Creating Disney images for history articles

Hello friends, I hope that you are doing well. Today I’d like to share some illustrations that I created for my wife’s articles. If you’re familiar with this blog then you might remember that my wife is a theme park historian. We co-host the Pink Monorail podcast on the Jim Hill Podcast Network, as well as on YouTube. She was a teacher of theme park history, and had also written articles on various sites for decades. She mainly posted on MiceChat.com yet there were some changes with that site, as well as the other theme park sites in the past few years.

A handful of litigious people had been going after any theme park website. The claim was that they were using copyright images without permission. That would normally be understandable, however these people had also been going after sites for using any pictures taken at theme parks. These lawyers weren’t necessarily working for or with the theme parks themselves. They were looking to settle with the most successful websites out of court. They were essentially claiming dominion over just about any picture that had ever come up in a Google search. These included images taken by guests years, decades, and in some cases more than a century ago. These were posted on free image hosts, and shared in public forums. It didn’t matter if the faces of people in the image was blurred if a theme park site ran the image. Unless the site actually took the picture, and could prove it then they would receive a cease-and-desist. This had really hurt sites that had been running history articles using archival photos, or even scans from the library. Even if a site did have the right to run the graphic, they would rather pull the article rather than have to fight in court. The ad money was not worth a fraction of the legal costs to simply pull an article.

To get around this MiceChat, and the other sites had updated their policy to only run images from their own photographers, or photos from the press team at the various companies like Disney, or Universal. The downside was that the press contacts did not necessarily have access to the archives, and the archive people didn’t have a searchable image library. So it made it difficult for my wife to write her articles. I suggested that we could run illustrations, and not photos with some of her articles. We could also freely use attractions posters. If the only posters available were faded, or damaged scans then I could recreate them.

I could also recreate things like aerial maps, and even make up my own posters as part of the articles. For example when my wife wanted to write about the Mine Train through Nature’s Wonderland I offered to create graphics for her. This attraction existed partly in the same place that the Big Thunder Mountain coaster sits today. Part of it also fell in an area now occupied by Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. So for her article I did a variation of the original attraction poster, and created a map for guests to visualize how large the attraction really was. I also found some concept art by Marc Davis, and turned it into an animated gif. All of these things were fair use.

The missus then wanted to write about the Skyway which existed in Disneyland many years ago. The buckets actually travelled through the center of the Matterhorn mountain. My brothers, and I had wonderful memories of this ride. So I recreated the poster for the attraction, and colorized some black and white images from the Disney archives. After that she wanted to do an article on the various changes to Tomorrowland. So I set about creating my own posters to highlight some of the rides from that era. These included the Monorail, Submarine Voyage, Rocket Jets, People Mover, Adventure Through Inner Space, and Rocket Rods. It was a great way to share history, without stepping on any toes.

All of the design work helped keep my illustration abilities sharp over the months, and allowed my wife the freedom to write about her favorite topics. It was a genuine win-win. Did you ever hear about a dubious legal action that hurt your favorite outlets? Tell me about it in the comments section. If you enjoy this blog there are several ways you can support me. You can sponsor me directly on Patreon. Or like and subscribe to my videos on YouTube. You can even subscribe to the Pink Monorail Podcast featuring my wife, and myself. 

 

Designing an Aquabats fighting game roster

Hello friends, I hope that you are doing well. I am still working on getting out of the artist slump. It’s tough when you want to be creative, but you are also your own worst critic. Today I’d like to share illustrations that I made from a superhero ska band. You might have heard of the Aquabats. They had a television series, and were a part of Southern California music culture for decades. They were an act that I grew up with, and one that my kid became a fan of. In fact one year we were visiting the San Diego Comic Con where they would also be performing a concert at the House of Blues. My kid asked if she could dress up as cosplay, and if I could also dress up.

Without another word I put together a costume of the Floating Eye of Death, from the Aquabats album of the same name. My mom helped make her a belt as well. Needless to say she had an absolute blast that year. We walked the convention floor, and came across other Aquabats fans. The band was doing an autograph signing at Toddland, and they loved the costume. They said that my floating eye made of a beach ball, and painted pool floaties was not far removed from the same way they made the original eye for the album.

We caught many concerts, and made lots of friends in the community. Around this time we joked about how much fun an Aquabats fighting game would be. I said they had enough band members, and enemies from the various albums that it would be possible. So I drew up what I would imagine the player select menu would look like. These illustrations and more are in my Fighting Game gallery.

Do you think an Aquabats fighting game would work? Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Designing Wonder Eggs merch...

Hello friends, I hope that you are doing well. Work has been going well, and a few projects are chugging along over here. I was thinking the other day about the rare Oswald watch that I got my hands on. It gave me an idea for an illustration; I was wondering it might have looked like if Namco created prize watches for their Wonder Eggs theme park. As I was doing some research on the merchandise from the park I found out that one of their old shopping bag designs featured a pyrallis on the face of a pocket watch. So that was more than enough inspiration. Here were what I think the watch faces would have appeared. I used the classic Ingersoll “Mickey Mouse” movement for the arms.

The symbols on the outside edge of the watch were the actual numbers from “Elds’ Character” the fictional language used in the theme park. As an art study I actually recreated the fonts for myself a year or so ago. In this way if I ever wanted to do art on Laperot Village, or anything else Wonder Eggs related then it would be accurate. Since I was already drawing the pyrallis I came up with a design for a tee shirt for their seasonal Wonder Halloween Party at the actual park. The pumpkin character was a walk-around costume used in the park.

I had fun coming up with costume ideas for the different pyrallis characters. I just wish I had gotten a chance to visit the park when it was around. Thankfully I have a collection of items from the park that will always remind me of its greatness. Were there any theme parks or attractions you wish you had visited before they were torn down? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Take a bike ride on the road to mental wellness...

Apologies for not updating my blog as frequently as I used to. The COVID-19 pandemic took its toll on my mental, and physical health. Only now am I starting to turn things around. A lot of that has to do with getting back into art. The previous post in October 2020 was a starting off point. Doing style studies of Steve Nazar's art for T&C Surf Designs made me feel better. So through November I looked up other things that inspired me as a kid. Around Thanksgiving I caught a BMX race on YouTube. That's when I remembered I loved all things BMX while growing up. It was like waking up a part of my brain that had amnesia. 

Of all the bike types the ones I really loved were called Formula-1 bikes. It was a short-lived trend, circa 1987-1989. They were road racing versions of BMX bikes. The massive Japanese company Shimano tried to get a new street racing league started, and had convinced a dozen manufacturers to make the bikes as well.  US companies like DiamondBack, and Haro jumped on board. 

The thing was that even though Shimano was pushing a standard for racing bikes, the company Hutch was already working on fast street bikes. The Ferrari of which was one that I idolized was called the HPV, or Human Powered Vehicle. It hit over 40 miles per hour and got the world record for fastest 20-inch bike. 

I started drawing all of my favorite bikes, and then went further. Using the BMX Museum website as a reference I started drawing every known Formula 1 bike that existed. While doing research I ended up adding a dozen that the site had never heard of.

Doing research gave my mind focus. Creating renderings of these bikes gave me purpose. It was as if I was wrestling my life, my focus, back from the pandemic. The more I researched and drew, the more I felt like I was getting back into my old self. I felt like I was reconnecting with a part of me that had died.

When I wasn't doing my normal job (which I also did from home thanks to the pandemic) I spent every waking hour working on bikes. Days turned into weeks. Before I knew it I had drawn over 50 F1 bikes. I uploaded all of my drawings to the BMX Museum. I had finished my passion project at the end of 2020. I wasn't out of the woods yet. 

The politics, work, home, family, and stress of 2020 could not be undone in a couple of months. As drawing bikes gave me back control, I started working on other types. Formula 1 bikes would always be my most favorite. They were not however the only favorite style of bikes that I enjoyed.

I began drawing freestyle, and traditional racing bikes in even greater detail than before. I even gave these new drawings themed backgrounds. It was a creative challenge that gave me a new sense of purpose. So I kept on drawing. 

I drew old school ('80s), mid school ('90s), and modern bikes. I researched my favorite bikes growing up, and essentially drew all of the bikes I wish I had as a kid. It gave me a sense of accomplishment as they started to come together.

As I shared my illustrations on the BMX Museum fellow members started reaching out to me, several to commission me to create drawings for them as well. It was humbling that long-time collectors enjoyed my art, and were willing to commission me for an original drawing. Some of the best art I had ever produced came out thanks to the pandemic. It gave me a sense of control that had been lacking. It gave me back my focus, my drive, and desire. This leads me all the way back to this blog.

I've started getting back into podcasting. Which means I will get back to recording content for this blog. I will also get back to doing some fighting game research, and reviews. I want to thank all of the visitors that have been checking in on the site. Whether you left a comment on an old post. Or checked for new content, I appreciate it. I really do. I'm never going to abandon this blog. I may be getting slower with the updates, but I'm never going to stop posting. If there's anything you'd like me to look at, or write about, please let me know. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!