This column probably should be titled “Discover Your Inner Elvis,” but it’s been fun using strange titles lately, so let’s go for one more.  On the serious side, EPE has chosen an excellent title for their new national promotion, and the advertising plan they have developed for it is most impressive.  “Discover Your Inner Elvis” is something you are going to see and hear a lot in 2007.

On Monday, April 16, EPE announced a comprehensive campaign covering TV, radio, print, and the Internet.  The complete press release is posted at www.elvis.com/news/full_story.asp?id=1222.   It describes how the “’Discover Your Inner Elvis” campaign is designed to get more people to visit Graceland.  Read closely and you will note that Graceland is referred to as a pop-culture travel destination the whole family can enjoy.

I love that tag.  A Pop-Culture Travel Destination.  Let’s see, what else is in that category?  Universal Studios Florida?  Disney World?  Dollywood?  Is Graceland morphing into a theme park?  I hope so.  The more attractions the better.  Stagger their openings over several years and give us fans the incentive to come back frequently.  With all the land EPE has bought around the mansion, you know new stuff is coming.  And you can count on this to include a couple of features for the kiddies.

EPE figures they already have a great destination, and the “Discover Your Inner Elvis” campaign is going to coax a lot of folks to visit Graceland. It features 30 and 60 second TV spots that will run on cable networks including Lifetime, Oxygen, Soap, HGTV, Food, Style, E!, and Discovery.  In addition, coverage will be placed on local channels in six or more major markets.

So, how do the TV spots encourage the viewers to discover their inner Elvis?  They take a stereotypical “soccer mom” wearing an Elvis jumpsuit and insert her into Elvis’ role on stage in the original Aloha From Hawaii concert footage.  After she struts around doing familiar Elvis moves and a karate kick, we realize this is a dream sequence as the scene dissolves back to her in front of the American Eagle jumpsuit display at Graceland.

If you would like to see these very nicely done spots, click on http://www.elvis.com/discover/ and have some fun.  After viewing them (and the original Aloha From Hawaii footage used in their production), you may wonder how they took Elvis out of the film and added the soccer mom.  It involves two interesting technologies called green screen and rotoscoping.  The actress was filmed in front of a large green screen.  It was a simple matter to delete the background from the film, leaving just her image ready to be inserted into the archival footage.

However, getting Elvis out of that old film was a tedious process.  Rotoscoping has been around since at least 1993 when it was used to remove Humphrey Bogart from an old movie, so he could be inserted into the Arnold Schwarzenegger flick Last Action Hero.  If it is still done the way they described it in a magazine article back then, computer jockeys display a single frame of film on a large monitor.  The image is overlaid with a grid dividing it into nine segments.  Then, they work on one segment at a time, blown up to full screen, and divided into many tiny squares in a tight grid.

At this point, they can go one of two ways.  If every square beyond Elvis’ image is highlighted and deleted, you have just Elvis left.  If every square inside Elvis’ image is highlighted and deleted, Elvis definitely has left the building.

The tedious part is that there are nine segments per frame of film, and there are twenty-four frames per second of viewing time.  So, it took a while, but they did take Elvis out of the Aloha footage.  To fill in the gaps created, they connect and blend the images on either side of the gap.  It’s not perfect, but it does fine when the image of the soccer mom is inserted over it.

We can probably look forward to seeing more re-edited film of Elvis.  The rotoscope technique makes just about anything possible.  We’ve already had Dolly Parton riding in a convertible with Elvis in that Tennessee tourism spot.  They rotoscoped Shelly Fabares out of Clambake footage and inserted Dolly.  Check it out at http://www.elvis.com/graceland/special/video_elvis-dolly.asp.

And, there is the BBC Radio 2 commercial with Elvis introducing a fantasy all-star band playing behind him.  The bandmates include Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow, Jimmy Page, Keith Moon, and Marvin Gaye.  You can catch that one at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/elvis/.

Remember the videos of Natalie Cole or Hank Williams Jr. singing duets with their long-dead fathers?  Wouldn’t it be fun to see young Elvis from the Ed Sullivan footage doing a duet with Elvis wearing the American Eagle jumpsuit from Aloha?  With all the hours and hours of Elvis on film, the possibilities are endless.

So, maybe “Elvis Gets Rotoscoped” is not only a good title for this article, but also a prediction of the future.

Well, Graceland has come up with one more thing for us to spend our money on when we get to Memphis – and I will be glad to do it.  I can’t wait to see the new exhibit of 58 jumpsuits.  Wonder why it took them so long to think of this great idea?  It’s a natural.

Of course, they also have an exhibit catalog we can purchase, and I’m up for that, too.  The elvis.com website shows what a couple of pages look like, and they are first class.  Very nice photos, including close-ups showing the intricate design on the flared pants leg and the back.  The exhibit book will be a great keepsake.

They have created an official logo for the exhibit, and I would post it here on Elvisblog if I weren’t afraid of getting in trouble.  There is a color scheme on it, as well as on the exhibit backdrops and the surround design.  Remember the red, gold, and orange circles in the Aloha From Hawaii backdrop?  They’re back at Elvis Jumpsuits: All Access.

Here are some quotes from Graceland staff about the exhibit:

Amy - Graphic Design:  “To be so close to the costumes and see the detail and workmanship that went into these suits [is] just amazing.”

Kevin - Media:  “Our new exhibit is one that REALLY has the WOW factor… These stage costumes are truly works of art and an important piece of pop culture.”

Angie - Archives:  “I found the perfect Elvis quote to open the exhibit.  It’s from [1970 movie] That’s The Way It Is.

Elvis - Special Contributor:  “If the songs don’t go over, then we can always do a medley of costumes.”

Kevin in media also mentions the stories behind the names of the jumpsuits, including his favorites, the King of Spades and the Dragon.  Many of the jumpsuits have been named by the fans, causing a few to be multi-named, like the Burning Love/Matador/Red Pinwheel suit.

Graceland owns a total of 88 Elvis jumpsuits out of the approximately 120 he wore from 1969 to 1977.  Fans can also see eight more in the Graceland racquetball court, four more in the trophy building, and two in the Elvis After Dark Museum.  There are at least twenty jumpsuits we will never see because they are in the hands of private collectors.

As we all know, Elvis was a lot thinner in 1969 than he was in July 1977 (in that famous Aztec suit).  It is not surprising to learn that Elvis’ belt size grew from 32 inches to 38 inches during that period.

There is one thing about Elvis Jumpsuits: All Access that disappoints me.  It is housed where the Elvis ‘56 exhibit used to be.  This was one thing I looked forward to seeing during Elvis Week 2007, but it won’t happen.  The Elvis ‘56 exhibit opened on March 20, 2006, so we fans had just one year to catch it.  Elvis Jumpsuits is scheduled to stay open for only two years.  It appears that EPE now has enough memorabilia in their growing collection to do rotating exhibits.  That will certainly reward those loyal folks who visit Graceland every year, and it may induce the rest of us to go more frequently.  Good marketing, but I’m still bummed about missing Elvis ’56.

Oh well, seeing Elvis Jumpsuits: All Access will help ease the pain.

©  2007   Philip R Arnold   All Rights Reserved    www.elvisblog.net

A few months back, I researched an article for Elvisblog, but I didn’t write it because it seemed like there had to be another chapter of the story yet to come.  Well, finally this week, the missing piece was announced.  The famous Zippin Pippin roller coaster was sold to the tourism bureau in Roanoke Rapids, a small city in North Carolina.  It will ultimately be part of a very big project taking shape just off I-95 a few miles south of the Virginia border.

When it is completed, the Carolina Crossroads music and entertainment district will be a 1,000-acre tourist destination complete with water rides, a 1,500-seat music theater, a quaint shopping village, and Elvis’ much beloved Zippin Pippin.  Carolina Crossroads will be operated by Randy Parton, brother of country music superstar Dolly Parton, who operates Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN.

The Zippin Pippin had long been the top attraction at Libertyland, a Memphis amusement park that suffered from falling attendance and financial losses in recent years.  A sign at Libertyland proclaimed, “The King rented Libertyland August 8, 1977 from 1:15 am to 7 am to entertain a group of about 10 guests.  Decked in a blue jumpsuit and black leather belt, huge belt buckle with turquoise studs and gold chains, the King rode the Zippin Pippin repeatedly during a two-hour period… Elvis’ Libertyland rental became his last public appearance.  He died on August 16, 1977.”

According to www.elvispresleynews.com, in 2002, Joe Esposito related a story about Elvis at Libertyland: “His favorite joke was to ride the Zippin Pippin to the top and get the attendant to stop the cart at the top where he would get off and hide.  When the cart returned and Elvis was not there, everyone not in on the joke would freak out, thinking Elvis had fallen out.”

The Zippin Pippin is a 3,000-foot wooden roller coaster originally built in Memphis in 1912.  In 1923, it was dismantled and moved across town to the horsetrack in Montgomery Park, later known as the Mid-South Fairgrounds.  In 1976, many other rides and attractions were added to the property, and it was reopened as Libertyland.

After losing about $600,000 annually in recent years, Libertyland closed on October 29, 2005, and everything went on the auction block on June 21, 2006.  The winning bid on the Zippin Pippin was made by Steven Shutts and Robert Reynolds, owners of the Honky Tonk Hall of Fame & Rock-N-Roll Roadshow, a traveling collection of country and rock memorabilia.  Shutts and Reynolds really wanted to buy only the lead car in the train, the one Elvis always commandeered when he and the gang rode the Pippin.

However, the auction rules required all bids to cover the entire structure and all the cars.  Shutts and Reynolds had planned to go as high as $2,500 for Elvis’ lead car, so that’s what they bid for the whole works.  And they got it.  While other, more compact rides garnered as much as $170,000, the Zippin Pippin held little value for potential bidders, because of the logistical nightmare required by the auction rules -- dismantling the entire structure and removing it within 30 days.  Obviously, Shutts and Reynolds did extensive negotiations with Libertyland, because the roller coaster is still there.  Now, it looks like things worked out well for everybody concerned (except for some die-hard Memphis folks still trying to keep the coaster there). 

Carolina Crossroads is delighted to be getting the Zippin Pippin.  Roller coaster enthusiasts are pleased that wrecking crews won’t demolish the country’s second oldest operating wooden coaster.  Memphis can redevelop their valuable mid-town property.  And Shutts and Reynolds most likely made a few bucks on the deal, although they aren’t saying what the sales price was.

I’ll venture a guess that they held on to Elvis’ lead car and it will become a prominent part of the Honky Tonk Hall of Fame & Rock-N-Roll Roadshow. As it travels around the country to conventions, college events, grand openings, etc., it offers photo opportunities featuring some of the memorabilia.  If they offered you a chance to be photographed in Elvis’ Zippin Pippin roller coaster car, wouldn’t you go for it?  I would!

©   2006   Philip R Arnold   All Rights Reserved   www.elvisblog.net

The King’s Chamber – sounds like something archeologists discovered in an ancient pyramid, doesn’t it?  Or maybe, the secret boudoir of a medieval monarch?  Well, this is Elvisblog you are reading, so you’ve already guessed the King in question is Elvis.

If you ever plan a pilgrimage to Memphis to revel in all-things-Elvis, put the King’s Chamber on your ‘don’t miss’ list.  It will give you one more reason to experience famous Beale Street, because the King’s Chamber is located right in the action – on the second floor of the Hard Rock Cafe.   According to Giovanni Taliaferro, the Hard Rock international memorabilia designer, “We wanted to pay tribute to the King by creating an exclusive section in our café where guests would be surrounded by Elvis memorabilia… our King’s Chamber.”

Last October 1, the Memphis Hard Rock Cafe unveiled its extensively remodeled mezzanine level, proudly displaying 100% Elvis memorabilia.  Remember the denim jacket Elvis wore in the movie, “Jailhouse Rock?"  It’s in the Kings Chamber.  So are the outfits from two other movies and a two-piece jumpsuit from 1972 Las Vegas performances.  These three are housed in self-contained, dramatically lit display cases built into large vertical support columns.

There are Elvis hats and belts, and believe it or not, even a tissue holder and wastebasket from the house he rented in Beverly Hills during the movie years.  (Elvis memorabilia knows no limits.  The Honky-Tonk Hall of Fame & Rock-N-Roll Roadshow has a pair of Elvis’ underwear on display.)

The guitarists who played with Elvis are represented in the King's Chamber as well.  The Memphis Hard Rock’s mezzanine features both Scotty Moore and James Burton guitars.  You wouldn't expect to see a tank banner, but they have one from Company D, 1^st Battalion, 32nd Armor Division, that Elvis signed while stationed in Germany. 

To adorn the stairwell going up to the King’s Chamber they have created a progression through Elvis’ life.  Designer Taliaferro expressed thanks to Elvis Presley Enterprises for some rare photos of Elvis, along with historical information, so you know they got some good stuff.

It sounds like the King’s Chamber is a permanent feature of the Memphis Hard Rock Cafe, hopefully with the occasional rotation of items.  So, if you get to Elvis Week 2007, be sure to check it out.  Otherwise, whenever you do visit Memphis in the future, the King’s Chamber will be waiting for you.

Elvis fans come in many forms, including an extremely rich English aristocrat who lives in a castle.  His name is Sir Benjamin Slade, and he has a substantial Elvis collection.  One of his more recent additions was a rare 1909 teddy bear from famous German manufacturer Steiff.  A teddy bear with that pedigree has intrinsic collectible value, but Elvis owned this one for a while, which made it even more valuable.

Sir Benjamin purchased the teddy bear, named Mabel, at auction in Memphis for $75,000.  However, he didn’t keep it long.  In a very generous move, he loaned Mabel to a nearby tourist attraction that was assembling an exhibition of rare teddy bears.  Mabel joined the British Bear Collection from Barnwell Castle, the Wareham Bears from Dorset, and others.  The total insured value of these combined loaner bears was $900,000.

The insurance company insisted on 24-hour-uniformed security with highly trained guard dogs.   Security Guard Greg West was on duty when Mabel the bear showed up at the exhibition area.  His canine partner of six years was a Doberman named Barney.

All the most valuable bears in the collection were kept inside glass cases.  However, Mabel needed some prep work, so she was left on a large worktable.  Greg West came strolling through with Barney the Doberman, who was not on a leash.  Seeing Mabel laying there belly-up, West could not resist giving her a stroke and saying what a nice little bear she was.  Barney saw this and freaked out.

In a jealous rage, he attacked Mabel and tore her head off.  The ninety-seven-year-old, $75,000 Steiff teddy bear that Elvis once owned was decapitated – by the guard dog.  Uh oh.  Barney must have liked the taste of stuffing, because he went on to tear up several other bears worth another $25,000.

The insurance company can’t be too happy about having to pay this claim, and Sir Benjamin is really mad.  Who can blame him? 

There is something ironic about this strange story.  Perhaps you noticed.  This is the second Elvis story involving a security guard named West that didn’t turn out so well.  Hopefully, Greg West won’t try to emulate Red West and publish a tell-all book titled “Barney: What Happened?”

The attraction where all this took place is Wookey Hole Caves near Somerset.  How’s that for a name?  Their website boasts that Wookey Hole has 300,000 visitors a year and is “the most stunning underground caverns in the British Isles."  In addition, the Wookey Hole attractions include: Dinosaur Valley (20 life-size dinosaurs), Victorian Arcade (large collection of Edwardian Arcade machines you can play), Pirates of the River Axe (pirate ship game area involving nerf cannonballs), Magical Mirror Maze (distorted mirrors plus a maze you try to navigate through), and Enchanted Fairy Garden, (a river trail where you encounter fairies, elves, and dragons).

What Wookey Hole doesn’t have anymore is Barney the guard dog – and probably not Mabel the Elvis bear either, if Sir Benjamin has any sense.

Recent press reports announced the start of construction on a world-class theme park in Myrtle Beach, SC.  The intriguing part of this news is that the folks at Hard Rock Café are building it, and it will be a rock & roll themed attraction.  Covering 150 acres and costing $400 million, Hard Rock Park is scheduled to open in spring 2008.

According to company executives, Hard Rock Park will be an “evolution of theme parks” and a place to “showcase some of the finest pieces of rock memorabilia.”  Although it will be designed to appeal to the whole family, it will have a strong food and beverage component, including alcohol.  Of course, it will have a large concert arena that will feature headline entertainment.

The announcement said Hard Rock Park would have six themed areas but did not give any details.  Certainly, one of them would have to have an Elvis theme.  If Disneyland has Fantasyland, Frontierland, and Tomorrowland, Hard Rock Park needs to have Elvisland.

It’s been fun thinking about a possible Elvisland and to imagine what Elvis songs and movie titles would lend themselves to rides and other attractions.  Here’s my list:

Roller Coaster             All Shook Up:  This was just too easy.  What could be better than “All Shook Up?”  It certainly describes me after a roller coaster ride.

Flume Ride                 Kentucky Rain:  Not too many Elvis songs mention water, but this would work for a ride where you get soaking wet.

Go Kart Course            Speedway:  All the female staff could wear short outfits and boots like Nancy Sinatra’s in the movie.-

Dark Ride                    Mystery Train:  Dark Ride is park terminology originally used for things like haunted house rides, but it has evolved into spectacles like Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones.  With “Mystery Train” the designers could do anything their imaginations conjure up.

Animatronic Ride        Wild In The Country:  That movie title didn’t refer to woodland critters, but the ride’s designers could come up with a kiddy ride that works with the theme.

Ferris Wheel               Roustabout:  The name may be a stretch, but there was a Ferris Wheel in the movie, and it had a part in one of the sub-plots.

Swing Ride                 Easy Come, Easy Go:  The most popular swing ride is the pirate ship that arcs back and forth to ridiculous heights.  “Easy Come, Easy Go” vaguely invokes an image of pendulum-like movement.  The boat could be the Port Of Call, the sunken treasure ship in the movie.

Bumper Cars               Spinout:  That’s perfect.

Carousel                      Teddy Bear:  This would work if the traditional horses are replaced with big cuddly bears.

Scenic Boat Ride        Paradise, Hawaiian Style:  Once again, the title leaves the door open for the designers to create just about anything.

Of course, if Elvisland is to have a stage show, here’s a natural:

Good Rockin’ Tonight.”  One of the many shops could sell jewelry

and be called “Wear My Ring Around Your Neck.”  And finally, one of 

the restaurants could be called “Fried Peanut Butter and ‘Nanners.”  It

probably should be an all-you-can-eat buffet.

In a year or two, we will return to this subject to see if there is an

Elvisland and whether any of these names are on the rides at Hard

Rock Park.  Remember,you heard it here first.

©  2006   Philip R Arnold   www.elvisblog.net

When it comes to guiding the career of Elvis Presley, Robert Sillerman is about to make Col. Parker look like an amateur.  Mr. Sillerman’s company, SKX, owns EPE, through which he has made a brilliant move --  a joint venture with Cirque du Soleil to develop something called ELVIS PRESLEY PROJECTS.

First, just in case you are not familiar with Cirque du Soleil, let me fill you in.  It is one of the most amazing entertainment spectaculars in Las Vegas, a city filled with dozens of them.  Cirque du Soleil has distinction because there are four different, permanent shows going on at some of the biggest hotel/casinos on the strip:  Mystère at Treasure Island (since 1994), O at the Bellagio (water circus), KA at MGM Grand, and Zumanity at New York, New York.

Show number five will be LOVE, celebrating the musical legacy of the Beatles.  It starts June 2 at the Mirage Hotel.  This is going to be great, at least if the show is like what’s on the two video clips at the Cirque du Soleil website.

Do you think Mr. Sillerman figured that if they could do it with the Beatles, they could do it with Elvis, too?  Good call.  I love it.  This is the most exciting news.  Reading deeply into the press release, you learn that each ELVIS PRESLEY PROJECT will contain three elements;

• Permanent shows at fixed locations.  Las Vegas is apparently out of the running in the near future, so you have to wonder where the first one will be.  My guess would be Toronto (easily reached by millions of Americans) or Tokyo (a hotbed of Elvis interest).
• Touring shows.  Cirque du Soleil currently has six touring companies, all doing shows with their own themes.  They travel all over North America, Europe, and Asia.
• Elvis Experiences – multimedia interactive entertainment that incorporates the likeness and music of Elvis Presley.

 This is the one that has me psyched.  ELVIS EXPERIENCES.  Bring it on.  How much are tickets?  I have no idea what this multimedia interactive experience will be, but with the geniuses at Cirque du Soleil creating it, I know it will be great.  Here’s what Mr. Sillerman says:  “Cirque du Soleil remains one of the most stunning and exciting experiences on the planet and brings the creative genius needed to produce shows and multimedia events that capture the true Elvis Presley.”

It is possible to get a sense of how different and wonderful the permanent (and touring) Elvis shows could be.  Just click on the Cirque du Soleil / Beatles website: www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/love/intro/intro.htm.  When it opens, watch the “Sneak Preview.”  When you finish that, click on the “About The Show” link and then click on “Costumes” for another video.  Finally, there are thirteen still photos you will want to check out.

It may be a bit harder to build a show around Elvis than the Beatles.  They had such strange, wonderful, complex songs during the last few years of their career.  You will see on the video clips how songs like “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and “Octopus’s Garden” are perfect for Cirque du Soleil adaptation.  It may be more difficult with “Don’t Be Cruel” or  “Hound Dog,” but you know they’ll come up with something very cool for “All Shook Up” and "Viva Las Vegas."

Thank you, Mr Sillerman.

©  2006   Philip R Arnold    www.elvisblog.net

Sorry, too late.  You had your chance last weekend at the huge Elvis memorabilia auction in Beverly Hills, CA.  They even gave it a fancy name: The Elvis Empire Auction.  Everything up for bid came from the private collection of superfan Jim Curtain, and it cleared him over $2 Million.  This interesting man deserves an Elvisblog article in a week or so, but space today permits only a discussion of the items up for sale.

Regency-Superior, the auction company, has a website which as of this moment still contains pictures and descriptions of all 1213 lots and the expected range the bidding would reach for each.  Surely, at some point, they will end this link to a completed auction, so if you would like a look at all the Elvis goodies Jim Curtain amassed, don’t wait too long to click on: www.liveauctioneers.com/catalogs/8507-50.html.

And be prepared to spend a lot of time as you scroll down through the incredible selection of Elvis memorabilia.  You will be tempted to click on many of the items to see a much larger picture.  Even better, there are detailed descriptions of each item written in a pleasant conversational manner.  You will be tempted to spend hours on the site.  I sure did.

On the very first page you will find the two Elvis jumpsuits that were sold.  Have you ever heard of the “Nail Mirror Suit,” so named for the 1500 brass and mirror disks that adorn this creation?  It had an estimate of $250-300,000 but went for a mere $125,000.  The other jumpsuit is a two-piece dark blue outfit that I don’t think I have ever seen in photos before.  I’m not sure why, but the estimate was much less at just $150-200,000, and it sold for only $50,000.

News reports gave the selling price of just one other item: two ticket stubs from the October 28, 1956 Ed Sullivan Show, Elvis’ second appearance on the program.  They are nicely displayed in a frame with a background picture of Ed Sullivan (but not Elvis) on stage.  They went for $19,000.  Wow!  If I had that kind of money, I’d spend it on some stuff autographed by Elvis.  The auction included all sorts of things signed by him, and the estimates ranged from $500 to $2000.

One reason I spent so much time on the auction website is because I was hoping it included a bootleg Elvis album I own: “The Burbank Sessions.”  This is the audio recording from the famous unplugged pit session of the ’68 Comeback Special, and I have never known what it’s worth.  The good news is that it was there and estimated at $450-500.  The bad news is that I have only Vol. 1 of a 2-volume set, it is not still sealed, and it no longer contains the bonus souvenir book.  Oh, well.

One last note.  As you scroll down through the Elvis records, you might think it is just records from there to the end because there are a ton of them.  Wrong.  If you don’t scroll on past the records, you will miss a lot of cool items.

©  2006   Philip R Arnold   www.elvisblog.net