Friday, November 27, 2009

The Princess and the Frog: Behind the Scenes

In high anticipation for the upcoming movie The Princess and the Frog (released December 11th), I have an exclusive vignette that was released by Disney Interactive Studios! This was also seen on the Wii version of The Princess and the Frog video game (released for Wii, Nintendo DS and PC on November 17th). This video gives a behind the scenes look at the making of the film through the eyes of some of the film makers and animators! Its a great video, showing the absolute enthusiasm that the creators at Disney have for this film and Disney's return to hand drawn animation. So please enjoy this look behind the scenes of The Princess and The Frog!



Just watching this makes me even more excited for the movie!! Just to see the enthusiasm that the animators have for it feeds my enthusiasm. Besides the amazing animation, the music is so catchy and fun! I have not gotten the soundtrack yet, but it is definitely on my "must get" list for the near future! Feel free to leave me your feedback on the video and your thoughts about this movie.

Muppet Video Sensation

So I know that this is one of the latest Twitter video crazes and it features the wonderful Muppets, so I figured I would just post it for you all to see, for the few people who haven't seen it yet. Enjoy the Muppets singing Bohemian Rhapsody!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!



The True Disney Fan would like to wish all of her American friends a Happy Thanksgiving!

This is what The True Disney Fan is Thankful For:
  • Her Mother, Father and little sister
  • Her loving boyfriend, Chris
  • All of her great friends from her University
  • Food on the table
  • Walt Disney and his many visions
  • All of her great friends she has met at Sorcerer Radio
  • The opportunity to work with Celebrations Magazine
  • The amazing people she has met on Twitter, Facebook, and other awesome Disney sites
Last, but not least, She wants to thank all of the awesome people who read and enjoy her blog posts! If it was not for all of the positive responses she has gotten from her readers, she would not be so enthusiastic about writing!

Have a safe, happy and delicious Thanksgiving!!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving in Philly

Hey everyone!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the States and in just a few short hours, I will be on my way to Philadelphia to spend the night and then, tomorrow morning, get up to watch the 90th Annual 6ABC Ikea Thanksgiving Day Parade!!! I have seen the parade in Philly before, both on television and in person, but this year is extra special!

This year, my little sister, Emily, is actually marching in the parade! She is a member of the first Tournament Of Bands All Star Band! She is the only member of her high school that signed up to do this and we are so proud of her! She will be one of the many color guard members that are marching with the band. The band is almost 200 members strong and will be making their first appearance at the parade after meeting for the first time just the night before! It is an amazing feat by all of these students and I am so proud of my sister for being involved!

Make sure to check out Good Morning America at 8 am Eastern, the TOB All Star Band will be featured at that time!!

For information on the 6ABC Ikea Thanksgiving Day Parade, check out the Offical Webpage Here.

If you would like to help my sister with a fund raiser for her indoor color guard season, please see my blog post on it by clicking here. Anyone in the US or Canada is able to purchase items from it from now until December 4th

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse!!

In Honor of Mickey Mouse's 81st Birthday, I thought I would post some pictures that I was given from a Disney magazine from a past birthday!



Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse!!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Unique Fundraiser! Can you help my sis?

Hey everyone! I don't usually put stuff like this up, but I thought that it was so cool and it would help my little sis, Emily, pay for her Guard Tuition. Plus, it could give you an idea for a fundraiser you may have to do!

The fundraiser is at www.schoolservices.us.com/shop/. It is like the magazine fundraisers that used to come out years ago except for one awesome feature - the catalog is online!! It has almost anything you can think of! Food, wrapping paper, jewelry, christmas decorations and gift ideas, flower bulbs, toys, kitchen tools and more! And for my Disney parents, there is a set of 5 Disney books under Kids that you may be interested in.

The fundraiser works like this:
  1. You go to the website and shop your heart out
  2. When you go to pay, along with your address and payment information, they will ask for
  • School ID: ws23aps02
  • School Location: Newark, DE
  • Name of the student: Emily Clawson
  • There is NO Homeroom/teacher name, just leave it blank
3. Buy your items and confirm
4. In 1 to 3 weeks, your order will be shipped directly to you!

The money that you spend goes to help my sister pay for her Winterguard tuition. The fundraiser ends Friday December 4th and anyone in the United States or Canada can purchase items. If this sounds interesting to you and you want to do some Christmas shopping, both my sister and I would really appreicate it. And even if you don't, hey, at least I gave you a pretty cool idea for a fundraiser!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

A Timeless Classic Renewed!

As I sit and eat more of my incredibly buttery theater popcorn (like really buttery, I have to practically wash my hands every time I take a bite), I am thinking about the awesome movie I just saw. I had heard that A Christmas Carol was going to be excellent and I was not disappointed! I have seen many versions of this movie, as it is a favorite of my father and because of the general love of Christmas found in the Clawson household, and I was quite impressed. They stuck firmly to the story, incorporating all of the well known scenes and even adding the not-as-known ones, including the infamous hearse. For those who have seen the "Mickey's Christmas Carol", the final scene with the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come really reminded me of the scene as it is done with Pete in that film.

My mom, sister and I did not see the movie in 3D (Mom is not the biggest fan of 3D) but we were easily able to tell where the 3D parts were and even in 2D the graphics were very pronounced! You still felt like you were in the movie itself! The animation was by far the best feature and addition to the classic film. At the beginning, a book opens to an illustration and then the animation switches from the illustration to the live animation of the movie and, if I did not know any better, I would have swore I was watching live actors rather than animation! I knew it would be good, but was blown away by the total quality!

While I am thoroughly impressed with this movie, I will not pretend that it did not have its frightening points. The appearance of the spirits, the hearse...there were some parts that made both my sister and I jump out of our seats. Because of this, I am not sure I would recommend this for young children; there are just some scenes that I would consider nightmare worthy. Then again, I am a total chicken, so if your child is up to the challenge, I highly recommend it! It really is a family movie with a great classic plot and tale of the true spirit of Christmas, I would just hold on to your little ones in case they may be frightened.

So two thumbs way way up for A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey! I would highly recommend it to start off your holiday season!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Disney's Fight Against Germs


Pictures have surfaced of Hand Sanitizers that are being installed throughout the Disney Parks in Florida. It is in response to the H1N1 Pandemic. There is a sign above the dispensers giving tips to stay healthy and you can also find the tips inside the maps.

What do you think about this? Good idea for Disney? Is Disney being too safe by adding this new feature? Let me know what you think! Leave a comment below on this post or send me an email at lady_aurora_yensid@hotmail.com. I find this a very interesting addition to the parks, but I am not completely sure how I feel about it.


Saturday, November 7, 2009

Brief Health Update

Ive been so busy with school and Disney that I forgot to give a health update! I got a month's worth of Enbrel from my old doctor just to hold me over until we are able to meet with someone to talk about a payment plan for the medication. Hopefully I will get the help paying, but right now I am just happy to have some medicine! I'm heading to the doctor to get some blood work done this morning. I'll hopefully remember to keep you all updated now! :)

Thursday, November 5, 2009

What are those sports victory commercials......

OOOOOOH Yes, I remember....

Jessica, You are on your way to senior year of college and have met the man of your dreams! What are you going to do next??????

I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!!

That's Right!! Chris Reid (that man of my dreams I mentioned earlier) and I just booked our first trip to Walt Disney World together!!!

I received this awesome email from Disney Destinations that had a special PIN code in it that would give me 20% off a Value Resort, 30% off a Moderate and 40% off a Deluxe. Naturally, after much research, the 40% off was the best buy!

The next thing to do was to decide which deluxe to choose. Again, after much price checking and debating and asking for recommendations, Chris and I decided on the Animal Kingdom Lodge! We both never thought we would be able to stay in a place like this!! Especially with a Savannah View! That's right, we have a Savannah view!!!

Excited does not describe in any way how amazingly thrilled we are!!!

Our trip is booked for June 11, 2010 and we are staying until June 19th!! We have park hopper passes with the water park option and will be on the Dining Plan! We are able to book our dining reservations on December 13th, so make sure to keep an eye out for a post around then saying where and when we will be eating!

Since we have the Savannah view, we are also hoping to post a web camera in our room looking out on our balcony! There is even a possibility of a live chat session from our room one night in the SRsounds.com chatroom! More on all of this will be coming when the trip gets closer!

Keep an eye here for all of our trip planning updates! In the next week or so, I will post the list of Restaurants that we are looking at! I hope you will enjoy these trip planning posts as much as I am going to enjoy writing them!!

A Disney Dream of Mine

I have never been on a cruise before but, when I do, I know I want to try a Disney Cruise first! This is not just because I Love Disney (though that is a big reason) but the Disney Cruises are such an experience and there is so much to do!! You could never be bored on a Disney Cruise! There are restaurants, shows, lounges, movies, swimming pools, AquaDucks, bars.....wait AquaDuck?! What the heck is that?!



This is the AquaDuck, or a virtual simulation of it anyway. It is a water coaster that will be one of the features on the All New Disney Cruise ship, Disney Dream!

The AquaDuck will be 765 feet in length and travel around the top deck of the ship! The water can push you as fast as 20 feet per second and the 'swing out' loop takes you 13 feet off of the deck to look at the ocean below you!



This video shows more details of the AquaDuck along with many of the other amazing features of the new Disney Dream!

The Dream's maiden voyage is in January of 2011 and, though I will not be on the maiden journey, I will definitely set sail in the future!

For more information on the Disney Dream, visit the following sites:

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Mini Interview With Author Ridley Pearson

When I was in Walt Disney World on my last trip in 2007, I was looking at a shelf of books and stumbled upon The Kingdom Keepers. As I read the synopsis, I found it to be about my favorite place, Walt Disney World obviously, and adventures within it. I bought the book and took it home to read and was amazed at the detail about the parks that was in the book! I was so excited that when I finished reading the book, I read it again, just to be transplanted into the detail of Disney World once again! The story line just gave me chills and being able to picture where the story was taking place exactly just made it feel all the more real! I was able to as a few questions of the man that is behind the Kingdom Keepers and Starcatchers books, Ridley Pearson, and thought I would share it with all of my friends!
1. What makes you want to write adventure books about Disney?
The "world" of the Disney parks is exciting and intriguing. Working with Disney -- getting into the parks when they're closed -- is just too much fun!

2. How did you come up with the idea for The Kingdom Keepers?
I think the inspiration was a trip to WDW with my daughters: I wondered, as we left: What's it like in the parks when everyone's gone?

3. Was a lot of research involved? Maybe some research trips?
Yes. I've made many visits to the parks at 5AM when no one is there. Then I talk to the Cast Members that run the attractions and get the "inside scoop." It's the best part of writing the books!

4. How did the Starcatchers Series originate?
While reading Peter Pan to my daughter, she asked me: How did Peter meet Captain Hook in the first place?" That started it all!

5. Who is your favorite character in the book? Why?
I like Hook a lot; the incompetent pirate. And Tinkerbell. But Molly will always have a place in my heart because she reminds me of my daughters, Paige and Storey.

6. Any other thoughts/comments?
Kingdom Keepers 3 comes out in April. Disney is making a new Kingdom Keepers website and on-line game. Should be really
FUN!!!

You can check out Ridley Pearson's Website at www.ridleypearson.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/RidleytheWriter.

I personally am VERY excited to be hearing about this new website and on-line game! I will be keeping an eye out for this information and will keep you all updated as information comes out!