Ken Reviews: Jeff Lange 40th Anniversary DVDs
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The Time Castle, as we'll see in the second DVD, is a time capsule buried in the Sleeping Beauty Castle forecourt to be opened on July 17, 2035 on Disneyland's 80th Anniversary. A replica was placed in the Walt Disney Story building, along with copies of the contents, and the DVD gives us video of the display. The one advantage (if you can call it that) of this over simply showing still slides, is that you can hear the anniversary anthem touting "40 year of adventure…40 years of fun…" Otherwise, slides would be superior in the depiction of displays such as this one.
New for 1995 was what remains the last "E-ticket" attraction built in Disneyland Park, if you don't count the rebuilding-in-precise-place-exact-replica Space Mountain, was the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. After many years of concepts and speculation, the Temple of Mara was finally opened to guests.
After a glimpse of the entrance sign, it is straight to a showing of "Eye on the Globe", and then we're in the front see of a troop transport for a flow-through of the entire attraction. The presentation is about as good as you can hope for from a home video.
At the Videopolis Stage (a.k.a. Fantasyland Theatre), "The Spirit of Pocahontas" was the new live show, one of the more ambitious and longer-running shows at the location. The vigorous choreography and the stage design let to numerous injuries among the cast. The quality of the video us much better than the quality of the "Diamond Double Cross" recording presented on the 35th Anniversary DVD. Zooming in and out during the performance helps out. The entire show is captured.
The same story is told that is presented in the animated feature, minus a few elements.
The 40th Anniversary Slideshow is quite good, even though it is silent. It starts with the 40 Years of Adventure logo, then documents part of Main Street, U.S.A. It has lots of stills of the Lion King Celebration, including in the Small World Mall area, which was quite different in the pre-
Light Magic days. We see the anniversary décor at the Tomorrowland Terrace (Club Buzz), and stills from the anniversary show. Shots capture the Frontierland anniversary memory display, which really is a better way than video to depict those displays. There are many good stills of the Rivers of America, including some of Cascade Peak. The parts of the Indy Jones line that weren't shown in the video are captured here. There is only one slide that has added text, and that is to point out a hidden Mickey. There are many other great pictures.