Reflections of China - Revision history

Mmouse: /* Wonders of China */

2022-07-07T19:33:42Z

‎Wonders of China

Mmouse at 17:29, 10 October 2021

2021-10-10T17:29:14Z

Mmouse: /* Attraction History */

2019-01-02T22:34:03Z

‎Attraction History

Mmouse: /* Film Plot */

2018-12-16T01:54:09Z

‎Film Plot

Mmouse: /* Attraction History */

2018-12-16T01:39:19Z

‎Attraction History

Mmouse: /* Attraction History */

2018-12-14T02:43:37Z

‎Attraction History

Mmouse: /* Attraction History */

2018-12-14T02:43:28Z

‎Attraction History

Mmouse: /* Attraction History */

2018-12-12T22:43:22Z

‎Attraction History

Mmouse: /* Reflections of China */

2018-12-12T22:32:19Z

‎Reflections of China

Mmouse: /* Cast and Crew */

2018-12-12T22:27:16Z

‎Cast and Crew

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:33, 7 July 2022
Line 141:		Line 141:

	* To make the scene seem more natural, in Wonders of China, actors were used instead of real tourists in the Great Wall scene <ref name= "times"/>		* To make the scene seem more natural, in Wonders of China, actors were used instead of real tourists in the Great Wall scene <ref name= "times"/>
		+
		+	* Wonders of China was occasionally referred to by the longer title "Wonders of China- Land of Beauty, Land of Time <ref> https://www.disneydocs.net/_files/ugd/5db718_0b875a96406e4bc4a103b184e3d1dc11.pdf </ref>
		+
	==References==		==References==

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 | custom_label_1 = Formally Known As
 | custom_value_1 = Wonders of China
-|custom_label_2= FastPass +
+|custom_label_2= Disney Genie +
 |custom_value_2= No
 |custom_label_3= Budget

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 After two months of scouting, the filming of Reflections of China began in the fall of 1981<ref name= "Jack"/>. As previously mentioned, the film was shot in CircleVision 360, which required crews to film on nine cameras, that were stationed on a platform. Imagineers returned to China in the winter of 1981 to record the seasonal changes, before concluding filming the following spring <ref name= "Jack"/>. To narrate the film, Blyth decided to use the famous Chinese poet, Li Bai. Li Bai (who is known as Li Po in the West) <ref name= "book">  The EPCOT explorer's encyclopedia: R. Pedersen - Epcyclopedia Press - 2011 </ref> wrote over 1,000 poems during the Tang Period<ref name= "Jack"/>. According to director Jeff Blyth:
+[[Image:LiPo.jpg|400px|thumb| Li Bai served as Wonders of China's narrator.]]
 {{Quotation|I chose Li Po, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, to be our guide and on-camera narrator. This might seem like the equivalent of using Shakespeare to narrate a film on present day England, but I deliberately chose a historic figure so that the words he spoke would not seem to some conservative members of the audience like the official party line. <ref name="casting"> Viner, Michael, and Terrie Maxine. Frankel. Tales from the Casting Couch: An Unprecedented Candid Collection of Stories, Essays, and Anecdotes by and about Legendary Hollywood Stars, Starlets, and Wanna-bes--. Beverly Hills, CA: Dove, 1995. Print. Pages 68-69 </ref>}}

@@ Line 69: / Line 69: @@
 * Gobi Desert, Gansu Province
-[[Image:WondersofChinaposter.jpg|270px|thumb|A poster for the Tokyo Disneyland version of Wonders of China]]
+[[Image:WondersofChinaposter.jpg|270px|thumb|A poster for Disneyland's Wonders of China]]
 * Inner Mongolia

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 {{Quotation|I chose Li Po, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, to be our guide and on-camera narrator. This might seem like the equivalent of using Shakespeare to narrate a film on present day England, but I deliberately chose a historic figure so that the words he spoke would not seem to some conservative members of the audience like the official party line. <ref name="casting"> Viner, Michael, and Terrie Maxine. Frankel. Tales from the Casting Couch: An Unprecedented Candid Collection of Stories, Essays, and Anecdotes by and about Legendary Hollywood Stars, Starlets, and Wanna-bes--. Beverly Hills, CA: Dove, 1995. Print. Pages 68-69 </ref>}}
-In the film, Li Po was played by Chinese actor Shi Kuan, whose voice was then overdubbed by Keye Luke.
+In the film, Li Po was played by Chinese actor Shih Kuan, whose voice was then overdubbed by Keye Luke.
 The completed Wonders of China film was approximately 19 minutes long, and it featured parts of China that had never been seen by most Westerners <ref name= "Jack"/>. The total cost of making the film as just over $1,000,000 <ref name= "times"> https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19820607&id=tvdLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7014,2843621&hl=en </ref>. The attraction opened with the rest of [[EPCOT Center]] on October 1, 1982.

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 }}
 Reflections of China is a movie located within the [[China]] pavilion, within [[Epcot]].
 ==Attraction History==
 When Imagineers initially conceived the China pavilion, plans for what would eventually become Reflections of China originally called for the film to be shown on a standard theater screen <ref name= "Martin2"> http://www.martinsvids.net/ </ref>. Subsequently, however, the attraction was developed into a CircleVision 360 film. In order to create the attraction, a ''MacGillivray Freeman Films''  crew led by director Jeff Blyth traveled to China to film a travelogue style movie <ref name= "Jack"> http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/walt_disney_world/theme_parks/epcot/china/ </ref>. Initially, the Chinese government was interested in partnering with Disney, but was uncomfortable with Western crews filming their country. Because of this, at the outset, the government put strict restrictions of Disney's film crew, including making the Great Wall and Tibet off limits.

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 }}
 Reflections of China is a movie located within the [[China]] pavilion, within [[Epcot]].
 ==Attraction History==
 When Imagineers initially conceived the China pavilion, plans for what would eventually become Reflections of China originally called for the film to be shown on a standard theater screen <ref name= "Martin2"> http://www.martinsvids.net/ </ref>. Subsequently, however, the attraction was developed into a CircleVision 360 film. In order to create the attraction, a ''MacGillivray Freeman Films''  crew led by director Jeff Blyth traveled to China to film a travelogue style movie <ref name= "Jack"> http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/walt_disney_world/theme_parks/epcot/china/ </ref>. Initially, the Chinese government was interested in partnering with Disney, but was uncomfortable with Western crews filming their country. Because of this, at the outset, the government put strict restrictions of Disney's film crew, including making the Great Wall and Tibet off limits.
-As Disney and China continued to negotiate over filming restrictions, little progress was being made. In a last ditch effort to attain more creative freedom, Disney showed representatives from China the film Fantasia<ref name= "Jack"/>. This showing seemingly helped convince the Chinese government to loosen their restrictions, and Disney was given more autonomy. As part of the new agreement, when shots of China's "sensitive" areas was called for, Blyth would turn the sequence over to his Chinese counterpart<ref name= "Jack"/>. The Chinese film crew would then film the scene, before it was reviewed by the American team, who would then decided if any additional takes were needed. According to Blyth, the Chinese became more comfortable with the Americans as production continued.
+As Disney and China continued to negotiate over filming restrictions, little progress was being made. In a last ditch effort to attain more creative freedom, Disney showed representatives from China the film Fantasia<ref name= "Jack"/>. This showing seemingly helped convince the Chinese government to loosen their restrictions, and Disney was given more autonomy. As part of the new agreement, when shots of China's "sensitive" areas was called for, Blyth would turn the sequence over to his Chinese counterpart<ref name= "Jack"/>. The Chinese film crew would then film the scene, before it was reviewed by the American team, who would then decided if any additional takes were needed.
 After two months of scouting, the filming of Reflections of China began in the fall of 1981<ref name= "Jack"/>. As previously mentioned, the film was shot in CircleVision 360, which required crews to film on nine cameras, that were stationed on a platform. Imagineers returned to China in the winter of 1981 to record the seasonal changes, before concluding filming the following spring <ref name= "Jack"/>. To narrate the film, Blyth decided to use the famous Chinese poet, Li Bai. Li Bai (who is known as Li Po in the West) <ref name= "book">  The EPCOT explorer's encyclopedia: R. Pedersen - Epcyclopedia Press - 2011 </ref> wrote over 1,000 poems during the Tang Period<ref name= "Jack"/>. According to director Jeff Blyth:
@@ Line 24: / Line 25: @@
 {{Quotation|I chose Li Po, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, to be our guide and on-camera narrator. This might seem like the equivalent of using Shakespeare to narrate a film on present day England, but I deliberately chose a historic figure so that the words he spoke would not seem to some conservative members of the audience like the official party line. <ref name="casting"> Viner, Michael, and Terrie Maxine. Frankel. Tales from the Casting Couch: An Unprecedented Candid Collection of Stories, Essays, and Anecdotes by and about Legendary Hollywood Stars, Starlets, and Wanna-bes--. Beverly Hills, CA: Dove, 1995. Print. Pages 68-69 </ref>}}
-In Wonders of China, Li Bai was portrayed by actor Kuan Shih <ref name= "imdb"/>. His voice was then overdubbed by veteran character actor Keye Luke, who provided the attraction's narration. The completed Wonders of China film was approximately 19 minutes long, and it featured parts of China that had never been seen by most Westerners <ref name= "Jack"/>. The total cost of making the film as just over $1,000,000 <ref name= "times"> https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19820607&id=tvdLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7014,2843621&hl=en </ref>. The attraction opened with the rest of [[EPCOT Center]] on October 1, 1982.
+In the film, Li Po was played by Chinese actor Shi Kuan, whose voice was then overdubbed by Keye Luke.
-Although it continued to remain unchanged, over the years it became clear that Reflections of China was becoming dated. While China quickly modernized throughout the 1980s and 90s, Reflections continued to show China as it had been shortly after the death of Mao Zedong. Although complaints by Chinese citizens and tourists continued, it was not until 2002 that Disney decided to update the film. By this time, China had become both an industrial country and a popular tourist attraction, a stark contrast to the country presented in the film. With these changes in mind, on March 25, 2002 Wonders of China was shown for the final time <ref name= "book"/>.
+The completed Wonders of China film was approximately 19 minutes long, and it featured parts of China that had never been seen by most Westerners <ref name= "Jack"/>. The total cost of making the film as just over $1,000,000 <ref name= "times"> https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19820607&id=tvdLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7014,2843621&hl=en </ref>. The attraction opened with the rest of [[EPCOT Center]] on October 1, 1982.
 Jeff Blythe returned to direct the updated film, which would combine new footage of the country shot in 2002,  with scenes from the original film, and scenes shot in 1981 that had never been used. Disney's film crews arrived in China in September 2002 for two months of filming<ref name="Chinanews"/>. Joined by filmmakers from the  the China Research Institute of Film Science, the team set out to record new footage in seven Chinese cities<ref name="Chinanews"/>. Among the biggest additions to film, were scenes featuring Hong Kong and Macao which were not governed by China when the original Wonders of China film was made. In a similar fashion, film crews also reshot Shanghai, which had been modernized in the intervening twenty years. Other scenes, including the Great Wall, Tienanmen Square, Beijing, Harbin, and Urumqi were all updated for the 21st century <ref name= "Jack"/>. When commenting on the updated film, Blyth noted:
@@ Line 32: / Line 35: @@
 {{Quotation| "The biggest difference is that 20 years ago we had permission to film on these locations, but people did not really understand what we were doing. We did not get as much cooperation as we are getting now"<ref name="Chinanews"/>}}
-In addition to the updated scenes, Reflections of China (as the film would now be called) also received and updated score composed by Richard Bellis <ref name="book"/>. This score featured new sections added to a revised version of the original Wonders of China score. Finally, although the film was still narrated by Li Po, a new narration was recorded for the film. In the attraction's new scenes, a body double was used to replace original actor Kuan Shih, who was now too old to reprise his role <ref name="interview"/>. Like Wonders of China, in the new scenes a different actor was overdubbed to give the film its narration. In total, Reflections of China is six minutes shorter than its predecessor.
+In addition to the updated scenes, Reflections of China (as the film would now be called) also received and updated score composed by Richard Bellis <ref name="book"/>. This score featured new sections added to a revised version of the original Wonders of China score. Finally, although the film was still narrated by Li Po, a new narration was recorded for the film. In the attraction's new scenes, a body double was used to replace original actor Shi Kuan, who was too old to reprise his role. A new actor was brought in to overdub Po's narration throughout the entire film, as Keye Luke had passed away in 1991.  In total, Reflections of China is six minutes shorter than its predecessor.
 Reflections of China officially opened to guests on May 23, 2003. Since this time, the attraction has not seen any major changes. At the 2017 D23 Expo however, Walt Disney Imagineering's Vice President and Senior Creative Executive Tom Fitzgerald announced that Disney would be creating a new Circle-Vision film for the [[China]] pavilion. According to Disney, the new film will be the first shot using a "next-generation digital camera system" <ref> https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2017/07/new-film-at-china-pavilion-in-epcot-will-feature-new-technology/ </ref>. It is unclear at this time what relation, if any, the new film will have to the current Reflections of China film.

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:32, 12 December 2018
Line 139:		Line 139:

	* To make the scene seem more natural, in Wonders of China, actors were used instead of real tourists in the Great Wall scene <ref name= "times"/>		* To make the scene seem more natural, in Wonders of China, actors were used instead of real tourists in the Great Wall scene <ref name= "times"/>
−	~~===Reflections of China===~~
−	* Imagineer Steve Spiegel wrote the screenplay for Reflection's of China's new scenes <ref name="Chinanews"> http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/43324.htm </ref>
−
	==References==		==References==

@@ Line 113: / Line 113: @@
 ==Cast and Crew==
 ===Wonders of China===
-''' Kuan Shih'''- Li Bai (Body) <ref name="imdb"/>
+''' Kuan Shih'''- Li Bai (Body) <ref name="imdb"> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084915/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast </ref>
 '''Keye Luke'''- Li Bai (Voice) <ref> Blyth, Jeff. “INTERVIEW WITH JEFF BLYTH, DIRECTOR OF REFLECTIONS OF CHINA.” Tiara Talk Show, Mar. 2014. </ref>