Characters Invade Real World in Disney's Free Infinity App

He turns the photo around to reveal a surprise mini-snapshot of the player's face.

In advance of the much-hyped Disney Infinity video game, the company has released Infinity Action, a free promotional app for iPhone (the Android version is coming soon). An impressive little bag of magic tricks, it's definitely worth checking out.

A Sparrow Defends a Cat

The App features two main modes. In the first, you tap and swipe the screen to interact with an impressively animated trio of Disney characters: Sulley, Jack Sparrow and Mr. Incredible. Of the three, Jack Sparrow is, by far, the funniest. Be sure to try the toy props, which include a voice recorder and--even better--a cartoon camera which uses the actual phone lens to allow the character to take a shot of your face. The "goal" of this section is to earn coins for purchasing animated clips for the "Action" section.

He got a cookie for being a good sport (the dog, not Sparrow)

In this second mode, you bring the characters into your home through augmented reality as you stage brief videos combining animation with live footage. It's easy to do, and the results are amazingly smooth. Easily saved to the phone or posted to YouTube or Facebook, each clip is boldly tagged at the end as a Disney Infinity promotion...which, of course, is Disney's reason for creating this free App in the first place.

One warning: Extra coins can be purchased with real money, so make sure that feature's disabled on your phone before handing it over to children. Even without paying a cent, however, there's enough free fun here to make Action a clever little diversion for all Disney fans.

Monsters, Inc. at DCA

Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue is an odd duck of a ride, but a fun experience. Its arrival at Disney California Adventure transformed the site of a short-lived, terrible, embarrassing opening day attraction (Superstar Limo) into a likable retelling of the Pixar film, Monster's, Inc.

As much a patch-job as an original attraction, the Monsters, Inc. dark ride inherited Superstar Limo's vehicles, track layout and flat cutout-style entry facade. Although the stylized front succeeds in helping guests find the ride in its tucked-back corner of DCA's Hollywood Land, I'm not a fan of the "temporary" vibe it creates. If future plans for this area of the park include keeping Monsters, Inc., I hope the Imagineers come up with a different approach for the exterior.

The logical transformation of the old limousines into Monstropolis taxi cabs resulted in a unique quirk for the resort: DCA and Disneyland each now have their own taxi-themed dark ride. Unlike Roger Rabbit's spinning, crazy whirl through a blacklight Toontown noir, however, the Monsters, Inc. dark ride is a slower, gentler journey through a fairly straightfoward narrative, following blue collar monsters Mike and Sulley as they try to return human toddler Boo to her bedroom closet's door. The on-ride "dangers" are very mild, and the film's scariest-looking character, Mr. Waternoose, isn't included at all.

As far as I know, it's also the only Disney dark ride that takes you through a factory restroom, resulting in a true "What the..." moment.