The MouseStation and MousePlanetWatch Podcasts
MouseStation 19 – Chinese Theme Park Copyright Infringement and MousePlanetWatch 19 news feed for May 17, 2007
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MousePlanetWatch 19 run time 0:36:44
In the Walt Disney World news, sponsored by Small World Vacations, MousePlanet’s preferred travel provider, most of the news came from this past Monday’s Walt Disney World Park Update, and links to the various information reported can be found there.
In the Disneyland news, all of the news came from this past Monday’s Disneyland Park Update, and links to the various information reported can be found there.
In The Walt Disney Company news, several stories have related links.
- Information on the Oriental Land Company’s mid-term business plan “Innovate OLC 2010” describing “a Disney-style indoor entertainment facility in a city outside of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area after 2010” can be found on their web site.
- The Beijing Shijingshan Amusement Park was discussed at length on the MouseStation podcast.
- Don’t forget to enter your precious pooch in the Underdog contest.
- Download media for your Disney Mix Sticks and Mix Max devices at DisneyMixCentral.com.
- The complete list of the 50 most influential movies according to the Visual Effects Society is available here.
- Information about the Playhouse Disney Live! show and tour schedule is now available online.
- Disney sheet music is now available online at Musicnotes.com.
Disney had a 27 percent increase in their second quarter earnings report.
MouseStation 19 run time 1:32:28
Mark’s wife provided our Tip of the Week, recommending that you bring along a pocket-sized game, coloring book or playing cards to help keep small children occupied while in lengthy queues (or while waiting for parades).
Featured topic: Beijing Shijingshan Amusement Park
This theme park is blatantly ripping off Disney (and other) copyrights, both of characters and theme park icons. Their “Cinderella’s Castle” is a red-peaked version of Sleeping Beauty Castle. They also have a structure that looks suspiciously like Spaceship Earth. They even had a banner saying “Disney is too far, so please come to Shijingshan.”
The real kicker? This park is state-run. That’s right. The government that is trying to negotiate a deal for Disney to come in and open a theme park in mainland China is simultaneously running a theme park that includes Disney, Warner Brothers, and other copyrighted characters without permission.
One of the things that made Mark really roll his eyes was the statement by the park’s general manager that the characters are completely different. “Take our Cinderella as an example. The face of Disney’s Cinderella face is European, but ours is a Chinese. She looks like a young Chinese country girl.” Um, OK. So because the character is played by a local girl, it’s completely different. Got it.
Mark wonders whether this park will have an effect on where Disney eventually elects to open its planned park in mainland China.
This week’s Featured Attraction is Alice in Wonderland at Disneyland Park. Mark enjoys it, Mike has never ridden it. Mark pointed out that former Imagineer Paul Torrigino briefly mentions the work that he did on the attraction for the New Fantasyland makeover in the early 80s at the beginning of part 1 of his four-part Maelstrom series.
This week’s Review system spotlight focuses on Flame Tree Barbecue at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Mike and Mark both really enjoy this counter-service eatery and recommend it highly. MousePlanet readers seem to agree, as it was rated 4.8 out of five planets. You can also find Flame Tree Barbecue in our Park Guide.
This week’s Ask the Kid segment asked Mark’s 8-year-old son two Lion King questions. Kim Barron asked “Do you like the Lion King?” and Dave from San Francisco asks “What’s your favorite thing in the Lion King stage show that isn’t in the movie?”
This week’s Magical Moment was a voicemail from Anthony, better known on MousePad as Chicago Wookiee, who shared a great experience with Timon at Disney’s Animal Kingdom during Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade, further feeding Mike’s Lion King obsession.
In Listener Feedback, there were a few notable emails and voicemails.
- Kim Barron left a voicemail that fed into Mike’s favorite topics. (Though she prefers Fiesta Margaritas to Bluetinis.) She promised to report in from her trip for Star Wars Weekends.
- Phil Ruffin is having difficulty downloading the show (or anything over 6 MB) on his Treo. If anyone with Treo experience has any ideas on how to resolve this issue, please let us know.
- Dave Welty had a lengthy audio trip report with lots of notes that fed into Mike’s favorite topics.
- Berdo asked if we or any MouseStation listeners had Xbox Live Gamertags. Berdo’s is BuDz211. Mike has a gamertag, which is Gabe Newell. (Berdo also fed Mike’s Hustle obsession. Sense a pattern here?)
- Soon-to-be-College-Program member Eddie called and found out the hard way that our toll-free feedback line has a limit of 3 minutes. (Hint: if you get cut off, call back and finish. It doesn’t cost you anything, and we can hear the end of your story.)
- Jason wrote in asking for inexpensive guided tour suggestions. Mike & Mark gave several recommendations. To make tour reservations, call 407-WDW-TOUR (407-939-8687).
- Steve Russo wrote in with a new question for our proposed Stump the Hosts segment: “In Cranium Command, what is the name of the young boy whose brain is piloted by Buzzy?”
Send in your suggestions, comments or tips via our email form or via voicemail on our toll-free feedback line (1-866-939-2278). You can also make suggestions by replying to this post.
If you want to contribute a story for our Magical Moment segment (and possible inclusion in the Cast Place column here on MousePlanet), you can either use our email form or the toll-free feedback line. (We like when you use the voice mail system, because then we can play it on the show.)
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Thanks to our West Coast correspondent Andrew Rich, and audio engineer and sound editor Steven Ng.
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Thanks for listening!
