BEHIND THE SCENES - Pirate Fairy Directors!

Sniffle.... my last L.A. trip post. This means I have nothing more to talk about regarding my trip. My trip is officially over you guys! Wahhh!

Today's post is about my Q&A session with The Pirate Fairy Director Peggy Holmes and Producer Jennifer Cook. If you have the DVD or Blu-ray, you can see their smiling faces on the special features as they introduce the deleted scenes. These ladies are adorable!

Jennifer Cook and Peggy Holmes. Image © Disney.

What was neat about talking with them after our screening is their passion for the characters and the story. They talked about Pirate Fairy like it was one of their children, and in a way, it is. It took months of planning and hard work. Peggy Holmes begins by describing the tale of Zarina in that she "wanted to tell a story about a girl who makes a mistake... everyone makes mistakes."

Again, my techy-geekness strikes and I recorded the entire presentation with these two ladies. You can listen below! There is also a little sneak audio peek of Tom Hiddleston's special feature from the disc from his recording session for the "Frigate That Flies" around the 9 minute mark (which you will want to turn your speakers down for... sorry about that!).


There is also discussion about the adorable little Crocky. Here's the hard truth: everyone loves Crocky. Period. Not only is he downright adorable but he rescues the fairies from a trap, AND he becomes infamous in the stories of Peter Pan! How can you NOT love him? As you'll hear in the presentation, it took a few tries to get his design just right. What we get is nothing short of cute overload! There is even a special feature devoted entirely to Crocky!

Image © Disney.

Finally, I wanted to share something I now treasure as I look at it every single day above my desk:

That, my friends, is a piece of art featuring the background scene from inside Skull Rock, and it is autographed by Jennifer Cook and Peggy Holmes! You know, I have been looking at it for a few weeks now, and it wasn't until the Blu-ray finally arrived at my house and I re-watched it until I realized that it was inside Skull Rock. Yeah, major derp on my part! But I now have a place to start hanging some of my cool stuff I get when I go on these trips... next to my Pirate Fairy art!

I just want to take a moment to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who made this trip possible for me: Sabrina, Gabby, Marshall, Click Communications, and Disney. I've made so many amazing memories as well as some incredible and life-changing contacts with this trip. I also want to give a shout out to my new blogger buddies over at DAM Bloggers, which is a page you should all pop over and like. It features some of the best parent-bloggers the web has to offer. To make a long sappy speech short, thanks to everyone I've worked with and here's to the next time I hop on a plane to sunny California!


Disclosure: I received a trip to Los Angeles as well as a review copy of Pirate Fairy in exchange for this post. Please see my Disclosure tab for more information.

BEHIND THE SCENES - The Pirate Fairy Character Development

This is the second to last post about my Los Angeles trip. Getting near the end of these posts makes me itch to jump back on a plane to go to LA again for something or another. (You see that, Disney friends? I'm ready to come back! Please?) These trips are fantastic, a lot of fun, and I've made so many amazing new friends and contacts. I want more!!!

The foyer of DisneyToon Studios.

Yet another one of the neat things I got to do was to sit down for a presentation about the creation of the new character, Zarina, a fairy who becomes a pirate. The character designers had to figure out a way to make her bridge the gap between fairy and pirate, without making her lean too heavy to one direction or another.

The foyer of DisneyToon Studios.

As I've said previously, I love Zarina's pirate costume. I could see myself wearing it to the local Renaissance Festival. Especially her nifty pirate coat... which, as you'll hear in the presentation below, designers designed from the "cuff of a pirate's coat." How neat is that? (And you'll hear a room full of bloggers go "Ohhhhh!" as the idea clicks with us, haha!)

Image © Disney.

One of the questions I asked while I was there was "where did the fairies get their swords?" because the fairy swords were so ornate... and I got my answer: hat pins! Ornate hat pins from the Victorian era would have indeed made perfect fairy swords! I loved how the character designers took everyday objects and made them pirate-y for the fairies.

Image © Disney.

Below is the full half an hour presentation we were treated to, featuring character designers and animation supervisors, all with a background of the cool Skull Rock they had on display in the lobby! Be sure to turn your speakers up! You'll be treated to neat secrets such as which pirate had a secret hobby of sewing and made Zarina's outfit? I won't tell, you have to listen!





Disclosure: I received a trip to Los Angeles in exchange for coverage of The Pirate Fairy release. Please see my Disclosure tab for more information.

More Pirate Fairy Fun - My Interview With Iridessa!

As a special treat to go with my coverage of The Pirate Fairy, I was given the opportunity to talk to voiceover actor Raven-Symonè, who voices light fairy Iridessa. Our schedules didn't meet up like we'd hoped, so she emailed me her responses instead. Check out my full interview over at the About.com Kids' Cartoons page! And don't forget to enter to win a copy of the movie!

Iridessa - Image © DisneyToon Studios.

REVIEW: The Pirate Fairy - with GIVEAWAY!

I FINALLY get to talk about this movie! Seriously, I have been sitting on this for over a month now and it has been killing me! But it's here, it's finally here, and I can spill the beans!

Me at DisneyToon Studios for The Pirate Fairy premiere!

The Pirate Fairy releases on Blu-ray combo pack next week. I received my review copy in the nick of time to post this review for my deadline today--I got it yesterday. Convincing TV Boy to watch it with me took some doing, thanks to the glittery fairy wings on the box, but once the sword fighting happened, he gave in and watched it with me. He also noticed Crocky and made sure he had a front row seat for the show!

I personally loved this movie. I didn't think I would. I've never seen a fairy movie before (insert your gasping here!) and I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it. But walking out of that theatre, I was in love. And I seriously want to cosplay as Zarina sometime. She's rad! Besides, I already have the hair color down... now if only I had her figure! Think I can wish on a star for it?

Image © DisneyToon Studios.

Since this was a straight-to-DVD film, it fell into my About.com writing realm, so my full review is up over at the Kids' Cartoons page. More fun stuff coming soon over there too... wink wink! Watch for that later this week!

Image © DisneyToon Studios.

And of course, what would a video review be without a GIVEAWAY! That's right, my lovely friends at Disney are offering up a copy of the film for one of my fabulous readers. You can win it before you can buy it! Check out the Rafflecopter widget below to enter! The giveaway will run until April 1st, when the film releases (no foolin' here!). Be sure to enter and share with your friends! UPDATE: Also be sure to check out the linky at the bottom for even MORE chances to win!


a Rafflecopter giveaway



Disclosure: I received a trip to Los Angeles and a review copy to cover the release of the film. Please see my Disclosure tab for more information.

Visiting the Disney Animation Research Library

Continuing my story of my February Los Angeles trip, today is my visit to the TOP SECRET Disney Animation Research Library. I say "top secret" in all caps like that because it really is some serious, Area-51 level secrecy going on with this place. The address is not listed anywhere on the building. It is plain on the outside and surrounded by a huge fence. We were not allowed to take any photos (so all the ones in this post are thanks to the Disney photographer who followed us around in an official manner) and we were not permitted to tweet or do anything on our phones with geolocation services active. In fact, we were not allowed to take anything but our notepads (or in my case, my iPad, wifi off, note taking app only) back on the tour with us. Not even pens, you guys. NO PENS ALLOWED.

The entrance to the ARL. Image © Disney.

We were taken on a lovely tour of the facility with literally every piece of Disney animation art in existence housed within. It was incredible. The first part of our tour included some original Peter Pan artwork laid out on tables for us, which was used in research for The Pirate Fairy characters, specifically young Captain James. The animators for Pirate Fairy were allowed access to the art so that their work would be in line with previous Peter Pan stories, which was their intent.

Some of my blogger friends checking out the art. I didn't make it into any
of these shots unfortunately. Images © Disney.

The original art is obviously very old and delicate at this point. Those tasked with handling and cataloging the pieces are required to do so with museum precision, wearing gloves and using spatulas to move the artwork. Many of the people who work here have degrees in art history or have worked in museums.

Image © Disney.

Then we were taken into the vaults. These places are massive and have huge rolling cabinets that house the gigantic background artwork all the way to individual cells. It's climate controlled and even has a special fire suppression system that won't damage the art.

Visiting the vaults. I'm not in these pictures either.
Images © Disney.

We were also shown the way the art is digitally photographed for online cataloging, so that animators can access it from their desks and without having to handle the art. These cameras are also, like many things in the ARL, huge.

Digitally photographing and scanning the art. Images © Disney.

Another stop on the tour was to see where and how some of the realistic props are made for promotional and display use. For instance, there was a special bottle in the Pirate Fairy movie that the filmmakers wanted to have made in real life. The prop makers used a light bulb and LED lighting to make the bottle the right shape and size, and to give it a blue glow.

The prop masters and their offices. Images © Disney.

Being the good little geek I am, I managed to record audio of my entire tour. It's almost an hour worth of listening, but it's broken up into individual tracks. The first track is the introduction to the ARL in the front foyer. Track 2 is the presentation of the Peter Pan artwork and a little more in-depth about the ARL and its history. Track 3 is the prop masters. Track 4 is the vault presentation. My audio from the camera room somehow did not record properly (boo hiss!).



Finally, here is just a sample of some of the original Peter Pan art we were treated to! They didn't get a shot of my favorite piece, which was concept art of Never Land floating as an island in space, but the few they did give us access to are really cool. Some original concept art for Captain Hook, an idea for Never Land, and Skull Rock. I love how the color bleeds out of the little box in the Never Land picture. Just incredible!

Images © Disney.

Be sure to stay tuned for more Pirate Fairy coverage, as it hits store shelves on April 1st! No foolin'!

The Pirate Fairy - EXCLUSIVE EXTENDED SNEAK PEEK!

Up until my trip to LA last month, I had never seen a Disney Fairy movie before. However, when I saw The Pirate Fairy, I fell *in love* with it! And no, not just because Zarina, the main character standing center below, looks strikingly similar to one particular mom blogger... Haha! I seriously wish I looked that good in a short skirt and that my hair was that voluminous! Still, how rad is she?

Image courtesy Disney.

The Pirate Fairy releases on Disney Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital HD on April 1st, but you can get an *exclusive* extended sneak peek right here, right NOW! Check it out!

I'm so excited for all my readers and their families to see this movie! I can't hide it, really, but I was definitely impressed with the characters and story. Be sure to pick it up on launch day, even if you're like me and you only have a son. You won't regret it!



Disclosure: This post is part of a series of sponsored posts to promote Disney's The Pirate Fairy. Please see my disclosure tab for more information.

Disney's The Pirate Fairy SWAG!

While I was in LA this past month, I had the opportunity to see some of the amazing product lineup that is being released along with The Pirate Fairy! Of course, you know all about the fun I had with Crocky already, but there's plenty more where he came from! We got to see the whole upcoming line of new fairy gear, much of which is already available at your local Disney Store.

There are some great kids' outfits, costumes, and super cute jammies...

Images courtesy Disney.

Random side note... I totally wish the Zarina dress--bottom purple one--came in grown up size! There WILL be cosplay involved from this gal, even if I have to figure out how to sew it myself! Although, mine will likely be closer to her brown outfit she wears in the film.

They didn't forget about the grown up fairy lovers though...

Images courtesy Disney.

Also coming soon is a line of LeSportSac bags featuring our favorite fairy friend!

Images courtesy Disney.

The one on the bottom right unzips into a huge tote bag! How cool is that?

And, of course, a whole line of awesome toys, books, and plushies ready to swoop into the hearts and bedrooms of fans!

Images courtesy Disney.

We bloggers got to take home some books!

Obviously, we bloggers in attendance were given a sampling of cool gear to take home with us. I don't have a daughter, so I instantly claimed the toys since TV Boy isn't huge into dolls (unless it's a Rainbow Dash Equestria Girl doll, which is on his wishlist for his Easter basket this year... go figure). However, not having a daughter apparently also hinders my ability to free the poor things from their plastic prisons! It took me fifteen minutes and a pair of scissors to get my awesome Zarina (the main character) fairy doll out of her box while TV Dad laughed hysterically at me from the other side of the room.

From plastic prison to freedom!

Of course, as soon as I got her out, I had to play with her. And, being a dork, I took her around and posed her in various places in the house...

Crocky was not amused.

Here Obi-Wan, I've got this.

Yes. I totally have a time-anomaly battle going on between Darth Vader in the suit and young Obi-Wan Kenobi on top of our lizard's tank. This is normal for me, I swear! I could totally see Zarina telling a Jedi he's "doing it wrong" when it comes to swordfighting. She's my kind of gal like that.


Be sure to watch out for more posts about Disney's The Pirate Fairy, due out April 1st on Blu-ray combo pack! I have some fun Q&A with the creators to share with you! Stay tuned, TV fans!



Disclosure: The TV Mom received review items in compensation for this post, along with a trip to Los Angeles and a preview of the film. Views and opinions expressed are solely those of The TV Mom and TheTVMom.com and are not in any way influenced by receipt of the items pictured. Please see my Disclosure tab for more information.

Radio Silence ENDED!

Hey TV Mom readers! Sorry about my absence from the world of blogging... I was on the other side of the country! Remember that awesome Disney trip I told you about? Well, that was this past week. I'm still recovering from a lack of sleep and a surplus of walking, haha!

I will have lots of super fun stuff to share with you about my trip over the coming weeks. However, you can catch a sneak peek by visiting my Instagram feed and The TV Mom Facebook page (widgets over there--> on the side of the blog!).

Also, you might notice a second Facebook page thingie... Crocky's Adventures. That's because.... (drumroll please!)....... I have a new mascot!

Meet Crocky!

Crocky there is a character in the new movie The Pirate Fairy, which I got to see and fall in love with while I was in L.A., and releases on April 1st! More on that later, I just needed that for exposition. I got Crocky while I was there and, being slaphappy waiting for my 12:50am flight home, I decided to have a little fun with the guy. I thought it'd be hilarious to take pictures of him traipsing through the hotel lobby where we were hanging out and through LAX airport while we awaited my flight (the last out for the night of the group). One thing led to another, and the awesome hashtag #CrockysAdventures was born in my sleep-deprived brain. And it was incredible. As I posted the pictures and the likes poured in both on my Facebook and my Instagram account, it was requested several times that Crocky get a forum of his very own.

And the Facebook page was born!

So, while you're waiting with baited breath to hear about *MY* adventures in Los Angeles on the various Disney lots and studios, you can check out Crocky's Adventures on Facebook, which I'll be posting to continually because I'm a dork like that, HA! Pop over and give him a like, you won't regret it!

*Disclaimer: The "Crocky" plushie was received as a gift from DisneyToon studios in return for my participation in the #PirateFairyBloggers group. "Crocky's Adventures" in no way represents the views or opinions of DisneyToon studios or any affiliates thereof, and all uses of him in this manner are for entertainment purposes only. All views and opinions expressed are those solely of TheTVMom.com, and are in no way influenced by receipt of the plushie. Please see my Disclosure tab for more information.