The 70's Were Really Freakin' Weird - Let's Watch "Welcome to the World"!

Before I head down to Walt Disney World with the family, I often like to watch old Disney World specials to see how much has changed. Often the most interesting ones are from before my time, not just because they show me parts of the park that didn't exist by the time I got there, but also (admittedly, mostly) because they have a certain very 70's-ness.

That is to say that everything about "Welcome to the World" is simultaneously terrible and amazing.



Some highlights:

* - Look for the Fort Wilderness train, the Bob-Around Boats, the early monorails, the rising stage in Tomorrowland, and weird, early versions of character costumes (those Ostriches...)

* - Those topiary dragons though...

* - Tommy.  Tune's.  Pants.  O_o

* - The guy I can only confidently identify as Orangehair Bieber McTightpants.

* - Drinking game: Drink whenever you're thinking, "Are they STILL singing?!"

* - The looks on the actual astronauts invited to the dedication of Space Mountain.

* - Wrong-Sounding Mickey.  Haunting.

* - The part where they actually ride Space Mountain.

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Sketch of the Day

Kill, Refurb, Marry Villains!

Little late to the party, but why not?



This month, the topic is Disney Villains. I'm sticking with Disney Animated Canon characters only.  And I'll be rating the baddies based on how great they are as Disney characters (ignoring their source material where applicable, and no, I do not actually want to marry any of these people.  They are just the worst.  But they're good at being the worst.)

Kill:  Unmemorable villains like Whats-His-Name from "Aristocats" and So-And-So from "Home on the Range".  In fairness, these movies have significant problems already (they constantly vie for the position of Worst DAC Feature in my mind), but the dubious antagonists are just yawn sauce on the snore-pie.

Refurb:  Here we have an interesting case, because the villain in question has essentially been refurbished for us by another animation team.  Let me explain.  The villain is the Horned King from "The Black Cauldron".  He looks scary, he's got an awesome voice, and he's got minions, nasty wyvern-thingies, and an army of the cursed undead.  And unfortunately, it wasn't the Golden Age of theatrical animation anymore, and it wasn't the modern age yet, so this potentially awesome villain was the victim of serious wimping out on the part of the executives.  If you want a better version of Disney's Horned King, watch the episodes of "Adventure Time" centered around the Lich King.  Seriously.

Marry:  I'll make this simple: notice how Maleficent gets to be the leader of the villains whenever they have a crossover?  Yup.

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Sketch of the Day!  Here's what happens when I watch a Let's Play of "Ni-No Kuni"

The Birds of 2014

A little while ago, I mentioned that I had been listing all the birds I'd seen in one year for the first time ever.  Since I kept my list in the (reasonably good) Peterson Field Guide iPhone application, it's easy to post the final list as a series of screenshots.

And so here they are, every bird I saw in 2014, from the Song Sparrow to the Brant: