My Monorail and Me

    Let see how this goes; I'm sitting on my couch watching Thursday night football with my one cat walking all over me.  I have been contemplating for the past few day on what to write about this week.  In addition I have been wondering when and what to do for next week's podcast.  That is partially where these two words collide.  I just did an episode with Isaac for over an hour and a half about last week's Disney's Investors Meeting and we didn't even cover half of what was reviled to us.  There is also the season finally of the Mandalorian (as of this writing hasn't been released yet).  Then there is all the Christmas stuff I can talk about, but I was thinking of saving that for next week.

    All of this is going on in addition to "normal" life.  My one son's school now went virtual and that means while I am teaching from home I also have to be ready to help him with his classes.  We also had our first snow storm in a while.  As if that wasn't enough it's playoff time in my fantasy football leagues (Matthew Berry, call me).  So what does that mean for you and this blog  post?

    Simple!  It's the Holidays and that's what I want to talk about, not just to you but everyone.  

    My house is a Christmas house.  We have out tree up, lights out, and so much more going on.  Besides what seems like limitless Disney ornaments we have many other decorations around the house.  I would say half of the outdoor decorations are Disney related.  Inside we have my wife's old (and still working) animatronic figures under one of the trees (we have 5 up around the house).  But the one thing I want to talk about is the "toy" motorized monorail set under our main tree.

    This has been one of my prize possessions for a long time.  I remember when I was you I would have loved to have something like this.  In 1998 I bought my first train, it was the red one (the only option in Walt Disney World at that time).  It was the first time I saw something like this offered from Disney, so I wanted to act because you never know how long it will be offered.  They also had a Spaceship Earth, Contemporary, and Cinderella's Castle sets to go with the Monorail.  I don't remember when or what order I got the rest of the sets, but it was something that I made sure to collect.  

    Sadly, I have not been able to get all the sets Disney has created over the years (they still sell the Monorail sets at the time of this writing).  But I have been able to get many of the sets including; the Contemporary, the Polynesian, Switching Station, Space Mountain, Spaceship Earth (the original set), Cinderella's Castle (of course), and many more.  I have also added 3 more trains to it.  Needless to say it has a large footprint under the tree.

    You may be wondering at this point, "How do the holiday's fit into this?", well I'll tell you.

    For the past 20 years I have placed this growing collection under the tree (yes my wife is ok with this and has encouraged it).  Our tree isn't complete until the Monorail goes underneath.  Granted this started before kids, now with kids it has changed things.  

    My oldest (our daughter) was always respectful of the set and just liked helping me set it up and watch it.  My boys love playing with the sets.  But boys being boys, do over play with the sets.  Much to my dismay, a lot of them have been damaged over time.  Does this make me upset?  Yes, especially when I have seen the going rate on some of these sets on eBay.  At the same time it makes me smile that they have these opportunities to play with something I would have thought was amazingly cool at their ages. 

    This is now part of our family tradition that for a little over a month we get to enjoy as a family.  It's a tradition that is connected to our love for Disney and the Christmas season.  The magic of the two blend perfectly in our house and it is something that (as long as they hold up) will continue for many year.

    Many other families put a model train under their tree, we do as well but it's a monorail... a Disney Monorail.  We our a Disney family and that is how we roll.

    What are your holiday traditions (Disney or otherwise)?

The Dyslexic Disney Fan's Blog

    Welcome to the Disney Marvels blog!  The blog about everything and anything that has to do with the Disney family of brands, and that is a lot of brands.

    I want to start out however and tell you a bit more about myself (yes I know this is the second post, but that is just how these things workout sometimes).  I am the host of the Disney Marvels Podcast, which I have been doing, as of the date of this post, for over 2 years.  Before that I hosted a show called Writer's World Radio.  It was another podcast and a YouTube show.  I started that one in part because I write books and short stories (feel free to look on Amazon).

    There is something else you should know about my writing as I join the blogging world.  Besides being a huge Disney fan, I am also dyslexic.  Why do I mention that you might ask? I tell you this for you to keep in mind as you read my post, please bear with me, you see spelling and grammar do not come to me with ease.  There are things that I have struggled with my whole life (see my books).  That is also one of the reasons I started with a podcast and not a blog over 5 years ago.  At the same time I do not let it stop me from doing what I love to do; writing and talking about Disney.  OK, maybe it has slowed me from doing what I like doing as it has taken me 5 years to start a blog.  It was also part of what I initial was thinking of naming this blog, The Dyslexic Disney Fan's Blog, but I though that would take away from the content and stuck with the Disney Marvels brand name instead.  The current name also works for good synergy.

    In hindsight researchers believe that Walt Disney himself struggled with dyslexia, though there wasn't a name or much research available while he was alive.  How far we have come.

    My disability is not an excuse though.  I do try and use spell and grammar checks in my writings, but if you do come upon anything please feel free to over look it, and you can tell me privately and I will try and fix it.

    Now that is out of the way, more about me and Disney.

    I don't remember the moment I fell in love with Disney or even my first trip to Walt Disney World.  The latter I was only 2 months old for.  It has just been a part of my life for as long as I remember being alive.  It is one of many things my parents did right as I was growing up.  We visited the parks often, we went to the movies, and watched The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights together.  To me these were always special moments.  Moments in my life that has shaped me to who I am today. 

    As I got older my friends and I would go to the movies and talk about the parks all the time.  My first jobs were working at the local Disney Store in the mall and then went to work at Walt Disney World for a time (stories for another time, also listen to the first Disney Marvels episode).  It also because of Disney that I meet my wife, and something that we share with our children.  I must admit that I get a smile on my face when I catch my youngest watching the classic Mickey shorts on Disney+.

    Admittedly, Disney is not my only fandom.  I do consider myself to be well rounded.  I also enjoy sports, britcoms, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars, Muppets, Marvel Comic, and many more things (I will spare you the full list).  In the recent years I have been intrigued, and happy that a few of my childhood loves have found their way to being part of the same family.  No I know if I want to find something Muppet related, Marvel related, and or Star Wars related I just have to turn to one place.  My happy place, Disney.

    So there you have it, in a nutshell, a little bit about me and Disney.  I look forward to sharing more about all of this and more as the blog continues to grow.  So again, bear with me and let have some fun.

    Additionally feel free to email me with any topics you would like me to write about.  Heck, I might even use it as a topic for the podcast as well.  Direct your emails to DisneyMarvels@gmail.com 

    Until next time, have a magical Day.

Why The Mandalorian

     The Mandalorian, so far, has been nothing short of an event.  To borrow a phrase from NBC, "Must see TV" could easily apply to this streaming show.  But why?

    My answer would probably come in the easily digested episode that we are given each week of the season.  Keeping in mind the first two seasons are only 8 episodes long, this is contrast to most network series that run for 12 to 24 episodes a season.  Why is that important?  We are spared watered down storylines or filler episodes that have very little to do with anything important (seasonal story arch and character development for examples).  Not to say that The Mandalorian hasn't had some lesser episodes, the beginning of season 2 had it's fair share, but we are still to see if any of that will play out (I still think it will at some point.  Just as a disclaimer I am writing this before Chapter 14 is available).

       Something else that the Mandalorian has going for it that other shows or even movies don't have is cutting edge technology.  The set that they use to fill in the background is cutting edge (currently).  Instead of using a greenscreen and filling in the images later, we have a giant room that is, for lack better terms, a giant computer screen.  This gives the director, cast, and crew all the same view and vision of where this scene is taking place.  They also know exactly what the audience will be seeing, besides some CGI that will be added in later.  This isn't also taking into account the use of practical effects (physical props, like the Child puppet).  Call me old fashion (many people do) but I feel that practical effects most the time hold up better then the best CGI effect of their time.  

    Speaking of the Child.  He is nothing short of the perfect casting of character to this show.  Again being a puppet versus a CGI added character give him more tangibility.  Also the ability to react in real time to the situation playing out around him, makes him more real.  If for no other reason, I'm sure there is a cluster of people who just tune in week after week to see what kind of mischief the Child will be getting into.

    All these things combined with the additional depth of the beloved Star Wars universe give this show a uniqueness that most shows currently on TV or streaming have. One other BIG thing is this is a show that most, if not all (depending on the kids) the family can watch.  You don't have to worry about language, will there be inappropriate adult orientated scenes, gore.  This is a show that parents and their kids can sit down together and enjoy.

    These are some, not all. the reasons that make the Mandalorian such an enjoyable and beloved show.  I didn't even get into the story telling and cinematic styles they use (but I have talked about them on the podcast before).  Those will be topics for another time. Until then though, check out the Mandalorian on Disney+ for yourself and let me know what you think.