Disneyland Explorer -- the happiest app on earth

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Our Disney trip is almost over, and soon we'll have nothing but happy memories at the Happiest Place on Earth to take on the road with us.  Or will we?  Ha -- I've got the Disneyland Explorer app on my iPad, which means we can take a virtual trip all around the Disneyland Resort with just a few swipes of our finger.


The Disneyland Explorer app.   Due to all the hi-res photos and videos, it takes up a huge amount of space on the iPad, but it's completely worth it.  The Disney folks have recreated the entire Disneyland Resort for you to navigate through, with over 130 attractions, characters and locations to explore.  Touch an attraction, and a brief description pops up, often with photos or videos.


The most popular attractions even have fun interactive games and activities, like the Pirates of the Caribbean (fire cannonballs at pirate ships),  Haunted Mansion (play a ghostly organ), Star Tours (email postcards of worlds around the Star Wars galaxy)  and Tower of Terror (visit each of the 13 floors of the Hollywood Tower Hotel), World of Color show (design your own fireworks show).




There is only the bare minimum of information -- no attraction wait times or reviews or anything like that -- so you wouldn't use it to plan a trip, just fantasize about it.  Since we're never going to be able to afford the $3000-$6000 per night price tag for the Signature Suites at the Disneyland Hotel, the 360-degree panoramas on this app are the only way we'll ever get to enjoy the suite life.   This app is a must for any Disneyland fan -- it's a great way to relive all the fun moments we had at the resort, and a great way to get excited for future trips!




Disclosure: I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post.  The views and opinions expressed here are my own.


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Cars 2 Clips: "Carmac Chase" & "Mater's Disguises"

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We're just two weeks away from Cars 2!!! And with that, comes two more clips. This first one is a continuation of the "british intelligence" clip featuring McMissile and Mater meeting at the airport. This time, we get to see a little part of the car chase with our two lemons, Grem and Acer.

This second clip introduces us to the spy train named Stephenson who works with Finn. In this clip, Mater puts on different disguises using advanced technology.........voice activated by the way.....

The Wreck-It Ralph Website's Up

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Following recent releases for Disney's 52nd animated feature film, Wreck-It Ralph, including the film's first stills and trailer, Disney have now launched the official website. Largely what you'd expect, the site features the trailer, stills, the official synopsis and some downloads including wallpapers and Twitter icons. However, it packs a little extra punch.

You can play the fictional game, Fix-It Felix, Jr., the game in which Ralph is the villain. Not dissimilar to Donkey Kong, your aim is to use the arrow keys to avoid Ralph's obstacles, using the space bar to repair the damage Ralph has done. Contrary to the trailer which sees the inhabitants of the building launching Ralph off the roof, the aim of this game is to see how far you can get before Ralph beats you - he is the star of the film after all!

It's a great little game that gives you a real feel of the world of Wreck-It Ralph and shows how well the team at Disney - led by director, Rich Moore (The Simpsons, Futurama) - understand the retro-game world.

This film already has the feel of a classic...

First Brave Reviews And More TV Spots

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Ahead of the US premiere of Pixar's Brave in 11 days, the first reviews have started to surface - and it's looking good! Contrary to the somewhat lukewarm critical reception to their last feature, Cars 2, Pixar look to be back on top form with Brave.

Only a handful of reviews have showed up so far, but the prevailing impression is a good one. Variety's Peter Debruge says that Brave creates "a resonant tribute to mother-daughter relationships that packs a level of poignancy on par with such beloved male-bonding classics as Finding Nemo", whilst citing it as more "conventional" than some of their previous more ambitious projects like 2004's The Incredibles. HeyUGuys gushes about the film in their review, saying:


"What makes Brave truly special is that, even if it were stripped of its dazzling visuals, laugh-out-loud humour and dynamism, it would remain a clever, arresting and emotionally involving, yet inherently simple tale about the turbulent relationship between a mother and daughter and the fact that freedom may not be all it’s cracked up to be. It’s the emotional core, with all those extra elements sprinkled liberally on top that makes Brave the best animated film of the year, rewarding in droves. It’s quite simply, unrelentingly spectacular."
Awarding the film 4/5 stars.

However, although (from a small sample of 5) it currently totes an 80% Fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating, not all of the reviews are positive. The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy seems less enthused about the film, saying "Pixar's 13th film, which follows an adventurous Scottish princess, is visually stunning and strongly voiced, but doesn't take any real risks.", although it's by no means a bad review, saying it has a "beautiful and eventful prologue", also stating:

"The wild beauty of Scotland, of the verdant forests and the craggy peaks, is lovingly rendered with a gorgeous palette of painterly colors and in very agreeable 3D."and"Patrick Doyle's active and resourceful score is another major plus "
Big Screen Animation's Mike Bastoli also said on Twitter "If you read any early Brave review that say Pixar fans might be disappointed by Brave, ignore it."
Also, head on over to Pixar Corner to check out a bunch of great new TV spots for Brave!
Brave is released in the US on 22nd June, and 13th August here in the UK.

More Details on Disney's Frozen

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Walt Disney Animation Studios announced (via ComingSoon.net earlier today some more details about their 2013 animated release, Frozen. We heard a while back that Frozen was the new title for the Disney adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, and that it was due on 27th November, 2013 (the date previously scheduled for Bob Peterson's The Good Dinosaur), this latest release though just cites November 2013 - no specific date is mentioned.

The computer-animated "epic tale of adventure and comedy" is directed  by Chris Buck (Tarzan, Surf's Up) and produced by Peter Del Vocho (Winnie the Pooh, The Princess and the Frog). Frozen features the vocal talent of Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) as Anna, "a young dreamer about to take the adventure of a lifetime", and Tony Award winning actress, Idina Menzel (Broadway's Wicked, TV's Glee), as Elsa the, formerly titular, Snow Queen.

Original songs for the film are being created by Broadway's Robert Lopez (The Book of Mormon) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (who's working on songs for a stage-adaptation of Pixar's Finding Nemo), and the synopsis for the film reads:

In “Frozen,” a prophecy traps a kingdom in eternal winter, so Anna (voice of Bell) must team up with Kristoff, a daring mountain man, on the grandest of journeys to find the Snow Queen (voice of Menzel) and put an end to the icy spell. Encountering Everest-like extremes, mystical creatures and magic at every turn, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom from destruction.
Frozen seems like a more traditional film for Disney - going down the princess and musical route again - and a million miles away from Wreck-It Ralph. That said, it worked phenomenally well for Tangled, and it does look to provide some great range (both with its setting and premise), following the more Pixar-esque Wreck-It Ralph late this year.
Can't wait to hear more about this as we progress!
If you haven't done so already, be sure to watch the trailer for Disney's next film, Wreck-It Ralph, here!
And be sure to vote in our Aardman poll to the left; only 3 days left!

First Look at Blue Sky Studios' Epic

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Following the recent title change that turned Blue Sky Studios' (the studio behind Ice Age) 2013 release from Leafmen into Epic, and some big voice cast news, we now get our first look at the characters and animation of the film.

At this year's Licensing Expo, the above image (via comingsoon.net), showed up, showing us the huge, grand and, yes, epic scale of the film, and the heavy fantasy elements prominent in the adaptation of Moonbot's William Joyce's book.

The characters and animation look solid and we can't wait to hear more about Epic as we approach its 24th May, 2013 release date.

Also, if you haven't already, check out our interview with Blue Sky Studio vis. dev. artist, Tyler Carter, who's working on Epic!

Cars 2 Clips: "Carmac Chase" & "Mater's Disguises"

To contact us Click HERE
We're just two weeks away from Cars 2!!! And with that, comes two more clips. This first one is a continuation of the "british intelligence" clip featuring McMissile and Mater meeting at the airport. This time, we get to see a little part of the car chase with our two lemons, Grem and Acer.

This second clip introduces us to the spy train named Stephenson who works with Finn. In this clip, Mater puts on different disguises using advanced technology.........voice activated by the way.....