Studio Chairman Rich Ross has met with his executives and told them that he plans to hire someone outside of Hollywood's usual movie circles to replace former marketing President Jim Gallagher, ousted in the fall. He has narrowed the list of candidates and is meeting with a small number of finalists, said a person close to the matter.

Ross has scoured some big ad agencies -- including TBWA\Chiat\Day -- seeking candidates who have overseen innovative campaigns for major brands. He's also weighed bringing in someone from the video game or tech industries -- or the very least, someone savvy about harnessing social networking and emerging technologies to sell movies, according to several people knowledgeable about the search.

The studio head and Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger are repositioning the studio for a future that includes the digital distribution and promotion of movies across multiple platforms. Iger believes that Disney has been out of  sync with a rapidly evolving film business and that many of the old guard were too resistant to change.

Ross, who through a spokesman declined comment, hired an executive search firm to identify candidates in and out of Hollywood. He personally approached movie marketing executives at rival studios but came away empty-handed. He has told people in the industry that he is anxious to have an executive in place in a matter of weeks, given the fast-approaching launch of such major releases as director Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," which opens March 5.

Disney has a number of event films coming this summer, beginning with producer Jerry Bruckheimer's "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" over the Memorial Day weekend, Pixar Animation Studios' "Toy Story 3" in June and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," starring Nicholas Cage, a month later.

After ousting Disney's marketing president in the fall, Ross appointed a five-person marketing council to oversee the campaigns. Ross, the former head of the Disney Channel, is intimately involved in all marketing decisions, say people at the studio.

Traditional Hollywood marketers question the wisdom of Ross hiring an outsider with little or no experience selling movies and limited relationships with powerful producers who have a strong voice in how their films are promoted. Along with Bruckheimer, Disney's stable of top-tier filmmakers include Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg.

This wouldn't be the first time a Hollywood studio reached outside its borders to recruit marketers, with mixed results. Disney, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Paramount each have hired marketing heads from consumer products companies like McDonald's, Burger King and Revlon, or ad agencies. But movie marketing veterans contend that selling burgers or soda and promoting movies are two entirely different things.

Since succeeding former Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook in October, Ross has been carrying out a restructuring of the studio's production, marketing and distribution units, relieving nearly every division head and bringing in new blood.

Radio Business Report - Disney Channel is TV’s No. 1 Network in Total Day in Tweens 9-14

The Dance on Camera Festival at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center includes shorts featuring animation. Several of these will be shown on Sunday in a special animation event; but moving cartoons also play a significant role in at least two of the other dance shorts being shown at the festival later that day. Those two, “The Last Martini” (directed by Vickie Mendoza) and “Sunscreen Serenade” (directed by Kriota Willberg) are among the nominations for the Jury Prize for Best Short.

What’s animation? It’s striking here that almost all of these shorts combine cartoons with live-action photography. In the best of these, “Entanglement Theory” (directed by Richard James Allen, Karen Pearlman and Gary Hayes), this mixture gives a new vitality to the dream states that preoccupy so many of the current crop of Dance on Camera filmmakers.

“Entanglement Theory” shows us several main planes of existence: a young man with red hair in realistic, prosaic circumstances; the same man switching into dance activity (sometimes defying gravity); and the cartoon versions of himself, sometimes also dancing. Neither the dancing nor the drawing is rewarding for its own sake, but as drama this film is absorbing.

Although animation still seems young, its golden age, to many of us, happened before we were born. I refer in particular to the first 18 years of Walt Disney. Sunday’s event starts with 40 minutes of animation produced by the Disney Studios and commentary by the dance scholar Mindy Aloff (author of the 2009 book “Hippo in a Tutu”).

I regret that I can’t attend this session; I understand that it addresses some of Disney’s depictions of animals dancing: Prunella Pullet, the chicken heroine of “Cock o’ the Walk” (1935); the ballerina Hyacinth Hippo, who in “Fantasia” (1940) emerges from a pool and finds riotous joy with her suitor Ali Gator; and the efforts of a bewildered Goofy, in “How to Dance” (1953), as he follows the cutout footprints from a dance manual.

When you watch the hilariously memorable version of the history of musicals on film in “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952), you get the idea that screen musicals took plenty of time to reach maturity, and that’s surely how we now feel when we watch “The Jazz Singer” (1927, a smash hit in its day), “Rio Rita” (1929) or Eddie Cantor musicals like “Whoopee” (1930).

Disney’s very first sound cartoons, however, were instant classics: they seem to have burst into life full grown, and to have mastered music and dance from the get-go. Both the first Mickey Mouse sound film, “Steamboat Willie” (1928), and the first Silly Symphony, “The Skeleton Dance” (1929), feature dancing that’s musically vivid, funny, pointed: you enjoy them as dancing, as characterization and as film all at the same time.

Dance just permeates early Disney. Mickey and Minnie Mouse are gyrating from “Steamboat Willie” on. In “Three Little Pigs” (1933, a phenomenal box-office hit), the two sillier pigs keep prancing musically on their pointlike hind trotters, and they’re at it again in “The Big Bad Wolf” (1934) and “Three Little Wolves” (1936). Even the owl judge in “Who Killed Cock Robin?” (1935) does a little dance.

In “Woodland Café” (1937), the insects are all jazz jivers; who but Disney could have conjured two snails doing the Jitterbug? “The Cookie Carnival” (1935) is full of cakes behaving like vaudeville hoofers, and Miss Jello shimmies her sizable way through a belly dance.

But what’s dancing? Disney makes you ask the question because he gives such dance vitality and musical brio to movements that involve no actual dance steps. In “The Birthday Party” (1931), Mickey’s way of climbing the stairs to Minnie’s front door has the clickety-click of tap dancing. When the newborn title character of “The Ugly Duckling” (1931) sheds two tears, they fall, ping! ping!, like notes in music made visible. Animals had been bursting into anthropomorphic life in the late-19th-century fictions of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear and in the early-20th-century ones of Beatrix Potter and Kenneth Grahame; Disney took the animal side of Wonderland and turned it into musical comedy.

Whole species or landscapes move to music in the Silly Symphonies “Birds of a Feather” (1931), “The Busy Beavers” (1931) and “Just Dogs” (1932). In “Birds,” the peacock preens like a fashion model to the Barcarolle from “The Tales of Hoffmann.” The title characters of “The Busy Beavers” turn whole riverscapes into industrial choreography, with one propelling a trunk across the water with his tail working like an outboard motor, while others are rowing a second trunk like perfect oarsmen. It’s not just the musicality that feels dancelike; Disney — who has often been compared to Diaghilev — loved pattern, design, symmetry. (“Birds of a Feather” has one aerial formation after another as birds team up to rescue a colleague from a raptor in the air.)

The ultimate Disney dance film is “Fantasia.” Everyone loves Hyacinth Hippo and Ali Gator, rightly so: few scenes in any film are more exhilaratingly funny. Yet Disney, unnervingly, comes yet closer to the feeling of pure dance in his “Nutcracker Suite” scenes, even though here the movement is performed by mushrooms, fish, blossoms, leaves, snowflakes. The score is just about the most famous ballet music ever written, but most of the dances here (apart from the high-kicking thistles in the Russian Dance) have no footwork and no steps. This is Disney at his most large-spirited, finding poetry in the minutiae of everyday details.

This woman is the common template for the romcom heroine these days. And while Bell proves to be a fresh starring face, her witty charm just isn't enough to save this routine romance.

Nor are the many actors in this film — handsome love interest Josh Duhamel, co-star Anjelica Huston and even a surprise reunion of "Napoleon Dynamite's" Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez.

Its problems begin and end with an overly complicated premise. Bell plays Beth, a Guggenheim Museum curator who is humiliated at a museum gala when her ex-boyfriend announces he's getting married to someone else.

To make her day worse, her sister Joan (Alexis Dziena) arrives at her door to say she's engaged to a handsome Italian she's known for only two weeks. So workaholic Beth is ripped away from the Big Apple for her sister's whirlwind wedding.

Those Italians sure know how to whip up a 300-guest fairy princess wedding in a flash. The scene — in an old Italian church and courtyard — looks like the Disney cartoon version of Italy.

Thirty minutes into this movie, we finally arrive at the plot. Beth meets a cute guy at the wedding, Nick (Duhamel), and even though they really hit it off, he ultimately disappoints her.

With too much champagne under her belt, Beth finds herself wading in a romantic Italian fountain, cursing love. She picks up a few tokens to remember her pain — wishing fountain coins that contain magic powers, of course.

Beth is really taking the love that was tossed into the fountain with the coins. So through magic, the men who threw in these coins suddenly find themselves in love with Beth.

Where to begin?

Soon, Beth is back in New York being stalked by a group of crazy characters, including Will Arnett as a nutty painter, Danny DeVito as a sausage maker, Heder as a magician and Dax Shepard as a vain male model.

Amid all the activities in this dizzy story, there's very little romance. Sure, Bell and Duhamel endure their requisite romantic tension, but there's too much chaos to care.

Mark Steven Johnson ("Ghost Rider") tries so hard to create dozens of daffy scenarios that he forgets about the charm we need to suspend our disbelief in the ridiculous plot.

And then there's Rome. Aside from the church and courtyard, we don't see much of the city at all. Or any of it, for that matter.

IBM’s “SmarterPlanet” exhibit includes a stand of kiosks featuring a “match” game that promotes how IBM’s computing technologies are used to solve various problems and a poll in which guests vote on the most pressing issues facing the planet. A second area dubbed “Runtime” allows guests to create avatars of themselves that then run, jump and dance through a video game. Sections of the exhibit have been open for months, though today’s ceremony – with the obligatory appearance by Mickey Mouse – made it official.

Though SmarterPlanet is new to Innoventions, IBM isn’t. The computing company is the only corporate sponsor that has been at Innoventions since it opened in 1994, an especially long run considering sponsorship contracts are typically limited to just three years to keep exhibits from becoming dated.

Another sponsor, however, is out, as KUKA Robotics has pulled the plug on its “Rockin Robots” exhibit.

Disney says KUKA’s sponsorship contract recently expired. And with KUKA’s robotic arms now being featured in a separate Innoventions exhibit – a simulator ride sponsored by defense contractor Raytheon – KUKA no longer needed to underwrite its own area.

A Miramax employee sent out an e-mail this week saying Miramax offices will be closed as of Friday. The e-mail directed all inquiries for upcoming Miramax projects to a Disney employee.

The offices' closure was in line with plans announced in October to slash Miramax's movie production to three per year, down from six to eight, and eliminate 50 jobs in New York and Los Angeles.

Some 20 employees that remained, mostly at the New York headquarters, were asked to move to Disney's headquarters in Burbank.

The orchestral score is a very important element to any show. In my mind, it makes up more than fifty-percent of the experience for an audience. The World of Color score has taken over a year to create due to its complexity. Mark Hammond – the show’s composer – worked countless months perfecting the harmonic nuance of each scene.

Since the show is built out of classic Disney animation moments, each scene needed its own flavor and personality. When we strung them all together, they would create the perfect environment where water, light and projections could live in harmony. The end result, as we are hearing today in this video of the recording of the ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ music from Fantasia, is glorious.

The recall affects two products, about 55,000 items in total, sold exclusively at Walmart stores for $5 each. The action was taken voluntarily by Rhode Island-based jewelry company FAF Inc., which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which disclosed the recall, had been testing for cadmium in children's metal jewelry for several weeks in response to an Associated Press investigation that reported high levels of the known carcinogen in the Disney movie-themed pendants and other children's metal jewelry imported from China.

In reaction to the AP's reporting earlier this month, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had pulled three items from its shelves, including the two recalled Friday -- a crown pendant with UPC number 72783367144 and a frog pendant with UPC number 72783367147. The items had been on sale at Walmart stores since November, in conjunction with release of the animated movie.

Soon after Wal-Mart pulled the items, the CPSC's chairman advised parents to throw away all pieces of inexpensive metal jewelry, noting that children who chew, suck on or swallow a bracelet charm or necklace may be endangering their health.

Consumers can return the two recalled items "to any Walmart store for a full refund or a free replacement product," according to the recall notice. Wal-Mart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The recall marks the first time any consumer product has been recalled in the United States because of cadmium, which recent research also suggests can harm brain development in children. The CPSC said in a statement that there have been no reports of cadmium poisonings associated with the pendants but that its investigation into other pieces of jewelry "remains open and active."

The Walt Disney Co., which produced the movie, said: "Disney supports the decision by FAF and the CPSC to recall the jewelry."

The Fashion Jewelry Trade Association, which represents the industry, had no immediate comment.

Lab tests conducted on 103 pieces of low-priced children's jewelry as part of AP's original investigation found 12 items with cadmium content above 10 percent of the total weight. One item consisted of 91 percent cadmium by weight.

Pendants from four "The Princess and The Frog" necklaces ranged between 25 and 35 percent cadmium, according to the testing. At the time, Walt Disney said in a statement that test results provided by FAF Inc. showed the item complied with all applicable safety standards. But in the case of cadmium, unlike lead, there have been no specific levels that would automatically trigger health risks to children or a push for a recall.

AP - You got a sense of how "Lost" ranks in the scheme of things when President Barack Obama saw it coming -- and blinked.

Sure, this wasn't exactly a showdown between the leader of the free world (with his State of the Union address) and a TV series about people on an island.

But Obama could have scheduled his annual address for, say, this coming Tuesday night if he'd wanted to -- the same night "Lost" was already scheduled by ABC to start its final season -- which would have left millions of "Lost" fans wondering where the island went this time.

Despite fans fretting that such a bit of presidential one-upmanship might actually happen, Obama saw fit to do his State of the Union address a week before.

And, like it was always intended, "Lost" will do its thing Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST. Then "Lost" fans can take satisfaction, however fanciful, that, instead of someone moving the island, Obama moved his speech.

Make no mistake, this is a big deal to "Lost" fans: the beginning of the end of an epic mystery-thriller-what-have-you after six thrilling, mystical seasons.

Just 18 episodes remain, after which the series, and a certain brand of national obsession, will be over. The vast "Lost" lore -- or most of it, or a teeny-weeny smidgen, at least -- will finally make sense.

Or not.

You remember how last season ended. Jack (Matthew Fox) deployed a nuclear warhead that, if things went as he hoped, would rewrite history by destroying a huge pocket of electromagnetic energy that may have been responsible for pulling Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 out of the sky on the series' premiere and setting the whole darn show in motion.

In short, if this scheme worked, Flight 815 would have made it to Los Angeles as scheduled, while the show would have instantly been zeroed out. Then, like an M.C. Escher drawing, "Lost" would have disappeared into itself, or so it seems, and for the rest of the coming season, ABC would have to air something else. (Jimmy Kimmel in prime time?)

Another of the weird things you may recall from the finale: Locke (Terry O'Quinn) had an unprecedented audience with the never-before-seen uber-boss of the island, Jacob. But at the same time the meeting took place, a corpse that looked remarkably like Locke was lying on the beach in pasty-faced repose.

Can anyone on "Lost" coexist both living and dead? Was the other, walking-talking "Locke" some sort of impressionist just doing a really good imitation of O'Quinn? And does he ever play Vegas?

Questions like that have been piling up and preying on "Lost" fans ever since.

Fair warning! Now that a new season is here with a final infusion of fodder, speculation among "Lost" faithful could be rising to an unprecedented pitch -- and pushing the patience of "Lost" nonobservers to the breaking point.

Consider a video spoof on The Onion's Web site, which cautions that the "final season of 'Lost' promises to make fans more annoying than ever."

"Do you think the show can REALLY surpass how incredibly aggravating the fans were LAST season?" the Onion News Network anchor asks his entertainment reporter. "Is that even possible?"

"No one knows for sure," she replies chirpily, "but the show's producers are confident."

So are officials around the country. According to The Onion, cities including Chicago and Seattle are convinced "that fans will be so much worse than previous years, they've already announced they'll be providing shelter Tuesday nights for anyone unlucky enough to be living with a 'Lost' fan."

No doubt about it: "Lost" really gets its believers revved up.

In this week's Newsweek magazine, columnist Joshua Alston writes that "more than anything else -- and more than any other acclaimed show ever on television -- 'Lost' is a show about faith."

But wait, there's more: "'Lost' has gone beyond being just a show about faith to being a meta-commentary on faith."

Alston concludes that "Lost," above all, is "a show about the big questions that lie at the heart of the human experience."

Or is it just possibly a show about the big questions lying at the heart of the show?

Whatever, "Lost" fans will be turning up the volume as they debate those questions, desperate to tease out the answers (and meta-answers) while wishing on some level they might never be burdened with what passes for truth.

Especially from a civilian.

In a hilarious scene on the NBC comedy "30 Rock" last fall, bubble-headed blond Jenna Maroney barged in on three of her colleagues watching "Battlestar Galactica" on a laptop at the office.

"So this all started when their plane crashed?" asked Jenna, trying to fit in.

"That's 'Lost,'" Toofer told her dismissively.

"Oh, right," she replied, unfazed. "You know, I met ('Lost' creator) J.J. Abrams once, and I don't know what this means, but he said the island is just Hurley's dream."

To that, all three reacted with scorn.

Dude! "Lost" is too important for pretenders to take part. For this final season, the "Lost" flock have license to be more obsessed and aggravating than ever, and they mean to exercise it. Anybody else is welcome to seek refuge.

Anthony, who holds 11 world records in juggling, uses simple hoops, clubs and balls during his act. What makes his act remarkable is speed and seemingly impossible accuracy with props — it’s hard to look away.

The new act will be added permanently to the 90-minute shows beginning February 5. The La Nouba performance (no intermission) plays at 6:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The show is dark on Sunday and Monday.

AP - ABC says Victoria Beckham will co-host "The View" next month.

The singer-model-businesswoman (and wife of soccer superstar David Beckham) will be a guest co-host of the live weekday talk show on Feb. 17.

Beckham's appearance will be her first as a featured guest co-host. Her first-ever guest appearance on "The View" was last September.

In 2007, the Beckhams were featured among Barbara Walters' annual "10 Most Fascinating People" TV special.

Regular "View" co-hosts include Walters, Joy Behar (BAY'-har), Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd. The show airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Eastern.

"Whenever I come up with a new idea, I ask people what they think of it. Once I find 10 people who think it's crazy, I go ahead with it," the famous visionary once said.
For many NFL scouts and potential players, Saturday's Senior Bowl from Mobile, Alabama, just might be a modern-day proving ground for Disney's methods.

Who will take a chance on Florida quarterback Tim Tebow? Can he make it as an NFL quarterback?

Those two questions have dominated the college football conversation during the sport's postseason.

"History has not been kind to former Gator signal callers" is one of the litany of realities working against Tebow.

In a long line of former Florida greats, few have made the transition to the professional level.

Most have had limited success, if any.

Quarterbacks like Steve Spurrier, John Reaves, Wayne Peace, Kerwin Bell, Doug Johnson, Danny Wuerffel, Rex Grossman, Chris Leak, Jesse Palmer, and most recently, Tebow, all had successful college careers.

Some of these careers were outstanding.

Spurrier, Wuerfful, and Tebow all won Heisman Trophies as the nation's "best player."

But translating success from the collegiate level to the NFL is a much trickier proposition.

Much has been written about, commented on, and argued against Tim Tebow's potential to play in the NFL.

Most experts seem to agree that, at best, he would be a major "project" for any team that would draft him.

Those same experts argue that, if drafted, he'll probably go no higher than the third round.

Additionally, many even contend that, if Tebow is to make it in the NFL, he'll have to change his postion—for example, to an "H-back," or as an option out of a "Wildcat" offensive set in which his run potential could be exploited.

Even as a Florida alumnus and Gator fan, I have grown weary of the excess publicity that has surrounded Tebow's career.

I'm suffering from Tebow fatigue too.

While I was happy to have him as the Gators' quarterback and happy to see the on-field success he helped to bring to Florida football, I was always suspicious of the effusive praise he received.

Even so, here are three things that do work in his favor, and just might get an NFL team to take a shot at drafting him:

1. The dearth of players at the quarterback position.

Like pitchers in Major League Baseball, teams can never have enough depth at QB. Warts aside, Tebow is a big, durable player.

2. Growth potential.

While many NFL teams are "now" oriented and not interested in long-term development, the so-called learning curve of even the best prospects is inherent to the position. Tebow's demonstrated work ethic and willingness to improve are qualities that have to be factored into any team's draft formula.

3. The "Disney Factor."

Just as the wrong pick can have long lasting negative effects on an NFL team's future, there is another side to that coin. What if a chance is taken and it works out? While many NFL teams have successfully been built on numbers, conservative decision making, and intricate analysis, there is something to be said about "gut" and its potential to be a difference maker too.

As in all sports, some things cannot be measured. 

Sometimes you have to ask yourself what most people would do...

- Mark your stroller with a brightly colored scarf, ribbon or bandana, so you can spot your stroller in the sea of strollers.

- Visit the Baby Care Centers. They provide moms a place to breast feed and there are even training toilets for toddlers. (No reason to stop the training during vacation, right?) There are also supplies available for purchase.

- If you need a break from walking, take the train. It begins on Main Street, U.S.A. and stops in Mickey’s Toontown, Tomorrowland and New Orleans Square.

 

- Check the height requirements before you visit the park. This will prevent any surprise meltdowns because little Johnny had his heart set on riding Space Mountain but, oops, too short.

- The park sweepers dressed in white almost always have maps and show times and parade information.

- Visit the Animation Academy at Disney’s California Adventure park. This hidden gem is a lot of fun and you and your children can learn how to draw a Disney character every half hour.

DisneyParks Blogs - Can you believe in just one year the Disney Dream will take its maiden voyage? To celebrate the beginning of the countdown we are announcing details about new experiences coming to the upper decks of the ship.

An elaborately themed interactive sports deck, whimsical water play area, and relaxing poolside oasis for adults are just some of the ways guests can have fun in the sun on the decks of the Disney Dream.

On Goofy’s Sports Deck, the magic tees off with Goofy’s Golf – a miniature golf course where “lessons” featuring Goofy and his son, Max, lead guests through nine themed holes of wacky fun. Also on Goofy’s Sports Deck, two digital sports simulators, full-court basketball and two mini-sized sports courts for little ones.

At Nemo’s Reef, little cruisers will have fun at a fanciful water-play area overflowing with pop jets, bubblers and lovable underwater friends like Nemo, Dory, Marlin and others from the Disney•Pixar film, “Finding Nemo.” Shaded for protection from the sun, the 1,500-square-foot Nemo’s Reef is a place for children to cool off and play among colorful, interactive figures that move and spray water. Take a look:

But his radical ideas about technology revolutionized animation.

Sound and color transformed movies and television. Disney (1901-66) led the way, putting new tech to use in cartoons, films and TV shows.

New production techniques weren't cheap. Disney pushed ahead on projects despite high costs, aiming to thrill audiences.

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck gave Disney fame. Not satisfied, he set his sights beyond Hollywood and TV, building an amusement park, selling merchandise and founding an entertainment empire.

"He was always on the cutting edge, starting with putting sound on animated cartoons and putting color into cartoons," said film critic Richard Schickel at a panel discussion on Disney's life at the Norman Lear Center, part of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.

"He was a technological modernist. And he put that genius to work in the service of nostalgic values," added Schickel at the 2006 forum.

"Steamboat Willie," starring Mickey Mouse, marked Disney's first groundbreaking cinematic feat. The 1928 animated film synchronized sound and cartoon images for the first time. Disney figured out how to do it using a metronome and home-made gear.

"It was the integration of picture, music and sound effects that set Disney's cartoons apart -- his competitors' cartoons were noisy and chaotic by comparison -- and gave him a competitive edge that he never surrendered," Michael Barrier, author of "The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney," told IBD.

A New Look

Disney soon broke away from black-and-white cartoons. With 1932's "Flowers and Trees," Disney created the first animated film in color. With the country sputtering in the Great Depression, it was dicey to adopt new technology.

"Disney was the first to make cartoons in three-strip Technicolor, a risky move," said Barrier. "Earlier two-color films had failed with audiences, and the additional cost for color prints would be substantial."

Disney's distributor, United Artists, fretted that even if color cartoons proved successful, distributors might be unwilling to shoulder the extra production costs.

He didn't blink. "Disney not only went ahead with color, but got an exclusive, three-year contract for Technicolor," Barrier said.

In late 1937, Disney came out with the first full-length, animated musical feature, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." In it, he strove to perfect the illusion of movement and create a realistic environment.

He believed the key was replicating the depth of view that audiences saw in live-action films. To create the effect, Disney used a special camera to film through panes of glass.

Disney's staff painted panes of glass with elements of a scene, such as a forest. They affixed celluloid images of cartoon characters in between scenic elements on the panes.

The camera moved back and forth, creating an impression that characters were moving through the scenic elements.

Disney's technique was costly, but worth it. "Snow White" was the most profitable movie of 1938.

"Computer animation now achieves the same movement in depth through entirely different means," said Barrier.

Television competed seriously for audiences by the early 1950s. Disney saw opportunity, not a threat.

He embraced the new technology, agreeing to produce "Disneyland" for ABC in 1954. With the show, Disney's (NYSE:DIS) movie studio became the first in Hollywood to produce regular programming directly for TV.

It was a deft move. The link led the way for ABC to fund the amusement park that Disney dreamed of building in Anaheim, Calif.

Still, most Americans owned black-and-white TVs. Color models were pricey. ABC resisted Disney's prodding to broadcast shows in color.

Enter RCA. The parent company of NBC made televisions. It wanted flagship programming that would entice Americans into buying color TV sets, wrote Neal Gabler in "Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination."

In 1961 he switched to NBC, where "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" began airing on Sundays.

"Walt was excited," Gabler wrote. "At ABC he had effected the truce between the film industry and the television industry. At NBC he would be leading the transformation from black-and-white to color television."

Variety called the agreement the "most important and far-reaching in recent video annals." Color TV sales soon boomed, RCA reported.

While his knack for spotting sharp technology gave Disney an edge, success didn't come easy to a man whose first business venture failed, who had a nervous breakdown at 30 and retreated into a model train hobby in middle age.

Born in Chicago, he grew up under a strict father. Elias Disney had crisscrossed the country as a train machinist and carpenter. When Walt was little, his family moved to Marceline, Mo., which would inspire Disney's model of Main Street, U.S.A.

As a youngster, Disney drew with crayons and watercolors. By age 7, he was selling sketches and drawings of animals and nature to neighbors. Not afraid to dabble with art forms, he drew pictures in tar on the side of his parents' farmhouse.

His family's farming business failed. But those years still left an impression on Disney.

In a 1966 interview with NBC, he shared his philosophy of investing in ventures, such as an amusement park: "Like the old farmer, you've got to pour it (money) back into the ground if you want to get it out."

After Disney's family moved to Kansas City, Mo., Walt began studying cartooning with a correspondence school. Then it was back to Chicago in 1917, and Disney drew for his high school newspaper. He also began competing in Charlie Chaplin impersonation contests.

Chaplin, a star of the silent film era, thrived on mime and slapstick. In devising Mickey Mouse, Disney used Chaplin as a model.

"We wanted something appealing, and we thought of a tiny bit of a mouse that would have something of the wistfulness of Chaplin -- a little fellow trying to do the best he could," Disney said in an interview.

While World War I raged, Disney enlisted in the American Ambulance Corps. He drove medics at the European front and returned to Kansas City, where in 1919 he began working as an artist at the Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio.

But he yearned for more -- to produce his own animated films.

In 1922, he and other artists formed Laugh-O-Gram Films, which created short cartoons.

The startup, though, had little cash. Debt piled up. Laugh-O-Gram couldn't pay its rent. Disney filed for bankruptcy.

The Comeback

Refusing to quit, Disney set out for Hollywood, the center of the movie industry, to aim higher.

In 1923, he incorporated Disney Bros. Studio, partnering with his brother, Roy, who managed the financial side of the business.

Even after the popularity of "Steamboat Willie," the small studio squeaked by financially.

Disney began losing his touch for drawing, and other artists took over that part of the business. The boss took on other chores, editing stories and acting out the roles of movie characters in production meetings.

Ub Iwerks, a key collaborator, left the company in 1930. The studio struggled to make money because of the economy and the long hours needed to produce animation.

The next year, Disney became emotionally depressed. He was battered by financial worries and his oversight responsibilities. "He was in the grip of his own obsession with excellence, which made him compulsively dissatisfied, and had a new burden -- the burden of expectations," Gabler wrote.

To recover, Disney took up sports and exercising. He focused on new movie projects. Soon he bounced back and turned out the hits "Snow White," "Pinocchio" and "Bambi."

All the while, Disney looked for new outlets. His biggest splash came with the 1955 opening of Disneyland south of Los Angeles. But he stayed connected to the screen.

Orlando Sentinel - Disney FamilyFun magazine offers some of the cutest kids’ crafts in my opinion, and I especially like its ideas for Valentine’s Day. Last year, my son, daughter and I made the “Rock Candy” project, which is candy packaged to look like an iPod, and “Text Mail,” which looks like a flip-top cell phone.

Both are featured on the Web site again this year — and they are quite easy for little fingers to make with just a little parental guidance. Making a handful was not time-consuming, but creating enough iPods and cell phones for more than 30 classmates seemed daunting, so we limited the recipients to tech-savvy relatives.

If you’d like to give it a try, here’s how to get started.

Rock Candy valentine

Materials (for each Valentine)

Tape

2 (14-inch) pieces of string

2 mini peanut butter cups

1 (1-ounce) box of conversation hearts

2 (4-inch) circles of aluminum foil

4-inch by 7-inch strip of pink paper

Glue stick

Sheet of white printer paper or printable scroll wheel and playlist

Instructions

1. Tape each end of a piece of string to a peanut butter cup. Tie on the other piece of string as shown, then tape the loose end to the candy box.

2. Wrap each peanut butter cup in a circle of aluminum foil.

3. Wrap the pink paper strip around the candy box and secure it with a glue stick.

4. Download the scroll wheel and playlist here. You can customize the song list. Use a glue stick to attach them to the box. Write a valentine message on the back of the box.

Text Mail valentine

Materials

Silver or gray card stock

White paper

Button candy

Scissors

Glue

Markers

Instructions

1. Cut a rectangle from silver card stock (suggested size is about 2 1/2 inches by 7 inches), and then fold it in half and round the corners.

2. Glue on a card stock antenna, two paper message screens, and the candy keypad.

Harvey Weinstein said of his former company,

I’m feeling very nostalgic right now. I know the movies made on my and my brother Bob’s watch will live on as well as the fantastic films made under the direction of Daniel Battsek. Miramax has some brilliant people working within the organization and I know they will go on to do great things in the industry.
Kevin Smith was asked to write about the end of the label for The Wrap. He concludes with,
I’m crushed to see it pass into history, because I owe everything I have to Miramax.  Without them, I’d still be a New Jersey convenience store register jockey. In practice, not just in my head.

Over the years, Miramax built the careers of Smith and Quentin Tarantino, brought Steven Soderbourgh to prominence after buying Sex, Lies and Videotape and furthered the careers of filmmakers including Jane Campion, Errol Morris, Gus Van Sant and Peter Jackson. The studio did many things that were infuriating, notably when dealing with Asian films that were heavily recut or simply shelved, but there’s no question that the last thirty years of cinema would be very different without Miramax.

Six films are now left on the shelf, among which include two starring Sam Worthington (The Debt and Last Night, the latter of which had a release date set in March), Julie Taymor’s filmed version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and Troy Nixey and Guillermo del Toro’s remake of the TV horror classic Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. Hopefully Disney will release or sell these movies; we’ll find out more as we can.

Construction activity still slow around Disney World

Orlando Sentinel - Construction activity slowed once again at Walt Disney World last month.

Building-permit activity dropped 38 percent in December 2009 from December 2008, according to updated stats from the Reedy Creek Improvement District. For the first quarter of the fiscal year (both Disney and Reedy Creek begin their accounting years at the start of October), building-permit activity sank 27 percent.

Reedy Creek says the projects it permitted in December had a combined value of $11.8 million, down 18 percent from the $14.4 million worth of work it permitted a year ago. For the first quarter, the value of permitted work fell 51 percent, to $27.1 million from $55.4 million.

Globetrotters to Perform at Disney Sports Complex Relaunch Event

DisneyParks Blog - The grand relaunch of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort is next month and what would the wide world of sports be without some globetrotters?

The Disney sports complex will, in fact, have the most famous globetrotters of them all – the renowned Harlem Globetrotters. The zany band of basketball tricksters will help kick off the Feb. 25 relaunch of the complex, which will involve re-theming the 220-acre complex with the signature elements of ESPN, leaving athletes, coaches and fans feeling as if they’ve reached the big time.

The Globetrotters will put on a very special performance at the Milk House in the complex at 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at all ticketmaster outlets and www.ticketmaster.com, and range from $30 to $50. As part of the complex relaunch festivities, everyone in attendance at the game will receive a one-of-a-kind ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex commemorative t-shirt.

The game will be more than just a game as ESPN’s popular radio duo Mike & Mike will serve as honorary coaches. And several high-profile pro athletes and other well-known ESPN on-air personalities are expected to be in attendance and available for autographs. Then, of course, there’s unique brand of basketball entertainment that only the Globetrotters can deliver.

DisneyParks Blog - Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs is no stranger to Disneyland Resort. Not many people know this, but he and his wife enjoyed their wedding rehearsal dinner at the Golden Horseshoe in Disneyland in 1996, and through the years this Southern California family has enjoyed countless days of fun together at the parks. His three sons were probably expecting to hear stories about Dad riding their favorite attractions the past few days, but this was Tom’s chance to spend time with frontline cast members learning first-hand about operations of the Resort.

Earlier today, Tom toured Disney’s California Adventure park where he saw the control room for the new water extravaganza “World of Color” – a technological marvel with 1,200 programmable fountains on a one-acre grid. He also visited the construction site for Cars Land, the new 12-acre expansion inspired by the blockbuster Disney-Pixar movie, “Cars.”

Orlando Sentinel - Brides, if you dream about a Disney wedding, don’t miss Kirstie Kelly’s trunk show Friday through Sunday at The Collection in Winter Park. Kelly is the couture designer responsible for the princess-inspired gowns in the Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings line.

The dresses represent Disney princesses Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Jasmine, Ariel, Belle and Giselle. Kelly also has created bridesmaid and flower-girl dresses and bridal accessories, such as veils and jewelry, including a new line of engagement and wedding rings. View the entire collection here.

The Collection consultants work with brides on an appointment-only basis. To make an appointment for the Kirstie Kelly trunk show, call 407-740-6003. No reservation is necessary for Kelly’s book signing from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Her book with David Tutera, Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings, was released this month.

Kelly revealed her new wedding gown inspired by Princess Tiana in October. ”The Princess Tiana gown is a very special part of the Disney Princess collection,” she has said. “When I look at this gown I see a modern woman that is very comfortable with her own identity. The gown is designed for a bride with a modern sensibility and effortlessly exudes both romance and sultry flair.”

AP - At ESPN's offices in Bristol, Conn., a World Cup countdown clock is outdoors, clicking down the hours until the kickoff on June 11.

A room inside has a "Wheel of Fortune" style spinner, where staffers can come in to pick up additional teams to root for.

But when the action shifts to South Africa, ESPN and ABC will make a major shift in their coverage. The U.S. networks will have crews on site for all 64 games at the 10 stadiums. During the 2006 tournament in Germany, two of five crews stayed home and called 20 matches from the U.S. studios.

"At some point you've got to treat it like the significant sporting event that is," said John Skipper, ESPN's executive vice president of content. "I understand it has not traditionally stopped work and stopped the country to watch it in past years. But we're going to treat it like it should."

The networks, owned by The Walt Disney Co., announced Wednesday that 10 games will be on ABC, including the U.S.-England matchup on June 12 and the final on July 11.

ESPN will televise 44 matches, with the remaining 10 on ESPN2. All but the ABC games also will be on ESPN360.com, 46 games will be on ESPN Mobile TV and every game will be replayed at night on ESPN Classic.

In what appears to be an attempt to ambush Univision's Spanish-language coverage, ESPN Deportes will broadcast up to 40 matches -- Cristiano Ronaldo fans take note -- in Portuguese.

ESPN2 will go all soccer for a 24-hour countdown before the opener. The pre-World Cup concert will be televised live on ESPN on June 10, with an edited version replayed on ABC the following night. ESPN plans about 250 hours of originally programming around the games.

Jed Drake, coordinating producer of ESPN's World Cup coverage, said the network is sending 165 people to South Africa and will have 50 local hires -- double the staff it used four years ago. The network will be broadcasting soccer 12 hours a day during the first round.

"The level of ambition we have for this project is second to none compared to anything we do at ESPN," he said.

ABC/ESPN acquired rights to the 2010 and 2014 tournaments directly from FIFA in late 2005 for $100 million. For the previous two World Cups, the rights were owned by Soccer United Marketing, an affiliate of Major League Soccer that bought them for $40 million and then purchased air time. Univision bought the Spanish-language U.S. rights for 2010 and 2014 for $325 million.

But South Africa especially will be an expensive place to produce. One of ESPN's first actions was to hire its own private security company for the tournament. The logistical issues are unusual for a major event.

"How are you going to get around? Eat? Sleep? Get to the stadium? Get in and out? Get there on time? Park or take the bus in?" said Skipper, who thinks people will be safe as long as they don't go off the beaten track. "FIFA, the South African government, the South African police, international security, they can only control so much if guys get themselves drunk and wander down the street with 1,000-rand bills ($132) hanging out of their pockets."

Drake already has made four trips to South Africa in the past year to prepare and is scheduled to go back in February and March.

"It doesn't feel nearly as foreign as it used to," he said. "And the flight doesn't seem as long. I know that sounds bizarre."

Soccer is one of the few sports whose ratings haven't declined.

ABC's 12 telecasts four years ago averaged 3.5 million households, according to Nielsen Media Research, up from 1.7 million for ESPN's 21 games and 919,000 million for ESPN2's 31 matches. In addition, Spanish-language coverage averaged 1.5 million for 56 games on Univision and 122,000 for four on Telefutura.

When ABC and ESPN broadcast the entire tournament for the first time in 1994 -- it was the United States that year -- the 52 games were viewed by an average of 1.95 million households. That was up from an average of 685,000 homes for the 25 games televised by Turner Broadcasting's TNT network in 1990, when the U.S. made its first World Cup appearance in 40 years.

In an effort to widen soccer interest, ABC and ESPN televised the European Championship for the first time two years ago, and Spain's victory over Germany in the final was seen by 3.76 million viewers on ABC. Skipper said ABC/ESPN intends to bid aggressively for rights for the 2012 Euros, which likely will be put up for bid in about three months.

And this time is has jettisoned Dave O'Brien, criticized for his lack of soccer knowledge, and added Martin Tyler of Britain's Sky Sports along with a pair of retired European stars, Ruud Gullit and Steve McManaman.

For all the enthusiasm, Skipper keeps soccer in perspective. Speaking on Monday afternoon, he cited ESPN's broadcast of Spain's La Liga the previous day.

Below we discuss the two most significant businesses for Disney and what matters most for each.

ESPN & Other Channels

Disney has consistently made profits from its ESPN channel, which is the world leader in sports coverage and has close to 100% penetration in US households. Cable operators like Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner (TWC) pay Disney a monthly subscriber fee of about $3.20 for each cable subscriber that receives ESPN.

ESPN has the highest subscriber fee in the cable TV industry, where the majority of cable channels have monthly fees that are less than $1 per subscriber. Sports programming helps cable and satellite companies sell more expensive plans to subscribers which makes them willing to spend more to ensure that they have access to ESPN’s programming. ESPN’s competitor Fox Sports also commands a high monthly subscriber fee of about $2.10 per subscriber. ESPN spends a significant amount of money to purchase exclusive broadcast rights to sports events that help it to remain the most popular sports channel and as result it continues to be able to extract high subscriber fees from cable companies.

ESPN’s popularity, multi-year fee contracts and high subscriber fees allow it to perform well even in a weak economy. You can modify our forecast for ESPN’s Fee per Subscriber to see how much Disney’s stock is impacted by this crucial driver.

Disney’s other cable channels such as the Disney Channel, ESPN Classic, Soapnet, A&E, ABC Family, History and Lifetime together constitute about 22% of Disney’s stock price and boast of high household penetration.

Parks & Resorts

Trefis estimates that about 16% of Disney’s value is attributable to its theme parks and resorts. The economic slowdown has led consumers to cut down on certain types of entertainment expenses and the number of visitors to Disney’s parks and resorts has temporarily suffered as result.

However, we believe the number of guests (visitors) at Disney parks and resorts will recover to historical levels over the next two years and increase over the Trefis forecast period. We also expect that the average spend per guest in theme parks will increase.

Guest spend includes money spent on admission to the parks / resorts, food, beverages and merchandise. Part of the increase is attributable to hikes in the price of admission, which have helped Disney offset some of the revenue lost from the dip in guest traffic. We forecast guest capita spend to increase from about $104 in 2009 to about $111 at the end of Trefis forecast period.

Walt Disney Company India Pvt. Ltd. had submitted a proposal to publish a specialty magazine in India, said the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, the Indian regulator for foreign investments in the country, said in a statement.

It didn't mention what the magazine would cover.

That was the point.

Inside the nearly completed $36 million Roy and Patricia Disney Family Cancer Center at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, everything - from the waterwall greeting patients when they enter the rotunda, to the painting and meditation garden - was designed to help ease the mind, heal the body and comfort the soul.

"It's wonderful. I like that it's so personal," said Zack, 45, a breast-cancer patient who toured the Burbank center on Wednesday.

Named for Roy and Patricia Disney, who donated $10 million to the project, the four-story building offers all-in-one outpatient services that focus on both Eastern and Western styles of medicine.

"Women who are treated for breast cancer, for example, may experience hot flashes," said Dr. Lisa Schwartz, director for the center's Integrated Medicine Program, which includes yoga, massage and nutritional counseling.

"Acupuncture is very effective in treating hot flashes, and we have that to offer too," Schwartz said.

The center officially opens on Feb. 8 and is billed as the most comprehensive of its kind in the San Fernando Valley.

Though he died in December of stomach cancer at age 79, much of Roy E. Disney's influence is infused in the new building, such as water and ocean imagery, a symbol of life that also represents his love of the sea.

The nephew of the legendary Walt Disney - who died of lung cancer - Roy E. Disney was a prominent executive in The Walt Disney Co.

His son, Roy P. Disney, toured the center Wednesday and said he was touched that so much thought went into every inch of the building.

"Having just experienced (cancer) in my family this building takes on a new meaning for me," he said. "Cancer is frightening. Disneyland is one of those places that gives more than it takes. This is that kind of building."

Local entertainment studios and the community all pitched in as well to help raise the money for the center, said Patricia Modrzejewski, president of the Providence Saint Joseph Foundation.

The goal behind the center was to cut the time patients spend traveling among facilities to receive a variety of treatments, said Dr. Raul Mena, medical director of cancer services at Providence Saint Joseph.

"It's an amazing experience just to walk through the doors of this building," Mena said.

Of the 1.6 million people nationwide who are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year, the majority are expected to survive, Mena said.

"However, those (who survive) carry the scars of terror," he said. "This building is dedicated to making them whole again."

Also among the center's services:

A cancer program for patients ages 18 to 39, an group that is often overlooked during traditional treatments.

A radiology unit, created by Royal Philips Electronics, that includes an "ambient experience." Patients can control the lighting, sounds, music and video in their rooms.

The John C. & Lowry Hench Library, offer patients and family members a quiet place to research their illnesses and learn about clinical trials.

A personal appearance boutique that will help patients in need of wigs, prosthetics and special cosmetics to treat and manage side effects of cancer and treatments.

"So much thought and dedication has gone into every detail of the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Cancer Center to help patients triumph over cancer," Barry Wolfman, chief executive of Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, said in a statement.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District’s board of supervisors this morning signed off on a tentative budget to pay for extending the district’s electrical and reclaimed-water lines to serve the expanded Fantasyland. The price tag? A little over $1.3 million, though that figure includes about $186,000 in contingency money to handle cost overruns.

The district’s board also approved spending the first $60,000 from that $1.3 million budget to cover early design work.

ComingSoon - The Walt Disney Company included the following two images in their Annual Report. The first is concept art for Disney•Pixar's Cars 2 featuring Lightning McQueen in Tokyo, Japan with Mount Fuji in the background. The sequel, scheduled to hit theaters on June 24, 2011, was previously described as follows:



All the world's a racetrack as racing superstar Lightning McQueen zooms back into action, with his best friend Mater in tow, to take on the globe's fastest and finest in this thrilling high-octane new installment of the "Cars" saga. Mater and McQueen will need their passports as they find themselves in a new world of intrigue, thrills and fast-paced comedic escapades around the globe.

The Annual Report also included this image from Toy Story 3, featuring Jessie, Buzz and Woody.

DisneyParks Blog - Groom’s cakes are becoming a very popular way to incorporate the groom into what is, so often, a bride-focused event. Typically, a groom’s cake is a whimsical take on the groom’s favorite pastimes or interests, like music, sports, his favorite food or even occupation.

 

Recently one of my planner’s brides, Sharon, decided to surprise her husband John with a Georgia Bulldogs groom’s cake. During their planning session John left the room to take a phone call, and the team sprung into action! Earlier that day, at the cake testing session, John was very vocal about the flavor of cake and frosting that he preferred and explained that he LOVES his Georgia Bulldogs. We can’t wait to see his reaction when he sees a football field shaped cake waiting for him at the reception!

 

We work closely with the Disney pastry chefs to create and decorate any type of cake imaginable! Here are just a few really special cakes we’ve created for our grooms!

Orlando Sentinel - If you forgot to get a Disney souvenir, or want to stock up on a few rewards for good behavior on the flight home — for the kids, of course — be sure to stop at Disney’s EarPort at Orlando International Airport.

Compared to Downtown Disney’s World of Disney or the giant retail outlets in the theme parks, this store is small. The selection is decent, though, and includes what must be the most popular merchandise from Walt Disney World: T-shirts and hoodies for all ages; mouse-ear hats; CDs, DVDs and books; snacks and kitchen items; costume jewelry; pins and lanyards; Vinylmation figures; and toys.

I laughed out loud when I saw the huge, and hugely popular, Cinderella Castle play sets for sale. You know the one: It costs $75 and is about the size of a medium pet carrier. I’m sure any airline would love to see a passenger try to board with that. Of course, Disney is prepared with a sign nearby offering to ship the toy.

EarPort keeps the Disney magic going a little longer for guests with three photo opportunities. On one side of the store is a statue of Snow White sitting on a bench with room for a friend, and on the other is Goofy trying to balance a stack of cookies. In between, there is a beautiful 3D mural depicting Mickey Mouse and the four parks.

Cast members at the store hand out the same Mickey stickers that children receive on Disney property, and a flat-screen television promotes all the fun things to do there. Tickets can be purchased in the store if you’re arriving and want to avoid lines in the parks.

Students first had to go to a meeting with recruiters for Disney and then onto compete in two rounds of the selection process. The first round consisted of an online personality test and those who were selected then had to complete a phone interview.

The Walt Disney internship lasts for six to eight months which can be more than some students can handle. Lindsay Tubbs, junior in hospitality management, is currently in Orlando, Fla., working as a housekeeper, but she nearly passed on the internship because she worried about losing her friends.

“I almost didn’t come just because I was afraid they’d forget about me,” Tubbs said. “What if my friends moved away and I had to get all new friends? I was really nervous about it.”

Fortunately, internship holders do not live alone, but have anywhere from one to seven roommates. There are four housing complexes in which students can live. Three of the complexes are for domestic students and the fourth housing complex is for international students. Disney automatically deducts the rent from students’ paychecks in order to simplify the lives of their employees.

Some students rarely see their roommates because they have vastly different schedules than the people with whom they live. The times that students work can vary daily, but Disney tries to ensure students get the same two days off every week.

This policy can lead to students working on days that they would rather relax.

“I’m least excited about working on holidays. I have to work all holidays, I might get some off, but I’ll have to work the main ones,” said Brett Engleman, sophomore in hospitality management.

Since part of the appeal of the Disney internship is the chance to be in a new and exciting locale, many students drive to Orlando so they can have some freedom to explore.

The Walt Disney internship can be extremely beneficial to those who attain it because they acquire the experience of a lifetime, while building up their resumé.

For Tom Badeen, junior in hospitality management, the internship was valuable because he was able to achieve one of his goals.

The new 300-seat restaurant will have traditional Florentine architecture, vaulted-ceilings and outside dining. And the food will be authentic — Italian dishes (complimenting the offerings at Tutto Italia ) and pizza from wood-burning ovens.

The pizzeria will be the newest flagship restaurant in the Patina Restaurant Group’s portfolio. And one of the special touches at the Epcot location will be the water. It’ll be imported from a source where the composition most resembles water used in Naples, Italy, to make the authentic Italian dough.

Ford is set to deliver a "very special" gift to the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" host to mark the occasion, ABC said Monday.

"People often ask me if I ever imagined we'd be on the air this long," Kimmel said. "It's a weird compliment wrapped in an insult, but I'll take it."

He added that he feels lucky to work "for a network that showed enough patience to allow us to grow and, more importantly, pays almost no attention to what goes on after midnight."

Kimmel's milestone comes just days after Conan O'Brien ended his seven-month tenure as "Tonight" host, with Jay Leno set to reclaim the job he left last year. O'Brien's exit was preceded by a bitter public battle with NBC over its plan to shift him to a post-midnight slot.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" airs at 12:05 a.m. EST weeknights on ABC. Also appearing on the anniversary show Tuesday are Kristen Bell and the Silversun Pickups band.

Among the highlights of Kimmel's run: a pair of comic films that went on to become Internet sensations, one in which Matt Damon and Kimmel's on-again, off-again girlfriend Sarah Silverman sing of their faux hot love affair, and the other with Kimmel striking back by claiming a romance with Damon's pal Ben Affleck.

Her desire to get out of ABC's New York studio has already set Sawyer apart from her more homebound predecessor, Charles Gibson, who retired in December. She traveled to Copenhagen to interview Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for her first show, and has been to Afghanistan and Haiti.

Monday will be a shuttle flight to Washington to interview President Barack Obama. She'll anchor the broadcast from the capital.

"They have to restrain me," said Sawyer, 64. "I will get on the plane at the drop of a story."

She's giving her first interviews since taking over the broadcast on Dec. 21, a launch done without fanfare in part because ABC was spooked by expectations raised and dashed surrounding Katie Couric's CBS debut. Sawyer also wanted some time doing the job before talking about it.

Sawyer's tired blue eyes betray the grueling nature of her Kabul to Port-au-Prince trip. She and her team were preparing to leave Afghanistan after several days of reporting on the war when they heard about the Haitian earthquake that has killed more than 200,000 people. She flew into New York and didn't leave the airline terminal, aides passing on replacements to the glasses she lost, Blackberry she broke and midwinter clothing inappropriate for tropical heat.

From the Dominican Republic, it took two helicopters and a plane to reach Haiti, since airports there were closed.

The destruction and suffering, she said, "was something so profoundly shattering."

She saw her role in Haiti to push for answers about delays in relief supplies and to convey to viewers the "sensory trauma" of the heat, the smells and the suffering. The former "60 Minutes" correspondent recognizes the importance of being a reporter even with the most important anchor job on the network.

"I love the field," she said. "I love to be there, sense it, experience it. I love, from my years of doing it, what people say to you and how it affects your understanding of the story. They say it to you where they live, not where you live."

That's fine with ABC News President David Westin, who envisioned when he paired Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff as "World News" co-anchors four years ago that one of them would usually be on the road. That team lasted barely a month before Woodruff was seriously injured in January 2006 by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

"I'm very happy with (Sawyer); I'm very happy with the broadcast," Westin said. "She's just so good in the field. It's a combination of how knowledgeable she is and how curious she is going in."

As an anchor, Sawyer is more reminiscent of CBS' globe-trotting Dan Rather than the cool sophistication of longtime ABC anchor Peter Jennings, said Andrew Tyndall, a consultant who studies the content of evening news programs.

She's more active in the newscasts, too, questioning correspondents on the air instead of just presenting their reports, he said. Tyndall has noticed that reporters Kate Snow and David Muir have been given a higher profile in her newscasts.

"I know that they like to be surprised and I think the viewer can sense when you are genuinely learning something," Sawyer said. "I like learning from them and I like being able to go wherever the conversation naturally takes us on the air."

Sawyer has noticeably picked up the pace of her broadcast since she started, a recognition that the slower, folksier style that works in a two-hour "Good Morning America" may not be appropriate to the evening news.

Her presence has yet to change the ratings pecking order in the evening, where Brian Williams on NBC's "Nightly News" is dominant, followed by ABC and Couric. (Both Williams and Couric also traveled to Haiti.)

Sawyer hasn't received the ratings "bump" that often occurs when viewers check out something new. During her month on the job, Williams has slightly increased NBC's edge on ABC to 14 percent from the average of 11 percent before she took over this season, according to the Nielsen Co.

Couric was the first woman to be sole anchor on a network evening newscast. Her initial ratings problems suggested that some older, more traditional viewers were not embracing the concept.

Now that he's the only man in the job, does that give Williams a small advantage?

Sawyer dismissed the idea. "I hope that we're seen as three individual journalists, and that each can bring something to that time slot that is beyond gender. ... I think that each of us feels like what we do is so much more important than who we are."

However, she said, "It gives Brian a lot of good punch lines."

paidContent - Next stop in ESPN’s European odyssey - new mobile versions of two of its sites. Rugby site ESPNScrum.com and motorsports site ESPNF1.com get the mobile web treatment.

The latter is the rebranding we anticipated following ESPN’s acquisition of Racing-Live.com in August 2008. One by one, ESPN (NYSE: DIS) has renamed sites it’s bought with its “ESPN” prefix… ESPNSoccernet.com, ESPNScrum.com, ESPNCricinfo.com, so it’s no surprise that the Racing-Live.com brand, which was started in 1995, has been killed off.

It comes a week after ESPN launched the the UK-facing content portal, ESPN.co.uk, we first revealed in September it would create to go along with its new UK soccer and other TV rights.

The current show, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Right Here! Right Now!, is the longest-running of the three. It debuted the same weekend as the movie in October 2008. It’s a performance that my family has enjoyed repeatedly during that time, but recently it’s begun to seem dated.

A compilation show from the three movies would be more appropriate now, fellow Theme Park Ranger Matt suggests, and I have to agree. Blending the music of all three would give the pep rally a more timeless appeal – at least until the next movie installment.

Orlando Sentinel - I happened to catch the Block Party Bash, the daytime parade at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the other day after some showers had left the pavement wet — and the threat of rain was still hanging in the air.

Because of the bad weather, it was less a bash and more a quick hello as the various parade units — A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc., Toy Story – streamed by.

Now before i start getting bashed, let me say I am not for one minute advocating performing the whole incredible showstop with acrobatics, pogo-style  jumping, etc. when there is a danger to the performers. Slips and falls can be fatal, and I believe in safety first.

However, the parade is fairly blah without its centerpiece party stop. I think the guests should be told they are seeing a weather-adjusted version so they don’t leave Hollywood Studios thinking “what a lackluster parade” but rather “well, that was interesting – I wonder what it’s like when they show the whole thing.”

The Tokyo Disney parks handle this quite well. They have a special announcement they play at the conclusion of a parade or show that has been changed to accommodate the weather. It runs something like, “Thank you for joining us for the 3 o’clock parade, presented today in an alternate format because of the weather. We hope you enjoy the rest of your day in Tokyo Disneyland.”

Then he laughs.

Co-founded by Disney's daughter, Diane Disney Miller, and her son, Walter E.D. Miller, the museum charts Disney's life from his birth in 1901 to his death in 1966 and everything in between, including his years living on a farm in Marceline, Mo. (The family sold the farm 100 years ago, for $3,000.) Drawings Disney made for his high school paper in Chicago are on display, as are samples of his work for an ad agency in Kansas City, where he worked for $50 a month after serving in World War I.

In 1920, Disney read E.G. Lutz's book "Animated Cartoons," which he had picked up by chance. The rest, of course, is history, and it's all documented in great detail at the museum. Among the many highlights is a wall with 348 frame enlargements from "Steamboat Willie," a groundbreaking cartoon Disney made in 1928 that synchronized sound and animation. When played, the 348 frames — each with an incremental change — take less than a minute to view.

The star of "Steamboat Willie" was a mouse, and that mouse, of course, was named Mickey. (Disney wanted to call him Mortimer, but his wife, Lilly, pressed for "Mickey.") Disney dreamed up the character during a train ride in 1927 after losing the rights to an earlier character called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.