Tuesday, March 29, 2011
My podcast episode aired!!!
If anyone reads this and wonders what I sound like, now you can find out by listening to episode 319 of the Be Our Guest Podcast (available on itunes or at http://www.beourguestpodcast.com/). I hope you like it!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Practically Perfect Opinion: Here is My Problem with Judi Dench
Welcome to the first installment in our Practically Perfect Opinion series!
First of all, let me be clear that Dame Judi Dench is an absolutely phenomenal actress. This is not about her acting skills or her value as a person. This rant is dedicated specifically and solely to her Spaceship Earth narration.
I had the pleasure of listening to an audio ride-through of Spaceship Earth as narrated by Jeremy Irons recently on the Mouse Guest Weekly podcast. I also rode Spaceship Earth four times on my most recent WDW trip (late Feb/early March 2011) with the DJD narration. My problem with the new narration is threefold:
1) The point of a WDW trip for me, personally, is reliving my childhood memories. Having gone to Disney so often in my formative years, WDW holds many memories for me. Therefore, I am initially VERY AVERSE to any change to any part of the park that holds a memory for me from the 1980s/early 1990s version. In my mind, the Polynesian, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and MGM (ahem, Hollywood Studios) should stay the same as they were when I experienced them in the 1980s/early 1990s. On the other hand, I have no childhood memories of Animal Kingdom since it did not open until I was 16, so my gut reaction is not to oppose changes to that park.
I realize this is a solipsistic view, and I apologize for the selfish view. But since there is pretty much nothing I can do to stop Disney from removing my personal childhood memories from its property, I hope this opinion doesn't upset that many people. ANYWAY, back to Spaceship Earth. Obviously my memories are of Mr. Irons's narration. Therefore this change to DJD is unwelcome to me.
2) Here is the REAL meat of the issue. This part may be more universally accepted that part 1. Listen to Jeremy Irons's narration. Then listen to DJD's version. The problem is her TONE. It sounds like she's reading Goodnight Moon to a 3 year old. The way she says "Thank the Phoenicians." Her tone indicates she is speaking down to us, as if she is our kindergarten teacher. That may make the ride more accessible to young children, but young children are not the only ones who ride this attraction. Spaceship Earth is a CLASSIC. I would guess that pretty much every Epcot visitor will ride it. This includes single adults, childless couples, teens, senior citizens, DFs, all people who can read Goodnight Moon on their own.
Now, perhaps I am a little quick on the trigger here. Perhaps there are other forces at play, BUT: my immediate instinct when listening to DJD narrate like this (which is not necessarily her natural, normal intonation (see, e.g., her film performances)) is that she drastically misunderstands Walt Disney World as a whole. Walk with me here: if her narration sounds like she is speaking solely to small children, then it follows that she must think her narration will be directed almost solely at small children. By that logic, I suspect that DJD imagines every WDW ride (or at least this one in particular) to be full of small children and parents. The evidence indicates that she believes WDW to be almost entirely for small children. Which it is not. The point of WDW was to provide entertainment accessible for ALL members of the family. Including adults. Walt wanted a place where he and his daughters could have fun together. DJD's narration is the opposite of that idea.
3) Jeremy Irons's narration was SUPERAWESOME.
So that is why I have a problem with Dame Judi Dench's Spaceship Earth narration. I blame the producers and other people in charge for not correcting her (alleged) misperception. If my theory is true, I bet that, had someone corrected her, DJD would have done a much better (dare I say amazing?) narration and the ride today would be far superior to how it appears in its current state.
First of all, let me be clear that Dame Judi Dench is an absolutely phenomenal actress. This is not about her acting skills or her value as a person. This rant is dedicated specifically and solely to her Spaceship Earth narration.
I had the pleasure of listening to an audio ride-through of Spaceship Earth as narrated by Jeremy Irons recently on the Mouse Guest Weekly podcast. I also rode Spaceship Earth four times on my most recent WDW trip (late Feb/early March 2011) with the DJD narration. My problem with the new narration is threefold:
1) The point of a WDW trip for me, personally, is reliving my childhood memories. Having gone to Disney so often in my formative years, WDW holds many memories for me. Therefore, I am initially VERY AVERSE to any change to any part of the park that holds a memory for me from the 1980s/early 1990s version. In my mind, the Polynesian, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and MGM (ahem, Hollywood Studios) should stay the same as they were when I experienced them in the 1980s/early 1990s. On the other hand, I have no childhood memories of Animal Kingdom since it did not open until I was 16, so my gut reaction is not to oppose changes to that park.
I realize this is a solipsistic view, and I apologize for the selfish view. But since there is pretty much nothing I can do to stop Disney from removing my personal childhood memories from its property, I hope this opinion doesn't upset that many people. ANYWAY, back to Spaceship Earth. Obviously my memories are of Mr. Irons's narration. Therefore this change to DJD is unwelcome to me.
2) Here is the REAL meat of the issue. This part may be more universally accepted that part 1. Listen to Jeremy Irons's narration. Then listen to DJD's version. The problem is her TONE. It sounds like she's reading Goodnight Moon to a 3 year old. The way she says "Thank the Phoenicians." Her tone indicates she is speaking down to us, as if she is our kindergarten teacher. That may make the ride more accessible to young children, but young children are not the only ones who ride this attraction. Spaceship Earth is a CLASSIC. I would guess that pretty much every Epcot visitor will ride it. This includes single adults, childless couples, teens, senior citizens, DFs, all people who can read Goodnight Moon on their own.
Now, perhaps I am a little quick on the trigger here. Perhaps there are other forces at play, BUT: my immediate instinct when listening to DJD narrate like this (which is not necessarily her natural, normal intonation (see, e.g., her film performances)) is that she drastically misunderstands Walt Disney World as a whole. Walk with me here: if her narration sounds like she is speaking solely to small children, then it follows that she must think her narration will be directed almost solely at small children. By that logic, I suspect that DJD imagines every WDW ride (or at least this one in particular) to be full of small children and parents. The evidence indicates that she believes WDW to be almost entirely for small children. Which it is not. The point of WDW was to provide entertainment accessible for ALL members of the family. Including adults. Walt wanted a place where he and his daughters could have fun together. DJD's narration is the opposite of that idea.
3) Jeremy Irons's narration was SUPERAWESOME.
So that is why I have a problem with Dame Judi Dench's Spaceship Earth narration. I blame the producers and other people in charge for not correcting her (alleged) misperception. If my theory is true, I bet that, had someone corrected her, DJD would have done a much better (dare I say amazing?) narration and the ride today would be far superior to how it appears in its current state.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Be Our Guest Podcast Experience
On Wednesday I had the privilege of recording with Mike and Rikki of the Be Our Guest Podcast. I am SO thrilled that I got to do this! I used Mike's travel agency, The Magic For Less, to book my trip and as I am a very faithful BOGP listener, I had heard them mention that they could use some more trip reports a few weeks before my trip. So when I got back, I emailed Mike offering up my trip report as a possible podcast and we set it up!
They called me via Skype Wednesday night and were SO NICE. I mean, they're always nice on the podcast so it wasn't unexpected but I was nervous! I guess I think of all my podcasters as kind of my "friends" so I really wanted Mike and Rikki to like me. We had (I hope) a great chat about my trip and I hope that they liked me!
It went by so fast. Now I'm thinking about all the things I forgot to mention that I could have talked about (e.g. Wishes Dessert Party, Via Napoli, being on the BOGP Forums, other 80s/90s WDW memories) and I'm cringing at the things I said that could possibly make me sound stupid or unlikeable. This is my way - I am a dweller. Still it was a fantastic experience and I'm psyched that Mike and Rikki actually know who I am now! lol I'm thinking of a trip to Disneyland in the fall w/ my little sister so I'm hoping I can go back on and talk about that someday too.
I *think* my show airs this coming Monday, March 21, so if anyone reads this, please listen to it and write a good review so they want me to come back on!
They called me via Skype Wednesday night and were SO NICE. I mean, they're always nice on the podcast so it wasn't unexpected but I was nervous! I guess I think of all my podcasters as kind of my "friends" so I really wanted Mike and Rikki to like me. We had (I hope) a great chat about my trip and I hope that they liked me!
It went by so fast. Now I'm thinking about all the things I forgot to mention that I could have talked about (e.g. Wishes Dessert Party, Via Napoli, being on the BOGP Forums, other 80s/90s WDW memories) and I'm cringing at the things I said that could possibly make me sound stupid or unlikeable. This is my way - I am a dweller. Still it was a fantastic experience and I'm psyched that Mike and Rikki actually know who I am now! lol I'm thinking of a trip to Disneyland in the fall w/ my little sister so I'm hoping I can go back on and talk about that someday too.
I *think* my show airs this coming Monday, March 21, so if anyone reads this, please listen to it and write a good review so they want me to come back on!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Brief Trip Report
I'm baaaaaaack!!! I have a feeling I will be writing about the details of my trip in a bunch of upcoming posts. But here is a very brief synopsis of the Worst Attractions I tried out.
- Canada's circlevision is clearly the superior World Showcase film. France's is the worst.
- Tiki Room continues to be closed and I skipped the Treehouse out of sheer laziness.
- I don't get why so many of my Disney podcasters swoon over The American Adventure.
- I missed Hall of Presidents but it wasn't my fault I swear!
- I don't need to do the Liberty Belle ever again.
- the Pangani Trail was better than expected, Journey into Narnia was worse.
- Astro Orbiter was terrifying.
- Aaaaaand finally, I couldn't stomach JII 3.0. I just couldn't do it, you guys. I'm sorry. I have failed you all.
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