Bonjour, mes amis! I'm back (finally) from my trip to Europe and have lots of fun details and stories to share with you. First up, though, is something a bit closer to home. Guests visiting the Backlot of Disney's Hollywood Studios right now are discovering that the Luigi's Casa della Tires set, the former photo location for Lightning McQueen and Mater, is being rebuilt for the launch of Cars 2 in June. In its place is a construction wall with this incredibly detailed image (above ©Disney/Pixar).
The image, printed on a giant billboard, conveys some of the international fun and excitement in store for audiences with Cars 2. A cursory glance reveals some of the locations in the new film, including Tokyo, Japan; London, England; Paris, France; and Porto Corsa, Italy. Look closely, though, and you'll spot lots of really fun details, like this sign in Tokyo that's a tribute to the last Pixar film, Toy Story 3.
Elsewhere in the Japan portion of the image, you'll spot a sumo match in progress:
In the London portion, you'll see cars racing down The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. Be sure to note the royal viewing stand and palace guards:
The Italy section includes none other than the Pope Mobile, riding in his very own Pope-mobile:
And then there's one of my favorite details of all. In the village part of the Italy section, you'll find this quaint little tire shop, Topolino's. What's great about it, is this is perhaps one of the most subtle forms of Hidden Mickey. After all, Topolino is the name for Mickey Mouse in Italian.
One of my favorite moments from my recent trip was seeing Mickey in an appearance at one of the Disneyland Resort Paris hotels, where an excited Italian father ran up with his children shouting, "Topolino! Ciao!" It really hit home in that moment how universal the love of Disney truly is.
Topolino's Tire Shop may be my favorite hidden Mickey of all time! I love the popemobile in a popemobile.
ReplyDelete