Saving Mr. Banks: Is Tom Hanks the Greatest Storyteller Ever?

Last month, I had the privilege of attending the press conference for the AFI Film Festival presentation of Saving Mr. Banks. The entire cast was there: Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell, Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak. They talked about P.L. Travers, Walt Disney and the making of Mary Poppins. If you want to read the highlights, click here to go to my article for Press Pass LA.

However, I am sharing my entire audio for you to take a listen to. Tom Hanks proves why he is an A-list star with one story that begins around the 20:00-minute mark. An Italian reporter asks him about his grandkids and Disneyland. The story is hilarious, engaging and makes Hanks perhaps one of the greatest storytellers around. He had the press eating out of his hand. I've often given red carpet tips for actors, but this is the most perfect lesson of all…THIS is how you handle an interview.

The entire 25-minute press conference is archived below. The actual audio begins around the 4:00-minute mark. Enjoy!

Let me know what you think of the movie and Tom Hanks' story in the comments below.

Insider Secrets of Club 33 Revealed!

Ever since I visited Club 33 in February 2010 and wrote about it, it has been one of my most popular posts here on Red Carpet Closet and it has been my top viewed video on YouTube.  Well, the day has come and Disney has revealed some insider secrets about membership because they are opening the waiting list for the first time in a decade.  The Orange County Register divulged the details today and I am here to give you all of the highlights:

1.  When: Beginning Friday, May 4, 2012, Disney is sending official invitations to the first 100 people on the 800-person waiting list.  These names have been on the list for 10 years since that was the last time Disney had an open waiting list.

2.  Membership Costs:  Individual initiation costs are $25,000 with a yearly membership of $10,000. This is a huge increase in yearly membership which stood at $3,600 for years.  You can be grandfathered into the old price, but it will exclude all of the new perks. Corporate memberships involve a $40,000 initiation fee and a yearly membership of $10,000.  Affiliate members will pay a $5,000 yearly fee.

3.  New Perks:  This part is rather exciting!  There will be a new lounge called 1901 in California Adventure for members and it was named after Uncle Walt's birth year.  It is located at the bottom of the Carthay Circle Theatre, but it is solely for drinks and small bites versus a full service meal over at Club 33.  Valet parking, exclusive sneak peeks at new attractions, and VIP itinerary planning are also a part of the membership now.  In addition to all of these new perks, an individual member is now given 4 annual passes to both Florida and California parks plus 50 day passes for guests.  Corporate members will receive 100 days passes.

4.  The List:  Well, if you are currently on the list, all 800 of you aren't getting in as invites are only going to the top 100 for now.  The good news is that the list is open!  Get on and join the wait.  Hey, you never know when you will get to be at the top and invited to drink a cocktail in that secret location in Disneyland.  Here is the email address for the Club 33 waiting list:   club33interest@disneyland.com

What do you think of the new perks for Club 33 membership?  Let me know on Twitter, Facebook, or Google Plus.

Check out my original Club 33 article from February 2010.

D23 Expo: Exhibit Photos

For those of you who saw my post on Sunday, it included all of the Disney Studio film slate through 2014. Now, it's time to get to the really fun stuff, photos of the D23 Expo floor and the Disney Archives exhibit.  I have so many photos, so I am just going to dump the highlights here and give you some information in the captions.  I would love to hear your thoughts and comments about D23 and if you will be attending the Expo in 2013!

 Some of my favorite artwork at the Expo.  Teacups by Dave Lefner.

 Snow White's nemesis.

 Love this contemporary photo of Minnie Mouse.

 Johnny Depp's Jack Spade wardrobe from Pirates of the Caribbean.

 I'm not a Lost fan, but I know millions of you are.  Here's your token Lost photo.  

 Uncle Walt's limo!  Okay, I think this is really cool, but doesn't it kind of look like a hearse?

 D23 had an auction on Saturday night and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were on the auction block.

While I am not a cruise type of gal, I loved this Disney Cruise Line set piece.

 My fabulous partner in crime at D23, Amy, and I hanging in Cars Land.

 You can be Cinderella at any age! 

 For the original Tron fans, Bruce Boxleitner.

 My hot date--so hot that they had to place a sign, "Please Do Not Touch".

 It's a horrible photo, but yep, I did wear a Disney Princess crown at D23 Expo and no one batted an eye.

 The coolest aspect of D23 was the Disney Archives exhibit.

 The original Mouseketeer and Uncle Walt's favorite, Annette! 

 Back then, it was normal for kids to have a gun and bullets on their belt.  Cubby was a tiny little guy.

 Alice in Wonderland costumes. 

 One of my favorite images of D23, a set piece from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?  This movie will eternally remind me of my pal, Jamie.

 The beautiful artwork from the closing sequence of Sleeping Beauty. 

 This is another one of my favorite photos, the wardrobe from Tron. 

 The original Mickey Mouse watch from the 1930's when it only cost $2.95. 

Okay, raise your hand, who had this phone in the 80's?  

Disney Dreams

I love that I look really tiny under the big Fantasia hat.

I'm sharing this photo with you because this image represents making dreams come true to me.  I don't ever think the 10-year-old me would ever think that I would be standing on the Disney studio lot in Burbank not once, but twice in a month's time. Sure, it was just for a screening, but it represents everything to the little me from the suburbs of Boston.  I have always loved anything Disney:  Disney World, Disneyland, Club 33 and I'm off to the D23 Expo in Anaheim this weekend.  It was Walt's animated creation, Jiminy Cricket,  that told me "When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true." (Wait, I'm taking advice from a cricket??!!) After dealing with a lousy end to 2010, 2011 has been a reminder to rediscover my dreams.  Little by little, that is happening and I'm truly grateful for it.

What are you doing to make your dreams come true?

Lyrics:

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do

Fate is kind
She brings to those to love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing

Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true

A Great Day in Hollywood

 With Daniel Yelsky during the press junket of A Little Help.  The movie opens July 22.  Go support this film, my incredible host reel editor, Joe Gressis, produced and edited the film. 

I feel like I am having one of those weeks in Hollywood that reminds you why you moved to LA in the first place.  Outside of the perennial sunshine, it's about the work.  The passion that drives you, the jumping out of bed in the morning because you know your job brings you happiness, and most importantly, it's so much fun that you forget it is actually work.  I've had one of those weeks.  My job this week "requires" me to watch 4 films, interview 5 actors, 2 writer/directors, and attend one callback.  It's exactly the week I dreamed of when I moved to LA back in 2000.  Life is pretty good.

 On the Disney lot after a press screening of Winnie the Pooh.  I'm a complete Disney dork, so any opportunity to be photographed with Walt and Mickey is okay by me.

 It's hard to see in this photo, but Walt is holding hands with Minnie.  I decided Minnie wanted to hold hands with me too.  

Holding up the place with the Seven Dwarfs.  If you are wondering whether to catch Winnie the Pooh this weekend, I'd say it's a good alternative if you are not a Harry Potter fan. Who doesn't love Pooh?  There are also incredible original songs by Bobby Lopez and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez.  That couple's talent is limitless.  If you are trying to remember who Bobby is, think back to my Tonys red carpet interviews. Yep, that's him.

Disneyland's Club 33

UPDATE:  Check out the latest information on the waiting list and new perks for Club 33 here. 

Anyone that knows me understands that I am a HUGE Disney dork. The parks have always been a fun place for me to visit whether I was 3 or 33 years old. My family spent a considerable amount of time visiting Walt Disney World in Florida during cold winter breaks when I was a kid and once I moved to LA in 2000, Disneyland became a fun day trip several times a year. I became clued in on a private club that Walt Disney had built to entertain VIPs at the park back in 2001. Walt never had the opportunity to see this club finished, but I made it my mission to find a way into the famed Club 33.

I spent countless visits taking my picture next to the sign, hoping that maybe one day I would make my photo a reality. Well, 2010 was the year it all came true. My super cute boyfriend was able to make a connection with someone that had a corporate membership, and that is how my December 2009 birthday gift came to be. It really was one of those friend of a friend of a friend of a friend situations, so whomever you are, thanks for making one of my top wishes come true. Scratched off the bucket list!

You receive free admission to both parks the day of your reservation and we checked in at Guest Relations over by California Adventure. Our day happened to be the wettest day I have ever been to at the park, but no lines makes for easy ride hopping. The reservation was for 1 PM, so we were told to check in 15 minutes early. We headed over to New Orleans Square and checked in by pressing the hidden bell. They asked for the name of the reservation and then buzzed us in. Turns out, our table wasn't ready, so we had to go out and do the whole process again ten minutes later. Hey, it's Hollywood, you always get a second take. To see my grand entrance, here is a short one minute clip: Club 33
Once we were let into the lobby, the concierge gave us a brief history of Club 33. It is decorated much like a Parisian hotel lobby right down to the lift that was replicated by Disney Imagineers. Americans are kind of chubby, so the lift only holds about 3 average sized people...maybe in France it would be 4 or 5 people. There is a set of stairs to the left of the lift, so half of us hiked it up while I rode the elevator to the top floor.

Much of the decor was selected by Lillian Disney with lots of antiques like this harpsichord rumored to have been played by Elton John during a visit.
The infamous bar! Yes, this is the only place in the Disneyland park where you can drink. (California Adventure allows alcohol to be served in several restaurants.) The bartender was quite a character, but we enjoyed him because he said, "heavy price, heavy pour.". Yep, the drinks were strong and delicious.
Along the walls, there were beautiful wardrobe sketches from the movie, Mary Poppins, along with renderings of Disneyland back in the 1950's, and a fantastic photograph of Walt with Shirley Temple at the Academy Awards.

During media interviews when I worked at the Kodak Theatre, I was always asked about the restrooms. I don't know why people are obsessed with how fancy a bathroom is, but if you are one of those people, these next two photos are for you. This is what the Club 33 bathroom looked like.....vanity area....

And their really odd shaped toilet........

For me, I always want to know about the food. So, all of you foodies out there, enjoy!

The menu....I chose the Monkfish, but our waitress kept trying to get us to order the Chateaubriand. She never stated that it was the best on the menu, she made it sound more like a fire sale on beef.

The opening course is a buffet of cheeses, lobster tail, shrimp, salads, and soup. I was hungry.....

And then my meal came, so I had to find some room for my Monkfish with Lobster Bisque.

But wait, there's more! Dessert buffet filled with every sweet you can imagine. The purple cake thing was not so good, but my Hostess cupcake lookalike was amazing.

But there's even more! It's my birthday celebration, so I also received a Mickey Mouse chocolate mousse cake. Yum!

After eating we headed outside to the balcony to check out the view....

The wet view below with umbrellas and ponchos in sight. This is looking towards the Fanstasmic stage. If you eat dinner at Club 33, you might be able to catch the early showing of Fantasmic from this location. The back end of the balconies leads you into New Orleans Square by the restaurant, Bayou.

The infamous vulture that Walt didn't live to see, but it was designed as one of the Disney animatronics to talk to the dinners and listen in on their conversations.

In fact, he had microphones built into the chandeliers so the person behind the vulture could spy on people dining at Club 33. (microphone in the center of chandelier hanging down.)

And all good Disney attractions lead to a gift shop. We bought an $18 (suckers!) shot glass with the Club 33 insignia. We also managed to take home a few napkins lifted from the restroom, our cocktail stirrers, a pen, and a few chocolates. Hey, it's a once in a lifetime visit! We spent over 3 hours here and it was well worth it....especially the ride on Space Mountain after a few cocktails!

Are there any Annual Passholders reading this? I would like to get my hands on these vintage pins. Email me if you have the hookup. (My first and last name at Gmail)

Now, a few parting shots of our day around the parks....Tower of Terror!

Space Mountain.......

Buzz Lightyear......

Thanks for celebrating with me at Club 33!

Just a few Club 33 details:

14 year waiting list for membership

Waiting list is CLOSED as of Spring 2007

$10,450 to join for an individual and an annual fee of $3,275

$27,500 for a corporate membership with an annual fee of $6,100

Reservations are taken up to 90 days in advance for members and up to 60 days in advance for guests.

P.S. For those of you that are Hidden Mickey fans, they do exist at Club 33. It isn't in the architecture, but in the cast members' Club 33 uniforms. Happy searching!

Many thanks to Disney Food Blog for linking to this post. If you are a Disney Dork and a foodie, this is the site to check out: Disney Food Blog