Tag: entertainment

March 17, 2023

Disneyland reopens Toontown, designed to be inclusive of ‘every single guest’

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Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Clarabelle, Goofy, Pluto and Pete stand outside Mickey’s house in the refurbished Toontown at Disneyland.

Disney

Parkgoers at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, will finally be able to return to Mickey’s Toontown this weekend after a yearlong closure for refurbishment.

The cartoon-inspired land has long been a haven for Disney’s younger park guests, offering character meet-and-greets with the likes of Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto, as well as kid-friendly coasters and play areas.

The reimagined Toontown honors the space that first opened in 1993, keeping existing structures like Mickey and Minnie’s houses in tact, albeit with a paint touch-up. But there’s also quite a bit of new infrastructure for kids to explore — with an eye toward inclusivity.

At its core, Toontown’s revamp is all about intention. Imagineers have designed a space for all kids, crafting accessible play spaces, plus quiet areas and shady spots so that its youngest parkgoers have a place to exert their pent-up energy or decompress.

The redesigned land, which opens to the public March 19, is entirely wheelchair accessible, including its slides, and is visually and auditorily approachable for kids who are easily overwhelmed by loud or bright sensory stimuli. The entire land has been repainted in softer colors, and some areas feature more subdued, spa-like musical scores.

“We want every child to know that when they came to this land that this land was designed for them,” said Jeffrey Shaver-Moskowitz, executive portfolio producer at Walt Disney Imagineering. “That they were seen, and that this place was welcoming to them.”

Shaver-Moskowitz said the Imagineers spent time looking at children’s museums and water play spaces to see how kids engage and developed different stations throughout the land to cater to different types of play patterns.

“We know a day at Disneyland can be hectic and chaotic, running from one attraction to another, one reservation to the next,” he said. “We wanted Toontown to not only be exciting, but also decompressing and relaxing and welcoming.”

With that in mind, the Imagineers have introduced more green spaces within the land, places to have picnics, sit and unwind, or play freely.

“We really wanted to take a look at Toontown, knowing how important it was for so many of our guests for many generations growing up and the so many memories here that are connected to the land, and make sure we don’t lose any of that,” Shaver-Moskowitz said. “But, bring a lot of new magic.”

‘Thinking of every single guest’

When guests enter the new Toontown, they will pass through Centoonial Park. The area is anchored by a large fountain, featuring Mickey and Minnie, as well as water tables for kids to dip their hands into, and the “dreaming tree.”

The live tree was selected from the Disney property for its cartoonish limbs and leaves. Around the trunk are sculpted roots that kids can climb over, crawl under and weave through.

“One of the main play functions for little ones is learning the concepts of over, under and through,” Shaver-Moskowitz explained during a media tour of the land earlier this month. “So you’ll see some of the roots are big enough for little ones to crawl under, some of them can be used as balanced beams for little ones who are learning to get their feet underneath them.”

(There is a wheelchair accessible path that navigates through the roots, too.)

Centoonial Park is also situated next to the El Capitoon Theatre, home of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway ride. Riders are invited to the premiere of Mickey and Minnie’s latest cartoon short “Perfect Picnic.” However, hijinks ensue and guests are whisked away for a ride on Goofy’s train, entering the cartoon world.

The trackless ride has no restrictions on height or age, allowing even the littlest Disney guest to join in.

Continuing through the land, guests will see Goofy’s new play yard, which wraps around Goofy’s house and features a sound garden, filled with musical bridges and melons, as well as Fort Max, a climbable clubhouse with attached slides.

Shaver-Moskowitz said the roller slides were chosen for the space so littler guests, who often have less mobility in their legs, don’t get stuck at the bottom of the slide. There’s also more space at the bottom of the slides to accommodate guests who need time to get back into wheelchairs.

“We are trying to make sure we’re thinking of every single guest in here,” he said. “Making sure that every little one who comes to play here feels like we’ve designed the space for them.”

Also outside is a small cordoned-off area for babies to crawl around and experience the area safely.

Inside Goofy’s house are a series of games that kids can play to help Goofy cultivate honey from the beehives on his property into candy. Here, little parkgoers can sort candy by flavor and color and watch as a kinetic ball machine activates all around the space.

Extra care was taken to ensure that the sound of the air compressors pushing the balls around has been suppressed, said Shaver-Moskowitz, in an effort to make sure that those with sensory sensitivity won’t be overwhelmed and can still enjoy the experience with their peers.

In a separate area next to Goofy’s new play yard is Donald’s Duck Pond, a water experience for kids. Imagineers intentionally separated this space from the play yard so that parents could better monitor their children around the water elements.

Shaver-Moskowitz noted that the previous design of the land meant that kids would occasionally run back to their parents soaking wet, having wandered into the water play place.

Donald’s Duck Pond features a tug boat that spits out water, spinning water lilies, balance beams and rocking toys. Inside the boat, kids can help Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby with a leak in the hull, turning wheels and levers to push the water outside.

Pack a picnic

The Imagineers have also revamped the food at Toontown. New restaurants such as Cafe Daisy and Good Boy! Grocers offer a wide variety of selections and flavors for young parkgoers and more mature palates.

Michele Gendreau, director of product optimization for food and beverage, explained that the team wanted to make eating easy by creating hand-held food that can be munched on the go.

The menu at Daisy’s café features “flop over” pizzas, hot dogs and wraps. Here, adults can grab a cold brew coffee or honey-mango sweet tea. For dessert, there are mini doughnuts covered in cinnamon sugar.

“Kids want to eat what their parents eat,” said Gendreau, highlighting kid-friendly versions of traditional pizzas.

At Good Boy! Grocers, guests can pick up grab-and-go drinks, snacks and novelties. The roadside stand offers up the “perfect picnic basket,” including up to three snacks and a drink. Kids can choose from a variety of options, from hummus and pickles to granola bars and apple slices.

Baskets are set up at multiple heights to allow even the smallest guests to select their own items, giving them a little autonomy when it comes to meal time.

Parkgoers can scoop up picnic blankets, T-shirts, toys and other exclusive Toontown merchandise at EngineEar Souvenirs.

Additionally, meet-and-greets with fan favorite characters return to the land. Guests can take photos with Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Donald Duck, Daisy, Pluto, Clarabelle and Goofy. And for the first time at any Disney park, Pete will make an appearance, causing mischief around the neighborhood.

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March 7, 2023

Citadel Action Scenes Left Priyanka Chopra With A Scar On Her Forehead: “Don’t Even Cover It Anymore”

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Priyanka Chopra in a still from the Citadel trailer. (courtesy: PrimeVideoIN)

New Delhi:

As someone who worked in the Hindi film industry for a long time before making a career in Hollywood, Citadel star Priyanka Chopra Jonas says it is exciting to be part of a series that is taking entertainment “beyond borders and language” through an intersection of stories from different countries.

Citadel , an ambitious spy drama slated to debut on Prime Video on April 28, will act as the flagship show that will blend with local shows already under production in India and Italy, starring Matilda De Angelis, Varun Dhawan, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, respectively.

Chopra Jonas, who plays elite spy Nadia Sinh on the series, spoke about the “cross pollination of cultures” in a global press conference in late February.

“It was so exciting to me as someone who worked for a very long time in a non-English medium to see the success of subtitled work in English language territories. But the ambition of this show, which was so attractive to me in the beginning, is kind of like the social experiment of it.

“If the flagship show is the English language, you have an Indian show, you have an Italian show, and the characters and the storylines kind of blend into each other,” the Los Angeles-based actor said in the press conference, which was also attended by PTI.

The actor hopes this blend of stories will lead people to tune into stories of different languages. “Like, are the audiences of the Italian show going to want to watch the Hindi language show where they have no similarity in language? That’s so exciting and interesting to me, the cross-pollination of cultures and how entertainment goes beyond borders and language now. It’s just about storytelling… It’s so cool,” she added.

Produced by the Russo Brothers’ (filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo) AGBO and showrunner David Weil, Citadel will premiere in multiple languages, including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.

Chopra Jonas has paired opposite Game of Thrones star Richard Madden in the globe-trotting series on which David Weil servers as the showrunner. In the show, Madden and Chopra Jonas play Mason Kane and Nadia Sinh. They are part of the independent global spy agency Citadel, which is tasked to uphold the safety and security of all people. But Citadel was destroyed by operatives of Manticore, a powerful syndicate manipulating the world from the shadows.

With Citadel’s fall, the two elite agents had their memories wiped as they narrowly escaped with their lives. They’ve remained hidden ever since, building new lives under new identities, unaware of their pasts. One night, when Mason is tracked down by his former Citadel colleague, Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci), who desperately needs his help to prevent Manticore from establishing a new world order.

Mason and Nadia reunite and embark on a mission that takes them around the world in an effort to stop Manticore, all while contending with a relationship built on secrets, lies, and a dangerous-yet-undying love.

Chopra Jonas said she had a great collaborator in Madden. “We dance really well together. And this was just a really ambitious show. If we didn’t have each other understanding what the other needed, this would have been hard to do.” Talking about the action sequences in the series, the actor said she now has a “scar on my forehead” near her eyebrow.

“That’s courtesy Citadel. I don’t even cover it anymore,” she said, crediting producers Joe and Anthony Russo for bringing in the best stunt team for the series. Chopra Jonas described the show as something that has “many layers and complexities” where “what you see is what you don’t get”.

“Everything is just conceptually crazy. And it’s just so exciting to be able to share it with the world because it’s been a long time in the making, it’s so ambitious,” she added. The actor said her character is a “bada**” who thrives under pressure.

“She has to hold her head up high while her character’s changing, her life is changing all around her, but she has to stay centred because of the burdens that she carries. “That makes her just very juicy as a character for me to play because every choice that is made by her is burdened and laden by so much pressure. And she thrives in it, so it was really wonderful,” she said.

Madden said while his past character carries “a lot of scars” and “trauma”, the new version has no baggage. “There are huge set pieces in this, and that’s something that’s amazing to be part of. Not only that, but I think oftentimes, we see shows that are 80 per cent drama, 20 per cent action or vice versa. And this show aimed to be 100 per cent of both.

“That’s what we’ve managed to pull off because in the middle of these huge sequences with explosions and cars blowing up… we have this really kind of intimate drama between these two characters and how they dance together,” he said. Joe Russo said they were lucky to have a great cast for a high-concept show like Citadel. “What Anthony and I really love about this is the high-concept of it. That both Richard and Priyanka get to play multiple versions of themselves. And this notion that their memories have been erased allows them to create new characters who then have to rediscover who they were.” Weil said what’s “beautiful and ambitious” about this spy universe is that they are creating it in tandem with partners all around the world.

“We have announced the India series and the Italy series. We get to work with these incredible writers, filmmakers, actors, and producers, truly from all around the world and build this entire story together. So, it becomes this tapestry told in different languages through different cultures, in an authentic way,” he said.

The India series is being directed by The Family Man creators Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK. Anthony Russo also praised Chopra Jonas and Madden for their performances. “…They are playing two different versions of themselves with different sets of memories and how that processes in terms of their behaviour and their choices and their thoughts.

“But also, again, the idea that they’re playing something that has the highest degree of emotional complexity, at the same time, the highest degree of physical challenge,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Featured Video Of The Day

Govinda Celebrated Son Yashvardhan Ahuja’s Birthday

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March 1, 2023

Being a digital nomad isn’t just for singles. Here’s how families make it work

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To many, the lifestyle of a “digital nomad” is an aspirational one — you can live anywhere in the world, visa permitting, with your laptop as your office.

Forget the daily grind of the rush hour commute. As long as there’s decent Wi-Fi, simply pick a coffee shop, park or pool and get to work.

The lifestyle has become more popular in the wake of the Covid pandemic, which accelerated the trend of remote working. The number of American digital nomads increased 9% in just 12 months from 2021 to 2022, to a total of almost 17 million, according to the jobs platform MBO Partners.

But one factor deters many from the lifestyle: kids.

Whether it’s schooling, health and safety concerns, or the question of a child’s ability to develop lasting friendships, parents face multiple barriers.

But some have taken the plunge anyway. Two families tell CNBC Travel how they’ve made it work.

Working Without Borders, which calls itself “the world’s first company providing coworking retreats for families with culturally immersive programming for kids and teens.”

He’s also a dad of two kids under the age of 12.

Sam Keller, founder of Working Without Borders, which organizes coworking retreats for families.

Working Without Borders

“My wife and I each had living abroad experiences, but we couldn’t figure out how to make it happen” again, he said. “Then we had kids.”

The couple scoped out a school while on vacation in French Polynesia, thinking it could be “the place where we can go live,” he said.

Another factor worked in their favor: Keller’s wife Pascaline Cure works for Airbnb, which allows her to work anywhere she wants.

So together they made a big move from California to French Polynesia. And not just at any time — they moved during the pandemic.

“The stars aligned, we made it onto the plane and decided we’re going to make lemonade out of lemons of this pandemic.”

Sam Keller with his family in Bora Bora.

Working Without Borders

Education is regularly cited as the biggest challenge for digital nomads with children. Navigating an unfamiliar school system, often in an entirely new language, can be a struggle.

“We found that [in French Polynesia] there are a fair number of private schools that will accept kids for as short a time as a couple of weeks or a month. Then there are plenty of schools set up to provide online support, or online-only schools with really good teaching and instruction and curricula,” Keller said.

Homeschooling is another option for some, but Keller prefers to call it “world schooling,” which he says “embraces this notion of viewing the world as your classroom.”

“From the playground you could see stingrays swimming by,” he said. “Kids are out as part of the curriculum, so we’re paddling outrigger canoes in the lagoon, seeing sea turtles and dolphins. It was just magical in so many respects.”

He added that now more resources exist to help people learn about the digital nomad lifestyle, thanks to its growing popularity. Companies, like this own, let families “dip their toes in the water,” and some Facebook groups for world schooling have more than 50,000 members — so there’s always someone to answer a question, he said.

Quartier Collective call it home, along with their three children, aged between seven and 12.

Since leaving Seattle in 2018, the family has visited nearly 20 different countries, including Japan, Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Mexico, Morocco, Turkey and Sri Lanka. Sometimes they stay a few weeks, but typically they’re in one place for one to three months.

Taryn Elledge-Penner and her son Viggo in Ahangama, Sri Lanka.

Quartier Collective

Penner said his children were part of the reason they decided to leave the United States.

“We traveled a lot as individuals and just felt that the world was this big, wild place — and that our world in Seattle had shrunk in a way,” he said. “We had to show them the world and didn’t want to miss this connection to something bigger.”

Elledge-Penner said they wanted more time with their kids, to make their journey sustainable and, critically, to connect with other families.

“When we left it was lonely for families like ours on the road,” she said. “Now that has really changed and a lot of families have realized this is an option, going longer and deeper.”

The family of five have enjoyed a range of experiences: living on a farm in Japan where they slurped soba noodles from a 30-foot hollowed-out bamboo pole; making pottery in Mexico; and taking in a shadow puppet show in the Cyclades in Greece — though they didn’t understand a word.

Penner said the key to making the lifestyle work for them is “connecting with people” and not approaching places “as a travel highlight hit list.”

Martin Penner walking with two of his children in Japan.

Quartier Collective

But it’s not all fun and games. There are also practicalities to be reckoned with, Elledge-Penner said.

“One of the challenges has been finding a balance with time and space on our own — and away from each other and the kids,” she said. “We’ve gone such long periods being together, every waking moment of a day.”

“We all need a break and space, normally by going to work or school. Even though this is what we’re choosing, it still requires some balance and that can be difficult to find and that can lead to tension.”

The pre-teen marker is a natural point when pressures mount.

She also touches on what she calls “decision fatigue.”

“The time to plan out the logistics, getting from A to B, where to stay, it can literally be a full-time job and really exhausting,” she said.

Once again, education is one of the biggest questions for global nomads with kids, but — like Keller — Elledge-Penner said there are plenty of options.

“Things have changed a lot from when we first set out. It’s tenfold the number of options you can find and plug into as a world schooling family,” she said.

“We’ve dropped into schools in different countries around the world. There are accredited distance learning programs too and home-schooling pods. For literally anybody who wants to untether from their current school system, it’s totally possible to find whatever you’re looking for.”

The couple noted that the family dynamic has changed since they started traveling in 2018. Their daughter, for example, now wants more long-lasting friendships, while the idea of having a dog — and a bedroom she doesn’t have to share with her brothers — is a big draw.

“The pre-teen marker is a natural point when pressures mount. Lots of families we see stop traveling when [kids] are that age. Now they want to spend more time around friends [which is] a big shift from when we started out.”



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