November 3, 2006
The fourth floor concourse of Disney's Contemporary Resort was the location for a signing of the second in a series of three books written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson and illustrated by Greg Call. "Peter and the Shadow Thieves," book number two of the popular childrens' prequels to "Peter Pan," was the featured title.
Peter and the Shadow Thieves, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. Illustrated by Greg Call. Hardcover, 576 pages, published by Disney Editions, 2006. ISBN: 078683787X Image © Disney.
We arrived to find a crowd had already gathered and was in line before 5 pm. We met with Darlene, our Disney contact, who was most gracious and helpful as were other Disney representatives gathered for this event. The authors and illustrator were seated behind a table and had pens at the ready to meet the fans in line. As we waited, we noted the floor shook with each monorail train passing through the hotel, one floor above.
We watched the bantering between the "guests of honor" and their fans for a while. No one was turned away and many had more than one or two items to be signed. Everyone who attended had time to chat with all three of the book contributors, making it a special night for all.
Pulitzer Prize winner Dave Barry greets fans at Disney's Contemporary Resort.
During the evening, there were two surprise guests attending as well. Twice Peter Pan and Captain Hook appeared to interact with the three stars of the evening. Captain Hook was up to no good, as usual, while Peter Pan was mischievous and beguiling as ever. Both stood with the fans for pictures and signed autographs. When the Captain approached the main table, Dave Barry tried to hide wearing his pirate hat and Ridley sprouted a full curling mustache but Captain Hook wasn't fooled by the disguises, and shook his hook at all three of the men at the head table.
Captain Hook menaces Keep To The Code reporters Alexandrite (L) and Appylady21 (R), while Peter Pan looks on.
While waiting for our books to be signed, we met "Rob," who works for Disney and had a hand in the conception of the updated POTC attraction. He was interested in our view of the changes and we told him we enjoyed the music from the movie, the Davy Jones effect in the mist, Barbossa and Captain Jack's appearances and the continuation of the story throughout the ride. It has made the ride special again. We also enjoyed the singing that Captain Jack does in the last scene. Rob confirmed that it was indeed Johnny Depp singing.
We waited our turn and soon were speaking to Dave and Ridley. By this time they were familiar with us being with Keep To The Code and signed our books and pins while chatting with us. Darlene promised she would try and get us a few minutes with them after the signing, so we moved along to let the considerable crowd behind us have a chance to applaud and chat with these fine authors and illustrator.
Illustrator Greg Call signs a copy of Peter and the Shadow Thieves.
We estimated between 250 and 300 people were in line during the three hours scheduled for the signing but no one was turned away. None of the three men took a break during the night and were surely in need of one by the end of the evening.
While we waited for the three hours to pass, Lisa and I waited to the side. It was here we met Wendy Lefkon, Editorial Director of Disney Editions and Disney Press, Disney Publishing Worldwide. Wendy told us of a few surprises the publishing division at Disney had in their plans for future POTC titles.
There are two books coming out, one junior novelization with the preliminary title of "Treasure of Isla de Muerta" and an adult novelization with the preliminary title of "Lords of the Savage Seas." One or both should be available in the interim between POTC:AWE and the fourth as-yet-unnamed film. Wendy did state that the fourth movie was almost a certainty, which was good news indeed. We chatted with both Wendy and another publishing representative about POTC and they asked us our opinions on future plot ideas. We spoke of the desire of our crewmates for the back story on some characters, and we also asked for a prequel to Captain Jack as an adult, namely the "cleric of the Church of England" mention in his tales of misdeeds. We expressed interest in Davy Jones' crew and where they had come from and what their stories were. Wendy seemed very interested in this and thanked us for our input.
Back: Ridley Pearson, Dave Barry and Greg Call. Front: Alexandrite and Appylady21.
Soon it was time for us to have our few minutes with the three stars. We shook hands and chatted about the possibility of them writing the screenplay for the three novels (ed note: Disney has acquired the rights to the trilogy and is developing an animated feature based on the books). Dave Barry stated that "there are people out there who do that [screenwriting] for a living, and I am not one of them...but it might be fun to try." We chatted with them for a few minutes more and they spoke highly of their treatment by everyone at Walt Disney World.
We also had a short conversation with Greg Call, the illustrator. This was his first time to Walt Disney World and he and his family, from Montana, were in awe of the resort and very happy with the experience Disney was providing for their visit.
The evening was a great time and every fan left satisfied, with an autograph and a smile.
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