The Mouse Castle Lounge Podcast: Disney News and Interviews, Cocktails and Conversations
Disney news and interviews, cocktails and conversation. Join hosts Tim Callaway and Anthony Reynolds as they take an irreverent look at all things Disney. Then listen to the MCL’s legacy episodes (2012-2018) as Tim talks with Disney artists, Imagineers, animators, authors and even a few Disney Legends about Disney movies, music, books, television, theme parks and history. From Mickey Mouse to Moana, Disneyland to Walt Disney World, Pinocchio to Pixar, it's always good times and great conversations.

This week, Team Mouse Castle didn't make our usual trek to the red carpet in Hollywood to preview the Academy Awards. We found a pretty suitable substitute venue though, Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel. Give a listen to Christi Andersen and me for our annual vague and highly suspect predictions on who will win at Sunday's Oscars.

Joining us will be Carolyn with an award-worthy edition of Adventure Thru Liquid Space. What are you wearing? Who cares? What you're drinking on Oscar night is what really matters.

Here are the major categories we'll be taking a stab at on today's show. We apologize in advance for how you score on your Oscar pool.

Best Picture

The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight


Best Actor

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo

Matt Damon, The Martian

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl


Best Actress

Cate Blanchett, Carol

Brie Larson, Room

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn


Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale, The Big Short

Tom Hardy, The Revenant

Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Sylvester Stallone, Creed


Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Rooney Mara, Carol

Rachel McAdams, Spotlight

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs


Best Animated Feature

Anomalisa

Boy and the World

Inside Out

Shaun the Sheep Movie

When Marnie Was There


Best Animated Short Film

Bear Story

Prologue

Sanjay's Super Team

We Can't Live without Cosmos

World of Tomorrow

Chris Rock hosts the Oscars on ABC Sunday, February 28 at 4:00 p.m. PT. 

Enjoy!

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Direct download: TheMouseCastleLounge02-26-2016.mp3
Category:Entertainment -- posted at: 6:00pm PDT
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Tyrus Wong is a Disney Legend. Though his time at the Disney Studios was brief—only three years from 1938-1941—his contributions there were profound. It was Tyrus’ artistic vision that gave Disney’s Bambi it’s lush impressionistic forest backgrounds, a look that still influences and inspires artists and animators nearly 75 years after the film’s release.

Tyrus’ work on Bambi represents only a small portion of his life’s prolific artistic output. Tyrus was part of the “Orientalist” art movement popular in the U.S. in the 1930s. After leaving Disney, Tyrus would spend over 25 years at Warner Bros. as a production illustrator and concept artists on such films as The Sands of Iwo Jima, Rebel Without a Cause, Harper and The Wild Bunch. He designed menus for restaurants and greeting cards for Hallmark. Today, at 105 years old, he still creates art, most notably ornate kites that he flies once a month on the beach at Santa Monica.

Two and a half years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Tyrus Wong for an episode of The Mouse Castle Lounge. We were at the opening of an art exhibition at The Walt Disney Family Museum--Water to Paper, Paint to Sky—that celebrated Tyrus’ life’s work. Our interview remains one of my all-time favorites as I was charmed by the man’s modesty, good humor and immense talent. It was also at this exhibition where I first met filmmaker Pamela Tom, who was in the middle of shooting a documentary about Tyrus. Today, that film is complete and Pamela is my guest.

Her film, appropriately titled Tyrus, is a moving and inspiring story of a man who overcame the hardships of poverty and racism to succeed as both a popular and fine artist. Completing this film has been a labor of love for Pamela as she met Tyrus Wong and conducted her first interview with him over 15 years ago.

Pamela is an award winning producer and director who has been involved with numerous film projects on PBS including WW2: Behind Closed Doors, Wired Science and the short film Two Lies. She is a respected educator who has taught at UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount and UCLA Extension. 

Enjoy!

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Direct download: TheMouseCastleLounge02-21-2016.mp3
Category:Entertainment -- posted at: 6:00pm PDT
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After 3 ½ years, two full seasons and 40 episodes, Disney XD’s Gravity Falls is about to air its final show—and we're a little bummed by this. Gravity Falls is our favorite thing on Disney television right now, ranking right up there with Phineas and Ferb, another great Disney animated series that came to an end.

The summer adventures of Dipper and Mabel Pines at their great uncle Stan’s Mystery Shack in the Oregon backwoods has been consistently funny, irreverent, exciting and even a little sweet. There have been mysteries solved, monsters defeated and life lessons learned in a show that is as entertaining for kids as it is for adults.

The show’s final episode, “Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls,” will air on Disney XD Monday, February 15 at 7:00 p.m. In it, we'll find out the fate of the Gravity Falls townsfolk at the hands of Bill Cipher, the one-eyed, triangle-shaped being from another dimension hell-bent on ruling—and possibly destroying—the entire known universe. It’s going to be fun, really.

This week, Tim attended a press event in Burbank with some of the cast and creative people of Gravity Falls. On hand was the show’s creator and voice of Grunkle Stan, as well as the lovable handyman Soos, Alex Hirsch. Joining him were the actors who voice Dipper and Mabel Pines, Jason Ritter and Kristen Schaal. And finally, we heard from the composer of Gravity Falls' catchy, mysterious and whimsical music, Brad Breeck.

Drew Taylor with the Disney Insider moderated the panel discussion, which was followed by questions from the press. Alex, Jason, Kristen and Brad shared their favorite moments from the show, how the Gravity Falls characters developed and grew, and why it made sense to end the series when they did.

Adventure Thru Liquid Space

In a move inspired by Garry Apgar, our guest in the Lounge last week, Tim challenged our resident mixologist Carolyn to devise a cocktail worthy of Mickey Mouse's arch-nemesis Black Pete. We're happy to report she came through with flying colors (or maybe she was just Plane Crazy).

Black Pete

1 1/2 oz. Scotch
1/2 oz. Cherry Heering
1/2 oz. Ramazzotti Amaro
1 1/2 oz. Coca Cola

In a shaker, combine the Scotch, Cherry Heering, and Ramazzotti, fill with ice, and shake to chill. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Top with Coke. Garnish.

Enjoy!

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Direct download: TheMouseCastleLounge02-13-2016.mp3
Category:Entertainment -- posted at: 12:00am PDT
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It’s our pleasure to welcome back Garry Apgar to The Mouse Castle Lounge. In 2014, Garry compiled the book A Mickey Mouse Reader, an impressive collection of essays and articles spanning more than 80 years that bore witness to the immense popularity of Mickey Mouse and the impact Walt Disney’s creation had on popular culture. Garry revisits the eternal mouse once again in his latest book, Mickey Mouse: Emblem of the American Spirit. It’s a worthy companion to A Mickey Mouse Reader and an educated and thoughtful study--in words and pictures--not only of Mickey’s life within the Walt Disney Studios, but also his ever-evolving presence as a uniquely American cultural icon.

After Tim's conversation with Garry, stick around for a new segment in the Lounge with our friend Carolyn. She knows a lot about cocktails and is going to start sharing her wisdom with us on a regular basis. Mickey Mouse and booze, what could be better? They're all in today's episode of The Mouse Castle Lounge.

Enjoy!

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RSS Feed: http://themousecastle.libsyn.com/rss

Direct download: TheMouseCastleLounge02-06-2016.mp3
Category:Entertainment -- posted at: 12:00am PDT
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