Star Wars land and Re-expanding the Galaxy Far, Far Away

Update 17/4/17 -- According to a panel at Star Wars Celebration Orlando, the new lands will indeed be considered canon! Yay!

When Disney bought Lucasfilm and announced the Sequel Trilogy, it was more-or-less a given that the Expanded Universe was going to die (or at least the post-Jedi EU). So when it was officially announced that the entire EU would become "Legend", it wasn't a surprise. But it was sad. A lot of us Star Wars fans were upset. We grew up with our comics, novels, role-playing games, and short stories. In middle school I spent innumerable hours reading about the adventures of Mara Jade, the Solo kids (Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin), Tenel Ka, Ben Skywalker, and many others. None of those stories seemed to matter anymore. Those characters didn't exist, and their adventures never took place.

It's been a few years and I've mostly gotten over the change in events (mostly- it's weird thinking of  Luke with anyone but Mara).  But I've come to realize the actual events - the plots of the books - weren't the important part of the EU. I don't even remember half of them. A large portion of the the ones I do were bad. The real thing we lost was the incredible amount of detail about the Galaxy.

Through the EU you could learn about dozens of different worlds and cultures.

You could learn that there are all sorts of Force traditions beyond the black & white, Jedi & Sith that you see in the films.

You could learn about the politics and social structures of the Republics and the Empire.

You could study the rather amazing range of technology.

You could gain more understanding of both the main characters and background ones.

Much of this was lost with the de-canonization. To use an example, the Bothans. Here's the Wookieepedia entry for the current, cannon understanding of the Bothans:

And here's the Legends Wookieepedia entry for the Bothans:

That is one example. The same thing is repeated for nearly all of the places, characters, species, and items in the Star Wars Galaxy.

A few things are happening to help fill in all the gaps again... 

The Clone Wars, even before Disney, used many elements from the old EU, and expanded beyond them. Rebels continues this. All the new books and comics contribute to the new canon, and, of course, the new films are too. But I have to wonder whether the new Star Wars Land will help as well. Will it be considered canon?

The old Star Tours was considered canon, though it did require the creation of a third death star. Elements from the ride showed up in a few different places in the old EU, including the Timothy Zahn novel Specter of the Past. Though not the events in the ride, the existence of a tourism company named "Star Tours" remained canon during the Disney takeover thanks to it's being on The Clone Wars. RX pilot droids became re-canonized with an episode of Rebels. No one seems to care whether the new Star Tours is canon, but certainly parts of it are not: Yoda wouldn't be visibly aiding the Rebel Alliance, and Finn wouldn't have even been born yet. 

RX pilot in Rebels. Taken from Wookieepedia.

The more I learn about the new Star Wars land coming to Disneyland and Walt Disney World, the more it seems that it could be a large contributor to the new canon. Far moreso than Star Tours. Star Tours introduced a tourism company, one new vehicle (the StarSpeeder), and two new types of droids (RX and G2 droids). If Star Wars land reaches the level of detail of the Africa and Asia in the Animal Kingdom, Buena Vista Street in California Adventure, or, hell, even Tomorrowland '94 in the Magic Kingdom (and there's no reason why it wouldn't), then we could see many different new characters, droids, aliens, organizations, companies, pieces of tech, etc. Besides actual events or plot, Star Wars land could contribute almost as much to canon as a new movie.

Belongs to Disney/Lucasfilm

That is, if it's considered canon in the first place. Some bending will be necessary, of course. It would be foolish of Disney to open a Star Wars land without a character meet and greet, no matter how unrealistic that would be. Same with unrealistic merchandise, food, etc. However, if Disney is careful with the content of the attractions themselves and with the detail they'll throw all over the land, parts could certainly enter the new EU.

Part of that means very few obvious in-jokes and references within the land. It won't work if Disney puts a reference to a well-known line, scene, or joke from the films every two feet. The land can't be themed to Star Wars, it has to be Star Wars. Luckily it looks like Disney is moving in that direction. According to the MiceAge Disneyland Rumor Update from the 4th of October 2016:

WDI wants to leapfrog the competition at Universal Studios by creating an immersive Star Wars environment that is more akin to Renaissance Faire cosplay than a theme park land. Shops and dining would be hyper-themed and operated like elaborate dinner theaters and living history museums. 

Belongs to Disney/Lucasfilm

I'm still upset that Disney decided to squeeze Star Wars land in the back of Frontierland, rather than wait to use 3rd gate land or keep the expansion in Disney World, where it is needed most. (Honestly, instead of California, Star Wars land would've been an excellent addition to the Walt Disney Studios park in Paris, which is struggling even more than it's Floridian counterpart). 

However, the more time passes, the more I'm excited to step foot inside the world of Star Wars, and the more excited I am to see what the new land contributes to the Galaxy Far, Far Away.

Paul Eakins' Gay 90s Village and Disney- Link Collection

Four to five years back I got a record player for Christmas, and since then I've been collecting records from the second-hand stores around town. There are a lot of different types that I keep my eyes out for: folk, classical, rock, swing, Disney, and so forth. But I never quite expected to find an entire record of circus calliope music.

"Recorded Out of Doors"

Well, at 25¢ a pop, it's hard to go wrong, so now it sits on the shelf with my other records. I even listen to it occasionally.

The most interesting part of the cover is the note that the record is "Featuring the Wurlitzer Calliola at Paul Eakins' Gay 90's Village". That sounds cool! Like a little Main Street out in Missouri. Of course, things being as they are, Google informed me that the village closed in 1970. Bummer. But, me buckos, every cloud has a sliver lining. Google also informed me that much of the collection of mechanical music machines, organs, calliopes, and old-timey arcade amusements was then sold to Walt Disney World.

There's a lot of good info about this, but not all in the same place. So partly for my own sake, I'd like to post a bunch of this information and links together in one spot.

Paul Eakins' music now has a website- www.bandorganmusic.com. It's managed by Chris Carlisle, Paul Eakins' grandson. On it, you can find the history of the music, a page about the organs,  a photo gallery of the Gay 90s Village, and a bunch of different interviews, audio clips, and videos.

Carlisle has also posted about his family's collection at the Mechanical Music Digest. Of interest is this post about the collection and Disney, published in 2009. Since it's short, here it is in full:

I remember years ago when my grandparents, Paul and Laura Eakins,
were contemplating selling their collection to Walt Disney World.
I was introduced to Roy Disney, as he himself came to Sikeston to
view the collection.  When you have someone that high up in the Disney
organization personally come to view the collection, you know that
they really knew they had something special and would take care of it.

It took two years and fourteen semi-trucks to transport the collection
to Orlando, Florida.  Once there, the music machines and numerous
vintage arcade machines were placed all over the park where everyone
could enjoy them.  However, later, with new management and their desire
to get rid of machines and make room for more gift shops, the decline
started.  It sounds like with the restoration of the Wurlitzer "C"
orchestrion ("Mr. Sam") it's the start of a return to the appreciation
of the machines that they do have.  We can only hope.

Chris Carlisle
Sikeston, Missouri

 Roy Disney himself came to view the machines! How cool is that?!?

"Mr. Sam" is currently on display on the Diamond Horseshoe stage in the Magic Kingdom. Here's a video from Roberts Musical Restorations, the company which refurbished it:

The "decline" that Carlisle refers to matches up with this account from Jim Korkis on AllEars.net. According to that article, the mutoscopes currently found in the Main Street Train Station and at the Boardwalk originally came from the Gay 90's Village, and that they are only part of a larger collection that got sold off.

Here's one of the mutoscopes in action, from Carlisle's YouTube account:

So which machines from Gay 90s Village were sold to Disney? And where are they today?

Goshen at MouseFrames.com has been trying to find the old machines, and made this post about it, which includes a list from Carlisle with every machine sold to Disney. All-in-all, there are 84 names on that list (wow!), but much of the collection was sold to collectors. Goshen has tracked down several of the machines that are still at the parks, including ones at Fort Wilderness and Disneyland Paris. The organ Big Bertha plays at 1900 Park Fare, and an orchestrion is found at the WDW Main Street Train Station.

One interesting thing to note is that the band organ Sadie Mae was not sold to Disney, but Disney recorded its music for the "America on Parade" that ran for the Bicentennial at both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.

Here's a video of the recording in process:

Here's the full parade soundtrack:

To finish off, enjoy one of Eakins' old orchestrions playing "Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah":

A New Time

Some personal reflections on the future of Disneyland.

Disneyland, with the start of Star Wars construction, is entering a new period of history. I believe the first new period of time within my memory.

 I barely remember Disneyland up to the 50th anniversary. Since the 50th, Disneyland has not changed much. Most of the major changes to the resort came to California Adventure. At Disneyland, change was mostly limited to new entertainment, bringing back old classics such as the Submarine Voyage, Great Moments, and the Castle Dioramas, and plussing existing rides, such as with Ghost Galaxy, the 2010 refurbishment of the Rivers of America, Murphy the dragon, and the new final scene of Big Thunder. 

Now, Disneyland is about to go through one of the biggest expansions in it's history. I don't agree with it, but it's happening. As part of this, we lost the back end of the River, Big Thunder Ranch, and what I will probably miss the most: quiet, crowd-less evenings in Critter Country and on Big Thunder Tail. Once Star Wars opens, they will probably be just as insane as the rest of the park. It will also have an influence on the overall theme or feel of Disneyland: It's the first land based off of only one franchise. Even the relatively specific lands of New Orleans Square, Critter Country, and Toontown encompassed multiple smaller themes/stories. And those three are all small. Star Wars will be around the same size as Frontierland, Fantasyland, or Tomorrowland.

I'm scared for my Disneyland. It feels like it is changing so much, and that it's going to feel like a completely different ten years from now. It's very, very nerve-wracking not knowing what your favorite area of your favorite theme park since childhood will look like in a year.

Audio-animatronic wins at the end of 2015

2015, I'd say, was a moderate success for Disneyland. </understatement> The diamond celebration, with it's new shows and additions to attractions, has brought in huge crowds.

Over in Florida, things went pretty well also, with several refurbishments, updates, and -finally- the removal of the giant hat.

Two updates that happened towards the end of the year have made me very happy. One has already been praised widely elsewhere: the addition of the Three Caballeros audio-animatronics at the end of their boat ride in Epcot. The other was more of a personal victory - Splash Mountain's hitchhiking alligator, an audio-animatronic that has been having a good deal of trouble the past year or so, was given a complete overhaul and looks better than ever, giving me some hope about the future of the rest of the cast.

The story of the old Mickey Mouse Revue birds has been explained on nearly every Disney news site. I won't repeat it here. Instead, I'll just say that they're great looking and great moving audio-animatronics, especially for being so old. They're fantastic! I can't wait for an opportunity to see them in real life.

Take a look at them here:

At Disneyland, the cast of Splash Mountain hasn't been doing well the past few years.

For instance, here was the state of affairs on my last trip a few weeks back: a couple frogs were missing, the other frogs were broken, most geese have broken parts and aren't moving the way they were back in 1989 (check this video at 1:49 for reference), the first Brer Bear was broken, the first Brer Fox was missing, a couple opossum children were missing, and the remaining ones weren't working all that well, the handcart wasn't working (again), laughing Brer Rabbit was frozen, the fox in the Laughing Place was broken, Mrs Opossum's eyes were completely misaligned, a figure was missing from the steamboat, the can-can geese were frozen (they were in that state for five months straight), and lights were out all over the place, shrouding multiple scenes in darkness (including the first Brer Rabbit and the Boot Hill Boys).

(Just looking at a list, it doesn't seem that bad- after all, these are only a few problems out of a cast that numbers over 100, and many of that cast seem to be working fine. Figures being missing or broken is a fact of life at Disneyland. But no other attraction has so many problems with their cast and with the lights - Pirates, small world and the Tiki Room also have large casts, and maybe one or two figures might be down or out on a given trip. Splash Mountain has got it rough. This is largely due to safety regulations for the maintenance Cast Members. Before much can improve, these safety measures have to be taken.)

A lot of these figures do go down for maintenence and get fixed, but even then they don't look or move so great, and they always seem to be broken again a month later! The first Brer Bear, the handcart, and the Boothill Boys, to name a few, seem to need constant fixing. The hitchhiking gator also had constant bad luck. He never looked great, was often out for maintenance (50/50 whether he'd show up or not on a particular visit), and was found earlier this year with his whole torso put on backwards:

But then a miracle happened - the gator went under refurbishment again, but when he emerged in November, he looked and moved as though he was brand new!

Old photo, but gives you an idea of him

He was super bright and squeaky-clean, probably repainted and given a good wash. He was moving fantastically: he looked like he was hitting all of the "key frames" that he was meant to hit, not only moving a half of the way or a quarter of the way there, like some of the geese. All of his moving parts seemed to be working. I don't think he looked better in the summer of 1989. Every time passing by him on that trip, I gave him a smile, a thumbs-up, or a celebratory fist pump.

He's beauty, he's grace

This gives me hope for the rest of the critters - this 1974 alligator looks and moves like he was built yesterday. If Disney would first construct the appropriate safety structures for the Cast Members then go through each Audio-animatronic cast member on this ride and fix them like they fixed this gator, the attraction would look great! Updating the lights to LED, like Disney has been doing on other attractions, would keep the lights from going out as quickly. The past few refurbishments have been to update the safety measures and hopefully they'll continue to do so during the one coming up in February. This ride could sparkle again.

Picture Sources:

Both pictures of the gator: Doo-dah Landing

The Omnipresent Bench

These things are EVERYWHERE.

Daveland

In this Daveland photo from the 1960s, the bench is in use in New Orleans Square, in-between the main  area and the Rivers of America.
Despite the modification of the entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean and the complete overhaul of the area to accommodate Fantasmic, the benches are still in New Orleans Square, two found on royal street:

Mint Crocodile

And another next to the jewelry shop:

Mint Crocodile

Over in Fantasyland, the old Motor Boat Cruise dock is now used as a quiet seating area. And what is there to sit on? The omnipresent white bench, of course!

They also form the seating at the smoking area across from the Matterhorn.

They aren't just found at Disneyland! I spotted one the other day while watching The Happiest Millionaire, in the background of the "Are we Dancing?" scene.

I haven't been able to find any photos of the bench in use at Walt Disney World, nor have I spotted it in any other Disney films. Have you seen it anywhere else?

UPDATE:

The Bench(c) is also in Tokyo Disneyland! Fantasyland, to be exact:

UPDATE 2:

~The Bench~ is also used by The San Diego Zoo-- up in the World Gardens at the Wild Animal Park / Safari Park

Photo Credits:
Old New Orleans Square - Daveland
Benches today in New Orleans Square - Mint Crocodile
The other photos are my own.

A Missed Hiccup

One of the unfortunate things about being born 9 years after an attraction has closed is that you can only watch it with blinders, if a video of it is available of all.

America Sings is one of my favorite Disneyland attractions. Unfortunately, I can only view it through YouTube. This is ok. I still see the animation, hear the music, and all that good stuff. However, the cameraman could only point in one direction at a time, so you end up watching the show like you're a horse with blinders on. Sometimes you miss out on some good animation that way.
The usual video that I watch- the one that I find the quality to be highest- pans away from the "Sweet Adeline" before the song is over in order too look at the rising Old Grey Mare. It's only the last couple of seconds or so, so I don't really mind.

Today I watched a different video. This one doesn't pan away. I had missed some good stuff !
The main singer of "Sweet Adeline" is a drunken goose in the clutches of a dog policeman. I had always figured that the "hiccup" at the end of the song came from the goose. But nope ! It comes from Officer Dog. On top of that, the look that the goose gives the dog right before the hiccup is priceless. The music has stopped, and the goose just stares open-mouthed at the dog's face. It's frickin' perfect.

(Click here for source video)

I'm very happy to have found this out, but it does make me wonder what else I'm missing from this show. You really miss a lot from only getting the "blinders" view of it.