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| MickeyXtreme's News Archive March 12-18 2006 | ||
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Saturday March 18, 2006 |
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When the country's top telecom executives gather for a trade show in Las Vegas next week, they will have an unusual guest: Walt Disney Co. chief executive Robert A. Iger. That the entertainment mogul was invited, and agreed to come, speaks volumes about the transformation of an industry that once carried only phone calls over humble copper wires but now aspires to transmit everything from television and movies to video conferences and medical monitoring over new, high-speed fiber-optic networks. For Iger, these networks offer Disney a new way to deliver to consumers its vast array of content, which ranges from ABC News's staid TV policy show "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" to kids' movies such as "101 Dalmatians." However, like the advent of television in the 1940s, home video recorders in the 1970s and DVDs in the 1990s, the new technology reopens the question of how the people who create content and those who deliver it will split the pie of entertainment revenues. "Using technology to distribute our content more widely to more consumers is a key initiative for Bob and the Walt Disney Company," Disney spokeswoman Michelle Bergman said. Iger was unavailable for comment for this article. "He's rooting for [the phone companies], but with some trepidation," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project public interest law firm. "Whether his company makes money in the future is going to be profoundly affected by whether, when and how telephone companies get into distribution." Verizon Communications Inc., the No. 2 U.S. phone company, has already made the leap. The company began offering TV, fast Internet access and regular phone service over its new fiber-optic network last year. AT&T Inc., the nation's largest phone company, is building a similar, albeit slower, network and began deploying it in a few neighborhoods of San Antonio late last year. Media companies such as Disney, whose interests span television, film and theme parks, see opportunity in the new networks, because the phone companies are hungry for programming to compete with cable television. While that gives content providers the upper hand in setting prices, analysts said the companies probably will not drive too hard a bargain to help AT&T, Verizon and others build a new avenue to reach consumers. "They clearly are in the catbird seat in the negotiations, but it is not about maximizing revenues today. It's about optimizing revenues today so that another distribution pipeline gets built out so that you can maximize revenues tomorrow," said Blair Levin, a telecom regulatory analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co. "Ultimately if you are a content owner, you benefit from creating a fragmented distribution universe," said Yankee Group analyst Adi Kishore, suggesting that the proliferation of delivery systems gives media companies more opportunity to play them off each other and to extract higher prices. Kishore said working with AT&T and Verizon could give Disney new, unconventional ways to deliver its shows. Iger has already demonstrated his willingness to experiment; the company was among the first to provide shows for download on Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Web site. This week, for instance, the Disney Channel posted its original film "High School Musical" for $9.99 per download. But the nuances of the new media relationships are still being worked out. The major phone and cable companies argue they should be able to charge more to media companies, Web sites and other content providers to deliver the high quality of service customers will need to watch video that isn't herky-jerky. So, if Disney wants to rent movies to its customers from its own Web site -- rather than selling them to the cable or phone company as part of entertainment packages -- it may have pay network owners more for the privilege. Some analysts played down this threat, saying big entertainment companies like Disney have the money to pay for priority delivery, and that they can always use the leverage of refusing to sell content to the phone companies. "There is a very positive quid pro quo here for the large content provider [who] can afford to get their packets delivered faster," said Jeff Halpern, a telecom analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., saying smaller entertainment companies are more likely to suffer. No one yet has a clear idea of how the market will evolve, and the March 19-23 TelecomNEXT conference, which is sponsored by the trade group that represents the big phone companies in Washington, is simply part of the conversation. Among the chief executives on hand will be AT&T's Edward E. Whitacre Jr., Verizon's Ivan G. Seidenberg and BellSouth Corp.'s F. Duane Ackerman, who last week agreed to sell his phone company, the third largest in the nation, to AT&T. "Iger is clearly forward-thinking about how to grapple with the emerging technological realities. The iPod deal has been a fascinating glimpse into the sorts of arrangements that may become . . . prevalent," said Philip J. Weiser, a University of Colorado law professor who studies the telecom industry. "Whether content is king remains to be seen." |
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The high school class of 2006 will rock it as
the new, enhanced Space Mountain transforms into "Rock
it Mountain" for this year's Grad Nite celebrations at
the Disneyland Resort in Southern California.
Beginning on May 11, 2006, graduates nation-wide will gather to celebrate the road ahead at Disneyland Resort's Grad Nite presented by Honda. From the stroke of midnight until the sun comes up at 6 a.m., Disneyland is the graduates' park-after-dark with live music, hot attractions and memories to last a lifetime. This year, in celebration of the Disneyland Resort's 50th anniversary, the Class of 2006 will be treated to an all-new, re-imagineered Space Mountain. Set exclusively for graduating seniors, Space Mountain transforms into "Rock it Mountain" with a new rockin' soundtrack. Plus, awesome light effects will turn the classic Space Mountain into an out-of-this-world sensory blast! Grad Nite at the Disneyland Resort is a private event only for graduating seniors and will be held the nights of May 11, 18, 25 and June 1, 8, 14, 15 and 22. To be a part of Grad Nite, individual high schools contact the Disneyland Resort to sign-up their graduating classes. The Class of 2006 will enjoy a unique experience, quite different from the daily Disneyland park environment. The night rocks with its own unique brand of Disney entertainment, dance parties, themed nightclubs and deejays from Southern California's most popular radio stations. From Tomorrowland to Adventureland, grads can party to Top 40 hits from KIIS FM 102.7, the Latin grooves of Super Estrella 107.1 and the best in hip hop from Power 106. With Disneyland park all to themselves, seniors can hang out with all their high school friends one last time while they enjoy exclusive, unlimited access to world-class theme park attractions. Fun and thrills include conquering the Indiana Jones™ Adventure, speeding down the slopes on the Matterhorn Bobsleds, defeating the Evil Emperor Zurg in the newly-opened "Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters" and posing for photos with Disney Characters along Main Street, U.S.A. Capping the evening is "Grad Nite Explosion," a new pyrotechnic laser light show set to the best tunes of 2006, created specially for Disneyland Grad Nite. Seniors can get the party started two hours early at Grad Nite "Blast Off" in Disney's California Adventure park. This pre-party is two hours of white-knuckle excitement starting at 10 p.m., where seniors can launch from zero to 55 miles per hour on the California Screamin' rollercoaster, blast up 180 feet in two seconds on the Maliboomer or drop into the creepy fifth dimension on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™. For an extra shot of fun, the pre-party can also take place at ESPN Zone in the Downtown Disney District, where interactive sports games get the grads revved up with non-stop action. As the Class of 2006 celebrates one of its biggest moments, the Disneyland Resort celebrates the remaining months of its "golden ear" 50th anniversary. It is the biggest celebration in Disneyland Resort history, making it the place to be for Grad Nite 2006. Grads can check out the party that awaits them at www.disneylandgradnite.com. The Web site features videos, downloadable computer screensavers, wallpapers and all the event details, both in English and in Spanish. Grad Nite tickets can be purchased by contacting the high school's Grad Nite Chairperson. For more information, schools may call the Disneyland Resort Grad Nite office at 800-232-7980. |
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Disney
Offers Ad-Supported Podcasts for Kids
Radio Disney is offering ad-supported podcast content in an attempt to reach 6-to-14-year-olds when they're not listening to the radio, reports AdAge. The podcasts started with time-shifted content from the network, but now feature original material. Videogame maker THQ is among the first marketers to make a buy, and the ad insertions start in June. Radio Disney says there have been about 170,000 downloads of its podcasts, which so far haven't included ads. Because Radio Disney listeners were already coming to the website looking for more content, the idea of selling podcasts to Disney's advertisers isn't a difficult proposition, according to Jean-Paul Colaco, president and general manager of Radio Disney Worldwide. |
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Romance
Blooms at Epcot For 13th Annual Epcot International Flower
& Garden Festival
Donald and Daisy topiaries cruise through a floral tunnel of love while topiaries of Cinderella and Prince Charming "waltz" amid blossoms and greenery. Disney "sweetheart" topiaries based on decades of happily-ever-after classic stories add romance and whimsy to the 13th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival April 21-June 11 at Walt Disney World Resort. To celebrate the art of romance as imagined by Walt Disney and his studio animators, the U.S. Postal Service will issue a set of four "Art of Disney: Romance" stamps during the festival's opening ceremony. The stamps feature Cinderella and her prince, Beauty and the Beast, Lady and Tramp, and Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. This is the third U.S. Postal Service stamp set honoring the Art of Disney – the first, issued in 2004, was on the theme of friendship and the second, issued in 2005, focused on celebrations. The seven-week festival, known by gardening aficionados for its celebrity guest speakers, hands-on seminars and planting demonstrations, will take place in the park's Future World and World Showcase. Thirty million blooms, intricately designed floral beds, artfully crafted bonsai trees, lush rose gardens and more Disney character topiaries will grace the park's 300 acres. Nightly Flower Power concerts will rock the landscape with live entertainment from top acts of the 1960s and '70s, including Tony Orlando in Concert, The Guess Who and The Association. Minnie's Magnificent Butterfly Garden, which debuted last year, will return with hundreds of butterflies in a screened, walk-through enclosure and will include a live exhibit showing how caterpillars form a chrysalis and emerge as butterflies. Themed festival events pump up the fun with the child-friendly I Dig Bugs weekend, Art in the Garden weekend and the time-honored Mother's Day weekend, among others. Other festival features include:
More information about the 13th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is available by calling 407/W-DISNEY (934-7639) or by visiting disneyworld.com/flower. The festival is included in regular Epcot admission. |
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A
four-legged Disney star walks among us
Kathleen Flanagan-Lower has been breeding shaggy dogs for 17 years. Joey is just one of four Shaggys she presently owns. While living in the Los Angeles area, she happened to see a television commercial that featured a shaggy dog. She exclaimed to her husband Paul, "That's the dog I want!" Since then she has had a long-standing love affair with the adorable dog. Two years ago while the couple lived near Palmdale, they received a call from the company that does the animal training for Disney movies. They were looking for shaggy dogs to use in an upcoming movie and Joey was invited to do a screen test for the movie, The Shaggy Dog. The rest is movie history. Six shaggy dogs were used in the filming of the movie as they are intelligent and were originally bred to be sheephering dogs. They are working dogs that need to be kept busy. "These dogs need a job. They also require at least an hour of brushing no less than a couple times a week. They are very family oriented and enjoy being around their families." Lower said. She cautions however, that not all these dogs are as fun loving and outgoing as Joey. Some shaggys can be noise sensitive and shy, which can make them fear biters. This breed is also prone to an auto-immune disease similar to Lupus. "A dog is at least a 15-year commitment. You have to be sure that you are willing to dedicate yourself to your dog for at least that long." Lower added. Joey spent six months in the care of the trainer while filming and became part of the his family. Joey recently returned from a weeklong engagement in Los Angeles making public appearances for the opening of the movie. The rambunctious dog seemed quite content to be back with his family away from the big lights of Hollywood. The Shaggy Dog stars Tim Allen as Dave Douglas, Kristin Davis as wife Rebecca Douglas (best known for her role as Charlotte in the HBO series Sex in the City), Zena Grey and Spencer Breslin as the kids. Also starring are Jane Curtin, Robert Downey Jr., Danny Glover and of course Coal the shaggy dog. Joey will be making an appearance at Fallon Theaters this Friday at the 3:30, 6 and 8:15 p.m. showing. He and Lower will also make an appearance be at the Saturday and Sunday matinees, at 1 and 3:30 p.m. Lower said she is looking forward to everyone getting the opportunity to meet Joey. |
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A
Quinceanera Fit For A Princess
Every princess has her day and for many young Latinas that day comes when they turn 15 years old. At the Disneyland Resort in Southern California, the magic of Disney converts any Quinceañera into a celebration filled with dreams made into reality. While the excited families and daughters prepare for this significant event, the Disneyland Resort can help plan a personalized celebration that reflects the style and likes of the young woman. A Quinceañera at the Disneyland Resort can be traditional, spiritual, large or intimate – all depending on the preferences of the quinceañera and her family. The professionals of the Disneyland Resort offer unlimited possibilities to create a unique event for the birthday girl. The Disneyland Resort can accommodate quiceañeras of up to 500 people. The celebration can take place at one of the three hotels of the Disneyland Resort – the original Disneyland Hotel, the elegant Disney's Grand Californian or Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel with its fun-filled atmosphere. The magic of Disney can be seen in each details of the Quinceañera, these are a few of the options available for the celebration:
The quinceañera and her family can choose from these distinctive details and much more to reach the celebration of their dreams. The Disneyland Resort is a vacation destination offering a variety of entertainment and relaxation for the quinceañera's family and guests. Disney's California Adventure park captures the allure and beauty of California, while the original Disneyland park offers the classic Disney storytelling experience on 85 acres. The Downtown Disney District is a garden esplanade of theme dining, shopping and family entertainment. Hotels include the distinctive 745-room Disney's Grand Californian Hotel; the 489-room Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel, and the 990-room Disneyland Hotel. For more information regarding Quinceañeras at the Disneyland Resort in Southern California please call (714) 956-6527. |
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SLG
puts new spin on Disney Favorites
One of the most interesting things about the recent mini-boom of licensed comics is that they seem to be genuinely focused on quality, instead of popularity, when it comes to publishing. Rather than choosing studios based upon brand building or market share, businesses, eager to translate their properties to the comic book medium, are going with small press companies, such as Dynamite, Devil’s Due, IDW, and, most recently, Slave Labor Graphics. Publisher Dan Vado was joined by “Gargoyles” creator/writer Greg Weisman (who recently went In Depth with CBR News), and “Gargoyles” artist David Hedgecock at the Slave Labor Graphics panel on Day One of Wizard World Los Angeles. “So it’s our twentieth anniversary,” said Vado, “and we’re pretty proud of that. One of the things we’ve got going this year is that we’ve got a license from Disney and we’re doing four comics that are based on Disney properties.” The four comics are “The Haunted Mansion,” “Tron,” “Wonderland,” and “Gargoyles.” Each book’s acquisition occurred for different reasons, the impetus for one coming from Vado’s love of The Haunted Mansion ride. “Basically, it’s ghost stories,” said Vado, “but the visual images in the ride are so strong and lend themselves to storytelling – you know, a house full of 999 ghosts, thus there are 999 stories.” “There will be no issue 1,000,” interjected Hedgecock with a laugh. The second licensed book will be the April debuting “Tron.” “If you are one of the people who think that ‘Tron’ is like the ‘Wizard of Oz’ then you’re going to love this comic,” said Vado. The comic takes place after the events of the videogame and features hero Jet Bradley. “One of the things that Disney wanted us to do was to expand upon the videogame notion,” said Vado. “As you would imagine,” said Vado of Jet Bradley, “a guy whose brain’s been zapped by a laser and thrown into a computer – not normal. He’s got this phobia of technology, doesn’t really trust it, and finds himself being pulled back into the computer world against his will.” “The third book is ‘Wonderland,’” said Vado as he showed pages from the book currently being solicited. This take on “Wonderland” is unique from past interpretations, in that it focuses on a girl named Mary Ann who actually lives in Wonderland, and she has managed to co-exist with the inhabitants with little or no problems. Unfortunately, Alice’s arrival and subsequent adventures have put the denizens of Wonderland on the look out for a human girl. “Mary Ann has survived by staying under the radar,” says Vado. “Alice showing up and creating chaos in Wonderland for the Queen of Hearts creates some issues for Mary Ann because all they know is that this human girl messed up my stuff.” The final book is, of course, Weisman and Hedgecock’s “Gargoyles,” which will pick up after season two of the animated series, the last season that Weisman worked on the show. “Really, I’m just very excited about it,” said Weisman, “I’m just very glad to be telling Gargoyles stories again.” “This is what’s gratifying for me,” said Vado, “because everybody that’s working on these comics has an emotional connection to them.” Next was some artwork for the new creator owned book “Cemetarians” by Gilgrim. “Basically this goes from the point of view that not all monsters are bad…monsters as monster hunters type thing.” After that was “Ursa Minors,” which will be in next month’s Previews. “This is about three kids in bear suits – mechanical bear suits – fighting crime,” said Vado. “It’s ‘Gun-fu Hustle’ in bear suits, that’s all you really need to know.” “Farewell, Georgia” creator Ben Towle returns with “Midnight Sun,” a comic set in 1928 that tells the story of a reporter investigating the disappearance of an Italian airship over the North Pole. Finally, Vado concluded with a look at the latest toys coming from SLG, featuring the eagerly anticipated Milk N’ Cheese vinyl figures. In many ways, this was the perfect note to end the panel on: “If you know our company, you’re familiar with Milk N’ Cheese,” said Vado, “these are the guys that everyone’s been waiting for.” |
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Simon Cowell's "American
Inventor" helped build a strong Thursday primetime
showing for ABC in a night that featured NCAA basketball
in place of CBS's normal powerhouses "CSI" and
"Without a Trace." The two-hour "American
Inventor" premiere averaged 14.2 million viewers and
a 5.4 rating/15 share in the adults 18-49 demographic,
according to preliminary data released Friday by Nielsen
Media Research. That was enough for "American
Inventor" to vault to the top of the night's
entertainment programming in total viewers although
"ER" topped in the demo (14.1 million, 5.8/15).
CBS's tournament coverage averaged a 6.4 household
rating/10 share between 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. ET, up 8%
from last year and the second highest rating in the window
since 1994's 6.7/11.
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As injured co-anchor Bob Woodruff left
Bethesda Naval Hospital outside of Washington on Thursday
bound for a New York-area rehab facility, ABC News tried
to quell rumors over who would anchor "World News
Tonight." There has been a flurry of rumors ever
since the late January wounding of Woodruff and cameraman
Doug Vogt as they traveled in an Iraqi armored vehicle
near Baghdad. "Good Morning America" co-hosts
Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer volunteered to help out in
the interim, which they did as co-anchors with Elizabeth
Vargas in February. Rumors had Sawyer or Gibson stepping
in on a "temporary permanent" basis for the
recovering Woodruff. But Thursday, ABC News president
David Westin seemed to affirm that there would be no major
announcements for the time being.
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Friday March 17, 2006 |
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A deal between Walt Disney World and Orlando
International Airport to keep Disney's free Magical Express
shuttle running for five more years left industry
competitors Thursday grappling with how to cope with the
shuttle's impact over the long term.
Until this week the popular service that shuttles tourists directly from the airport to their Disney hotels and separately delivers luggage to their rooms was a pilot program scheduled to end in December. Other transportation providers were hoping the service would end or, at least, begin charging for the bus ride and baggage delivery. "I don't think I'll last another six months if they don't start charging," said Leonardo Dale, owner of limousine and sedan service Image Transportation. "From 40 reservations a day we dropped down to three or four. You can't survive on that." Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty said the company has no plans to begin charging for Magical Express. Though the service is free to passengers, Disney along with its contractors Mears Transportation Group and Aircraft Services International Group will pay the airport an estimated $4.4 million next year to run the program. Mears runs the buses; ASIG transports the luggage. That new revenue from Disney could either add $300,000 to the airport's bottom line over a full year or nick it $600,000, depending on collections from ground-transportation companies. The service, which launched in May, is shifting passengers away from rental cars, taxis and other car-for-hire companies. In eight months last year, an airport consultant estimated the airport missed out on $204,000 to $1.1 million in rental-car and other transportation revenues. The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, which runs Orlando International, approved terms Wednesday that would help lessen the service's financial impact on the airport and extend the program to 2011. Disney argues it is providing other benefits, such as boosting food and retail sales at the airport, because the shuttles drop off already checked-in passengers two hours before their flights. In turn, the company reaps the benefits of a captive audience -- visitors who stay on Disney property without transportation to leave and spend money elsewhere. Magical Express transported 1.1 million of those customers from last May to December. Abe Pizam, dean of the University of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality Management, said Magical Express is the new model for other Orlando and national attractions. "Maybe they'll have a route to I-Drive or Universal," Pizam said. "The writing is on the wall. It first started with Disney, and I'm sure others will see the wisdom of doing the same thing." Universal Orlando and some International Drive businesses have already made inquiries about replicating the service, but it's unclear how serious those talks are. In the meantime, other ground-transportation providers are trying to find a way to compete and continue to make money without driving their prices lower. Michael McKenzie, who represents the Greater Orlando Livery Association, said he is planning to negotiate with airport officials to begin an on-demand luxury-car lane at the airport. That would allow companies like his luxury town car and limousine service to take walk-up customers. Currently they are only allowed to pick up customers who have reservations. "I think it's . . . time that they [airport officials] look in terms of how do we accommodate the small businesses also," McKenzie said. |
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Disney Cruise Line will
announce plans next week for a new summer itinerary for its
Disney Magic ship.
The company won't say where the ship -- which spent time last summer on the West Coast -- will be sailing until the Tuesday announcement. "There are a lot of rumors about where we are going to go next,'' said spokeswoman Rena Langley. Much of that speculation actually has been created by Disney, which has listed Alaska, Hawaii, the Mediterranean and the South China Sea among the options. During the past couple summers, Disney has made a habit of using its two ships -- the Disney Wonder is the sister ship of the Magic -- for unique cruise offerings. The summer of 2005 saw the Magic operating out of the Port of Los Angeles as part of the company's 50th anniversary celebration for Disneyland. This summer, the Wonder will offer its first 10- and 11-night cruises in the Southern Caribbean, while the Magic will offer treks into the Western Caribbean. One longtime Disney observer is convinced the 2007 itinerary will be a European cruise based out of the Mediterranean. |
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If you are 1) a gadget freak who 2) loves Disney characters and 3) lives in Japan, hooray for you! This post is guaranteed to make you a very happy nerd. |
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| Epson Direct recently added three more laptops in the NT2850 Endeavour series to their Disney line of laptops—your choice of Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh or Tinkerbell. Retailing for about ¥115,500, the 15” laptops run on a Celeron M 370J (1.5GHz) processor and Windows XP Home Edition (SP2), and come with 256MB memory, 40GB hard disk and a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive as standard. | ||
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If you want an mp3 player to match your new
laptop, Creative Media will have four new Disney-themed ones
on sale next month. Two designs (one Mickey Mouse and one
Winnie the Pooh) for two different models. The smaller ones
in the photo to the left are the DAP P series (based on
Creative’s Zen Nano Plus), which plays MP3, WMA and WMA
DRM formats. The larger ones are the DAP N series (based on
the Zen Neeon), which handles MP3, WMA and WAV formats. Both
series are Windows XP-compatible.
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Disney
Accepting Orders For 2005 Yearbook
Disney Editions is currently accepting
preorders for its first-ever "Disney Yearbook."
The book, available in hard or soft cover editions, includes
a look at the 50th anniversary celebrations, films, events,
and some of the people who helped build the company into the
media giant it is today. |
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Disney/ABC's SOAPnet has acquired from Sony
Pictures Television the rights to run the CBS soap The Young
and the Restless. Y&R, the highest-rated soap for the
past 15 years, becomes the first CBS soap to run on SOAPnet,
which previously ran all the ABC soaps and NBC's Days of Our
Lives, also a Sony show.
Y&R will join the network's lineup April 24 with same-day reruns running at 7 p.m.daily and in a Saturday-night marathon. The long-term deal also gives SOAPnet access to older episodes from Y&R's 33 seasons for stunts and marathons. SOAPnet, which targets mainly women 18-49 with reruns of daytime shows and original soap-themed programming, averaged 123,000 viewers during prime in February 2006, down 16% from last year. But Y&R, which the network has been after for years, could provide a big ratings jolt, given its popularity. SOAPnet has been pursuing Y&R for years, but the deal finally game together as multi-platform deals have become commonplace and content providers are getting less wary about the idea of programs living in many spaces. "When we started talking about Y&R, that was more unusual," Blackwell said. "But what we have shown is that when a show starts on SOAPnet it brings a lot of women back to it – it's incremental viewing." SOAPnet has done research showing that same-day reruns of soaps don't cannibalize their daytime audience; instead, they attract a new set of viewers, like those who aren't home during the day. |
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Enchanted
and Magical Fairy Tale Weddings at Disneyland Resort
Disneyland Resort in Southern California, where every bride feels like a princess in her very own dream come true. The imagination and fantasy that lingers throughout the Disneyland Resort sets the tone for a romantic and enchanting wedding. A Disney Fairy Tale Wedding can be an intimate, candlelit affair or an elaborate grand celebration. The Disneyland Resort offers an array of beautifully manicured grounds, breathtaking waterfalls, picturesque gazebos and elegantly appointed ballrooms, providing couples with a myriad of unforgettable surroundings in which to spend their special day. Grand affairs of up to 500 guests can be easily accommodated at the Disneyland Resort's hotels. Disney's Fairy Tale Wedding specialists, located on-site, meticulously orchestrate every element of a storybook wedding, reflecting the personal style of each bride and groom. Drawing upon Disney's vast selection of set pieces, props, and entertainment, Disney's Fairy Tale Wedding specialists are able to offer one-of-a-kind magical touches. The happy couple can choose to add a white dove release, fanfare trumpeters, magnificent floral arrangements by award-winning designers, commemorative Disney favors, or the whimsy of beloved Disney Characters mingling at the reception or even participating in the cake cutting. The full-service amenities of the Resort include Disneyland park and Disney's California Adventure park, and three hotels – The Disneyland Hotel, Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel and Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, which will debut a new Mandara Spa in February 2006. The Resort also offers guests the Downtown Disney District, an entertainment complex within walking distance to the parks and hotels, featuring themed dining, a variety of shops, a movie theater, live music and more. |
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Say "I Do" in the magic of Disney
The bride and groom have a variety of choices for the location of their ceremony.
Unique and Beautiful Wedding Receptions
Bridal Showers and Rehearsal Dinners to Remember
The Disneyland Resort is a wedding and honeymoon destination offering a variety of entertainment and relaxation for the entire wedding party. Disney's California Adventure park captures the allure and beauty of California, while the original Disneyland park offers the classic Disney storytelling experience on 85 acres. The Downtown Disney District is a garden esplanade of theme dining, shopping and family entertainment. Hotels include the distinctive 745-room Disney's Grand Californian Hotel; the 489-room Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel, and the 990-room Disneyland Hotel. To learn more about Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings at the Disneyland Resort in Southern California, couples may call (714) 956-6527 or visit www.disneylandwedding.com. Honeymoons can be booked by calling the Walt Disney Travel Company at 877-700-DISNEY. |
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Celebrating
in Irish Style
Disneyland Paris -
To all our Irish guests and their friends: we hope you enjoy
St. Patrick's Day where ever you are today, in case you are
at the Disneyland Resort Paris or have the opportunity to
hopp over for the remainder of the day you are in for a
special treat. But for the first time ever St. Patrick's Day will this year also be celebrated in the Disneyland Park. To honor the day Mickey and Minnie have dressed up in traditional Irish costumes and will be joined by their pals for the festivities throughout the day. Also the Wonderful World of Disney Parade will feature a unique, one-time only pre-parade dancing along the parade route to Celtic music and featuring an especially decorated parade float. The finale of the day and the highlight of the park's celebration will be a glitterin firework above the Sleeping Beauty Castle illuminated in green tonight at park closure (around 8.00 pm). So now, what about these last minutes flights to Paris? |
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Bord
Bia’s going to Disneyland to promote Irish beef and dairy
BORD BIA is to match the magic of Disneyland Paris with promotions of quality Irish beef and dairy products at the holiday centre today. It is one of the
events being held in 32 countries to give Ireland’s €7.1
billion export trade in food, drink and horticulture a huge
boost. |
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Shanghai
Files Disney Bid
Shanghai's city government has applied to the State Council for permission to build a Disney theme park, a city official confirmed Wednesday. Spokeswoman Jiao Yang said the application to build the theme park had been lodged with Beijing, a week after Mayor Han Zheng revealed that preliminary preparations were being made to develop the park. "Shanghai city has submitted the related application report and is waiting for the State Council to issue its reply," she said. Shanghai officials had said privately that the city hoped the first park on the mainland would be open in time for the World Expo in 2010 and that land had been set aside in Pudong. Democrat legislator Fred Li Wah-ming said the Hong Kong park should have a clear market direction and avoid competition with Shanghai. "Hong Kong Disneyland should focus on attracting visitors from Guangzhou," and areas within two hours' flight time. |
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Jacob
Young to Make Broadway Debut
Jacob Young, who stars on daytime's
"All My Children," will make his Broadway debut
this spring in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." |
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Thursday March 16, 2006 |
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Sales for the
platinum-selling "High School Musical" soundtrack
continue to rise with an 8% increase over last week's sales.
The 138,035 units scanned for the week of March 8th secured
the #3 spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart. Digital sales
also were a huge component of the soundtrack's success. This
week alone 64,208 single tracks were sold digitally, and to
date over 1 million single tracks have been purchased
digitally, primarily through Apple Computer's iTunes Music
Store.
The "High School
Musical" soundtrack has generated one platinum single,
"Breaking Free," and four gold singles --
"What I've Been Looking For," "We're All in
This Together," "Start of Something New" and
"Get'cha Head in the Game."
Additionally, this week "High School Musical" continues its reign at #1 on both the Billboard Soundtrack Chart (a position it has held for five out of the past seven weeks) and the Billboard Kids Chart (where it has topped the chart for eight consecutive weeks). "High School Musical," a contemporary musical comedy, has aired eight times (January 20-March 10) on Disney Channel. In its first six telecasts, it delivered 26.3 unduplicated Total Viewers, 8.4 million Kids 6-11 and 8.7 million Tweens 9-14. Disney Channel is a 24-hour kid-driven, family inclusive television network that taps into the world of kids and families through original series and movies plus contemporary acquired programming. Currently available on basic cable in 87 million U.S. homes, Disney Channel is part of Disney ABC Cable Networks Group and is managed by Disney Media Networks, a division of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS). Walt Disney Records is part of The Buena Vista Music Group, the recorded music and music-publishing arm of The Walt Disney Studios. For more information, please visit DisneyRecords.com. |
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Happy 4th Anniversary! Walt Disney Studios Four Years ago the
second theme park of the Disneyland Resort Paris, The
Walt Disney Studios, had its official grand opening after
numerous previews for invited guests, Shareholders' Club
members, AP holders, Disney Hotel guests, cast member and
empoyees of DLRP's partners. |
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If you've ever dreamed of working for the
House of Mouse, this may be your chance.
Recruiters from Walt Disney World will be in Winston-Salem Tuesday evening, looking for recent high school grads who want to work in Orlando. The Disney CareerStart Program runs from August until January and offers high school graduates a chance to train with the company and earn college credit. Those interested can attend a presentation at Winston Salem State University at 601 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in the Anderson Center's main dining room. For more information, visit www.disneycareerstart.com. The program is open to anyone who has earned a diploma or GED in the past 18 months and to high school students graduating this spring. Participants must be at least 18 years old prior to the arrival date. |
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Orlando Airport extends Disney's airport deal for five years Walt Disney World's express shuttle that takes visitors directly to the resort from the Orlando International Airport without having to wait for luggage will be around for another five years. Limousine operators, taxi drivers and rental car companies complained that the airport's agreement Wednesday with Disney has caused them to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in business. "This meeting today was a big slap in the face, an insult," said Greater Orlando Limousine Association president Mike McKenzie. "It showed that there was no care given to any other entity other than Disney Magic Express." McKenzie said small transportation businesses had no say in the matter and were not informed of discussions leading up to the decision. "The good old boy network and back room dealings should be a thing of the past," he said. But airport executives said Wednesday that the deal provided a "huge benefit" to the airport by bringing in visitors from all over the world. Disney's program also increases the capacity of the busy terminal by reducing the number of passengers who require ticketing and baggage services. As a result, it allows the airport to postpone building a costly new terminal, said Jeffry Fuqua, chairman of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, "We're essentially at break even with this service. They're paying their way and we're getting all the benefits of the intangibles," Fuqua said. Disney's Magic Express lets visitors on domestic flights, staying at Disney hotels, check their luggage at their hometown airports and bypass waiting at the luggage carousel at the Orlando airport. The program has transported more than 1.1 million passengers since it began in May 2005. Under the new terms, the fee that Disney pays the airport per passenger will increase from 50 cents to 75 cents next year, with an option to increase it again in 2010. Magic Express, which has become a national model for moving passengers and luggage, has been well received by Disney visitors, Walt Disney World Resort President Al Weiss said. As a result, more passengers are flying than driving, which brings more business to the Orlando airport. "This is really great for central Florida, really good for the airport and it's doing nothing but bringing more passengers to central Florida," Weiss said. |
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Boy on Cinderella voyage to Disney World The North Springs Elementary School student is one of many youth across the nation and Canada traveling to the Magic Kingdom this week as part of the Children's Miracle Network's Champions Across America celebration. The youths have been selected from every state in the U.S. and each province and territory in Canada to represent the 17 million children treated by Children's Miracle Network hospitals. James, 10, was born with Spina Bifida, a birth defect that causes damage to the spinal cord and nerves. He has received treatment at Palmetto Health Children's Hospital since shortly after his birth and has undergone several surgeries. But there will be no time for doctors' appointments in the next few days. James leaves for Disney World today with his parents, Gabriel and Patricia Mack, and his older brother Gabriel Mack Jr. The group will be in Disney World through Sunday before traveling to Washington D. C. for a few more days as part of the national celebration. This will be James' first visit to the Magic Kingdom. "I'm most looking forward to the rides and Cinderella," he said from his home Tuesday. James is paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair. But he takes part in such events as Jump Rope for Heart, rolling over the rope rather than jumping. "James does not let things get him down," his mother said. "He is always happy and smiling and very sociable. Everyone who meets him feels great after talking with him." James is featured on the Children's Miracle Network's national Web site, which can be found at www.dmn.org. |
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New Round of Layoffs at Disney Animation and Circle 7 Last week Disney CEO Bob Iger, responding to a shareholder’s question about there being a problem with “too many middle managers” at Walt Disney Feature Animation (WDFA), said he didn’t believe Disney had a problem with middle managers. Nevertheless Disney management was preparing for last Friday’s annual meeting the company was continuing the reorganization of its animation division by laying off an unspecified number of “creative” and “development” executives. A source close to Disney animation said “that layoffs began last week.” The names and number of executives “cleaning out their offices,” according to this source, wasn’t known. However, he went on to say, “…but it's true, the purge has begun.” An individual from within the Disney Company, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Layoffs will be announced next week, not only of certain WDFA executives but also of some artists and technicians at the Circle 7 facility.” Under previous CEO Michael Eisner, Disney created Circle 7 Animation for the sole purpose of producing sequels to the extremely successful series of computer graphic (CG) animated films it released from production partner Pixar Animation Studios. In January, Iger and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs announced that the Emeryville animation studio had agreed, in principal, to be acquired by Disney. As part of the deal, Disney and Pixar’s animation operations would be rolled into one, new Disney-Pixar studio. Pixar President Ed Catmull will head the new studio, and Pixar’s creative genius John Lasseter will be its chief creative officer. Following the announcement, both Catmull and Lasseter paid a visit to WDFA in Burbank. While there, Lasseter informed staffers that Toy Story 3, then in development at Circle 7, would not be done in Southern California, if at all. Questions then arose about the eventual fate of Circle 7 and its creative and management staff. Changes The restructuring of WDFA began almost as soon as the deal between Disney and Pixar was announced. Less than 24 hours after the announcement, David Stainton announced that he was stepping down from his post as President of WDFA. Stainton, who rose through the ranks of Disney’s much disdained Strategic Planning Division, is regarded by fans of Disney animation as the man who killed traditional hand-drawn animation at Disney. He also oversaw the closure of several Disney animation facilities around the world and was responsible for laying off hundreds of animators, artists, and staffers at those facilities, as well as at WDFA headquarters in Burbank. Even as the studio famous for creating the genre of hand-drawn feature animation was laying off artists of every description, the ranks of executives within WDFA continued to grow. Former Disney animators reported that there were animation Vice Presidents whose entire department consisted only of that…VP. Until the deal to acquire Pixar closes, and Catmull and Lasseter can officially assume their new duties, longtime Disney producer Don Hahn has been named by Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook to oversee WDFA on an interim basis. Within in days of Cook’s announcement of Hahn’s appointment as interim president of WDFA, Mitchell Leib, President of music and soundtracks for Walt Disney Pictures & Television/Buena Vista Music Group, announced that eight-time Academy Award winning composer Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame) had signed a nonexclusive, multipicture deal with Disney to score nonanimated films and compose for live-action projects. At the same time, it was also learned that the highly regarded feature animation writing and directing team of John Musker and Ron Clements, who also worked on The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, would return to the Mouse House. Musker and Clements left WDFA last fall when Stainton refused to put their most recent project Fraidy Cat into production. Hurdles Cleared During last week’s shareholders’ meeting, Disney CFO Tom Staggs said the Disney- Pixar deal could close as early as April or May. That news was as eagerly greeted by Disney’s shareholders as the announcement by John Lasseter at the meeting that, “I promise you, we will make films that will entertain you from the time the lights go off in the theater.” Iger also drew enthusiastic applause when he said, “To truly live up to our legacy, animation must be great. We must create animated films that raise the standard of the art and become true classics for countless generations.” “Actions speak louder than words,” a Pixar shareholder anxiously awaiting the arrival of his shares in the Walt Disney Company. “I think he’s (Bob Iger) on the right track. He’s openly acknowledged that Disney lost its way over the past ten years, and he’s cutting the deadweight out of Disney animation. I’m really excited by all of this.” The Walt Disney Company did not respond to repeated requests for information regarding restructuring in its animation division. |
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New Disney services launch on cable NTL Telewest has signed an agreement with
Disney for carriage of its revamped channel portfolio. |
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Disney and Klipmart Join Forces for “Shag”-adelic Online Ad It’s hard to dispute that the majority of online movie ads, save for the nifty rollovers and the occasional Flash trimmings, are anything but direct replicas of the film’s theatrical/TV trailers. While this type of promo indeed serves its purpose, Disney decided to do web audiences one better with a few of its most recent film campaigns. Just like the company did with The Pacifier and its star Vin Diesel last year, Disney is adopting a truly interactive strategy to promote its latest offering, the remake of The Shaggy Dog starring Tim “The Toolman” Allen. Disney once again teamed up with online video ad mainstays Klipmart to produce creative that feature video shot only for the Internet combined with outtakes from the film, none of which were seen in any other promotion including trailers. “There’s a much higher interaction rate [with these types of ads],” Klipmart’s Director of Marketing Chris Wilson tells ADOTAS. “If someone sees the same spot they see on TV, they’re not going to get interactive with it. Everything spikes dramatically with original content.” The primary unit for the campaign (above), which “helped draw significant audiences” by launching just prior to the film’s March 10 release, is a 728 x 300 banner which is transformed as the silhouette of Tim Allen moves across the banner changing from a man to a dog. When rolled over by users, the banner expands to 1/3 of the screen and launches video of Tim Allen shot exclusively for the ad. He introduces the film and invites user to clip on paw prints, each of which launches a preview segment from the film, again, selected and edited just for online play. By clicking through, viewers are transported to an official Disney site for the film. “Just like DVDs with extra features, you’re seeing exclusives,” says Wilson. “You’re interacting with green-screened characters and talking to them. [They’re] introducing them to what’s going on in this unit, it’s something a bit more personalized. It’s more laid-back. Tim Allen [for example] says ‘hey, shouldn’t you be working now?’ It’s a little more playful.” Along with Tim Allen’s witticisms, the ad unit also includes a feature called “Shaggify Yourself”, which allows users to upload and insert their own photo and see what they look like transformed into a dog. Metrics haven’t been calculated at this point, but Wilson expects the ad — currently found on Yahoo, Real, Nick, MSN, AOL, and Cartoon Network among others – to be live for a few more weeks. If anything, its concept lies in something fundamentally missing in online movie promos. “This is about building relationships with your viewers,” Wilson explains. “They can relate to the movie a little bit more, and have a little bit more fun. It’s not just Disney, but it is an emerging trend. Original content is much more impacting.” |
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Brooks Grad Produces Animated Feature The Wild for Walt Disney An adolescent lion, a street-smart city squirrel, a maligned Koala bear and a cult of deranged wildebeests are just a few of the characters that Brooks Institute graduate Jim Burton has been spending time with lately. As associate producer on the upcoming Walt Disney Pictures digital animation feature film The Wild, Burton has worked on the project for the past three years. His efforts and those of the movie's 275-person production crew will culminate on Friday, April 14, 2006 with the release of the CG-rated film (all audiences admitted) in more than 3,000 theaters throughout the nation. "It's a bit left of center for a Disney movie", said Burton of his latest feature film, "and not all the best jokes are in the trailer. But you can get a feeling for the kind of look, production style and humor of the film if you visit the website http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/thewild The movie was produced at Core Feature Animation in Toronto, Canada, in conjunction with Walt Disney Pictures. An entire studio was created in Toronto to handle the film's production which, according to Burton, who was responsible for formulating the production plan and keeping the project on budget, has a "stylized photo-realistic look". The story focuses on a young lion cub and his father, who live in the New York Zoo. The cub wants to 'find himself' as a lion and escapes the zoo to seek 'the wild''. Led by the father lion, a motley rescue team is formed to retrieve the youngster…and they find out what a jungle a city can be. The film was directed by Steve 'Spaz' Williams in conjunction with creative producer Clint Goldman. Cast voices for the film include Keifer Sutherland, Eddie Izzard, Jim Belushi, Janene Garofalo and William Shatner. Burton graduated from Brooks Institute in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in Motion Picture Production. While at Brooks, he co-produced and co-directed a short film, Dance with the Angels, which won festival awards from CINE in Washington D.C., Belgium and Australia, and was selected as one of 10 finalists in the live-action short subject category of the 1979 Academy Awards. He credits his "friend and partner in crime" Franklin Mark Kyle, also a 1977 Brooks Institute graduate, with much of the success that the film garnered, noting that the production was actually acquired by Stanfield Production in Santa Monica, and subsequently distributed. Burton's 25-year career includes work with Columbia Pictures Television, ABC Circle Films and ABC Productions. In 1990, he joined Walt Disney Pictures, overseeing production finance, scheduling, tax and legal issues of the company for several Walt Disney, Touchstone and Hollywood Picture Productions, including The Rock, The Santa Clause, When a Man Loves a Woman, and many others. In 1996, the feature animation division of Walt Disney began production on Dinosaur, the revolutionary digital and live-action epic. Burton served as controller for the division, and was credited with keeping the film costs and schedule within budget over the four-year production period. He also earned the title of line producer for the live-action plate photography unit, which spent more than two years photographing in locations throughout the world. This work led to Burton's position as director of digital production finance for Disney Feature Animation and The Secret Lab, where he oversaw digital production and finance for feature films, Disney's production arrangement with Pixar (primarily during the production of Monster's Inc.), visual effects for live-action movies such as 102 Dalmatians, Mission to Mars, as well as other film and theme park projects. With the release of The Wild, Burton is leaving Toronto and relocating to the Los Angeles area with his family. |
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Disney film will bring 75 jobs to New Mexico A new Disney movie to be filmed in New Mexico will bring more than 75 jobs to the state. "Wild Hogs" will star Tim Allen, John Travolta and Martin Lawrence and will be filmed primarily in the town of Madrid. Governor Richardson says the movie will be a tremendous benefit to the area. Richardson says tax credits, loans and other incentives offered by the state have helped attract the film industry to New Mexico. Filming will begin in May and end in July. The movie is about a group of frustrated middle-aged biker wannabes who hit the road in search of adventure. During their journey, they learn the important lessons of life and about each other. |
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ABC News says Bob Woodruff is out of a
naval facility in Maryland and will continue his recovery at
a private New York facility. |
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CI and Disney RAP Scopes Wealth of Chinese Species This was one of the most unusual Rapid Assessment Programs (RAP) we have ever been on, not just for the amazing wildlife we found but also because of the partners who joined us. Ordinarily when we inventory species in a hotspot area, our team is composed of scientists and field assistants. This time, however, we were accompanied by several "imagineers" from the Walt Disney Company and a television crew from Discovery Networks. The Discovery filmmakers joined us to make a documentary featuring our expedition. Disney's staff came to take notes for Expedition Everest, a new high-speed roller coaster ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park in Florida. The ride will have a strong Himalayan cultural aspect that will incorporate the RAP's findings. Together this unlikely fellowship spent days trekking into China's remote, mountainous Tibetan Sacred Lands region, fording rivers, climbing rocky slopes, and enduring harsh weather. Along the way, we were befriended by ethnic Tibetans who shared their food and homes with us and took great interest in CI's efforts to protect their lands. More than once, these local people helped us negotiate flooded roads and mudslides. But science was the primary mission of this month-long expedition, assessing the region's wildlife and vegetation so they can be protected. During the RAP, our experts identified a wealth of species: 691 plant varieties, 165 kinds of birds, and 17 mammal species including snow leopards (Uncia uncia), giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), red pandas (Ailurus fulgens), Asian golden cats (Catopuma temminckii), and elusive takins (Budorcas taxicolor). We found that the higher elevation sites in Yajiang and Danba counties had good forest and strong land stewardship by the local communities. Unfortunately, their populations of large mammals throughout the region have dwindled, mainly because of uncontrolled cattle and yak grazing practices. Proper livestock management and forestry practices are crucial to creating long-term benefits to humans and wildlife. By working with the Sichuan Forestry Department on this RAP survey, we hope to be able to influence these practices in the future and bring these species back to healthy levels. |
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iTunes first full-length movie disappears, returns The first ever full-length movie to appear for sale on iTunes US disappeared briefly yesterday - only to reemerge with a higher price tag. Apple raised the fury of speculation surrounding its anticipated online movie distribution plans when it quietly made the Disney Channel movie, "High School Musical" for sale through its online media service, iTunes. The movie can't be found through a search or via any direct link on the company's front page, but it is a full-length flick (1 hour and 39 minutes duration) and a full-weight 487MB download. When it debuted the film was being sold at $1.99, presumably as a technology trial. It blipped briefly of the service last night, but reappeared at the same link this morning at an all-new price: $9.99. While Apple clearly has the technological capacity to support large downloads, the appearance of the movie constitutes the strongest hint yet that Apple may soon introduce online movie sales to iTunes. |
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A new
independent study on Thursday revealed that Americans are
very likely to reject menu-driven TV programming just as the
Walt Disney Company and the cable industry launched a
coordinated counterattack on the U.S. Federal Communications
Commission’s position on à la carte pricing. A Leichtman
Research study found that consumers like the concept of à
la carte pricing—a pricing mechanism where subscribers
pick the channels they want rather than choose among
packages of hundreds of channels. An encouraging
40 percent of consumers are initially interested in being
able to choose their programming à-la-carte style. But that number dipped to 17 percent when the consumers polled were told that they would be likely to receive a very limited number of channels and they would probably be required to have set-top boxes installed on every computer in the home.
“The concept
of being able to choose and pay for only the channels that
you want initially sounds appealing to many consumers, but
in assessing bona fide interest in an à la carte offering,
it is important to provide consumers with the actual
implications of receiving such a service,” said Bruce
Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman
Research. Heavyweight
Help The report was
issued just as the national debate over à la carte pricing
picked up a heavyweight debater. Until now, the cable
operators were fighting the FCC to a standoff despite
dissension in their own ranks. But Disney,
which owns a number of channels including ESPN, became the
first major content owner to throw its weight behind the
anti-à la carte movement. Disney and the
National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA)
said late Wednesday that they commissioned separate studies
that found a study done by the FCC supporting à la carte
pricing in the cable TV industry to be flawed. Shares of
Disney rose $0.07 to $28.82 in recent trading. The study,
revealed last month, reversed the findings of a previous
study on which the FCC based its initial rejection of à la
carte pricing. Back in 2004 the FCC commissioned a study by
Booz Allen Hamilton that concluded subscribers choosing the
à la carte pricing scheme would face increases in their
bills. The new study,
done by the FCC’s Media Bureau, concluded there were
mathematical errors in the Booz Allen study that resulted in
a 50 percent overstatement of the average per-channel
prices. The new study in fact found that consumers’
monthly bills would decrease. Conflicting
Conclusions The studies
commissioned by Disney and the NCTA reached the opposite
conclusion. They found the FCC’s most recent report to be
flawed and concluded the FCC overstated the impact of errors
in the Booz Allen study to come to what the Disney and NCTA
studies consider incorrect conclusions. The Disney
study was done by Jeffrey Eisenach of the economic and
regulatory consulting firm CapAnalysis Group, while the NCTA
study was prepared by economist Steve Wildman of Both studies
in effect agreed with the findings of the Booz Allen study.
Booz Allen issued a statement acknowledging a mathematical
error in the 2004 study, but said the error did not affect
the study’s overall conclusion that à la carte pricing
would result in higher costs to consumers for comparable
programming. The Booz Allen study also concluded that consumers would kill niche programming because subscribers would choose only popular channels, which would remove the cocoon for untested content and formats along with minority-oriented programming.
“Why
should a channel exist when only two people want to pay to
watch it?” asked Sameer Mithal, a principal at Adventis, a
Boston-based consultancy. “This is all about assumptions
at this point because nobody has tried the à la carte
model. Instead of arguing about it, they should perhaps test
a modified version of à la carte and see if it works.” Mr.
Mithal suggested the cable companies allow subscribers to
pick from smaller bundles—perhaps offer 10 channels of
which the subscriber has to pick three and another bundle of
seven of which they pick two. The cable companies can work out the economics of the multi-bundle system and satisfy another constituency by arranging the bundles in a way where families that are concerned about questionable material can pick a channel lineup that is both family- and budget-friendly. |
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For some of the less driven among us that have only 24 hours in our day, it would be enough to be an inventor, bestselling author and radio host, as well as the founder and CEO of Eureka! Ranch, an "invention & research think tank" that specializes in igniting bold thinking on new products and services for corporate clients such as American Express, Ford, Nike and Walt Disney. Here is Doug Hall's short list. He's one of the country's top speakers on innovation and is the author of four books on creativity and marketing. His book, Jump Start Your Business Brain, was a No. 1 national bestseller and named to the prestigious Independent Bookseller's Book Sense 76(R) list of America's greatest books. He's also a columnist for Business Week SmallBiz, hosts the Jump Start Your Brain daily advice feature on 400+ radio stations and co-hosts Brain Brew Radio, distributed by PRI, where he helps American dreamers and doers win more, lose less and make more money. That's just his warm-up. Somehow, Hall makes time to do it all and then some more, and makes it look like fun in the doing. Dateline NBC described Hall as "an eccentric entrepreneur who just might have what we've all been looking for...the happy secret to success." His signature dress includes bold shirts, blue jeans and bare feet. But under the carefree clothes and playful attitude is one of the world's leading experts on how to measurably increase your odds of success with ideas, innovations and inventions. He's a one-of-a-kind straight shooter who helps people reach beyond their comfort zones to achieve more than they dreamed possible. American Inventor, is an ABC television series from Simon Cowell and the producers of American Idol. It premieres with a two-hour special, THURSDAY, MARCH 16, from 8:00-10:00 p.m., ET, and moves to 9:00 p.m., ET on Thursdays thereafter. |
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U.K. Tycoon Is Man Behind ABC's 'American Inventor' Back in black.
If you've ever tuned into American Idol on News
Corp.'s Fox Network, you'll know Steve Jobs isn't the only
tycoon perma-clad in black. For Simon Cowell, the show's
arch-browed master-of-ceremonies, is also paid pretty well
for his depiction of a laconic A&R man unstirred by the
screeches of amateur canaries all too happy to throw
themselves to the lions. |
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Wednesday March 15, 2006 |
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The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority voted
today to extend Disney's popular Magical Express shuttle
service through 2011 - with a few changes.
Starting next year, the passenger fee that Disney pays the airport will increase from 50 cents to 75 cents, with an option to increase it in 2010. The shuttle buses also will move next year from the "A" side of the airport to the "B" side, and Disney will be allowed to put shuttle "greeters" on the airport's second level. Since the free service began as a test in May, it has transported more than 1.1 million passengers and their luggage between the Disney resort and the airport. |
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Movie theater owners gave an enthusiastic
reception to Pixar Animation Studios Inc.'s (PIXR.O) film
"Cars" at its first public screening at a Las
Vegas trade show late on Tuesday.
Expectations are high for the movie since Pixar, which has agreed to be bought by Walt Disney Co. (DIS.N), has an unbroken series of hits and makes films at the pace of about one a year. The G-rated movie, set for release on June 9, tells the story of up-and-coming race car Lightning McQueen, who learns to savor life in the slow lane after becoming trapped in a once-thriving Route 66 town that the freeway bypassed and the world forgot. "I thought it was a great movie," said Kevin MacLeod, executive vice president of Empire Co Ltd's (EMPnva.TO) Empire Theatres, a Nova Scotia-based chain with 380 screens. MacLeod said he believed the film would have the same broad appeal as Pixar's biggest hit "Finding Nemo". Theater owners have a vested interest in the success of the movie, since their business is selling movie tickets, but Sanders Morris Harris financial analyst David Miller was in the audience and called it "outstanding." "If there is any film you know is going to be a hit, it's this one," he said on Wednesday. Another attendee, who asked not to be named, described the film's race-car-themed story line and folksy soundtrack, featuring songs by Sheryl Crow and Brad Paisley, as "the perfect antidote to (gay cowboy movie) 'Brokeback Mountain'" for more conservative red-state audiences. Mark Walukevich, vice president of international films for National Amusements, which operates 1,425 screens in the United States, Britain, Latin America and Russia, said "Cars" was "fantastic." "On a scale of one to 10, it was an 11," he said. "The digital presentation was excellent, the sound track was great. I think internationally it will be a huge hit." "Cars" is the first film since 1999's "Toy Story 2" to be directed by Pixar's creative director John Lasseter, who described the film on Tuesday as "very personal." Lasseter said he was on a cross-country trip with his wife and sons when he got the idea for "Cars", which features the voices of Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Paul Newman, John Ratzenberger and racer Richard Petty. "I had been working nonstop through the '90s ... and my wife Nancy said, 'Be careful, your boys may go off to college and you will have missed it,'" Lasseter said. The theme of "Cars" mirrors what Lasseter said he learned on his family road trip: "The journey in life is the reward ... and it's that much more special when you have somebody to share it with." Lasseter said Pixar aimed to "over-deliver" on "Cars" by packaging the film for theaters with the studio's Oscar-nominated short film "One Man Band" and bonus material interleavened with the film's credits. "Stay at the end of the credits," Lasseter told exhibitors on Tuesday before the show. "I pulled out the stops on the credits." |
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HHS marvels at costume 'windfall' from theme
park
Even wishing upon a star couldn't have made Huntsville High's recent luck any better. The school's drama department just received a huge donation of costumes, literally hundreds of pieces, from Walt Disney World's creative costuming department. "We've got one whole box of tux pants, flat-top hats, tux shirts, vests, colored jackets, bolts of fabric, trim," said an ecstatic Nora Stephens as she showed off the assortment last week. Stephens, an English teacher at Huntsville High, is the costume coordinator for the drama department's productions. "This is such a windfall for us," she said. The Disney donation came about like this: About a month ago, Mike Chappell, Huntsville High's drama teacher, got an e-mail from a school parent, Amy Wisdom. Her sister works in procurement for Disney's costume department, which was just about to make a major purge of costumes and materials and was looking for schools to donate the items to. Chappell then sent a letter to the department with a list of plays he's considering staging over the next several years. "I got a letter saying my request was being processed," said Chappell, who wasn't aware he had even made a formal request. The next thing they knew, Wisdom was on her way to Orlando in her minivan with a list of things the school could use. The drama department picked up her tab for the gas, Chappell said. Wisdom got to spend about 30 minutes in the costume department collecting everything from elaborately decorated ball gowns to high-top tennis shoes. On a recent Saturday morning, the cast of Huntsville High's production of the musical "Grease" was at rehearsal in the auditorium when Wisdom walked in. She had a dress over her shoulder and a hat on her head and said she needed some help getting some boxes out of her van. "She couldn't have gotten one more box in it," said Stephens, who is still going through all the items the school received. Jacob DiPietre, a spokesman for Walt Disney World, said the theme park regularly helps out schools and community theater groups with small requests, but a major donation of costuming is "rare." "We did a thorough review of all our inventory and took out things we don't use anymore," DiPietre said. The items were all in good condition, including some store-purchased pants that had never been worn. Others, such as the ball gowns, capes, dresses and suit coats, had been custom-made by the department seamstresses. "We're always looking for ways we can reach out to the community and help out," DiPietrie said. To prepare for a production, Stephens usually scouts the local thrift stores and knows about every "blue tag" sale that gives her an additional discount. The school also sometimes has to borrow items from community theater groups or even rent costumes, Chappell said. Stephens is already selecting items from the Disney donation for "Grease," including some red satin skirts she'll cut down and use for cheerleader skirts. She's also going to use a piece of satin to go over her own dress for her role as Mrs. Lynch, the English teacher in the play. "It's just been so much fun to look at things and kind of anticipate all we can do." |
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Moody's
Lifts Disney Credit Ratings
Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday boosted its credit ratings on Walt Disney Co., citing the media conglomerate's improved operating performance over the past two years and its stronger resulting financial position. The ratings agency lifted Disney's senior unsecured ratings by one notch to "A3" from "Baa1," and said the company's outlook is stable _ which means that another rating change is unlikely over the next 12 to 18 months. Moody's also upgraded its credit ratings for the company's Disney Enterprises and ABC Inc. units to "A2" from "A3." The upgrade also reflects the rating agency's confidence in Disney's "ability to maintain (its) improved credit profile despite high pressure in the media industry to increase leverage to address shareholder demands," Moody's said in a report. It added that Disney "has proven its ability to successfully emerge from a downturn in several lines of businesses through improved strategies in consumer products, parks and media networks segments." Moody's also cited the company's strong content in children's and sports programming and its ability to leverage this content over multiple distribution platforms, trade media and new technology channels. The agency said it was comfortable with "the strategic plans of the company, particularly in light of Bob Iger's successful transition to CEO and Stephen Jobs' joining the board through the pending Pixar acquisition." Shares of Disney recently were unchanged at $28.66 on the New York Stock Exchange. |
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Walt
Disney Records Raises the Woof with "The Shaggy Dog
Original Soundtrack"
On March 14, 2006, discover a brand new treat when Walt Disney Records releases the soundtrack to Walt Disney Pictures' "The Shaggy Dog." The stellar compilation includes new and classic songs by some of today's most popular contemporary artists and music legends. The soundtrack features such favorites as "Big Dog" performed by hot R&B newcomer Akon; the funkadelic tune "Atomic Dog" by one of the forefathers of funk, George Clinton; "It's a Dog" performed by "That's So Raven" star Kyle Massey and many more! "The Shaggy Dog Original Soundtrack" also includes score tracks from Disney music legend and Academy Award-winner Alan Menken whose credits include "Beauty and The Beast," "The Little Mermaid" and "Pocahontas." In "The Shaggy Dog," a fresh update of the Disney comedy classic, Tim Allen transforms from family dad to family dog and back again. When workaholic Deputy D.A. Dave Douglas (Allen) takes on a case involving an animal laboratory, he accidentally is infected with a top-secret, genetic mutation serum and everything he thought he knew about being himself and being with his family changes. Yet with his newly perked-up ears, and his front row seat on the household carpet, Dave is able to gain a whole new perspective into his family's secrets and dreams. "The Shaggy Dog" also stars Kristin Davis, Danny Glover and Robert Downey, Jr. and opens in theaters nationwide on March 10, 2006. "The Shaggy Dog Original Soundtrack" track listing is as follows: 1. "Big Dog" - Akon |
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Disneyland
Resort Welcomes Kaiser Permanente as Presenting Sponsor for
the Inaugural 2006 Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend
The Disneyland Resort announced today that Kaiser Permanente will be the presenting sponsor for its inaugural Half Marathon Weekend that kicks off six months from today. The weekend events, to be held in partnership with the City of Anaheim from Sept 15-17, will build off the successful 13-year history of Walt Disney World Marathon Weekends that are operated by Disney's Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. More than 8,000 runners have already signed up to participate. "We're thrilled Kaiser Permanente has chosen to join the team," said Mike Millay, director of sports events for Disney Sports Attractions. "With just six months to go, we are pleased to report that 80% of our runner sign up goal has been achieved with participants coming to Anaheim from every state in the U.S. and many other countries." "The Disneyland Half Marathon is the perfect setting for our message about the importance of good health," said Ed Ellison, MD, Medical Director for Kaiser Permanente in Orange County. "This will be a beautiful weekend event filled with fun and physical activity for the participants and spectators alike. We hope that everyone involved will be inspired to live well and thrive." Kaiser Permanente will provide its medical expertise to meet the needs of the runners and those who come to watch. Physicians and other health professionals from Kaiser Permanente will be onsite to handle any medical emergencies that might arise. In addition, Kaiser Permanente volunteers will staff water stations located strategically along the half marathon course. Volunteers will also come through a partnership with Anaheim Community Foundation which will receive a portion of the proceeds from the three-day event. The feature event of the weekend will be a 13.1-mile "Happiest Race on Earth" road race on Sunday, Sept. 17th that will start on Disneyland Drive, run through Disney's California Adventure and into Disneyland Park where runners will cruise around such world-renowned attractions as the Matterhorn and Sleeping Beauty Castle. The race continues on to the Arrowhead Pond then along the Santa Ana Trail to Angel Stadium of Anaheim and back to the finish line near the ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney. Other weekend events will include the Disneyland Health & Fitness Expo presented by Kaiser Permanente at the Disneyland Hotel (Sept. 15-16) and the Disneyland Family Fun Run 5K & Kids Races presented by Kaiser Permanente (Sept. 16). The Disneyland Health and Fitness Expo presented by Kaiser Permanente, which will feature celebrity runner appearances, the latest trends in running apparel, technology and fitness equipment along with seminars on training, racing and nutrition, will be open to the public with no admission charge. Registration fees are $85 for the half marathon, $25 for the Family Fun run 5K and $5 for the kids' races. Registration for the half marathon, kids' races and 5K are still available online at www.disneylandhalfmarathon.com. Special Anaheim-area hotel rates and reservations and Disneyland theme park ticket options will be available through the Disneyland Resort for the Half Marathon Weekend. About the Disneyland Resort Located on approximately 500 acres in Anaheim, Calif., the Disneyland Resort includes the Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure theme parks, three hotels with a total of 2,224 rooms and the 310,000 square foot Downtown Disney retail, restaurant and entertainment district. With 20,000 employees, the Disneyland Resort is Orange County's largest employer and a $3.6 billion annual contributor to the local economy. In January 2004, the Resort welcomed its 500 millionth Guest since opening on July 17, 1955. On May 5, 2005, Disney theme parks launched an 18-month celebration in honor of the 50th anniversary of Disneyland. This global event is the largest in Disney theme park history. For detailed information about the Disneyland Resort and the 50th anniversary celebration, please visit www.disneylandnews.com or our podcast at www.disneyland.com/podcast. For more information about Disneyland Resort community programs visit www.disneyland.com/publicaffairs. About Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health plan. Kaiser Permanente's Southern California Region is a nonprofit, group practice prepayment program headquartered in Pasadena, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 3.1 million Southern California members from Bakersfield to San Diego. It encompasses the nonprofit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the for-profit Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Kaiser Permanente's Southern California Region includes more than 47,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and more than 5,000 physicians representing all specialties. |
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Pooh Wishbands
Ever since his debut in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree in 1966, Winnie the Pooh has shared the art of fun, friendship and adventure with children across the globe. Today, Disney Worldwide Outreach and Disney Consumer Products are joining together to continue the celebration of Pooh's 80th Anniversary with the release of new Pooh Wishbands that will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Pooh Wishbands help parents show children ages 4 and older the importance of helping others when they "make a wish" to make a difference. Available now on WinniethePooh.com and DisneyShopping.com for $2 plus shipping and handling, proceeds from the Pooh Wishbands will help the Make-A-Wish Foundation continue to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to bring them hope, strength and joy. |
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The sporty, colorful bands are easy to share
and wear. The red "Always Together" band is
fastened gently to the yellow "Friends Forever"
band so that best friends can each hold one of the bands in
their hand, "make a wish" and separate the bands,
leaving each person with a band to wear.
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Roy
Disney 645 on the World's Richest People
Age: 76 Country Of
Citizenship: United States |
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From "Field of
Dreams" to "The Longest Yard," the Walt
Disney Co.-owned
The new half-hour show, "ESPN Hollywood," is set to debut August 15, with first-week segments spotlighting the likes of basketball icon Shaquille O’Neal, sibling tennis champions Serena and Venus Williams and NFL star quarterback Tom Brady. But the focus of each piece will be on their off-field -- or off-court -- performance as celebrities, such as Shaq spinning records as a nightclub DJ or Brady posing for a photo shoot in GQ magazine. British rocker Ozzy Osbourne also is set to make an early appearance on the show, backstage after a concert for a one-on-one "hookup" with one of his biggest fans, Philadelphia Eagles fullback Jon Ritchie. And rapper Jay-Z, part owner of the New Jersey Nets, will be featured as he opens another branch of his 40/40 Club sports bar. |
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Disneyland
link bids to lure visitors to Ireland
Tourism chiefs are
going green this week to attract Disney fans to Ireland. |
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As every parent knows, most "family entertainment" is no such thing - it's more often preschool entertainment (a much easier sale) or adolescent entertainment, which, for boys, tends to involve toilet jokes and special effects, and, for girls, sexual dilemmas with a Nancy Reagan punch line. Niche marketing, like global warming, is a slow, inviolable process, melting consensus and leaving the Beatles as the only bulwark against complete cultural disunity. Let's blame Michael Eisner. You remember him: imperious CEO of the Disney empire, who chased Jeffrey Katzenberg from the magic kingdom; attempted to emulate Uncle Walt on television and rendered his base audience comatose; banned wine from EuroDisney; outsourced animated features to Pixar; and went an extra step by declaring two-dimensional cartoons obsolete. My own theory consigns decline and fall to the release of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996), based on two remarks by my then-7-year-old. As Frollo waxed insane before the fireplace, thinking of Esmeralda, my daughter asked, "Why is he so angry?" You try and explain. At the end, when Quasimodo - depicted as cute but pimply - united Esmeralda and Phoebus in marital harmony, she asked, "Is he their pet?" |
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HBO's
'Sopranos' takes a bullet
The lure of seeing TV's favorite mob family for the first time in nearly two years wasn't enough for HBO to make a dent in ABC's Sunday night powerhouse "Desperate Housewives." The women of Wisteria Lane handily defeated the premiere of "The Sopranos," according to data released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. "Sopranos" averaged 9.5 million viewers and a 4.5 rating/10 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, significantly off in both measures compared with the 12.1 million viewers and 6.2/15 it earned for its Season 5 premiere March 7, 2004. "Housewives" averaged 22.2 million viewers and an 8.8/19 in the demo. |
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Disney
dropped the ball at the Baseball Classic
Sometimes I think too much. |
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Disney
may support both HD DVD and Blu-ray
While Disney continues to insist that Blu-ray is a better standard and will eventually win the format war, the company seems to be edging toward a position of supporting -- or at least releasing movies in -- both HD DVD and Blu-ray formats. At a recent shareholders' meeting Disney CEO Robert Iger talked up Blu-ray, but then went on to say that the company would "probably publish in both formats." The move mirrors similar decisions by other studios, such as Warner Brothers and Paramount, both of which had originally been HD DVD-only, but later went on to declare format neutrality. And while there are still a couple of studios with exclusive ties to one format over another, most seem to be following a trend also being pursued by hardware vendors and hedging their bets. Of course, the day we see Sony Pictures release an HD DVD disc is the day the format war officially ends. |
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Roy
E. Disney to get career prize
Roy E. Disney will receive an award for
his career at next month's Cartoons on the Bay animated film
festival in Positano for his contribution to this medium . |
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Disney
Insider Yearbook features Narnia
It's not easy to put a year in the palm of
your hand, but the Disney Insider Yearbook: 2005 Year in
Review aims to do just that. Or at least to put the year on
your coffee table - this is a large and lavish book. The
Yearbook is an effort to put all the excitement and events
of last year in one place, packed with the people, events,
and pictures we'll want to remember in years to come. |
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Tuesday March 14, 2006 |
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After a three-month delay, the board that
oversees Orlando International Airport on Wednesday will
publicly discuss the future of Disney's Magical Express
shuttle and baggage service.
But the details of the program's future are still being hammered out. "We have some issues out on the table," Greater Orlando Aviation Authority Chairman Jeffry Fuqua said Monday. "We have told everybody that we would give them an opportunity to express their opinion. Who knows what effect that will have on the ultimate outcome." Though Fuqua would not elaborate on the issues, the free service -- which has become a model nationally for moving passengers and luggage -- has been controversial because of its impact on rental-car companies and taxi and limo services. Some of those companies say they have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in business, an outcome airport administrators feared even before the service began. On Wednesday, the board expects to hear a presentation from its consultant Michael Brown. It will be the first time the airport will publicly present any information about Magical Express since the board delayed its original meeting to do so in December. Since Magical Express began in May, it has transported more than 1.1 million passengers and their luggage between the Disney resort and the airport. Rental-car companies and taxi and limo services pay a concession fee to the airport each month based on how much business they do. That means the airport can lose money if those businesses experience a downturn. Disney said in December that the service boosted airport revenue by $1.6 million and has streamlined airport operations so well that it could delay the need for a costly second terminal building. Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty said Monday that the company is still "continuing to have discussions with the airport" on a "wide range of issues" and would not discuss the future of the service. Disney World President Al Weiss met with Fuqua last month on the matter. Threats have loomed for months that Disney could stop the service if the airport makes it too expensive to operate. The 18-month pilot project -- recently touted by Disney President and CEO Robert Iger -- ends in December. At stake is how much money Disney pays the airport per passenger it transports and whether the airport will require the service be operated on both sides of the terminal rather than just one as it is now. The airlines have largely backed the program because it has reduced their baggage-handling loads and helped shorten ticket-counter lines. But because a group of airlines is responsible for budget shortfalls at Orlando International, the carriers have also taken an intense interest. "You had a difference of opinion at first of what the impacts might be financially," said Southwest Airlines Properties Manager Randy Gillespie, who also serves as chairman of an airlines committee. "All we're trying to do is separate fact from fiction." As early as January 2005 -- about four months before Magical Express began -- then-Executive Director Bill Jennings and other senior airport staffers expressed concern about the services' anticipated impact. Minutes from a meeting of airport staffers, airline executives and a Disney executive, show that Jennings told the airlines he expected the service to reach 2 million passengers a year and it could harm rental-car companies. "The staff at the Aviation Authority found the concept attractive; however, there are serious concerns about the impact on rental-car revenues at the Airport," the minutes state. As part of the agreement negotiated in 2004, Disney pays the airport 50 cents per passenger. Jennings said he tried to negotiate a clause in the contract that would allow the airport to raise that fee after the first six months of the service, but did not prevail, according to the minutes. The airport's estimated lost revenue per passenger was $7.70, according to the minutes of the Jan. 25, 2005, Airlines/Airport Affairs Committee. That figure was arrived at by a former airport consultant who analyzed rental-car data. Disney paid the airport $589,538 in passenger fees from May to December, according to airport records. Those records show that June was the service's busiest month last year with 168,819 passengers. Its single busiest days came on Oct. 1 and on the day after Christmas, when it carried more than 10,000 people, the records show. On most days, however, 3,000 to 5,000 people use the free service. |
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Disney may be rethinking its strategy to only support Sony's Blu-ray format. During the firm's annual meeting with shareholders, chief executive office Bob Iger said that the company may be releasing titles on HD DVD as well, according to an article published by Variety.com. "We probably will publish in both formats," Iger is quoted. Disney joined the Blu-ray disc association as a member of the board of directors in December of 2005. |
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Walt
Disney Internet Names VP
North Hollywood-based Walt Disney Internet Group has named Eric Freeman as VP of Technology. The firm said that Freeman will be responsible for technology development of the company's web properties and new media for its theme parks and resort hotel properties. Freeman was most recently at O'Reilly Media, and has served at Disney previously when he directed the company's portal division. Freeman is also the author of O'Reilly's "Head First" technical reference books. |
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Bird
catches mouse cartoon for Pixar
"The Incredibles" director Brad Bird will follow up his Oscar-winning film with "Ratatouille," a Pixar cartoon about a skinny mouse who lives in a Parisian restaurant. The story was developed in-house by the studio's Oscar-winning short-film director Jan Pinkava ("Geri's Game"). The deal was confirmed Friday at the Disney shareholders meeting in Anaheim. Disney is in the process of buying Pixar. A sneak peek of the film, with fully rendered computer-animated characters, was shown to attendees at Friday's meeting. It was expected that Pinkava would direct the project, while Bird was said to be developing a sequel to "The Incredibles." Executives also confirmed at the meeting that Glen Keane's directorial debut, "Rapunzel," remains in the early stages of production utilizing a combination of 2-D and 3-D processes. "Ratatouille" is the eighth animated feature film produced by Pixar. It is scheduled for release June 29, 2007. Pixar's next release is "Cars," scheduled for release in June. |
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Vintage
Walt Disney Business Card from 20's
CartoonBrew highlighted this ebay auction of "vintage business card from Walt Disney". The seller claims the business card was to be featured on Antiques Roadshow as Walt's "rookie card" but apparently ended up on the cutting room floor. View the Ebay listing at this LINK |
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Future is to expand its fledgling
children’s magazine portfolio after winning the UK license
for two Disney-branded monthly magazines formerly published
by BBC Worldwide.
The move is a new departure for the
Bath-based publisher, which has previously focused on
special-interest magazines in areas like gaming and music.
From next month, Future will publish Disney Girl and Disney's Big Time. It will also hold the license for any future brand extensions and one-off specials. Disney Girl, which features characters popular with girls aged five to eight, and Disney's Big Time, a title aimed at seven to eleven year-olds featuring characters from big films and TV shows, will become part of Future's recently-formed Future Kids division, an offshoot of its entertainment group that also includes Official Jetix Magazine and boys' computer games title Zap. Last week Future announced its fourth profit warning in 15 months, blaming the poor fortunes of performance car magazines. BBC Worldwide decided to give up the Disney titles last year, along with women's monthly Eve, which it subsequently sold to Haymarket, after agreeing not to publish magazines not directly linked to its programs. This month's editions are the last that BBC Worldwide will publish, but it will continue to publish Disney Witch, a title based on a cartoon series that it currently broadcasts. Future will publish Disney's Big Time from 12 April and Disney Girl from 24 April. |
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Revealed at the Walt
Disney shareholders’ meeting last week, Brad Bird will
take the reins of Pixar Animation Studios' RATATOUILLE.
Developed in-house for several years, Oscar-winning
short-film director Jan Pinkava (GERI'S GAME) was long
attached to the project as its helmer.
The story follows a skinny rodent who views himself a gourmand, living in a Parisian restaurant. A sneak peek of the film was introduced by John Lasseter and shown to attendees at Friday's meeting. |
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Buena Vista Home Entertainment and ESPN
Original Entertainment present THROUGH THE FIRE, the
award-winning film about the real-life struggles of high
school basketball phenomenon Sebastian Telfair, on DVD March
14. This riveting documentary captures all the action,
emotion and excitement of an amazing year in the life of
Coney Island's hoop prodigy, as he decides between playing
at the collegiate level or going straight to the NBA.
This uncensored version, not seen on ESPN, features the Director's Cut of the film with 10 minutes of additional footage that will not be seen on the broadcast premiere on ESPN March 12. The DVD also includes hours of new, exclusive bonus features, including deleted scenes, interviews with the real-life players and coaches, playground highlights, directors' commentary and more. |
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THROUGH THE FIRE chronicles the powerful
struggles, life-changing choices and intense pressure that
talented high-school basketball player Sebastian Telfair
faces in pursuit of his goals. Telfair is a phenomenal
athlete from a low-income inner-city environment. But he
must balance his family's needs with his own, as he weighs
the security of a collegiate career against the uncertain
future of possible fame and fortune by entering the NBA
draft straight out of high school.
A multiple award winner, THROUGH THE FIRE won the 2005 "Audience Favorite Award" at the prestigious American Film Institute Film Festival, and won the coveted 2005 "Best Documentary Award" at the 9th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival. The film was the 2005 "Spotlight Film" at the internationally famous Tribeca Film Festival. Produced and Directed by eight-time Emmy Award-winner Jonathan Hock. Available for $29.99 (SRP) from Buena Vista Home Entertainment and ESPN Home Entertainment. |
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Remember
The Titans - Director's Cut DVD
Walt Disney Home Entertainment and Jerry Bruckheimer Films present the acclaimed drama REMEMBER THE TITANS – Director's Cut, starring Academy Award Winner Denzel Washington (Best Actor, "Training Day" 2001, Best Supporting Actor, "Glory" 1989), available on March 14 for $19.99 (S.R.P.) on DVD and for PSP. This amazing saga of football, heroism and courage from renowned producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("Pirates of the Caribbean," "National Treasure") is based on a true story. |
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The Director's Cut DVD has all-new bonus
features and scenes not shown in theaters. Bonus features
include:
Experience a celebration of how a town torn apart by resentment, friction and mistrust comes together in triumphant harmony. The year is 1971. After leading his team to 15 winning seasons, football coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton, "Gone In 60 Seconds") is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone (Denzel Washington), a tough, opinionated man who is very different from the beloved host. How these two men overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions plays out in a remarkable and wining story. |
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Deuce
Bigalow: Male Gigolo The Little Black Book Edition on DVD
The hilarious Rob Schneider ("The Longest Yard," "Around The World In 80 Days," "The Hot Chick," "The Animal") stars in DEUCE BIGALOW: MALE GIGOLO THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK EDITION, a special edition DVD of the hit movie, now with all-new, never-before-seen bonus features, including deleted scenes and hysterical behind-the scenes footage. |
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This must-own comedy features the always
outrageous Schneider in one of his funniest roles. A
professional fish tank cleaner, Deuce (Schneider) finds
himself in desperate need of cash to quickly repair the
damage he's done to a client's luxurious Malibu apartment.
The fun escalates when Deuce decides the only way out of
this jam is to switch to the world's oldest profession –
and offer his services to ladies everywhere as a lover for
hire! A wild and raunchy comedy that always aims to please,
DEUCE BIGALOW: MALE GIGOLO THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK EDITION is
a side-splitting riot of non-stop laughs. Available from
Touchstone Home Entertainment for $19.99 (S.R.P.).
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"Grey's
Anatomy" director gets promotion
"thirtysomething" actor-turned-director Peter Horton has been promoted to executive producer status at "Grey's Anatomy" under a deal with the producer of ABC's red-hot medical drama. His two-year, seven-figure pact with Disney's Touchstone Television also covers his services as principal director next season. Additionally, he will team with "Grey's" creator-executive producer Shonda Rhimes to direct and serve as an executive producer on her untitled ABC drama pilot about four female journalists. Horton has been on "Grey's" since the 2005 pilot, which he directed, and served as a co-executive producer on the show. His work has earned him nominations for an Emmy and DGA Award. Horton has been a staple on ABC on- and off-camera for almost 20 years, since his starring turn on the network's critically acclaimed ensemble drama "thirtysomething." |
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McGovern
is over 'Moons' at ABC Family
Elizabeth McGovern has been tapped to star in ABC Family's upcoming drama series "Three Moons Over Milford." "Three Moons," produced by Three Moon Prods. in association with Touchstone Television, is described as a quirky drama set in a small town whose residents take their lives to the extreme -- quitting jobs, indulging vices and living as if today were their last -- upon learning that a cosmic explosion is threatening Earth's existence. McGovern will play Janet Montgomery, whose husband has abandoned his family to climb the seven tallest peaks in the world, whose daughter has taken up witchcraft to help save Earth and whose teenage son gets involved with the older next-door neighbor. |
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Monday March 13, 2006 |
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Spring break has started around the country
and with that come the vacationers to The Happiest Place On
Earth! The park is in full swing with a few exceptions.
Café Orleans will close to Guests on Tuesday, March 14 and will reopen in June as a table service location. The new menu will feature great New Orleans bistro favorites including crepes, soups, salads, and a new variation on the world-famous Monte Cristo sandwich. Additionally, the Blue Bayou Restaurant closed for refurbishment on March 6 and is scheduled to reopen in late June. Beginning March 10, "Remember…Dreams Come True" Fireworks Spectacular will be presented daily at 9:25 p.m. through spring break. All times are approximate - please check the daily schedule. Don't forget, Pirates of the Caribbean is closed until late June for some exciting modifications! |
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Addition of T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family Adventure restaurant, opening early 2008 Removal of the West End Stage Addition of a bridge connecting the Westside to the centre of Pleasure Island Removal of the Hub Stage Addition of new boat dock for additional transportation options Superstar Studios permanently closed on March 3 2006 DTV, Missing Link Sausage Company, Zen Zone will permanently close on March 19 2006 Changing Attitudes and Reel Finds will permanently close on April 1 2006 ORLANDO HARLEY-DAVIDSON will close its current location on March 19 2006 and will move to the former Changing Attitudes and Reel Finds, with a Summer 2006 planned opening |
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Cable giant Comcast Corp. is in talks to buy the remaining stake it doesn't own in E! Entertainment Television from partner Walt Disney Corp., according to people familiar with the deal. The purchase would bolster Comcast's growing position in cable programming, which is composed primarily of smaller networks outside of Nielsen's top 30 channels. With 80 million subscribers, E! is the biggest of Comcast's holdings, programmed with a fluffy mix of entertainment news, celebrity reality shows and clip shows (101 Incredible Celebrity Slimdowns!). The network is probably best-known for its red-carpet coverage of TV- and movie-awards shows, such as the Oscars, Emmys and Golden Globes. Ratings have been mixed lately, but E! President Ted Harbert has pushed them into an upswing in recent weeks, with the average prime time audience up 11% in February. One big driver is the recent acquisition of reruns of Fox reality show The Simple Life, featuring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. A sale probably wouldn't trigger dramatic changes at E! or sibling channel Style Network, because Comcast already manages the operation. Since 1997, Comcast and Disney have been in a partnership in which Disney initially put up all the cash but still gave the cable operator authority over day-to-day operations. The partnership—Comcast Entertainment Holdings—owns 79.2% of E! and Style. Comcast owns an additional 20.8% outside of the partnership. The relationship got rocky when Comcast launched an attack to take over Disney, but industry executives say there have been no particular problems between the partners in recent months. The deal that formed the E! partnership valued the network at $548 million. Merrill Lynch media analyst Jessica Reif Cohen estimates that, today, E! is worth around $2.5 billion. So buying out Disney would cost Comcast around $1 billion. The E! sale is part of long-running negotiations to settle a number of programming issues between Comcast and Disney. Those include Comcast's carriage of Disney's cable networks (ESPN, The Disney Channel and ABC Family); retransmission consent for ABC owned-and-operated broadcast stations; and access to Disney shows and movies on Comcast's video-on-demand systems. Spokesmen for Comcast, Disney and E! would not comment on the discussions. However, Disney Senior Executive VP and CFO Tom Staggs told an investor conference that the company is open to restructuring ownership of some of its cable-network partnerships (which also include ESPN, Lifetime and A&E). Says Staggs, "The strategic direction for us would be toward rationalization of that ownership so we can leverage those properties better, but I can't tell you that's going to happen anytime soon." |
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Silverstone
in the Pink at ABC
Alicia Silverstone will play the lead in ABC's comedy pilot "Pink Collar," which explores female relationships within the workplace. Silverstone was last on the small screen with the short-lived "Miss Match," which aired on NBC in 2003. She recently appeared in the comedy feature "Beauty Shop" and wrapped a limited run of David Mamet's "Boston Marriage" at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood. She next will be seen in "Stormbreaker." |
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Stroller
derby in Disneyland
My granddaughter finally got to see Cinderella in Disneyland. We almost didn't make it, though. There was a stroller pileup outside Critter Country. Seems a triple-wide tried to pass a tandem rig on the right and cut off a double-decker. Formula, diapers and juice boxes were all over the place. Purple-faced drivers were going for each other's hair. The proper thing to do would have been to stop and help sort things out. But it was our third day at Disneyland and stroller rage didn't impress us anymore. We got past on the shoulder. I'm not sure when baby strollers became high-occupancy vehicles. I do know they don't work well in crowds, not that this stops sock-your moms from trying. At Disneyland, it was worth your life to stop short in front of one. My children's first stroller was good old-fashioned Detroit rolling iron. It weighed 90 pounds, had plastic wheels, a bit of foam rubber padding and a wire cage for supplies. We almost bought a wheelbarrow instead. Onboard baby buggy technology in those days was three colored beads strung on a wire, an abacus so simple it was insulting even to toddlers. Strollers today are tour buses by comparison. They're made of high-impact polymers and feature cup holders, defrosters and global satellite positioning. Some have eight-wheel drive. A tricked-out pram in Mickey's Toontown had - I'm not lying - a DVD player built into it. I had to ask. Mom and Dad said they drove it off the lot for $950 and felt bad because they couldn't afford the luxury model. Strollers this nice may be a comfort to the ones riding and maybe even the ones pushing, but they have no business in heavy pedestrian areas without improved safety devices. Based on what I saw in Disneyland - sometimes from the safety of a lamppost - the most hazardous stroller is the tandem, or one kid riding behind another. The tandem poses a major collision hazard because it's the drive-by-feel method. Basically, the driver is in the back of the bus and therefore the last one to know what's happening. Add a third seat and the tandem stroller contraption is so cumbersome that mom looks like a monkey trying to work a rack of shopping carts back into a grocery store. The double- and triple-wide strollers are slightly better in terms of driver visibility but score rock bottom in driver courtesy. In this configuration the bus is being driven sideways. The double- and triple-wide strollers are almost impossible for speedier pedestrians to get around. And when three or four mommies start pushing their outfits shoulder-to-shoulder down a street it's a scene right out of Ben Hur. Even the single-occupancy stroller is a danger in the wrong hands. Unfortunately, after 10 hours of shuttling kids around the Magic Kingdom, there are plenty of those. Strollers today need turn signals, back-up beepers, rearview mirrors, air bags, gross weight restrictions, safety inspections, no-fault insurance and mandatory operator testing. The Happiest Place on Earth also needs an HOV lane. |
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O.C.
man a blue-sky guy
Kevin Rafferty is one of 1,000 Imagineers, creative types who dream up and design attractions for Disney's amusement parks. Kevin Rafferty, a 50-year-old family man from Orange, logs some wild days at the office. There was the day he took the Walt Disney Co.plane to Boston to meet with Aerosmith, going over the rock band's role in a Disney roller-coaster project. Rafferty flew back the next morning, recorded mock voices for a soundtrack on another theme-park attraction, joined his team to work on designs for another ride, and finally drove home. "I'm bebopping all over the place," Rafferty said of the typical pace in Glendale, home of the Walt Disney Imagineers. "After all of that, I walk in the front door and my wife says, 'Hi honey. There's a sprinkler broken in the front yard.'" Rafferty chuckles, reveling in the transformation he makes from work to home. "That's why I really like living in Orange County," he said. "We're so immersed in the Glendale area. Everybody works for Warner Brothers or Disney, and everybody knows somebody who's a writer or a producer. But when I get home, it's my little refuge." Rafferty is one of 1,000 people who work as Imagineers, creating and designing the attractions for Disney theme parks around the world. His specialty is dreaming up ideas, writing storylines for rides and shows, and directing talent. Some days he cries, "Pinch me!" as he marvels at the creative people he gets to work with, including engineers, architects and audio technicians. "I'm off in the blue sky all the time," said Rafferty, part of an elite team of dreamers called the Blue Sky Group. Rafferty grew up in north Orange County, got a job washing dishes at a Disneyland restaurant, earned a bachelor's degree in art from Cal State Fullerton and dreamed about becoming a Disney animator. He took a detour into Imagineering in 1978, working his way up from model duster to senior concept writer. He sleeps with a notepad near his bed for ideas that call in the night. In the zany, artistic and inventive world of Imagineers, it's all about the team. They are constantly reminded that only one name is on the door: Walt Disney. Still, Rafferty's humor has touched a long list of attractions at parks from Florida to Hong Kong, and he's hard at work on the latest project, set to open next year: the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. He was honored by his peers in 2004 with one of the first Spirit of Imagineering awards, their version of the Oscars. Rafferty's award recognized how he stays true to the traditions of Walt Disney. Rafferty talked about his job, the new sub ride and how Disney's union with Pixar might affect Imagineering. Q. Your job is to imagine the future. How do you do that? A. I work with the most amazing people in the world. They know everything about everything, so you get to become an expert in a lot of areas. Research (can) spark ideas, or you have an idea that sparks the research you need. Here's what I love about my job. Once we were at the Smithsonian (doing research for a project tied to American history). We go into the secret basement where all the presidential papers are, and the curator says, 'Kevin, pick a president.' I say, 'George Washington.' So we go down the stacks, and he hands me a pair of white gloves; I put them on, and he hands me this little book, and I'm looking at it, and I say 'What is this?' 'This is George Washington's diary from the Revolutionary War.' I'm holding it in my hands. ... Who would think that Imagineers do that kind of stuff? A. You have to check your fears at the door. Fear is going to stop you from doing the coolest things. You never know what you can do until you do it, and then you get people behind you encouraging you. If you're going to be in Imagineering, get ready to grow and never stop learning. You take what you learn in school and reinterpret it. If you're a ride engineer, you can design a freefall iron attraction, but if you're an Imagineer, you will design a haunted runaway elevator. There's a difference. Q. You said it's important to be willing to start at the bottom, work hard and earn respect. Any other tips for aspiring Imagineers? A. Stay in tune with pop culture, what's happening in the world and what's coming down the pike with technology that can be interpreted for storytelling purposes. Feed your brain. Feed your soul. Go see inspirational movies and plays. You need to have a big respect for your audience. You're not cynical. You're optimistic and you celebrate life. It might be rides, shows and attractions, but it's really about creating opportunities for people to spend time together. Q. As you're writing scripts, do you talk to the characters? A. Absolutely. Sometimes they crack me up with what they're saying, and they're not even really saying anything. You learn how to think in their brains, to think of what they'll think of next. Q. What keeps you going? A. The challenge is to keep coming up with ideas for attractions that will get people out of their houses. All the entertainment they need is in their homes now, so we want to put them into the stories. We're all about escapism. The people I work with make candles that look like candles, but they don't burn. They make snow that looks like real snow, but it isn't. That's the world I live in. I'm like Willie Wonka. I live in a world of pure imagination. Q. With Disney's purchase of Pixar, John Lasseter becomes principal creative adviser of Imagineering. Pixar has already worked with Imagineering on several attractions, but how might this effect what we see in the parks? A. I think it will influence things, but I don't know if it will change things that much. We have good momentum going now and so many ideas on the boards. I think when Lasseter comes by, he's going to help move them along, and we'll love to have his input. But even before this, we were at the beginning of a renaissance for Imagineering. It's something the creative group started among ourselves, saying 'Let's go for it. Let's do the best work we can possibly do.' It's understanding that when guests come to the parks, they want Disney. They want quality, immersive, family-entertainment experiences. So instead of trying to do new, hip things that maybe aren't so Disney, we do things that areDisney, in a new way that maintains the integrity of what Disney can deliver. Q. Is it true that the underwater characters in the sub ride will interact with guests? A. The hint is in the name of the attraction, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. You get to be their friends. We're playing. You'll still be in a sub underwater, but it's a whole new show. |
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Could
The Rumour Be True? Disney in Costa Rica?
Costa Rica is the only country that is being considered by the The Walt Disney Company for a television travel and adventure series called Adventures by Disney, which will be filmed in six countries; Italy, England, France and Canada. Lisa Haines, vice-president of Disney Parks and Resort, explained to the weekly financial newspaper El Financiero, that the local company Horizontes will be contracted for the Latin segment. Of course, the production depends on the people at Diseny being satisfied with the quality of services. A team will be in Costa Rica from June to October of this year. There hotels are being tested for customer service, the Marriott, Kioro Arenal and El Parador in Quepos. |
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Crown
prince, princess take Princess Aiko to Tokyo Disney Resort
Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako visited Tokyo Disney Resort with their daughter Princess Aiko on Monday, receiving a welcome from Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters. On Monday morning the family visited Tokyo Disney Sea. When the characters greeted Princess Aiko she appeared surprised and held on to her mother's hand. |
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Princess Aiko is scheduled to enter Gakushuin
Kindergarten in Tokyo's Toshima-ku in April, and after she
starts kindergarten, the family will have fewer chances to
go out together.
Imperial Household Agency officials said the crown prince and princess decided to take Princess Aiko to Tokyo Disney Resort because they wanted to "let her experience the same things other children of her generation are doing." On their tour of Tokyo Disney Sea, the family boarded a classic style bus usually reserved for attractions. Princess Aiko's friends and their families joined them on the visit. They were expected to visit Tokyo Disneyland, located next to Tokyo Disney Sea, on Monday afternoon. |
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For
the First Time, Walt Disney World Programming Available on
Comcast Video-On-Demand
In a first-time agreement, Walt Disney World Resort is making two specially produced concerts featuring Smash Mouth and Jim Brickman available on Comcast's ON DEMAND video- on-demand (VOD) service. The concerts, which were recorded at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, are available, free of charge, to Comcast Digital Cable customers with ON DEMAND. "Disney is the No. 1 family entertainment company in the world and Comcast is the nation's leading provider of cable and video-on-demand services. This cooperation to provide family-orientated video-on-demand content was a natural fit," said Michael Mendenhall, executive vice president of Marketing for Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts. "We're delighted to partner with Walt Disney World Resort to bring these two concert events to our customers," said Page Thompson, Comcast's senior vice president and general manager of Video Products. "Music videos and concerts continue to be some of the most popular programs on our ON DEMAND service." Walt Disney World Resort has produced two special shows for On Demand, including a Smash Mouth concert that has never aired before. These concerts will air in the Music Specials section of the ON DEMAND menu. * Smash Mouth Live! -- The pop group performs hits for a live audience at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista in this ON DEMAND exclusive. * Disney: Jim Brickman -- America's foremost platinum-selling pianist performs classic Disney songs at a live concert in the Magic Kingdom theme park. Magical Disney moments are reminisced through music, animation and rare footage. Additional information about Walt Disney World vacations, including a preview of the brand-new Expedition Everest attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida, also is available in the Travel category of the "Searchlight" section of the Comcast Spotlight category on the ON DEMAND menu. Viewers may visit http://www.disneyworld.com/vod to register for a chance to win a seven-day Walt Disney World vacation for four and be one of the first families to experience the new Expedition Everest attraction. The launch of the new Walt Disney World VOD is well-timed to correspond with the opening of Expedition Everest -- the newest attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Disney content offering also coincides with a peak vacation-planning period and appears during the 18-month "Happiest Celebration on Earth," honoring 50 years of Disney theme park magic around the world. "The Disney video-on-demand offering is consistent with our strategy to market in new media space and reach consumers through channels of new technology which they use and that they are embracing," said Mendenhall. "The video-on-demand format allows us to deliver a longer, richer, more interactive message to viewers and Disney fans alike." With ON DEMAND from Comcast, customers can choose from more than 4,000 programs -- including hundreds of movies, music videos and programs, kids' shows, sports highlights, news and informational programs and more - at any time, and can play, fast-forward, rewind and watch their selections as many times as they want. About Walt Disney World Resort Walt Disney World Resort, located at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., is a contiguous 47-square-mile, world-class entertainment and recreation center featuring four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom); two water adventure parks (Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon); 32 resort hotels (22 owned and operated by Walt Disney World); 99 holes of golf on six courses; two full-service spas; Disney's Wedding Pavilion; Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex; and Downtown Disney, an entertainment-shopping-dining complex encompassing the Marketplace, Pleasure Island and West Side. Walt Disney World Resort is also included in vacation packages of Disney Cruise Line. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with four business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment and consumer products. About Comcast Corporation Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA ) is the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services. With 21.4 million cable customers, 8.5 million high- speed Internet customers and 1.3 million voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content. The Company's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, OLN, G4, AZN Television, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One and four regional Comcast SportsNets. The Company also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia. Comcast Class A common stock and Class A Special common stock trade on The NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbols CMCSA and CMCSK, respectively. |
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Retelling
Nemo
Imagineer Kevin Rafferty’s idea sparked the story line for new Submarine ride coming to Disneyland. As a Walt Disney Imagineer, Kevin Rafferty's ideas and humor are all over the Disney theme parks. He has written stories and shows for attractions from Anaheim to Hong Kong, collaborating with a team of creative sculptors, architects, sound technicians and other specialists. As much as he loves his job, one part gives him grief. Try explaining to the dentist next door what you do. People don't get it. His oldest son, also Kevin, finally gave up and started telling his buddies that his dad sold popcorn at Disneyland. Rafferty spends most of his time these days at the Submarine lagoon, getting ready to open a new attraction next year. The old subs closed in 1998. He talked about how the ride developed, and how he became an Imagineer. Q: Your idea sparked the story line for the new submarine ride. How did you come up with it? A. I went to see James Cameron's (3-D I-max film) with a sub going down to the ocean floor. I started thinking about the subs (at Disneyland) and I thought there's got to be something we can do. … I walked out to the lobby and they were bringing in the big shark with Marlin and Dorie (advertising pieces for the "Finding Nemo" film) and I thought, 'This is a marriage made in heaven.' It's the Nemo characters in their undersea world … and what we do as Imagineers is immerse guests into the environments of our stories. … I got so excited about it – my family puts up with me – I grabbed some 3X5 cards and drew some 'fish stick ' characters and established the sequence of what the story could be for this attraction. Someone was working in our (research and development) at the time on new projection technology that would work to create the illusion of being under water …. and Tony Baxter (Imagineer) was going full bore with this mock-up in the lagoon to prove out that we could see the Nemo characters under real water. … So the whole thing came together at the same time, so we could sell the idea to management. … Sometimes that's how it works. Q: Do you have to think like a character to write the script? "You do, you do think like a character. I'll … read a script and start performing the (lines) to get a feel of the characters. Like Crush, 'Yo dudes, come on dudes.' Q: What are some of the challenges in telling a story that's under water? A: Our first instinct is to create a linear story. But on a 32-foot submarine, with a series of individual scenes and characters, the people at the front end of the sub will not see the same thing (passing through) as those at the end. … In my 28 years, this has been the biggest story challenge for us to figure out. The guest in the front of the sub will get a different audio and visual portion than someone at the end, but it will all be equal show value and they'll all get the gist of that scene and the meat of the story. ... The exciting part is that we'll have it all done and tested in a virtual world before we put it in the subs. Q. There are separate portholes in the subs to see the story, but how will people hear different audio tracks? A. We're developing audio with new fidelity that you've never heard before – and a killer sub woofer (he can't resist that line) Q: This is a collaborative project with Pixar, and Imagineers have worked with that film company on several projects. But Pixar's strength is animation, and Imagineers create physical attractions that people step into. How will that mix? A: In a way, it's almost like the guys from Pixar now are like the guys from Disney studios were in the '50s (when Walt asked them to build a theme park). They are reinterpreting the way they think into our three-dimensional world. So the best is yet to come. We're having a blast. Q. Pixar creates two-dimensional films on computer screens, and Imagineers work in a three-dimensional world. Tell the story of how excited Lasseter got when he saw the Imagineers' first character models from Monsters Inc. A. We put it on the conference room table and John comes walking in and his eyes got as wide as saucers and he stood looking at the model. … He backs out of the door and cups his hands to his mouth, and (yells), 'Everybody, get down here right now, and bring your adult diapers.' …. That's the world we live in. Q: How do you stay focused when you're working on multiple projects? A: It's like spinning plates, spinning plates. A lot of fun, craziness. … More people come into the story every day and start adding their two cents, so it just keeps getting better and better and better. Q: You started at Disneyland as a dishwasher at the Plaza Inn restaurant. How did that prepare you for Imagineering? A: That is the toughest job you'll ever have in your life.. Everything after that in my 28-year career was easier. You had the lunch crowd, dinner crowd, and in the summer endless lines of people coming through. … By the end of that summer, I was the old man of the dish room. People would come in for a day and say, 'I'm not doing that.' But it's like I tell my kids, 'Success comes before work only in the dictionary.' While I was working at park, I fell in love with it. So when I saw a job posting for WED (former name for Imagineering) to develop Epcot, I got all fired up. … I said, 'That's my dream. I'm going to draw and design all these great attractions.' |
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Stephen Venables was the first Briton to climb Everest without oxygen. In 1988 he joined a four-man team to pioneer a new route up the Kangshung Face, the biggest wall on the world's highest peak. Seven weeks after setting foot on it, he reached the summit, alone. So a trip with his 12-year-old son Edmond to the Disney version of the mountain in Florida should have been a walk in the park by comparison. Or so you would have thought... Theme parks make my hackles rise. I don't have much time for cute cartoon animals, and as for the notion of a Disney Everest expedition, that just seemed a complete travesty of everything I held dear. But my 12-year-old son Edmond was very keen so I decided to bury cynical preconceptions and take a look at Walt Disney World in Florida. And, as it turned out, I had a wonderful time. The new Everest ride was magnificent and far more terrifying than anything you ever have to do on a real mountain. But first a few impressions about the whole experience. I hadn't realized just how huge Walt Disney World is - a veritable state within a state, with its four main theme parks, two water parks, numerous resorts and an entire purple-signposted motorway network covering an area twice the size of Manhattan Island. Nor was I quite prepared for the dislocating incongruity of this make-believe world. We stayed at the flagship Animal Kingdom Lodge, where Maribou storks stood sentinel among giraffes and wildebeest outside our bedroom window. The last time I saw Maribou storks they were picking over the refuse heaps in downtown Nairobi; here they decorate spotless parkland, which was pleasantly warm in January. The other thing that bowled me over was the unfailing courtesy of the 'cast' - the 50,000 employees who keep the whole show running with such slick professionalism. Everyone, from the chambermaids to the brilliant acrobats in the Festival Of The Lion King, is cheerfully helpful and projects the same belief in the dream, totally unembarrassed by all that feel-good sentimentality. Like the magic wardrobe, the park gate is the portal to a parallel universe as dazzling as Narnia's. Top priority for Edmond and me was to get thoroughly frightened, although at the Blizzard Beach water park we did chicken out of the 55mph Summit Plummet. However, we tried all the other water slides and, at Epcot, subjected ourselves to the incredible G-force of Mission Space. What a thrill it was to stare out of the spaceship window at the great clouds of steam billowing round the gantry, towering vertically above you in the empty sky, then to feel that gigantic surge of power as eyes, lips and nostrils are pressed into the back of your skull and you are hurtled into outer space. Fantastic! The shows were good, too. I even managed to overcome my cartoon phobia to enjoy Mickey's Philharmagic, which Edmond assured me was the best 3D big-screen show he had seen. Also enjoyable was It's Tough To Be A Bug, in which the theatre is built into the roots of an enormous artificial tree and the digital insects hover right in front of your 3D spectacles with horrible reality. The live performers were also impressive. I loved the dazzling, acrobatic kitsch of the Festival Of The Lion King. Best of all was the highly trained avian cast of Flights Of Wonder, although Edmond found the bird trainer's patter a little cheesy and wasn't sure that he necessarily wanted to let a giant hornbill 'fly into his heart' - it could be very painful. But this was an ecological plug aimed probably at younger children. Ditto the vignette of slashed-and-burned tropical rainforest on the Kali River Rapids, where an environmental message is slipped seamlessly into a hugely enjoyable water ride through lush greenery close to the tiger, gorilla, tapir, okapi and ring-tailed lemur enclosures. The blending of real and fake scenery was superb and, as a climber, I have to confess that Disney granite looks and feels almost better than the real thing. Their karst limestone is pretty impressive, too. In the Asian section of Animal Kingdom there are some wonderfully crumbly, creeper-strangled, decaying remains of ancient Hindu temples and a splendid lorry - one of those old Bedford trucks, every square inch brilliantly painted in gorgeous decorative panels, like the pages of a medieval manuscript - which you still see grinding their way up the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan. A few paces take you 800 miles from Pakistan to Nepal - and the new Expedition Everest. Here the verisimilitude has been taken to new levels. Not on the mountain itself; spectacular as this 200ft high spire is, with its glinting turquoise icefall, it doesn't look much like Everest, which is actually a rather squat, blobby lump. No - the Disney Everest is sharp and pointy, because that's what people expect. But the approach to the mountain is lovingly authentic - here, as you queue, you really do feel that you could be in Nepal. With Disney, theming is everything. The idea, even while people wait in line for their chosen ride, is to entertain them by drawing them into that particular world of make-believe - in this case a mythical village called Serka Zong, where you pass from Norbu and Bob's booking office, through the various shops and the yeti museum, to the station to board your train on to the mountain. The architecture is a hybrid of Kathmandu Hindu and high Himalayan Buddhist. There is a magnificent pagoda-shaped temple, beautifully carved fretwork windows, Tibetan-style flat roofs stacked high with firewood, crumbling plasterwork revealing hand baked bricks, a roadside barber shop, beautifully distressed, faded reproductions of religious paintings, torn and peeling from ochre plasterwork, and jazzily painted shop signs advertising Shangri La Tours and Gupta's Store. There are messages from hippy travelers, turquoise and coral jewelery, Tibetan felt boots and gorgeous Chinese brocade ceremonial costumes. Crampons, ice axes, old oxygen bottles and chains of karabiners hang amid the cheap aluminum pots and kettles so familiar to anyone who has trekked in the Himalayas. The ubiquitous blue plastic storage barrels so loved by Himalayan climbers are also there, next to an old-fashioned, sit-up-and-beg Indian bicycle. Even the safety notice, warning tactfully that the seats and safety bars may prohibit 'guests of certain body shapes or sizes' - and there are plenty of them at Walt Disney World - is styled on standard Everest national park enameled notice boards, complete with rusting screw holes. A couple of days after our visit I spoke to Joe Rohde, creative executive of Walt Disney Imagineering - the man responsible for all this authentic detail. It turned out that he has been going to the Himalayas since 1989. He told me how his props buyer spent three months in Kathmandu, selecting, buying and commissioning special sculptures. He enthused about his own visits to remote areas, about 'the highly ritualized architecture' and 'the idea of sacred landscapes-He reminded me about the vertical black, white and red stripes painted on Tibetan houses, symbolizing underworld, sky and living world. All that knowledge and research and meticulous attention to detail - right down to the dodgy electric wiring in Norbu and Bob's office --has resulted in a level of Himalayan authenticity not seen since Herge's Tintin In Tibet. And, like Herge, Rohde has made the yeti the star of the show. He explained: 'We start out seeing the yeti as rumor, report and legend - something controlled by mankind - but then, as we journey up into the mountain, we see it for real, protecting the sacred landscape.' I don't know how many of the punters, queuing for their blast of vicarious terror, are going to appreciate that subtle symbolism. Never mind, it's there, in all its meticulous glory, for those who want to find it. And the ride into the mountain? It all starts very innocuously. The train looks rickety and quaint. Even though a heavy security bar is clamped over your lap, you are lulled into a sense of false security by its initial gentle trundle. Then, as you pass through a bamboo thicket, it does a couple of quick revs and spins, like Jeremy Clarkson idling half-heartedly with a new toy. It rumbles and ratchets up a steep bridge, past a waterfall tumbling into a chasm. Then you plunge into a tunnel and all hell breaks loose. Icy spindrift blasts your face as you spin giddily past half-glimpsed snowfields, then lunge back into another rocky tunnel. The train stops. Suddenly you are deafened by a hideous roar and you see, projected on to cavernous walls, the shadow of an immense apelike creature, ripping up track and beating its chest like King Kong. The train rumbles up another steep tunnel and you emerge, thankfully, into bright daylight - only to be confronted by twisted, mangled train tracks stopping dead in mid-air. Faced with this impasse, you just know that things are about to get seriously nasty. And sure enough, after a brief pause, the train hurtles backwards, down into the darkness, spinning like some malevolent centrifuge, flinging its screaming human cargo from side to side. As a mountaineer, I have spent years keeping a very tight control over my own destiny - going to potentially dangerous places, where I take my life in my own hands and am totally responsible for my own survival. Occasionally, at moments of crisis, that produces a little frisson of fear but nothing to compare with this blind, impotent terror - this total abdication of responsibility, where you just have to keep telling yourself that these people know what they are doing. Which of course they do. Rollercoasters are extremely safe. But it still requires a huge act of faith to believe that, when you are hurtling backwards through the darkness. A few moments later, you have to reactivate that faith as you emerge again from the tunnel, facing forwards this time, staring straight down an 80ft drop. That plummet finishes with a spiraling swerve back into another tunnel, where 'the most highly engineered audioanimatronics figure ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering' is waiting to make one final lunge at the train, leaving you scared witless and very apologetic for ever having dared to disturb the yeti's high mountain sanctuary. It was a tremendous ride - and now I want to get back to climbing some nice safe, gentle, un-frightening, real mountains. |
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Sunday March 12, 2006 |
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Chief Executive Bob Iger might have had top
billing at Walt Disney's shareholder meeting Friday in
Anaheim, but it was Pixar's John Lasseter who stole the
show.
Lasseter, who will become Disney's chief creative officer with the Burbank entertainment company's $7.4 billion acquisition of Emeryville computer-animation pioneer Pixar Animation Studios, regaled the Arrowhead Pond crowd with unscreened snippets of ``Cars'' and ``Ratatouille,'' the company's next two releases. The free-spirited Lasseter, who said he ``wore black tennis shoes'' because his wife told him to dress up for the meeting, also pledged to maintain Pixar's unparalleled standard of quality on Disney's future animated releases. Lasseter, who directed groundbreaking films including ``Toy Story,'' is Pixar's creative guru. ``I promise you we will make films that will entertain you from the time the lights go off in the theater,'' he said, drawing applause from a crowd that filled much of the arena's lower levels. Lasseter's appearance provided the most excitement in an otherwise routine affair that marked the second sedate meeting in a row, in stark contrast to 2004's shareholder revolt that led to the departure of Iger's predecessor, Michael Eisner. On Friday, shareholders brushed aside a proxy advisory company's recommendation to withhold their votes from Chairman George Mitchell, instead re-electing all 13 board members with a 94 percent yes vote. Mitchell, who earlier had said he would step down at the end of 2005, agreed to stay on the board through 2006, drawing the ire of some investors. The company is working on a succession plan to replace him. Shareholders also rejected two proposals that would have altered policies on labor standards for Chinese workers making Disney products, and on payments to those who would try to ``greenmail'' the company by demanding a premium for their stock in exchange for dropping a takeover attempt. By making Pixar a centerpiece of the meeting, Iger underscored two of his oft-stated strategic priorities -- refocusing the company on innovation and creativity, and moving it forward through new technologies. He made it clear that reviving Disney's vaunted animation business through the purchase of Pixar will be a key factor. ``To truly live up to our legacy, animation must be great,'' Iger said. ``We must create animated films that raise the standard of the art and become true classics for countless generations.'' Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs said the Pixar deal could close as soon as late April or early May. Pixar CEO Steve Jobs, who will take a seat on Disney's board and become the company's largest shareholder, was not at Friday's meeting. Among other initiatives, Iger told shareholders Disney-owned ABC will soon start showing episodes for free on ABC.com. The shows will include advertising. An advertisement-free option will be available for a per-episode fee. Disney was the first company to offer TV shows through Apple Computer's online iTunes store. The company's stock has risen by about 18 percent since Iger took over in October. Disney shares closed Friday at $28.16, up 7 cents. |
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You might soon see a familiar face on an
upcoming Disney production.
More
than six hundred people turned up yesterday at a casting
call in Providence
for the Disney film Underdog, hoping to catch a break. Walt
Disney is adapting the popular 1960s TV cartoon series into
a live-action movie. Filming is scheduled for April 3 in the
city. The film's canine lead character will be computer-generated. Organizers for the casting call say filmmakers are looking for nearly one-thousand extras. At least 250 people are needed for three scenes. |
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2nd `Narnia' film to land in 2007
A sequel to
the hit "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe" is to hit theaters late next year. |
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Bearded collies, like "The Shaggy Dog" in the movie, aren't for everybody If you've seen the new Disney movie "The Shaggy Dog," you might be thinking how cool it would be to have a bearded collie. In the movie, which opened Friday in Wichita, Tim Allen plays a workaholic dad who, with the help of a magic serum, turns into a sheepdog. Like the dog in the movie, "beardies" are beautiful, intelligent dogs with a sense of humor, says Hank Price of Goddard, who has owned the breed for nine years and is involved in bearded collie rescue efforts. But anyone thinking of buying a beardie needs to know what they are getting into, Price said. Bearded collies need a lot of exercise and a lot of grooming. They are not a low-maintenance dog that is going to "sit on the couch and drink beer with you." '101 Bearded Collies'? Price and Glenn Short of Commerce Township, Mich., who rescues bearded collies and runs a beardie Web site, love beardies but don't want to see them become too popular because of the movie. "The big concern is that you are going to have another '101 Dalmatians' type of thing, where people just go out for no good reason and buy a dog breed that they haven't got a clue whether it's the right fit for their family," Short said. After the movie "101 Dalmatians" came out in 1996, a lot of people fell in love with the adorable spotted puppies and decided they wanted one, said Stephanie Shain, director of outreach for the Humane Society of the United States. They expected the dogs to behave like the ones in the movie, and when they didn't -- or grew from puppies into dogs, or didn't fit into their lifestyle -- hundreds of Dalmatians ended up in animal shelters, Shain said. "Some shelters saw their populations of Dalmatians more than double," she said. Before buying any pet, people should do plenty of research and ask some important questions, Shain said: "What are some of the positive attributes of this dog, and what are some of the challenges?" Pluses and minuses Bearded collies are good-natured dogs that love people and like to have a good time, Price said. "My wife says the males are like a frat house looking for a keg." But "they were born and bred to herd sheep, from sunup to sundown," Price said. And if they don't have sheep to herd -- or another outlet for their energy -- they can get into trouble. "This is a 50-pound dog looking for a job, and he's gonna find something to do," Price said. Almost every day, rain or shine, Price takes Samson, his 8-year-old beardie, out to work sheep and goats at a friend's place near Schulte. "Samson would leave a T-bone steak to go herd sheep," Price said. "If he doesn't see sheep, he's just hell to live with." All that hair Bearded collies have a long, double coat that needs to be groomed regularly. If beardies are not properly groomed, they can have skin problems and their fur can get so badly matted that it has to be shaved, Short said. They also get a lot of stuff stuck in that long hair -- mud, sticks, leaves and other nasty debris. "My dog can't go out without bringing half the yard in," Short said. Price said he spends an hour or more at least once a week combing and brushing Samson. He owns more than $1,500 worth of grooming equipment -- special brushes and combs, he said. Once a month, he gives Samson a bath. "It takes three or four hours to brush him, bathe him, then brush him while he dries," he said. People who don't want to spend time on grooming can shave a beardie's hair short, Price said. "But if you're going to keep them clipped, why don't you get a shorthaired dog to begin with? Go adopt a greyhound or something." Got sheep? People don't have to have a farm with sheep for herding to own a bearded collie, Price and Short said. They just have to be willing to devote a lot of time to the dog -- with exercise, grooming, obedience training and companionship. "Otherwise," Price said, "you're going to end up with an unhappy dog and an unhappy owner." |
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There are plans to introduce a new "Pirates and Princesses" hard ticket event at the Magic Kingdom. Just like "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party" and "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party", the new event would take place after regular parks hours, and would require a separate ticket for entry. As part of the evening events there would be a Pirates and Princesses parade. This is just a rumor at this time and if it were to be true it would start at or around January 2007. |
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Disney's
Princesses bring their magic to Anaheim ice
Once Upon a time, in a land not so far away, a magical world of ice appeared, bringing with it famous princesses, a magnificent castle, waves of magic and color and awe-inspiring effects. And now this world has come to Anaheim. For five days, beginning Wednesday, Disney on Ice presents its most famous females in "Princess Classics" at the Arrowhead Pond. Produced by Feld Entertainment, the fairy tale on ice tells the tales of Snow White, Aurora, Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine, Ariel and Mulan. Boasting the largest set ever for Disney on Ice, scenic designer Eduardo Sicangco has created a versatile backdrop for the various princess stories. The three-story castle twists, turns and transforms into seven different scenes: 18th-century elegance for Cinderella; an Arabian palace for Jasmine in "Aladdin"; an underwater paradise for Ariel in "The Little Mermaid"; a medieval look for Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty"; a dark, forbidding presence for Belle in "Beauty and the Beast"; a far-Eastern fortress for Mulan; and a fanciful world for Snow White in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The freestanding castle is 33 feet tall and 35 feet wide. That's bigger than most Broadway sets — and it's portable. "It is really one of the most spectacular sets," says Robin Forsyth, a Canadian born skater who competed several years in the Canadian Nationals before giving her heart, and her talent, to Disney. Forsyth, 28, has been with "Princess Classics" since it opened four years ago and plays the role of Aurora. As a former competitor, she is used to high pressure precision skating. But, "the part of skating I enjoyed most was performing," she says. When Forsyth started with the show, she came in as a single skater. Switching to pair skating wasn't easy, but her prince came in the form of an old friend from Canada, Neal Countryman, who plays Prince Phillip. Forsyth says it's a match made in heaven. Not only do the skaters for Disney on Ice have to be highly skilled technically, they also have to resemble the part they play and have the ability to perform convincingly for the toughest audience — the 5-year-old who believes the magic. "There are so many parts of it that are really fun and exciting," Forsyth says. "They really made it an emotional show. It's about romance, and overcoming obstacles. The parents who grew up with these stories get really excited, not just the 5-year-olds. I've never seen that before with any other show." Denver-born Robyn Sudkamp, who plays Ariel, has been skating since she was 6 years old, and pair skating since she was 11. She fell in love with the ice when she saw her first ice show. "It's my passion," says Sudkamp, 28, who competed in the U.S. Nationals in 1991. Sudkamp and her partner Jonathan Poitras (Prince Eric), have been skating together for five years and lead classes on pair skating for those who are making the transition. Sudkamp is impressed with the show, especially the costumes by designer Gregg Barnes. "The fish for 'Under the Sea' are hand painted and airbrushed," says Sudkamp, "so they look like they're glowing." All the costumes are made with intricate detail. Barnes used his experience on Broadway to create designs that would capture the magic of Disney, but still allow the skaters to perform difficult choreography. In one scene, Sudkamp and her partner perform a skateless pair number, where her partner carries her over the ice for more than two minutes. It's this complexity of choreography by Tom Dickson and his wife, Catarina Lindgren, that really appeals to skaters like Sudkamp and Forsyth. Dickson, who was born in Pasadena and raised in Newport Beach, was named Choreographer of the Year in May 2002 by the Professional Skaters Association and the United States Figure Skating Association, and Lindgren is a former Olympian from her native country of Sweden. Both skaters spent years in singles competitions and now spend their time in Colorado choreographing world-class skaters. "Princess Classics" is the first large-scale show they've choreographed. "We were nervous at first," says Dickson. "But we really felt like everyone was behind us." When they first began choreographing the show, they had to juggle toddler twins and their own professional commitments. But the challenges this show offered were too good for them to pass up. "We were lucky to get this show because it has a lot of skating, and the costumes allow for more demanding routines," says Lindgren. "We wanted to make it as intricate as possible, but we also wanted to try to stay authentic. You can't bend your knees too far because you'll trip over your skirt. We were able to work with that," says Lindgren, who actually skated in mock skirts so that she could get a feel for the range of movement the skaters would have. Choreographing the show required a wide range of creative expression, which took form in some surprising ways, Lindgren said. For example, in choreographing the song "Under the Sea" from "The Little Mermaid," they recorded a session of impromptu skating to the music. They later looked at the recording and picked out what they liked. However, for a complicated and crowded piece like "Aladdin's" parade precession in the song "Prince Ali," they had to work out the staging more strategically, by using a checkerboard. But the most challenging was choreographing the Seven Dwarfs, Lindgren said. "For the dwarfs, we came up with this musical chairs routine. They had to learn a lot of intricate steps. The costumes were limiting, but we didn't want them to skate around in a circle. We wanted to create something that we would be interested in watching if we came to the show," says Lindgren. However, Dickson adds, the chairs had to be specially made to accommodate the large derrieres of the costumes. "This show brings together the best of what used to be and what is now in professional skating," says Dickson, referring to their use of traditional figure skating moves and new forms of synchronized skating in their routines. With spectacular sets, stunning costumes, professional skaters and renowned choreographers, "Princess Classics" transports the audience to another time and place where magic is real and people do live happily ever after. |
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In an attempt to utilize some alternate
means of advertising, Disney has employed Myspace to
create some buzz for their upcoming horror flick, Stay
Alive. Stay Alive tells the story of a group
of friends who discover a brutal video game which turns
deadly - the gamers die as their characters in the game
die. The main character of the film is be a guy named
Hutch, who now has his very own Myspace, in which he has
been chronicling a few events leading up to the story of
the film. Hutch uses the About Me section of his site to
explain that he's a horror genre fanatic; he loves scary
movies and games, listing Resident Evil 4 and Silent
Hill 4 among his favorites. He goes on to say that
he's recently got his hands on a beta version of a new
horror game called Stay Alive, which a friend had been
testing for the company that produced it. He says he's
never seen anything like this game in terms of brutal
horror; "if there was a line, this game leaped over
it and turned around to take a piss on it."
It's becoming more and more common for studios to use the internet as a forum for advertising, which makes plenty of sense since today's younger generations practically live online. I've personally never gotten into the Myspace fad, but I know that it is quite the popular site, so it seems like an obvious choice for such a venture. Are such "alternate" means of advertising successful? It's probably far to early to find any concrete stats on that yet, but I'll say this: Hutch has good taste - RE4 was a fantastic game. |
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