Los Angeles Times - DreamWorks' planned distribution deal with
Universal Pictures has collapsed as the parties are unable to
agree upon final terms.
The failure of the agreement
paves the way for Walt Disney Studios, which had earlier sought
a distribution deal with DreamWorks, to step in as Steven
Spielberg's new studio home, according to people familiar with
the situation.
DreamWorks has been struggling
for months to raise funds for its new studio, but efforts to
raise the debt portion of its desired $1.25 billion in financing
has been hampered by the global credit crisis.
DreamWorks, which split from
former owner Paramount Pictures last year, is in need of some
serious cash to continue financing overhead and jump-start plans
to make about six movies a year. Spielberg's businesss partner,
India's Reliance Entertainment, will not put up the equity
portion of the financing until DreamWorks secures a matching sum
in debt. DreamWorks' lead bank, JPMorgan Chase, so far has
received a commitment for less than half of the $325-million
loan that Spielberg hopes to have by late March. At that point,
Reliance would match the bank contribution. DreamWorks is
seeking to raise a total of about $1.25 billion in equity and
debt.
Reliance had been pressuring
Universal to advance DreamWorks at least $150 million in interim
financing. But Universal, which in October announced a
multi-year distribution deal with DreamWorks, balked and this
morning announced it had halted talks with DreamWorks. "Over the
past several weeks DreamWorks has demanded material changes to
previously agreed-upon terms. It is clear DreamWorks' needs and
Universal's business interests are no longer in alignment,"
Universal said.
Disney, which had been one of
several DreamWorks distribution suitors, is in talks with the
Spielberg camp and apparently willing to step in and make the
investment needed by the filmmaker. Disney has always been Plan
B, although Spielberg's first choice was Universal, where he
began his career. Spielberg's creative partner Stacey Snider,
who runs DreamWorks, used to be chairwoman of Universal
Pictures.
This is the second time that
Universal let DreamWorks slip away over money issues. Before
being sold to Paramount in 2006 for $1.6 billion, DreamWorks had
been in serious negotiations with Universal. But at the eleventh
hour, Universal lowered its acquisition offer and the deal fell
apart.
PR
Web - Sanders Art Studio.com in Ogden, Utah is excited to
announce the addition of over 65 Disney original paintings in
different mediums. Celebrate the Magic of Disney with one of
these wonderful creations.
View original paintings from
over 12 different Disney Artist portfolios.
Allison Lefcort - "Boldness and
simplicity are the keys to the success of my portraits. I have
always been a star-gazer. These paintings are my homage to the
celebrities depicted."
Dick Duerrstein - "I approach each painting, each character with
the awe of a child, but the memories and skills of an adult and
consequently, I hope that my artworks inspire in the viewer that
wondrous sense of magical thinking that Disney imbued each of
his characters with and that has made them such classic icons of
American cinema."
Harrison Ellenshaw - Many sons
growing up in the shadow of a famous father feel that they want
to carve their own paths in life. "That was me," says Harrison
Ellenshaw, son of Disney Legend and master painter Peter
Ellenshaw, who won an Oscar for his visual effects work on "Mary
Poppins" and was nominated a total of five times for the Academy
Award.
James Coleman " I attempt to
push the statement I am making to its ultimate, both in design
and use of color. "
Jim Salvati "For 25 years I have
lived by the simple work ethic of "work hard and play hard".
Growing up a surfer has influenced every aspect of my life as an
artist. Art now influences me in every aspect of my life."
Jim Warren "Although Mother
Nature is my favorite art director, I do take artistic license
to create environments of my own."
John Rowe "Through my work I
hope to remind you and myself how truly wonderful, complex, and
vivid life is. Whether we are looking into the eyes of someone
we love, or struggling just to breath, life is a priceless
gift."
Trevor Carlton - "I want people
to imagine they found my artwork in some old run down movie
theater basement. Unpreserved and forgotten, an antique bearing
the nostalgia and character that only time can bring."
Mike Kupka "Despite all the ups
and downs, the tough times and the struggles, there's nothing
like the feeling of accomplishment when signing a painting
you've just completed. I just couldn't imagine doing anything
else for a living."
Peter Ellenshaw "Painting never
comes easily to those who take it seriously. The more one knows
the harder it gets."
Tricia Buchanan-Benson "I use my
artwork to attempt to represent the things that are most
memorable about each character and to pay tribute to the artists
that created the fantastic characters that we all know and
love."
Tim Rogerson - "I never get
ideas sitting behind a blank canvas and thinking of what to
paint. My ideas come from outside, experiencing life, by going
places and meeting people."
Prices range from $1,500 to
$48,000
Commissions also available,
please contact us for more information.
Hartford Courant - A decade ago, farmers in southwest France
trashed a soon-to-open McDonald's, dismantling most of the
interior and dumping it in front of the local town hall.
Irritation over American "cultural imperialism" and punitive
Roquefort tariffs was running high, and the protesters insisted
they wanted to save the nation from "junk food and
globalization."
How much have times changed?
McDonald's announced at the end of January that it now earns
more from sales in Europe — particularly France and Britain—than
it does in the United States. The French also spend more per
purchase at McDonald's than anyone else in the world, according
to the company's latest financial report.
McDonald's isn't the only emblem of Americana thriving in
France. The Euro Disney theme park outside Paris, once a
financial disaster maligned as a "cultural Chernobyl" for the
country, is now profitable and the most popular tourist
attraction in Europe. Who are its fastest-growing new customers?
The French, who last quarter helped drive an 8 percent jump in
attendance even as a growing recession in Europe kept Disney
regulars like the British and Spanish at home.
Are the French getting over their anti-Americanism? Or have
American businesses become more French? The answer, analysts
say, is both.
"In other markets you can wave the American flag," noted
Jean-Francois Doridot, managing director of a Paris polling
agency that has done work for McDonald's. "Here if you blend in
more and don't fly the flag, people see no reason not to buy."
In most cases, American cultural icons have taken on an
unmistakable Parisian flair to compete in France. Euro Disney
now serves wine, the only Disney park in the world to do so.
McDonald's has scrapped its cheerful red-and-white plastic decor
for muted colors and ultramodern wood-and-steel designs, changes
that have become such a hit that McDonald's executives may
experiment with them in the United States.
Even the McDonald's menu looks distinctly French: There are
seven types of coffee—all brewed from French-roasted beans — as
well as French cheeses on burgers and chocolate mousse for
dessert. Prominently posted signs detail the chain's tracking of
ingredients and its submission to 35,000 health inspections a
year — a crucial assurance in a country where concerns about
food quality remain at the forefront.
"There's not really an American soul in the French McDonald's,"
observed Ludovic Renoir, 40, a Paris tour guide who, motorcycle
helmet over his arm, recently ducked into one of the chain's
Paris restaurants for a quick coffee and hamburger.
But a subtle fading of anti-Americanism, particularly as
American chains grow more established in France, also has played
a role in the success of American companies like Disney and
McDonald's.
When it opened 15 years ago, Euro Disney was greeted with
strikes, resignations of workers grumpy about being made to wear
costumes and feign cheer, and such minuscule turnouts that the
theme park quickly rolled up massive financial losses. Critics
predicted it would ruin a generation of French children.
Today crowds of French families flock on the weekends to the
park, which is now profitable and chalked up 6 percent growth in
revenue in the last quarter, despite the growing world economic
crisis.
"We recognize we are not immune to the impact of a sustained
economic downturn," Philippe Gas, Euro Disney's CEO, warned at
the release of the company's latest report. But the resort's
popularity with Europeans, he said, has remained strong, thanks
in part to efforts to hold down costs and beef up attractions.
McDonald's, similarly, has benefited not just from its low
prices—a particular asset as the world's recession-hit look for
cheaper eats — but from simply being around so long that it has
come to be regarded as part of the French landscape.
Sarah Bolnrepaux, a 19-year-old dining recently at a McDonald's
in Paris, looked puzzled to hear that her countrymen had once
railed against her Big Mac and fries as a form of cultural
imperialism.
"McDonald's doesn't seem American," said the aspiring actress,
who admits she grew up eating Happy Meals. "It's everywhere."
"I think the French still do see American culture as a threat,"
added her friend Chloe Francois, also 19 and an actress. "But
McDonald's is not part of that."
Even for those who see the American icons for what they are, the
experience of handing over a few euros and taking a bite of
Americana isn't necessarily one fraught with cultural peril
anymore.
"For me, it's typically American. But I like to come," said
Laurent Philippi, 38, a radio translator sipping a cup of coffee
at a Paris McDonald's. "I have the impression it is an act of
traveling."
As for the French reputation for anti-Americanism, "you mustn't
believe this is a general French sentiment," he confided. "It's
only a small minority."
About - News & Issues - In a move that is considerably
contrarian for tough economic times, Disney has plans to raise
the prices on its forthcoming Blu-ray Disc releases. For more
details, check out the report from TV Predictions.
My Perspective: To Disney: Great
way to get more consumers to embrace the Blu-ray Disc format,
sell more Blu-ray Discs, and make it more affordable for
families with children who are your biggest customers - NOT!
WFtv - Hundreds of Disney executives are supposed to decide
Friday whether they will let the company buyout their contracts.
Disney made the offer to 600
executives to cut costs and other employees might be forced out
if the cost-cutting plan doesn't work.
The company said it will have to
layoff employees if they don't get enough executives to accept
those buys by the end of the day.
Over 600 managers received their
individual offers two weeks ago, 300 of them were in Orlando.
"Given the continued uncertainty of
the economic environment, we must manage our business even more
productively," Disney told WFTV in a statement.
The company recently combined
its resorts and theme parks into one corporate unit.
Disney won't release its attendance
numbers, but some theme park enthusiasts believe the company has
been worried about those numbers for nearly a year.
Barron's - The on-screen talent in the film business is often
lambasted for the occasional turn as the diva: their mercurial
personalities, explosive temper, quickness to irritate,
mercenary nature, the fleetness of their affections. Apparently,
though, they’re no match for the talent behind the camera.
Case in point: Steven Spielberg.
The legendary director reportedly has engaged in talks with Walt
Disney (DIS) about a partnership in which the film studio would
distribute the features released by Spielberg’s Dreamworks SKG
productions.
The catch? Spielberg, who blew
out of a long-term partnership with Paramount last year after a
bitter separation, already has a distribution partner: Universal
Studios. The feature-film arm of General Electric (GE) signed on
with Spielberg four months ago, after his agreement with
Paramount blew up.
Disney News - Fuel up and start your engines for some
four-wheeled fun, with Lighting McQueen and Mater, on the new
Cars Race Rally, opening June 2007 at Disneyland Resort Paris
during the yearlong 15th Anniversary celebration.
With Walt Disney Imagineering
behind the wheel, the animated world of the Disney-Pixar film
Cars has come to life for the first time in a Disney Park.
Radiator Springs, the small desert town featured in the hit
movie has sprung up and been spruced up in the new Toon Studio
zone of the Walt Disney Studios Park. The setting for Car's Race
Rally, inspired by Disney-Pixar's Cars was created using
replicas of the storefronts, shops and neon signs of the sleepy
town off Route 66.
Rev your Engines and Head
for the Finish Line
Designed for even the youngest
of drivers, this crazy desert racing adventure features exciting
twists and turns and plenty of close calls for the entire
family.
The engine-roaring family fun
begins when race fans arrive at Radiator Springs, a little town
full of the friendliest folks on four wheels, eager to show off
their community and its thriving businesses. First to greet
daring drivers are Luigi and Guido, two of the stars from the
film. This is the first time these "car-a-cters" have been
created in three dimensions in a Disney Park.
As racers make their way to the
track they'll see Flo's V-8 Café, Luigi's Casa Della Tires,
Ramone's House of Body Art and the prized Piston Cup. Taking
inspiration from the cars in the film, Imagineers and Pixar have
created a new character especially for this attraction. It took
more than one-year to design and build the colourful ride
vehicles. There are 12 vehicles in all, driving under the
tutelage of two famous race coaches.
As racers "speed" toward the
finish line on the crazy-spinning race track which resembles a
figure eight, they'll get more than driving advice from #95
Lighting McQueen and his rusty but trusty friend Mater. The two
seasoned veterans help coach drivers to toward victory lane.
"Guests of all ages are going to
love being immersed in the incredible world of the first
Cars-inspired attraction to a Disney Park", said Cory Cory
Sewelson, Senior Show Producer, Creative Development, Walt
Disney Imagineering .
Cars Race Rally is located
"driving distance" from another Disney-Pixar inspired
attraction, Crush's Coaster* from Disney-Pixar film Finding Nemo.
Together the two "blockbuster" attractions are the centerpiece
of a new area at the Walt Disney Studios Park named Toon Studio.
This animated setting also features new character meet-n-greets
and photo locations.
Toon Studio and the new
attractions will open as part of Disneyland Resort Paris
yearlong 15th anniversary celebration. The party continues daily
until March 2008, with a new parade spectacular at Disneyland
Park featuring dozens of Disney characters; an enchanting
makeover of Sleeping Beauty Castle, and special new live
entertainment in both theme parks.
Los
Angeles Times - Celina Lung has hundreds of children around the
world. Outwardly, all are identical to the others: same age,
height and facial expression. And each one is impeccably
dressed. But a few of them naughty, even the occasional problem
child. Not that Lung holds it against them.
"I love them all. It's true, I
do," said Lung, a Walt Disney Imagineering costume designer.
"Each one of them is unique." And today, Lung will add to her
growing brood with the addition of several dozen new characters
to the It's a Small World ride at Disneyland.
After a yearlong rehab, all of
the 300-plus existing audio-animatronic figures in the beloved
boat ride at the Anaheim theme park will don new costumes thanks
to Lung and her team. Among the controversial new additions:
about two-dozen Disney characters and an American scene complete
with cowboys and Indians.
Sensitive to criticism that the
changes amount to a desecration of the classic Small World ride,
Disney Imagineers labored to blend the new additions into the
existing attraction.
The new characters — including
Lilo, Mulan and Cinderella — will be traditional Small World
dolls that "dress up" as their favorite Disney characters.
"It has to be a part of Small
World. We don't want it to jump out," said Lung. "There is a
fine line that we have to make sure we don't cross so it still
works seamlessly with the rest of the show." Having designed
costumes for Small World attractions in Tokyo and Hong Kong,
Lung consulted reference books by Small World creator Mary Blair
before tackling the changes to the Anaheim ride. And she turned
to original Small World costume designer Alice Davis for
creative inspiration and direction.
"Talking to her gave me a sense
of how it was done originally," Lung said of Davis.
Before designing any of the
costumes, Lung and her crew studied the function of all the
animatronic dolls, which can move more than 1 million times per
month.
Armed with costume dimensions,
designers drew up sketches for each doll, developing a color
palette to match the surrounding scene and taking into account
the national heritage of each figure.
"Part of the research is to make
sure that we are culturally sensitive," Lung said. "We want to
make sure we don't offend any particular group."
Fabrics in bright, eye-catching
(but not clownish) colors were imported from Africa, Europe,
Central and South America.
In a costume workshop filled
with bolts of fabric and a bulletin board brimming with
accessories, Lung's team sewed a muslin pattern for every doll
and fit the outfits on a mannequin before testing the designs in
the attraction. After a year of preparation, the dolls only
received their final costumes in the last week.
It's important to Lung that each
doll wears a complete costume, right down to the socks,
petticoat (or undershirt) and bloomers (or underwear).
"A lot of the stuff we add
nobody will ever know," Lung said. "Whether the guest sees it or
not, we know it's there." Most dolls start life with two or
three complete costumes. The naughty dolls — the ones Lung calls
her "problem children" — go through costumes every month or two.
Crews check each doll's costume daily for wear and tear before
the park opens.
A complicated character like
Mulan wears a 13-piece costume. It can take a team of three
employees up to an hour to dress her.
A troublemaker like Aladdin, who
lies on a magic carpet with his arms and legs crossed, presents
an especially difficult challenge. "It's very hard for me to put
the costume on," Lung said. "The doll doesn't move. When you
change them, they don't stretch their arms. They're like a baby.
Actually, dressing a doll is harder than dressing a baby."
But Lung, who has no birth
children of her own, holds no grudges against any of the dolls
in her ever-growing family.
"It's beyond words how much I
love the dolls and how much I love to dress the dolls," Lung
said. "They are like my children. I'm not kidding. It's true."
Disney News - A favorite Disneyland attraction returns to
Fantasyland, Friday, Feb. 6, when "it's a small world" opens
with some new storytelling magic. With the premiere of a new
"Spirit of America" scene, new musical enhancements and a new
look for some of the attraction's familiar child dolls, "it's a
small world" will once again take guests of all ages on "the
happiest cruise that ever sailed."
This classic attraction has been
renovated and enhanced while retaining the world-renowned charm
that holds such a special place in the hearts of Disneyland
guests. The "it's a small world" journey continues to celebrate
children of the world and their message of harmony and
friendship. And now, for the first time, guests will be able to
find some of the child dolls dressed as their favorite Disney
characters, in the countries where their stories take place. For
example, dolls dressed in Aladdin and Jasmine costumes are in
the Middle East scene, and a doll dressed as Alice from "Alice
in Wonderland" appears in the Great Britain scene.
Guests will enjoy riding "it's a
small world" again and again as they search for the 29 Disney
and Disney·Pixar characters now represented in the attraction.
The new doll costumes and playful toy decorations are fashioned
in the same artistic style that was created by art director,
color stylist, Disney Legend and Imagineer Mary Blair, whose
sense of design shaped "it's a small world" from the beginning.
Also among the enhancements is
an entirely new "Spirit of America" scene. It's based on
original concept art by Mary Blair and maintains the "it's a
small world" theme that friendship crosses all nationalities,
including that of the United States. Additional fresh touches
may be found in the augmented "it's a small world" soundtrack.
As the familiar "it's a small world" plays throughout the
attraction, now some subtle film music is seamlessly woven into
the song as counterpoint melodies fitting the characters
represented in certain scenes.
The "it's a small world"
attraction made its debut as an exhibit at the 1964-65 New York
World's Fair. After two hit seasons at the fair, the attraction
moved to Disneyland in California where it was expanded and then
dedicated by Walt Disney himself on May 28, 1966.
The refreshed "it's a small
world" is just one highlight of the year in which guests are
invited to celebrate milestones, large and small, at the
Disneyland Resort. The year will also see a variety of new shows
and other immersive experiences in Disneyland and Disney's
California Adventure parks as the Resort asks, "What Will You
Celebrate?"
In addition, now through April
30 the Resort offers special travel values that make celebrating
easier than ever.
Guests may book a three-day
vacation package for as little as $68 per person, per day
with the "Everyone Plays for the Kid's Price" package.
Travel must be completed by April 30. Each package includes
two-night hotel accommodations at a nearby Good Neighbor
Hotel, three-day Park Hopper Tickets, Magic Morning entrance
(to enjoy select theme park attractions before Disneyland
opens to regular guests), an interactive Disney character
experience in Mickey's Toontown, and preferred seating at
select attractions and restaurants at Disneyland Resort. For
more information, contact your travel agent, visit
www.disneyland.com or call Disney at 1-866-276-6780.
Now through April 30,
guests who stay at one of the three on-site Disneyland
Resort hotels – Disneyland Hotel, Disney's Paradise Pier
Hotel and Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa – will
receive a Disney Gift Card: $50 for a two-night stay, $100
for a three-night stay, or $150 for a four-night stay. The
gift cards are provided upon check-in and available for use
at any of the Disney-owned restaurants and stores located
inside Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure theme
parks, Disneyland Resort hotels and Downtown Disney.
New This Spring, as
Disneyland Resort asks "What Will You Celebrate?"
Throughout 2009, Disneyland Resort will introduce new
experiences and planning options to help guests celebrate the
special moments in their lives, including birthdays,
anniversaries and graduations. Mementos, souvenirs, food and
dessert options will be introduced throughout the year.
Free On Your Birthday –
To put everyone in a celebration mood, for the first time ever
Disneyland Resort is offering guests free admission to one theme
park on their birthdays. Guests can register at
www.disneyparks.com.
Celebrate! A
Street Party – Beginning Friday, March 27, at Disneyland, a
cast of dancers, DJs and Disney characters will invite guests to
join the celebration as they take to the street for a
high-energy street party featuring lively music, colorful
costumes, confetti and streamers. Guests can join in twist
dancing, a conga line and all the colorful fun of a celebration
on Main Street, U.S.A., or at "it's a small world" mall.
Celebration
Roundup and Barbecue at Big Thunder Ranch – Disneyland
guests can celebrate any occasion cowboy-style when the
Celebration Roundup opens this April at Big Thunder Ranch in
Frontierland. Disney characters will join in the rootin' tootin'
entertainment, while diners enjoy Western-style ribs and chicken
in the new outdoor Big Thunder Family Barbecue restaurant.
Bibbidi Bobbidi
Boutique – Every little girl's dream of becoming a Disney
princess can come true in this magical makeover location,
opening in April in Fantasyland. Fairy Godmothers-in-training
will transform would-be princesses with makeover options
including hair, makeup and nail polish designs.
Mickey's Fun
Wheel – The thrilling giant Ferris wheel attraction
(formerly the Sun Wheel) on Paradise Pier will return this
spring with a new look and a fun new Mickey Mouse theme. Riders
will board newly redecorated cars to swing along the circular
route around a giant replica of Mickey's face.
Games of the
Boardwalk – The Paradise Pier Boardwalk games, closed for
renovation when the dazzling, immersive Toy Story Mania!
attraction opened in summer of 2008, will return this spring
with a colorful new look featuring, for the first time, Disney
characters as part of the play experience.
Disneyland
Resort features two spectacular theme parks - Disneyland (the
original Disney theme park) and Disney's California Adventure
park - plus the downtown Disney District composed of unique
dining, entertainment and shopping experiences. The Resort's
three guest-welcoming hotels are the luxurious 745-room Disney's
Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, the magical 988-room Disneyland
Hotel and the "day-at-the-beach" fun of the 489-room Disney's
Paradise Pier Hotel. For further information on attractions,
events and vacations at Disneyland Resort, visit
www.disneyland.com, call (866)
60-DISNEY or contact local travel agents.
AP - The NHRA and ESPN have agreed to a five-year contact
extension that will keep the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series on
the air through 2016.
As
part of the multimedia rights agreement announced Thursday, the
NHRA's developmental Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series will also
continue to air on ESPN2.
"The NHRA continues to deliver
strong results across our multimedia platforms, and this
extension is our long-term commitment to the NHRA and drag
racing fans around the world," said Julie Sobieski, ESPN vice
president, programming and acquisitions.
The NHRA has appeared
exclusively on the Disney-owned ESPN networks since 2001.
In 2009, same-day coverage of
qualifying and finals will be shown on ESPN2 for all 24 events
in the NHRA Full Throttle series.
AP - Judd Apatow is coming to the Oscars - and he's bringing a
new film.
The comedy
writer-director-producer, whose screen credits include "Knocked
Up," will unveil fresh material on stage and on screen during
the Oscar telecast on Feb. 22, said show producers Bill Condon
and Laurence Mark.
They said Apatow and his work
will appear during a tribute to comedy.
"We're thrilled to say that our
contemporary comedy master Judd Apatow is contributing both a
film and live material to that part of the show," Condon said
Wednesday.
"Judd was truly a prince to hop
on and truly whip up special shooting for it," Mark added. "It's
a big deal."
Condon and Mark have kept mostly
mum on details of the show, but they have said that filmmakers
of all stripes will participate. Last week they announced that
"Moulin Rouge!" director Baz Luhrmann would create a production
number featuring Oscar host Hugh Jackman. "Capote" director
Bennett Miller is also contributing a film sequence to the
telecast.
The Oscars will air live from
the Kodak Theatre on ABC.
Slightly more than a year after
Walt Disney Studios registered a first-weekend haul of $31
million for its "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both
Worlds Concert" from fewer than 700 3-D screens, Disney and Imax
have agreed to add dozens of giant 3-D screens to the February
27 wide release of "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience."
That means there should be upward of 1,100 3-D venues playing
the latest teens-and-tweens concert film, including 55 Imax
venues.
The Imax auditoriums supplement
engagements in venues operated by various other 3-D vendors.
With the movie industry's rollout of 3-D projection still a work
in progress, Disney will aim to use almost every installed 3-D
screen in North America.
"Every time you go out with a
3-D film these days, you tend to set a record for the number of
engagements because seats are at a premium," Disney distribution
president Chuck Viane said. "So any time you can add 55
engagements, that's a really good opportunity."
All the "Jonas" playdates are
being promoted as "one week only" engagements, though success in
the non-Imax venues could spur Disney to add an additional week
to the picture's run. That's what happened with "Hannah," which
unspooled February 1, 2008, and rang up a total $65.3 million
domestically after extending its theatrical run for a few weeks.
Such a move won't be possible on
the Imax side, where the giant-screen exhibitor has wedged in
the "Jonas" playdates in auditoriums scheduled to begin showing
Warner Bros.' "Watchmen" the following weekend.
The "Jonas" runs are the first
in a five-movie pact Imax has with Disney. Their next
collaboration will be the November 6release of Disney's 3-D
animated feature "A Christmas Carol."
Disney
News - The Walt Disney Company has announced the creation of the
Disney Memorial Pausch Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University
in recognition of the passion and energy Dr. Randy Pausch
brought to his work at both Carnegie Mellon and Walt Disney
Imagineering. Pausch is best known for his life-affirming "Last
Lecture," which he delivered to his students and colleagues a
few weeks after learning he had just months to live. Intended as
a roadmap for his three young children, the lecture included his
insights on finding the good in other people, working hard to
overcome obstacles and living generously.
“Randy Pausch lived his life
inspiring his students, colleagues and co-workers. Now, the
vitality and energy he brought to his classroom lives on and
serves as an inspiration to millions of people he never had the
chance to meet,” said Disney President and CEO Bob Iger. “We are
proud to honor Randy’s passion by supporting the innovators and
dreamers of tomorrow with these fellowships.”
Pausch fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming a Walt Disney
Imagineer in 1995 when he joined the Imagineering
Virtual Reality Studio during a sabbatical from his university
teaching position. Imagineering, with its collaborative teams of
artists, engineers, sculptors and software developers, proved
the perfect environment for him. After his sabbatical was
complete, Pausch continued as a consultant to Disney, and began
nurturing a relationship between Carnegie Mellon and Disney
through Imagineering’s internship program. Pausch earned his PhD
in computer science at Carnegie Mellon in 1988 and was a
professor in Carnegie Mellon’s Computer Science Department,
Human-Computer Interaction Institute and School of Design from
1997 until his death in July 2008.
The
Disney Memorial Pausch Fellowship will support two graduate
students, one in the School of Computer Science (SCS) and one in
the College of Fine Arts (CFA), reflecting Pausch’s enthusiasm
for the interplay of arts and technology. His fascination with
this type of synergy at Disney led to the development of
Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center, a program
designed specifically to foster collaboration between
technologists and fine artists on projects intended to
entertain, inform, inspire, or otherwise affect audiences. The
Entertainment Technology Center’s Masters of Entertainment
Technology degree is jointly conferred by Carnegie Mellon’s
College of Fine Arts and School of Computer Science.
“Arts and technology are two pillars of strength at Carnegie
Mellon,” said Jared L. Cohon, president of the university.
“Randy Pausch was tireless in his efforts to bridge the gap
between them by creating innovative classes and graduate
programs, as well as through his own research. Disney’s
generosity in sponsoring graduate fellowships in computer
science and fine arts further establishes Randy’s educational
legacy by benefitting talented students who share his passion
for interdisciplinary collaboration.”
To
mark Pausch’s achievements, a specially-themed medallion will be
placed in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and inscribed
with words from his lecture: “Be good at something; it makes
you valuable. Have something to bring to the table, because that
will make you more welcome.” The unique artistic element is
located near the Mad Tea Party (“tea cups”) ride, which was
celebrated in a photo that Pausch displayed on his desk, showing
his niece and nephew enthusiastically enjoying the attraction.
The relationship between Disney and Carnegie Mellon that Pausch
nurtured continues to evolve. In August 2008, Disney announced a
major Research and Development initiative to engage top
technology universities to conduct research and development for
many of Disney’s divisions. Disney Research, Pittsburgh, and its
sister lab, Disney Research, Zurich, connect Disney with
Carnegie Mellon and other renowned academic partners who have
world-class science and technology talent. The labs will engage
in research and development on computer animation, computational
cinematography, autonomous interactive characters, robotics and
user interfaces, among other initiatives.
AP - Standard and Poor's Ratings Services on Wednesday revised
its outlook on Walt Disney Co. to negative from stable, saying
the company faces more quarters of declining revenue and
potentially higher leverage.
All ratings on the company,
including its investment-grade 'A' corporate credit rating which
is five notches above junk status, were affirmed.
Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday
reported a 32 percent decline in quarterly profit amid a
downturn that Chief Executive Robert Iger called "likely to be
the weakest economy in our lifetime." Iger also suggested that a
broad-based decline of the DVD business was occurring as
consumers shifted viewing habits onto the Internet and other
formats. Revenue companywide fell 8 percent to $9.60 billion.
Standard & Poor's credit analyst
Deborah Kinzer said Disney's recent quarterly performance could
extend through the end of its fiscal year, and potentially into
its fiscal 2010. Its debt to earnings ratio also could worsen as
a result of elevated capital spending commitments and certain
fixed-costs inherent in operating its theme parks, studios and
other businesses.
AP - A renegotiated mortgage will give a Michigan family
a better chance of staying in their home, which was refurbished
on TV's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."
The ABC show redid Judy and
Larry Vardon's Oak Park home in 2004 to better accommodate their
blind, autistic son. But as 16-year-old Lance's bills kept
piling up, the Vardons refinanced the house with an
adjustable-rate mortgage and got into financial trouble.
Now, the Detroit News says, a
mortgage broker negotiated new terms modifying the Vardons' loan
this week. They still owe $180,000.
The couple, who are deaf, had
fallen in arrears after their monthly payments ballooned from
$1,471 to $2,250. They were facing foreclosure when media
reports about their plight led to donations exceeding $30,000.
AP - Move over, children of the globe -- it's a Disney world
after all.
More than 40 years after the
"It's A Small World" ride opened to promote world peace and
showcase the cultures of the world, Disney is populating one of
its most beloved attractions with its own trademark vision of
the planet: Aladdin, Nemo, Ariel and more than two dozen cartoon
characters plucked from its movies.
And those aren't the only
changes visitors will find Thursday when the ride reopens:
Disney has woven a few bars from some of its hit soundtracks
into the classic "Small World" melody and added a new America
section that includes a nod to Los Angeles' famous Hollywood
Bowl, a quaint farm scene and "Toy Story" characters.
Disney says it supplemented the
human dolls with make-believe figures to keep the aging ride
appealing to younger generations and give it a new twist. Yet
some angry fans see an unabashed marketing ploy that trashes the
pacifist message at the heart of the "Happiest Cruise That Ever
Sailed the World" and ruins one of the few rides that remained
unchanged since the days of Walt Disney.
"What message are they actually
saying about the world?" said Jerry Beck, an animation historian
who runs the blog Cartoon Brew. "That you can go anywhere and
there will be a Disney theme park?"
Others are miffed that Disney
would inject fantasy worlds into a ride dedicated to
cross-cultural understanding. The added figures from a dozen
movies include the blue alien Stitch, the mermaid Ariel and
characters from the 1992 movie "Aladdin," which angered many
Arab-Americans with its portrayal of Middle Eastern culture.
"Disney wants to brand the
diversity of the entire world and somehow say that it's Disney
derived," said Leo Braudy, a cultural historian at the
University of Southern California. "It seems a bit crass to put
this brand on something that was meant to be a sort of United
Nations for children."
The "Small World" ride debuted
at the 1964 World's Fair in New York as a benefit to the United
Nations Children's Fund, and moved to Disneyland two years
later. When Walt Disney dedicated the ride in 1966, he invited
children from around the world to pour water from their
homelands into its flume in a gesture of unity.
Since then, more than 256
million people have visited the original ride, and the "Small
World" song has played 4.3 million times. Replicas have opened
at Disney theme parks in Florida, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong,
and company research shows that a quarter of all Disneyland
guests consider the ride a family tradition.
Disney says it hopes adding what
it calls "new magic" to the 43-year-old attraction will attract
even more riders and create new traditions for young families
who don't identify with "Small World" as strongly as previous
generations.
Reshuffling the attraction does
appeal to many fans, some of whom grew up riding it each year
with their parents. Dawn Barbour visited Disneyland from Texas
with her children and was disappointed to find the ride closed
for renovations -- but thrilled to hear about the changes.
"Oh, anything Disney does is
always exciting," Barbour said. "It's always something fun, and
they never do anything halfway."
Disney designers who have worked
for more than a year to modify the ride insist the concerns of
their critics are unfounded. They say routine repairs gave them
an opportunity to add another dimension to the message of
cross-cultural understanding by working in references to Disney
movies that are based on foreign fairy tales or set in faraway
lands.
Whenever Disney changes a
popular ride, they say, the company receives criticism from
die-hard fans who are resistant to anything that will alter the
Disneyland of their childhood memories. So-called "Dis-nerds"
also got upset when Disney recently refurbished the classic
Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, but were mollified once
they saw the updated ride.
Designers insist the changes to
"Small World" are even more subtle and conform to Walt Disney's
original philosophy and style while keeping the attraction from
becoming "like a museum," said Kim Irvine, director of concept
design for Walt Disney Imagineering.
"It's what Walt always wanted,"
she said. "He always said the park would always be changing as
long as there was imagination in the world."
Yet after initial reports of the
proposed changes leaked last year, the son of the ride's
original designer, children's illustrator Mary Blair, wrote an
open letter to Disney executives blasting the changes as "a
gross desecration of the ride's original theme."
"The Disney characters
themselves are positive company icons, but they do NOT fit in
with the original theme of the ride," wrote Kevin Blair. "They
will do nothing except marginalize the rightful stars of the
ride, 'the children of the world.'"
Marty Sklar, executive vice
president of Walt Disney Imagineering, responded with his own
letter, which was quickly posted on dozens of blogs and appeased
some fans.
"We are not trying to turn this
classic attraction into a marketing pitch for Disney plush
toys," Sklar wrote. "We are not 'young marketing whizzes' trying
to make a name for ourselves."
But some longtime Disney
watchers disagree -- although they acknowledge they have yet to
see the carefully guarded changes themselves.
"Parents ... could take the kids
on this ride and it wasn't so much about sales, it was about the
images, the graphics, the dolls," said Al Lutz, a veteran Disney
watcher who runs miceage. "It was a respite from the
overwhelming commercial message that Disney can be sometimes."
GreenMuze - Disneyland eggs are the latest corporate abomination
to hit the grocery shelves. A recent commercial for the
Disney-stamped and endorsed eggs was spotted on American
television today, reports Jezebel, an online news source. The
commercial shows the Mickey Mouse stamped eggs magically turning
into Mickey Mouse shaped fried eggs. Whether this is a promotion
for a movie or a tie-in with agri-farming nobody knows.
However, considering that the
eggs are not marked organic or freerange, it is safe to assume
the eggs are from chickens raised in battery hen facilities. In
North America, too often people are fooled by the pretty
pictures on egg packages; showing a happy cartoon chicken
munching on some bright green grass. These 'food stories' could
not be further from the reality of the lives of the more than
300 million egg-laying hens in North America.
Most hens live in factory farms,
the animal equivalent of a concentration camp. With about 8x11
inches allotted per egg-laying hen, the creatures are placed in
wire battery cages at 18 weeks old, stacked tier upon tier in
warehouses, they can't turn around nor spread their wings, their
beaks are burnt off without anaesthetic or painkillers, fed
heavily medicated pellets, they never see sunlight or walk on
the ground.
Putting Mickey Mouse on the
package and trying to conjure up 'The Happiest Place on Earth'
is not going to change the reality of how hens are raised in
factory farms (The Unhappiest Place on Earth).
AFP - The operator of Tokyo Disneyland said Thursday it expected
record profits this year despite the recession as many Japanese
people try to get away from the economic gloom by visiting the
fantasy park.
At a time
many major Japanese companies are reporting dismal earnings,
Disney operator Oriental Land Co. Ltd. revised up its forecasts
after a strong first three quarters.
Tokyo Disney Resort, the first
Disneyland outside the United States, last year celebrated 25
years with a heavy promotional drive.
Oriental Land said revenue has
surpassed expectations "due to the popularity of the Tokyo
Disney Resort 25th anniversary events, which began in April, and
the corresponding increase in theme park attendance."
Oriental Land said it now
expected net profit of 20.8 billion yen (232 million dollars)
for the year ending March 31, a rise of nearly 20 percent from
the last projection and a jump of 41.3 percent from the previous
year.
It said it expects revenue of
385.2 billion yen, up from the previous projection of 375
billion yen.
With Japan's birthrate
declining, Tokyo Disneyland has tried to reach out to older
people with fond memories of the park, which has become almost a
rite of passage for Japanese children.
Euro Disney in October also
reported record visits for the past year as Europeans look for
an affordable attraction during the economic crisis.
However, Hong Kong Disneyland
has been disappointed by visitor numbers since its opening more
than three years ago.
Seeking Alpha - On Tuesday, the $38 billion
entertainment and media giant, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:
DIS), announced depressing Q1 results. It was the first major
U.S. media company to report results for the quarter.
Revenue of $9.6
billion was short of the Street’s expectations of $10.0 billion
and declined 9% over the year. EPS of $0.41 also missed the
market’s expectations of $0.50 and declined 35% over the year.
Disney’s financial woes continued in the quarter. After having
lost $92 million in a currency exchange due to Lehman Brothers’
liquidation, this quarter, the company suffered a $60 million
charge on account of the Tribune bankruptcy.
The decline in revenue was led by the Studio segment falling 26%
over the year to $1.95 billion. Broadcasting revenue at ABC
declined 14% to $1.45 billion and Parks and Resorts revenue fell
4% to $2.67 billion. Cable Networks and Consumer Products grew
2% to $2.45 billion and 18% to $0.77 billion, respectively.
During the quarter, Disney separately reported revenues for the
Interactive Media group, which will capture its video game and
online unit. Over the year, this group grew 13% to $0.31
billion.
The weakening economy, coupled with consumer demand shifting to
digital formats, were the primary reasons for such a dismal
performance. President and CEO Bob Iger said that the “abundance
of choices” for consumers is leading them to be more selective
about not only the titles they choose, but also the formats they
decide to possess. This “secular shift” in demand is not only
impacting Disney’s broadcast television but also its DVD sales.
To counter the impact of reduced DVD sales, Disney is now
looking at reducing production, marketing, and distribution
expenses at its home video business. In the coming years, Disney
will be making fewer films and will focus on improving the price
to value in relationships. For instance, the company is finding
that when it sells a Blu-ray DVD with both a standard DEP file
and a downloadable file, it is able to offer a price that the
customer views as delivering greater value. Disney will look for
more such value-adds to DVDs at minimal additional cost to
improve its revenue rate.
Advertising sales at ESPN and ABC continued to be weak in the
quarter. Disney is looking at expense control at local TV
stations while ensuring that these measures do not hurt local
news brands, as the company is a market leader in that segment.
Local stations gained ad revenue share despite a decrease in
overall ad spend. The local ad market revenues declined over 15%
in spite of higher political spending last quarter for the
November elections.
The recession also hurt park attendance, with domestic park
attendance decreasing 5% over the year. Occupancy levels in both
Orlando (Disney World) and Anaheim (Disneyland) were also down
by similar percentages, to 85%.
Disney is now carefully examining its investment options. In the
previous year, it spent about $170 million on video game
development. In the current year, the company is looking at
spending about $40-$50 million on this segment. It will also see
a slower pace of investment in Disney.com’s branding, CRM
capabilities and ongoing mobile content and services
initiatives.
The stock fell 8% to $19.05 with a market cap of $38.23 billion
and is marginally above its 5-year low of $18.60 earlier in
November.
However, 2009 is a good time for Disney to buy some interesting
online media properties at very attractive valuations. In the
past, Disney has paid a lot for acquisitions such as Club
Penguin. In the current market condition, many venture-funded
entertainment and media companies are looking for exits, and
Disney could have a field day filling up its portfolio to
position itself for the time when the market comes back.
MTV - Days after a photo surfaced of Miley Cyrus pulling at the
corners of her eyes in a gesture that appeared to mock Asians,
the Disney star has issued a statement about the heat she's
received from the media and national Asian Pacific American
nonprofit OCA regarding the picture.
"I've also been told there are
some people upset about some pictures taken of me with
friends making goofy faces! Well, I'm sorry if those people
looked at those pics and took them wrong and out of
context!" she said on her official fan site, MileyWorld,
reports Perez Hilton, adding, "In no way was I making fun of
any ethnicity! I was simply making a goofy face. When did
that become newsworthy?
"It seems someone is trying to
make something out of nothing to me. If that would have been
anyone else, it would have been overlooked! I definitely
feel like the press is trying to make me out as the new 'bad
girl'!"
She goes on to say that
she's the new target of media scrutiny now that Britney
Spears is back in action. "I feel like now that Britney is
back on top of her game again, they need someone to pick on!
Lucky me! Haha," she wrote. "Anyway, I just wanted to let
you guys know what is in my heart. You guys know me and have
been by my side every step of the way!"
Although she doesn't
actually apologize for the photo in the blog thread, she
does note that, as she has done in the past when her actions
have courted controversy, she is owning up to it.
"You guys know my heart and
know the most important things to me are my friends, family,
fans and God! In no way do I want to disappoint any of you!
But when I have made mistakes in the past, I feel like I've
owned up to them and apologized."
She finished the blog post
hoping that people stop concentrating on what she does
outside of the spotlight. "Anyway, I really wish everyone
would stop focusing on my personal life and get back to
focusing on what I love! Music and acting! Hopefully, I will
be touring again this fall! Yayy! It will be a nice change
to be back out on the road again! xoxo Blessings."
Nanyang100 - Hong Kong's government may accept equity rather
than cash as repayment for part of a HK$6.1 billion (US$782
million) loan it gave to Hong Kong Disneyland, its
loss-making joint venture with Walt Disney Co, a local
newspaper said on Wednesday.
The Sing Tao Daily newspaper,
quoting unidentified sources, said the proposal was made by
Walt Disney and details were being discussed with the
government.
A government spokeswoman said
the government and Walt Disney were discussing financing
expansion plans for Hong Kong Disneyland but no decisions
had been made.
"There may be a capital
realignment of the joint venture company, that is a
possibility," the spokeswoman told Reuters. "No conclusions
have been made yet and we have no timetable for (concluding)
the discussions."
The government has a 57 percent
stake in the joint venture after investing HK$3.25 billion
while Disney has a 43 percent share, having invested HK$2.45
billion.
As the U.S. company is looking
for ways to fund a HK$3 billion expansion of the theme park,
an equity conversion would enable the government to retain
its majority shareholding in Hongkong International Theme
Parks, the joint venture which runs Hong Kong Disneyland,
the newspaper report said.
The proposal would allow Disney
to lower its overall debt ratio and enhance its ability to
borrow more money from banks.
The venture is financed by 40
percent equity and 60 percent debt.
Disney has borrowed HK$8.4
billion for the project, comprising a HK$2.3 billion bank
loan it paid off earlier this year and the HK$6.1 billion
government loan, which it was supposed to repay within 25
years.
Sing Tao said the government,
if it agrees to the equity conversion proposal, would
probably need to get it passed in the Legislative Council as
it concerns taxpayers' money.
Hong Kong
Disneyland has been losing money since opening in 2005 and
the government has been criticised for pumping money into
the venture. (US$1=HK$7.8)
Animation Magazine - The first 50 minutes of the upcoming
Disney-Pixar film Up will screen for fans at this weekend's
New York Comic Con.
The screening of the film,
directed by Oscar-winner Pete Docter, will take place in the IGN
Theater on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Seating will be limited and
attendees are required to arrive an hour early to undergo a
security check.
The New York Comic Con is being
held Friday through Sunday at the Jacob Javits Center in
Manhattan.
Variety - Walt Disney is planning to spend $233 million in a
deal that would enable it to establish a national television
network in Russia.
The company, which
already has a cinematic presence in Russia, will push ahead with
plans for a Disney television network once it receives
regulatory approval for a deal that involves acquiring a 49%
stake in Media One TV, which runs channels in 30 of the
country’s 89 regions.
The size of the
deal has raised eyebrows in Russia’s television industry, where
the economic downturn is predicted to slash advertising revenue
this year by some 30%.
Ivan Tarvin, the
32-year-old owner of Media One TV, said the cash value of the
deal — which was agreed last October but needs Russian federal
monopoly commission approval to go ahead — was not on broader
criteria than the market value of a 49% share in his company.
The free-to-air
channel will screen Disney programming and original Russian-made
content.
Disney Russia
spokeswoman Elena Yamshikova told Variety the deal was
being studied by the Russia’s anti-monopoly commission.
Alexander
Rodnyansky, president of CTC Media — which runs Russia’s fourth
biggest national network, entertainment channel CTC — told
business daily Kommersant: “Today is the last opportunity to
build a full-value national network in Russia.”
China Daily - Hong Kong Disneyland announced on Tuesday it will
raise weekday admission prices for mainland and overseas
tourists by about 19 percent.
But Hong Kong residents and
tourists who purchase tickets through travel agents can still
enjoy the old prices until June 30.
A one-day admission will cost
HK$350 ($45) for adults and HK$250 for children aged up to 11,
from Monday, the previous charges for weekends.
Adults were previously admitted
for HK$295 and children HK$210.
A Hong Kong Disneyland spokesman
said the park does not expect the new pricing structure to have
an immediate impact on attendances, as research shows guests
choose when to visit the attraction based on time available
rather than ticket prices.
But the hikes drew immediate
criticism from the industry.
The greater tourism industry
fears it may harm mainlanders' willingness to visit Hong Kong.
Joseph Tung Yao-chung, executive director of Travel Industry
Council of Hong Kong, said the decision was unwise in the
current financial climate.
He also urged the company to
rethink its decision, during an interview with Southern
Metropolis Daily.
Hong Kong Association of Travel
Agents chairman Michael Wu Sui-ieng said mainland and overseas
tourists might find the new price policy discriminatory and
dampen their desire to visit Disneyland, Hong Kong-based
Wenweipo newspaper reported yesterday.
He predicted a 10 percent drop
of mainland tourists to the Disneyland in the wake of the price
hike.
Though expressing similar
concerns, the mainland travel industry remains positive about
the number of visitors to Disneyland in the near future.
Wang Jian, spokesman for
Guangdong China Travel Service, told Wenweipo that Disneyland
was the most popular destination for mainland tourists going to
Hong Kong and the HK$55 price increase would not affect flows.
Wen Qian, marketing manager of
the Guangzhou-based GZL Travel Service, even predicted a 20
percent increase on weekends and holidays despite the price
hike.
"The unified ticket prices
during weekdays and peak days will actually be more convenient
for travelers to arrange their tours," she told China Daily.
Beijing resident Zhang Min said
she would take her 9-year-old daughter to Hong Kong next week.
"I've promised my daughter a
tour to Disneyland, no matter whether the ticket prices rise or
not," she said.
Mainland, local and overseas
tourists each account for about a third of the total visitors to
Hong Kong Disneyland.
The cost of Hong Kong tour
packages offered by major mainland travel agents remain
unchanged so far.
Disney's admission increase is
the first since it opened in 2005.
Willcox Range News - Eight Cochise College students are
completing internships this semester at Walt Disney World in
Florida, and others who are interested are invited to meet
Disney College Program recruiters at a presentation at 1 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 12 in Room 313 on the Sierra Vista Campus of
Cochise College.
The Disney College Program gives students the chance to live,
learn and earn during once-in-a-lifetime paid internships at the
Disneyland Resort or Walt Disney World Resort. Students who
participate in the internship program work for a world-renowned
company that will stand out on their r/sum/.
Cochise College has placed many students in Disney internships
over the years. Interns have the unique opportunity to network
and learn from Disney leaders; custom-design their own learning
curriculum and earn six Cochise College credits; gain real-world
experience and transferable skills; and create lasting
friendships with college students from around the world.
Participants also can take a variety of course offerings,
including collegiate courses that have been recommended for
credit by the American Council on Education (ACE).
"The Disney College Program opened a lot of doors for me," said
Director of Walt Disney World Casting Jody Sweet, who interned
as a merchandise hostess at Epcot while a student at Bowling
Green State University. "On a daily basis, I was exposed to the
intricacies of upper-level management, problem-solving
techniques and the importance of customer service."
The Disney College Program is open to all college students,
full- or part-time, in any major and at any academic level.
Cochise College students who wish to participate must complete
12 units of academic credit before May 2009 and have a minimum
grade point average of 2.0. Prior to arrival at the resort,
students also must be at least 18 years of age and have been
enrolled in an accredited college or university the semester
prior to arrival.
Students can learn more at the Cochise College Career Services
Center, (520) 515-5457 at the Sierra Vista Campus, or (520)
417-4756 at the Douglas Campus. Anyone needing an accommodation
in order to attend should contact the Disability Services
Office, (520) 515-5337 or (520) 417-4023, at least 72 hours in
advance.
Disney Insider -
No two visits to the Disney Parks
are quite the same, or made for quite the same reasons. And
every family has a special story to tell, and so much to
celebrate. This year, what special events, milestones, and
moments will YOUR family celebrate?
Whatever your answer, there's never been a better time to think
of that special celebration at the Disney Parks – because thanks
to the Magical Celebrations sweepstakes at
Disney.com,
you can enter to win the
celebration of a lifetime for your family! Five lucky winners
will each receive a Disney Parks vacation designed to celebrate
their trip in the most magical way possible, by building a
vacation that's perfect for them.
To start with, planning will be a snap because a personal
itinerary planner will help arrange the details, including:
* Limo transportation to and from the airport
* A special guided tour of either Walt Disney World or
Disneyland (depending on which Resort each winner chooses)
* Disney's PhotoPass PhotoBook and PhotoCD to showcase those
magical memories
* A $200 Disney Gift Card, and more!
Enter every day in February at
Disney.com/Celebrate.
In addition to being entered into the vacation sweepstakes each
day, you'll instantly win a different new digital prize every
day.
And that's not all – you can increase your chances to win by
texting MAGIC to DISNEY (347639). Standard carrier fees apply.
You can also get a bonus entry by sharing a celebration story in
the
Disney Family.com
Community
– and we know that our Insider readers have some very special
stories to share!
It's a special year to celebrate at the Parks, with new
attractions like Walt Disney World's The American Idol
Experience, and a brand-new parade to enjoy. Why not wish upon a
star, and enter for a chance to share it all with the ones you
love?
AP - ESPN the Magazine is offering to help the New York City
Department of Education create a new high school focusing on the
business side of sports.
The Business of Sports School, or BOSS, will open in
September in Manhattan with 81 ninth-grade students. The school
plans to emphasize real world skills through mandatory
internships at companies including ESPN the Magazine.
Mike Soltys, a spokesman for the Bristol, Conn.-based sports
network, said ESPN's magazine, which is headquartered in New
York City, made a "nonfinancial commitment" to help develop the
curriculum and provide volunteer support.
The school is part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's push to
modernize outdated vocational or trade schools.
CNBC - Today, the New York Posthad a story
about the New York City Department of Education teaming up withESPN to create a school called the Business of Sports
School or BOSS. The high school, the paper said was "part of a
push to create 21st-century versions of what are rapidly
becoming out-of-date vocational or trade schools."
I actually saw the story first on
Awful Announcing and found out that the Associated Press had
picked up on the story. Surprised that there was no comment from
ESPN, I corresponded with spokesman Mike Soltys who sent this to
me via e-mail.
"Reports suggesting ESPN is
launching a high school are overstated," Soltys said, via
e-mail. "ESPN the Magazine has made a non-financial commitment
to help develop a curriculum, in addition to providing other
volunteer-based support."
I have more
faith in the business of sports than most obviously, but this
story seemed a little too good to be true.
Orlando Sentinel - Sad news, Disney Channel fans: There will be
no Disney Channel Games in Orlando -- or anywhere this year.
The channel is putting its
emphasis elsewhere.
A
Disney Channel spokesperson said Wednesday: "While we are
proud of Disney Channel Games and its great success over the
past two years, this summer we are focusing on the launch of
a new pro-social initiative with Disney Channel and Disney
XD stars. Details will be announced shortly."
Last month, Disney Channel
honcho Gary Marsh said the young stars' busy schedules could
scuttle the games this year.
Last year's event attracted
Miley Cyrus and Jonas Brothers, and the channel promoted
"Camp Rock."
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort Streamlines Park Ticket Pricing
Structure
Disney News - Hong Kong Disneyland Resort today announced a
unified Park Admission Ticket pricing structure. Effective
February 9, 2009, HKDL will standardize ticket prices so guests
will pay the same ticket price every day. A special promotion
program offering different benefits to local, overseas, and
mainland guests will also be launched alongside the new pricing
structure. For Hong Kong residents, the special promotion
initiatives include the following:
• Local guests will continue to enjoy the present tiered
structure for at least six months after the introduction of the
new pricing regime;
• A flat ticket price of $170 for senior citizens for all
days, representing a cut of $30 on the price previously charged
for Peak and Special Days tickets.
• Prices for Annual Passes and the youth program will remain
unchanged.
For overseas and mainland guests, the special promotion
initiatives include the following:
• "A Thousand Kisses from Hong Kong Disneyland" Coupon Book
will be launched which offers premiums to guests booking through
travel agents and is valued at more than HK$1,000.
The new pricing regime also features additional incentives
for the travel trade. A HKDL spokesman said: "The package of
changes has been introduced after very careful consideration by
HKDL management and it will bring HKDL's pricing structure in
line with that of other Disney theme parks around the world. "We
understand the challenging economic situation faced by Hong Kong
people, so we have decided to keep the ticket prices for Hong
Kong residents unchanged and reduce the price for seniors," he
said. He added, "HKDL does not expect the new pricing structure
to have material impact on our guest arrivals. Our research
shows that guests make their choice of when to visit HKDL mainly
based on their available free time rather than ticket prices."
This is the first time HKDL has reviewed its park ticket pricing
structure since the Resort opened in 2005.
The new scheme does away with the different ticket prices
charged on weekdays, weekends and special days. Admission on
weekdays will be raised to the same level of weekends - up from
HK$295 to HK$350 for adults, and from HK$210 to HK$250 for
children.
However, tickets for senior citizens will be reduced 15
percent to HK$170 from HK$200, even on weekends.
New York Times - Citing weakening consumer
interest in DVDs, with or without the dismal economy, the Walt
Disney Company said on Tuesday it would reduce the number of
discs it releases and rethink how it markets and packages them.
Sales of DVDs, by far the most significant
contributor to profit at most studios, dropped sharply across
the industry over the holiday season. Robert A. Iger, Disney’s
chief executive, told analysts in a quarterly conference call on
Tuesday that the DVD business model needed to be redrawn because
consumers appeared to be moving to other forms of home
entertainment.
“When the economy rebounds, the normal we
see is not necessarily going to be the normal we were used to,”
Mr. Iger said.
The retrenchment comes as Disney reported
a 64 percent drop in studio income for its fiscal first quarter,
largely because of decreased DVD sales around the world. Mr.
Iger also said the company, which has so far avoided mass
layoffs, was putting into effect “quite significant”
cost-cutting measures across the board, but he declined to
specify how much the effort could save.
For the quarter ended Dec. 27, Disney
reported net income of $845 million, or 45 cents a share, a 32
percent decline from $1.25 billion, or 63 cents a share, a year
earlier. Revenue fell 8 percent, to $9.6 billion.
Marketing promotions helped Disney avoid
steep declines at its theme parks, which have been vulnerable in
downturns. To shore up bookings, the company introduced hefty
discounts in November, including free park tickets. The
maneuvers kept the decline in income at the unit to 24 percent,
which the company said was largely because of a real estate sale
at the Disneyland Resort Paris in the year-earlier quarter.
Thomas O. Staggs, Disney’s chief
financial officer, said spending at Disney World and Disneyland
in the last part of 2008 was flat and spending at the company’s
resort hotels was up modestly. Theme park attendance dropped
just 5 percent. He said the company was extending the booking
window for its promotional campaign for several months.
Disney has moved in recent weeks to put
its broadcasting division on more solid footing, consolidating
operations at ABC and the television studio that supplies it.
The move reflects a huge decline in advertising both at the
network (partly because of lower ratings, partly because of the
economy) and at local stations.
Income at ABC fell 60 percent in the
quarter. A bad debt charge related to the Tribune Company’s
bankruptcy filing added to the grim result, the company said.
Mr. Iger said the company would not seek additional budget cuts
at its string of local stations, largely because doing so would
come “at the expense of the local news brands.”
For the first time, Disney broke out
separate results for its Interactive Media Group, a collection
of businesses that includes Disney.com, video games and virtual
worlds like Club Penguin. Revenue increased 13 percent, to $313
million, but the division reported a net loss of $45 million
because of higher costs. Mr. Staggs said Disney planned to
invest about $50 million in video game development in 2009.
Examiner - Southern Californians have a special advantage when
it comes to purchasing Disney's annual passports for admission
to the park. For the first time, Disneyland is now offering
monthly interest-free payments for any of the four annual
options available California residents with zip codes between
90000-93599. Yearlong parking can be purchased for $59 and will
be printed on your annual passport.
Monthly payments are only available at the park's kiosk. If
you want to purchase annual passes online, you would need to pay
in full. In order to take advantage of the monthly payment
option, all you need is photo ID as proof of SoCal residency
(usually your driver's license) and a credit/debit card.
Payments are deducted from your credit/debit card, and the
balance can be paid off at anytime. Monthly payments cannot be
made via check or cash.
There's only one small catch: If you didn't have an annual
passport last year, you will need to make a "down payment" in
the amount of one day's admission (currently $69). This amount
is deducted from your pass and the difference is broken in to
monthly payments. This means that if you are a first time Disney
passport holder purchasing the least expensive annual passport
-the Southern California Select, which has 170 available days
and excludes weekends and blocks out most holidays and 8 weeks
of summer- without parking, your payments would be "as low as
$5.42" per month!
On the other hand, if you are renewing you passport from last
year, no down payment is required and monthly payments, at their
lowest, would be $11.17 Below are the blocked out days for each
of the four annual passport options. Available days per year
range from 170 to 365.
And don't worry about getting your free birthday admission,
if your birthday falls on a day thet would have been available
to you with your pass, Disney offers one of three options! 1) A
1-Day/1-Park ticket for you to use any time until your next
birthday, 2) A special birthday Fastpass ticket for certain
attractions at the park you visit on your actual birthday, OR 3)
Birthday card for the amount of a 1-Day/1-Park ticket (about
$69) to use on your birthday for merchandise or other fun
activities at select locations at the Disneyland Resort.
Allentown Morning Call - In the increasingly competitive world
of blogs, a Bethlehem mom of seven has made a name for herself
in cyberspace, posting low-cost recipes for moms on the go.
Two years ago, fledgling blogger Anne Coleman was blogging about
her family recipes, when she was approached by Disney to do a
blog for its new Disney Family.com Web site.
Now blogging as Disney's ''Short Order Mom'' and dispensing
mom-centric culinary tips, Coleman has beaten the odds to become
one of the elite group of bloggers who has been picked up by a
nationally known sponsor.
Coleman says she didn't really believe it until she received her
first paycheck with Mickey Mouse in the corner.
Coleman's blog features quick, budget-friendly recipes she has
created for the on-the-run mother. Recipes range from funky
selections inspired by the Harry Potter book series to a healthy
version of turkey sliders, a favorite in the Coleman household.
Coleman, who graduated from the first culinary arts class at
Northampton Community College in 1993, says she came by her
cooking skills naturally.
''I came from a large family,'' says the 1986 Liberty grad, who
was one of seven children. ''My mom cooked for an army every
day.''
Coleman says she intended to study criminal justice at NCC, but
her eye strayed from the courses listed under CR to CU --
culinary. She never looked back.
Although her original plan was to open a restaurant, Coleman was
sidetracked by her growing family when she began homeschooling
her children, who now range in age from 2 to 19. She noticed
that many stay-at-home moms had blogs, so she decided to start
her own blog to preserve her family's recipes. In 2005, her
blog, ''Cooking with Anne,'' was born.
''I was just journaling for our family,'' Coleman says. ''We had
so many recipes, so much food and so much history.''
The blog struck a chord with other moms and within six months,
''Cooking with Anne'' was named the best cooking blog of 2005 by
The Best of Blogs, which gives awards to the best blogs on its
Web site,
http://www.thebestofblogs.com.
The Best of the Blogs awards were started by Jim Turner, who was
inspired after he created his popular daddy blog ''Genuine'' in
2004, when the concept of blogs was in its infancy. Turner, who
now heads a blog marketing company, One by One Media, and runs
blogtalkradio, an Internet radio show, says he created The Best
of Blogs awards to recognize the best of the many smaller blogs
in a crowded blogosphere. He says the winners are voted on by a
panel of other bloggers for their outstanding writing and
design.
Coleman admits when she got her first e-mail from Disney in
2006, expressing interest in having her blog for them, she
thought it was a joke. Even after receiving a phone call from
Disney, confirming that e-mail, she still didn't quite believe
it.
But in December 2006, Coleman was selected to be one of 20
bloggers to launch the new Disney' Family.com Web site.
While recent studies have estimated the number of bloggers to be
as high as hundreds of millions worldwide, Turner estimates that
it's closer to tens of millions, still a staggering number.
Technorati.com estimates there are 1 million blog posts every
day.
''It has exploded exponentially,'' says Turner.
He also says its ''a rarity'' for a large company like Disney to
pick up a personal blog.
''You have to be pretty popular because they are buying into the
idea you have influence in your niche,'' he says. ''You have to
have a certain amount of traffic. It's very tough, and becoming
tougher with more saturation of blogs.''
He says most blogs are doing well if they can make enough to pay
for their Internet hosting fees, which is the monthly rent a Web
site charges to host a blog.
After two years, Coleman's ''Short Order Mom'' is the only of
the original 20 blogs still on the Disney site; her snappy
writing and practical recipes having spared her blog from
Disney's frequent cullings. She now shares cyberspace on Disney
with nationally known writers, such as ''Dalai Mama'' Catherine
Newman, whose chronicles of her children Ben and Birdy draws
wide readership, and Rand Cooper, a novelist who blogs about
being a stay-at-home dad.
Coleman says the key to her success is ''quick, inexpensive
meals that kids will eat,'' such as chicken taco soup and
calzone rolls made from frozen dough.
Using her family as guinea pigs, she whips up low-cost but tasty
meals and tests them.
''My kids are so conditioned they ask. 'Do you need to take a
picture or can we eat it?''' she says.
Coleman says she spends $150 a week to feed her family of nine.
''It's not really a big deal,'' she says. ''Most large families
are more cost-conscious.''
Since she doesn't waste any food in her household, she sometimes
comes up with creative ''accidents'' that become hits on her
blog.
''One time I threw spaghetti in a dish with chicken nuggets on
top,'' she says. ''It's like a one-dish chicken Parmesan.''
A series on recipes inspired by the Harry Potter books also was
hugely popular. Her family's favorite was pumpkin pasties,
which, in the book, are served on the Hogwarts Express on the
way to the castle.
Coleman makes up all her own recipes and says food blogging has
its own peculiar challenges.
''You have to come up with the food, make it several times to
get it right and then write about it,'' she says. ''It can be
really intense.''
And her family is the beneficiary of all her cooking since
nothing is wasted. Some of her recipes, like the recently posted
turkey sliders, get repeat requests from her children.
''The kids are nuts about them,'' she says.
Coleman, who blogs for several hours nearly every evening after
the kids go to bed, also shares some of her personal life on her
blog. Last year, when her husband was seriously injured in a
roofing accident, she kept blogging through the whole ordeal.
''My husband's my biggest fan,'' she says, ''even though he
doesn't know anything about cooking.''
Meanwhile, her personal blog, ''Cooking with Anne,'' continues
to grow in popularity, and she recently debuted ''One Thousand
Soups'' a blog dedicated to soups.
Coleman says ''Cooking with Anne'' gets more than 8,000 unique
visits a month and her soup blog, started in November, has had
5,000 hits so far. She started the specialty soup blog because
she had a lot of soup recipes and always got good responses when
she featured soup on her other blogs. According to
TopofBlogs.com, which rates blogs, a few high-profile food blogs
generate more than 100,000 hits a month, but receiving less than
10,000 hits is more common.
''I wanted to see how a microniche would do and it has been
really popular,'' she says of her soup blog.
Next, Coleman plans to share her budget-conscious tips to help
families struggling in the current economy.
''Slowing down is cheaper,'' she says. ''We rarely eat out, but
my kids don't really care. They're all very healthy.''
ABC 4 - It's no secret…Utahns love Disneyland! This was made
extremely apparent after airing the ABC4 Special, drum roll
Mistro... "Christiana's Disneyland in a Day Plan!" The piece
aired well over a year ago and there is still not a week that
goes by where I still don't get friendly e-mails from viewers
like you, all seeking to combat...you guessed it, Disneyland in
a day's time!
For all of you who missed the segment or didn't have a pen to
jot it down, thought I'd post the plan. Let me preface the
posting by saying this plan has been tried and tested by
hundreds of loyal viewers in addition to yours truly. It's a
great way to tackle the very best Disneyland has to offer in a
time efficient manner.
So first things first. When to go? Every Disney connoisseur
knows there's certain months to run through those park gates and
other months, you want to run the other way! After interviewing
some "Disney insiders," I found the least busy months to plan
your bon voyage include January to mid-February, end of April
until Memorial Day, early September to mid-October, week after
Thanksgiving until one week right before Christmas.
Where to stay? Although you might pay a little more up front,
staying at Disney resorts offers its fair share of perks. For
one, you don't have to park and the resorts are monorail
accessible. Secondly, and most important to the time saving
equation, the park will let you in 60 to 90 minutes early on
designated days in order to jump start the crowds.
Although it may not seem geographically friendly at first
glance of a park map, the order is dictated more by line size.
Disneyland has a somewhat new offering called "fast passes"
where you can pick up to bypass the long lines and instead wait
in a "fast pass line" that's not usually longer than 15 minutes
or so. With the below plan, you'll note there's only one
recommendation to pick up a fast pass.
Without further adieu, here's the order to hit the rides...
1.) Indiana Jones
2.) Pirates of the Caribbean
3.) Space Mountain
** Pick up Fast Pass for Finding Nemo
4.) Matterhorn
5.) Big Thunder Mountain
6.) Haunted Mansion
7.) Splash Mountain
8.) Ride Finding Nemo using Fast Pass
Oh, and one more thing. Let's try to keep this little plan
top secret, for the use of Utahns only! If the rest of the
nation catches on, it'll defeat the purpose. Capieto? Thank you
and bon voyage!
Virtual Worlds News - Last night Disney
announced that it would launch World of Cars Online this summer.
The world was first announced as in development in November
2007, and Disney began previewing World of Cars with an avatar
creator and Test Track a year later. With codes already
available in Mattel toys for extra virtual items and a bonus
track, Disney is already pushing for World of Cars to be a hit
revenue stream at retail. Once the world launches, Disney says
players will be able to race on tracks and earn their way to
the big leagues, explore a wide world of environments, build
their own garages, cars, and tracks, and more.
CNBC - Walt Disney shares fell steeply in late trading as the
company reported a profit that was lower than last year and
badly missed analysts' expectations.
Excluding
one-time items, the media conglomerate earned 41 cents a share
in its fiscal first quarter, compared with a profit of 63 cents
a share in the same period last year.
Analysts who follow the company
predicted that Disney would turn in earnings of 51 cents a
share, according to a consensus estimate compiled by Thomson
Reuters.
Sales for the recently ended
quarter reached $9.6 billion, down from $10.45 billion last
year. The Street was looking for a topline of $10.07 billion.
Shares of Disney dropped almost 9
percent in after-hours trading Tuesday. The stock rose 2 percent
to close at $20.61 during the New York Stock Exchange's regular
session.
MarketWatch - Walt Disney Co. Chief
Executive Bob Iger told analysts Tuesday that although the
company is being impacted by "what is likely to be the weakest
economy in our lifetime," it is not the only reason why Disney
and other companies are seeing lower DVD sales and decreases in
advertising revenue. "Competition for people's time is
increasing and the abundance of choice is allowing consumers to
be more selective," Iger said during a conference call after the
company reported disappointing first fiscal-quarter results.
"This clearly has had an impact on broadcast television and may
have a long-term potential impact on the DVD business ... We
don't believe the changes we are seeing in consumer behavior can
all be attributed to a weak economy, and we feel it is important
for us to address them as more than just cyclical issues."
BloggingStocks - Disney will be reporting earnings for the
fiscal first quarter Tuesday after the market close. There
shouldn't be any growth in the bottom line. Of course, no one
should be surprised by that. After all, this is Disney we're
talking about, a company which provides goods and services that
can easily be cut out of any consumer budget. Remember,
conservation of cash is becoming quite the fad.
According to this source, Disney
may earn $0.52 per share.That would represent a contraction of
$0.11, or 17%. The big question is whether or not Disney will
miss. If it does, investors won't be happy, because it'll be the
second miss in a row. Wall Street was previously accustomed to
seeing the Mouse religiously beat the analysts at their holy
game. But Q4 changed the story.
It wasn't a rewrite that CEO Bob
Iger wanted for his personal screenplay. Indeed, although the
market knows that we're in a recession and that growth will slow
for almost every company, it still wants to see companies doing
slightly better than what the analysts are predicting. That
would show superior management.
The one thing Iger has going for
the quarter is that it occurred during the holiday season.
Obviously, Disney moves a lot of merchandise during that time
period, and I would assume that a lot of people are in the mood
to visit the parks to catch them in their festive states.
However, the one thing that Iger
has going against the quarter is that, well...it occurred during
the holiday selling season! Since Christmas was so bad at retail
stores and there was so much negative news out there, consumer
confidence decided to take a vacation. And I'm not sure it took
a vacation to Disney World.
Looking to some of the
individual operating segments, I come away being less than
confident about their prospects since the recession is in full
gear. Disney's ABC network is suffering through a horrible
advertising climate, as are media assets controlled by News
Corp., Time Warner, General Electric, CBS, and Viacom.
Everyone's in the same boat.
I'd have to assume that Disney's
video-game business has seen its own challenges during the last
few months. You have to wonder how price points on games were
since every parent was looking for (and demanding) the best deal
possible.
How will the movie studio shape
up? Disney hit with Bolt and a big-screen version of High School
Musical (although the grosses on those two projects weren't as
high as I would have expected them to ultimately be), but we'll
have to see what the marketing expenses were and how they
affected profitability for the division. The High School Musical
movie did benefit, however, from a relatively low budget and a
large foreign gross. The film may have cost as low as $11
million to make and it took in over $150 million at theaters
outside the U.S. marketplace (the musical grossed about $90
million at domestic multiplexes).
Shareholders are hoping that the
Iger difference will give Disney an edge during the slowdown.
I'm not so sure about that (can't say I'm Iger's biggest fan),
but since the company missed in the fourth quarter, I'd have to
believe that he is pulling out all the stops to salvage his
reputation. Still, that might not be enough.
I'll guess that Disney will miss
slightly this Tuesday. I just can't see the Mouse, no matter how
magical its brand may be, delivering a powerful quarter.
Powerful quarters are for the future. For the time being, Disney
is cautious about the future, as evidenced by the recent
decision not to raise the company's annual dividend payment (a
misguided decision, in my opinion). That's a signal for
investors and traders to be skeptical ahead of the earnings
report.
Barron's - Credit Walt Disney (DIS)
with being, if nothing else, one of the few media companies able
to execute on its mission. But it’s ability to manage the
economic conditions have to be considered limited, at best,
leaving the entertainment giant at risk from consumer and
business spending.
Take
its theme park business, for example. Disney’s near-legendary
ability to execute on its park-experience elements probably
won’t be hurt by the economic environment. But maintaining that
experience in the face of a suffering consumer might compromise
the company’s ability to maintain its margins. Some analysts
have expressed hesitation about the park business, worried that
cash-flow could fall by as much as a third versus a year ago.
Perhaps that’s worst-case scenario, but that’s the backdrop into
which Disney will be dropping its quarterly results on Tuesday.
The DVD business isn’t much
better. Latest statistics on DVD sales have shown some
stunningly sharp declines in consumer spending on filmed
entertainment for the home. Whether this is a reflection of a
shift in platform, as direct-to-home delivery of digital content
has become more prevalent, and physical discs become out-moded,
would represent an open question.
Disney also has some exposure to
the ad-spending environment through its multiple broadcast and
cable networks. Again, its execution can’t be questioned - ESPN
figures to continue to print money, for example - but ad
spending is clearly economically sensitive, one of the reasons
that Disney’s profits are forecast to decline about 17%, to 52
cents a share, for the quarter.
Walt
Disney Studios Home Entertainment - Fall in love with Oliver &
Company's adorable gang of animal outcasts all over again on
February 3, 2009 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
Disney's 27th full-length animated film celebrates its 20th
anniversary in a special edition DVD with enough fun and
laughter for the whole family. Brilliant animation, a fantastic
soundtrack and the amazing voice talents of Billy Joel, Bette
Midler, and Huey Lewis, put Oliver & Company on track to win the
hearts of a whole new generation. The 20th Anniversary Edition
comes with animated shorts, behind–the-scenes featurettes and an
all-new game that the parents and kids will love to play
together.
Inspired by the classic Charles
Dickens novel Oliver Twist, the film boasts a lovable cast of
characters and five infectious original songs from top-tier
contemporary talents including Billy Joel, Bette Midler, Huey
Lewis and Barry Manilow. Oliver & Company: 20th Anniversary
Edition is filled with hilarious animal antics and high-energy
adventures as one clever kitten leads a pack of resourceful pups
against a would-be kidnapper! This timeless classic lights up
the screen with a story of courage and heart, friendship and
loyalty and a songbook filled with unforgettable tunes.
Disney presents an unforgettable
musical adventure as Oliver, an adorable stray kitten (voiced by
Joey Lawrence), takes Manhattan by storm! When Dodger (Billy
Joel), a street-smart mutt with a weakness for mischief,
befriends the homeless tabby, he introduces his new pal to his
pack of pickpocket pooches, run by the nefarious Sykes (Robert
Loggia). Just as Oliver is about to begin a life of crime, he is
rescued by a rich girl named Jenny, who takes him home to live
in luxury with her and her spoiled poodle Georgette (Bette
Midler). But when Sykes finds out about Oliver's new benefactor,
he hatches a plot to abscond with the little girl and hold her
for ransom. The courageous kitty and his newfound friends must
race to the rescue in an electrifying chase through the city's
labyrinthine subway system in order to bring Jenny home.
Brimming with music, humor and adventure, Oliver & Company is
sure to delight the entire family.
Oliver & Company: 20th
Anniversary Edition has a suggested retail price of $29.99
(U.S.) and $35.99 (Canada).
Walt
Disney Studios Home Entertainment - Disney's irresistible
talking puppies are back in an all-new movie, Space Buddies, an
intergalactic action-adventure coming to DVD and Blu-ray Hi-Def
on February 3, 2009 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
Packed with more heart, more suspense and more tail-wagging
fun-than ever before, the Buddies' greatest adventure yet takes
them to the final frontier-outer space! Perfectly timed for
Valentine's Day gift-giving, Space Buddies is packed with
out-of-this world bonus features including hilarious doggy
bloopers and a brand new music video.
Adorable Golden Retriever
puppies Rosebud, Buddha, Budderball, B-Dawg, and Mudbud return
in an epic adventure that takes them farther than they ever
dreamed. In a delightful new escapade, the inquisitive pooches
travel to the moon in search of a dream, only to realize that
what they want is back on earth. Moving at warp speed, dodging
asteroids and more, the Buddies and their two new friends,
Spudnick, a sweet bull terrier and Gravity, a resourceful
ferret, must summon their courage and ingenuity to launch plans
for a moon landing and a rocketing trip back home. Will they
have the right stuff?
Overflowing with intergalactic
action and heart, Space Buddies is an inspiring tale of
teamwork, and loyalty that celebrates the journey of life and
the friendships made along the way. It's Buddy-loving fun the
whole family will enjoy again and again.
The Space Buddies DVD is priced
at $29.99 SRP US, $35.99 Canada. Blu-ray Disc is $34.99 SRP US
and $44.99 for Canada.
Reuters - Disney teen idol Miley Cyrus has been accused of
taunting and mocking Asians by making slant-eye poses in a
personal photograph with her friends.
A snapshot of Cyrus, 16, best known
as the star of the Disney Channel show "Hannah Montana", and
friends posing with an Asian friend and pulling their eyes
sideways surfaced on the Internet this week.
The OCA, a national organization
in the United States dedicated to advancing the social and
political welfare of Asian Pacific Americans, called on the
singer-actress to apologize.
The group said the image "falls
within a long and unfortunate history of people mocking and
denigrating individuals of Asian descent."
"Not only has Miley Cyrus and
the other individuals in the photograph encouraged and
legitimized the taunting and mocking of people of Asian descent,
she has also insulted her many Asian Pacific American friends,"
OCA executive director George Wu in a statement issued on
Monday.
Wu said the fact that an Asian
friend was included in the photo "does not make it acceptable."
Representatives for Cyrus did
not immediately return calls for comment on Tuesday.
Cyrus, one of the biggest teen
stars in the world, apologized to fans last year for a Vanity
Fair photo shoot which showed her apparently wearing little but
a satin bed sheet. She also came under fire in 2008 for personal
pictures showing her in her underwear.
Orlando Sentinel -
Disney Vacation Club has set an Aug. 4 opening date for the Bay
Lake Tower, the time-share addition Disney is building next to
its Contemporary Resort.
The date is
earlier than the “Fall 2009” target Disney had been using until
now.
Disney says
customers who have purchased shares in Bay Lake will be able to
start making reservations Feb. 8. That’s also the same date
Disney will begin accepting reservations for in its Treehouse
Villas from customers who own stakes in the Saratoga Springs
Resort & Spa time share.
All Disney
Vacation Members, regardless of which resorts they have
purchased stakes in, will be able to reserve rooms in the Bay
Lake Tower or Treehouse Villas beginning Feb. 22.
Theme Park Rangers - Rumor has it that Harley-Davidson has
sniffed around the abandoned Mannequins building at Pleasure
Island with thoughts of opening a restaurant at the Downtown
Disney location. (They already have a retail outlet on the
Island). Kind of hard to imagine, but at least that revolving
dance floor might get work representing a wheel. Why, look here:
part cafe, part museum.
Related unofficial word that
other clubs at PI will continue to be rented out for private and
corporate events into the fall.
Other rumor has it: Disney
shopping for countries to rent space in the World Showcase
pavilion?
Screamscape
- Screamscape reader caught an interesting event on his cell
phone camera the other night at Epcot as a park guest decided he
was going to try to climb to the top of the Mexico pavilion.
Making the event a little more scary to guests was the fact that
as they got near the top they started to yell “I’m gonna jump!”
over and over. Before security or any other CM could arrive on
the scene to do anything about it, they quickly climbed down and
vanished into the crowd once again. Knowing how fast Disney
security usually is, I kind of find it unusual that the crazy
climber wasn’t caught.
Los Angeles Times - Rumors are racing about a new video game
based on the sequel to an old movie about a game. That could
mean only one thing: "Tron" is coming back.
Disney is working on a film based
on the 1982 science-fiction cult classic, and now Variety's Cut
Scene blog reports that Disney Interactive Studios may be
working on a Tron video game to accompany the movie.
If it happens, it wouldn't be
terribly surprising. Movie-game tie-ins are pretty standard
fare, and for a franchise based on the concept of gaming --
well, you get the picture.
You might think Disney
Interactive's recent layoffs would throw a stick in the spokes,
but Cut Scene says the tentatively titled TR2N will go ahead
despite the company consolidations.
The film and game are expected
to come out in 2011. But if you're eager to dive into the Tron
world, why wait that long? There are plenty of copycats based on
the Tron light cycles game.
For anyone who wasn't a geek in
the '80s, those are the fictional motorcycles the film's
characters rode in the virtual arena. Remember the Snake game on
the old Nokia cellphones? It's a lot like that, but with many
snakes zipping around.
This free online game, called FL
Tron 2.0, will give you a better idea. Underground developers
have ...
... slapped together a
home-brew version of the game, called DS LightBikes, for
hacked Nintendo DS systems.
The similarly titled
LightBike, this one for the iPhone, is an addictive 3-D
version of the classic concept. Developer Pankaku offers a
stripped-down free version or a paid download with
two-player split-screen. Both are available on the App
Store. Wireless multi-player gaming is coming to the full
version, according to the game's listing.
With Tron getting ready to
again hit the mainstream in the next couple years, will the
Tron Guy make a long-overdue return? Get your Frisbees and
spandex ready.
Orlando Sentinel - No, Bruce Springsteen was not paid by
Disney to shout that he was "going to Disneyland" at the end
of his 12-minute Super Bowl half-time performance. It
seems The Boss was just being funny, not a sly marketer of
the mouse.
"But we're thrilled to hear
that Bruce Springsteen is a fan," Disney spokesman Rick
Sylvain told me.
It goes without saying that the company is pleased that
the "I'm going to Disney World" catchphrase has caught
on. Apparently, Serena Williams made the same
declaration over the weekend after she won the
Australian Open. I thought celebrity endorsements came
with a hefty price tag?
Springsteen's consolation prize:
"We're happy any time to
leave tickets at the gate for the Boss and the whole E
Street band," Sylvain said.
Tourism Central - The Walt Disney Co. reports first-quarter
earnings in about an hour (4 p.m.), which will offer a
glimpse at how Walt Disney World is faring through the
recession.
Analysts aren’t particularly
optimistic. Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.’s Michael Nathanson,
for instance, predicted in January that attendance at Disney
World will be down 5 percent for the quarter (and down 4
percent at Disneyland). He also said he expects hotel
occupancy at Disney’s U.S. resorts to slump from 89 percent
to 81 percent and hotel-spending in Orlando and Anaheim to
drop 12 percent.
Morgan Stanley’s Benjamin
Swinburne has predicted a combined 7 percent decline at
Disney World and Disneyland for all of 2009. He’s also
projected that hotel-room revenue will drop between 6
percent and 7 percent for the year because of the deep
discounting Disney has resorted to (namely, the
buy-four-nights-get-three promotion).
And Citigroup’s Jason
Bazinet wrote in another note Feb. 1 that he expects
“theme-park softness will likely spread from the West Coast
to the East Coast.
MarketWatch - Analysts expect Disney to post a profit of 52
cents a share on revenue of $10.1 billion. In the prior
year's first quarter, Disney earned 63 cents a share on
sales of $10.45 billion.
Observers will be anxious to
see if Disney is continuing to see a slowdown in bookings at
its theme parks and resorts, after the company warned of
such sluggishness in November, said Tuna Amobi,
entertainment analyst at Standard and Poor's Equity.
At the time, Chief Executive
Bob Iger told analysts that the company was seeing the
lowest consumer confidence in more than three decades due to
the dismal state of the economy. He said that mindset could
curtail consumer spending during the holiday season in 2008,
"and almost certainly during calendar year 2009."
In late January, Disney said it
would offer buyout packages to about 600 executives at its
U.S. theme parks and resorts due to "the continued
uncertainty of the economic environment."
At the company's ABC and ESPN
television networks, it could be "exposed to a potentially
deeper ad recession," Amobi said.
Some 400 jobs are being
eliminated at the Disney-ABC Television Group, published
reports said last week.
Across media, television
advertising has been in a downturn over the past year in
conjunction with the economic woes suffered by traditionally
heavy buyers of TV ads -- retailers, auto companies and
financial services firms. The phenomenon has been felt to
some degree at the network level, but has been particularly
bad in local markets -- a problem for Disney's
owned-and-operated TV stations.
Amobi is more optimistic about
Disney's movie and television studios, where he says there
is potential for an improved 2009.
But some analysts are nervous
about DVD sales at Disney and other studios. Sales of DVDs
throughout the industry plummeted 32% in 2008, according to
a report by the Digital Entertainment Group.
Online DVD rental pioneer
Netflix Inc. had perhaps its greatest quarter ever in the
fourth quarter of 2008, suggesting that an increasing number
of consumers would rather rent than buy during the current
financial meltdown.
WFtv - The innovative "Magic Your Way" ticket plan that
allows Walt Disney World guests to create their own tickets
for a customized vacation also provides Floridians -- who
sometimes make shorter but more frequent visits -- with
options designed for the way residents of the Sunshine State
often "do Disney."
For Walt Disney World guests
generally, "Magic Your Way" means tickets to the various
theme parks, attractions and other entertainment offerings
are tailored to the interests of their group and the length
of their vacation...and they save if their stay is longer.
But Floridians can opt for
several immediate savings:
• a one-day theme park Base
Ticket, purchased pre-arrival, for $67.50 for guests ages
10-and-up, $56.70 for ages 3-9 (10 percent off on-site
one-day ticket prices; tickets are available pre-arrival at
disneyworld.com, 407-W-DISNEY, AAA in Florida, The Disney
Stores in Florida, and Military Bases in Florida);
• a 3-Day Play Pass (three days
to be experienced any three days during a six-month period
from time of first use) for $129 for ages 10 and older, $108
for ages 3-9 (less than the price of two-day Base Tickets
that expire 14 days after first use);
• a 4-Day Play Pass (four
days to be experienced any four days during a six-month
period from time of first use) for $160 for ages 10 and
older, $135 for ages 3-9 (cutting the cost of Disney fun to
$40 per day for guests ages 10 and older, $33.75 for guests
ages 3-9);
• Ticket add-on options at
substantial savings -- Park Hopper for just $25 extra on any
Resident ticket, and Water Park Fun & More for just $25
extra on any Resident ticket (Park Hopper is a $50 premium
option and Water Park Fun & More is a $50 premium option on
"Magic Your Way" tickets available generally).
"This is our way of thanking
our home-state neighbors for their years of loyalty," said
Al Weiss, president, Worldwide Operations, Walt Disney Parks
and Resorts. "Floridians told us what they wanted, so we're
giving them more flexibility and options that fit the way
they visit Walt Disney World.
"Whether ordering a computer, a
car or a cup of coffee, people want things customized to fit
their individual needs," Weiss added. "Now our guests have
that same ability to customize their Walt Disney World dream
vacation, creating the ticket that is just right for them."
Because "Magic Your Way"
tickets offer savings that increase with the length of stay,
a weeklong Walt Disney World vacation becomes even more
affordable.
"Research shows that longer
vacations are high on the wish list for families," Weiss
said. "With so much to see and do at Walt Disney World,
guests want to take a week to experience it all, at their
own pace. With this plan they can -- and at more affordable
prices that reward more leisurely stays.
"Simply put," he said, "the
more you play, the less you pay per day."
Under the "Magic Your Way"
program, a family of four can enjoy a six-night/seven-day
Walt Disney World vacation -- including a stay at an
on-property Disney hotel with theme park tickets -- starting
at $1,696.
GamersDailyNews - Phineas Flynn and stepbrother Ferb
Fletcher, stars of Disney’s hit television series "Phineas
and Ferb," are making their video game debut. Disney
Interactive Studios has released Phineas and Ferb for
Nintendo DS at retail outlets.
Inspired by the top-rated
animated series seen on Disney Channel and soon to debut on
Disney XD, Phineas and Ferb for Nintendo DS invites fans to
play as the characters Phineas and Ferb in a series of
wacky, fun-filled adventures. As Phineas and Ferb, players
can build the world’s most outrageous roller coaster from
their backyard to the city; create a humungous snow ride
from a snow cone machine – in the middle of summer; and hop
behind the wheel of a monster truck and navigate through a
muddy obstacle course. Along the way, players can use cool
gadgets and objects that give them special powers. They also
can complete unique mini games and puzzles such as Welding,
Wind Blaster, and “You’re so busted!” mini games with
Candace in order to advance through levels.
Many other popular
characters from the Disney series join Phineas and Ferb
throughout the game. Fans can play as “Agent P” the family
pet platypus who leads a double life as a secret agent. In
the game “Agent P” encounters the infamous Dr. Doofenshmirtz
and battles him in a 1-on-1 challenge. Tattletale teenage
sister Candace is always lurking and ready to tell Mom about
the boys’ latest caper. Plus, Isabella, the Fireside Girls,
Baljeet and others make appearances throughout the
adventure.
The game also features
DGamer, Disney’s online community designed exclusively for
Disney gamers. DGamer allows players to engage with other
Disney game players in a secure online community via their
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or online at www.DGamer.com. The
service allows users to log into their DS and online
accounts to create and customize a unique 3-D avatar and
persistent profile. Kids can chat, view user profiles of
their DGamer friends, and post high scores to leaderboards.
Published by Disney
Interactive Studios and developed by Altron, Phineas and
Ferb is rated E for Everyone with Comic Mischief and has a
suggested retail price of $29.99.
Pacifica Tribune - It was a November morning and Lisa and
Tom Hernandez, and their kids, Giana, Jenna Jo and Zachary
were spending a day in Disneyland. Exiting Dumbo, the Flying
Elephant ride, Jenna Jo in her pink Minnie Mouse shirt was
chosen by the Disney Park staff to be the recipient of
Disney's 2008 Dreams Giveaway. Jenna Jo's mom was skeptical.
"I sort of jokingly told them, if this is a time share, we
don't really have time because we only have a day in the
park."
Assured the giveaway was real,
and that the Hernandez family just happened to be in the right
place at the right time, the staff lead Jenna Jo and her guests,
her mom and dad, brother and sister to a private office right on
Main Street where their prize was revealed on the big screen
before them — an immediate stay in Walt Disney's Dream Suite,
located above the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction in the New
Orleans Square at Disneyland. The only question, did the
Hernandez family want to say yes and would they also accept
another day in Disneyland , both parks? "Of course we said,
yes!" laughed Lisa.
In 2008, more than one million
dreams were randomly awarded in the Disney Dreams Giveaway. The
Hernandez family prize, the "Dream Suite," was originally
conceived by Walt Disney as a private apartment for his family
and close friends, although Disney did not live to see this
realized. To this day, many of the famous try to buy an
overnight stay in this beautiful suite. But you can't buy your
way in, you have to win it.
After accepting their prize the
family went back to their 'regular' hotel room, grabbed their
stuff and were picked up in a Chevy Suburban, with the Disney
'D' on the back and escorted to their new digs.
Some of the specialties of the
Dream Suite: the private balcony which overlooks the Rivers of
America and is the best seat in the house for the evening's
pyrotechnic spectacular and water show called "Fantasmic."
Central to the suite is a Bayou-themed patio which comes
complete with Chinese Lanterns and special magically-lit
fireflies. The living room is French Provincial and inside one
of its cabinets is Cinderella's glass slipper. There is also an
animated Tiki-Room bird in a cage. If you push the "good night
kiss" button in the master bedroom the ceiling becomes a starry
sky. In the kids room the good night kiss button sends a model
train around the perimeter of the bedroom. "Everything was just
luxurious and beautiful," Lisa said.
Dinner was provided at the Blue
Bayou Restaurant where boats from the Pirates of the Caribbean
meander by. At midnight, when the park was emptied of all
guests, a concierge picked up the Hernandez family to give them
a private tour of Disneyland which was phenomenal. Equally
fantastic, Jenna Jo got to be Honorary Grand Marshal in the
Disneyland daily parade, riding with her family in an open air
car while her name was announced throughout the Park and on Main
Street .
The kids were served hot
chocolate in the Suite. Morning breakfast was spent with the
Disney characters right in the park. "It was all about us,"
laughed Lisa.
Lisa and Tom Hernandez have
lived in Pacifica for 12 years. Their children are students at
Ortega Elementary School . Giana is 10 and in 5th grade. Jenna
Jo is 8 and in 3rd grade. 5-year-old Zachary is in kindergarten.
"The kids had so much fun that
they get a little bit sad when they think about it because they
want to go back and stay in the Dream Suite," said Lisa
admitting this once-in-a-lifetime Disneyland "prize" really was
a dream come true.
Orlando Sentinel - Steve Dworek just had to come to Disney World
today after his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl
XLIII. Dressed in a Ben Roethlisberger jersey and waving a
Terrible Towel, Dworek and perhaps 1,200 other people braved
intermittent rain and crowded together on Main Street USA for a
parade honoring the game's MVP, Santonio Holmes.
To them,
it didn't matter that the parade started 85 minutes late, at
12:25 p.m.
"Here we go Steelers! Here we go!" the black-and-gold-clad fans
screamed.
CLAP! CLAP!
"Here we go Steelers! Here we go!"
CLAP! CLAP!
Holmes caught nine passes for 131 yards, including the
acrobatic, tip-toeing six-yard game-winning score with 35
seconds left that gave the Steelers a 27-23 victory over the
Arizona Cardinals and their sixth Super Bowl championship.
Holmes wore his grass-stained game jersey from the night before
and smiled and waved during the 10-minute parade. When the
parade ended, he said he hasn't slept since 7 a.m. on Sunday
morning.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Holmes said. "I know I'll
definitely be remembered around this country, even for the fans
on the other side of the world that's watching. They all got to
experience something that's a big turning point in my life. I
can't do anything else but continue to move forward."
Dworek took pictures with his digital camera the car carrying
Holmes wove past at around 3 mph.
"I don't know how to explain it," said Dworek, a
Pennsylvanian-turned-Floridian who now lives in Winter Garden.
"It's just an amazing feeling, the season that the Steelers have
had. It's been a roller coaster, up and down, riding the high.
It hasn't seemed like the game has ended yet. Then, when you
find out that the MVP is going to be coming down, I hurried up
and ran over. This can't be better!"
Steelers fan and Orlando resident Jen Dohren called into work
Monday morning and took the day off just to watch the parade.
"It was great! It was awesome!" she said after the parade ended.
"It was worth the wait just to catch a glimpse of the Super Bowl
MVP!"
Immediately after the parade ended, Disney officials ushered
Holmes into a nearby building for live interviews. Steelers fans
waited outside.
"We love you, Holmes!" one woman yelled.
He smiled, then rubbed his eyes. There were more interviews to
do.
Orlando Sentinel - A person at Magic Kingdom called deputies
Sunday to report a battery, but later declined to prosecute,
reports show.
Jim Solomons at the Orange County Sheriff's Office said the
person called 911 dispatch operators at 3 p.m. alleging a
battery at the It's a Small World ride at Walt Disney World's
Magic Kingdom theme park.
Reports show one guest elbowed another because he thought the
man was trying to cut in line.
The victim told the deputy who arrived at the scene that they
did not want to press charges, Solomons said.
Although nothing violent happened
in this incident, it's not the first time tempers heat up
between guests at a Magic Kingdom ride.
On May 27, 2007, Aimee Krause, her two children, and some family
friends visited the Magic Kingdom. Alabama resident Victoria
Walker and a group from her church in Anniston, Ala., also were
at the theme park.
At some point, both parties were waiting in line at the Mad Tea
Party ride -- a Disney staple in which guests sit in oversized
teacups.
Krause testified in April 2008 that Walker knocked her to the
ground with a kick to the knee, beat her about the head and
pulled the lanyards around her neck so tightly that Krause began
to black out -- all because Walker thought that Krause had cut
in line.
Los
Angeles Times - What's the most played song in the world?
"It's a Small World,' which
plays on a continuous, 48-bar loop at one of five Disney theme
parks around the world.
What's the most annoying song in
the world?
See above.
After a yearlong rehab,
Disneyland will unveil the completely revamped It's a Small
World attraction on Feb. 5.
The beloved boat ride, which
originally debuted at the 1964 World's Fair before moving to the
Anaheim theme park, will add approximately two dozen new Disney
characters throughout the attraction, install a controversial
new scene and update the now-classic song.
Walt Disney Imagineering music
director John Dennis was charged with blending in new musical
arrangements and counterpoint melodies to the maddeningly catchy
multilingual song — "plussing" in Disney-speak.
"It was really about introducing
some new elements to make it exciting and to give it a new
twist, but not to take it over and change it," Dennis said. "We
found places and gaps to sort of fill in and create little new
vignettes without taking anything away." The changes include...
...three new musical
arrangements based on the "Small World" melody, including folk
instruments, wood flute and percussion in the African scene,
traditional Chinese instruments in the Asian scene and solo
vocals, guitars and bass in the new pre-finale scene.
Similar existing "musical
arrangements" include the gurgling mermaids, yodeling yodelers
and the oh-lah-lahing can-can girls. The biggest musical change
involves the addition of five new instrumental counterpoint
melodies derived from classic Disney films, including one in the
Asian scene, one in the South American scene and three in the
European scene.
Among the newly introduced
Disney counterpoint melodies in the European scene is "All in a
Golden Afternoon" from "Alice in Wonderland."
The
sauntering lilt of "Golden Afternoon" was weaved into the holes
and rests of "Small World" with only a few minor key and tempo
adjustments, Dennis said.
"You might not catch it the
first time," Dennis said. "Even if you don't catch any of these,
the experience isn't diminished at all." Beginning with a list
of 40 to 50 Disney songs, Dennis selected the five new
counterpoint melodies based on how well they fit thematically
and musically with "Small World."
"There were cases where
harmonically and structurally the two pieces of music were just
too far apart and it was going to cause too much of a problem,"
Dennis said. "We could have done it, but it wouldn't have
sounded right."
Local musicians recorded the new
arrangements and counterpoint melodies at the Imagineering sound
studios in Glendale.
The irksome yet ingenious
original "Small World" composition cleverly arranged two
distinct melodies over the same chord progression.
Walt Disney asked songwriters
Robert and Richard Sherman to pen a simple tune after the
original concept of a soundtrack featuring numerous national
anthems proved an "insufferable cacophony." Disney suggested a
rondo — a circular song sung in round — like "Row, Row, Row Your
Boat."
"For a man who wasn't a
musician, wasn't a composer, Walt had a sense of music and a
sense of story and a sense of presentation," Dennis said. "He
knew a good tune could go straight from the head to the heart.
He learned that in his feature films. He knew a song could move
a story along very quickly."
The Shermans quickly wrote the
song we know today as "Small World," but thought it too simple,
penning several more tunes they preferred. Disney liked the
simple version and the rest is musical history.
"The Shermans were so clever in
creating a harmonic structure that worked for both the verse and
the chorus seamlessly," Dennis said. "The nature of the music of
'Small World' is that seamless aspect. It goes and goes and
goes. It never stops, it never ends."
Theme Park Rangers -
At our
house, we discuss birthday parties for the kids all year round.
As soon as one celebration finishes, my preschooler and
kindergartener are eager to begin planning for the next year
(even if the adults just want some time to recover from the
back-to-back celebrations).
Disney
World's "What will you celebrate?" campaign has opened up new
possibilities for visitors and locals alike.
Goofy's
Candy Company at Downtown Disney has introduced birthday parties
with two themes: Goofy's Scien-Terrific Birthday Bash and the
Perfectly Princess Party. Both include 2 party hosts, a treat to
decorate, Goofy Glacier build-a-cup and glacier, glow
accessories, autographed photos of characters, games, party
balloon, invitations and thank-you notes. The birthday child
receives a Goofy gumball machine and a mylar balloon for the
Goofy party or crown, sash, a boxed glass slipper and mylar
balloon for the princess party. The parties are an hour and a
half long for up to 12 guests, and guests must be age 3 and
older.
"Celebrate You! birthday parties" can be arranged inside the
theme parks. These parties include priority entrance or seating
to a choice of one attraction and a party in a select location
in Disney World. Choose from a festive menu and enjoy birthday
balloons, photos, and a birthday hat for the person celebrating.
There is a 10-person minimum for this package.
Or turn
any Disney meal into a party with "Celebrate Today!" items that
are available on the spot. Goody bags that contain Mickey party
hats, games, coloring books and crayons can be requested at
character dining and buffet locations throughout the resort. (A
deluxe version of the goody bag also includes a magnet set and
straw.) Add a pop-up centerpiece and a 6-inch chocolate or
vanilla cake and you have an instant party. Parents also can opt
for the personal-size party cakes in a Disney Princess Jewelry
Box or Pirate Treasure Chest with a surprise toy for the
birthday child.
Examiner - For a quick review from Stop wasting time in
line: Part I Magic Kingdom Park ... I gave tips on how to
avoid long lines while visiting the Magic Kingdom Park. This
time, I am going to share some tips on how to save time from
standing in long lines while visiting Epcot.
As in Part I, I discussed when
was the best time to eat to avoid the meal-time rush. The same
holds true at Epcot. If you want to enjoy you meal without the
loud roar of a crowd, eat at non-popular meal times. Such as
lunch at 3 p.m. and dinner at 8 p.m.
Also, though some rides in
Future World close when Illuminations: Reflections of Earth
starts, many do stay open. Check park times and tip boards for
that day's ride and attraction details.
However, Epcot, being divided
into two sections, Future World and the World Showcase Lagoon,
you will be less rushed if you are able to divide what you see
at Epcot into two days. One day for each section of the park.
With that said. If you are
trying to avoid long lines, the one things that you do not want
to do when you first enter Epcot, is get in line to ride
Spaceship Earth. At the opening of the day, after entering the
park, a majority of guests go straight for Spaceship Earth. This
is partly because it is the first thing they see. Wait time for
the ride can be up to 45 minutes at this time of day. The ride
will still be there later in the day, with a wait time of less
than five minutes. So, I suggest, saving Spaceship Earth for
later in the day.
When it comes to getting Fast
Passes, in Future World, I would suggest getting one for Soarin'
first thing. Because Soarin's is still a rather new attraction
and one of the most popular ones, Fast Passes go quick and the
ride usually has a 60 to 120 minute wait time. Another
attraction I would suggest getting a Fast Pass for is Test
Track. What I would suggest is get your pass for Soarin' first
and then after the two-hour wait time, go to Test Track and get
one for that ride.
In the World Showcase, I highly
recommend getting a Fast Pass for the Maelstrom Adventure Cruise
in the Norway Pavilion. It is a ride you definitely do not want
to miss, especially if you enjoy Pirates of the Caribbean ride
at the Magic Kingdom Park. Outside of El Rio del Tiempo ride in
the Mexico Pavilion, it is the only ride in the World Showcase,
so the line can get up to a 45 minute wait. While you wait for
the Maelstrom, you can eat your way around the world, sampling
authentic cuisine from each country in the World Showcase.
Enjoy your journey at Epcot. I
hope that these tips help you stop wasting time in line.
Examiner - Okay. You have now visited Epcot and the Magic
Kingdom Park and hopefully were able to see more than you
originally planned to because you were not spending all your
time waiting in line. In Part I, I gave tips on avoiding long
lines at the Magic Kingdom Park and did the same for Epcot in
Part II.
Some suggestions given in Parts
I and II hold true with Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park too.
Such as, checking out rides that usually have long lines during
the parade. If you do not care to see Mickey's Jammin' Jungle
Parade, or have seen it several times before, go check out
Expedition Everest, which has one of the longest wait times in
the park. Since a majority of the other guests will be watching
the parade, wait times for attractions generally decrease.
You can also try to get a Fast
Pass for Expedition Everest, but I would suggest your do so
first thing after entering the park. They go rather quick. After
getting your Fast Pass, spend your time in Dinoland U.S.A. Which
after the opening of the park is not as busy because of the
counter clockwise theory. Many of the guests will head straight
for Africa, to the left of the entrance, in a clockwise pattern.
You can always go to Africa and see Kilimanjaro Safari toward
the end of the day or get a Fast Pass two hours after you have
received your pass for Expedition Everest.
The only other ride that you may
want to get a Fast Pass for is Cali River Rapids, but that
attraction generally only has a long line during the summer
months. Plus, the line does move faster than the wait time
suggests. If you don't mind getting wet in cold weather, you
will have the ride to yourself.
You can plan your meal during
non-peak meal times, such as having a late lunch or early dinner
at around 3 p.m. You can also try to get priority seating
arrangements made for one of your favorite table service
restaurants. You can make priority seating arrangements by
calling 407-WDW-DINE.
You can avoid waiting in a long
line to see Nemo and Friends the Musical by eating at Tuskers
restaurant. You can do this by requesting the Nemo and Friends
package at Tuskers when making your priority seating
arrangements. Your seat will be waiting for your at the show
when you are done eating.
Hope these hints help you have a
roarin' time at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park.
Disney News - Scrapbooking is a fun and inventive way for people
to capture the special events and loved ones in their lives.
These personal album creations can showcase special occasions,
including the birth of a new baby, vacation memories, and
holidays or wedding celebrations in creative and unique ways.
At the Fantasia shop at Disney’s
Contemporary Resort, Cast Members use scrapbooking to make
tangible memories for Guests, as they take a photo of the Guest
and create a page featuring that photo. Supplies used include
stickers, glitter, colored pencils, stencils, special paper and
scissors that make little Mickey Mouse cut-outs that entice
Guests to get imaginative as they work on their one-of-a-kind
page. They get to take it home as a remembrance of their
experience, as well as a Magical Moment certificate.
The shop also sells themed
scrapbooks and supplies, and many Guests purchase items to take
home with them.
Merchandise Hostess Millie
Maldonado enjoys interacting with Guests and sometimes helps
them theme their scrapbook page. If a Guest is wearing a
birthday button, they get even more attention, as Cast Members
invite other Guests to join them in singing “Happy Birthday.”
“I love talking to people and
making them happy,” Millie says. “I’m a happy person and I like
making other people happy too. That’s easy for me. I have been
scrapbooking myself for many years, so I always enjoy
introducing Guests to this hobby.”
Barron's - Santonio Holmes of the Pittsburgh Steelers might be
living la dolce vida down in the Magic Kingdom Monday, but
investors have been feeling a little less magical about the
pint-sized wonderland of Walt Disney (DIS).
Hit with a downgrade to a sell rating by Natixis
Bleichroeder, and tarred by worries about consumer spending
patterns, shares of the entertainment and theme park giant have
fallen 3% Monday.
Data
released Monday showed that consumer spending in the U.S. fell
in December by a full percentage point. The reading proved a
steeper downturn than had been forecast, and marked the sixth
consecutive month in which the reading weakened, the long such
string of declines in 48 years. Incomes also fell in the final
month of 2008, for the third straight monthly reading; it marked
the longest streak of declines since 1954.
The persistently downbeat data,
which regularly seemed to read like the most pessimistic reports
in a generation, have discouraged investors from taking big
positions in stocks, especially those with exposure to consumer
spending, which has been hurt by the credit crisis, the labor
markets and the recession.
carrentals.co.uk - The Disneyland Resort in Paris has launched
what it is referring to "sterling packages" in an effort to lure
British holidaymakers who have been staying at home due to the
weak pound.
"We are allowing people to buy
in pounds – everything from park passes to hotels and meals
vouchers. Then they have everything in place and are largely
protected," said the Euro Disney chief executive, Philippe Gas,
in comments to The Daily Telegraph.
The group also reported on its
performance for the final quarter of 2008, noting that sales
were down to 327.8 million euros, from 340.5 million euros
during the same period in 2007. It said that the company remains
resilient in spite of economic conditions.
Theme park revenues increased,
from 175 million euros for the fourth quarter of 2007 to 186.1
million euros for the same quarter in 2008. Hotel revenues
declined, however, and were down from 126.7 million euros in the
final quarter of 2007, to 124.6 million euros for the fourth
quarter of 2008.
Gas indicated that he
anticipated the resort would continue to attract visitors, even
in the current economic downturn, as holidaymakers choose
shorter breaks at destinations that are closer to home.
He did say that they were
experiencing some weakness in Spain, and a small decline in the
number of UK visitors, but feels that "the escapism" that Disney
provides will prove an antidote to the financial "gloom and
doom".
"People are able to enter a new
world, live in a dream and forget the economic crisis and the
gloom," Gas added. "We are well positioned in this time of
crisis."
Thanks to www.telegraph.co.uk
for the above quotes, for more information on this article
please visit their website.
Los Angeles Times - The TV series "The Secret Life of the
American Teenager" opens with a 15-year-old girl coming home
from band practice, reaching into her French horn case and
pulling out a home pregnancy test. Her horrified look confirms
the results.
No less startled are some parents whose children watch the ABC
Family cable program that revolves around the sex lives of high
school students. The titillating themes, in their view, are out
of place on a channel with the word "family" in its name --
especially given the chaste image of its owner, Walt Disney Co.
But "Secret Life" has become ABC Family's biggest hit and one of
the most popular shows on cable, drawing an average 3.8 million
viewers an episode. With depictions of teens rolling out of bed,
a father peppering his daughters with questions about their sex
lives at the dinner table, and a troubled boy revealing that he
had been molested by his father, "Secret Life" represents a
coming of age for a channel founded by evangelist Pat Robertson
to spread the Gospel.
The TV series "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" opens
with a 15-year-old girl coming home from band practice, reaching
into her French horn case and pulling out a home pregnancy test.
Her horrified look confirms the results.
No less startled are some parents whose children watch the ABC
Family cable program that revolves around the sex lives of high
school students. The titillating themes, in their view, are out
of place on a channel with the word "family" in its name --
especially given the chaste image of its owner, Walt Disney Co.
But "Secret Life" has become ABC Family's biggest hit and one of
the most popular shows on cable, drawing an average 3.8 million
viewers an episode. With depictions of teens rolling out of bed,
a father peppering his daughters with questions about their sex
lives at the dinner table, and a troubled boy revealing that he
had been molested by his father, "Secret Life" represents a
coming of age for a channel founded by evangelist Pat Robertson
to spread the Gospel.
Welcome to Disney's new take on the American family.
Along with shows such as "Greek," set in the
belly-shots-and-wet-T-shirts world of college fraternities and
sororities, and "Lincoln Heights," a drama about growing up fast
in a crime-ridden Los Angeles neighborhood, Disney says it has
reshaped ABC Family into a channel more in sync with the
realities and anxieties facing many American families and
teenagers.
The programming ethos will take another twist next month, when
ABC Family debuts "Sophie," a comedy series featuring a young
woman who has everything she wanted, including a loving
boyfriend and a baby on the way. That is, until the guy dumps
her.
ABC Family's strategy casts a new light on the traditional
Disney brand, which historically has mined such tales of
youthful innocence as "The Little Mermaid" and "The Parent Trap"
to win over generations of viewers. The approach has paid off.
ABC Family's ad revenue and ratings have been on the rise,
making 2008 its best year.
"The best way to resonate with your audience is to be
authentic," said Anne Sweeney, president of Disney-ABC
Television Group. "And you're only authentic if you are holding
up a mirror to your audience and saying, 'I see you.' "
Disney's quest for authenticity, however, has sparked debate
over what constitutes "family programming," and how far the most
influential family entertainment company can push boundaries
when it comes to sex, underage drinking, absentee parents and
the challenges of growing up today.
Disney executives have wrestled for years to find the right
formula that is faithful to its "family" name but also appeals
to younger viewers who have outgrown the perky adolescent worlds
depicted in standard teen-targeted shows like "Hannah Montana"
and "Wizards of Waverly Place."
An internal ABC Family study that surveyed the attitudes of
so-called Millennials -- viewers ages 12 to 30 -- found that
they craved strong relationships with their families and
friends. Those results partly influenced the decision by the
channel's management team to recast the cable network as "a new
kind of family."
"We set out to make the modern family in all its passion and
dysfunction, and reclaim that word for what it really is for our
audience," said ABC Family President Paul Lee.
Although ABC Family targets the 18- to 34-year-old demographic,
a third of "Secret Life" viewers are 12 to 17. The programming
makeover has left some parents worried that ABC Family is
sending younger viewers mixed messages about healthy behavior --
and inadvertently encouraging teen sex and underage drinking.
"I thought it was going to be more like Disney Channel, a little
more grown-up but less provocative," said Mary Alden, a Pasadena
mother of 14-year-old twins. She became alarmed when she heard
dialogue from characters in "Secret Life" who were discussing
whether one of them should end her pregnancy. "I didn't think
that would be on a Disney channel," she said.
Michele MacNeal, a mother of three who lives in La Crescenta and
heads a local branch of the powerful watchdog group Parents
Television Council, agreed.
"It's kind of a misnomer to call ABC Family a family channel,"
she said. "When you call something 'family,' it gives the
impression that it's safe for all members of the family, even
young children."
Originally launched as part of Robertson's Christian
Broadcasting Network, the channel still airs "The 700 Club," a
Christian-perspective news and talk show. Redubbed "The Family
Channel" a decade later, the name struck a chord in the "family
values" political campaigns of the 1980s.
In 2001, former Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner, looking
to expand aggressively in cable television, agreed to pay $5.3
billion for the channel. Disney quickly suffered a case of
buyer's remorse. A weak lineup of old B-movies and TV reruns
pushed down ratings, leading many to dismiss the deal as a
fiasco.
Sweeney, who had been running the Disney Channel, was put in
charge of ABC Family in2003. Her first priority was to
differentiate the channel's programming so that ABC Family and
Disney Channel each had a defined audience and didn't poach the
other's viewers. She reached outside the close-knit Disney
organization to find a day-to-day manager of ABC Family and
picked Lee, a former executive at BBC America, which gained
attention for importing the British version of NBC's popular
series "The Office."
Although ABC Family's staple reruns of teen dramas "Gilmore
Girls" and "7th Heaven" remained popular with viewers, Lee was
intrigued by the study commissioned by the channel that showed
Millennials were more optimistic and less cynical than teens who
came of age in the 1980s and 1990s.
That study led ABC Family to develop dramas and comedies that
would appeal to the present-day teen audience by weaving in
messages of hope and acceptance.
"Paul saw that here was an opportunity with [for] a channel
named 'Family,' that 'family' was not a bad word with these
young people," said Jack MacKenzie, an executive with strategic
media firm Frank N. Magid Associates who conducted the study for
Disney.
Disney executives defend their soap-opera-like shows for young
adults. They say classic feel-good shows such as "The Adventures
of Ozzie and Harriet" and "The Mickey Mouse Club," with their
saccharine sprinkles to life's problems, would lack credibility
in today's world.
"We've continued to evolve our [stories] because we want to
maintain a strong connection with our audience," Sweeney said.
ABC Family executives, aware of the potential controversy that
"Secret Life" would create, toned down the program's original
title, "Sex Lives of the American Teenager." Each episode ends
with an advisory that encourages parents and children to talk
before it's too late.
Viewers who think "Secret Life" is simply a bid for higher
ratings are misinterpreting the show, said Brenda Hampton, who
created the series. She said she has long wanted to tell a story
about how a "nice" girl -- a so-called band geek -- would cope
with the consequences of having sex with a boy she barely knew.
"People feel that this could have happened to them or the people
they know," she said.
Big-name advertisers, including cautious marketers such as
Procter & Gamble and Target, are embracing ABC Family's edgier
approach.
"I'd love for these shows to be 'Little House on the Prairie,'
but that isn't going to happen. Family programming is all about
bringing families together to watch shows so that they can
dialogue about these sensitive topics," said Pat Gentile, a top
ad buyer for P&G and co-chairman of the Alliance for Family
Entertainment, a coalition of major advertisers that advocates
for family programming.
Families may be talking about ABC Family's programming. But that
doesn't mean they are in agreement about it.
After screening several episodes of "Secret Life," Alden, the
Pasadena mother, eventually relented and let her twin daughters
watch the show because it gave her an opening to discuss awkward
topics with them. Her two teens, however, have opposing views of
the show.
Katie is a big fan and analyzes episodes with friends. She
thinks it's all about the sex lives of the characters.
"It kind of seems as if they are promoting sex," Katie said.
No, it's not, said Annie, her sister. "The main character, her
world is turned upside down because she's having a child. . . .
More than anything, the show is preaching abstinence."
Examiner - For years, I have been trying to find the best
possible way to see as much as I can while visiting any of the
Central Florida Theme Parks. If you know what you want to see
and have a strategy you could possibly avoid spending most of
your day in line. You might be able to see more than you
expected to at the Walt Disney World Resorts.
At the Magic Kingdom Park I
would first suggest that you start your day off at Tomorrowland.
By doing this you will be seeing the park in a counter-clockwise
pattern and will help avoid crowds. This is partly because it is
human nature to walk through a park in a clockwise pattern. Thus
most everyone who visits the Magic Kingdom Park goes to the left
and starts in Adventureland.
My next suggestion is to use the
Fast Pass system to your advantage. The three rides that seem to
have the longest lines include Space Mountain, Peter Pan's
Flight and Splash Mountain on a warm, sunny day. You can get a
new Fast Pass every two hours. So while you wait for your ride
time, you can enjoy other attractions that may not have as long
of a line. Check out your parks map for other attractions that
offer Fast Passes, but those are the three main ones you will
want to get early in the day.
Though this year brings a new
celebration at the Walt Disney World Resorts with "What Will You
Celebrate?" and with that comes a whole new parade at the Magic
Kingdom Park. So you may not want to miss the "Celebrate a Dream
Come True" parade. If you want to watch the parade, my
suggestion would be to get a quick service lunch and enjoy it
while sitting on the curb anywhere on Main Street U.S.A. You
will want to arrive and get a seat somewhere between an hour to
an hour and half before the parade begins to get a great spot.
Casey's Corner is at the end of Main Street U.S.A. and offers
hot dogs with all the toppings you can think of and makes the
perfect place to grab something to eat before the parade.
However, if you do not really
want to see the parade, or you have already seen it, parade time
is the best time to get in line for a ride that usually has an
hour or longer of a wait. Because most guests are waiting to see
the parade, wait times are generally cut in half. Same
suggestions goes with the evening fireworks display of Wishes,
but check your guide map and attraction time sheet, because some
rides and attractions close early once the fireworks begin.
Another way to avoid long lines
is to eat your meal at a non-popular meal time. For example,
have your lunch at 3 p.m. or your dinner at 7 or 8 p.m. Many
restaurants are still serving at those times and tend to no be
as busy.
Hope these hints help minimize
your time in line while visiting the Magic Kingdom Park. Check
back as I continue this series with my next article focusing on
Epcot.
Muzi - The prognosis for the medical facility depicted for the
past 45 years on ABC's "General Hospital" isn't good.
The daytime soap's long-standing
hospital set is flat-lining as part of an explosive story line.
Following a fiery crisis, the show's crew has ignited the
clinical den of drama, and producers plan to construct a totally
new interior.
"This story really became an
opportunity to take a shot at revising the look of the hospital
and refreshing it," said executive producer Jill Farren Phelps.
"It felt like the right time to update it. The style of the
nurses' station has been the same for 45 years. In daytime,
space is money. This new version will incorporate a lot of
usable new space."
The fresh new set, created by
production designer Chip Dox, will debut in April. It will
incorporate several expansive elements, including a nurses'
station, emergency room, hospital room, elevators and stairs.
Farren Phelps said that on the show, the wealthy Quartermaine
family will donate the cash necessary for the hospital's plastic
surgery.
"It will have a very different
look," Farren Phelps said. "We want it to feel like you are
walking into a place that feels fresh and modern. It will still
be inside the same hospital. It will have the same architecture,
but it will no longer be that big round nurses' station we've
become nostalgic about over the years."
Since the show's 1963 debut, the
nurses' station set has frequently been home to soapy drama --
from a visit by the evil Helena Cassadine, famously played by
"General Hospital" fan Elizabeth Taylor in 1981, to last year's
over-the-intercom proposal by Patrick Drake (Jason Thompson) to
Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough) when both the doctors were
on duty.
AP - The Animation Guild Awards (the Annies) announced the
winners for this years awards yesterday - and much to everyone's
surprise, the Disney/Pixar film "Wall-E" went home empty handed.
Considered by many the front runner for this years Animated
Feature Oscar, Wall-E took a back seat to Dreamworks Kung Fu
Panda, which won an award in every feature category. This was
the first time since 2002 that Dreamworks won top honors at the
Annies.
The Annies have accurately predicted every Oscar winner except
one in the animation category since the academy introduced the
award.
This has some in Hollywood wondering if Wall-E is indeed the
front runner to win this years Oscar.
Gossip Girls - We just can’t get enough Miley Cyrus! And
yesterday the “Hannah Montana” hottie was spotted making her way
to the Radio Disney headquarters in Burbank, California.
Miss Cyrus looked to be in high
spirits as she raced inside the building, sporting a black and
white striped cardigan overtop a grey t-shirt with dark wash
jeans and Converse All Stars.
While on her publicity call,
Miley treated her listeners to a live acoustic performance, and
also fielded some questions throughout the broadcast.
And when asked about her favorite aspect of being part of a
large family, Miley revealed, “The pranks. As much as I hate it,
it’s so funny. I will remember it for the rest of my life.”
The Ithacan - Ever since she was a little girl, sophomore Ashley
Fischer has gone on family vacations to the Disney theme parks.
She said she has gone to the parks more than 30 times, sparking
her dream of working for the Walt Disney Company.
This spring, Fischer went to
Walt Disney World to work for the company through the Disney
College Program.
"[It] was kind of a stepping
stone that I knew was really necessary for me to ... make my way
through the company," Fischer said.
Open to all college students,
the program is a paid internship, ranging between $7.21 and
$8.56 an hour, with the opportunity to take college-level
courses while working at the park or a Disney resort.
The internship takes place
during a semester of school, with a choice to intern at either
Disneyland in California or Walt Disney World in Florida.
Junior Annie Goodenbour, a
campus representative for the program, said it is a great
opportunity that not enough people hear about.
"It's very similar to taking a
semester and studying abroad, except you get paid," Goodenbour
said.
During the semester, students
work at the parks as cast members or at one of the resorts near
the parks owned by the Walt Disney Company. Students' work
schedule will also be made to accommodate the classes students
choose to take.
"You learn how to communicate
with other people, you'll learn how to present yourself in a
corporate world, and I definitely think those skill are
transferable in everyday life," Goodenbour said.
It is not required that students
take courses while participating in the Walt Disney World
program, though the Disneyland program requires students take
two courses. Senior Jeff Tatanus said he took a class on the
history and business of Disney and another on hospitality
management — classes he said he couldn't take at Ithaca.
Tatanus, another campus
representative for the Disney College Program, worked as a
vacation planner last spring, selling tickets at Magic Kingdom.
This semester, Tatanus is doing a marketing internship, working
on a "Disney Vacation Connection" desktop widget for computers.
He said his present internship
is more like what students think of a traditional internship.
"[I'm] working in an office,
working on a marketing-related project," he said. "It's a lot
more self-driven."
Tatanus said he has enjoyed both
his professional internship and the college program.
"I worked with a great group of
people, and I enjoyed what I did," he said.
While participating in the
Disney College Program, students stay in apartments provided by
the program. The cost of the apartment and all utilities, such
as electricity, cable hookup, waste disposal and local phone
service, is deducted from the student's paycheck.
"You don't have to worry about
finding a place to live, you don't have to worry about
transportation," Tatanus said.
According the Disney College
Program's Web site, there is a $100 program assessment and
activities fee, which covers the cost of activities and events
hosted in the housing complexes during the program.
There are no additional fees for
tuition if the student chooses to take courses while interning
with the program. Participants only have to pay for textbooks
and course materials they may need. If students want credit
toward their degrees, they would have to find out through the
college itself about costs, according to the Web site.
Tatanus said cast members also
get free admission to the park and family passes.
Beside the benefits listed on
the program's Web site, students that participate in the program
have the chance to meet other students their age from different
backgrounds and homes.
"The experience was completely
eye-opening," Goodenbour said. "I made a lot of new friends from
all around the country and all around the world."
Fischer said working for the
program has allowed her to meet people from Brazil to China.
"This has been such a growing
experience in the fact that I've gotten to work with tons of
people that I wouldn't have been able to meet anywhere else,"
Fischer said.
While taking classes at Ithaca
College, Tatanus said he was able to apply what he learned
during his internship to what he was learning in class, as well
as learning about working in a fast-paced environment.
"[I've] enjoyed working for such
a well-established company [and] finding out what it's like to
work for a company like this," Tatanus said.
Fischer said a large percentage
of the guests she comes into contact with speak Spanish.
"I've made leaps and bounds in
my Spanish ability within a week," she said.
Goodenbour said her experience
was like no other job she'd ever had.
"You get to work and play in the
happiest place on Earth," she said. "What better job could there
be?"
Kansas City Star - Disney World’s specialty is fantasy, but a
new attraction opening Feb. 14 will deal in real-life dreams.
The American Idol Experience, a
near-exact copy of the theater the “American Idol” TV show uses,
will give singers a chance to audition, perform and maybe even
get a spot to try out for the real “Idol.”
If the singing is as polished as
the set, it should be another Mickey triumph.
If the singing is bad, no Disney
magic will be able to fix it.
The “Idol” set has a black, blue
and silver stage, replete with hi-def cameras, judges’ table and
a 1,000-seat auditorium. It’s in Disney World’s Hollywood
Studios area (formerly MGM).
Here’s how it will work: Up to
about 400 people a day will be able to sign up for auditions
online (at
www.disneyworld.com/idol) or in
person. Singers will perform short a cappella songs of
their choice in front of a casting director in a private room.
That casting director will give them tips and determine whether
they go on to the next stage or, like most, get the boot.
“The majority of people who
watch the show know that only a small percent of singers will go
on, but they will still have fun. So even if you experience what
you would call rejection, they’ve still had a good experience,”
says Laura Offerdahl, Disney entertainment producer for the Idol
Experience.
Those who make it through will
go to a VIP room to choose from 113 songs, get vocal tips, then
sing in front of a producer, using a microphone and taped music.
Every day producers will choose
21 people from the VIP level to sing in front of the Disney
audience — three singers at each of seven performances.
That’s no small thing. The huge
audience will have armchair electronic pads to vote for their
favorite performer — and determine who wins. The final seven
favorites (one from each performance) will sing in a finale at
each day’s end, and the ultimate winner gets a prize: a
“head-of-the-line” pass to audition for the real “Idol.”
“It’s not a Disney thing, but
it’s even OK to boo the judges if you disagree with their
comments,” Offerdahl says.
No booing, however, in the
happy-go-lucky rest of the park.
PR
Web - Sanders Art Studio.com in Ogden, Utah is excited to
announce the addition of over 65 Disney original paintings in
different mediums. Celebrate the Magic of Disney with one of
these wonderful creations.
Los
Angeles Times - Celina Lung has hundreds of children around the
world. Outwardly, all are identical to the others: same age,
height and facial expression. And each one is impeccably
dressed. But a few of them naughty, even the occasional problem
child. Not that Lung holds it against them.
Disney
News - The Walt Disney Company has announced the creation of the
Disney Memorial Pausch Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University
in recognition of the passion and energy Dr. Randy Pausch
brought to his work at both Carnegie Mellon and Walt Disney
Imagineering. Pausch is best known for his life-affirming "Last
Lecture," which he delivered to his students and colleagues a
few weeks after learning he had just months to live. Intended as
a roadmap for his three young children, the lecture included his
insights on finding the good in other people, working hard to
overcome obstacles and living generously.
Walt
Disney Studios Home Entertainment - Fall in love with Oliver &
Company's adorable gang of animal outcasts all over again on
February 3, 2009 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
Disney's 27th full-length animated film celebrates its 20th
anniversary in a special edition DVD with enough fun and
laughter for the whole family. Brilliant animation, a fantastic
soundtrack and the amazing voice talents of Billy Joel, Bette
Midler, and Huey Lewis, put Oliver & Company on track to win the
hearts of a whole new generation. The 20th Anniversary Edition
comes with animated shorts, behind–the-scenes featurettes and an
all-new game that the parents and kids will love to play
together.
Walt
Disney Studios Home Entertainment - Disney's irresistible
talking puppies are back in an all-new movie, Space Buddies, an
intergalactic action-adventure coming to DVD and Blu-ray Hi-Def
on February 3, 2009 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
Packed with more heart, more suspense and more tail-wagging
fun-than ever before, the Buddies' greatest adventure yet takes
them to the final frontier-outer space! Perfectly timed for
Valentine's Day gift-giving, Space Buddies is packed with
out-of-this world bonus features including hilarious doggy
bloopers and a brand new music video.
Screamscape
- Screamscape reader caught an interesting event on his cell
phone camera the other night at Epcot as a park guest decided he
was going to try to climb to the top of the Mexico pavilion.
Making the event a little more scary to guests was the fact that
as they got near the top they started to yell “I’m gonna jump!”
over and over. Before security or any other CM could arrive on
the scene to do anything about it, they quickly climbed down and
vanished into the crowd once again. Knowing how fast Disney
security usually is, I kind of find it unusual that the crazy
climber wasn’t caught. 
Tformers
- A new image courtesy of ACToys gives us a great look at the
scale of the upcoming TakaraTomy Disney Label X Mickey Mouse
figure. 
Los
Angeles Times - What's the most played song in the world?
The
sauntering lilt of "Golden Afternoon" was weaved into the holes
and rests of "Small World" with only a few minor key and tempo
adjustments, Dennis said.