Happy Uso-Tanjoubi to Me!

Today is "my pseudo-birthday*", better known as St. Michael's Day or All Angels Day. When I was a wee lad (as opposed to a wee adult), my family celebrated my birthday on September 29th so that I would have some semblance of a real birthday instead of sharing it with JC on my actual b-day, December 25th.
(*new label created for this date.)

I had to preside over a wedding in Morioka today and, while there, saw the coolest Momotaro display.

That dog is awesome!

The wedding itself was uneventful, yet I did enjoy the theme.

(Fyi, the bride did not fit the motif.)

Upon return, I decided to wander through Parco, e-Beans and Loft in hopes of finding myself a birthday present. Nothing caught my fancy, so it's like receiving money for my birthday, since I didn't spend any.

I came across a manga display at e-Beans called Genga! Genga! Genga!. I wasn't familiar with any of the characters so I didn't bother forking over 500 yen to gawk at some pictures. Others may enjoy it, here are some details:

I didn't walk away entirely empty-handed. I nabbed a post card.

As I was leaving e-Beans, I espied a Halloween display at a Rock shop (Actual rocks, not of the Rock 'n roll type.)

I'm very disappointed at the Halloween display at Loft this year. In previous years, there has been a dozen or more shelves devoted to treats and costumes. This year, there is only two racks of goodies.

Right next to those goodies, is a Pop-up store called Alice on Wednesday. There was a long lineup to enter so I didn't wait around but if you click that link, you'll see what's available.

As I approached my home, I decided to get a celebratory cake for myself. Thanks to Peko-chan, I acquired a pumpkin-topped cupcake.

I tried writing about today's events earlier but ended up being distracted by Ghost Rider,  Jumanji and finally Parasite (The Faculty).

I'd seen The Faculty a few years ago and never made the connection that it is a Robert Rodriguez movie. Apparently his new movie Alita is released here on December 21st. I wonder if that date will be honoured for it has been bumped to February stateside.

I have seen a preview for it. Intriguing.

My "birthday" is now over and you may have noticed that the term Halloween has crept into this entry. Be sure to check out my "Countdown to Halloween 2018" starting on October 1st!

Disnart.

If you're a fan of Disney Art like I am, you'd be wise to get a move on for you only have another week to do so. Unfortunately, you'll have to enter the exhibit itself to view the collection for photography is prohibited. There are a few places outside where I could click a pic.

Above is the mural on the way in and below is my entry ticket.

The flyer that comes with admission. Nice retro art on Frozen.

You walk through Mickey's head to ascend the staircase.

Walt's actual first cartoon was Plane Crazy (1928), it predated Steamboat Willie but was released afterwards. Thanks to Ub Iwerks for the design.

This handy wall-long poster showcases all the movies that were featured in exhibit. (If you embiggen the picture, you can see details on all of the special displays below the movie posters.)
Let's start with...蒸気船ウィリー or Steamboat Willie.

Here's a snippet of it.



A few years back, I spoke of Snow White as part of the Countdown to Halloween 2011. Check that link for some screen caps. Rather than embed it, here is a link to Part 2 of the movie with Japanese subtitles.

I really need to watch Pinocchio again. It has been decades since I last watched it.

Whoa cool! It's on YouTube with Japanese subs. I know what I'll be doing later.

Apart from bits of Fantasia shown on Wonderful World With Disney on Sunday nights when I was a kid, the first time I saw this in its entirety was at the defunct University Cinema on Bloor St. in Toronto in the mid-80s. Awesome! Last time I saw it was on a bus ride back from camping with a herd of sleeping kids. It was in Japanese but that wasn't a problem for the movie is basically dialogue free. I wanted to include the scene with the dinosaurs but I'll settle for the dancing shrooms.

Am I the only one looking forward to the live-action version of Dumbo? Last week, I came across a nice little figure of Dumbo and his mom for a buck.

 

I bought a cheap copy of Bambi on DVD a few years back. Little did I know that when I got it home, it was in Japanese only. Regardless, it's a great movie.

I'd lose my status in the Church of Godzilla if I didn't include this cartoon.



I have NEVER ever seen this movie in its entirety.

The best part of the exhibit was the Alice display. The walls were painted in psychedelic colours adorned with Alice chatting with the Cheshire Cat.

Scroll down and you can see some early renditions of Alice on a pair of Clear Files that I bought. Here's a preview:

I watched this last time I flew to Canada. It still holds up well. (Except for the Siamese Cats. Just a tiny bit on the racy side.)

The cats sound a little better in Japanese, but not by much.



I thought that Malificent was a worthy successor to 眠れる森の美女 or Sleeping Beauty.

Here's a snippet in Japanese:



A few years back, I found this towel at a flea market and debuted it for Towel Day.

It has been several years since I last saw 101-piki wan-chan. (Wan-chan is a nickname for a puppy.)

There was an entire 72 panel art sequence of the car chase scene plus a video explaining how it was filmed. Pretty cool and Cruella never looked crueler.



Finally, the Jungle Book. Genius!

Here is Holly Cole singing my favourite song, Trust in Me.

Modern Disney movies included Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast (great video of the ballroom dance), Simba, the King Lion The Lion King, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tarzan, Tangled, Zootopia and Wreck-it Ralph (better known as Sugar Rush in Japan).

The gift shop had items ranging from 400 to 3,500,000 yen for a gold statue of Mickey. I didn't get the statue but I did get a badge.

I bought a handful of postcards to commemorate my visit.

Here is a life-size rendition of Mickey, Minnie and Pluto white-water rafting.

I nice sketch of Geppetto with Pinocchio.

Yay, Dumbo!

Notice how Mickey's ears always face the camera.

Mickey as The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

A great Clear File of Snow White.

The aforementioned Alice Clear Files.

One reason I made a purchase was to get this sweet bag showing some sketches from the exhibit.

I only had 4 100 yen coins so I could only get one Gatcha top of Minnie.

And one Masking Tape of Buzz.

Like I said before, it's worth checking out if you have any interest in Disney and the history of animation!