What do a rocket thruster, a lapel pin depicting a stylized rocket launch and a letter from rocket scientist Wernher von Braun have to do with the plot for a 2014 Disney movie?
That's the question "Tomorrowland" director Brad Bird and producer Damon Lindelof posed this past Saturday (Aug. 10) with the surprise exhibit of the space memorabilia and more at the Walt Disney Company's D23 Expo, billed as "The Ultimate Disney Fan Event." The reveal was part of a "pop-up museum" that joined the expo's other booths at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.
A follow-up to a photo of a "dusty old box" Bird posted to Twitter in January, the "Tomorrowland" museum displayed the same box and its contents, which was allegedly found in the Disney Archives. The eclectic collection of artifacts, which ranged from the blueprints for the 1964 World's Fair to an Audio-Animatronic robot arm to a 1928 copy of the pulp magazine "Amazing Stories," provided the inspiration for the "Tomorrowland" movie, Bird and Lindelof said.
"We brought out a dusty old box from the archives," said Lindelof. "Essentially, this was the genesis for the movie. They discovered this [box] in the [Walt Disney Archives] 'Morgue' and it had this piece of masking tape on it that said '1952,' but in that box were all these amazing things that completely fired up our imagination and became sort of the inspiration point for this movie."
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-09-2014 02:31 PM
The teaser trailer was released today at New York Comic Con:
In possibly related news, I found this pin attached to one of our patches. It is not mine. Don't even ask me about what happens when I touch it...
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-09-2014 04:14 PM
From the teaser trailer (check out the cap):
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 02-01-2015 05:58 PM
Disney released a new teaser during the Super Bowl:
A nod to NASA's past...
...and a peak at the Tomorrowland future.
lspooz Member
Posts: 384 From: Greensboro, NC USA Registered: Aug 2012
posted 02-01-2015 07:21 PM
I loved the NASA cap, and of course the 'one pack of Beeman's gum' she claimed.
Skythings Member
Posts: 243 From: Registered: Jun 2014
posted 02-01-2015 07:57 PM
I'm in!
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-09-2015 01:42 PM
New trailer released today:
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 04-21-2015 08:40 AM
One day shy of one month from opening (May 22). New trailer released:
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
In the new Disney film "Tomorrowland," now in theaters, NASA provides the launch pad — literally and figuratively — for the movie's plot to unfold.
The feature film, which drew its initial inspiration from the theme park land by the same name, juxtaposes the end of NASA's space shuttle program in 2011 with the space age future Walt Disney envisioned when he opened the original Tomorrowland in 1955.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-22-2015 12:14 PM
NASA photographer Bill Ingalls shared this photo on Facebook:
Quick group photo during a break in Disney's filming of "Tomorrowland" at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Nov. 18, 2013. Photo: (Kimberley French)
Among those in the photo, "Tomorrowland" director Brad Bird, cast members George Clooney, Britt Robertson and Tim McGraw, and from NASA: Charlie Bolden, John Grunsfeld, Bob Jacobs, David Weaver, Bert Ulrich, Allard Beutel and Lisa Malone.
posted 05-25-2015 04:24 PM
Is this a remake? I can remember watching a similar movie a few years back?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-25-2015 04:30 PM
No, it is not a remake. It is an original production based a story by Brad Bird, Damon Lindelof and Jeff Jensen.
mercsim Member
Posts: 219 From: Phoenix, AZ Registered: Feb 2007
posted 05-25-2015 07:56 PM
It will probably get picked apart and is not really a space movie but I found it entertaining. All the reviews talk about how disappointing and predictable the ending is. It was still fun. The actors did a good job and the cinematography was pretty darn good. Disney didn't disappoint. I look forward to seeing it again.
jimsz Member
Posts: 616 From: Registered: Aug 2006
posted 05-25-2015 09:13 PM
As someone who generally likes Brad Bird movies I have to say this was a pretty bad film.
It was a bad sign when we went to a 550 seat theater and the only people there were the two of us!
The NASA tie in is minimal and while the story had potential it was ruined by the preaching on how evil people are, global warming, etc.
Wait to see this at a discount theater or wait for netflix or rental.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-25-2015 09:23 PM
On the flip side, I've seen the film twice and enjoyed it. Both times, the theaters (two different locations) were close to full, if not full (though to be fair, the first time was as part of a preview).
I thought the message of the film was spot on but it's a topic that is already polarizing (which is sort of the film's point). If you don't think we need to change the way we work as a society then, well, you may not like "Tomorrowland."
But if you generally believe that the future could be brighter if we made changes today, then go see the film.
posted 05-26-2015 08:40 AM
It was a good, not great movie, with some fun bits. I admit it was my second choice, after I decided I didn't want to sit in the front row of the Avengers movie! It was a bit preachy but it wasn't obnoxiously so. I'm not sure why they put NASA in the movie early on, then dropped it for the rest of the film (pro-space travel, that would have been a message!).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-26-2015 08:44 AM
There was a second scene shot at Pad 39A that originally was planned for the end of the movie. It was cut, but hopefully it will be included on the Blu-ray.
onesmallstep Member
Posts: 1310 From: Staten Island, New York USA Registered: Nov 2007
posted 05-26-2015 10:18 AM
Enjoyable film, but not great (did not pay to see it, slipped in after seeing the new Avengers film ). It started off OK with the obvious NASA tie-in (and the scenes recreating the '64/'65 NY World's Fair which I attended, thumbs up to that), but midway there seemed to be a change in tone with posturing mixed in with the whimsy.
The scene showing the Eiffel Tower as a rocket/launch pad were nice (if it would have happened in real life, the French tour guides would have gone on strike, like they recently did for a spike in pickpockets, closing down the tower LOL). Would have left in the concluding scene at Pad 39A; maybe it could have shifted the tone of the ending? But the real star was actress Raffey Cassidy as Athena, the young rogue android. She puts Chuck Norris to shame; give her her own movie!
dogcrew5369 Member
Posts: 750 From: Statesville, NC Registered: Mar 2009
posted 05-30-2015 08:41 AM
I had high hopes to see this movie, but after what I've read here I doubt I will go to the movie to see it. I'm not into lefty Hollywood preachy movies anyway, i.e The Day After Tomorrow. Oh well. Not surprised though. Maybe on DVD.
posted 06-01-2015 10:08 AM
This could have been a great movie. Start with the TWA moon rocket ride and take it from there. Walt Disney would have been proud of that.
posted 08-13-2013 05:56 PM
). It started off OK with the obvious NASA tie-in (and the scenes recreating the '64/'65 NY World's Fair which I attended, thumbs up to that), but midway there seemed to be a change in tone with posturing mixed in with the whimsy. 
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