Disney This Week - 13 October 2013

This Week – On the Main Street Gazette

We didn't have much going on over here, but head on over to the WDW Radio Show where Lou Mongello and I spent some time talking all things Indy. But you call him Dr. Jones, doll!

This Week – Around the Disney Blogosphere

Ever wonder how much your own castle would cost? Leah Kaiz and Movoto Blog have you covered when they come up with the price tag for Cinderella Castle.

Mitch at Imagineering Disney does an incredible job of wading through the emotions and facts of a Club 33 expansion.

I certainly hope AJ Wolfe picked me up a Brioche Ice Cream Sandwich when she was doing research for The Disney Food Blog!

Estelle Hallick offers up her review of Jim Henson: The Biography at This Happy Place Blog.

An update on Disney’s Disability Access Service comes to us via Melissa Knight Coulter and Disney On Wheels.

The Tower of Terror 10-Miler is recapped by Disney Every Day and Amanda Tinney.

Sarah Holodick breaks down the Ocean Spray Cranberry Bog Reception on Eating WDW.

Passport to Dream Old & New and FoxxFur take a peek at how Orlando businesses welcomed EPCOT Center to town.

This Week – World News Roundtable

Roundtable Contributors: Estelle Hallick (This Happy Place Blog), Alan Mize, and Blake Taylor (BlakeOnline.com).

All the Disney Sides

Estelle Hallick (This Happy Place Blog) 

I'm kind of over these Disney campaigns. I know campaigns create merchandise that make money but I'm not sure why every year has to have a theme. (And this coming from someone who loves themes.) Technically, we are all showing our "Disney side" when we are in the parks (and not!) without slapping a label on it.

One positive though? I am really enjoying the new commercials because other parks seem to be getting the spotlight and that's pretty awesome to see after a whole lot of Magic Kingdom coverage.

Alan Mize 

Show us your Disney Side!  Disney has announced a contest for the month of October where guests are invited to create videos via Vine that showcase their Disney love.  Disney wants to see the part of their guests that comes out the second they cross into a Disney park.  Videos will be judged on creativity, originality, and expression of their “Disney Side.”  Each day, one lucky winner will receive $1,000 and one extremely lucky grand prize winner will receive either a Disneyland or Walt Disney World resort vacation valued at $10,000.

Recently, Disney seems to really be putting an emphasis on social media and trying to get their brand out there in different ways.  This is clearly another attempt at doing that.  Vine, as well as other short video apps, is very popular right now and it’s nice to actually see Disney jumping into something while it’s still relatively popular as opposed to after it has run its course.  See: American Idol Experience. While I won’t be submitting any videos of my own personal Disney Side, I feel comfortable saying that a lot of guests will jump at the chance to do this.  And in turn, I feel comfortable saying that Disney will jump at the chance to use those videos to promote their parks and resorts.

Pixar Packs A Moving Truck

Blake Taylor (BlakeOnline.com)

Pixar Canada, the Vancouver-based extension of Pixar Animation Studios, will shut down immediately. The studio opened in 2010 to create shorts and spinoffs for Pixar's legacy characters, namely from Toy Story and Cars. Nearly 100 employees will be laid off.

The reason given for the closure was to focus everything under one roof, at Pixar's headquarters in Emeryville, California. The decision makes sense, but one question lingers: Was it just the functionality of the Canada extension that didn't work out, or was it Canada's work itself that Pixar wasn't happy with? More specifically, does this mean the end of the Toy Story and Cars franchises for the near future? Certainly Pixar could continue to develop projects in Emeryville with both entities if they chose to do so, but without an entire branch of the company designed to do that very task, things could get more sporadic and inconsistent. I am personally a fan of the shorts and would love to see more; they allow more time with favorite characters without the pressure of a full-blown sequel.

Whatever the case may be, there is at least one more Toy Story treat to look forward to, this very week, in fact. The half-hour television special Toy Story of Terror will debut Wednesday, October 16, at 8 p.m. on ABC. Despite what one would assume, it was actually made by Pixar's Emeryville team, not Canada.