Fabanistas: Here’s a powerfully entertaining home video, some super sleuthing for you to do, a giveaway because those are so fun to do and some really swell events on the horizon! Don’t miss out, read through for your chance to attend an amazing evening with a beloved legend.

A Chat with The Finest Hours’ Graham McTavish

Incredible rescue story starring Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster and Eric Bana comes home May 24th.

The Finest Hours storms home on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, Digital HD, Disney Movies Anywhere, and packaged with a host of bonus features including an all-new documentary with a look at the true life heroes behind the story, making-of featurettes and deleted scenes.

Graham Outlander Promo

I got the chance to chat on the phone yesterday with actor Graham McTavish, whose work you’ve probably seen on Outlander (see photo above) or in a ton of films, including Creed and Rambo, making him the only actor to have worked opposite Stallone in both his Rocky and Rambo personas. Stump the experts with THAT trivia question! He was also in The Hobbit, fell in love with New Zealand, and moved there with his family, but ended up having to spend quite a bit of time on the East Coast of the US, with Finest Hours and also Creed shooting there.

The Finest Hours was shot as often as possible on or near original locations, using practical effects – causing the cast and crew to nickname it “The Finest Showers” as they spent many of their hours drenched. McTavish said that they also had them working in a huge model of the broken ship that was on a gimbel to make it move realistically (they are maneuvering, essentially, half of a ship through a nor’easter) while having 10,000 gallons of water thrown over them.

McTavish FA15

What really impressed him the most, however, was the indomitable human spirit. No one stood up to be a hero. This wasn’t even the A rescue team – they had gone to save another ship that had split in half when the call came in about the Pendleton. One of the survivors came to visit the set and was very modest and quiet about it. He said he was just doing what had to be done. They went out, they didn’t expect to come back. Back in those days, you just got up and did it. Things are different now.

“In the Coast Guard they say you have to go out… they don’t say you have to come back in.” —Bernie Webber, Petty Officer First Class, U.S. Coast Guard.

You can pre-order The Finest Hours HERE. 

“THE FINEST HOURS,” a heroic action-thriller based on the true story of a 1952 U.S. Coast Guard rescue, stars Chris Pine (the “Star Trek” films), Academy Award® and Golden Globe® nominee Casey Affleck (“Interstellar”), Ben Foster (“3:10 to Yuma”) and Eric Bana (“Lone Survivor”), “THE FINEST HOURS” makes its in-home debut packaged with a host of bonus features about the making of the movie and the remarkable true-life events that inspired it.

Based on the acclaimed non-fiction book of the same name by Casey Sherman and Michael J. Tougias, viewers can enjoy diving into the thrilling eye of the storm with: An all-new documentary  “Against All Odds: The Bernie Webber Story,” in which real-life residents of Chatham recall the events that set the stage for the film’s historic rescue mission; Four making-of featurettes highlighting cast members experiences and reflections by members of the U.S. Coast Guard; as well as two never-before-shared Deleted Scenes. 

BONUS FEATURES*:

Blu-ray Combo Pack, Digital HD, Digital SD, Disney Movies Anywhere

  • AGAINST ALL ODDS: THE BERNIE WEBBER STORY – Visit the quaint and close-knit town of Chatham, and experience the events surrounding the most heroic Coast Guard rescue ever through the eyes of the people who witnessed them.
  • BROTHERHOOD – Cast members reflect on the bonds they forged during the shoot.
  • TWO CREWS – Chris Pine and Casey Affleck share insights into Bernie Webber and Ray Sybert, men who led their respective crews against all odds.
  • WHAT IS YOUR FINEST HOUR? – A Coast Guard member recounts an incredible rescue.
  • THE FINEST INSPIRATION: THE U.S. COAST GUARD Meet the people who put their lives on the line for others.
  • DELETED SCENES:
    • A Desperate Idea
    • The Story of How They Met

 DVD 

  • BROTHERHOOD
  • THE FINEST INSPIRATION: THE U.S. COAST GUARD

*Bonus Features may vary by retailer

Fab News is sponsored by my Patreon Patrons and DVCResaleMarket.com

A Preview of Coming Attractions Events for Illinois!

Here’s something for our Chicago friends. Two amazing events in the Windy City on June 26th. A creativity festival in front of the Walt Disney Birthplace in the morning and an evening with Dick Van Dyke in the historic Tivoli Theater in the evening. Anyone want to share some frequent flyer miles with me? This sounds absolutely enchanting!

Contest: WIN Two Tickets to An Evening with Floyd Norman!

There are legends and then there are LEGENDS! Floyd Norman is the latter. You simply couldn’t find a nicer guy and he tells some great stories. If you can make it to North Hollywood on May 24th, don’t miss this event. But I’ll sweeten the deal for you, here’s an opportunity to win two tickets!

Tickets to an Evening with Floyd Norman HERE

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winners will be chosen tonight at midnight. Learn more about Frances the Fish at francesthefish.org .

And if you’d like a great deal on tickets whether you win above or not, we are offering a special $20 ticket today only. Use promo code:  fishfry

Don’t miss out, sign up today!  http://mcch.at/FloydNormanEvent

Dayton Disneyana is Up Ahead!

I keep hearing from friends, acquaintances and ex-husbands how much fun Dayton Disneyana is, Some year, I will make it there. This year, it’s June 11-12 in Fairborn, OH. I hope you can make it. Their website is www.daytondisneyana.org. The photos and stories every year are fantastic. If you can make it, GO!
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A Dear Fabby Mystery of the Disney Kind!

These look like Mid-Century display art to me, except they’re framed. Maybe mass-produced art for kids’ rooms? Somebody out there HAS to know, right? Or knows someone who might know?

Shelly,
I enjoy your updates on the Disney activities coast to coast and know you have a thing for the art side of things.  I was hoping you could help me with a little research on something I just bought at a yard sale.
I’ve attached some photos of 2 cut paper “collages”.  One is Bambi and the other Donald/Daisy.   They are both made of construction paper and are just layered on top of each other.  Neither are signed and the person I got them from said they were her Mom’s but didn’t have any other information.  They are 36″ x 26″, so fairly large.  They are full of detail.   I can’t seem to find anything on the internet about them and was hoping it might ring a bell.
Hope you are feeling better and thanks a lot in advance for any light you might be able to shed on these works of art.
Thanks……Bob Stosch

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Wow, those Donald and Daisy ones are fantastic. Let us know if the comments if you have information about these pieces!

Thank You!

Thanks to my Patreon Patrons (click on that link to learn how you can become one) and to DVCResaleMarket.com for your support. Can’t do it without you. Please keep commenting, asking questions, emailing, Twittering, Facebooking, Tumblring, Instagramming, Pinteresting and Everythingelsing. I love it! And you!

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Disney Vacation Club points are difficult enough to understand alone, even without the different value seasons, different resort points “prices”, different room point “costs”, and even different rules depending on WHEN you bought your points. Let Nick Cotton and his team of experts at DVCResaleMarket.com help you learn everything there is to know about DVC points, and you’ll become an expert yourself in no time. It’s your vacation dollar…don’t you want to get the most for it? Contact DVCResaleMarket for free information today.

When Will I See You Again? Ask Mouseaddict!

Mouseaddict will send you an alert whenever Fab News or a Fab News EXTRA! is published, so you’ll never miss a thing. It lets you know when all of your favorite MiceChat columnists have something new up so you can read it right away – right there in the app! Best of all, the app itself is FREE and does so. Much. More…like tell you which areas of the parks in California are the most crowded (if it’s red, you may be dead!) and for a little bit extra, you can use WaitWatcher and Tomorrowplan to make long waits a thing of Yesterland! mouseaddict-mc-logo

Dear Fabby Mystery, Fab News: A Dear Fabby Mystery of the Disney KindDear Fabby Mystery, Fab News: A Dear Fabby Mystery of the Disney Kind If you want to reach me I’m on Twitter, on Facebook, and also available at [email protected] . If you’d like to support Fab News, I’d appreciate it. You can pledge a dollar or more a month through Patreon or you can make a one-time donation of a dollar or more through Square. Just click on the banners below. Thanks!
FTC-Mandated Disclosure: Sponsorship for this edition of Fab News was provided by DVC Resale Market.

 

 

 

 

Michelle Valladolid
Shelly Valladolid, aka Fab, has been writing about Disney and theme parks for about two decades. She has written for various fan and pop culture sites, Disney Magazine and OCRegister.com and participated in several books, including Passporter's Disneyland and Southern California and Disney World Dreams. She was co-founder and president of the Orlando, Florida chapter of the NFFC (now Disneyana Fan Club). She taught a class on theme park history at a Southern California University. She is creator and co-owner of Jim Hill Media, one of the creators of MousePlanet and was a consultant on MSNBC, The Motley Fool and others about Disney and various media matters. She was a Heel wrestling manager on TV and a voice artist on the radio in Honolulu, HI, where she grew up. She has a blog and a podcast with her daughter, Mission:Breakout Obsessive Alice Hill. She and her husband, MiceChat columnist Noe Valladolid, live in Southern California with Alice.