RymanArts: Affair Of The Art 2007

Earlier this month the RymanArts Program held their annual art sale fundraiser entitled "Affair of the Arts." So, I thought would mention the program, the event, a bit about Herbert Rymans' legacy with Disney, and share some images of his personal work that was featured this year.

The program was set up upon the passing of Herbert Ryman, who had a long and rich career with Disney both in animation and at Imagineering. The program is based in Los Angles and is aimed at inspiring and helping promising young artist see the arts as a viable path. I'll let the RymanArts site speak for itself... "It was agreed by family and friends that the most positive way to commemorate the life of Herbert D. Ryman was to carry on his philosophy and commitment to teach and encourage young artists to reach their full potential."


The program continues to be heavily sponsored by Imagineering thanks in large part to the dedication Marty Sklar, Vice Chairman and Principal Creative Executive, Walt Disney Imagineering. For years the event was actually held inside the Imagineering building in Glendale. This years Patron event featured a talk with Imagineering Chief Designer Tony Baxter and Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton discussing their involvement with the Submarine Voyage makeover.


RymanArts has also put together the best book on a single Disney artist entitled "A Brush with Disney." It is... "the story, in 252 pages of color illustrations, of artist Herbert Ryman's personal journeys around the world and through the "world of Walt."

And if you buy the book from the RymanArts site here, all proceeds will go to the program.

Disneyland FastPass Tip

Not sure why exactly, but the FastPass system for Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin at Disneyland will allow you to get a FastPass even if you have one out for another ride. I'm told the FastPass system that it runs on is seperated from all the others. Not sure how true it is but it does work. And if this isn't the nerdiest post to date, I don't know what is.

An American in Paris... Disneyland

Sorry for the long delay, much going on and lots of pictures to sift through. Here are some random thoughts and pictures from Disneyland Paris. Disneyland Paris is a beautiful park, if you are ever in Paris go see it. It's a 45 minute ride from the heart of Paris and the metro literally drops you off on the doorstep of the parks.

Main Street is much larger in scale here and leads to the best castle of any park hands down. Discovery Arcade and Liberty Arcade flank each side Main Street. I'm sure their main purpose is to provide cover/access down Main Street during heavy rain but they are wonderful exhibitions of the Golden Age of Invention and the Statue of Liberty. And they also help tremendously with crowd flow during parades. If there was a way to work this idea into Disneyland Ca, it would be a huge help for this reason alone. Above is Dapper Dan's on Main Street... and yes you can actually get a shave and haircut there.

They also have an old fashioned Paddy Wagon that guests can get locked up in and go for a cruise down MainStreet (forgot to get a picture of that but it was a great idea.)





Frontierland is very spread out and it seems they have left a lot of room there for additions. The entrance to the land is a Pioneer Fort that is themed to the hilt. It was nice to see the Fort since the one in California has since been closed from Tom Sawyers Island - sniff sniff. Phantom Manor is very cool, I really like that it wasn't just a stamped out version of the Haunted Manison. It was done with a great western style but with some of the traditional touches that make the Haunted Mansion so unique.

The Castle! The landscaping is an Eyvind Earle painting come to life... I'll just let some of the pictures do the talking...




I was a little disappointed with Discoveryland to be honest. I really like the Retro Sci-Fi theme, and props for not calling it Tomorrowland. But the layout and feel of the land is really weird. Space Mountain, which is huge, is plopped right in the middle of the land. You have to walk around it to get to any ride. To me it really killed the flow and impact of the style.

Space Mountain Mission 2.0 itself is another story. Mission 2.0 is better compared to Rockin' Roller Coaster than Space Mountain of California or Florida. It is the best version of Space Mountain and all others should immediately be blown up and replaced with this one.

I wish I had time to share every picture and talk about all the little details, but there are just too many. All in all the park is amazing, make sure to see it if you find yourself in Paris. It's mind blowing to see what Imagineering can do with a little cash and a lot of space. My hats off to everyone who was a part of making it come to life.