Perry’s Previews 2011 Disney D23 Expo Review: “Perrific!” Attractions
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Perry Chen at Disney D23 main entrance (photo by Zhu Shen)
2011 Disney D23 Expo Unveils New Attractions
By Perry S. Chen
How would you celebrate the 25th anniversary of one of the most creative studios in the world? Well, at the Disney D23 expo, we celebrated the awesome anniversary of Pixar with delicious cupcakes, about 4000 of them! Each cupcake looked like a ball with a red star and a blue stripe, and it was very soft with a sweet and slightly tangy frosting. Everybody got one and my mom and I really enjoyed them!
Perry Chen enjoying Pixar 25th anniversary cupcake (photo by Zhu Shen)
It was very fun at the D23 fan expo this year! During my second visit to the Disney Fan Expo, My mom and I got to see a full 3D film, find out about upcoming films, and attend interesting panels. This expo was quite a blast!
Perry Chen at press check-in (photo by Zhu Shen)
On the first day, we drove off from a friend’s house that we had been staying with for a film camp in Burbank, where I learned how to make live action films with a few friends. I even made a live action short which I co-directed, did the screenwriting for, and starred in, called “Life of a Businessman.”
Perry Chen having fun at D23 (photo by Zhu Shen)
We arrived at the Anaheim Convention Center, picked up our press badges, and went to see the main event of the Convention, Building Worlds: Inside the Walt Disney Studios. There we got some super sneak peeks at future films coming out in 2012 and 2013, such as Brave, a Pixar film about the adventures of a warrior princess in Scotland, Monsters University, a prequel to Monsters Inc, and many more interesting upcoming films. Four thousand people attended the packed event, and the screen showed pop quizzes and interesting facts about Disney, so I didn’t get bored.
Then when it started, Disney/Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter introduced many directors and stars of upcoming animation films.
Perry Chen checking out Wreck it Ralph videogame (photo by Zhu Shen)
The first film introduced was “Wreck it Ralph,” the story of Ralph, a villain in an 80’s arcade game who longs to be a hero. The first 4 minutes of Wreck it Ralph were shown. I don’t think there has been a feature film about a video game villain before. John C. Riley, a great actor I interviewed at LA Film Festival in 2010 at “Cyrus” red carpet, is the voice of Ralph.
We later met people who have been working on this film at the “Wreck it Ralph” display at the exhibit center.
Perry Chen with Disney modeler Tony Jung (L) & character technical director Si-Hyung Kim (R) who work on Wreck it Ralph (photo by Zhu Shen)
Next, John Lasseter talked about “Brave,” a story that takes place in ancient Scotland, where Merida, a Princess changes her own destiny. I thought that the ancient Celtic symbols and designs were very pretty. We got free posters of the film after the presentation.
Brave by Pixar
Also, they showed pictures from Monsters University, a prequel to Monsters, Inc., about how Mike and Sulley developed a friendship, with voice talent Billy Crystal (Mike) on stage, they showed the differences between the teenage and older Sulley and Mike. I really thought that the designs for the monster university were great, since the buildings still look like buildings in reality, but the doors have teeth and there are different designs on the walls like eyeballs and heads.
Monsters University by Pixar
There were quite a few more upcoming films and every one of them sounds exciting. There is “Frankenweenie,” directed by Tim Burton, a story about a boy who brings his dead dog Sparky back to life;
Frankenweenie by Tim Burton
“John Carter,” a story about a civil war veteran who is accidentally sent to Mars; Marvel’s “The Avengers,” and “The Muppets,” which is about the Muppets, with special appearance by Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy; and 2 untitled films from Pixar, one about a journey into the mind, and the other about what would have happened if the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs missed earth.
My friend Pete Doctor from “Up” whom I interviewed in 2009 and 2010, is directing the one about the mind with Jonas Rivera the producer, which will come out in the summer of 2014. Bob Peterson, co-director of Up and voice of Dug the dog, directs the dinosaur film, which is scheduled for release in the Holiday season of 2013.
Finally, the best part about the event is that everybody got a delicious cupcake for the 25thanniversary of Pixar. Here is a photo of the Disney characters made by the same bakery:
It was extremely difficult to get into the panel “A Conversation With the Pixar Creative Team” starting after the main presentation. Mom and I waited with a few other media people and were finally let in moments before the session started. The directors and head of story of some of best Pixar films are there: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson, Ronnie Del Carmon from Up, Andrew Stanton from Finding Nemo, Mark Andrews from Brave (wearing a Scottish skirt!), Dan Scanlon from Monsters University, and more! We were the last ones to get in! It was “Perrific!” and worth a separate posting:
Then, we went to the screening of Lion King 3D. It was quite a treat to watch the Lion King 3D at the first public screening! It had been quite a while since I watched Lion King on DVD (the original film was made in 1994 before I was born!), so I was a little bit vague on the details. I enjoyed the film greatly and gave it 4 starfish.
Perry Chen at Lion King 3D premiere
(4 out of 5 starfish)
At the morning presentation, the filmmakers told about the making of Lion King and the behind the scenes stories were intriguing and showed how difficult it was to complete the film. The film was wonderful and I really enjoyed the music and the great visuals. One of my favorite scenes is when the film shows leafcutter ants walking on a branch close up, and then it focuses on zebras running in the background.
The flaws of the film were mostly scientific ones. First, I thought that when the herbivores were all killed off, the plants in the grasslands should flourish, instead of being sparse and depleted, but, I guess that is poetic license signifying sadness. Also, when lightning started fires all around Scar and Simba while they fought, they stayed there and did nothing! Ordinarily animals would flee instantly from fire but the 2 lions kept on fighting. Finally, I thought that it looked even better with the 3D too. It took hundreds of animators months to make the 3D effects! The characters seemed to pop right out of the screen!
We stayed at a friend’s guest house in Newport Beach that night. I thought that a guest house is even better than a hotel. There was some food there, and internet access, where I entered a code on club penguin that got me a super rare club penguin hoodie! The beds were very comfy, and I could not wait for tomorrow, where there are many more interesting panels.
The next day, we drove off to the D23 again. While waiting in line for the “Art of Brave” presentation, I had fun working on my drawings. The panel was presented by Tia Kratter, shader art director, and Steve Pilcher, production designer, and learned many new things about the art design for the film. The creative team traveled to Scotland twice to learn about the history and check out the landscape and sceneries to get a realistic feel for the film. They traveled to a forest, where different shades of green and brown were all over the trees and moss.
I even got to ask the last question: What advice do you have for aspiring young animators? “Always carry a drawing pad with you and draw all the time,” said Tia Kratter. I’m happy to say that I’ve been doing that for a while now. “Also you have to love what you do and be passionate in your interests,” remarked Steve Pilcher. Great advice!
After the presentation, a fellow San Diego Union Tribune journalist Roger Showley came by to say Hi, mom and I had a nice chat with him. Roger read my movie reviews on the Union Tribune.
Mom & I also met Disney’s veteran animator, director Eric Goldberg (Aladdin, The Princess & the Frog, Winnie the Pooh) who gave a great demo on animation and autographed a “Winnie the Pooh” poster with fellow Disney animator Sean Felix. He remembered me from ASIFA-Hollywood’s 2010 Annie Awards where he won an award for animation and I was a presenter.
Finally, it was the end of the day, and after a delicious meal at P.F. Chang in Anaheim’s GardenWalk district, we drove home. All I could think of the rest of that day was,”When will we get to come again?”
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About Perry Chen:
Perry Chen started reviewing movies and family-friendly entertainment with his unique, kids-friendly starfish rating system at 8 in third grade. He writes movie reviews for the San Diego Union Tribune, Animation World Network (AWN); Amazing Kids!, and his own Perry’s Previews website, with a combined readership of over 2 million. He became a national sensation with his network TV debut on CBS Evening News as the youngest film critic in 2009 and has since appeared on numerous national and international media, including NPR, CNN, Variety, the Guardian, spoke at a TEDx conference, and presented at Annie Awards for Animation. He won a prestigious “San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Award” in 2010 and is the youngest honoree of Cox Communications’ annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. He regularly interviews filmmakers and stars on the red carpet and film events. Perry started drawing when he was three, and frequently gets inspiration from nature. He has won numerous art awards and started learning computer animation using Toon Boom Studio software in November 2010. More info:
http://www.perryspreviews.com
http://www.awn.com/blogs/perrys-previews/holocaust-through-eyes-child-animated-child
(Animation World Network: The Holocaust Through the Eyes of a Child – Animated by a Child)
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