Boing Boing » Walt Disney

Happy Birthday, Walt! Oswald the Lucky Rabbit will finally get a voice (in Epic Mickey 2)!

Jamie Frevele — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 22:06:30 +0000

It's Walt Disney's 111th birthday today, and there is news from the video game world that probably would have made him smile: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, his pre-Mickey Mouse, silent-era creation, is finally getting a voice after 85 years! Oswald has appeared as Mickey's (silent) partner in 2010's Epic Mickey, but the sequel to the game, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (which just came out for Wii U, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Mac, PC coming in January), will let him speak for the first time ever. Who will be providing the voice of Oswald? None other than the legendary voice actor, Frank Welker, who is now the official, permanent voice of Oswald for any future cartoons. My Disney-loving heart has melted. (via Mashable)

Photo credit: Disney Wiki

Saving Mr. Banks starts shooting, marks the first time Walt Disney is portrayed on film

Jamie Frevele — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 23:05:36 +0000

Today in News I'm a Little Ashamed I Didn't Know About Already: Disney is making the first movie that features Walt Disney as a character, and he will be portrayed by the only man with whom "Uncle Walt" can be trusted, Tom Hanks. Saving Mr. Banks follows the 14-year effort by Disney as he tried to convince P.L. Travers, author of Mary Poppins, to allow him to make a movie out of her book. It will flash back and forth from Travers' childhood with her father (on whom Mr. Banks was based), to the 1940s, '50s, and early '60s, when Disney was trying to make Mary Poppins into a movie that Travers ended up hating. Also starring are Emma Thompson (as Travers), Rachel Griffiths (as the aunt who inspired the character of Mary Poppins), Colin Farrell (as Travers' father), Ruth Wilson, Paul Giamatti, BJ Novak, Jason Schwartzman, and Bradley Whitford. Shooting began today, and among the locations are Disneyland and Burbank's Disney Studio. Well doesn't that all sound practically perfect in every way? (via Screen Rant, Empire)

Two things that would thaw Walt Disney with the heat of his own rage

Jamie Frevele — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:00:22 +0000

What you are about to see is a bunch of stultifyingly counterfeit Disney characters performing at a concert where Dear Leader, Jr. of North Korea, Kim Jung Un, was in attendance. I'm wondering if he was, perhaps, slightly underwhelmed.

Bonus: right smack in the center of an "Oh SNAP" bullseye. The following is an image of several "rejected" designs for Mickey Mouse, a most beloved creation of Walt Disney because he'd always considered the happy little rodent a reflection of himself. Warning: one of these Mickeys has a penis.

So, why are these so bad? Because they were drawn in 1985, 20 years after Walt Disney's death, by Ward Kimball, one of the most prolific animators at Walt Disney Productions from 1934 to 1972. One of Disney's "Nine Old Men," who he'd once called a "genius," and upon whom he relied to create or redesign tons of classic Disney characters including Mickey. At the same time, it is no secret that a lot of Disney's closest cohorts didn't always agree with him and didn't always have nice things to say about him. (Because Walt Disney was more than a little bit of a nutter and not "World's Best Boss.") In fact, Kimball was partly responsible for starting the whole "Disney cryogenically froze himself after he died" rumor, so, yeah -- a sweetheart.

At the same time, there is no way to not laugh at any of this.

Video Link (via Gawker, io9)