Disney home to be turned into museum
Disney home to be turned into museum
CHICAGO (AP) — California has Disneyland and Florida has Disney World. But Chicago has Disney Home.
Now a California couple who bought the house where Walt Disney was born 112 years ago plans to turn it into a historical site and museum. According to a news release, they hope it will serve as a “community resource with a mission of enhancing and exploring childhood creativity.”
A spokesman for new owners Dina Benadon and Brent Young said restoration is scheduled to start next month, with the hope that the project can be completed by what would have been Disney’s 113th birthday, on Dec. 5, 2014.
The couple announced on their website that they hope to raise $500,000 for the renovations, with donors receiving prizes, ranging from having their names listed in a book in the house to a one-night stay there.
The two-flat home is located in the Hermosa neighborhood on Chicago’s northwest side. It’s said to have been designed by Disney’s mother, Flora, and built by his carpenter father, Elias. Walt and his brother, Roy, were born there and lived there until Walt was 4 years old.
On Benadon and Young’s website, Roy Patrick Disney, Roy Disney’s grandson, said the family was pleased that the house was “being restored to its humble origins.”
Airline reveals image of Hobbit dragon
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s national airline unveiled a giant image Monday of the dragon Smaug on one of its planes to celebrate the premiere of the second movie in the Hobbit trilogy.
Air New Zealand showed the 177-foot image that’s featured on both sides of a Boeing 777-300 aircraft. The plane is scheduled to fly to Los Angeles in time for the premiere of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” which screens Monday, Pacific Standard Time at the Dolby Theatre.
It was the first time fans got a chance to see director Peter Jackson’s interpretation of Smaug. In the first movie, the director revealed only the dragon’s eye.
The Hobbit trilogy was filmed in New Zealand and is based on the book of the same name by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The movie opens in theaters in mid-December.
The image is a decal, or giant sticker, produced by special effects studio Weta Digital, which also worked on the movie.
Air New Zealand spokesman Andrew Aitken said it intends to keep the decal on the plane for at least a year, until the opening of the third Hobbit movie. The airline also used a decal to celebrate the opening of the first movie.
New Zealand has sought to use the popularity of the movies as a way to market itself and boost tourism.