Enchanted Ears - Anything & Everything Disney

Ranking the Disney Renaissance Part 1

Welcome to the Enchanted Ears Podcast, The Rock’s #1 choice for best Disney podcast done by a couple of high school sweethearts with a 10 inch height difference.

We can’t wait for you to listen to this week’s episode, but first, some Disney News!

Last week Living with the Land malfunctioned, causing the jets to shut off and the boats to drift backward. If you think that sounds like it would be a fun ride, we’re with you!

Also, Disney comes to an agreement with the Equity Actors’ Union which will enable some of the character shows to restart at the parks. Yay!!

This week we’re so excited to bring to you part 1 of our 2 part series, Ranking the Disney Renaissance Movies.

The Disney Renaissance is a group of 10 animated movies released from 1989-1999, which really helped to bring Disney back to the forefront of entertainment by returning to Walt’s formula of telling well-known tales. In it, Disney found massive success and produced some of their most beloved movies. They also worked through an era of technical growth, with the use of the new CG animation.

This week and next, we go through the movies ranking them 10-1. We discuss what makes these movies so lovable, and in some cases, what makes them not work as well as others. It was a tough job, but someone has to do it!

Also, a big thank you to some of our favorite Disney podcasters (Curtis and Lindsay from Geekin' on WDW and Trent and Jeni from Disney DNA) and bloggers for picking some of their favorites and explaining why they love them so much!! This was a really fun episode to make and it wouldn’t be possible without you all and your amazing sound bites!

Tune in next week for part 2! Have a magical week!

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Skipping the Lines with Len Testa from Touring Plans

Hello and welcome to the Enchanted Ears Podcast! This week we're going to get straight into it because do we have quite an amazing podcast for you!

 

This week we interviewed Len Testa, president and creator of touringplans.com, coauthor of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, and one of the two hosts of the Disney Dish podcast. Yeah...we know...super impressive, right? 

 

For the majority of the podcast, we talk about touringplans, a website that helps you to create the best plan to get you through the park on any given day. It gives you actual wait times of the rides and allows you to save your valuable time. You may also recognize it because we use touringplans' ratings for our Overrated/Underrated episodes. 

 

We talk to Len about how he originally conceived of the idea, what common mistakes people make when planning their day, what the parks have been like since reopening, what he feels is touringplan's most overrated and underrated rides, his favorite restaurant, etc. 

 

We had such a fun time talking to Len, and we appreciate his time and candor. Please check out all things Len if you haven't already.

 

Have a fabulous week, everyone!

 

Check us out on Facebook and Youtube or submit a question/topic for us to discuss on a future episode or support us on Patreon 

Disney Decade: The 1980s

This week in Disney News, Animal Kingdom announces a new baby mandrill born on July 25, and Angela gets weirdly emotional about it.

 

National Geographic will be releasing a new show detailing the behind the scenes activities at Animal Kingdom this fall.

 

Surprisingly, with new movies still on hold, Pixar announces a new movie, Luca, set to come out summer 2021.

 

Finally, the latest rumor is that Disney’s looking to replace The Hall of Presidents with something a little more long-lasting (aka doesn’t need updating every 4-8 years).

 

And for our main topic, we continue our long-running Disney Decade series by heading back to the 1980s. 

 

The 1980s was an interesting and important inflection point for the Walt Disney Company.  Between building a new theme park and Board Room shakeups, Disney almost didn’t make it out of the decade as an independent company.  But out of this struggle rose an even stronger company with the end of the decade bringing about the beginning of the Disney Renaissance.

 

Check us out on Facebook and Youtube or submit a question/topic for us to discuss on a future episode or support us on Patreon 

The Best Disney Friendships

This week in Disney News, photos of Cinderella Castle have come out amidst the massive repaint job revealing that the castle is essentially a massive paint by numbers! Pretty cool, right!?

 

Also, Food and Wine has officially started! 😋 What delightful delicacies are available this year?

Disney also announces a new animated series to follow the recently concluded and very popular series The Clone Wars. This successor’s called The Bad Batch and it already has a ton of people very excited. 

 

Lastly, Mulan has been taken off the schedule of movies to come out indefinitely while we wait to see how long until the world is able to go back to normal. Fingers crossed it’s sooner rather than later.

In honor of International Day of Friendship, we decided to play “Guess the Disney Best Friend.” Play along as Angela narrates as one best friend describing his/her pal. If you need a little extra help, listen for the 3 hints and definitely don’t listen to Joe’s silly guesses.  

Joe, seriously, when did Geralt of Rivia and his horse, Roach, become Disney characters? 

Keep track of your points and be sure to gloat to Joe on our Facebook @enchantedears if you beat him.

 

Check us out on Facebook and Youtube or submit a question/topic for us to discuss on a future episode or support us on Patreon 

Club 33

This week in Disney News, Disney reopened on July 11th. Since then, it seems that the crowds have been pretty low, and there have already been a few adjustments made to the mask policy. Gaiters and bandanas are no longer accepted as mouth coverings. You need a double-layered mask.  

Character interactions are occurring in the form of character cavalcades on floats. 

Also, Disney announced some permanent ride closures. Stitch’s Great Escape, Primeval Whirl, and Rivers of Light are all closed for good. 

Shhhhhh...this week we’re discussing a super-secret society, shrouded in mystery since it opened in 1967. If you haven’t already guessed (or just read the episode title), that’s Club 33! 

We discuss every facet of the club we could find available for the plebeians online. What is Club 33? Why was it created? How do you become a member? Where is it located? How much does it cost? What are the perks? What does it look like? What celebrities might you see if you go? What’s the food like?  

And there’s so much more! 

End the mystery already, and listen! 

Also, congratulations to our contest winners Julia and Brittany! Thanks for supporting the show. And thanks to all of you for supporting the show! We wouldn’t do this without you! 

Check us out on Facebook and Youtube or submit a question/topic for us to discuss on a future episode or support us on Patreon 

You Can Only Keep One: Food Edition

Hello and welcome to the Enchanted Ears Podcast, where we discuss anything and everything Disney! 

This week in Disney News, James Gun gives a massive endorsement to Cosmic Rewind, the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride going into EPCOT saying it’s, “Utterly mind-blowing.” 

Speaking of “utterly mind-blowing,” if you haven’t already, be sure to check out Into the Unknown on Disney+. This binge-able documentary’s about the making of Frozen 2. It’s amazing to get some perspective into how Disney animated films are made. 

This week we do another rendition of You Can Only Keep One. This one’s all about food. Out of the following things, what would you keep and what would you give up? 

• Le Cellier, Be Our Guest, or Sanaa 

• Sci-Fi Diner, Beaches and Cream, or Mama Melrose 

• Mickey waffles, Mickey ice cream bars, or Mickey beignets 

• Churros, Dole whip, or all of Food and Wine 

• Oga’s Cantina, Satu’li Canteen, or Delux Burger 

• Character meal or fireworks dessert party 

Listen as we nearly split up over our choices. Also, you can help settle our biggest disagreement by voting on our Facebook to once and for all prove that Angela has much better taste than Joe. (Not to bias you or anything...but it’s clear that she’s right on this.) 

Thank you for listening and stay safe! 

Check us out on Facebook and Youtube or submit a question/topic for us to discuss on a future episode or support us on Patreon 

The Adventurers Club

This week in Disney News, Disney announces they're redoing Splash Mountain after some public pressure due to its ties to the movie Song of the South. It'll be rethemed as Princess and the Frog and it's actually been in the works for about a year.

Also, Disney announces their park reservation system.

We're so excited to talk about the Adventurers' Club this week, which used to be a club in what is currently Disney Springs. It was a magical place where actors, props, and the atmosphere would immerse you in the world of an explorer...oh and it was December 31,1937 every day. That's right, every night culminated in a beautiful New Year's Eve fireworks spectacular!

We go into the details (because this club was all about the details) that were involved in making this experience what sounds like a full-on joyride from when you came in to when you left. This includes one of the highlights of the Adventurers' Club experience, actors that were masters at improv and would converse with guests and star in stage shows. To fill out the experience more, there were talking animatronic heads, puppets, and unique traditions that would make you believe for a night that you were part of a vibrant secret society.

Sadly, this club closed down in the 2000s. Listen to find out answers to questions like: What caused the club's downfall? Is there any portion of the club that lives on today? For more information, please check out the amazing video and article by reviewtyme and wikipedia, which we used as our source.

We hope you're staying safe and well!

Thank you for listening and have a magical week!

Check us out on Facebook and Youtube or submit a question/topic for us to discuss on a future episode or support us on Patreon 

Former Disney Animator & Creator of Mushu Tom Bancroft

Hello and welcome to the Enchanted Ears Podcast! Let's cut the other stuff for today because do we have a show for you!

 

Today we interview legendary Disney animator Tom Bancroft. Mr. Bancroft managed to break into Disney just as the Disney Renaissance was in its infancy, so he worked on such iconic movies as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan.

 

He addresses topics like how he got hired by Disney, what it was like being one of the first animators to work in MGM Studios (now Hollywood Studios), what the most difficult character he ever had to animate was, how to make a drawing come to life, and so so much more. 

 

I can't possibly put into words what an amazing source of knowledge Mr. Bancroft is and what a pleasure it was to talk to him. We could definitely see from his steel-trap-of-a-mind why he's so good at noticing all of the nuances of human (and animal) behavior, so he could pour that out onto the page to render the best possible estimation of real life for the movies we all know and love. Be sure to check out his podcast with his twin brother (and also Disney veteran) Tony, called The Bancroft Brothers Animation Podcast. Also, follow him on Instagram @tombancroft1 for news about his current work and upcoming graphic novel.

 

Thank you to you, the listener, and of course, to Mr. Bancroft for taking the time to talk to us! 

 

Check us out on Facebook and Youtube or submit a question/topic for us to discuss on a future episode or support us on Patreon 

Over/Under Rated: Tokyo Disneyland Edition

Hello and welcome to the most magical podcast in your feed!

 

This week in Disney News, Disney dropped a bunch of announcements regarding reservations and the reopening of the parks. This includes things like asking you which parks you'd like to visit and the times you'd like to visit, disallowing park hopping, and the sneak announcement of discontinuing giving out magic bands starting in January of 2021.

 

This week we continue our series of Overrated and Underrated Disney attractions. This time, we do it for Tokyo Disneyland. We base our ratings on touringplan.com's ratings of park attractions and talk about why we disagree with the ratings. 

 

During this delightful show, I break Joe's programming when I bust the five star rating system. We discuss some of the implications of not speaking Japanese on our ride enjoyment and pay homage to the interesting spins on the American park rides.

 

Thank you so much for lending us your ears. Don't forget to enter our contest to win QPoskets by checking out our website or Facebook. Also, be sure to tune in next week for our interview with legendary Disney animator Tom Bancroft!

 

Check us out on Facebook and Youtube or submit a question/topic for us to discuss on a future episode or support us on Patreon 

 

History of Space Mountain

This week in Disney News, Disneyland announces its plan to reopen on July 17 with the hotels opening on July 23. 

 

Also, MLS will begin playing their games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Disney World early July through the beginning of August. This will be followed shortly after by the NBA who will play from the end of July until mid-October.

 

Lastly, Artemis Fowl released on Disney+ at the end of last week.

 

This week, we talk about Space Mountain. We go over a brief history, it's spread into the other other Disney Parks, and how it varies from park to park. Then we get into the nitty gritty and compare the original 2 Space Mountains.

 

We finish by declaring our undying love to the best Space Mountain of all.

 

Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you back here next week...or hear you...I guess we don't hear you, you hear us...eeeehhhh, you know what we mean.

 

Check us out on Facebook and Youtube or submit a question/topic for us to discuss on a future episode or support us on Patreon