Comments for Progress City, U.S.A.

Comment on New Oil Crisis? (part 1) by Tangaroa

Tangaroa — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:58:14 +0000

Agreed - we were talking the other day about this and it was pointed out that who besides Disney would want to or be able to buy the property? Perhaps some huge venture capital interest, but why would they want it if there was no profit upside?

Of course, in previous economic crises under less bold corporate leadership there were a number of ideas like this, not to mention a rash of overtly-cautious decision making that cost the company in the long-run, and this is what I think the author is going to address in future installments.

As for those who are promoting this as an actual possibility that we’re in risk of, I’d agree that it sounds a bit dodgy.

Comment on One week more… by Tangaroa

Tangaroa — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:51:50 +0000

I guess it’s all just a point of personal preference and, for me, an escalating excitement based on Pixar’s continuing track record. I was definitely anticipating “The Incredibles” at the time of its release, but even at that time we had yet to see the heights Pixar could reach.

I try not to delve too deeply into hyperbole, but “Ratatouille” absolutely blew me out of the water when I first saw it. To me, it’s an absolute culmination of everything animation is best at when used correctly and by far my favorite theatergoing experience ever with an animated film.

Admittedly, I’m biased in favor of WALL-E because it’s Pixar’s first stab at hard sci-fi, and I have a predilection for the genre. From the first simple trailer, though, I’ve known that the guys at Pixar were going to throw everything they had at the screen and, now that I know the heat they’re packing, I fully expect to be blown away.

I also think that WALL-E truly shows the potential of animation, in that it centers around a completely inorganic object and imbues it with such personality that other studios with their photorealistic pooting animals could only dream of. WALL-E himself is a representation of a metal, inhuman object that really only exists in some server in Emoryville, yet he manages such a range of expression and character - it’s really what Pixar does best.

I’m an enormous fan of expressing character with the minimal amount of extraneous detail as possible - to me, any comedy can be made funnier by using puppets. There’s something about stripping away the chaff of expression and conveying a complex emotion or thought with the smallest possible gesture that I love. So I guess you could say that WALL-E is something of a perfect storm of my favorite things.

Comment on New Oil Crisis? (part 1) by Greg Maletic

Greg Maletic — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:49:17 +0000

This “$160-a-barrel-oil, then Disney sells” idea sounds, well, preposterous on its face. If it isn’t profitable for Disney to run the parks at that price, why would it be profitable for anyone else to run them either, given that they’d -also- be saddled with licensing fees to pay to Disney?

What am I missing here?

Comment on One week more… by Greg Maletic

Greg Maletic — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:12:05 +0000

I’m not quite getting the hyper-excitement around this film. It certainly doesn’t look bad, and I’m not saying it couldn’t be great…but I’m just feeling indifferent. More excited than “Cars”, to be sure, but a lot less excited than “The Incredibles.”

Comment on Meet Mark VII by Off The Rail… | Progress City, U.S.A.

Off The Rail… | Progress City, U.S.A. — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:10:29 +0000

[...] that continue to plague the rollout of Disneyland’s new Mark VII Monorails. Since the delivery of Monorail Red last December, a series of mechanical and operational issues have repeatedly pushed [...]

Comment on My Ed Grier Impersonation by Teddi

Teddi — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:04:39 +0000

The first sentence of your second paragraph evokes the Earth/Narnia time structure… Telmarines could have taken over the internet in the time you’ve been gone.

Glad you’re back in this world as well as in mine!

Comment on Filthy Lucre by biblioadonis aka George

biblioadonis aka George — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:12:26 +0000

Buy the Art of Disneyland! BUY, BUY, BUY!!!

It is super amazing! The others are all good, too…but AOD is superb!

Comment on Oscar Season in Progress City by Tangaroa

Tangaroa — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:24:13 +0000

Oh my… now *that* would be award worthy

Comment on Oscar Season in Progress City by Teddi

Teddi — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:09:33 +0000

The only other thing the Oscars needed was Helen Mirren descending from an unfurling flower on the ceiling to present the award.

Comment on Oscar Season in Progress City by Tangaroa

Tangaroa — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:10:43 +0000

Oh my stars and garters, I got linked by a Koster! As someone who goes back to R.A.D. circa 1994-95 or so, this is exciting stuff. Fantastic to see you here!

Glad you enjoyed it. For some reason, I’m completely transfixed by it. My only regret is that the film doesn’t actually exist, as it’s something I’m now desperate to see.

Thanks for dropping by!