diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index a59390c2..2b6451ca 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -8,99 +8,21 @@
 language: python
 
 python:
-    - 2.6
-    - "2.7_with_system_site_packages"
-    - 3.2
-    - 3.3
-    - 3.4
-
-env:
-    WHEELHOUSE="--no-index --find-links=http://wheels.scikit-image.org/"
+- 2.6
+- "2.7_with_system_site_packages"
+- 3.2
+- 3.3
+- 3.4
 
 before_install:
-    - export DISPLAY=:99.0
-    - sh -e /etc/init.d/xvfb start
-    - sudo apt-get update
-
-    - travis_retry pip install wheel flake8 coveralls nose
-    - travis_retry pip uninstall -y numpy
-
-    # on Python 2.7, use the system versions of numpy, scipy, and matplotlib
-    # and the minimum version of cython and networkx
-    -   if [[  $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == 2.7* ]]; then
-            travis_retry sudo apt-get install python-scipy python-matplotlib;
-            pip install https://github.com/cython/cython/archive/0.19.2.tar.gz;
-            pip install https://github.com/networkx/networkx/archive/networkx-1.8.tar.gz;
-        fi
-
-    - travis_retry pip install -r requirements.txt $WHEELHOUSE;
-    - python check_bento_build.py
+    - tools/travis_setup.sh
 
 install:
-    - tools/header.py "Dependency versions"
-    - tools/build_versions.py
-    - export PYTHONWARNINGS=all
     - python setup.py build_ext --inplace
+    - python setup.py install
 
 script:
-    - tools/header.py "Run all tests with minimum dependencies"
-    - nosetests --exe -v skimage
-
-    - tools/header.py "Pep8 and Flake tests"
-    - flake8 --exit-zero --exclude=test_*,six.py skimage doc/examples viewer_examples
-
-    - tools/header.py "Install optional dependencies"
-
-    # Install Qt and then update the Matplotlib settings
-    -   if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == 2.7* ]]; then
-            sudo apt-get install -q python-qt4;
-            export SCI_QT_API=PyQt4;
-
-        else
-            sudo apt-get install -q libqt4-dev;
-             travis_retry pip install PySide $WHEELHOUSE;
-             python ~/virtualenv/python${TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION}/bin/pyside_postinstall.py -install;
-             export SCI_QT_API=Pyside;
-        fi
-
-    # Matplotlib settings - must be after we install Pyside
-    - export MPL_DIR=$HOME/.config/matplotlib
-    - mkdir -p $MPL_DIR
-    - touch $MPL_DIR/matplotlibrc
-    - "echo 'backend : Agg' > $MPL_DIR/matplotlibrc"
-    - "echo 'backend.qt4 : '$SCI_QT_API >> $MPL_DIR/matplotlibrc"
-
-    # - imread does NOT support py3.2
-    -   if [[  $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION != 3.2 ]]; then
-            sudo apt-get install -q libtiff4-dev libwebp-dev libpng12-dev xcftools;
-            travis_retry pip install imread;
-        fi
-
-    # TODO: update when SimpleITK become available on py34 or hopefully pip
-    -   if [[  $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION != 3.4 ]]; then
-            travis_retry easy_install SimpleITK;
-         fi
-
-    - travis_retry sudo apt-get install libfreeimage3
-    - travis_retry pip install astropy
-
-    -   if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == 2.* ]]; then
-            travis_retry pip install pyamg;
-        fi
-
-    - tools/header.py "Run doc examples"
-    - export PYTHONPATH=$(pwd):$PYTHONPATH
-    - for f in doc/examples/*.py; do python "$f"; if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then exit 1; fi done
-    - for f in doc/examples/applications/*.py; do python "$f"; if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then exit 1; fi done
-
-    - tools/header.py "Run tests with all dependencies"
-    # run tests again with optional dependencies to get more coverage
-    # measure coverage on py3.3
-    -   if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == 3.3 ]]; then
-            nosetests --exe -v --with-doctest --with-cov --cover-package skimage;
-        else
-            nosetests --exe -v --with-doctest skimage;
-        fi
+    - tools/travis_test.sh
 
 after_success:
-    - coveralls;
+    - coveralls
diff --git a/doc/travis_notes.txt b/doc/travis_notes.txt
index 09d04889..37f5d4a1 100644
--- a/doc/travis_notes.txt
+++ b/doc/travis_notes.txt
@@ -3,28 +3,19 @@
   http://lint.travis-ci.org/ is recommended elsewhere but does not give helpful
   error reports.
 - Make sure all of your "-" lines start on the same column
-- Make sure all of your "if" lines are aligned with the "else" and "fi" lines
-- Recommend using tab stops (but not tab chars) everywhere for alignment
-- "If" blocks must be on one travis statement and have semicolons at the
-  end of each line:
+- Use bash scripts for `before_install` and `script` or any part that
+  has conditional statements
+   - Make sure they are "executable" (chmod +x)
+   - Use the following header:
 
-```
-    -   if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == 2.7 ]]; then
-            echo "2.7";
-        else
-            echo "Not 2.7";
-        end
-```
+   ```
+     #!/usr/bin/env bash
+     set -ex
+   ```
 
-- "If" blocks cannot contain comments
-- All travis commands are run with `eval` and quotes are taken as literal
-  characters unless you wrap the whole line in quotes:
-`echo "hello : world"` is interpreted as `echo \"hello : world\"`
-`"echo 'hello : world'"` is interpreted as `echo 'hello : world'`
-`"echo 'hello : '$(MYVAR)'world'"` is interpreted as
-  `echo 'hello : $(MYVAR)world'`
 - Use `travis_retry` before a command to have it try several times before
-failing (useful for installing from third party sources)
+failing (useful for installing from third party sources).  Note that this
+command is not available within a bash script.
 - Feel free to cancel a build rather than waiting for it to go to completion
   if you have made a change to that branch.
 - A VM with 64bit Ubuntu 12.04 is a huge help for debugging.
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 435803b9..98f3b77f 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 cython>=0.19.2
-matplotlib>=1.1.1
+matplotlib>=1.1.0
 numpy>=1.6.1
 scipy>=0.9
 six>=1.3
diff --git a/skimage/viewer/canvastools/recttool.py b/skimage/viewer/canvastools/recttool.py
index 5d658533..8932e180 100644
--- a/skimage/viewer/canvastools/recttool.py
+++ b/skimage/viewer/canvastools/recttool.py
@@ -50,7 +50,13 @@ class RectangleTool(CanvasToolBase, RectangleSelector):
             props['edgecolor'] = props['facecolor']
         RectangleSelector.__init__(self, self.ax, lambda *args: None,
                                    rectprops=props)
-        self.disconnect_events()  # events are handled by the viewer
+        # Events are handled by the viewer
+        try:
+            self.disconnect_events()
+        except AttributeError:
+            # disconnect the events manually (hack for older mpl versions)
+            [self.canvas.mpl_disconnect(i) for i in range(10)]
+
         # Alias rectangle attribute, which is initialized in RectangleSelector.
         self._rect = self.to_draw
         self._rect.set_animated(True)
diff --git a/tools/travis_setup.sh b/tools/travis_setup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..f7602aef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/travis_setup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -ex
+
+sh -e /etc/init.d/xvfb start
+sudo apt-get update
+
+WHEELHOUSE="--no-index --find-links=http://wheels.scikit-image.org/"
+
+pip install wheel flake8 coveralls nose
+pip uninstall -y numpy
+
+# on Python 2.7, use the system versions of numpy, scipy, and matplotlib
+# and the minimum version of cython and networkx
+if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == 2.7* ]]; then
+    sudo apt-get install python-scipy python-matplotlib
+    pip install https://github.com/cython/cython/archive/0.19.2.tar.gz
+    pip install https://github.com/networkx/networkx/archive/networkx-1.8.tar.gz
+fi
+
+pip install -r requirements.txt $WHEELHOUSE
+python check_bento_build.py
+
+tools/header.py "Dependency versions"
+tools/build_versions.py
diff --git a/tools/travis_test.sh b/tools/travis_test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..df3a484d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/travis_test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -ex
+
+export DISPLAY=:99.0
+export PYTHONWARNINGS="all"
+WHEELHOUSE="--no-index --find-links=http://wheels.scikit-image.org/"
+
+tools/header.py "Run all tests with minimum dependencies"
+nosetests --exe -v skimage
+
+tools/header.py "Pep8 and Flake tests"
+flake8 --exit-zero --exclude=test_*,six.py skimage doc/examples viewer_examples
+
+tools/header.py "Install optional dependencies"
+
+# Install Qt and then update the Matplotlib settings
+if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == 2.7* ]]; then
+    sudo apt-get install -q python-qt4
+    MPL_QT_API=PyQt4
+    MPL_DIR=$HOME/.matplotlib
+    export QT_API=pyqt
+
+else
+    sudo apt-get install -q libqt4-dev
+    pip install PySide $WHEELHOUSE
+    python ~/virtualenv/python${TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION}/bin/pyside_postinstall.py -install
+    MPL_QT_API=PySide
+    MPL_DIR=$HOME/.config/matplotlib
+    export QT_API=pyside
+fi
+
+# imread does NOT support py3.2
+if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION != 3.2 ]]; then
+    sudo apt-get install -q libtiff4-dev libwebp-dev libpng12-dev xcftools
+    pip install imread
+fi
+
+# TODO: update when SimpleITK become available on py34 or hopefully pip
+if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION != 3.4 ]]; then
+    easy_install SimpleITK
+fi
+
+sudo apt-get install libfreeimage3
+pip install astropy
+
+if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == 2.* ]]; then
+    pip install pyamg
+fi
+
+# Matplotlib settings - do not show figures during doc examples
+mkdir -p $MPL_DIR
+touch $MPL_DIR/matplotlibrc
+echo 'backend : Template' > $MPL_DIR/matplotlibrc
+
+
+tools/header.py "Run doc examples"
+for f in doc/examples/*.py; do
+    python "$f"
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        exit 1
+    fi
+done
+
+for f in doc/examples/applications/*.py; do
+    python "$f"
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        exit 1
+    fi
+done
+
+# Now configure Matplotlib to use Qt4
+echo 'backend: Agg' > $MPL_DIR/matplotlibrc
+echo 'backend.qt4 : '$MPL_QT_API >> $MPL_DIR/matplotlibrc
+
+
+tools/header.py "Run tests with all dependencies"
+# run tests again with optional dependencies to get more coverage
+if [[ $TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION == 3.3 ]]; then
+    export TEST_ARGS="--with-cov --cover-package skimage"
+else
+    export TEST_ARGS=""
+fi
+nosetests --exe -v --with-doctest $TEST_ARGS
+