COOL STUFF

Take a Ride on Disney's Christmas Carol Train Across the US

by Alex Billington
May 8, 2009
Source: USA Today

Although there hasn't been much marketing for Robert Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol, Disney has some big ideas in the works, and one of them kicks off on May 22nd. Departing from Union Station in Los Angeles is a Train Tour that will travel across the country to over 40 cities before arriving in New York City the last weekend of October. On display inside the train's six passenger cars is a full-fledged exhibit for A Christmas Carol featuring a digital concept art gallery, artifacts from the Charles Dickens Museum, a performance capture exhibit, and lots of interactive games. Zemeckis calls it "a rolling Disneyland exhibit - only it's free."

USA Today has a great feature on the train, and a better look at that photo above. "What brings a smile to me is that it harks back to the earliest promotional idea, now new again," Zemeckis explains. "When the circus would come to town, the train would park, and they'd have the circus parade through town and then set up the tents. This is the 21st-century version of that. You get to see all these wonders, it's free, and then you hope they show up later." It is actually a pretty genius idea, though I do know that Disney has been showcasing this exhibit since last year (when I first saw it) and it'll be on display at Cannes in France, too.

When the train stops in a town, they'll roll out the red carpet. The Christmas Carol holiday spirit will be re-created with decorations, local carolers and even artificial snow. In the parking lot they'll setup a portable theater to show early footage. "We're going town by town, city by city," Disney's Dick Cook says. "Audiences will have a chance to feel it, touch it and know about it way before any television has run, or anything else. There's a familiarity with it. And I think that will pay off." For more information on the tour, you can head over to USA Today. We'll let you know when Disney launches an official site with more tour details.

A Christmas Carol is another Robert Zemeckis CGI feature starring Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge as well as all of the Ghosts of Christmas Past. The movie is a retelling of the classic Charles Dickens' story, but a bit darker and more stylized than we've ever seen before. Disney hasn't released a trailer for it just yet, but we're expect something soon. A Christmas Carol hits theaters everywhere on November 6th this year.

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