Tales from the Laughing Place Issue #9 Details

Tales from the Laughing Place Issue #9 Details

Celebration, FL & London, England February 9, 2007: Continuing the in-depth article series focusing on one park the ninth issue of Tales from the Laughing Place magazine will feature a look back at the creation of EuroDisneyland as it approaches its next milestone: 15 years.

"After celebrating the fifth anniversaries of Disney's California Adventure park and Tokyo DisneySea in '06 we are now turning our attentions to the 15th anniversary of Disneyland Resort Paris," Tales publisher Lee J MacDonald explains. "Issue 9 will feature an expansive interview with four of the leading imagineers on the European Disneyland project namely Tony Baxter, Tim Delaney, Chris Tietz and Tom Morris entitled Into the Woods. The interview is a fascinating insight into the challenges and subsequent solutions that the design team overcame building a Disneyland from scratch. Into the Woods will be accompanied by a wide variety of photographs, concept art and models from every land. Much of the imagery has been rarely seen outside of Walt Disney Imagineering."

"For the first time we also have a second detailed subject matter in the same issue," Lee continues. "At the opening of Mary Poppins in the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway in November I had the opportunity to meet the entire creative team including producers Tom Schumacher and Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Oscar-winning winner Julian Fellowes, the composer-lyrist team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe and director Richard Eyre. Together they reveal the difficulty of mounting a musical based on the beloved stories of P.L. Travers and the Walt Disney film."

The contents of Issue 9 are as follows:

  • Into the Woods: Legendary imagineers reminisce about the creation of EuroDisneyland in Marne-la-vallee, France featuring rare artwork from the project;

  • Mary Mary Quite Extraordinary: Meet the creative team behind Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins musical and discover Cameron's twenty-five year struggle to bring the books to life on stage;

  • Step into the Light: Rhett Wickham talks to two of the creative leads on the original (and soon-to-be re-imagineered) Dreamlights Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade;

  • It's A Livin' Thing: Joe Garlington, imagineer and guardian of the Living Characters Program, discusses the future for the R&D scheme that has led to Turtle Talk with Crush at Disney's California Adventure park and Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort, the Hong Kong Disneyland-resident Stitch Encounter and the upcoming Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom;

  • Tooning Up: A sneak peek at the new Toon Studios that will debut in June at the Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris with the executive producer Corey Sewelson;

  • Wall of Sound: A photographic look at the exhibition mounted by the Experience Music Project in Seattle for the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney Records; and

  • Tales from the Walt Disney World Resort featuring the Year of A Million Dreams.

  • "The rest of '07 looks increasingly bright for Tales from the Laughing Place magazine as we continue to work with the Walt Disney Company to showcase their upcoming projects," Lee reveals. "Issue 10 will celebrate the critically and commercially acclaimed Finding Nemo The Musical that recently bowed at Disney's Animal Kingdom park as we get to hear from the entire creative team about bringing the non-musical undersea world of Nemo to life for theme park guests in Florida. Looking even further ahead our readers will have the opportunity to discover the new The Little Mermaid musical that will begin its out-of-town tryout in Denver this summer and get the first sneak preview of Monsters, Inc. Hide and Go Seek! and Toy Story Mania! the new interactive attractions already under construction in Tokyo Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure park and Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World."

    Issue 9 will be available as part of an annual subscription to Tales from the Laughing Place magazine (Domestic: $36 including free shipping, Canada and international rates available separately through the website). In addition Issue 9 and all back issues (excluding Issue 1) are available individually for $9 plus tax and shipping. Further information is available at:  http://www.laughingplace.com/tales

    -- Posted February 9, 2007