PA – An Evening with Floyd Norman

Press Release:

Legendary Walt Disney animation pioneer Floyd Norman will be coming to Point Park on Saturday, November 12th at 7:00 PM for a screening of a film about his life followed by a Q&A session.

Mr. Norman was the first African-American animator is the Disney Studios and worked on many pieces, including Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, Jungle Book, and Robin Hood, as well as Sesame Street, Toy Story 2, Mulan, and Monsters, Inc. The free event is sponsored by Point Park’s Animation Program, Center for Media Innovation, and The ToonSeum. The event will take place at Point Park’s University Center’s GRW Theater.

RSVP on Facebook!

Point Park University Center for Student Success
201 Wood St West Penn Building, Floor 5, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
(412) 392-8153

Scene and Reviewed: 101 Dalmatians Diamond Edition

Just released on Tuesday, Disney’s classic animated film 101 Dalmatians is now available in on Blu-ray™, Digital HD, Disney Movies Anywhere, DVD and On-Demand. This new Diamond Edition includes several new bonus features.

I was supplied with a review copy and was very impressed. I wasn’t sure how the animation would hold up in the Blu-ray format. I don’t know if they did a lot of clean-up or not, but it was gorgeous!

Based on the 1956 book by Dodie Smith, the story of 101 Dalmatians still holds up. One of Disney’s most fiendish villains, Cruella De Vil, loves fur coats and wants to make one made up of the skins of Dalmatian puppies. We find our way into the story first through songwriter Roger and his adult Dalmatian Pongo. Pongo sets about to find a mate for Roger and succeeds in bringing Roger together with Anita, an owner of a female Dalmatian Perdita. It’s love all around, and Perdita soon gives birth to a little of pups. When Roger and Anita rebuff Cruella’s offers to buy the puppies, she decides to not take no for an answer the excitement kicks in. At times, the movie might actually be a bit intense for the truly young as the puppies do encounter their share of peril.

Did you know that 101 Dalmatians was the highest grossing movie of 1961? Or that it was the first Disney animated film to use a contemporary setting? There is a lot of fascinating info in the bonus features. Traditionally, the animation process started with sketches by artists that were then inked over by other artists onto sheets of acetate. The making of 101 Dalmatians came at a critical time for the animation department after Sleeping Beauty failed to be a big money-maker. Looking for ways to cut costs, 101 Dalmatians became the first full-length animated movie to make extensive use of a Xerox machine to take the original sketches straight to the acetate sheets. Although that resulted in a lot of inkers losing their jobs, the primary artists were thrilled that their original drawings were being realized on the screen for the first time.

Here are some clips from the special features:

I definitely think that this package of 101 Dalmatians would make for a worthy addition to your collection.

Cast:                                      Rod Taylor (Inglorious Bastards, The Birds) as Pongo, J. Pat O’Malley (The Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland) as Jasper and Betty Lou Gerson (The Fly, Cats Don’t Dance) as Cruella de Vil

Producer:                   Walt Disney

Directors:                            Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton S. Luske and Clyde Geronimi

Writers:                               Story by Bill Peet. Based on the book “101 Dalmatians” by Dodie Smith

Release Date:                    February 10, 2015 (Direct Prebook: 12/16; Distributor Prebook: 12/30)

Product SKUs:                        Digital HD & SD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, Disney Movies Anywhere & On-Demand

 

New Bonus Features:            All New Short – The Further Adventures of Thunderbolt

Walt Disney Presents “The Best Doggoned Dog in the World” (1961 Version)

Lucky Dogs

DisneyView

Dalmatians 101: Hosted by Cameron Boyce (Disney Channel’s “The Descendants”)

Plus a Selection of Classic Bonus Features

Ratings:                                G in US & Canada (bonus materials are not rated)

Feature Run Time:          Approximately 79 Minutes

Aspect Ratio:                     1:33:1

Audio:                                  Blu-ray: 7.1 DTS-HDMA / 1.0 Dolby Digital (English); 5.1 DTS-HDHR (French) & 5.1 Dolby Digital (Spanish)

Languages:                         English, French and Spanish

Subtitles:                            English (ESL/SDH), French and Spanish

 

Social Media:

Stay connected with the latest news and information about ”101 Dalmatians”:

• “Like” us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Disney101Dalmatians
• Check out our Website and Mobile Site: http://www.disney.com/101dalmatians
• Visit www.Disneymoviesanywhere.com and download the DMA App at: http://di.sn/ttI

ABOUT DISNEY MOVIES ANYWHERE (DMA):

Disney Movies Anywhere (DMA) is a cloud-based digital movie service that offers a hassle-free way for consumers to buy, watch, and manage Disney digital content across platforms and devices via the easy-to-use DMA app or at DisneyMoviesAnywhere.com. A DMA-eligible digital title purchased from an iTunes-connected account or redeemed in DMA will be accessible in a user’s DMA and iTunes lockers. There are currently over 400 films from Disney’s rich history available through DMA for streaming and download, including Disney Branded Animation, Disney Live-Action, Pixar, and Marvel titles, along with exclusive, original content. For more information or to redeem Digital Copy codes to build your library and earn Disney Movie Rewards Points for digital purchases, visit http://www.disneymoviesanywhere.com.

ABOUT THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS:

For 90 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under the following banners: Disney, including Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel Studios; Lucasfilm; and Touchstone Pictures, the banner under which live-action films from DreamWorks Studios are distributed. The Disney Music Group encompasses the Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records labels, as well as Disney Music Publishing. The Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Disney on Broadway, Disney On Ice and Disney Live!

SF – 101 Dalmatians Panel

Floyd Norman, Andreas Dejas, and Don Iwerks speak on Saturday February 12 at 3:00pm

Designing a Contemporary Classic: The Art and Process of 101 Dalmatians

This panel of Disney animators and innovators will discuss the unique style of 101 Dalmatians, how it differed from other Disney films, and why it was such a successful and revolutionary film. Hear about the groundbreaking new technological advancement of the Xerox? process, what this new technology meant to the animation industry, and how the Disney team produced all those spots!

Walt Disney Family Museum
104 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94129