YEAR IN REVIEW– 2011

Let's look back at some popular posts of 2011.

Walt Disney's Carolwood Pacific and Other Backyard Railroads
We did lots of investigating in order to map out Walt Disney's very own backyard railroad and compare it to the current property.

EPCOT Center Construction Photos: Future World
We dug up some fantastic old construction photos. Many had never posted online before.

National Geographic Aug '63
This two part post was very popular. Filled with amazing Disneyland photos from the early 60s.

 

Ride Concept Competition
Our first-ever competition was a huge success. We asked for your ideas for new rides and received so many great ones. You can check out the winners here.

ABANDONED DISNEY: Haunted Mansion Hitchhiking Ghosts
An exclusive behind-the-scenes look at one of the greatest attraction special effects of all time.

Not Having Fun at Disneyland
Old Disneyland photos of kids not having fun at Disneyland. Fun for a laugh!

ABANDONED DISNEY: River Country [Part 4]
Our most popular post of all time is still our first River Country post. Subsequent River Country posts are also very popular. Take a look at Disney's only abandoned park.

Bin Laden Mansion Minutes From Walt Disney World
The day Osama bin Laden was captured and killed we discovered that his brother had a mansion minutes north of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. The home is now abandoned.

Walt Disney Studio Post Production Behind-the-Scenes
We found this fantastic video about Walt's studio. Lots of great footage.

Lake Buena Vista: The Other Prototype City with a Peoplemover
A Peoplemover and a Monorail at Downtown Disney?? It was supposed to happen.

EPCOT Center Graphics
Enjoy Mitch's custom graphics inspired by and featuring some of that wonderful Future World architecture.

Frito Kid Mysteries Continue
The very obscure and mysterious Frito Kid once lived at Disneyland. We pin-point his exact locations.

THEN AND NOW: Disneyland [Part 1]
Our "THEN AND NOW" series is one of our most popular. We've posted many comparisons from Walt Disney World in the past. This year we've added Disneyland.

Create Your Own Background Music
Quite possibly the most fun you'll ever have clicking around one of our posts. Easily create music with a click of a mouse. You might need this when scoring your own attraction.

Thanks for a great year. We are thrilled to welcome many new visitors. Keep coming back and feel free to join us on Twitter for daily tweets.

Here's a look at last year's Year in Review.

Mars and Beyond Robot

Take a look at my latest little side project. I set out to make a maquette of one of my favorite martians from Disney's 1957 "Mars and Beyond". 

Years ago my pal Hoot Gibson gave me this DVD set and ever since I've been hooked. From that first viewing of "Mars and Beyond" I fantasized about a Tomorrowland ride based on this Ward Kimball treasure. The DVD also shares other films with a style that would lend to a wonderful Tomorrowland makeover. Speaking of Hoot Gibson... you may know that he is a master sculptor. His stuff makes me cry of jealousy.

Our great Twitter followers have been watching some of the step-by-step process over the last couple weeks. Here are some more process photos.

Behind the Scenes

Some Sculpey and Super Sculpey plus wire framing.

Form, bake, sand.

Assemble.

Paint and clean.

Related posts:

Our Friend the Atom
Little Box of Treasures
Magic Highway U.S.A... It doesn't get much better than this.
A Look at the Progress City Model- Then and Now
Swiss Family Treehouse Model
Recreating the Pirates Jail Scene in Miniature
THEN AND NOW: MK Tomorrowland [Part 1] 
The Fantasy of Space Colony Living

Behind the Scenes Muppeteering

The new Muppets movie "The Muppets" will be released in a few days. We thought we'd bring you some old behind the scenes photos of Muppet magic– mostly from Sesame Street.

"After earlier unsuccessful attempts, The Walt Disney Company bought the Muppets in 2004. Exceptions include characters appearing on Sesame Street (as they were previously sold to Sesame Workshop, although they have always had creative rights, only paying The Jim Henson Company to create and provide their Muppet characters for their use) and the Fraggles of Fraggle Rock (which are still owned by The Jim Henson Company). The legal trademark on the term "Muppet" is currently held by The Muppets Studio, a division of The Walt Disney Company, although Sesame Workshop and The Jim Henson Company continue to use the term on their characters with certain permissions from Disney." Thank you, Wikipedia.

Images scanned from our personal collections. Images ©The Jim Henson Company

Related posts:

National Geographic Aug '63
Not Having Fun at Disneyland
I Love it When They Get Things Right
EPCOT Center Construction Photos: Future World
Walt Disney Studios Post Production Behind-the-Scenes
The Haunted Mansion Like You've Never Seen It
Imagineering Sound Design Behind-the-Scenes