Escape from Tomorrow - Film shot undercover at Disney Parks

[DougMJr]

I couldn't find anything on the forum about this film and, being secretly filmed at Disney, I thought I would make a thread about it.

 

Please note that this is not a documentary, but a fictional and bizarre indi film not suited for families. I have not seen it, but below I have included as much information as I could find on the film. It is scheduled to be released in theaters in major markets on October 11th while simultaneously being released on video on demand services.

 

IMDB Storyline

In a world of fake castles and anthropomorphic rodents, an epic battle begins when an unemployed father's sanity is challenged by a chance encounter with two underage girls on holiday.

 

"Bad things happen everywhere." - The official poster for the low-budget horror film.

A little history on this film. It was written and directed by a man named Randy Moore in complete secrecy. So much so that it is reported that he moved to South Korea for two years to edit the film in in private. Moore strongly encouraged those involved in the making of the film not to talk about it, even to their closest friends, for fear that Disney's team of lawyers would kill the project before it could be completed.

 

Moore is quoted as saying; "It got really tense for a while... My wife knew what I was up to; many friends didn't." The film was completed for less than $1 Million dollars, which was an inheritance from Moore's Grandparents.

 

Crews spent ten days shooting on location at Disney World Florida and two weeks at Disneyland California using consumer-grade cameras (a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV) to avoid detection from Cast Members and park management. Footage from both parks was used in creating the fictional Disney World seen in the film. Additionally, while the credits allegedly mention over 200 people were involved, only small groups of crew members entered the park at any one time to avoid additional attention. Moore went as far to make the camera crew shave off their facial hair and dress in tourist attire.

 

The film required extensive pre-production as once in the parks the entire crew was undercover. Scenes were rehearsed in hotels rooms as they couldn't rehearse on location. Lighting equipment could not be brought into the park, so it was necessary to chart the position of the sun weeks in advance. The film was shot in monochrome because the film crew used low-aperture lenses that, while fast, have a thin depth of view.

 

The crew used mobile phones to communicate and discretely review scripts. Additionally, the phones were used to record sound in addition to digital recorders taped to each actor's body. Soundstages were used for interior shots, some scenes were shot against a green screen, and some scenes were shot at substituted locations allowing for cranes and other production equipment to be utilized.

 

Eight iconic Disney attractions were used in the film, requiring actors to wait in long lines in between takes. The actors rode It's a Small World 12 times to get the scene right and rode the monorail for hours in order to get the timing right. Moore told the New York Times, "I'm surprised the ride operators weren't a little more savvy."

 

Post production was challenging as sound editors had to sort through countless hours of recorded audio to find the dialogue between actors. Disney's proprietary property such as the music from It's a Small World and Soarin' had to be cut and replaced to avoid copyright infringement.

 

The film debuted at Sundance Film festival on January 18th, 2013; and is set to be distributed by Producers Distribution Agency (PDA) to theaters on October 11th. Prior to the premier, Sundance kept the location of the film a secret. Because of this, the first airing of the film was not sold out. However, once word broke out all the subsequent Sundance showings were filled to capacity. Representatives from Disney's legal department were allegedly in attendance during one of the later showings.

 

Drew McWeeny's take on the film.

It is not possible that this film exists. It is not possible that they shot long scripted sequences on the actual rides. It is not possible that I just saw a film in which it is suggested and then shown that the various Disney princesses all work as high-priced hookers who sell their wares to wealthy Asian businessmen. It simply cannot be true.

 

I grew up in Florida, and I have been going to Walt Disney World my entire life. I worked at that park. I've been there as a child, as a teenager, as an employee, and as a parent. I've done Disney sitting on my father's shoulders, and I've done the Disney parks with my kids sitting on my shoulders. It is a huge part of my DNA, and I can tell you that there is no way Randy Moore pulled off what I saw tonight. It is a film that should not exist by any rational definition.

 

And yet ... not only does it exist, but it's fascinating....undisciplined at times, rough around the edges in places, technically uneven, and there's no sense of pacing to it at all. Even so, there is a sort of naive charm that makes it impossible to look away.

 

A short (creepy) clip from the movie.

[youtu_be]http://youtu.be/8NFPQfdlDZY[/youtu_be]

Interview with two of the lead characters.

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

Interview with the main character.

[youtu_be]http://youtu.be/lLIbFPZ_-Vw[/youtu_be]

 

What is your opinion of this film's concept? Were they wrong to film at Disney properties without permission? Do you feel the concept "taints the Disney name?" If this film comes to a theater near you would you pay to see it?

[Garet]

I just saw the advert pop up on a few websites and did a search for this here to see if there was a thread, I'm really suprised this is allowed to be released, all day i've been seeing the disney font with a bloody mickey hand and even my kindergarten students asked if it was a new disney movie when one of them saw it earlier, since the mickey hand and disney font is recognizable by even young korean children i'm sure disney must not be happy.

[gisco]

I have seen stuff pop up on Fandango the other day but no release date. Wonder if they are being sued by Disney or it is the threat of a law suit that keeps the film from being released. Either way I think the film is over hyped.

[Garet]

I have seen stuff pop up on Fandango the other day but no release date. Wonder if they are being sued by Disney or it is the threat of a law suit that keeps the film from being released. Either way I think the film is over hyped.

 

the advert I saw said october 11th on itunes but I ran a search this morning and could see no sign of it.

[Wes]

^ https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/escape-from-tomorrow/id701380122

[Garet]

^ https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/escape-from-tomorrow/id701380122

 

Sorry should have pointed out my itunes is a Uk account, I guess right now it's only on US release.

[Wes]

^ Ahh that makes more sense why you couldn't find it.

[ImmelMatt]

The original poster was so much better than the blatantly taunting second one:

 

 

Truthfully, I am really excited to see it just for the sheer audacity it took to make it. I am surprised Disney did not slap Moore with a cease-and-desist, but I think they are treating this as sour grapes. They will probably be much more strict and watchful of this thing going forward though.

[Wes]

^ Or they are simply biding their time...

[ImmelMatt]

^ For what? They could have slapped him with a C&D at Sundance. They could have slapped him with it before it got a distribution deal. They could have slapped him with it before it was released in theaters and on VOD. They could have slapped him with it at so many points and they still let it get distributed today. What on Earth do they gain from slapping him with a C&D at this point in the game, when it's already gone public?

[Wes]

^ Who knows? It's not like they are oblivious that the movie is out there...but perhaps making a ruckus over it would garner the movie extra publicity and it's easier to let the movie's distribution play out and then go after them.

[Garet]

^ For what? They could have slapped him with a C&D at Sundance. They could have slapped him with it before it got a distribution deal. They could have slapped him with it before it was released in theaters and on VOD. They could have slapped him with it at so many points and they still let it get distributed today. What on Earth do they gain from slapping him with a C&D at this point in the game, when it's already gone public?

 

Considering most things banned from release end up on the internet anyway perhaps they are hoping by just letting it play without fuss it won't gain that much attention, I feel like if disney did try and slap lawsuits and C&D's on it, the media would pick up on it and more people would try and watch it out of curiosity to see what disney was making a fuss about, perhaps by just letting it happen this way they are hoping it will quietly slip away.

 

Edit: Didn't see Wes's post that said pretty much the same thing when I wrote this.

[Mr. Starr]

Just watched this today, interesting film to say the least.

 

I went into it with an open mind, not really knowing what it was about other than the "filmed in the parks" thing. I enjoyed it, for what it was. Kind of hard to understand what is really going on in the film for the first hour or so, but it puts an interesting spin on the idea of the Disney corporation as a whole.

 

I enjoyed the portrayal of the classic ECV guest (an utter idiot), as well as the use of the line "I think you found my hidden mickey!" during a pretty raunchy scene.

 

A lot of it is pretty WTF, but the way it's filmed during the park scenes makes it worth a watch.

[gisco]

Maybe Disney is waiting to see if the film is a success or not. If it starts to make a lot of money they will drag the guy into court. Other wise it might just fade away.

 

The reviews are mixed at best and I for one won't pay $12.99 to see this.

[OISU8P]

I usually ignore topics like this since it usually is not in my interest. However, just coming back from Disney I was a little intrigued to read up on it.

 

I would not blame Disney to steer clear of this one, unless it goes viral and makes a ton of money. Then I would go after every cent he made on the film just on principle.

 

I was reading about his motivation on this and watched the trailers. Other then some nice soft core porn, it looked kind of disturbing on his mental state to go to an extreme like this. I could be wrong and maybe he is just bringing attention to himself to try to be the next big director in Hollywood. (Shock Entertainment)

 

However, if the reason behind his decision to waste a million dollar inheritance on this was because of problems with his daddy.Then he needs to call Dr Phil and get a session.

 

Group me in with the folks that will not be paying to see it.

[cfc]

I think the filmmaker is correct when he says, in the interview video on the first page of this thread, that the best he can hope for is "cult film status." It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Meteornotes]

I'm interested in seeing this, but will probably wait until it's available on On Demand or some similar service. I suspect that the making of the movie is much more interesting than the actual film, though.

 

dt

[cfc]

^That was my thought, too. Sometimes, guerrilla productions like this are just a crashing bore.

[Wes]

^^ You can rent it on iTunes but it's $6.99...

[singemfrc]

I'm interested in seeing this, but will probably wait until it's available on On Demand or some similar service. I suspect that the making of the movie is much more interesting than the actual film, though.

 

dt

[cfc]

I'm interested in seeing this, but will probably wait until it's available on On Demand or some similar service. I suspect that the making of the movie is much more interesting than the actual film, though.

 

dt

 

I did catch this flick over at the Kimball Theatre last night, and I think this is a pretty fair assessment. It's a fairly amusing black comedy for the first hour, but it goes off the rails a bit after that. The cutting between scenes shot in Florida and California is a bit distracting, too, if you have any familiarity with the two Magic Kingdoms.