Vincent Price's Disney Connections and Tim Burton's Early Career

Disney Animation and Live-Action Diversification

• 💡 Raya and the Last Dragon was unexpectedly released on digital platforms with bonus features, including a pre-director-switch version, disappointing those who paid for it earlier.
• 🎬 A new Hotel Transylvania short, "Monster Pets," is playing in theaters, with Gendy Tartakovsky credited as an executive producer.
• 📺 Adult Swim's "Adult Swim Jr." April Fools' prank involved redubbing shows like "Rick and Morty" with children's voices.
• 🚀 The trailer for Space Jam: A New Legacy dropped, following a release of eight posters that were met with criticism.
• 🤖 The Mitchells vs. the Machines trailer was released, with some concern it gives away too much, particularly a mall scene.
• 📅 New Looney Tunes cartoons are coming to HBO Max, with the fourth set releasing soon.
• 🌟 Mirror Mirror Detective Season 2 and My Little Pony: Pony Life Season 2 are premiering, while Bless the Hearts has been canceled after two seasons.
• 🏢 20th Century Television Animation has launched, headed by Marcy Proly Toe, who has extensive experience with Fox animated properties.
• 🌃 Ultra City Smiths, a noir murder mystery with doll-headed characters, is coming to AMC with a six-episode order.
• 🎬 Laika is moving into live-action with an adaptation of the YA novel "17," a diversification strategy mirroring Disney's own historical shift towards live-action filmmaking.

Vincent Price's Disney Ties

• 🎬 The stop-motion short Vincent, released in 1982, marked the beginning of Vincent Price's association with Disney and launched Tim Burton's career.
• ✍️ Tim Burton wrote the poem "Vincent" about a boy who believes he is Vincent Price, and after securing Price's approval, it was produced as a stop-motion film with a small budget and tight deadline.
• 🎤 Vincent Price narrated Phantom Manor in Paris and Sorcery in the Sky at Disney-MGM Studios, though his voice work for Phantom Manor was initially replaced before being reinstated.
• 👻 Price was considered for the host role in the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction and recorded voice work for the English version of Phantom Manor.
• 🎅 He also auditioned for the narrator role in The Nightmare Before Christmas and recorded the first voice for Santa Claus, but his declining health led to his parts being replaced.
• 🎬 Price's role in Edward Scissorhands was significantly reduced due to his health, but his relationship with Tim Burton heavily influenced the film Ed Wood.

Tim Burton and Early Career Development

• 🎥 Tim Burton's early work at Disney included the short film Vincent and a stop-motion test for Mars Attacks.
• 🎬 Burton's ambition to make The Nightmare Before Christmas as a holiday special was initially rejected by Disney, but later greenlit as a feature film.
• 🏠 During the filming of Edward Scissorhands, homeowners in the filming location were sent to Walt Disney World to prevent them from interfering with the production's aesthetic changes.
• 🗣️ A friend of the podcast host, who worked at the Adventurers Club, was cast in Edward Scissorhands and often had fans quote his line about finding a doctor for Edward's hands.
• 🚀 A tribute to The Rocketeer was featured in the nighttime spectacular "Sorcery in the Sky," based on a deleted scene from the movie, which included blast prints in the cement outside the Chinese Theatre.