Thursday Update

Hello one and all! Welcome to the first update of February. Wow, time really flies doesnt it? It seems like just yesterday we were ringing in the New Year! Wonder if the rest of the year will be a blur as well.

Dodger Stadium Construction Update

Because of our dry weather in Los Angeles, construction of the new seats at Dodger Stadium has been moving along quite well. Here's some pictures to show you the progress that has been made.

 

The view from the Top Deck towards the newly painted Pavilion seats.

Closeup of the Pavilion seats

Work nears completion on the Reserve level, while the Lodge and Field continue to have their surfaces repaved.

Closeup of the reserve level.

A view of theTop Deck and Reserve from center field.

I'll admit that when I first saw what the colors were going to be for the new seats, I was a bit skeptical. But seeing how well they blend together, I'm excited to see what it will look like once they get all the colors in there. I'm loving the Top Deck seats. The $3 price per game for season tickets up there doesnt hurt either. ;-)

John Lasseter Visits Disney

So as I reported last week, new Disney creative head John Lasseter already made an impact on Disney his first day there as he shut down production of "Disney's Toy Story 3". Now there's reports ofwhat happened once Lasseter took his first tours of "Walt Disney Feature Animation" (WDFA) and "Walt Disney Imagineering" (WDI).

First up he and Ed Catmull (President of Disney/Pixar Animation) toured the WDFA headquarters in Burbank,CA.

WDFA Headquarters

After rounding up the middle managers in the division Lasseter basically told them "If you dont draw for a living, you dont belong in this building." In other words: Lasseter and Catmull are trying to eliminate all unneccessary managment positions from WFDA. By doing this, they hope to free up the lines of communication between the animators and the studio execs. He also announced to the Animation Directors for Disney features that from now on they would only report to himself or Catmull. Not to any of the other Disney Animation execs mind you, but ONLY Lasseter and Catmull.

Thats pretty big news and shows that Lasseter is serious about turning around Disney animation.

Lasseter's day didnt end there however. He hoped in a car and took the 10 minute drive down to WDI Headquarters in Glendale, CA.

WDI Headquarters in Glendale

After arriving he asked to speak only to Tony Baxter, WDI's Senior VP of Design. Not with Imagineering President Don Goodman or Executive VP Tom Fitzgerald. Only Tony Baxter. If you dont know who Baxter is, he was the creative mind behind "Big Thunder Mountain","Splash Mountain" ,"Star Tours" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye". Baxter is also heading up the re-themeing of the new "Submarine Voyage/Finding Nemo" ride (Scheduled to open in 2007).

Yours truly and Tony Baxter @ Disneyland's 50th Anniversary Preview Day (Yes I am a Disney themepark geek ;-) )

Truly an Imagineering Legend, Lasseter reportedly sat down with Baxter and told him "Tell me about all the stuff that you've wanted to build at the parks for the last 20 years." And then Baxter went through his list of dream projects. After listening to Baxter, Lasseter laid out what his vision for a WDI & WDFA partnership. Where new attractions for the theme parks would be devoloped AT THE VERY SAME TIME as the movie these attractions would be based on.

So that -- let's take "Cars," for example -- you could see Pixar's latest movie in a theater this summer, then drive on over to Anaheim. Where you'd then find a newly rethemed version of Disneyland's Autopia waiting for you. Which would allow you to go ride inside of one of your favorite characters from "Cars."

Hmm, could work. ;-)

Sounds pretty cool doesnt it? And dont think it can't happen. See, before Lasseter agreed to the Pixar/Disney sale, he made it known to Disney CEO Bob Iger that he didnt want ANY budget restraints if he was going to turn around WDI and WDFA. That Disney would have to be willing to spend the money neccessary to churn out quality products again.

WDI entrance area

In fact, when Lasseter rounded up the WDI crew (after his talk with Baxter) one of the first things he said was "The Walt Disney company isnt going to make anymore medicore attractions!"

 

Many insiders are predicting that Lasseter is next going to do some serious housecleaning at both divisions. I'm wondering whats going to happen to those WDI Execs that thought "Disney's California Adventure" was a good idea.

A possible theme change in the future?

Its going to be an exciting year for Disney I think. ;-)

OK, a short update I'm afraid. I'll be back tommorrow (hopefully) with my Super Bowl XL picks and more. Til the next time.

DQ