Disney Pixar Poseable Toys at Target

By Nick

A couple of weeks ago I spotted these Disney Paxar toys at the local Target.

They are not cheap, but as my favorite Pixar movie is WALL-E, I had to get him and EVE.

They are very nicely detailed, but I have to say, EVE is very unwieldy and hard to balance just right on her base, and the weaponized arm does not change out easily.

And the bulb is tricky to balance just right as well!

The eye changing feature is really cool though, and no batteries required, simply push down on the top of the head.

WALL-E is much more stable, and has a neat trash compact feature making this much more kid friendly in my opinion.

Ratatouille Sign

By Nick

Raise your hand if you channel surf.
There are channel guides that we can consult to find something we may be interested in, but where is the fun in that? So we surf. And there are certain movies that, if we should happen to encounter them, we'll stop and watch, regardless of how many times we've seen them. Jaws. The Matrix. The Avengers. Star Wars. (Any Star Wars, even the prequels!) Any Disney/Pixar Movie. Those last few probably aren't a surprise as this is, after all, a Disney Blog.

Recently while surfing I came across Ratatouille, one of my very favorite Pixar movies, and had to stop and watch.
It got me wanting a collectible from the film. I only have one item from this terrific motion picture, a Hallmark ornament of Remy looking at the book, Anyone Can Cook!

I came across a few things that caught my eye on eBay, but then, as the movie ended, and I saw the Ratatouille sign over Paris, I had the idea to go to Etsy, and did a search.

Imagine how pleasantly surprised I was to find this for $30 plus $12 shipping! It's metal and measures 14 x 14 1/4 inches.

As you can see, it is very close to the sign in the movie:

Before making the purchase, I consulted with Barbie, as this was to hang in our kitchen, and she immediately gave her approval.

We briefly considered hanging it exactly as it is in Ratatouille, but we decided it wouldn't have nearly the same aesthetic effect hanging in the kitchen as it would with Paris in the background, so went with just hanging it on the kitchen wall visible as you enter the room.

I'm very happy with this purchase, a wonderful reminder of a wonderful film.

The Disney Exchange- Episode 34- Pixar Films

By Nick 
 
-The Disney Exchange is David Hodges, Lisa Green, and me, Nicholas Maglio   

-Main Topic: Pixar Films

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

-As usual, our lack of prep shows, and there is a question as to why I would need to look so good for an audio podcast.

-We actually launch very quickly into our main topic, almost. Dave tells of the excessive rain Florida has been having this year.

-This week we look at the films of Pixar and talk about our top 3 favorite Pixar movies, followed by least favorite films, and why each of these films are on the list. I say wonderful. A lot. And brilliant too. Here is a hint as to my favorite Pixar film.

The films of Pixar and their release dates, per Wikipedia:

1. Toy Story : November 22, 1995
2. A Bug's Life : November 25, 1998
3. Toy Story 2 : November 24, 1999
4. Monster's Inc. : November 2, 2001
5. Finding Nemo : May 30, 2003
6. The Incredibles : November 5, 2004
7. Cars : June 9, 2006
8. Ratatouille :  June 29, 2007
9. WALL-E : June 27, 2008
10. Up : May 29, 2009
11. Toy Story 3 : June 18, 2010
12. Cars 2 : June 24, 2011
13. Brave : June 22, 2012
14. Monsters University : June 21, 2013
15. Inside Out : June 19, 2015

We then discuss what film we feel deserves to be more represented in Walt Disney World. Here is a hint as to my answer.

Wheel of Distiny topic: The Pixar character we most identify with. Here is a hint as to my choice.

Our you beginning to sense a theme?

Thank you for listening to The Disney Exchange!
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Or email us at: info@thedisneyexchange 

Pixar's A Bugs Life Heimlich

By Nick


Stuffed Heimlich. Is that a redundant statement?
(See, Heimlich eats a lot, until he’s, you know, stuffed!) Tap-tap, is this thing on?

Today, I share a couple of Heimlich’s from the Pixar film, “A Bug’s Life’, from my wife’s collection. The 1st one is a fairly large stuffed figure.



Obviously it’s from the Disney Store, but I have no other info, as my wife cut the tags off.



This next stuffed Heimlich is much smaller, and has a plastic face.

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Like the bigger figure, the tags have been removed, and there is no indication as to where it came from.

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What, you may ask, is a squishy Heimlich?

This is a squishy Heimlich:

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Heimlich is from Pixar’s “A Bug’s Life” released in 1998. While it isn’t my favorite Pixar movie by far, it has a special place in my heart as it was the first movie my wife and I saw in a theater together.
Having this special place made me collect Bug’s Life everything. Heimlich, however, is from my wife’s collection.



What drew my wife to Heimlich the caterpillar? His accent, for one. And his love of food for the other. In fact here he is going in for the kill now!

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He is rubber, and filled with some sort of, well, squishy, material. Sadly, 14 years on, the squishy material has hardened into a ball inside of Heimlich’s belly, and he is not nearly as much fun to squeeze anymore.

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Made by 4 Kidz Inc. for Disney/Pixar.



Here is another squishy Heimlich. This is a keychain. I think. A REALLY big keychain. I have no idea who would need such a large key chain, but, as I don’t know what else the hook would be used for, I’m calling it a keychain.

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Alas, he suffers from the same fate as the larger figure, as he has lost his squishiness.



Also made by 4 Kidz.

Ratatouille, the Food AND the Disney Pixar Film

By Lisa Green

During the summer, my kitchen can get pretty crowded with fresh vegetables.  This means I sometimes have to be creative with new recipes so nothing goes to waste.  I haven’t yet resorted to squash-chip-cookies or eggplant-cupcakes, but someday it may come to that.

Last summer I made my own interpretation of Ratatouille so we could have an at-home dinner-and-a-movie  that both saved us some money for an upcoming Disney Cruise AND got us in the mood for one of the cruise’s ports – in France!

I browsed in all my cookbooks and surfed my usual recipe websites (plus a few unusual ones as well) and nothing sounded exactly right, so I used bits and pieces of several recipes, threw in my own version of “getting fancy with the spices” and the results were quite tasty.  While Raymond and I are highly gluten tolerant omnivores, we regularly enjoy meatless meals and this turned out to be a great one.  I served the leftovers with some baked mahi-mahi the next day!
The veggies in this meal make a lot of juice which combines with tomato paste in the bottom of the baking dish to make a perfect sauce.  Served over pasta, you’ve got a healthy, light, and satisfying meal.  Grab a TV tray and press play.  Enjoy Ratatouille and Ratatouille at the same time!

Lisa’s Ratatouille

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 green onion, diced
• Tomato Paste (use the 3 oz. or the 6 oz. can depending on how much sauce you like and how many veggies you use.)
• 2T extra virgin olive oil + more for drizzling
• 2t Herbs de Provence + salt and pepper to taste
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 3-4 Roma tomatoes, sliced
• 1 eggplant, sliced
• 1-2 zucchini, sliced
• sliced mushrooms (optional)
• A couple of dashes of red wine vinegar (optional)
• freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Pasta of your choice, cooked al dente

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Trace the top of the casserole dish you intend to use onto a piece of parchment paper – cut slightly inside the line to make a paper lid for your dish that will lay on top of the vegetables.  Sauté the onion and green pepper in 2T olive oil until onion is translucent – add the garlic and cook for two minutes more.  Stir in the Herbs de Provence and red pepper flakes.  Remove from heat and set aside.
Spread tomato paste in the bottom of casserole dish.  This is when I add a couple of dashes of red wine vinegar to the tomato paste.  I like the tangy addition to the sweetness of the tomato paste – but this is totally up to you.  (I’m sure it’s still delicious without the vinegar.)  Spoon about 1/3 of onion/pepper mixture over tomato paste.  Then begin spiraling sliced vegetables in a single layer – drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper (to taste), top with parmesan cheese and 1/3 of the onion/pepper mixture.  Add one more spiral layer of veggies, drizzle with oil, top with the remaining onions and peppers, add more parmesan.  TAH-DA!

Now add the little parchment-paper lid and tuck your masterpiece into the oven for 40-50 minutes depending on how well-done you like your vegetables.  Be sure you scoop down into the sauce at the bottom of the dish when serving.

What’s your favorite Disney dinner and a movie combo?


This article was originally posted on the Living a Disney Life Blog.

Pixar Place

by Gaylin

First thing in the morning at Hollywood Studios, there is a rush to get to Toy Story Mania to get a Fast Pass. Now with the new FastPass+ system, it was great to make a FP+ reservation 60 days in advance and not have to worry about the rush, just show up at the appointed time and get on the ride!

I arrived at Pixar Place early to take photos, it is such a wonderful, colourful area, lots to look at and enjoy. The sign over the entry makes it pretty obvious where you are.

At the entry to Toy Story Midway Mania you can see the signs for the stand-by line-up, 55 minute wait when I took this photo at 12:19 p.m. when my FP+ time slot started.

 I love the big Scrabble tiles in the sidewalk.

Nice to know there are green army men keeping watch over the safety of Pixar Place.

The queue into the ride is very, very colourful and fun, so many toy pieces from my childhood made giant size!

And how fun would it be to have an Etch A Sketch that was this big. Did you notice it is being held in place by globs of Play Doh.

Remember to look up, Tinker Toys are holding the place up!

I was in the Wheezy ride vehicle.

I am not very good at shooting games so my paltry 104,600 score was okay for me . . .

 but no match for the months best total of 460,600!

And if you are lucky when you are out walking around Pixar Place, you might run into a Green Army Man, who is happy for any photo op!!!