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Disney (Page 10)

Aside from the costumed characters and colorful parades, one of the things that makes Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea so popular is the stellar customer service they offer. Even in a country where service is almost universally prompt and polite, the Tokyo Disney Resort goes above and beyond the norm in providing an unrivaled level of hospitality to guests.

As a matter of fact, Tokyo Disney Resort employees are so dedicated that not only will they make sure you enjoy yourself during your stay, they’ll even help ensure you have a safe trip home, as one park attendee recently found out when the parking lot staff performed a spot check of her car and alerted her to a potential safety hazard.

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Disney Store is all grown up with new branch designed for adult women opening in Tokyo

Disney enjoys broad popularity with Japanese children, with tykes across the nation regularly getting excited for the studio’s animated films and begging their parents to take them to Tokyo Disneyland. This isn’t a recent development, though. Disney’s been a hit with kids for decades now, and while the age of many fans who grew up watching Mickey, Minnie, and their pals has changed, that doesn’t mean their love for the cartoon characters has.

That’s why this spring a new branch of the Disney Store is opening up in Tokyo, and while the staff won’t be turning away little girls at the door, it’s really being designed for adult women.

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With winter break over, students in Japan are looking at a straight shot with no major breaks until the end of the school year in spring. For teens in their third and final year of high school, that means it’s almost time to take the big step of going off to college or finding a job, both of which mean probably having to cut back on silly hijinks.

That’s why when one Japanese 12th grader found an empty classroom, she couldn’t resist the temptation to let loose with youthful exuberance, especially since she knew it might be one of her last chances to do so. She didn’t take advantage of the lack of adult supervision to vandalize the school, though, but decided to beautify it with some awesome Frozen chalkboard art instead.

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Meet Stitch at Tokyo Disneyland this summer!

It was revealed in December 2013 that the Captain EO ride at Tokyo Disneyland will be replaced by the interactive attraction Stitch Encounter. The wait is now over as the Oriental Land Company which owns Tokyo Disneyland announced that the much-awaited new attraction will open in July 2015, right in time for the summer vacation this year!

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Disney princesses re-imagined as Indian brides! Which gorgeous gown is your favourite?

Okay, I have a confession to make here – that whole wedding fever that some women get, where they obsess over the minute details of “their” special day? I’ve never really gotten that. I mean, do you know how much weddings cost? It’s a lot of money, and it’s gone in a day. Call me a pragmatist, but I’d rather spend that money on a down payment for a house or on an awesome trip. I also can’t help thinking that it sometimes veers more towards celebrating the bride rather than the union of two people. (It’s no wonder women in Japan have started having solo weddings!) Still, a wedding is a centuries-old tradition, and lots of people love the spectacle and ceremony of it. And what better theme could there be for a glitzy wedding than “Indian Disney Princess”? Canadian formal attire company Wellgroomed Designs have come up with nine concept gowns focusing on specific Disney princesses, and they look amazing!

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Japan weirded out by new range of Disney shower heads

Late last year shower specialists Oxygenics released sets of shower heads featuring the faces of Disney characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse. They were warmly received by moms in America, who immediately saw them as a way to get kids motivated for bath-time and praised their easy water-pressure controls.

People in Japan saw the character shower heads quite differently, however, with some even going as far to call them “demeaning” and saying that “I don’t know if this is appropriate for children.”

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There’s just something soothing about the face of Baymax, the caretaker (and superpowered) robot that plays a prominent role in Disney’s Big Hero 6. Baymax looks like a big pillow to some people. Others say he more closely resembles Japanese dumplings, or the rounded discs of mochi used as New Year’s decorations in Japan.

Or, as these photos show, you could also duplicate Baymax’s inviting aura of soft plumpness with a white T-shirt and large pair of breasts.

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While I was growing up, my family never got that involved in the discussion over whether the idolization of Disney princesses is a healthy thing or not. With three boys and no girls in the family, most of my parents’ time was instead channeled towards more immediate topics like telling their sons not to aim for the face during their regular battles in the backyard with their stockpiled arsenal of plastic battleaxes and broadswords.

As an adult, I can sort of understand both sides of the debate. On one hand, a little fantasizing seems harmless, and in and of itself, there’s nothing inherently wrong with little girls being drawn to such trappings of the princess lifestyle as a luxurious home and elegant clothes. On the other hand, criticisms about overemphasizing the value of comfort and beauty have some validity too, as if left unchecked those desires can turn into sloth and vanity.

As a matter of fact, one talented artist thinks Disney’s leading ladies make excellent stand-ins for all of the seven deadly sins.

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Big Hero 6 ads in Japan leave out the action, moviegoers surprised to find awesome robot flick

Last weekend, my wife and I decided to go to watch Disney’s Big Hero 6, which had just opened in Japan under the title Baymax, after its marshmallow-like central robot character. As we made our way into the theater, she asked me if I had a pack of tissues, adding, “I heard the movie is really touching.”

This kind of took me by surprise. Sure, most Disney films have a heartwarming side to them, but wasn’t this movie about a team of superheroes and their robot?

If you’ve seen Big Hero 6, you know by now that it does a solid job of handling both action and emotional scenes. You probably wouldn’t get that impression from the tender Japanese ads for the movie, though, which is why many Japanese moviegoers were pleasantly surprised to find that Baymax isn’t just sweet, but also pretty awesome.

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Love sweets, hate Frozen? Solution: repurpose your Olaf bun into Bert from Sesame Street!

Remember when we recently had a little fun with the Disney’s Frozen pastry buns that have gone on sale all over Japan? You know, the ones oozing with cream and chocolate (mmm) and featuring the annoying face of that goofy snowman (grr) that’s absolutely everywhere right now? While we certainly enjoyed mangling Olaf’s face with a big knife whilst maniacally humming “Let it Go”, it seems that one Twitter user has an even better idea for dealing with that pent-up Frozen frustration. An idea that involves re-purposing the buns into something more aesthetically pleasing! Since we’re all about that silver lining (and since generally, we enjoy our food more when it doesn’t look like a murder scene) we had to investigate! It turns out that it’s actually pretty simple to change goofy Olaf into another character with a little more pedigree behind it – Bert from Sesame Street! Read on for the step-by step guide!

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Hate Frozen? Then you’ll love these photos of the Disney hit’s Olaf being murdered in pastry form

If Frozen struck a deep chord with you, it’s been a good year. Even now, months after the film’s home video release, it’s still got a hold on the imagination of animation and musical fans, and this week Japanese convenience store Family Mart started selling steamed buns filled with chocolate and shaped like Olaf, the Disney hit’s comic relief living snowman.

Family Mart did a fine job recreating Olaf’s look, and we’re sure moviegoers who were tickled by his antics are thrilled to have the character seemingly leap off the screen and into the palm of their hands. Plus, in a rare case of simultaneously being able to please a movie’s fans and detractors, the Olaf bun’s uncanny resemblance to its inspiration means it’s the perfect effigy for Frozen haters to unleash their resentment of the film’s success on.

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Real-life Olaf takes Twitter by (snow)storm

Whether you sing Let it Go as a daily ritual, or just the thought of hearing that song one more time gives you brainfreeze, you can’t deny the pervasive popularity of Disney’s 2013 hit movie Frozen. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Japan, where Frozen can be found on everything from water bottles and chips to reasons for divorce.

For some people though, that’s not enough: they need to recreate Frozen with their own hands.

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Attack on Titan, Dragon Ball and more now in pseudo 3-D thanks to the magic of white lines【GIFs】

What do you think of 3-D movies? Personally, I’m not a big fan as they somehow tire my eyes. While I have to agree that the effects do make some action and fantasy scenes more dramatic and exciting, I’m totally happy sticking with the 2-D versions, not to mention that those are cheaper to watch at the cinemas too.

But I’m sure there are people out there who love the extra impact and wished that every movie was available in 3-D. It’s probably impossible to remaster every past production in 3-D, but some imaginative cyber citizens have found a low-cost method of eye-trickery that makes 2-D animations appear as if they’re coming through the screen. It’s eye-opening what a few white lines can do!

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Who’s still buying physical media in Japan? Top 20 singles lists for the year reveal the answer

With a large music market and some of the world’s highest prices for physical releases, Japan has been very slow in adapting to digital distribution. Rights holders are finally warming up to the idea, though, and it doesn’t look like it’s ruining the industry in Japan. What downloadable music does seem to be doing, though, is splitting the country’s pop music market into two distinct parts, as the lists of Japan’s top 20 single downloads and CD purchases for the year are almost completely different.

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Disney welcomes 2015 with special edition sheep Tsum Tsum soft toys!

For those who are unfamiliar with the Chinese zodiac, 2015 will be the Year of the Sheep, which means that as the new year draws near, we can expect Japan to shower us with tons of fluffy sheep-motif products. Disney is quick to hop on the bandwagon with their new Tsum Tsum zodiac series. Just look at those adorable characters!

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As we close in on the end of the year, it can be hard to remember all the places we went and all the things we did over the past 12 months. By “we,” I don’t mean just the RocketNews24 staff, since our website acts as written evidence of most of our year’s worth of frequent escapades and occasional shenanigans. Instead, I’m talking about all of the people who lived in or visited Japan during 2014.

Since we don’t have all of you under surveillance (just the half-dozen or so that Mr. Sato regularly tails throughout the day), we’re instead turning to photo-sharing site Instagram to be our judge, with its list of the top 10 Japanese photo locations that users shared over the course of the year.

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See the world as it should be with a pair of Disney Princess glasses

Disney Princesses are continuing to sway their influence on the fashion world in Japan. From umbrellas to lingerie and perfume bottles, fans can’t get enough of the elegant offerings from their favourite royal stars.

Now lovers of Disney can channel the object of their affections with a pair of spectacles from well-known Japanese eye-wear chain Zoff. There are six designs to choose from: Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Rapunzel and even Elsa the Snow Queen, each featuring frames, cases and cleaning cloths with gorgeous details.

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Musician performs beautiful projection-mapped piano themes of Laputa, Frozen, Final Fantasy

Although director Hayao Miyazaki gets the lion’s share of the credit for the sterling quality of Studio Ghibli’s anime films, you can’t discount the contributions of Joe Hisaishi. The veteran composer’s musical scores are timeless and ethereal, and there’s no better visual compliment to their mix of trepidation and adventurousness than the moving pictures of Japan’s most respected animation house.

The beautiful projection mapping that accompanies this stirring piano cover of the ending theme to Castle in the Sky Laputa is a close second, though.

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17-year-old aspiring artist creates amazing Disney and Marvel fan art with colored pencils

When I was 17, I was an aspiring interior designer, but I lacked the passion, determination and talent for it, and never got anywhere in that trade. 17-year-old aspiring artist Mandy Wang, however, is probably going places with her talent and passion for drawing, seeing as she has already captured the hearts of over 70,000 fans on Instagram! Just look at the lovely drawings she creates with colored pencils and watercolor, after the break!

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Spring in Japan belongs to the cherry blossoms. Summer is all about the country’s amazing fireworks shows. And in fall, there’re the beautiful fall colors to look forward to.

In winter though, Christmas decorations take center stage. Specifically, it’s the lights covering the urban landscape, called “illuminations” by the locals, that really bring out the crowds. So if you’re looking to do a little prep work for your Christmas Eve date, the following collection of Tokyo Christmas display snapshots should help you choose which one will best set the mood, and is also a chill-free way to get into the holiday season for those of you more comfortable at home with a hot mug of cocoa than braving the elements outdoors.

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