Theatre Arcade is being recorded for a possible documentary. Check out this video.

Electric Theatre Arcade Documentary Pilot from BradJohnson on Vimeo.

Ok, enough of the talk ‘cause the only thing we care about is playing some classic vids!

Visit the Electric Theatre Vintage Arcade at Square Pizza September 2nd-5th during the Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival to play 40 classic arcade games! No quarters or tokens needed as the games will be set on free play. A five dollar admission at the door will be your golden ticket for unlimited play. That’s a bargain ‘cause you know you’d blow five bucks in five minutes just playing Defender. Also, you can pay $10 to come and go all day or $20 for the weekend. Hours for Friday will be Noon to 11 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m -11 p.m. and Monday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. The hours could change, so be sure to visit electrictheatrearcade.com or email info@electrictheatrearcade.com for more information.


Spread the word because if there’s enough interest in the Electric Theatre Vintage Arcade then it will become a permanent place on the Independence Square. We all know that more old school arcades that exist is one step closer to world peace. You want world peace dontcha?

---Update---
Unfortunately the Electric Theatre Arcade was forced to close by the city of Independence. Hopefully things can be worked out and eventually the arcade will be back.

---Update---
The Electric Theatre Arcade will be open for four days during Labor Day weekend 2012!!

NICK AT NITE TITLE CARDS

I’ve been going through a bunch of my old VHS tapes and finding shows taped off of Nick at Nite back in the 90’s. The channel was a lot of fun when they featured classic TV shows from the 1950‘s to the 70’s. One of my favorite things about the channel were all the clever bumpers and TV spots during the commercial breaks. Go to YouTube and type Nick at Nite in the search. You’ll find tons of ‘em to watch. For fun, I screen grabbed a handful of title cards used in some of these spots. I love the artwork on these!










The titles in the next group were used for specific shows. My favorite might be the cone of silence one from Get Smart!















I uploaded two Nick at Nite marathon events to YouTube the other day. Click Puf-A-Palooza and The Lost Brady to view.

BARRY WILLIAMS GETS GROOVY IN BRANSON

Here’s the story,

Of a groovy guy,

Who was bringing up some very funky tunes.

All of them were hits of gold,

Like their singer,

Who sometimes softly croons.

Here’s the story,

Of a man named Yakov,

Who was busy with a theater of his own.

In Branson, MO,

A Russian comedian, but was all alone-.

Till the one day when the guy met this Smirnoff,

and they knew their show was much more than a lunch.

That these two,

Must somehow form a morning show.

That’s the way it all became the Brady Brunch,

The Brady Brunch- the Brady Brunch

That’s the way- it became the Brady Brunch.

Honestly I tried to resist posting my feeble parody attempt of the Brady Bunch lyrics, but I just couldn’t help myself. Hey, when you’re in a good mood sometimes you do goofy silly things. How’d I get in this good mood? Well...the "first lady" of Neato Coolville and myself took in a live show this past Saturday. We visited the theater of 80's icon Yakov Smirnoff in Branson, Missouri to see the 70's icon Barry Williams perform his new show, Brady Brunch.


For the past two weeks, Barry has been performing at Yakov’s Branson theater with a show that he’s been working on for a few years. It’s a simple and fun show that celebrates Barry’s career from his days as playing Greg Brady in the Brady Bunch to his many adventures in the entertainment business. He gets the crowd in the groove from the beginning when he comes out as his alter ego, no not Greg, but Johnny Bravo.


After greeting the audience he shares some Brady clips followed by some fun behind the scenes stories. Barry keeps on truckin’ with some 70's tunes and sings some of the biggest hits of the decade. Halfway thru the show, brunch is served. It was a big breakfast type of meal that made us skip lunch. I guess that’s why they call it a brunch! Yakov made us laugh as he helped pass the brunches down the rows. As the audience munched on the brunches, Barry took questions.


This was probably our favorite moment of the show as Barry is at his best when interacting with the audience. I feel sorry for the lady in front of me who I spit pieces of egg on when I laughed too hard. (Just joking! I think I missed her.)

The show took on a more quiet tone after brunch.


Veterans were honored (a Branson show tradition) and Barry shared some meaningful moments about his family along with a nice tribute to his dad. He was a WWII veteran.

He ended the fun with the famous Brady Kids bubblegum hit, It’s a Sunshine Day!


Later, Barry took time to meet and greet anyone who wanted a photo taken with him and an autograph. The "first lady" had her vintage trading card ready for him to sign. (Yep, she’s a Brady collector!)


We were thrilled to hear the announcement that Barry will be back in the fall of 2012 for a more longer and maybe permanent show in Branson. Click here for the scoop.


Heck, he even hinted about a possible Christmas show. Hopefully this will happen and if it does...it really will be a sunshine day!

Ok...how 'bout a photo of a giant Yakov head? Here you go, as found in front of the Yakov Theater.



---Update---
It's official! Barry is back with shows later this year, including a Christmas show and a full schedule for 2012! 

HAPPY 100 TO THE LUCY WE ALL LOVE

In honor of Lucille Ball’s 100th birthday, I’ve scanned this 1953 ad where Lucy and Desi give out some flooring tips.

CONCEPT ART FROM THE WESTERN RIVER EXPEDITION GETS ANIMATED

Check out this amazing teaser that will bring to life one of the best theme park attractions that never was. My pal David, the curator of Quasi-Interesting Paraphernalia Inc., has taken it upon himself to create a short series of animations based after the unproduced Disney World attraction, The Western River Expedition.

Western River Expedition: Coming Soon

Now that you’ve watched the teaser, be sure to haunt Quasi-Interesting Paraphernalia Inc. all this month to catch the WRE animations.

If you’re not familiar with David’s work, here’s a couple of my favorites. Also, you can click here to view more video goodies!

Haunted Mansion Hunter

Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist