Day 1277: Anyone Can Cook

Our new apartment definitely has more walls than places we've lived previously, so I've been working to make sure our place doesn't look to bare. Many of the other canvas creations I've made have already been featured on Everyday Disney, but I thought I might throw in an introduction to the newest additions!

The first, as you can see above, is inspired by the hit Broadway Musical, Hamilton, which I've really been digging into lately. It sits above my bed in our bedroom, and is actually the largest canvas work I've done to date. It's also the first I did entirely my hand, as to keep things consistent or get the exact look I want, I'll usually do a digital design and use print outs to make sure everything is exact. I didn't do that here, and instead went entirely from a sketch I drew up quickly. I knew when I started plotting for the bedroom that I wanted a quote that would encourage me to keep moving forward and look to the future, and that's exactly what this one does!

The other canvas, as seen below, is now hanging in our kitchen on a wall above our countertop. It was an awkward space, between the cabinets from the kitchen and a door to the bathroom, and it just screamed for a canvas, so it was priority #1. Unlike some of the other canvases, the "Hamilcanvas" included, this one took a while to plan, since we had multiple ideas and had to find the one that was going to fit the best for the spot. We've been calling our apartment "The Cozy Cone," so for a long while we seriously considered something inspired by Cars, but ultimately we went with Ratatouille because it's in our kitchen area.

Keep an eye out over the next month or so for other exciting updates that are somewhat focused on paintings like these! I've got some work to catch up on, but then it'll be full steam ahead before the end of the summer, and I can't wait to get going! 

If you had a canvas, what would you paint on it? 

Have a magical day! 

Day 1266: Quoting

I've been doing these Quote Canvases for a while now, and I really believe the hardest part about them is choosing the quote you want most and then finding a design that will fit both the space and the theme. For the above work in progress, it wasn't that difficult, although it took some debating for sure. We knew we wanted something Pixar, and because it was going in our kitchen, we figured that Ratatouille would be a fair place to pick a quote from. 

But with so many great Disney quotes out there, how can you really pick just one? I mean, here are some of the brainstormed quotes that we've discussed for various canvas works: 

"Have Courage and Be Kind" - Cinderella

"All our Dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." - Walt Disney

"Adventure is Out There" - Up

"Just Keep Swimming" - Finding Nemo

"Oh yes, the past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it." - The Lion King

"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - Winnie the Pooh

To be far, those were just a few of the options that we've considered over time, and I would love to know what you'd put on a quote canvas like the ones I create! Let me know in the comments! 

Have a magical day!

Day 990: Ratatagain

I don't usually blog about Disney movies, and when I do they're normally a part of my Rewatch list that I've been slowly working my way through for over a year. I have this thing about rewatching movies so close together, and usually I spent some time in between viewings unless it's a movie I love (Tangled, for instance, is always watched, under any circumstances). For some odd reason, I recently had the urge to watch Ratatouille, and since I was home, we made it a family affair.

I actually blogged about Ratatouille early on in my first year of Everyday Disney. You can read that post HERE, but for some reason I just felt like I should blog about it again, and more specifically, about the food. I mean, just look at how delicious it all looks:

Give me some of all of that! Actually, Leo from Thingamavlogs just made a video for Top 5 Week about Animated Disney Foods, and you can give that a watch right here: 

Let's be real, we all pretended we were eating grubs as kids. Personally, I've always wanted to be able to eat corn like in an old Mickey/Donald/Goofy cartoon that I watched all the time as a kid, so that would have to be on my list for sure. Disney food in general, animated or not, seems to be great. Maybe I'll have to work on trying to make a few of these animated ones more real life in my own kitchen. After all, I've already done it with the grey stuff! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 25 due to a tight schedule).

Day 933: The Good Dinosaur

As with every new Disney or Pixar movie, I seem to watch the trailer at least a day after it's out and then sit trying to figure out what the film is really going to be about. We went through this with Wreck-It Ralph and Inside Out and even as far back as Ratatouille, so it's no surprise that I'm sitting here watching the trailer for The Good Dinosaur trying to figure out how this is going to work.

If you haven't seen the trailer yet, you can watch it right here:

I think the concept of dinosaurs never going extinct is pretty clever, and while I'm not totally sure I'm a fan of how the dinosaurs all look, the film is beautifully animated, and I have the distinct feeling that I'll end up loving The Good Dinosaur just as much as I love Inside Out. Like every other film, I'm just gonna put my trust in Pixar and see what brilliance they've come up with this time. Plus...you never know what might be revealed at D23 that'll make me even more excited for another film this fall. 

What do you think of this first trailer for The Good Dinosaur? 

Have a magical day!

Day 440: Pizza Planet Truck

When I asked my Music theory class for random Disney topics, this was one of the things that came up: The Pizza Planet Truck. Now, for those of you that don't remember or know, this is the truck that Woody and Buzz ride in during the original Toy Story film. And Pixar, being Pixar decided that it would be a grand old time to include the truck in just about every single Pixar film after it. Because they're just awesome like that.

So, of course, it was in Toy Story, for quite some time. In A Bug's Life, it sits next to the trailer house (which you can later see in Monsters Inc. as well!). So they kind of killed two birds with one stone there...references to more than one Disney film all at once. Awesomeness.

In Finding Nemo, the truck can be seen as Gill explains is escape plans to the others. It's through a plastic bag as they roll towards the road and over into the ocean. Because of course there's a Pizza Planet truck in Australia. Apparently they went international!

In Cars, the truck got a revamp...meaning a mouth and eyes to make it an actual character. I like it. Granted, Cars is my favorite Disney Pixar Film...so I suppose I'd like it either way.

It's a bit far off in Ratatouille, on the bridge as Skinner is chasing Remy, but it's there, and in WALL-E, the truck is found broken and rusted in a junkyard as Eve searches through it for a plant. In Up, the truck gets another redesign, looking more like a delivery van, but it's still there, and obviously Pizza Planet. They must have modified stuff for the big city. Of course, in Toy Story 3 we see it again on the road, looking a little worse for wear during the scene that tells the story of Lotso. In Brave, it's one of the carvings in the woodworking shop the Witch owns, and while I'm not sure where off the top of my head, I'm sure it appears in Cars 2 and Monsters University, because not having it at this point just wouldn't make sense. 

I just love it when Pixar throws in Easter Eggs. They're always so fun to spot. Of course, people continuously ask me about them and sometimes I'm just like yeah I know already, but I really do enjoy it. My favorite happens to be A113, which my brother and I love pointing out. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on March 28 due to Midterms and Travel). 

Day 207: Monsters University

I know, I know, it's seriously late compared to when I really wanted to go see it, but I finally saw Monsters University tonight with two of my friends! Sadly it isn't playing much longer, but it pushed us to go see it after it's been out for like a month. The rest of my family saw it earlier this week too.

Now, as far as Pixar movies go, it's very much a tie between Toy Story (all of them) which I have such fond memories of from my childhood (and the emotional factor in the last one), and Cars, which I absolutely adored when I saw it in theaters (why it didn't get the Oscar I still ask!). From there it's kind of scattered, but Bug's Life, UP, and Ratatouille are probably my next favorites. Meaning that Monsters Inc. was never at the top of my list. As far as music goes, that's where it hits the top, but overall, it isn't at the bottom either, WALL-E is actually, but that's another story.

So as excited as I was for Monsters University, I was never as excited as I was about something like Cars 2 or Toy Story 3. It was just the regular excitement of a new Pixar movie. That being said, I disagree with everyone else! I really don't think it's one of the worst Pixar movies! It did have me guessing until the very end, and don't worry, I won't say anything if you have't seen it yet. Was it as strong as Toy Story or Finding Nemo or even the original Monsters? No, but was it downright bad? Certainly not! Although I am kind of sad this didn't happen...

I think a part of it is the fact that the timing is great for me. In under a month I'm going to be in the same position as Mike and Sully...a College Freshman. Let's just hope that I remember a pencil on the first day of class! So in other words, my best friend and I found it seriously amusing when things like Sully hitting his head on the ceiling happened, a real worry of ours when we head to college next month. Plus, Little Adorable Mike is Adorable...

Overall, I laughed and had a great time watching the movie, and let's just say that I can't wait for it to come out on Blu-Ray. Oh, and if you were wondering, it lives up music wise to the original. It's second on the list for favorite music in a Pixar movie (previous holder was UP!)

Here's today's Disney History: 1921: Writer, humorist, actor and National Radio Hall of Famer Jean Shepherd, the voice of the father in Disney's Carousel of Progress attraction, is born in Chicago, Illinois.

Have a magical day!

Day 43: Ratatouille

Apparently I know how to spell Ratatouille. I had to go check on Google of course, just to make sure, but I typed it in and it came up correct. I count that as a success for today!

Anyway, last night I had musical practice until 7 and I ended up going home after that with a headache...which meant that I wasn't going to be practicing any of my instruments any time soon. That would probably only make things worse. So instead I decided to watch a movie...and I spent a good amount of time deciding on which movie to watch. After sitting on my bedroom floor next to my movies for a good twenty minutes, debating between a Disney movie and Indiana Jones, I decided to go find Ratatouille and watch that, since I've been meaning to do so for quite a while.

I realized last night while watching that I feel old. Like not really old, but it's strange to think that Ratatouille came out after Cars, and Ratatouille feels old! It feels like some of my favorite movies came out so long ago, which I guess is kind of true because high school has gone much faster than I'd like. I do think it's awesome though how Pixar now does a movie every year, and I don't know about you, but I'm super excited for Monster's University.

But Ratatouille is one of my favorite Pixar movies...if I really can distinguish my favorite. Maybe it's the food, or how awesome Remy and Linguini are, or the fact that it's in France. No matter what though, it's a pretty awesome movie...if you like watching it and ending up feeling terribly hungry.

As I was checking the spelling on the title, I decided to look into some trivia from the movie, which I do from time to time because I love movies and find it enjoyable to bring our random facts about things every once and a while. It's like how I know the "backstory" of the Carbon Freezing Scene in "The Empire Strike's Back" by heart, but that's for a different blog post!

For instance, did you know that in order to create a realistic compost pile, the animators photographed and researched how real produce rots? There were fifteen different types of produce left to rot and then photographed, including apples, berries, bananas, mushrooms and broccoli. Or the fact that the shop with the window of dead rats actually exists? And that to save time and money, the human characters were designed and animated without toes?

Yeah, there are some pretty interesting things in the making of this movie! And there's plenty more out there that I'm sure you can find if you are really interested!

Here's today's Disney History: 1809: Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. President, is born in a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. Lincoln is the subject of such Disney attractions as Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and Walt Disney World's The Hall of Presidents. Walt Disney was always fascinated with the life of Lincoln. As a young boy, Walt recited Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to his elementary class...dressed as Abe!

Have a magical day!