Hercules by Jared the Greek
This panel provided an inside look into the production of the underrated Disney classic Hercules. This included the whole story about getting the script together, working out the music, and even casting as James Woods was not their first choice for Hades. This was a treat for fans as the panel explored several of the ideas that were skipped such as a different character song for Hercules and some of the other story concepts that were discarded. It was fun to see a video from James Woods for the wrap party years ago where the time code keeps jumping because of all the tangets in his ‘thank you’ video. The panel ended with a live rendition of “I won’t Say I’m in Love” that brought a smile to everyone’s face. This was a great panel and it was nice to see the spotlight placed upon this fun, but not mythologically accurate, movie.

 

Sleeping Beauty's Castle by Eri Kagami Sews
Tony Baxter and Bob Gurr hosted this panel on the Sleeping Beauty Castle attraction in the archives room. This was a full panel room full of park enthusiasts. Tony and Bob talked about the early concepts of the attraction. It wasn't part of the original class of 1955, a park original on opening day. The Sleeping Beauty castle attraction was made to promote the movie when it came out in 1957. They talked about design each tableau and the effects they were creating for them. The main focus was from the late 50s to late 70s version of the attraction. They didn't cover the version with the dolls, but they did go into detail about restoring the original attraction when it reopened in 2007. This was a very interesting history about one of the park's attractions that may not get as much love as Space Mountain or Indiana Jones, but it was insightful hearing about restoring the original vision in the current version.

 

Oswald by Jared the Greek
Our last panel of the convention was focused upon Walt Disney's first major animated project Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The story of how Walt Disney got involved with the character and how he never actually held the rights was told. Then the audience got to watch several of the Oswald shorts and learn the fate of the character once Walt Disney left the project. This was followed by a giveaway via a hashtag contest on Twitter and a lucky hidden card under the chairs. The last card was under no one's char and the search for all the empty seats began, which made things a little crazy in the panel room. This was a great panel and a nice celebration of a somewhat obscure character. It's great to both learn and laugh at a panel like this.

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