Wall-E And Friends In Tomorrowland

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Today's photos were all taken in Tokyo Disneyland's Tomorrowland. First up, we have Wall-E and Eve from the movie, "Wall-E." The bench in front of these figures even had a BNL (Buy N' Large) logo on it. This display is current, the photo was taken just last month.
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Next, we have Lightening McQueen from the film, "Cars." This set-up is no longer on display, but it was located were the Monsters Inc. Ride & Go Seek attraction's Fastpass machines are now located. The photo was taken in the Fall of 2006. I'm not sure why Lightening McQueen was being featured in Tomorrowland.

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Last up for today, we have Mickey Mouse in the window of the Cosmic Encounter shop. In front of him is a moving conveyer belt with bins that contain souvenir items from the shop. There is also a hidden camera within this display. When guests get close to the window, their face appears on a monitor under the heading, "Stellar Seller - Best Salesperson In The Galaxy."
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Farewell, Mickey Mouse Revue

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The following description of The Mickey Mouse Revue is from Tokyo Disneyland's official website: "After a brief film presentation, you'll be treated to a concert of best-loved melodies from classic Disney animated films. The conductor is none other than Mickey himself! The Disney characters perform "live" through the magic of Audio-Animatronics. This attraction is found only at Tokyo Disneyland. *Closes permanently May 25, 2009."
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There isn't much more to say about this attraction that I didn't already say in one of my posts about it back in March. A month ago, I did get a chance to see the attraction one last time, but the photos I took weren't really any better than what I had already taken in the past. I had already photographed it pretty extensively, because I kind of had a feeling that it might not be around forever. Well, today is May 24th in the U.S., but in Japan, it is already the 25th, so today is the day that the Mickey Mouse Revue will be having it's last performance ever. Once again, I have to say that I am very sad about it's closing. To see the detailed five-part series I did on this attraction, please click here: The Mickey Mouse Revue.
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Today, I am presenting an assortment of items to honor this attraction that would have been turning 38 years old on October 1st of this year (Walt Disney World's anniversary).

The first three images are post cards of the attraction from when it was still at Walt Disney World.
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Next, we have two Pana-Vue souvenir slides of the attraction. These are also from WDW.
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This is a WDW pin from their "Remember When" series, commemorating the MM Revue. It's release date was March of 2007.
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Here we have a new postcard that was purchased just last month at Tokyo Disneyland. The artwork on the postcard is a cross between (this poster) and (this one).

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Below, is a pop-up card for the attraction that was sold at Tokyo DL about 3 years ago.
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Here's something interesting. On my last visit to the Tokyo Disney parks, I found the employees handing out information cards in English for some of the attractions. This is something new at the parks. For the most part, the cards just give a description of what to expect once inside a particular attraction, but in some cases they give the attraction's "backstory"...as was the case for Tokyo's version of The Tower of Terror.

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In my previous posts, I didn't include a photo of the attraction's exterior at night, so here's a night shot.

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The MM Revue will be replaced by "Mickey's PhilarMagic," a 3-D movie that is shown at Walt Disney World in the same theater where the MM Revue once played. Take a look at these next three pics. The second one was posted here previously and was taken at WDW. The third pic was also taken at WDW, but after Mickey's Philarmagic had opened (over 20 years later.) I just want to say that I think it would be nice if maybe during the theater's conversion, the exterior marquee....and maybe even the indoor waiting area and it's murals, could possibly be left the same as they were for the MM Revue. They would fit in just fine with the new attraction since basically it's the same theme as the old show, but that's just wishful thinking on my part. If they do get rid of the original marquee, I would love to have the gold Donald and Goofy figures that sit on top of it....or even that gold treble clef!
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Walt Disney World (Then)

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Walt Disney World (Now)

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Farewell, Mickey Mouse Revue....I'm missing you already!

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Monsters In The Parking Lot!

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On April 13, 2009, two days before Tokyo Disneyland's new Monsters Inc. attraction opened, Mike's face appeared in their parking lot...outlined in parking cones. This was best viewed from an elevated position either while riding the Tokyo Disney Resort Monorail, or from one of the Disney "Good Neighbor" hotels situated behind the park.

One day later, Sulley's face appeared right next to Mike's.
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These faces were both gone by the third day, the actual grand opening day of the attraction.

Okay, this is my last "Monsters Inc." related post for a while...I swear!

Miscellaneous Monsters

May is turning out to be "Monsters Month" here at Meet The World. Today, we present some miscellaneous items related to Tokyo Disneyland's new Monsters Inc. attraction.
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Above, is the official attraction poster for "Monsters Inc. Ride & Go Seek!"

As mentioned in an earlier post, Tokyo Disneyland celebrated their 26th Anniversary last month. Both of the Disney parks in Tokyo celebrate their anniversaries EVERY year. A new logo is designed and then featured on merchandise throughout the park. (Here in the U.S., we only seem to get that every five years when the anniversary ends in "0" or "5." ) The postcard below shows the 26th anniversary logo, which was used on pins, key chains, shirts, hats, etc. This year's logo also ties in with the opening of the new Monsters Inc. attraction. Mickey is wearing the cast member's security guard costume for the attraction.
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Below, we have some more items sold in the Monsters Inc. Company Store. This first item is a miniature attraction vehicle with Sulley riding inside. Compare it with the real attraction vehicle here.
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Here is a menu from Harryhausen's. It doubles as a folder for holding papers/schoolwork. A couple of these menus can be seen on the floor of the sushi restaurant in the scene where Celia has fallen into the pool of water (Link). I believe a large version of this same menu hangs in the queue of the California Adventure Monster's Inc. attraction, "Mike & Sulley To The Rescue!".
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Next, we have a key chain that includes a miniature version of the menu along with a piece of "eyeball sushi roll."
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These postcards are replicas of posters that can be found throughout the queue for the attraction.

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Mike and Sulley balloons can be found in the World Bazaar (along with Stitch.)
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Not to beat a dead horse, but in a post from last November, I expressed how I don't like the exterior color of the attraction building and that I don't think it fits in with the rest of Tomorrowland's color scheme.....

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Well, here is a photo of the building at night. Blue spotlights drown out most of the yellowish-beige color making it look more appealing....at least to me. Too bad they did not use this color scheme when it came to choosing the paint.

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Only the top half of the building is lit in blue however, so it looks great from a distance or when it is viewed from outside the park....but if you are right if front of the attraction, the color choices are even more confusing.
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And finally, we have a photo of the model of the attraction. Personally, I think it even looks better in all white. Notice the lettering in front says "We Scare Because We Care" instead of "It's Laughter We're After" I wonder at what point that was changed and if originally the ride was going to have the Monsters collecting "screams" instead of "laughter" (as in the original plot of the movie.)
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Monsters In Tomorrowland! - Part 2

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We continue today with Tokyo Disneyland's new Monsters Inc. attraction (for Part 1 of this series, click here.) After waiting 9 hours (8 hours and 45 minutes to be exact), our Fastpass time is now up and we can go get in line! At least the Standby line is only two and a half hours now (3 hours less than it was when we got our Fastpass!)

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Two murals appear on the inside of the dome over the queue. Note the continents are all made up of individual doors.

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This second mural kind of reminds me of some of the Public Works artwork from the 1930's.

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Clocks on the wall show the times for major cities around the world.
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A workstation has been left unattended.
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Posters on the wall inform us of a Monsters Inc. "Special Event."

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Below, are the Monsters Inc. "Security Trams." Each ride vehicle is equipped with two flashlights. The blue portion of the vehicle rotates around 360 degrees on the base. These vehicles reminded me a little of Tokyo's Pooh attraction. Even though these vehicles are on a track (unlike Pooh), they whisk the riders into a scene and stop while the action unfolds and then they scurry away into the next scene. They also reminded me a bit of Toy Story Midway Mania because the top part of the vehicles (the blue portion) rotates around 360 degrees on their bases, so sometimes you are going forwards, backwards and even sideways through the attraction. These vehicles also enter the attraction 3 at a time, just as they do with Pooh's Hunny Hunt.
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The attraction's soundtrack is almost entirely in Japanese. Rather than give my own description of the attraction, which I usually do, I'm including part of a description from Wikipedia. I've made some changes where I found the description of a scene to be wrong or incomplete.

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Oh, and by the way.....most of the audio-animatronic figures in this attraction are VERY animated. They blink, roll their eyes, and move their lips while they are talking. It's quite an improvement over Disney's California Adventure's Monsters Inc. Mike and Sulley To The Rescue! attraction.

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Now we can board the security tram......

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Scene 1 - Sulley has brought Boo back to Monstropolis in hopes that she will join in the flashlight tag festivities. Although it seems as if Boo is interested, she giggles naughtily, intending to go exploring rather than playing. Sulley warns her not to go off to far, but Boo simply responds by giggling. Turning a corner, guests find that Randall has returned from the human world intending to capture Boo in his butterfly net.

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Sulley warns Boo. She's hiding just behind the yellow tanks used to hold screams/laughter.

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Scene 2 - The vehicles then enter the power supply room, facing a window overlooking all of Monstropolis at night. Mike stands nearby at the switch of a power generator that supposedly supplies power to all of Monstropolis. Mike turns off the generator, causing the entire factory and the city to go dark, thereby kicking off the game of flashlight tag.

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Before the power gets shut off.

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After the power is shut off.

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Scene 3 - Entering the boy's locker room, the flashlights turn on, allowing guests to point them at various objects, setting off different actions. Several tiny monsters pop out of the lockers, while other objects simply pop out from underneath floor tiles and benches. Turning into the bathroom, Sulley can be seen searching for Boo with his flashlight.

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Sorry, I don't have any photos of the inside of the locker room, but above is a photo of the bathroom. Boo pops up from the laundry cart on the far right, giggling with towels on her head. Next, Randall pops up from inside the cart on the far left. Note the monster peeking over the top of the bathroom stall on the right.
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Scene 4 - Pulling into the laugh floor, guests find several of Monsters Inc.'s top comedians joining in on the game, Sulley is seen searching for Boo underneath tables. Mike can be found with both hands stuck in a hanging door and swinging back and forth as another monster tugs on his leg. Leaving the laugh floor behind, guests pass Randall again, hiding behind a door.

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The arms of the monster on the right wave around wildly.

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Scene 5 - Leaving the factory and entering the streets of Monstropolis, various monsters can be found searching the streets with flashlights, many hiding in objects such as mail boxes, windows and television sets. Boo is seen standing on a manhole cover and suddenly Randall appears behind her with a net. Luckily, Sulley pops out from the manhole beneath Boo, hoisting her into the air.
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Scene 6 - Entering Harryhausen's sushi restaurant, guests find the octopus-like chef searching for Boo, who can be found popping in and out of several different take-out boxes. Several monsters can be found throughout the restaurant, which also react to the flashlights.
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A scream and a "splash" are heard coming from behind the vehicles, they then rotate around to reveal that Mike's girlfriend Celia, has fallen off of her seat and into a nearby pool of water.

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Scene 7 - The vehicles then head back into the streets of the city. More monsters appear here including one that is about two stories tall. Mike is seen being electrocuted by a large power source continuously, the veins in his eye illuminating with each shock.
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Scene 8 - Entering the factory again, we see Sulley near the waste disposal system. Worried that he has lost Boo again, he calls her name out in fright.
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We then see Boo playing near some trash cans outside of a garbage compactor, unaware that Randall is directly behind her, raising his butterfly net. Randall is muttering to himself about his success, when suddenly Mike emerges from a box on the floor and shouts "GAME OVER", knocking Randall backwards into the garbage compactor.
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Following the trail of the garbage compactor, guests witness Randall roll down a treadmill, being crushed by a spike-lined wheel, pressed repeatedly by large iron poles, spun across another large wheel while changing skin colors, being chopped up by a large wall-like contraption, and emerge from the compactor in the shape of a cube, much like several other compacted cubes of garbage around him. Randall's eyes roll dizzily as he groans in pain.

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Scene 9 - Turning away from the garbage compactor, we see Mike, Sulley, and Boo outside of Boo's door, saying goodbye.
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A great effect here (that was not captured in my photo) is that as the vehicles approach this scene from an angle, riders can see around Boo's door and there is nothing behind it except for a wall, but as they pass directly in front of the open door, her bedroom is visible on the other side.

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Scene 10 Leaving them behind, the vehicles pass a very small monster named Rocky who says "bye-bye" in a VERY DEEP voice (as mentioned in the previous post, he was created just for this attraction.), Boo then pops up beneath him raising him into the air as she also says "bye-bye." to guests. Turning yet another corner, guests enter a filing room and pass an interactive audio-animatronic Roz. This Roz figure interacts with guests much like she does in "Mike and Sulley to the Rescue" at Disney's California Adventure.
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Riders then exit their vehicles and leave through the Monsters Inc. Company Store.

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Before entering the store, riders are handed a free copy of the "Monsters Eye."

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Personally, I really enjoyed this attraction. As mentioned before, the audio-animatronic figures are definitely an improvement over the Monsters Inc. attraction at California Adventure. The rotating vehicles also add an extra level to the attraction. I think it is every bit as entertaining as Tokyo's Pooh attraction. I said in an earlier post (back in November) that if Tokyo's Monsters Inc. "blows the California version out of the water," then I could forgive them for sticking it in Tomorrowland and also for painting the exterior that hideous color when every other building in Tomorrowland is gray, white, silver or blue. Sooooo.....I forgive them! It would be nice though, when the attraction goes down for it's first major rehab, if they were to paint it a color that fit in with it's neighboring Tomorrowland buildings....just a suggestion!