Walt Disney Signature - Home Entertainment Collection

Walt Disney Signature is Disney's first upscale, non-character, adult lifestyle brand. It began with home furnishings and has expanded to include outdoor furniture, entertainment units, rugs, wall décor, tabletop products, jewelry, clothing, stationery, and candles.

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Walt Disney Signature Unveils Theo
Kalomirakis Home Entertainment Collection

Latest Disney Signature Expansion Incorporates Plug And Play
Surround Sound Technology

Los Angeles, CA (April 2009) – Renowned for bringing together the latest in animation and sound technologies, Walt Disney createdtimeless film classics that have touched generations. As represented by numerous classics from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to Sleeping Beauty, Bambi, and Fantasia, he understood the narrativepower of sound in cinema, once describing the experience of seeing Fantasia in the theater as a "visual concert." And now Disney Consumer Productsand Theo Kalomirakis, a leading home theater designer, are expanding the Walt Disney Signature collection, Disney's first upscale lifestylebrand, with a new line of home entertainment furniture inspired by Walt's pioneering use of picture and sound technology. The new line will launch domestically at High Point Market at the International HomeFurnishings Center on April 23, 2009.

"When the lights go down the room has to completely disappear. It's you and the movie on the screen. Walt Disney's films are so compelling because he understood this, and was one of the pioneers in making it happen" said Theo Kalomirakis. "Our furniture is completely designed to seamlessly incorporate the technology so that no one has to see it. The only thing you see is the movie on the screen."

Theo Kalomirakis for Walt Disney Signature is taking home entertainment to new heights with the launch of an upscale home entertainment furniture line featuring armoires and credenzas that incorporate high quality built-in speakers, subwoofers, and MP3 docking stations. Complementing the collection are coordinated sofas, arm chairs, coffee tables and side tables. The credenza houses discreet electrical outlets that power all audiovisual equipment with just a single external cord. Hidden speakers and subwoofers built right into the unit provide superb surround sound without compromising room design.

"Disney is a lifestyle brand, and nothing illustrates that more succinctly than Theo Kalomirakis for Walt Disney Signature," said Robert Oberschelp, director, Walt Disney Signature, Disney Consumer Products. "This new line invites the most discerning home theater enthusiasts to make the magic of Disney a part of their everyday viewing experience."

The new line features three styles of coordinated upholstered furniture and case goods that seamlessly blend form and function:


Toccata

Walt Disney's musical and visual masterpiece, Fantasia, opens with Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor." The Toccata collection blends modern design with attention to detail bringing the magic of sound to life.


Melody

No one understood music's emotional power better than Walt Disney. In the Disney film short Melody, the music illustrates key moments in the soundtrack of our lives. The Melody collection combines comfort and state-of-the-art technology to create a line that's perfectly in tune with a harmonious lifestyle.

Symphony

In Fantasia, Walt Disney created a striking landscape of mythical beauty inspired by the melodic passages of Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony." The Symphony collection marries the elegance of classic design with innovative technology to enrich your life with a symphony of timeless beauty.

Kalomirakis summarized the collection saying, "I don't want you to watch a movie, I want you to feel it, to be lost in the experience." 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE COMPLETE GALLERY WITH 21 PICTURES FROM THIS COLLECTION

Theo Kalomirakis Home Entertainment Collection at Marcio Disney Digital Media

This site is part of Marcio Disney Family Sites Network®

is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Based on a work at the Main Site: Disney's Dream Makers by Marcio Disney

Original Pictures can be found here!

Walt Disney Signature - Limited Edition

Walt Disney Signature is Disney's first upscale, non-character, adult lifestyle brand. It began with home furnishings and has expanded to include outdoor furniture, entertainment units, rugs, wall décor, tabletop products, jewelry, clothing, stationery, and candles.

Dining Installation and DIFFA Event Display

Milan, Italy – 13 April 2010 – Walt Disney Signature, Disney's first upscale, inspired, non-character, adult lifestyle brand and Cappellini, one of the most renowned design innovators worldwide, today unveiled five limited edition chairs at the Milan Furniture Fair in Italy. The combination of Cappellini's reputation for innovation and the magic and inspiration of Disney has produced a series of everyday products that resemble works of art.

This introduction follows the success of Walt Disney Signature's dining installation in collaboration with Cappellini for last month's Dining By Design DIFFA (Design Industries  Foundation Fighting AIDS) event in New York City.

A 3-dimensional sculpting of Mickey Mouse sitting on a giant chair, previously used for the DIFFA event display, was recreated at Fuori Salone, Milano Design Village to mark today's launch. The Mickey sculpture is made of polyurethane, measures more than three metres tall and weighs 40 kilos.

"Walt Disney and Cappellini both have a shared approach to design, creativity and collaboration that turns everyday products into functional works of art," commented Pamela Lifford, executive vice president, Home and Fashion, Disney Consumer Products. "Collaborating with a leading Italian design brand specialising in contemporary furnishings like Cappellini is another exciting step in continuing Walt Disney Signature's philosophy on design and innovation."

"This collaboration is the premise for a joint Cappellini and Walt Disney Signature stylistic commitment that promises to become a new, interesting and exciting chapter in the history of contemporary design, combining Cappellini's strong inclination for innovation with the magical creativity of Disney," added Giulio Cappellini, Art Director for Cappellini.

The Ribbon stool and the Fish Chair, Y's de Luxe and Rive Droite armchairs are embellished with patterns, each one with a different image and underlying theme. The Ribbon's new profile blends Cappellini design with the outline of Disney's most famous character, Mickey Mouse; Y's de Luxe and Rive Droite reflect and multiply the same image in striking processed fabrics; the Fish Chair's shape is inspired by Disney's It's A Small World and produced in recycled material. Products will be available to the public in late Spring 2010.

ECO FISH Walt Disney Signature limited edition from Cappellini
- design: Satyendra Pakhalè 2010

An organic shape inspired by nature, the Fish Chair is the ideal way to showcase the latest advancement in fabrication - an opaque, multi-coloured plastic created from recycled materials, moulded using a rotational technique. The material is recycled to underline Cappellini's renewed focus on the theme of conserving raw materials for the future generations. The internal part of the seat is coloured white. Series of 99 numbered pieces.

Armchair - cm. 55 x 87 x 40/72 h.

MICKEY'S RIBBON STOOL Walt Disney Signature limited edition from
Cappellini - design: Nendo 2010

With its circular shape, open design and flowing lines, the Ribbon Stool lends itself perfectly to the famous silhouette that peeks over its seat. Merging flawlessly together, our two visions create a single, iconic representation of the seamless collaboration between Cappellini and Walt Disney Signature. This is a series of high and low stools with backrest, produced from laser cut and folded sheet metal. The low stool has a shiny red varnish, the high stool a shiny yellow varnish, whilst the feet are in transparent plastic. Series of 399 numbered pieces for the low stool. Series of 199 numbered pieces for the high stool.

Low stool - cm. Ø 42 x 45/66 h.

High stool - cm. Ø 42 x 78/99 h.

Y'S MICKEY Walt Disney Signature limited edition from Cappellini
- design: Christophe Pillet 2010

With its rounded contours and unique design, the Y's De Lux Chair is the perfect canvas on which to embroider one of our signature icons: a subtle geometric pattern using Mickey's silhouette. Swivel armchair with integral polyurethane frame. Fixed cover in white leather with white yarn embroidery that reproduces the unmistakeable silhouette of the most famous cartoon character in the world. Base in die cast aluminium with matt white varnish, feet in black plastic. Series of 33 numbered pieces.

Armchair - cm. 54.5 x 73 x 43/80 h.

MULTICOLOUR RIVE DROITE Walt Disney Signature limited edition from
Cappellini - design: Patrick Norguet 2010

Making the connection between fashion and design, the Rive Droite chair seamlessly fuses a pure, modern shape, with the graphic pattern of Mickey's overlapping silhouette. The bold, daring palette illustrates both Walt Disney Signature and Cappellini's fearless approach to colour. Swivel armchair with wooden and moulded polyurethane frame. Fixed cover in fabric that presents a highly familiar silhouette in a daring pallette. Base in brushed stainless steel. Series of 99 numbered pieces

Armchair - cm. 93.5 x 73.5 x 38.5/71 h.


Walt Disney Signature product from Cappellini is available at independent and specialty retailers across the globe. Your local Cappellini retailer will be able to take orders beginning April 26, 2010.

Starting to Learn about Disney World

Are you new to all this Disney World thing and want to learn more but don't know how / where to begin? Just take a look at these few hints :)

The "Imagineering Field Guide to... " is just perfect to begin! It's a serie of (4) pocket-sized editions that contain brief histories of various Disney parks, these “Field Guides” rarely have any earth-shattering revelations for die-hard fans but they always have some nice artwork and provide a good primer to the park and its history.

About $10.00 each.

Imagineering Field Guide to:

Magic Kingdom
http://tinyurl.com/2eph7tc

Epcot:
http://tinyurl.com/2faaers

Disney’s Hollywood Studios:
http://tinyurl.com/2eoa3un

Disney’s Animal Kingdom:
http://tinyurl.com/2ejpj5m


Going to the BIG books, this is a MUST have:

Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making More Magic Real

http://tinyurl.com/358luep

About Disney Guides, in my opinion, these are the best:

The Complete Walt Disney World 2011

http://tinyurl.com/2vh5vrp

Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2011

http://tinyurl.com/3ah2g7j



2 great books to learn more about the company history and secrets:

Disney War

http://tinyurl.com/2dzms5z

Project Future: The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Disney World

http://tinyurl.com/2da9lqp

Look at one of the comments for this book:

With his background as a lawyer, the author naturally concentrates on many of the complex legal issues that enabled the Disney Corporation to acquire both the land it needed and the quasi-governmental powers it desired to build Walt Disney World.

Although many of the elaborate steps Disney planners took to hide their activities have been described elsewhere, this account relates the names of the participants to a reasonably concise timeline of events. This book is most interesting when the author describes the intricate planning and attention to detail that the Disney Company and their associates employed to accomplish their goals. However, this book also has a number of errors and omissions that weaken its presentation.

First, there are two notable and inexcusable errors. As anyone familiar with Disney history knows, Disneyland opened on July 17th, not July 7th and Walt's name is "Walter Elias", not "Elias Walter". How such fundamental errors could have made it into print is beyond understanding and caused this reader to wonder what other errors exist with less well-known names and dates.

One also wonders why certain details were omitted. For example, although Billy Dial is frequently mentioned as an Orlando-area banker who assisted in acquiring property and who was ultimately chosen by Roy Disney to handle WDW's banking needs, why was the name of his bank never mentioned? Much time was spent on the fact that Tufts University owned the mineral rights to a large portion of the land Disney wanted to purchase, but we were never told why a university in the Boston area owned such a large tract of land in Florida.

Noting that this book was released under the "Ayefour Publishing" imprint, I was disappointed that the author failed to explain the role that the "Ayefour Corporation" played in the land acquisitions, but merely mentioned it once in a list of corporate names used to disguise the identity of the Disney Company.

Although the author is a respected Law Professor who has written a number of academic papers, the bibliography is lacking many sources and few of the quotations are cited. For example, the memoirs of both Gen. Joe Potter and Robert Foster are mentioned as sources of information, but neither is referenced in the bibliography. Also, many of publications listed in the bibliography are not specifically cited, leaving the reader to wonder what relevant information they contain. Several large bodies of reference materials are listed as "on file" in a University's reference collection with no information as to which parts were relevant to this research. Omitting these details makes this book almost useless as a reference for further study of this interesting subject.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing more about the early history of Walt Disney World, with the warning that it is rather narrow in focus and omits many details that a little more research, or care, could have provided.

And there’s this great DVD pack “just” released with some great material:

Disney Parks: The Secrets, Stories and Magic Behind the Scenes

http://tinyurl.com/2dlzmhd



There is also a great Walt Disney Documentary called: Walt – The man behind the myth
http://tinyurl.com/24xzzcj