Edgar and I went to the Buena Vista Home Entertainment DVD release party for Mulan, Aladdin, “Alias” Season Three, Clerks X (10th Anniversary), and Jersey Girl. It was held at The Highlands at the Hollywood and Highland complex in Hollywood. We entered the club, to be greeted by waitresses serving up Blue Hawaiians. Yummmmmmmy stuff – very hard to taste the alcohol. After passing the bellydancers, we entered the main area, where Eric Goldberg was drawing the Genie from Aladdin for people in line. I didn’t get one, but I can email Eric later and see if he’ll be so kind…. There were different stations around the food, showing off the DVDs. There were also people behind screens who looked like Jay and Silent Bob, dancing to music. Wowza. We got some food, which was quite good (half Asian, and half Middle-Eastern), and then after milling around for a bit, they had the big DVD presentation.
There were a few guests on hand to promote the DVDs. They had actress (and fellow CMU alumni) Ming-Na talk about her role in Mulan. They had Eric Goldberg (who animated the Genie) and composer Alan Menken to promote Aladdin. They had “Alias” creator and upcoming Mission: Impossible 3 director J.J. Abrams talk about the Season 3 DVD set. Then they had director/actor/writer Kevin Smith come out to talk about Clerks and Jersey Girl Smith was by far the most entertaining of the bunch. His near constant use of vulgarity and bluntness towards the Hollywood establishment was truly delightful to behold. And he was pretty frank regarding Jersey Girl. Then they opened up the floor to Q&A. You could tell the executives were getting nervous when most of the questions veered off to Superman and how since both Smith and Abrams had written scripts, what did they think about it, etc. Smith blasted Tim Burton. Uh oh. Then they talked about M:I 3. The biggest thing I can say is that Kevin Smith is definitely someone who can speak to an audience, and he gives them what he wants. I’d go see him speak anytime!
When it ended, we got some dessert and coffee, and then picked up our swag – err… goodie bag – on the way out. Unbelievable. The only DVDs they gave us were Jersey Girl and Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers. Whee. Sure, I got an “Alias” coffee thermos mug with $5 Starbucks gift card, and a Clerks hockey jersey, and an Aladdin scarab, mousepad, and limited framed artwork, and a Jersey Girl velcro shammy skirt thingy (big pants?? I don’t even want to know!), and a Mulan Chinese lantern, umbrella, framed artwork, and box of fortune cookies, and it all came in a nice canvas tote bag – but where were the good DVDs? Where was my Aladdin? Where was my “Alias”?? I could sell all this swag for more than the DVDs cost…. so why not just give us the DVDs so we can see them? Ah well. It was still a really fun night, and I’m grateful for the goodies!