My Disney Library: Designing Disney's Theme Parks by Karal Ann Marling

Designing Disney's Theme Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance edited by Karal Ann Marling was released in 1998 and is comprised of seven long-form essays about Disney parks. It's a great read and offers a lot of insight into Disney theme parks and their design.

My Disney Library: Design: Just for Fun by Bob Gurr

Design: Just for Fun is an amazing retrospective of Bob Gurr's career. It's sort of like Bob  is sharing his own scrapbook with you.

Sadly, like a lot of other Disney-related titles, Design: Just for Fun has skyrocketed in value. But it is an amazing book.

You can read our review, here.

Kristin Bell Weekly

So, we went ahead and changed our beloved Communicore Weekly to Kristin Bell Weekly. Make sure to check out the new theme songs and Kristin Bell references!

http://youtu.be/lgpicCTp_Uo

Direct Download: http://www.bamferproductions.com/communicore/0114-CommunicoreWeekly.mp3

We discuss the history of Frozen and look back the changes the film went through over the years.

• George's Book of the Week: Art of Frozen by Charles Solomon
• 60 Second Review: Frozen on Blu-ray

The Art of Disney Frozen by Charles Solomon

I just finished The Art of Frozen (Chronicle Books) by Charles Solomon. It truly was a gorgeous book that shed a lot of light onto the creation of Disney Frozen. If you're a fan of the film, then you need to pick up a copy of the book. A full review is coming to Communicore Weekly and Mice Chat.

Other books by Charles Solomon:

• Enchanted Drawings, The History of Animation by Charles Solomon
• The Art of Toy Story 3 by Charles Solomon
• Tale as Old as Time: The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beauty by Charles Solomon
• The Disney That Never Was: The Stories and Art of Five Decades of Unproduced Animation by Charles Solomon

Maharajah Jungle Trek Aviary

One of the more enjoyable experiences at Disney's Animal Kingdom is a leisurely stroll through the Maharajah Jungle Trek. It's a great way to slow down and experience a section of a theme park that truly takes you out of the park experience. I often jest that Disney's Animal Kingdom Park is a half-day park, simply because of the lack of major attractions. If you take the time to slow down, though, you'll get to experience a rich tapestry that is really astounding. My main argument is still that the Joe Rohde brand of theming was a bit of overkill, to say the least.

Maharajah Jungle Trek

Bird Aviary

One of my favorite sections is the aviary. I'm not sure why, unless it's the proximity to the birds or that it is really hard to believe that you're in Central Florida. (Photos were taken in 2010 and 2013.)

There are some amazing birdhouses inside the royal aviary. Let's take a look at some of them.

There are bird-related decorations throughout the aviary.

Do you have a favorite birdhouse or section of the Maharajah Jungle Trek?

Check out this great book on building Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Disney's Story App Update

This news release rolled across my virtual desk. I just downloaded the app and started to play with it.. Has anyone else used it?

My media contact also noted that the app is coming to Android very soon!

Make sure to check out the end of the article; Disney is giving away a few iTunes gift cards.

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New Update Brings Premium Animated Disney Themes, Music and More to Disney’s Story App

Through an app update, Disney Interactive today introduced new premium animated Disney themes, music functionalities, an improved viewing experience and more robust sharing features  to Story, a free digital storytelling platform for iPhone and iPod touch that turns photography and video into compelling personal narratives.

Using intuitive technology to access the photo and video library on your device and automatically organizes them into rich digital experiences which can be personalized, saved and shared.  This empowers users to focus on the customization and personalization of their narratives rather than aggregation and organization of their content, which truly sets Story apart from other multi-media sharing apps. Disney has been telling stories for generations, and now Story can help you tell yours.

Story Feature Updates:

·         Premium Animated Disney Themes: Exclusive to the Story app, now you can customize your stories with collectable animated Disney Themes available for in-app purchase ($1.99). These new Disney Themes includeDisneyland Resort, “Cars,” “The Little Mermaid,” Mickey Paris (Free), and ESPN’s SportsCenter. The new Mickey Paris theme is complementary and can be downloaded for free.

·         Music: Add a soundtrack to your Story with pre-installed songs from our Story music library, including Disney music classics from “Toy Story”, “Up”, “Finding Nemo” and more. 

·         More Immersive Viewing Experience: Our new video slideshow brings your storytelling to life with updated transitions dynamically tailored to your moments. And now, shared stories can be viewed directly in the Story app.

·         Enhanced Sharing: Share your storytelling with our simple in-app tools that support today’s popular social networks like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter… as well as our streamlined e-mail service for sharing directly with friends and family.

·         Better Facebook Compatibility: Our new Facebook integration lets you to tag photos, allow comments (web view) and invite others to download Story to join in the fun.

To celebrate this magical update, Disney Interactive will be giving away iTunes gift cards on the Disney Interactive Twitter account (@DisneyInteract) so a few lucky winners can download all the new premium Disney themes! Visit the Disney Interactive blog (disneyinteractive.tumblr.com) for more info about how to enter.