To Come Jon Favreau Brings the Beloved Hot Summer Characters Back to the Big Screen Blockbusters
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Summer 2019 Spring 2019STORIES AND TIPS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF STORIES AND TIPS YOUR REWARDS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR DISNEY REWARDS COOL OFF WITH Hot Summer Blockbusters COOL OFF WITH THE LION KING RETURNS to come Jon Favreau brings the beloved Hot Summer characters back to the big screen Blockbusters READY, SET, LAUGH WITH TOY STORY 4 Join old friends and new HEAT UP Your Summer Adventures DISCOVER ALADDIN COME TO LIFE See this thrilling adaptation In This Issue Take Imaginations on a Summer Vacation with Your Disney® Visa® Debit Card Summer is a great time to enjoy new PAGES THE TOYS ARE experiences—like the much-anticipated Star PAGES A WHOLE NEW LOOK PAGES STAR WARS: GALAXY’S EDGE 8 & 9 12 & 13 Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening at Disneyland® 4 & 5 FOR A CLASSIC FILM BACK IN TOWN AT DISNEYLAND® PARK Park on May 31, 2019 (capacity is limited). In Woody, Buzz and the toys hit the road Aladdin comes to life in a brilliant Find helpful hints to make your long-awaited this Rewards insider, you’ll find helpful tips in Toy Story 4, making new friends, new live-action adaptation in journey to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at for putting your Disney Visa Debit Card to including Forky, a utensil-turned-craft- st theaters May 24th. Disneyland® Park opening May 31 , an work to make the most of this new land. But project-turned-toy. In theaters June 21st. out-of-the-galaxy experience! memorable adventures can also happen at your nearest movie theater. This summer Disney is releasing so many exciting new films, it’s a great time to beat the heat with an afternoon matinee. Whether watching a new Disney film, CARDMEMBER shopping for new character merchandise at PAGES BEHIND THE SCENES OF PAGES BRING HOME A FRIEND PAGE 15 LIMITED-TIME OFFERS Disney store and shopDisney.com or exploring a 6 & 7 THE LION KING 10 & 11 AND A SMILE galaxy “far, far away,” there’s no better time to Check out the exclusive offers for Filmmakers reveal how they created Find a new selection of fun-filled products use your Disney Visa Debit Card. Cardmembers, including a delicious dining the stunning new high-tech reimagining inspired by Toy Story 4 at Disney store and plan from Walt Disney World® Resort! of Disney’s epic animated classic, shopDisney.com. The Lion King, in theaters July 19th. FPO VISIT DisneyDebit.com TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR YEAR-ROUND CARDMEMBER PERKS AND MORE. 2 3 LEARN MORE AT DISNEYDEBIT.COM LEARN MORE AT DISNEYREWARDS.COM Summer 2019 Summer 2019 DANCING IN THE RAIN “It took about 30 days to get the number ready to shoot. We started rehearsing at the end of July and filmed in early September. We had four days to shoot and it rained for two of them,” Sims recalls. “The day of our dress rehearsal was sunny and perfect. The next day, it was pouring rain. “I wanted the We were squelching around in mud, so obviously we had choreography to to cancel. We ended up shooting in two days instead of capture the sense four—half the time we’d allotted!” of energy, humor and joy of the classic animated Enjoy More Aladdin film.” Experiences at Walt —Jamal Sims, Choreographer Disney World® Resort2 You don’t need a genie to find more Aladdin fun in Adventureland in Magic Kingdom® Park. Be sure not to miss these colorful, exotic sights and attractions. And bring home a keepsake to turn your home into a veritable Cave of Wonders. Cardmembers save 10% off select merchandise purchases of $50 or more at the Agrabah Bazaar.3, 4 . TEACHING A GENIE TO DANCE “Friend Like Me,” was another choreographic challenge. Make Way for the Dancers “The Genie is magical,” Sims says. “In the animated film, the artists could make him do whatever they wanted—twist, morph, shrink, grow, disappear, replicate himself. I had to Jamal Sims talks about the challenge and the fun of choreographing Aladdin, create that same magical feeling in real life with real bodies.” First, Sims put together a skeleton crew of 11 the new live-action film in theaters May 24th. dancers to choreograph the basics of the number. “Then we started brainstorming ideas asking ourselves ‘What THE MAGIC CARPETS OF ALADDIN would be magical and how can we use special effects?’ It The Genie has conjured up a fleet of magical was so much fun.” carpets for your personal flight. Get ready to soar “I was thrilled when I was invited to choreograph the Sims also points out “Prince Ali” is a musical number where over the Agrabah Bazaar. new live-action Aladdin,” says Choreographer Jamal Sims. choreography conveys strong emotion. “At the beginning of the “Will Smith was great to work with,” Sims says. “He’s the “I have always loved the original animated classic and it was scene, everyone in Agrabah is so excited about this big parade consummate professional! He caught onto every move exciting to think about how to capture the film’s energy in that’s approaching,” he says. “You can feel the townspeople’s immediately, and then he’d bring the Genie’s personality live-action choreography.” growing anticipation and their sense of celebration in their to his interpretation. He was brilliant.” movements before they even start to sing. This dance number CHOREOGRAPHING PERSONALITIES was an enormously challenging scene to choreograph, rehearse “There was a great vibe on the set all the time. Guy Ritchie, According to Sims, choreography is a key element in the and coordinate. It was the first dance number I tackled because the Director, encouraged all of us to do our best. When that film’s storytelling. “Choreography, and movement in general, it was so huge,” Sims says. “I knew it would take a lot of kind of trust and energy starts at the top, everyone feels reveal so much about the characters’ personalities and time to do it right. There are over 200 dancers and we had inspired. It was so much fun to work on this film. Everyone emotions,” he says. “Sometimes we don’t need to speak to figure out how to move them all down the middle of the was so excited to be involved. There was this wonderful to express ourselves. It’s all there in the way we move.” He street. At first, it was all a bit overwhelming. There were so feeling of ‘I can’t believe I’m actually getting to do this!’ I gives Jasmine as an example. “There’s a number where many dancers, we didn’t have enough space in the rehearsal think the audience will feel that same sense of excitement.” Jasmine dances—in the animated film she doesn’t have that hall for everyone to rehearse at the same time, so we broke ROYAL CHARACTER EXPERIENCES opportunity. In this number, she’s confident, assured. This is the parade into segments and took turns rehearsing each Celebrate Aladdin’s beauty and energy with merchandise Meet Characters from Aladdin at Magic Kingdom® her world, what she knows. Aladdin’s reaction is ‘Wow, she’s segment. Then we’d go out onto the set and practice over and from Disney store and shopDisney.com. As a Cardmember, Park at the Agrabah Bazaar. Princess Jasmine makes not only beautiful, she’s strong!’” over. Luckily, I had fabulous assistants who kept us on our you enjoy savings of 10% on select purchases to bring appearances at the Morocco Pavilion at Epcot®. toes and moving forward.” home an exotic touch of Agrabah.1 4 LEARN MORE AT DISNEYDEBIT.COM Summer 2019 DESIGN, MODELING AND MOVEMENT animal’s fur. Is it soft and smooth, or scraggly? What length is Transforming two-dimensional animal characters into three it on different parts of the body? Mufasa was one of our most Bringing Life to dimensions is a complex process requiring many intricate interesting challenges. His long flowing mane was practically steps. All the characters were modeled from the paws up on a a character itself!” unique computer-generated modeling program. “Every single animal in the film is created this way. There’s not a single real FUN WITH CHARACTER Animated Animals animal in the film,” Jones points out. “Take each of these steps Everyone has favorite characters and film moments. “Obviously and multiply it by hundreds of creatures and you see how much I love them all,” Jones says, but for him Timon and Pumbaa care, attention and time went into the making of the film.” Once were stand outs. “They’re just so funny,” he says. “The animation th Your favorite characters are brought to life as never before on July 19 the character model design is approved, the model is sent to the team had so much fun pushing the animation to that edge rigging department. This is where artists use computer programs between comedy and reality. We dug through reference of in Disney’s The Lion King, directed by Jon Favreau. to place the bones and muscles under the skin with anatomical warthogs and meerkats to be inspired by what the animals exactness so they can perfectly animate the movement of really do and what idiosyncrasies we could find to make the bones and muscles with each step the animal takes. They also performance feel spontaneous and natural.” have to perfect the movement of skin over the muscles. Is it sleek and smooth, stretched out as an animal leaps, bunched up A BEAUTIFUL REALITY as muscles are engaged to pounce? “It’s incredibly detailed.