Guapo Cam! Kicking Off The Holidays Early With A Look At A Christmas Carol's Train Tour!
By George 'El Guapo' Roush on
May 21, 2009
One thing Disney is great at is promotions, and they've pulled out all the stops with Robert Zemeckis' upcoming holiday movie A Christmas Carol.
Disney has decided to promote this film all across the country with a 40 stop, 16,000 mile train tour that showcases all of the fantastic new technology used in making A Christmas Carol. A full city list can be found at disney.com/christmascaroltraintour
Here's some more info about the tour:
ABOUT THE TOUR
16,000 MILES – “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” Train Tour, sponsored by Hewlett Packard and Driven by Amtrak, kicks off Memorial Day Weekend 2009 at Union Station in Los Angeles, traveling across the country with stops in 40 cities big and small along the route, culminating in November at New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. Traveling more than 16,000 miles, the train will pass through 36 states, hitting cities like Chicago, Ill., Albuquerque, N.M., Portland, Ore., Fargo, N.D., Sacramento, Calif., Houston, Texas, Kansas City, Mo., Louisville, Ky., Jacksonville, Fla., Philadelphia, Pa., Albany, N.Y., and Charleston, S.C.
SNEAK PEEK -- Visitors will be the first to see an exclusive sneak peek of “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” in Disney Digital 3D inside a state-of-the-art 48-foot-wide, 3D theatre—the first inflatable 3D theatre ever to go across the country—which will be erected onsite in each city. Dolby laboratories will be supplying Dolby Digital 3D equipment for the travelling 3D theatre.
WINTER WONDERLAND -- Snow will “fall” in each of the 40 cities throughout this summertime event. The winter wonderland will be complete with holiday décor and Christmas carolers.
BEHIND THE SCENES -- Visitors will be treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the magic, the spectacle and the cutting-edge technology of “Disney’s A Christmas Carol.” Four train cars will showcase immersive and interactive experiences, including:
A first glimpse at the character development and character design of “Disney’s A Christmas Carol”
Artifacts from the Charles Dickens Museum in London, England, including a first edition of “A Christmas Carol,” a portrait of Charles Dickens, his original writing tools and original letters written by Charles Dickens from his visits to the United States
An inside look at the cutting-edge performance capture technique used to create the film
Interactive kiosks where guests can explore Dicken’s London and morph their face into characters from the movie using HP TouchSmart PCs and get the image via email
FREEFOR YOU AND ME -- This family event is fun for guests of all ages – and totally FREE!
HOMETOWN MOVIE SURFERS SWEEPSTAKES - At every tour stop, Radio Disney will invite kids to enter for a chance to become a Movie Surfer representing their hometown. Each Hometown Movie Surfer will get a chance to appear on Disney Channel by filming their very own Movie Surfer’s segment! They’ll also receive a prize package of exclusive Movie Surfer and "Disney’s A Christmas Carol” gear.
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB – To launch the event, Disney will present a check for $100,000 to Boys and Girls Club of America. Additionally, Boys and Girls Club kids from each city will take part in special activities.
LOCAL TALENT -- Disney will hire locally in every stop to support the tour, fulfilling positions such as guest control, carolers and docents.
Today we were invited to check out the train tour and as usual, I whipped out the old Guapo Cam to show you one example of what Disney has in store for you. Granted, there are a lot of things on the train I'm not showing you (like the car with all of the video screens showing production footage of the film, the motion capture car, and TONS of artwork) because I want you to go out and see the train for yourselves.
They also show you exclusive movie footage during the sneak peek tour (2 scenes, one of Scrooge meeting his ghostly partner Marley, the other of Scrooge (Jim Carrey) and Fred (Colin Firth) talking about the holiday spirit) that will really get you excited to see the entire film when it opens November 6th.
The following clip is just one of the many cool things you'll experience on the train tour, so make sure you check the schedule to see when it's coming to your city!
Check back later for Guapo Cam footage of Jim Carrey and Robert Zemeckis talking about the movie. They also present a $100,000 donation to the Boy & Girls Club of America along with a press conference.
