Eric_JWFAN

Where did you see it? What was the commercial like?

I agree. And in my humble opinion I think that very fact is the reason he is not mentioned in the same breath as Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. He was that good as a composer.

Yes great piece. My favorites are the Ballades and Scherzi, as well as his 24 Etudes.

March 1st 1810 was the birth date of arguably the greatest piano composer the world has ever known. Not entirely O.T. as Williams undoubtedly played Chopin as a classically trained pianist, and there is Chopin influence in some of his chromatic writing and piano-based cues (Over the Moon for example). And of course there are some who think Darth Vader's theme was inspired by the 3rd movement of Chopin's 2nd Piano Sonata (Funeral March).

Just to follow up, it now definitely appears Universal is removing any trees that will mess with the theming and forced perspective. Here is a pic taken a month ago. And here is a pic from the same spot taken a couple days ago.

Scaffolding was removed yesterday from some of the village, here's a look.

You know better than that. Great composers don't die, they just decompose.

The "secret" television commercial scheduled to debut during this Sunday's Super Bowl has leaked. It stars Daniel Radcliffe, but sadly there is no OST music. I think it's safe to say at this point there will be no Williams, which is very sad. Super Bowl commercial

My guess is it will only be forced perspective from the outside. Inside it will likely just be the "first floor" of the castle. Unless I'm misunderstanding your question. Back to the palm tree issue, there was a good article in the Orlange Sentinel today on that very thought. http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_orlando/2010/01/pictures-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter-update-jan-27-2010.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+features%2Fthemeparkblog+(Theme+Park+Rangers)

Here is what it will look like at completion. I really think there will be no trees that will ruin the forced perspective.

My guess is many of those trees will be removed during the final stage of the construction.

Hogwarts Castle is approaching completion.

Hogwarts revealed http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/3305/hogw3.jpg

Hogwarts Express has arrived. http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6356/hogwartsexpress.jpg

Some pretty cool construction pics here. http://www.orlandounited.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9&page=97 At the bottom you see what might be a super aggressive attempt at that "forced perspective".

I sincerely hope that music was just a "temp track" and that we will get real Williams for this new land, but now that you mention it I have a feeling Universal won't pony up the cash to lease the music. Historically they've been very cheap about paying other studios to use their music. There is no Elfman in The Simpsons Ride (almost unthinkable), nor is there OST music in their Shrek ride. Meanwhile, competitor Disney has always used the original music for their attractions (see Star Tours, Indiana Jones, Twilight Zone etc).

One of the best rides in the world. From what I've heard and seen.

Ah, sweet. Well, I've only been to Florida once, for a lucky one-week trip to Walt Disney World, but I was feverish the whole time and didn't get to do much. But California is awesome - you should make it out here sometime when you get a chance. Disneyland's absolutely amazing, but it's far from the only reason to check out our glorious state! I haven't been to the CA one in ages. I would go there just to see the Indy ride, which I hear is still one of the best in the world.

Good point about Disney. Cinderella's Castle here in Disney World looks pretty tall but I think it's only about 175 feet. These creative design people usually do a great job of making things appear taller than they are. The Hogwarts castle will probably be 199 feet tall and "look" about 300-400 feet tall. The reason why they never build these things over 200 feet, is Florida aviation law requires all structures over 200 feet to have one of those blinking lights, which would totally ruin the effect of Cinderella's Castle, Hogwarts, etc.

Yeah, I was wondering about that too. Actually I work not far from the construction company that is making all the buildings including Hogwarts, and I've seen some of the tops of the buildings and boy they are SMALL, which makes me think they are really going after the forced perspective to try making this thing look super tall.

Did you hear about the major expansion planned for Disney World? It was announced just three days earlier.

Slightly O.T. but likely of interest to many here, Universal has released major details on it's Harry Potter world coming to Universal Orlando. I wonder how much Williams will be heard here. http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/index.html?__source=email.hp.ap.9152009 To the left is a webcast with some interesting details.

Actually I'd want him to play his full orchestral scores on piano like Indy and SW, exactly the way he composes them. I believe everything he does, even the largest of the large orchestral stuff, starts at his piano.

Williams on auto-pilot is better than most of what's out there now.

So now you're making fun of my post in the JW appreciation thread? I don't think it's funny at all, and this poll should be removed. I have no idea what you're talking about.