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.

So you want to be a Disney historian? A lot of peple aspire to the title, even though it doesn't pay well--if at all--and pretty much no one is going to hire you to fill the job vacancy of "Disney Historian."

Still, it's a noble field with many esteemed names, a number of whom it's been my pleasure to welcome to The Mouse Castle Lounge: Jim Fanning, Sam Gennawey, Didier Ghez, J.B. Kaufman, Jeff Kurtti, Todd Pierce and Paula Sigman Lowery. And those are just the people who have contributed to Jim Korkis' new book, How to Be a Disney Historian. It's a collection of tips, tricks and anecdotes about the world of Disney history research. It's an incredibly useful and informative book even if Disney history isn't your thing, because there's plenty of advice about writing and research in general, regardless of your particular topic of interest.

Jim Korkis is a great friend of The Mouse Castle Lounge and it's always a pleasure to have him as my guest. The lengthy list of Disney history books Jim has written includes The Book of Mouse, Secret Stories of Walt Disney World, and four volumes of his Vault of Walt series.

Today, Jim shares with us his best advice on how to become a Disney historian and what separates the contenders from the pretenders. Together, he and I tell our own real life stories about how to make an interview go horribly wrong. Please welcome Jim Korkis, my guest today in The Mouse Castle Lounge.

Enjoy!

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Direct download: TheMouseCastleLounge04-17-2016.mp3
Category:Entertainment -- posted at: 5:00pm PDT
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For the first time in way too long, the Food and Wine Festival has returned to Disney California Adventure. It’s going on this month every Friday, Saturday and Sunday ending on May 1st. It’s a celebration of the tastes of California and an opportunity to sample an assortment of beverages and tasty treats you can’t otherwise find at DCA. You can eat and drink your way from Carthay Circle to Paradise Pier at 8 different Festival Marketplaces, plus there are a number of beverage seminars and culinary demonstrations happening throughout the event.

In Hollywood Land, they’ve set up a celebrity kitchen. For $99 per person you can enjoy presentations by famous chefs like Andrew Sutton, Guy Fieri, Keegan Gerhard, G. Gavin and Graham Eliot--and no, not all those presentations are sold out yet. You can find out more by visiting https://disneyland.disney.go.com/events-tours/disney-california-adventure/food-and-wine-festival.

Last weekend, Team Mouse Castle dropped by the Food and Wine Festival and, oh yes, we sampled as many culinary offerings as we could. Saturday night, we all got together at Napa Rose inside the Grand Californian Hotel and shared our thoughts about Food and Wine, how it compares to similar past events at DCA and especially how much of a value it is for guests. Team Mouse Castle overindulges in food and wine—what could possibly go wrong? 

Enjoy!

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Direct download: TheMouseCastleLounge04-09-2016.mp3
Category:Entertainment -- posted at: 12:00am PDT
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There’s been a lot written about the birth of Disneyland and how Walt’s eponymous theme park emerged from the Anaheim orange groves in the 1950s. We’ve all heard the myth-making official version: Walt visualizing his dream from a Griffith Park bench, the struggles to finance Disneyland, the struggles to build it, and especially the chaotic, near-disastrous opening day. But, have we ever really gotten the complete story? Disney historian Todd James Pierce sets out to do that in his fascinating new book, Three Years in Wonderland: The Disney Brothers, C.V. Wood, and the Making of the Great American Theme Park.

Todd’s book digs deep to chronicle the evolution of Disneyland from its humble early concept as a family park adjoining the Walt Disney Studios to its ultimate success as a one-of-a-kind themed destination. Along the way, we meet the people who made Disneyland a reality: Walt and Roy Disney certainly, but also an often overlooked character, C. V. Wood, or “Woody” as he was known to his friends. Woody was Disneyland’s first general manager and a key player in the park’s development. He was a shrewd and energetic entrepreneur, but also a charlatan of questionable ethics. His approach to business would help guarantee Disneyland’s success, but would also ensure Wood’s personal downfall with the Disney brothers a mere six months after grand opening.

Todd spent nine years researching his book, with much of the content culled from more than 150 interviews. He’s an English professor and co-director of the creative writing program at Cal Poly University. A long-time Disney fan, Todd is a contributor to the Disney History Institute website as well as the Walt’s People book series. He’s published a number of fiction and non-fiction works that have nothing to do with Disney and you can find out more about them at his website, www.ToddJamesPierce.com.

Please welcome Todd Pierce, my guest today in The Mouse Castle Lounge.

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Direct download: TheMouseCastleLounge03-22-2016.mp3
Category:Entertainment -- posted at: 6:00pm PDT
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A few weeks ago, it was my pleasure to have filmmaker Pamela Tom in the Lounge to talk about her documentary Tyrus, the story of Chinese-American artist and Disney Legend Tyrus Wong. Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to finally see Tyrus on the big screen. The film opened CAAMFest, an annual film festival in the San Francisco Bay Area that supports and celebrates Asian art and culture.

It was a delightful evening, with the screening held at San Francisco’s historic Castro Theatre. It was followed by a gala at the Asian Art Museum. On display at the event was an 80-year old watercolor masterpiece by Tyrus Wong called "Chinese Jesus." It depicts an ethereal Christ-like figure floating in a partially clouded sky. For decades, the painting was thought to have been lost, only to be rediscovered a few years ago stashed away in a San Francisco church. The painting came full circle on March 9, when, during a ceremony designating the day as “Tyrus Wong Day” in San Francisco, Tyrus Wong, at 105-years old, signed the painting.

Last Friday, since I was in the neighborhood, I dropped by the Walt Disney Family Museum and spent time with Michael Labrie, the museum’s director of collections. In 2013, Michael curated Water to Paper, Paint to Sky an exhibition of Tyrus Wong’s work. In our conversation, Michael and I talked about Tyrus, as well as a contemporary of Tyrus’s at Disney, Mel Shaw. Mel is the subject of a current retrospective at the Museum, Mel Shaw: An Animator on Horseback

After talking with Michael, imagine my surprise to run into none other than Tyrus Wong at the Museum. He was the guest of honor at a member event later that evening, but he had arrived early to take in the Mel Shaw exhibition. We only chatted briefly, but as always, Tyrus was charming, good humored and an absolute pleasure to talk with.

CAAMFest runs through March 20, so if you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area this week, I highly recommend seeing one of the many fascinating films screening during the festival. In fact, the Walt Disney Family Museum, in celebration of Tyrus Wong, is showing Bambi this Saturday and Sunday. Plus, you can catch an encore showing of Tyrus at the New Parkway Theater in Oakland also on Sunday. For times and ticket information, visit caamfest.com/2016/schedule.

Michael Labrie is my guest today in The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

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Direct download: TheMouseCastleLounge03-16-2016.mp3
Category:Entertainment -- posted at: 4:00pm PDT
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I first learned about Scott Zone from a recent article in the Orange County Register detailing his 20-year association with the Walt Disney Family Foundation and the Disney family. Through Scott’s work as a film archivist, he has restored and preserved 18 hours of home movies shot during Walt Disney’s lifetime. That in itself is an interesting topic of conversation. But, when I finally sat down to talk with Scott, I quickly learned that his Disney connection is just a small part of his successful career in the motion picture industry, a career that Scott began as a special effects cameraman on The Empire Strikes Back and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Scott also has close ties to the Golden Age of Hollywood. His Aunt, Beryl Wallace, was the headline performer at the Earl Carroll Theatre, a renowned supper club on Sunset Boulevard in the 1930s and 40s. It was a Hollywood landmark with a 20-foot high neon portrait of Beryl proclaiming, “Through these portals pass the most beautiful girls in the world.”

Scott and I met at the Off Vine Restaurant, not far from where the Earl Carroll Theatre used to be. This converted craftsman-style home also has a connection to Beryl Wallace and Earl Carroll, but I’ll let Scott explain that story. It’s Walt Disney, Star Wars and Old Hollywood with my guest Scott Zone in The Mouse Castle Lounge.

Enjoy!

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Direct download: TheMouseCastleLounge03-05-2016.mp3
Category:Entertainment -- posted at: 2:00pm PDT
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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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Direct download: TheMouseCastleLounge02-06-2016.mp3
Category:Entertainment -- posted at: 12:00am PDT
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In our last show, historian Sam Gennawey and journalist Mark Eades shared their thoughts about Disneyland’s upcoming Star Wars Land expansion. We had some lively conversations and after the dust settled, Mark stuck around. He’s back today to tell us about his fascinating career, not only in his current role as multimedia reporter with the Orange County Register, but also as a 20-plus year veteran at the Walt Disney Company.

In 1972, Mark started out bussing tables at the River Belle Terrace at Disneyland before becoming a ride operator in Tomorrowland. After graduating from college, he interned at the Walt Disney Studios and eventually worked his way into WED Enterprises, later known as Walt Disney Imagineering. Mark had his hand in developing attractions for the openings of Epcot and Tokyo Disneyland, attractions that included Magic Journeys and Horizons. He worked on the Circle-Vision 360 film American Journeys for the Magic Kingdom and researched the use of motion simulators for what would become Star Tours.

Mark left Disney and a few years after that, began working at the Orange County Register. He’s now a multimedia reporter for the Register and Disneyland is his beat. Today, Mark shares with us what it was like to be inside Disney Imagineering and what you can learn by camping out on Main Street U.S.A. for an entire day. Mark Eades is Tim's guest today in The Mouse Castle Lounge.

Enjoy!

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Direct download: TheMouseCastleLounge01-28-2016.mp3
Category:Entertainment -- posted at: 6:00pm PDT
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