Snow White Behind the Magic

Earlier this month ABC aired a special to promote the new Blu-ray release of Snow White.  If you didn't get to watch it it is on ABC news.

I watched the special and found myself slightly disappointed for a few reasons.  First, I thought that the special was great for people who don't know anything about the making of the film as it gave an overview of that time for the studios.  That being said, I felt that the film maker should have used more of the fantastic production art and left out the live action film sequences that really didn't match to the story.  Having been made by ABC it seems that they could have used more photographs and images from the archives as well.  Another cause of disappointment for me was the interviews.  I was hoping to hear more from those who were there by using the archival footage or talking more to those who were around the studio in those days.  My overall impression of the special was it was a way to get Once Upon a Time fans to purchase the Blu-ray.  For those who were looking for a less dramatized version of the making of the film, I would recommend reading The Fairest One of All by J.B. Kauffman or one of the other books on my top Snow White book list.

One Hour In Wonderland

December 25, 1950 marked a big day in Walt Disney history.  This was the very first Walt Disney television special: One Hour In Wonderland.  As the title suggest, the special aired to promote Disney's up and coming new animated feature: Alice in Wonderland.

This show was a mix of clips from various cartoons and appearances from Charlie McCarthy, Bobby Driscol, Karen Beamont, and Walt with his girls.  The show also featured a Magic Mirror that Walt interacted with.  The magic mirror showed clips from: Clock Cleaners, Song of the South, Bone Trouble, Alice in Wonderland, the Firehouse Five Plus Two (the animator's band), and finally The Yodel Song from Snow White.

The special was a big success and led to another the following year: The Walt Disney Christmas Show.  For more details on Disney's move into television read the Walt Disney Family Museum article here.

The TV special is included on the Alice and Wonderland DVD and Bluray.

Trim Your Tree

As the holiday season is upon us, I wanted to take a look at ornaments available this year featuring our favorite gal and here crew from Disney Store:

This one is my favorite: It's Doc! $12.95

This Snow White is also from the sketchbook series $12.95

The hat and shoes have been around for awhile for $24.95 but there are often sales to mix and match 3 for a small discount.

D23 Light up the Season Event

On December 4th I had the opportunity to attend the D23 Light up the Season event at the Burbank Studio Lot.  I had a wonderful time.  You could have a photo taken with Pluto (dressed as a reindeer), Sorcerer Mickey, and Santa.  The studio theater was playing holiday classics.  There were a variety of vendors selling wares and a Mickey's of Glendale pop up shop.  The studio Disney store was open as well.  The D23 choir performed and they had a lighting of the tree ceremony.  Every guest got a hot chocolate and a cookie and there was cotton candy and popcorn available for free and food to purchase in the commissary.  The studios was all decorated; including my favorite building.

I was surprised at the amount of space guests could wander around in - the studio was open from the Legends Plaza to past the commissary.

 

 Speaking of commissary - I learned that the eating areas have Snow White artwork!  Check out the wall.

 

In another section we did not get into there were pictures of Snow White on the wall.  I will definitely have to be on the look out next time I am on the lot.

One other surprise was that they had a Snow White Tweet Suite where you could have a commemorative photo taken in a Snow White background.

They also had four activity sheets that you could take

We had a terrific time snapping pictures and wandering around - in fact, they even had some Disney magic where it snowed!! I was just sad that it was such a short time (2 hours).  We spent a long time waiting to visit the studio store and in retrospect, I wished we had skipped that.  I hope they do it again next year!

Snow White Christmas at Laguna Playhouse

This December, Laguna Playhouse is putting on a production of Snow White's Christmas.  While doing some internet searching, I found that this play has been produced at a variety of locations in the last few years.  While not a Disney related production it might be interesting to check out.  Has any reader been to a production before?  What did you think - I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments below.