Disney's "Hip Hop Noel"

It's "Hip Hop Noel", a video from one of Disney's Christmas "Sing-A-Long Songs" videos. I remember this song and video well, from my Disney Store days. This song would come on all the time- and sometimes people would sing along or even dance to it. Check it out- would you dance to this if you had to hear this song once every hour (for at least 3 hours)?

Trip to Disney Vacation Club's Newest Resort: Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Resort

Last weekend I went with my other half to Disneyland Resort's Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Resort. It was fun! We loved the room- we had a Studio. It was more homey than the rooms inside the main inn of the Grand Californian. We loved the views from the balcony, too, which you can see here. We were in back of the Brother Bear Challenge Trail, and we had a good view of the pool area. I am so glad that I joined Disney Vacation Club- it's the best!

Stitch "Maniac" Shirt from Walt Disney World

I love this shirt, which I bought a year ago at Walt Disney World, for several reasons. Number one: it looks cool as a shirt, without any words or design. I love the colors of it- the dark blue sleeves, and the lighter blue body. Number two: it says "maniac" on the front, which is kind of mysterious and rebellious. Number three: it has a cool picture of Stitch from "Lilo n' Stitch" on the back.

Cool Cards From Disney's "The Princess and the Frog"

These are a set of cards which depict characters from the upcoming Disney classic, "The Princess and the Frog", which will debut in theaters in a couple of weeks. My friend Brad got 2 sets of these cards at the D23 Expo in September, and traded a set to me for my extra copy of the premiere issue of the D23 Magazine. These cards are pretty colorful, don't you think? Princess Tiana, who you can see in one of these pictures, kind of resembles Belle (from Beauty and the Beast), in my opinion!

I have seen the first one-third of this movie, and I can tell you this: I can't wait to see the whole thing! What I saw was so good!

Retro Disneyland Salt and Pepper Shaker

Here is a Salt and Pepper Shaker from Disneyland. I got this 4 years ago from Disneyland. This set has a "retro" look, and was special merchandise celebrating Disneyland's 50th Anniversary. Aren't they cool?

If anyone would like to buy these from me, I would part with them for $100 plus shipping!

Original Abraham Lincoln from "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" at the D23 Expo

This is the original Abraham Lincoln from Walt Disney's "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln", which debuted at the New York World's Fair of 1964 and was later brought to Disneyland in 1966. Walt Disney Imagineering had a show area at the D23 Expo where they had some really cool stuff on display, including this section about Audio-Animatronics. There were also previews of the new Disney/Pixar "Cars" attraction, new additions to Hong Kong Disneyland, and the new Disney Vacation Club Resort in Hawaii, called the "Disney Resort at Ko Olina".

Some Photos of Cheryl Burke and Derek Hough from "Dancing With The Stars", taken at the D23 Expo

These are photos that I took at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, which took place in early September. This was a cool Disney Convention! At this part of the convention, ABC Television (which is a part of the Walt Disney Company) was showing previews of their upcoming TV shows. As part of the entertainment, Cheryl Burke and Derek Hough from "Dancing With The Stars" came out and danced for the crowd. Wow! I must say that it is much more exciting seeing them dancing live than it is on TV. Afterwards, both Cheryl and Derek signed autographs for the fans! The fans went crazy, and were really excited to see these stars. The only complaint that I ran across is that Disney really did not give all the fans who wanted autographs enough time to get them, not just from Cheryl and Derek, but for other artists as well. Overall, D23 was a cool idea, but they needed to keep certain areas open longer. Perhaps they can learn from their Theme Park experience, like at EPCOT, and open a certain part of the Expo floor earlier, and have the other section open later, and leave one section open throughout. Both of these photos copyright David Ransom.

Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland Miniature Pewter Set

This is a set of miniature pewter figures from Walt Disney's film, "Alice in Wonderland". This set was produced by excellent Disney artists Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily. It was sold online by Disneyshopping.com, and came with a Certificate of Authenticity. As you can see, there are 5 figures in the set.

Look at the details on these figures. They are so small, and yet so detailed! All of the characters are in fun poses, and this is one of my favorite things that I bought within the past couple of years. Pictured here are the Catepillar, Tweedle Dee and Dweedle Dum, the Cheshire Cat, and a photo of all the figures in the box they came in.

Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily are excellent are true Disneyphiles and have created some of the best Disney figures for consumers. They sculpted for the "Tiny Kingdom" series that was sold at The Disney Store, for example. These pewter figures pictured here are fun because of the details!

If anyone would like to purchase this from me, I am willing to part with this great set for $200 plus shipping.

D23 Haunted Mansion Button - Hitchhiking Ghosts

This is a button advertising the "D23 Expo" that took place in September of 2009 at the Anaheim Convention Center. This button features the Hitchhiking Ghosts from the "Haunted Mansion" attraction at Disneyland. There were several D23 promotional buttons, but was a cool one for me to get (I got it at the D23 Studio Tour that I got in August). The D23 Expo was really cool, but I have a lot of suggestions for them if they want to make it better next year!

Anyway, I like this button. Don't you?

Walt Disney Classic Collection- The Magic Mirror from Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"

This is a limited edition sculpture of the Magic Mirror from Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". This mirror is number 1293 out of an edition of 5000 pieces. When my friend Bob who owns the store Fantasies Come True told me about this piece, I thought that I had to have it, because it seemed so unique. Once I got it out and displayed it a while, it was just OK. I mean, I like the sculpture, but the mirror wasn't doing it for me. Then, when taking THESE pictures, I discovered that, with proper lighting, this can be one heckuva cool piece! Don't you agree? Definitely would dress up Halloween pretty good!

Walt Disney Classic Collection- Ariel from "The Little Mermaid"

This is Ariel, from Disney's "The Little Mermaid", in a sculpture from the Walt Disney Classic Collection. This was a piece that came with your Membership in the Walt Disney Collector's society for Members in 1996. It was sculpted by Kent Melton. I really like the colors on Ariel here.

Walt Disney's The Three Caballeros on VHS

This is Walt Disney's classic film from 1945, "The Three Caballeros". This film combines live action with animation (in the Disney tradition), and is a sequel to Walt Disney's other classic film from 1943, "Saludos Amigos". In "The Three Caballeros", Donald Duck is reunited with his friend from Brazil, Jose Carioca. He is also introduced to Panchito, the rooster from Mexico. This is a fun film, and has one of the best performances from characters in animation with the song, "The Three Caballeros".

I have this movie on DVD also, but my VHS still works, and I will still play it! This is one of my favorite Disney films.

Peter Pan Flying Over London- Limited Edition Hand-Inked and Hand-Painted Cel by Disney Art Editions

This is a limited edition, hand-inked and hand-painted cel, of a scene from Walt Disney's "Peter Pan". It features Peter, Wendy, Michael, John, and Tinker Bell flying over London, heading to Never Land. This particular piece is number 491 out of an edition of 500. This was one of my favorite cels that I had seen from Disney Art Editions, but it was sold out. One day years ago, when I was still working at The Disney Store in the Crenshaw/Baldwin Hills Plaza, I happened to go to The Disney Store at the Westside Pavillion, where I was looking for something else. I happened across this piece hanging on the wall. "Where did that come from?", I asked, amazed that it was there in their store. "Somebody returned it yesterday", they said. "I want it", I said, plopping down my VISA credit card. The sales tag said $1,500, but I got a slight discount, so with the tax factored back in I still paid slightly under $1,500. This piece hung in my apartment in Hollywood, along with all the other nice framed pieces that I had, until I could no longer afford to live there. This piece sat in my storage for a while, until recently, when I took it out and hanged it on the wall in my current bedroom. Alas, we have placed a television on a wall mount, which was too close for me to be near this cel, so I took it off the wall, and it's going back into a safe place. It was fun having it out for a month, though. Look at the background of London- you can imagine yourself there! The colors on this thing are truly amazing. Taking the photo with flash really brought the colors out!

The Art of Walt Disney by Robert D. Field

This is a very old, and very collectible, book that I was so lucky to get. I got it for free, too. How? Well, my friend Clyde knew that I was a big fan of Disney, and he was living with an old former executive from United Artists who happened to have a large collection of art books. My friend saw this book and commented that I might love to have that book. He called me up and told me a little about it. I had never heard of it, and I wasn't looking for it for that reason (I have since found out that it is one of the top books about Disney animation to have, since it's the oldest one published on the subject!) I met Clyde's friend, who asked me if I had ever seen that book before. When I replied, "No, I haven't. Wow!", he told me, "You can have it". "What?" , I asked. I was really surprised. This book, it turns out, it from the third printing in 1947 (the first edition was printed in 1942, and the second in 1945). It was made and printed in Great Britain by Jarrold & Sons, Ltd., Norwich. This book talks about the process of animation, and specifically talks about the films that Walt Disney Productions had already produced at the time of the printing, including "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Bambi", "Dumbo", "Pinocchio", and a few of the animated shorts. It also talks about the make-up of the Disney Studio at the time- its divisions. In simply skimming the book, I am so tempted to read it (in fact, I will, as soon as I finish the book that I'm reading by Whoopi Goldberg!)

Disneyland Records "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House"

This is the 1964 Disneyland Records album, "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House" (Disneyland Records DQ-1257). It's a recording of sound effects from not just a haunted house, but other fun sound effects, such as: "the very long fuse", "the dogs", "timber", "your pet cat", "shipwreck", "the unsafe bridge", "chinese water torture", "the bitrds", "the martian monsters", "screams and groans", "thunder, lighning and rain", "cat fight", "dogs", "a collection of creaks", "fuses and explosions", "a collection of crashes", "birds", "drips and splashes", and "things in space". I just added this record to my collection (someone threw away a whole bunch of records- I guess someone died, but anyway, this records was in there- what a find!) I just have to get a record player now and play this sucker!