E82 The Epcot Legacy
Art • Music • Education
Taming Leo
Redrawing the Disney•MGM Studios
April 15, 2024
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Just because something has been vectorized doesn't mean it's perfect. A prime example of this is the official TWDC vectorization of the Disney•MGM Studios logo, which I found MANY years ago embedded in the 2010 company "Fact Book":

 
From this, I was able to extract and replicate the original color scheme:

And used it for many projects throughout the years, until in the past couple of months when it came time to use it again for various 35th Anniversary designs. I noticed some major issues with the vectorization that were now too glaring to ignore. In particular, was the depiction of Leo the Lion himself. Sure, he's supposed to be rough, but when comparing him to several large-scale signage installations especially the most important of all - the one over the Studio Gate, I noticed he was missing a great deal of details including most of his teeth! 
 
 As a result, I spent several hours looking for the highest-resolution copy of the logo I could find. The best of which was a piece of signage on Heritage Auctions that not only retained all the details, but also his rarely seen highlights.

 

As you can see, Leo is no longer defanged and the "Metro Goldwyn Mayer" is now set in the proper font.

 

Perhaps the most unsightly of the logo's details was the MGM celluloid scroll, which I thankfully rebuilt several years ago for another project. and I thought I was done until I took a closer look at that mouse... 

It turns out Mickey was just as unsightly as Leo, especially in the hands and face so about 80% of our little "corporate symbol" (as Robin Williams called him) was smoothed out as well with new line work. 

What does all this mean? 
With more robust and refined vectors, this iconic logo can be updated for a variety of uses coming soon to E82 and here are just a few variations: 

Disney• MGM Studios with Dimensional Shading
Disney•MGM Studios with Dimensional Shading
Disney•MGM Studios in Glamorus 1980s Gold

And finally, this rather curious color scheme that you could have taken home with you in 1989 and coming soon to E82's Centorium! ;-) 

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In Epcot Chronology,
THE LIVING SEAS opened on this day in 1986.
https://www.epcotlegacy.com/chronology/1986thelivingseas
To celebrate the Seas here's E82's "Sizzle Reel" recently Ai-upscaled (& manually enhanced) in FULL HD!!!
See over 10 minutes of raw B-Roll footage (also now in HD) and an entire ocean of Seabase Alpha content at the link above!

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E82: Upscaled!

"TECHNOLOGY like a newfound potion allows us to marvel at mysteries of motion"

AI Upscaling (with manual enhancement and cleaning) will allow me to revisit several film restorations next year AND many more new ones...

But only if I can count on your continued support!

1. One-Time support:
https://epcotlegacy.com/support

2. Shop in E82's Centorium Souvenir Shop
https://epcotlegacy.com/gifts

3. Support E82's Locals Community (instant benefits)

4. Repost! Repost! Repost!
Don't be shy, I need YOUR help to break through Elon's anti-linking policies and retweets/reposts are the only way to help - make sure to turn on notifications for x.com/epcotlegacy and adding your own "quote" helps too!

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Believe it or not, but I actually don't consume Disney content 24/7 — far from it. However, even when I try to escape, things like this happen: 🙄🤣 #SMH

VIA the always enjoyable Popcorn In Bed sisters.

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Techno Millennium

As part of the Millennium Celebration, the anthem "Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand" was produced in several musical genres including Country, Latin, Pop & Gospel.
I thought I had all of them until I discovered this somewhat forgotten variation as part of a recently contributed archive of theme park music.

The following is the 2OOO "Techno" variation created for the New Year's Eve celebration held nightly on Pleasure Island.

Enjoy!

Techno Millennium

I've been a 24/7 Disney Historian for over 25 years and last night I saw THE GREATEST DISNEY HISTORY THESIS EVER MADE!
https://youtu.be/U3VSEkA6e-0?si=5hMktWTwc-sixEcY
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If you ever wanted to hear me in a Rogan-style conversation this is it!
LOTS of topics are discussed including:
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Happy President's Day

From EPCOT Center's Forever President,
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A Music Purists Paradise
The Official ^Instrumental^ Album of EPCOT Center

Our 15th-anniversary celebration kicks into high gear with this unique tribute to the park's musical repertoire.

Inspired by the once frequent and highly treasured Official Albums of the parks, The Official ^Instrumental^ Album of EPCOT Center, utilizes the latest AI* audio separation models to present, for the first time ever, these classics in purely instrumental form, accompanied by many once-commercially released medleys and augmented by several that should have been.

This fast-paced 2+ hour journey contains several spoilers from future releases making their debut this year so (unlike most) this album will experience an extended preview for supporters only until October! 

Only for Supporters
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Holiday Programming

As a reminder to all my wonderful supporters, the two-hour compilation "A Classic Disney Christmas" is available for your viewing pleasure this holiday season.


https://vimeo.com/jlhomni/disneychristmas

Only for Supporters
To read the rest of this article and access other paid content, you must be a supporter
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A Disney Halloween
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In thanks for your support here's an exclusive preview of a project I've been working on for the past several weeks. 
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(Previous Supporter Only exclusive preview) 

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