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Tour of Walt Disney Archives Presents Charting the Course | Destination D23 2025
Aug 29, 2025
The media tour of Walt Disney Archives Presents Charting the Course - Disney’s Global Stories & Inspirations at Destination D23 - A Journey Around the Worlds of Disney. This is at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.
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0:03
[Music]
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If you guys want to gather into this
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front area, we can do a quick tour and
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then at the end you can explore a little
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bit on your own.
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Hi, welcome.
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Hello. Hello. Everybody wants to keep
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coming in this way.
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Do you guys want to take one more step
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towards you? I think that's just about
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everybody.
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Oh my gosh, you guys are a big and
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beautiful group.
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Still coming in.
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Sorry, we're a little bit of tight
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quarters. We have a little bit more room
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to spread out once we leave our front
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area.
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Oh, all right. Looks like our door is
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closing. Okay. Hello everyone. Uh,
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welcome to the Walt Disney Archives
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presents uh, Charting the Course. This
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is Disney Global Stories and
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Inspirations. Um, so with the overall
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theme of the event being Disney Worlds,
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we were trying to think of how do we
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create something that kind of goes with
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that theming. Uh, and this is what we
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started with. So here we enter into the
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research phase of any Disney uh project.
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So we use two different case studies to
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illustrate that. Uh over in that first
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section there you'll see uh black and
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white photos from Walton Elupo's trip in
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1941 to South America. Um and these were
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all the reference items that were used
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to create three caviaros as well as
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saludas amigos. We also wanted to then
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bring a more modern example into the
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fold. So here we have some of the
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imaginary research trips throughout Asia
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and Africa that resulted in uh Disney's
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Animal Kingdom. Um so we of course have
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lots of photography here. So this is
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where really this project starts, right?
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Because whenever you're thinking about
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any Disney project, whether it's
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animation, live action, or theme parks,
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you want to add that authenticity,
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especially if you're recreating nature
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or something that exists in the real
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world. You want it to feel authentic.
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You want it to feel real. So you really
2:17
suspend disbelief when you're watching
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the project or being immersed in the
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project. So that's why this research is
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so important. So we started with our
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photography here that really sets our
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inspiration up. Then we turn to the
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other side of the room and we see these
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research pictures kind of start becoming
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concepts. So we have over here some
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artists such as Mary Blair and Lee Blair
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um kind of creating as they're on the
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site. Um and then their illustrations
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come to life a little bit. And similarly
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over here with Joe Roie, we have some of
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his sketches as well as in this case we
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have his sketchbook and also a pair of
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boots that he wore on many of his
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exhibitions um including for Disney
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Animal Kingdom for Alani and also
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Pleasure Island. So now that we've
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reached the concept stage where lots
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were inspired, but let's get a little
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deeper into concept if you want to head
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into our next area.
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[Music]
3:36
All right. So, we're now entering the
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concept area. So, we created this large
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wall here that really brings the the
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excitement of all these inspirations to
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life.
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Come on in. Come on in.
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We're just about all over.
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So sorry.
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All right. So, like I said, we're now in
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the concept phase. We have our
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inspirations. We're starting to get a
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little more formal with our designs to
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really work toward making our project.
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So, over here, you'll see four really
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exquisite pieces of original artwork. Uh
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we have that first piece is done by Mary
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Blair, and that was done for uh three
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caviaros. The second piece we have is
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from Swiss Family Robinson. The third
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piece is from 20,000 less under the sea.
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There's that beautiful underwater
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seascape. And then finally we have a
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more recent piece. This is from Maka,
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but this is actually a really
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interesting piece because it was created
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for inspiration. So the director was
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trying to get to create this film. So he
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commissioned an artist to create some
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pieces that would kind of serve as
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inspiration when creating the film. So
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we have this lovely piece here. Um so
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from there we get into our model making
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phase. Um and then we get into our
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global explosion essentially. But I'd
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love to turn your attention to this
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model here. I'm not sure if any of you
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came to Epcot between 1999 and 2001, but
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there was something called the
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Millennium Celebration. Um, you might
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have noticed these lovely puppets on
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either side of us. These were puppets
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from the Tapestry of Nations parade. Um,
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and if you're anything like me, it's one
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of my childhood core memories. It's one
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of the most fantastic parades I've ever
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seen. And these were puppets that were
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worn on harness by performers. So, they
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actually were quite a few feet taller
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and they would go around World Showcase.
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Um as also part of that celebration we
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have the Millennium Village. So this was
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between the Canada and the UK pavilion.
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Um and this was actually a village that
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existed that had different countries
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with different activations. There were
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different um experiences you could go
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through. There was a theater, there was
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a cafe, there was also artisans that
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were creating different pieces as well
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that you could purchase. So this is a
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really cool model that we love to
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display here.
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So, now we've got our concepts down and
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we're ready for our global celebration,
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which brings us to the last part of our
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room where there's more of our finalized
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pieces.
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So, as we're working our way this way,
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we try to break it up a little bit
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geographically. So, over in this corner,
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we have Africa. Then, we transition here
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into South America. We have a little bit
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of Europe with our models and our angel
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here. and then Asia. In this corner, um
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I'd love to start over in this corner of
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Asia if you don't mind coming over this
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way or coming to excuse me.
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We have a few pieces that celebrate the
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Lion King. We have some Mikett from the
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animated film. And then we have this
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really stunning model of Pride Rock from
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the live action film.
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Um one last piece that you might
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recognize in our Africa section. Here we
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have Little Red. This was elephant that
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was used at the finale scene of Kiljaro
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Safaris uh when the attraction first
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opened.
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She's she's one of my favorites. Big big
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big red fan or big little red band. Um
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so then we move into South America and
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we have some pieces from the live action
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film The Jungle Cruise. We have costumes
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that were worn by Dwayne the Rock
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Johnson here as well as Emily Blunt and
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the lovely frog arrowhead necklace.
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Here we have the map to the tears of the
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moon as well as some of the pieces that
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are inside the book on display.
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And finally, a sign here from N's River.
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Now, we're heading into Europe and you
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see these really beautiful models here
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on these two tables. This one here is
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Germany, of course, and this is from um
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before the park opened, so it's a pretty
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early model. And then behind us is a
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model of the state church from Norway.
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You can see a beautiful
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But my favorite piece actually from the
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Europe section is that gold angel. Um
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she's a little bit tiny, but what's
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really spectacular about her is she's
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our newest acquisition in the welcome
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archive. If you've gone to the Italy
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pavilion, that first tower of adventure,
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there's actually a very small angel
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statue on the top. you may not have even
8:19
noticed. She actually was recently
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removed by WDI and they've replaced her.
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So, now she is in our collection. So,
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we're so excited to have her and it's
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definitely the closest you'll ever be
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able to get to this statue cuz usually
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way up high. Um, and then finally, let's
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turn our attention to the other corner
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where we move into Asia.
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So, we of course have Mulan's lovely
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costume here from the live action Mulan.
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Along with that, in this case, we have
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the sword that was gifted to her by the
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emperor. Both the sword, the sheep, as
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well as the case were all custom made.
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So, really spectacular detail. If you
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get a chance to get up close, really
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take that in. And then we have some
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models up front. Uh this is a Singapore
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village from Pirates of the Caribbean at
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World's End. What else is cool about
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this model is if you look at these first
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three buildings, they're actually the
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same building, but it's in different
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phases of the process of creating the
9:16
model. So once again, if you get a
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chance, please get close, take in those
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beautiful details.
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That pretty much brings us to the end of
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our tour. Like I said, feel free take a
9:27
look around. Um, if you have any
9:29
questions, I'll be here. Feel free to
9:31
let me know. Thank you guys so much for
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coming by.
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Thank you.
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We did it.
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What's wrong?
10:17
I'd like to know
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[Music]
11:05
Yeah, I
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backstage.
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to see if it's sat in front of any
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Oh my god.
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[Music]
12:33
[Music]
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I'll wait for you.
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I see
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Two more
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