Episode 089 – Don Morin, Part 1

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Randy Crane

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Don Morin 1

In this episode, we begin a 2-part interview with Don Morin, founder of the Pacific Northwest Mouse Meet. I’ll tell you more about him and what that is in the official introduction to the interview, but if you’ve ever wondered how someone goes from fan to creator of a fan convention, or how those are put together, you’re definitely going to want to stick around for this.

 

Before we begin, I have a special request. For the D23 Expo in August, there were a flood of new media applications, and Disney seriously tightened the availability of the credentials. So, for whatever reason, I didn’t get approved for a media credential. Really, all I needed it for 2 years ago was admission, I didn’t do much—and didn’t provide anything for you, the listeners—that required it. I expect the same would be true this year.

What that means is, if you’d like to hear reports, see pictures and video, and more with a Stories of the Magic twist, I need your help to go! All I really need is about $100. I can handle the rest. If you can help at all, please PayPal me whatever you’re willing and able to support me with using podcast@storiesofthemagic.com as the receiving address. For everyone who contributes, I will publicly thank you on the show, and if you have something special you’d like to see coverage of, I’ll do my best to fulfill your request!

 

In this episode, Don talks about…

  • How he became interested in Disney;
  • Why he created the Pacific Northwest Mouse Meet;
  • How he created it;
  • The PNW Mouse Meet’s first keynote speaker—she’s a recent Stories of the Magic guest;
  • Building it year after year;
  • What makes the Mouse Meet unique among conventions;
  • Some of the games they play;
  • Whether he had any trouble getting the first guests;
  • Who he’s wanted to have as a guest and didn’t think it would happen, but they asked anyway and got a yes;
  • Spending time with the featured guests outside of the Meet;
  • Dream guests that he hasn’t got yet;
  • What Disney thinks of Don and the PNW Mouse Meet.


Find Don & the PNW Mouse Meet:

 

Podcasts Spotlighted in this Episode:

 

Listener Feedback:

A Day at Disneyland with Alice Davis (sent by Brian Levine)

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I want to hear from you, so please email me, leave a comment below, or call the Listener Feedback line at (734) 23-STORY.

If you call in, don’t worry about having to sound perfect. If you ask me to, I’ll edit out any mistakes so you sound as good as you possibly can. You’re even welcome to start your entire story over again and I’ll use the “take” you want! If you want to submit a story anonymously, for whatever reason you may have, email it to me and tell you me you wanted it shared that way. I’ll read it on the podcast, but keep your name private.

Thanks for listening!

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Music and voiceovers provided by Rick Moyer.

Some product links in this post are affiliate links.

Posted in Disneyland, Fan Creations, Listener Feedback, Podcast | 1 Comment

Episode 088 – Tom Ameen, Part 2

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Randy Crane

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Tom Ameen

In this episode, we conclude my interview with pianist and composer/arranger Tom Ameen. In part 1, we talked about his love of music, his love of Disney, arranging music, choosing songs for his albums and more.

In this episode, Tom talks about…

  • The one song that made it to an album that he didn’t know before including it;
  • Whether he’s had to leave any out that he really would have liked to have included;
  • His favorite song on each of his Disney albums;
  • Whether it’s easier or more difficult to arrange songs that are already close to his usual style;
  • The song that most captures his heart;
  • If he could have any job working for the Walt Disney Company, what it would be and why;
  • What sets Disney theme parks apart;
  • What he loves most about what he does;
  • What he never gets asked that he wishes people would ask him—and then we talk about his love of animals and about video games for a bit;
  • Looking forward to the upcoming Star Wars movie;
  • What inspires him;
  • His practical advice to you for following your dreams;
  • Shameless Plug Time.


Find Tom:

Podcasts Spotlighted in this Episode:

I want to hear from you, so please email me, leave a comment below, or call the Listener Feedback line at (734) 23-STORY.

If you call in, don’t worry about having to sound perfect. If you ask me to, I’ll edit out any mistakes so you sound as good as you possibly can. You’re even welcome to start your entire story over again and I’ll use the “take” you want! If you want to submit a story anonymously, for whatever reason you may have, email it to me and tell you me you wanted it shared that way. I’ll read it on the podcast, but keep your name private.

Thanks for listening!

Subscribe by RSS.

Subscribe in iTunes.

Subscribe on Stitcher Radio.

Music and voiceovers provided by Rick Moyer.

Some product links in this post are affiliate links.

Posted in Music, Podcast, Walt Disney World | Leave a comment

Episode 087 – Tom Ameen, Part 1

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Randy Crane

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Tom AmeenIn this episode, we welcome pianist and composer/arranger Tom Ameen. Tom’s renditions of some of your favorite songs from Disney theme parks and movies are interesting and beautiful, and it was a treat to get to talk to him. He clearly loves Disney and is a gifted musician, which I think made for a great conversation.

Now, in this episode, Tom talks about…

  • Where his love for music came from;
  • Becoming more aware of and attuned to music in Walt Disney World;
  • Learning songs by ear early on;
  • “Candle on the Water” and “Someone’s Waiting for You” aren’t on any of his Disney albums so far;
  • How much practice he puts in and what form it takes—at the beginning and now;
  • Learning the rules before you can break them;
  • Some of the non-Disney CDs he’s recorded—most of his albums are original songs and compositions;
  • How he got started doing arranging;
  • Arranging for Jim Brickman;
  • What he drew on to start working on his Disney cover songs;
  • Whether creating the Disney songs was different than what he’d done before, or if it was a natural progression;
  • What the process of arranging music is like for him;
  • If there are any songs he’s tried to arrange for an album that just didn’t work like he wanted it to;
  • Getting clearance to use the Disney music;
  • How he chose which songs were going to go on the Disney albums.


Find Tom:

Podcasts Spotlighted in this Episode:

I want to hear from you, so please email me, leave a comment below, or call the Listener Feedback line at (734) 23-STORY.

If you call in, don’t worry about having to sound perfect. If you ask me to, I’ll edit out any mistakes so you sound as good as you possibly can. You’re even welcome to start your entire story over again and I’ll use the “take” you want! If you want to submit a story anonymously, for whatever reason you may have, email it to me and tell you me you wanted it shared that way. I’ll read it on the podcast, but keep your name private.

Thanks for listening!

Subscribe by RSS.

Subscribe in iTunes.

Subscribe on Stitcher Radio.

Music and voiceovers provided by Rick Moyer.

Some product links in this post are affiliate links.

Posted in Music, Podcast, Walt Disney World | 1 Comment

Episode 086 – Margaret Kerry, Part 2

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Randy Crane

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Margaret Kerry & Me

In this episode, we conclude my interview with Margaret Kerry. Again, most Disney fans will know Margaret as the original live-action reference model for Tinker Bell, but there is so much more to her than that! In part 1 we talked about how she became Tink, some insight into who Tink really is, her memories of Walt Disney, and more.

 

Now, in this episode, Margaret talks about…

  • Some of Marc Davis’s fine art work;
  • Being the voice of one of the redheaded mermaids in Peter Pan;
  • June Foray;
  • Getting into voiceover work;
  • A salute to Hal Smith—a pretty funny story;
  • Finding her birth family 50 years after she was adopted;
  • Tinker Bell is Irish!;
  • Her favorite place in the world;
  • Her second favorite dialect to do (behind Irish);
  • A quick story about her being a literalist;
  • Continental dialects;
  • Her upcoming book, Tinker Bell Talks: Tales of a Pixie Dusted Life;
  • A sneak preview at one of her stories from the book;
  • If she could have any job working for the Walt Disney Company, what it would be and why;
  • What she never gets asked that she wishes people would ask her;
  • Faith, trust, and pixie dust;
  • What inspires her;
  • Her advice to you for following your dreams;
  • The importance of joining Toastmasters;
  • A rather non-traditional Shameless Plug Time.


Find Margaret:

Podcasts Spotlighted in this Episode:

I want to hear from you, so please email me, leave a comment below, or call the Listener Feedback line at (734) 23-STORY.

If you call in, don’t worry about having to sound perfect. If you ask me to, I’ll edit out any mistakes so you sound as good as you possibly can. You’re even welcome to start your entire story over again and I’ll use the “take” you want! If you want to submit a story anonymously, for whatever reason you may have, email it to me and tell you me you wanted it shared that way. I’ll read it on the podcast, but keep your name private.

Thanks for listening!

Subscribe by RSS.

Subscribe in iTunes.

Subscribe on Stitcher Radio.

Music and voiceovers provided by Rick Moyer.

All product links are affiliate links.

Posted in Animation, Authors, Disney Legends, Podcast, Uncategorized, Walt Disney Company | 1 Comment

Episode 085 – Margaret Kerry, Part 1

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Randy Crane

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Margaret Kerry & Me

Well, first things first. I said in the last episode that I’d be taking a break for a few weeks or so because my baby was due any day, and in fact she might have even been born by the time the episode aired. Sure enough, that episode was released April 3, but April 2 little Adara was born! So I did take these next weeks off, and now we’re getting back into it.

You’ll probably notice a couple of changes, beginning with the interview after this one. Mainly, since there’s now a baby in the house, and since I’m frequently in charge of caring for her, there may be some baby sounds in the background now and then. Also, I won’t be able to devote as much time and awareness to editing as I have in the past. I’m still going to produce the best sounding podcast I’m capable of, but it may not be quite what you’re used to.

Having said that, in this episode I finally get to share with you an interview I did back in November of last year with Margaret Kerry, in person at the KKLA radio studios. Most Disney fans will know Margaret as the original live-action reference model for Tinker Bell, but there is so much more to her than that! I’d been holding this interview because the original plan was to release it at the same time as her new book comes out. However, it’s been delayed, so I got her permission to release this now, and when the book actually does come out we’ll do a follow up.

Now, in this episode, Margaret talks about…

  • What it meant to be the animation reference model for Tinker Bell;
  • The one scene in Peter Pan that she didn’t provide the model work for;
  • Who Tinker Bell really is, and what she loves so much about Tink;
  • The one word Margaret would use to describe Miss Bell;
  • What she thinks of the Tinker Bell movies, which one is her favorite, and why;
  • An aside about what Walt Disney would do with dialogue—something she learned about from Alice Davis;
  • What is was like for her when it started to come out the she was the Tinker Bell model;
  • How Peter Pan got her moving out of the world of radio and into being a voice actor;
  • The different way she approaches panels and presentations than some others;
  • What Walt Disney thought of Tinker Bell;
  • Why Tink became the representative of Disneyland;
  • What Miss Bell’s favorite ride at Disneyland would be and why;
  • Meeting Walt Disney, and why it was so exciting;
  • Meeting and auditioning for Marc Davis.


Find Margaret:

Podcasts Spotlighted in this Episode:

I want to hear from you, so please email me, leave a comment below, or call the Listener Feedback line at (734) 23-STORY.

If you call in, don’t worry about having to sound perfect. If you ask me to, I’ll edit out any mistakes so you sound as good as you possibly can. You’re even welcome to start your entire story over again and I’ll use the “take” you want! If you want to submit a story anonymously, for whatever reason you may have, email it to me and tell you me you wanted it shared that way. I’ll read it on the podcast, but keep your name private.

Thanks for listening!

Subscribe by RSS.

Subscribe in iTunes.

Subscribe on Stitcher Radio.

Music and voiceovers provided by Rick Moyer.

All product links are affiliate links.

Posted in Animation, Authors, Disney Legends, Podcast, Walt Disney Company | 3 Comments