(Click image to see a larger, more detailed image)

With the release of our May the 4th Be With You illustration and in preparation for this year’s Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we wanted to create something special to commemorate our love for Star Wars.

In the same series as our Elements of Attractions at the Magic Kingdom, we have created a new periodic chart based on Star Wars characters from the original trilogy episodes: IV, V, and VI.

The first thing we had to think about when designing this new table of elements was the data that was to be contained on the tile. Naturally, there is the Element ID and name but what else could we include. Working through some thumbnails, we settled on the cast order, episode number and the actor’s initials.

When working through the first drafts, it was starting to look good, but wasn’t entirely what the original concept we had hoped for delivering. After much research, we were able to find one of the alphabets used in the films, Arabesh, and decided to use that for some of the ancillary data on the tile.

Once that was in place, the tone of the elements seemed to be exactly what we were hoping to create. The next hurdle, however, was what kind of color scheme could we develop. Since this is Star Wars, we quickly settled on using the colors from Luke’s and Vader’s lightsabers. So starting with green and red, we worked through a number of color options, to develop a more vintage vibe for the piece.

Ultimately we ended up with six total colors being used across the Rebellion and Empire elements that further divides up the elements based to the episode.

Wrapping it Up

Now there are lots more characters, both credited and uncredited in these three film but we settled on all of the major characters as well as an acceptable number of secondary characters through all three films.

This print is now available for sale on our Big Cartel site. There are also t-shirts, iPad skins and more offered at our Society6 store as well.

We hope that you like this new elements chart to celebrate Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We will be there and hope to see you around the park!

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Disney’s Hollywood Studios creates Limited Time Magic for the annual, fan-proclaimed “Star Wars Day,” May 4 – a date that Star Wars fans worldwide turn into a celebratory pun, “May the Fourth Be With You!”   This one-day-only celebration features special Star Wars entertainment, shows, characters, exclusive merchandise, a Star Wars dance party and a Star Wars-themed fireworks show to cap off the day.  Also included: a special edition of Jedi Training Academy, where parents join their children for the training and finale with villains from the Galactic Empire.

Information from The Disney Parks Blog offers this insight:

Separate from our month-long Star Wars Weekends special event (which begins May 17), this “Limited Time Magic” celebration features special Star Wars entertainment, characters, commemorative merchandise, a Star Wars dance party and a Star Wars-themed fireworks show to cap off the day.

You might even find yourself sitting next to Chewbacca aboard Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. Star Warscharacters will make surprise appearances on the 3-D attraction to enjoy the wild journey through space alongside park guests.

A special edition of Jedi Training Academy also is planned that day, with parents invited to join their children (ages 4-12, sign-ups required on first-come basis) on-stage for the training and final showdown with the Empire.

When the sun goes down, galactic fun lights the night as Lobot (from Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back) takes over as DJ for a dance party that will be highlighted by a special Star Wars fireworks show.

“May the Fourth Be With You” “Limited Time Magic” park activities and shows are included in regular admission to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

As part of the fun, and in a continuing series of Star Wars character characters as app icons, here is C-3PO.

We will be adding this illustration to our products available on our Society6 page, as well as working up C-3PO’s friend R2-D2 to add to this series.

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A new daytime parade, the Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade, will march into Magic Kingdom in spring 2014.

The Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade will bring the magical stories of New Fantasyland to Main Street, U.S.A., through fantastic and innovative new parade floats, vibrant costumes, and an original soundtrack that will feature beloved songs from favorite Disney films, plus a new parade theme song.

The Magic Kingdom is located at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

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© Copyright Disney | David Roark, photographer

Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort will kick off a Monstrous Summer by keeping three theme parks open for 24 hours nonstop on Memorial Day Weekend, the traditional start of the family travel season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0TVyBRTes4

The Magic Kingdom Park in Florida and Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park in California will stay open from 6 a.m., May 24 to 6 a.m., May 25, 2013, local time* marking the beginning of a summer of fun inspired by the upcoming Disney•Pixar comedy adventure Monsters University.

The oversized fun of a 24-hour Disney park “All-Nighter” called for an equally epic announcement, and the huge sphere of Spaceship Earth was transformed from Disney Parks icon to Disney^●Pixar “Eye-con,” becoming a 180-foot-tall, fully animated Mike Wazowski, the loveable green-bodied, one-eyed monster who joins best pal James P. Sullivan (“Sulley”) in the prequel to Monsters, Inc.,this summer as college students with hopes of becoming Scarers.

© Copyright Disney | Todd Anderson, photographer

Walt Disney World President George Kalogridis joined Mike to share the news of the first-ever, three-park All-Nighter.

This summer, Disney Parks are bursting with a monstrous lineup of new thrills, shows and happenings. Guests can start Memorial Day Weekend with a 24-hour-marathon of memory-making as three Parks stay open all day and all night to celebrate the bi-coastal kick-off of a Monstrous Summer at Disney Parks.
George Kalogridis, Walt Disney World President

Mike and Sulley will take a break from collegiate life and their Scare studies at Monsters University to host the All-Nighter, dropping in to scare up some school spirit. Guests will scream and giggle with delight at the lineup of thrills and entertainment that promises to make this a day and night to be remembered for a lifetime.

© Copyright Disney | Todd Anderson, photographer

In Florida, the Magic Kingdom will feature a Monsters University theme where Mike and Sulley will be the Grand Marshals of the “Celebrate a Dream Come True” day parade – complete with pomp and circumstance – and make appearances in Tomorrowland. Guests also will find extra entertainment throughout the day and night, including characters in their pajamas in Town Square during the late night and early morning, and late-night dance parties in and around the courtyard of Cinderella Castle.

In California, guests can party the night away at both parks with special entertainment, including a Monsters University“TLT Monstrous” Dance Club and Star Wars characters in Tomorrowland, and late-night Character Pajama Party in Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland. The new Fantasy Faire Royal Theatre at Disneyland will become a Royal Dance Hall late at night with a live band and dancing, and guests of will find Monstrous photo opportunities with new Monsters University “Dorms” in Hollywood Land and a new Monsters University float leading the Pixar Play Parade.

All three parks will feature limited-edition specialty merchandise and food and beverage offerings plus other surprises throughout the entire day.

The All-Nighter is just the beginning of the fun. In California, vacationers at “The Happiest Place on Earth” will see how Disneyland Resort “Just Got Happier” with great new attractions such as the “Mickey and the Magical Map” stage show. It is also the first summer for guests to experience the new Fantasy Faire with Disney Princesses at Disneyland, and they continue to enjoy the exciting new offerings of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure.

Walt Disney World Monstrous Summer includes new offerings and popular favorites in all four parks. This is the first summer for New Fantasyland, which has received rave reviews from guests since its December grand opening as the largest expansion in Magic Kingdom history. Guests also will find new, engaging offerings for the entire family throughout the Walt Disney World Resort this summer such as an interactive “Pirates Adventure” game at Magic Kingdom, the newly re-imagined Test Track at Epcot, the new Disney Junior show, featuring Sofia The First and Doc McStuffins, as new additions at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, plus Wilderness Explorers at Disney’s Animal Kingdom that will bring families together in exciting new ways.

ABOUT “MONSTERS UNIVERSITY”

Ever since college-bound Mike Wazowski (voice of Billy Crystal) was a little monster, he has dreamed of becoming a Scarer—and he knows better than anyone that the best Scarers come from Monsters University (MU). But during his first semester at MU, Mike’s plans are derailed when he crosses paths with hotshot James P. Sullivan, “Sulley” (voice of John Goodman), a natural-born Scarer.  The pair’s out-of-control competitive spirit gets them both kicked out of the University’s elite Scare Program. To make matters worse, they realize they will have to work together, along with an odd bunch of misfit monsters, if they ever hope to make things right. Screaming with laughter and oozing with heart, Disney•Pixar’s “Monsters University” is directed by Dan Scanlon (“Cars,” “Mater and the Ghostlight,” “Tracy”), produced by Kori Rae (“Up,” “The Incredibles,” “Monsters, Inc.”) and features music from future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and award-winning composer Randy Newman (“Monsters, Inc.,” “Toy Story 3″). For more information, like us at facebook.com/PixarMonstersUniversity, and follow us on twitter.com/disneypixar. The film opens in U.S. theaters on June 21, 2013, and will be shown in 3D in select theaters. For more information, check out disney.com/MonstersU.

For more information on Monstrous Summer, check out http://www.disneyparks.com/MonstrousSummer

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Three Disney websites were nominated for the 17^th Annual Webby Awards! The Disney Games portal is up in the “best games website” category while the Wreck-It Ralph and Frankenweenie homepages were both nominated in the “best movie & film site” category.

In addition to a traditional Webby Award, these nominees are up for a Webby People’s Voice Award, which is determined by public votes. You can help support these sites by voting in this year’s Webby People’s Voice Awards. Click here to vote for Disney.com/Games and here to vote for Wreck-it Ralph or Frankenweenie. Just to note, you can only vote once in each category and polls close April 25.

The Webbys also recognized seven Disney sites and web series as honorees, including:

• Disney.com –  Best Home/Welcome Page
• Disney Video – Media Streaming
• Disney on YouTube – Entertainment
• Babble.com – Family/Parenting
• That’s Fresh with Helen Cavallo – How-to & DIY
• Disney Facebook Network – Entertainment
• Disney • Pixar Brave – Movie & Film Site

PS- Check out Disney Interactive Entertainment SVP Mark Walker’s 5-word acceptance speech from last year’s Webby Awards…seriously.

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On April 22, 2013 Disney’s Animal Kingdom will celebrate it’s 15th birthday. I was a cast member way back when this park opened and was the designer of the first-ever event site Disney had ever produced. Our team at Disney’s Multimedia Group worked for months to create a website that would promote this new park, but like the physical opening day, would only be live on Disney.com for a single day.

Once the day had arrived a new page went live and throughout the day there were near-live videos and other activities to promote the festivities of opening day for fans who could not be at the park on the opening day. It was a first for Disney and proved to be a triumph for Disney with this site producing over a 650% increase of traffic for the day on Disney.com.

At the end of the day, the site also provided a screensaver download for the guests who watched the events unfold throughout the daylong online celebration.

It was an amazing experience to be part of the opening of the park and the start of a tradition at Disney that continues to this day. Disney’s Animal Kingdom has evolved, like all of Disney’s Parks, through the years and stands on the threshold of some new and exciting developments coming in the next few years. I have a special place in my heart for this park due to my involvement with my team at the Disney MMG and our part in introducing this new gate to the work through the internet all those years ago.

Here’s to the next 15 years for the cast and crew at the park!

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Get an Exclusive Look at Disney Junior’s New Series “Henry Hugglemonster” on Disney.com!

Head over to Disney.com to preview a full 22-minute episode of “Henry Hugglemonster”, Disney Junior’s all new series, before it premieres on the 24-hour Disney Junior channel on Monday, April 15! The new animated series  follows the adventures of five-year-old Henry Hugglemonster, the middle child in a happy, close-knit monster family, as he shares everyday life lessons that are relatable to kids age 2-7. Based on the book series I’m a Happy Hugglewug by award-winning children’s book author/illustrator and Ireland’s Children’s Laureate, Niamh Sharkey, “Henry Hugglemonster” models positive life lessons about family and community relationships specifically designed for young viewers who are discovering along with the enthusiastic lead character, such as learning to work as a team, helping others, persisting in tasks and much more.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39k-4tag3QA

Today, Disney Insider premiered a behind-the-scenes video of our all-new gaming initiative, Disney Infinity. In “Creating Disney Infinity,” the first in a series of videos leading up to the game’s release, Disney leaders and creatives from across the company including John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich and Avalanche Software’s John Blackburn open up about Disney Infinity’s origins and Disney’s heritage of storytelling, creativity and exploration.

Check out the video on Disney Insider today and remember to pre-order your copy of Disney Infinity now before it hits US stores on August 18!

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There are three brand new Disney Pixar “Cars Toons” Shorty Shorts now live on Disney.com and Cars.Disney.com. Dubbed “Shorty Shorts” because they’re no longer than a minute and a half long, each video offers a quick and fun peek into the world of “Cars.” Directed by Jeremy Lasky and produced by Mary Alice Drumm, Disney Pixar “Cars Toons” feature some of our favorite characters in new and surprising situations.

“Hiccups” – When Lightning McQueen gets the hiccups, everyone in Radiator Springs thinks they have the cure.

“Bugged” – Red’s peaceful morning routine is interrupted by a pesky visitor.

“Spinning” – Guido discovers he has a hidden talent as a street corner sign spinner.

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Had some fun in the Magic Kingdom the other day and was able to grab a couple of nice shots inside Pirates of the Caribbean on a very slow-moving boat.

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The 2013 Epcot International Flower & Garden Show began last week, March 6, and will run through May 19. We did not have a chance to get to the park until this past Saturday to see the show. There are lots of familiar topiaries around the park that have been rearranged for this year’s show, but the one big addition to the show this year are the food booths; reminiscent of the Food & Wine show.

I don’t know why it took twenty years to add this to the show, but it is a great addition to the experience. At first I was expecting a rehash of the Food & Wine menus at the select booths, but to my great enjoyment these are fresh new menu items offered throughout the park. The Frushi, in Japan, seems to be the early favorite from what I am hearing around the park, but you can try to find your own favorite snack to munch on while wandering the show.

Some of the other items making their debut this year:

• Garden Marketplace culinary creations ranging from smokehouse barbecue and shrimp with grits and Zellwood corn to sweet “frushi” made with fresh fruits and coconut rice.  Chefs are perfecting menus for marketplaces that will include Florida Fresh at World Showcase Promenade, Smokehouse Barbecue and Brew at American Adventure courtyard, Primavera Kitchen at Italy showcase, Hanami at Japan showcase and eight others.  Around the World Showcase promenade
• Garden Marketplace refreshing libations with a kick like Hot Sun Tomato Wine from Florida Orange Groves Winery and Dole Whip with Spiced Rum, as well as non-alcoholic drinks like Frozen Desert Violet Lemonade and Wild Berry Slush.  Beverage specialists will feature brews and beverages at food marketplaces and at Fruits by the Glass andPineapple Promenade. Around the World Showcase promenade
• The Land of Oz Garden circus-like play area, based on the Disney fantastical film adventure “Oz The Great and Powerful” to be released March 8, 2013. The interactive children’s play zone will feature play systems adorned with giant flowers and designed to stretch kids’ imaginations and muscles. Midway-style games, circus-themed game tents and the “Oz Movie Garden” of intriguing plants will capture the spirit of the upcoming film.  Also on tap: photo opportunities and the “great and powerful Oz’s” crashed hot-air balloon. Imagination Walkway
• Larger-than-life Fab Five Disney character topiary.  Floral versions of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck (with Daisy Duck in a cameo) star in a celebratory cookout scene in living topiary color. The 14-foot-tall Goofy topiary will bobble an anniversary cake while Donald and Daisy play badminton, Mickey fires up the grill, Pluto swipes a link of hot dogs and Minnie chills out on a colorful blanket of blossoms. Epcot Front Entrance
• Illuminated Gardens in the park’s Future World and World Showcase will twinkle and glow over the festival’s world-famous Disney gardens and topiaries each festival evening. Epcot Future World and World Showcase

The Flower Power Concert Series returns this year as well and continues each weekend with pop favorites including:

March 15-17:              Chubby Checker & The Wildcats
March 22-24:             The Guess Who
March 29-31:             Nelson
April 5-7:                    The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie
April 12-14:                Paul Revere & the Raiders
April 19-21:                Village People (new!)
April 26-28:               The Orchestra, Featuring Former Members of ELO and ELO II
May 3-5:                     Tommy Roe (new!)
May 10-12:                 Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone
May 17-19:                 Starship starring Mickey Thomas.

 Wrapping It Up

For more information about the 20^th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, call 407/W-DISNEY (934-7639) or visit www.EpcotinSpring.com.  The festival, including all gardening programs and exhibits, is included in regular Epcot admission.

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We are proud to announce the launch of our latest project, etkct e.ditions. e.ditions is the publishing brand for our latest venture. Just as PixiePins is responsible for the development of our iOS and mobile apps, e.ditions will be the brand that brings physical products to life.

In the spirit of this new brand, we are proud to announce the launch of e.dition’s first product; The Elements of Attractions in the Magic Kingdom. Based on the rides and restaurants in the Magic Kingdom Park®, at the Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida, these posters reduce the attractions to simple elemental graphics comprised of element: ID, Name, latitude, longitude, park ID#, etc.

The design of the elements is based around some of the periodic table design as well as expanded to include geolocation and some location based functionality. As you can see the attractions are easily discernible from the dining locations while each maintain the same structure for review the data presented.

This integrated design is also utilized across mediums, in clothing, prints and (soon) apps in iOS App Store and iBooks Store.

Printed on 13″X19 Epson 51lb/192 g/m² Ultra Premium Matte Paper with Canon’s ChromaLife100 system2. This combines the benefits of genuine Canon dye-based ink and photo paper with FINE print head technology to produce long-lasting, beautiful prints with a wide color gamut for vivid coloration.

You can order a poster from our Big Cartel Shop and you can order shirts from our Skreened and Society6 shop. If you have any questions or comments please contact us through our Contact Page, on Facebook or Twitter.

We are excited about this new project and hope you are too!

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