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| MickeyXtreme's News Archive October 14-20 2007 | ||
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Thursday October, 18 2007 | ||
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Company recalls cookies sold at Disney theme parks
Orlando Sentinel - A company that makes Minnie's Bake Shop cookies for Disney is recalling packages of chocolate-chip cookies that were sold in Walt Disney World theme parks. The manufacturer, Dairy State Foods of Milwaukee, mistakenly put cookies containing macadamia nuts inside packages labeled Minnie's Bake Shop Chocolate Chunk Cookies -- posing a possible hazard for anyone allergic to nuts. The cookies were sold in 7-ounce packages at Walt Disney World from Sept. 18 through Oct. 2. Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez said the packages of cookies have been pulled off the shelves at Disney World. Dairy State Foods, meanwhile, has corrected the breakdown in the packaging process. Visitors who bought packages of the cookies should look for packages with a UPC number 400136148117. Consumers with questions should call 1-800-435-4499 for more information. | ||
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Changes at Disney's
Animal Kingdom Orlando Sentinel - Beth Stevens, who as vice president of Animal Kingdom oversaw all of Disney World's animal-science programs, has been promoted to senior vice president for environmental affairs for Disney Worldwide Services. That gives her oversight of environmental and conservation programs throughout Walt Disney Co., from international endangered-species preservation and wildlife-habitat management to the use of biodiesel fuels and the creation of environmentally friendly "green" hotels. Stevens will remain based in Orlando, where she helped open Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park in 1998, helped found and lead the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund, and helped manage zoological programs throughout the giant resort.
Val Bunting, a 31-year Disney World
veteran who also helped with Animal Kingdom's opening and most
recently was general manager of the Magic Kingdom, replaces
Stevens as vice president of Animal Kingdom. | ||
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Bleu
leaving Disney for 'Metal' Variety - "High School Musical" co-star Corbin Bleu is leaving the Disney Channel fold to topline "Metal Birding," a motocross actioner for Rigel Entertainment. Bleu will portray a motocross racer who dreams of winning the Amateur National Championships, but must juggle his passion for the sport while struggling to support his family. Jeff Woolnough ("Taken," "Battlestar Galactica") helms from a script by Jeffrey Nicholson and Joshua Leibner. Rigel is producing in association with Up North Entertainment. Executive producers include Rigel's John F.S. Laing, David Doerksen and Jim O'Grady of Waterfront Pictures and Michael Emanuel of Canal Street Films. Randy James of James/Levy Management, Blueman Inc.'s David Reivers, and Donald Paul Pemrick and Dean E. Fronk of Pemrick/Fronk Casting also are exec producing the project. Pic starts lensing in November in Vancouver. Rigel has previously produced Stuart Gordon's "Stuck," "Blonde and Blonder" and "When a Man Falls in the Forest." Once "Birding" is complete, Bleu will likely return to co-star in the third installment of the "High School Musical" franchise, which Disney will release theatrically next year. In January, he starred in "Jump In!" a Disney Channel pic that bowed to strong ratings. | ||
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Fantasy
fulfilled at the world of Disney The Economic Times - The world of Disney has fascinated me right from my childhood. It was this wonderful world magic and fairytale, with everyone having so much fun that as I grew up I wondered if it was too good to be true, in fact! But what better way of seeing for myself whether the wonder of Disney is all that it's cranked up to be than aiming for a trip to Disney...someday. With Disneyland Resort Paris once better known as EuroDisney) celebrating its 15th anniversary, it was an easy choice for a vacation. It won by a unanimous vote in the Goel family! Our trip started with surfing the Disney website, choosing a hotel inside the resort and making a booking through the Disney call center. Booking confirmations and detailed brochure was sent to us on email. Our luggage included the usual jogging shoes, some funky clothes with umbrellas (weather reports predicted some rain), hand bags and importantly, some packed ladoos and namkeen (being vegetarian), a good camera and a laptop. We certainly didn't want 1GB memory cards to restrict the number of photos we could click! The moment we collected our baggage in at Charles de Gaulle airport we practically rushed to catch the VEA bus, a Disney shuttle service, to Disneyland which is around 20 miles outside Paris. We checked into our Disney hotel Cheyenne - a budget hotel on the cowboy theme - collected our passes, park maps, magic (extra) hour timings, live shows and Disney Parade schedules and touched base in the room only to drop our bags! The kids just wouldn't rest at all despite the long fligh. So seeing their energy levels we decided to check out the parks right away. We hopped into the free Disney shuttle at the hotel and reached the park in two minutes, a clear advantage of staying in a Disney Hotel. Disneyland is even more beautiful that was we saw in various promo literature in print and TV. The Sleeping Beauty Castle is breathtaking and the architecture is straight out of a fantasy. Appropriately! Since we reached around closing time, we were able to take only three rides at Fantasyland, one of the parks built around the theme of great Disney Classics - Dumbo the Flying Elephant, the giant Le Carrousel de Lancelot and Voyages of Pinocchio. Each ride is built for maximum enjoyment and regulates the rush with ease... Dinner at the hotel was a disappointment for us vegetarians as the buffet had mainly non-veg dishes and costed 20 Euro per person. Thereafter, our dinner would usually be cheese burgers and French fries at the Disney Village, the food court of the resort. First things first, being away from any local supermarket nearby, shopping in Disney is reasonably expensive. Communication is largely French with some rides using only French, no English. So daytrips were planned the previous night with clear ideas of which park to visit and what rides to take. The roller coasters, live shows and the Disney parade that has been created by Disney for this anniversary were top of the list! Our first full day at the resort began with breakfast and some cool snaps with Disney characters at the hotel. One thing was certain, seeing "live" Disney characters make children and adults go equally crazy! We decided to get a firsthand feel of Disney Studio on the first day - the world of movies and animation. Disney Studio has carefully structured this park to introduce children and adults alike to the art of movie making, stunts and even creating cartoons by drawing them in a studio. Our first ride of the day was the Rock-n-roll roller coaster with Aerosmith, and what a whirlwind ride that was. Accelerating from 0-60 mph in just three seconds and spinning at higher speed in all possible turns, this ride was simply awesome. Our stint with Special Effects was quite thrilling as we experienced what it feels to be hit by a meteor while in a space ship on the sets of Armageddon. Equally thrilling was the live stunt show of cars and bikes that shot a real chase sequence on a real set - with a hero. And imagine being on the sets of a mountain which gets flooded by torrential rains and a dam overflows. It is just amazing. But safe! More than the kids, we loved it! The Disney parade at the studio was a spectacular show of characters from some of the Disney movies celebrating the magic of cinema. For next three days we raided the Disney Parks. We started with Adventure Land, a theme park for adventurers and explorers. The Indiana Jones roller coaster was really hard on the stomach - with two loop-in-loop ride that really turned us upside down twice at an amazing speed and perfection. A boat ride at the Pirates of the Caribbean was much easier journey that took us to the world of pirates - fire, loot, gun fight - just like the real pirates did it back in time. But the 21st century touch was the souvenir shops at every corner! And we could see photos of ourselves on the roller coasters on our way out - on the screens. All parks have restaurants and popcorn vans -theme-wise - that offer the usual burger-pizza-coke combinations. Mainstreet USA, for example, is a theme park built as a 20th century American town with only shopping and dining. Being away from any local supermarket nearby, shopping in Disney is reasonably expensive. Communication is largely French with some rides using only French, no English. Frontierland was quite exciting, built on the theme back in time when the 'west was won'. The biggest greatest attraction was the authentic giant paddle wheel river boat. The Phantom Manor took us through a 19 century haunted mansion. The narration was in French but you don't need language to visit a spooky mansion! It was time for the live show 'Tarzan' at the Chaperal theater - a great experience of good script choreographed and performed perfectly by the artists on the sets of the jungle. On our third and last day, we went to Discovery Land - a theme park based on science and technology. Apart from the normal rides and the roller coaster that took us through the universe, the main attraction was the show of Lion King and the 3D studio presenting Honey I shrunk the Audience where we could actually feel rats that run loose as part of the script going through our feet! A lot of travel groups had come to see Disneyland but had to hurry since the tour operators only gave them one day at the park. To do justice one must at least spend 3 to 4 days. And staying inside the complex made is easy for the children to rest but still get back quickly. Our last stop was Disney Village, which also has the Buffalo Bill Wild West show. But this show is not free. At Euro 50 per adult and Euro 39 per child, we decided to give it a miss as it was later in the evening and the food was mostly non-vegetarian! Instead we went for a hot-air balloon ride for an aerial view of the Disneyland - our fantasy come true! | ||
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Disney's
Sexiness Challenge ERE Media - Eighty-four-year-old Disney has tough recruiting competition from "sexy" companies such as Google, eBay, and Electronic Arts, a Disney VP of talent acquisition, Anne Ceruti, said at the ERE Expo in Washington, D.C. Even accounting firms are sometimes thought of as "sexy" now, Ceruti says. "Who would have thought that?" she asks. Disney is doing a number of things in response. For one, it's upgrading its training offerings to include more virtual learning opportunities. Though Disney's leadership hasn't always embraced it (and, she says, some leaders still aren't embracing it), the company is trying to be more flexible with employees and improve its work-life balance. The new CEO (the "Bob Iger effect," she says) has encouraged more risk-taking, such as the Pixar and Club Penguin acquisitions, and has helped the company's stock price. Ceruti says she and others on the team are "keeping a very steady pulse on the labor market" so they're armed with facts and figures, such as what it'll cost to recruit an accountant who's currently working in investment banking. It's also improving its employee referral program, particularly for professional hires. Ceruti has worked particularly hard to improve the attraction and retention of accounting and financial professionals. Disney had to come to grips with its perception in the employment marketplace: it has been thought of as a company with long hours and not enough rewards. This was "a little bit of a wake-up call," she says. Ceruti recruited CFOs throughout Disney -- whether at theme parks or consumer products or the Internet group - to sit on a talent advisory board that worked on a new approach to compensation, an improved attitude toward work-life balance, better hiring tools (such as a behavioral assessment), the creation of a pipeline of future employees, and sponsorship of junior, non-CPAs to sit for the CPA exam. If you're at Disney and you have hiring responsibility, you may get a "quarterly client update" from Disney's talent-acquisition team with relevant articles from the Economist and other publications, as well as marketplace data, anecdotes about job candidates who have taken jobs at the competition, and more talent-related information. Surprisingly, Ceruti has only six people on her recruiting team, but still fills two jobs daily. It has augmented that team with a group of "all women, all moms" that make up a four-person research team. She has only one person who handles placing temps throughout Disney. "We are busy," she says. Among the many recruiting challenges still on the recruiting team's plate: improving the usefulness and, again, the sexiness, of the Disney.com career site. The current sites across the Disney empire range from boring to difficult to navigate to non-existent. To help rebuild the Disney careers site, the company is using a firm with consumer experience, not careers site experience. It has only had an applicant tracking system for 16 months; prior, it did it all manually. All told, Ceruti says she's trying to learn from past mistakes, listen to her employees, and simply make the place a better one to work at. "We've really turned the corner," she says. | ||
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Disney Air' Blu-ray Back in Flight High-Def Digest - Disney has apparently made a New Year's resolution to reschedule all of its previously-delayed Blu-ray action titles, issuing a January 8, 2008 release date for 'Con Air.' As we reported earlier this morning, 'Con Air' was one of a trio of action titles (alongside 'The Rock' and 'Crimson Tide') that were originally scheduled for release this past June, only to be post 613]subsequently yanked[/post] from the studio's schedule with no new dates in the offing. Now, after weeks of rumors, the studio has confirmed that 'Con Air' will be among its first 2008 Blu-ray titles, hitting store shelves on January 8, the same date as 'The Rock.' (Note that the studio has yet to confirm a date for the third title in the trio, 'Crimson Tide,' but it's currently expected sometime in February). A full press release with complete details for 'Con Air' is due shortly, but Disney did tell us that the disc will include the studio's usual 1080p video and an uncompressed PCM 5.1 Surround track (at 48kHz/24-bit). There are no supplemental details available yet, but we'll certainly keep you posted. Retail for the Blu-ray will list for $29.99. | ||
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Disney Pin Trading - How to Trade Disney Pins at the Walt
Disney World Theme Parks American Chronicle - Ever since Disney introduced pin trading to the Walt Disney World theme parks in order to celebrate the changing of the Millennium, pin trading has become one of the main reasons that some collectors look forward to visiting the parks. It's a fun way of interacting with both cast members and other park guests and if you are heading to one of the theme parks by yourself, it is an excellent way to strike up conversation and meet some new friends. The Walt Disney World Resort has pin trading stations and kiosks located at each of the parks, with the largest locations, titled Pin Central, at Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney. A Pin Central location will often feature large gatherings of pin collectors showing off their albums of Disney pins and doing some trading. Pin trading is also popular at Disneyland in California and at some of the international Disney theme parks as well, but you'll find the bulk of the action in Orlando and Anaheim. If you're new to pin trading and aren't comfortable approaching other guests to ask if they'd like to trade with you, it's best to start trading with Disney cast members. All of the Disney employees who have pins to trade will be wearing a Disney pin lanyard with about a dozen pins around their neck or they will be wearing an assortment on a "hip lanyard". To make pin trading more fun for kids, Disney has recently introduced various colors of lanyards to indicate that some cast members will only be trading with children ages 3-12. In Walt Disney World, this lanyard is green and at Disneyland it is teal. So you'll need to be under 12 years old to trade pins with a cast member wearing one of these lanyards. Adult guests are free to trade with cast members wearing any other color lanyard. Disney has also released a guide to pin trading etiquette, but most of the rules are common sense and courtesy. For instance, if a cast member is busy with another guest, you'll need to wait your turn. You shouldn't remove or even touch a pin worn by a cast member. They will always hold the lanyard away from their body so you can look at them all and then you simply tell them which one you would like to trade and they will remove it for you. All pins are traded hand to hand. These rules are best followed when trading with other guest as well, since many people will actually be wearing their pins and it helps avoid misunderstandings. If you are trading with a guest who has an album instead of a lanyard, it is always polite to ask first before handling the pins and make sure your hands are clean! It's also worth noting that you are not obligated to trade. It's perfectly fine to just look at someone else's pins without conducting a trade! While cast members are required to participate in pin trading with guests, Disney has set up rules as well to avoid some of the abuses that took place when the pin trading frenzy commenced several years ago -- this means that all pins traded must be the correct style -- a Disney-issued pin made out of metal. Pins with names on them cannot be traded with a cast member and they won't be able to trade duplicate pins either. So if a cast member is already wearing a pin that you want to give them, you'll need to select a different pin from your stash. In addition, you can only trade with each cast member twice. But don't worry about that as there are many pin-trading cast members in the parks and all of the cast members at the pin stations and kiosks will be wearing lanyards so they can trade with you. If you decide to purchase pins before visiting Walt Disney World, solely for trading, then it is a good idea to make sure they are all unique. You should look for a mixed Disney Pin trading lot rather than purchasing multiple quantities of a single pin. By buying a collection of pins, even a small one, you can frequently get a much better price on individual pins than the prices they command in the park, which run between $6.95 to $15.95 on average. | ||
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Media, Web
Companies Set Copyright Rules
AP - A coalition of major media and Internet companies Thursday issued a set of guidelines for handling copyright-protected videos on large user-generated sites such as MySpace. Conspicuously absent was Google Inc., whose YouTube Web site this week rolled out its own technology to filter copyrighted videos once they've been posted. Media companies Walt Disney Co., Viacom Inc., CBS Corp., NBC Universal and News Corp. joined Internet companies Microsoft Corp., MySpace, Veoh Networks and Dailymotion to issue the guidelines, which would require sites to use filtering technology to block copyrighted clips from being posted without permission. The incentive for the coalition's Web sites and others to comply is the media companies' promise not to sue if any copyrighted material sneaks past their best efforts to block it. "Today's announcement marks a significant step in transforming the Internet from a Wild West to a popular medium that respects the rule of law," NBC Universal president and chief executive Jeff Zucker said in a statement. "By recognizing the mutual benefits of a technology-based framework to control piracy, technology and content companies have laid the foundation for the lawful growth of video on the Internet." Web companies that are being sued by content owners might be reluctant to join such coalitions, especially when other coalition members are seeking compensation for past violations, said Internet attorney Andrew Bridges of the San Francisco firm Winston & Strawn. "In general, it's not a surprise that companies in litigation can be reluctant to join something that may be only a partial resolution to an overall dispute," Bridges said. Bridges called Thursday's guidelines more of a treaty than a contract, noting that the coalition members specifically stated that the guidelines do not preclude any company from seeking legal remedies in a dispute. "These principles may be a noteworthy attempt to reach some common ground that could minimize friction and minimizing friction is good for everybody except the lawyers," Bridges said. The guidelines, which do not apply to search engines, e-mail or browsers, are designed for sites that host user-generated clips -- like YouTube. YouTube, which is being sued by Viacom for allowing copyrighted videos to be posted on its site, announced its long-awaited filtering technology Monday. That technology would identify unauthorized content after it is posted on the site, then take steps to remove it. In contrast, Thursday's guidelines require that sites use technology to block offending clips before they are posted online. The guidelines also require Web sites to identify Web sites that repeatedly try to upload unauthorized content and either block those sites or remove links to them. Media representatives who asked not to be quoted said that Google had initially participated in discussions, but later decided not to participate in the coalition. YouTube issued a statement Thursday that reopened the door for cooperation. "We appreciate ideas from the various media companies on effective content identification technologies," Jeremy Doig, YouTube director of engineering, said. "We're glad that they recognize the need to cooperate on these issues, and we'll keep working with them to refine our industry-leading tools." Viacom chief executive Philippe Dauman said Thursday he was surprised when Google's announcement of new filtering technology came out just days before the coalition announced its guidelines. "They knew about this announcement today," Dauman said at a Web conference in San Francisco For his part, Dauman said he kept a "completely open mind" when he met one year ago with Google CEO Eric Schmidt. "They talked then about having a filtering system," Dauman said. "They can do things very quickly when they want to.... I guess they haven't wanted to." Despite Viacom's pending $1 billion lawsuit against Google, Dauman predicted that "at some point in the future we'll work with Google." The new guidelines require Internet companies to have in place by the end of 2007 filtering software that blocks all content media companies flag as being unauthorized. The guidelines also require that user-generated video sites also keep their filtering technology up to date, and they call for cooperation between media and Web companies to allow "wholly original" user-generated videos to be posted and to accommodate "fair use" of copyrighted material as allowed under law. The guidelines do not specify how liberally or conservatively the term "fair use" will be defined. Fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright act allow segments of copyrighted works to be used for purposes of parody or satire or in reviews and other limited circumstances. | ||
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Wednesday October, 17 2007 | ||
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Disney Announces Significant Expansion Plan for Disneyland
Resort Disney News - The Walt Disney Company today unveiled a significant multi-year expansion plan for the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim that continues its growth as a multi-day, world-class tourist destination.
“The success of the Disneyland Resort over the past few years provides us with both the opportunity and the need to invest for growth, to enhance and expand the experience for our guests and attract new visitors, while at the same time delivering attractive returns on the investment,” said Iger. “This plan is a reflection of our belief in the bright future of the Disneyland Resort and our continuing commitment to grow the Anaheim Resort Area as a world class tourist destination.”
The expansive program reaches throughout Disney’s California Adventure, with an amazing Little Mermaid attraction, a groundbreaking, signature nighttime spectacular and new viewing area for 9,000, and the addition of the 12-acre Cars Land featuring the world of Radiator Springs with three new attractions. Extensive landscaping, new retail and dining will create an even richer environment throughout the park in ways that reinforce Guests’ connection with Walt.
The expansion is part of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts’ overall growth strategy of continuing to invest in its core business of existing parks and resorts around the world, while exploring new opportunities to capture more of the growing family vacation market. This announcement follows Disney’s ground-breaking last month for a 250-room expansion of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, including 50 rooms dedicated to the West Coast debut of Disney Vacation Club, the company’s growing time share business. | ||
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Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival March 19-June 1,
2008 Goofy catches a topiary wave while Mickey Mouse and gal pal Minnie chill at the "beach" for the 15th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival March 19-June 1 at Walt Disney World Resort. Last year's popular 60-day event has sprouted runners and expands to a full 75 days with its first-ever March launch, offering oceans of floral fantasy and gardening fun. As guests enter the park near Spaceship Earth, they'll spot a 14-foot Goofy topiary riding a 6-foot wave of flowers and plants. Sandcastles, palm trees and starfish will surround Mickey and Minnie topiaries posed on a floral beach towel spread upon a sandy "beach." At World Showcase Plaza, Disney topiary specialists will craft a volleyball beach scene starring Donald Duck and Daisy. Nearby, a topiary Pluto will frolic with topiary sand crabs while colorful Stitch from "Lilo and Stitch" keeps watch from a lifeguard stand. Other new festival fun in store includes: Other beloved Disney characters like Lady and the Tramp and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will make topiary appearances for perfect photo ops in the park. In all, there will be up to 70 topiaries -- plus 30 million blooms, artfully designed floral beds, expertly crafted bonsai trees and lush rose gardens -- gracing the 300 acres of Future World and World Showcase. And Minnie's Magnificent Butterfly Garden returns with hundreds of butterflies in a walk-through screened enclosure featuring a live exhibit showing how caterpillars form a chrysalis and emerge as butterflies. To keep flowers and plants at their peak, Disney's horticultural team will plant two crop rotations during the fest, allowing for a more brilliant floral display for the festival's duration, says Disney horticultural manager Eric Darden. Beyond the dazzling displays of blooms, the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is known by gardening aficionados for its celebrity guest speakers, hands-on seminars and innovative planting demonstrations and exhibits such as a new Florida-style outdoor living display. Each evening, Flower Power concerts will rock the park with live entertainment from top acts of the 1960s and '70s. Featured acts will include The Guess Who, Davy Jones, Jose Feliciano, Petula Clark, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and other crowd pleasers. More festival highlights include: More information about the 15th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is available by calling 407/W-DISNEY (934-7639) or by visiting disneyworld.com/flower. The festival, including all gardening programs and exhibits, is included in regular Epcot admission. | ||
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Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour
Headed to Digital 3D Movie Theaters "Hannah Montana" fans everywhere will have a chance to see their favorite singer, songwriter and actress, Miley Cyrus, perform her sold-out Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour on the big screen for one-week only with a special Disney Digital 3D(TM) presentation coming exclusively to movie theaters in the US and Canada from February 1-7 2008, it was announced today by Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. The film will also open in several international markets in spring '08 which include UK, Australia, New Zealand, German speaking Europe, Latin America and other selected Asian and European territories. This filmed version of the concert tour will be shot in state-of-the-art 3D at several venues during the upcoming 54-city tour, which begins in St. Louis on October 18th with Cyrus's special guest, Jonas Brothers. The film is directed by Bruce Hendricks (ESPN'S Ultimate X: The Movie) and produced by Art Repola (ESPN'S Ultimate X: The Movie) from the concert tour created and directed by Kenny Ortega (High School Musical). Cyrus, the 14-year old singing sensation and star of Disney Channel's hit series, will perform as both a solo artist and as her hugely popular television character, Hannah Montana. The series is currently in its second smash season, and has attracted legions of fans all over the world. Commenting on the announcement, Cook said, "Miley is one of the most exciting and talented performers of her generation and watching her on the concert stage is a genuine thrill. As soon as she committed to the Best of Both Worlds tour last winter, we wanted to find some special way to let all of her fans share the excitement and fun of this live event, and filming the concert in 3D seemed like an ideal way to do that. This is going to be an exciting 3D motion picture event experience for everyone who loves 'Hannah Montana.'" Bob Cavallo, chairman, Disney Music Group, added, "Miley Cyrus continues to be one of today's most popular performers as the recent #1 debut of her 2-CD set, Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus, on the July Billboard Top 200 Chart demonstrates. She is a fantastic live performer and this film is a great way to see her doing what she does best." Rich Ross, president, Disney Channel Worldwide, said, "The success of 'Hannah Montana' on Disney Channel and our broadcast partners worldwide is nothing short of sensational and we're so proud that the characters, the stories, the music and our stars have connected so strongly to kids and families everywhere." "Hannah Montana" is seen on Disney Channels all over the world and on DisneyChannel.com via streaming broadband video. 2007-to-date and for 2006, it was the #1 series on basic cable in the U.S. among Kids 6-11 and Tweens and, across all television, was second only to "American Idol" in those key youth demographics. It is also seen Saturday mornings on the ABC Television Network's "ABC Kids" programming block. In October 2006, the Hannah Montana soundtrack became the first ever TV soundtrack to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, and turned Miley into a multi-platinum recording artist. Her latest CD, Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus, was released on July 24th, and scanned over 325,000 units in its first week, to become the top selling album in the U.S. | ||
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‘Musical’
star Hudgens not dumped by Disney MSNBC - Despite reports to the contrary, Disney has not cut ties with “High School Musical” star Vanessa Hudgens, Access Hollywood has confirmed. While OK! magazine reported the teen star had been dumped from the next “HSM” film in the wake of her nude photo scandal, a rep for Hudgens told Access that was not the case. “Totally untrue. It is an old rumor,” the rep told Access. “OK! magazine never bothered to fact check with me but they did call Disney who said it wasn’t true, but yet OK! ran it anyway. Apparently OK! magazine was having a slow news day.” | ||
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A Prince of a Guy | ||
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Disneyland's Ugly Siamese Twin The Motley Fool - Disney (NYSE: DIS) has a traffic flow problem. Every day, the entrance to its experimental Disney's California Adventure theme park competes just a few yards away from the turnstiles to its iconic Disneyland. And loses. Greeting just less than 6 million guests a year -- against the 15 million visitors that flock to Disney's original theme park -- California Adventure is drawing a little more than one guest for every three that choose Disneyland. Now, one could argue that Disney shouldn't complain. With 21 million guests between the two parks, it tops the 19.3 million visitors that regional player Cedar Fair (NYSE: FUN) welcomed to its 18-park chain last year. And Disney doesn't feel as if it is competing against itself in the daily battle for guests that takes place in the open space between the two parks. A more attractive California Adventure will be incremental -- not cannibalistic -- to the number of guests heading to the resort. Disney knows that it needs to spend money to make money at the fledgling park. This morning's Wall Street Journal details the family entertainment giant's plan to earmark $1.1 billion in capital improvements over the next five years -- more than it cost to build the park in the first place. California dreaming The upgrades have helped, but it's been like putting lipstick on a talking pig. The concept is a hard sell, no matter how Disney dolls it up. No one wants to pay $66 to tour a fake tortilla factory or go on off-the-shelf carnival rides. If a family loves rides, they will get a better selection of both kiddy and thrill rides a few minutes away at Cedar Fair's Knott's Berry Farm or an hour away at Six Flags' (NYSE: SIX) Magic Mountain. It's true that a single exceptionally thrilling or interesting "E-ticket" attraction can save a fledgling park. [I have been a vocal critic of Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida for years, for instance, but my cynicism has faded now that the addition of Expedition Everest is keeping guests from running for the exits in the middle of the day.] As it is now, a pass-holder can cherry-pick from the handful of attractions worth experiencing at California Adventure before bolting to the more complete Disneyland. A day guest would be hard-pressed to pay as much for California Adventure as a one-day ticket to Disneyland. The obvious solution would be to lower the admission price to California Adventure, but that would devalue the park forever. Making it equal in perceived value to Disneyland is the ideal fix. Hopefully Disney will get there over the next five years. A whole new world The Cars Land attraction that is mentioned in this morning's Journal won't come as a surprise to shareholders who thumbed through last year's annual report. It featured concept art of a Radiator Springs racing attraction, a cross between a dual-track version of Epcot's Test Track in Florida and the popular Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland. Leaning on recent animated hits, mostly from the Pixar camp, is a sharp move. Plenty of companies are competing for the family travel dollar. Great Wolf (Nasdaq: WOLF) continues to inch closer to Disney's geographical markets with its indoor waterpark resort expansion. Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Nickelodeon is opening an indoor theme park in Minnesota next year. It is also teaming up with Marriott (NYSE: MAR) to open Nickelodeon Resorts around the country, with the first one opening an hour away from Disneyland come 2010. So Disney can't afford to let a park that bears its name languish. Its reputation is at stake. Dollars are at stake, too. Occupancy rates at its Disneyland hotels have always run high, but having a one-two punch with two blockbuster parks will give Disney the luxury to inch its overnight rates higher. In a few years, California Adventure should have a remodeled, Disneyfied entrance and several "can't-miss" attractions. The battle at the turnstiles will no longer be between an inferior park and its more attractive sibling. It will be in the minds of guests, wondering which marquee park to visit today, before returning to hit the other tomorrow. | ||
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Enchanted To Be
Disney’s Shrek?
 Product Reviews - I’m not embarrassed to admit that I’m
looking forward to watching Disney’s Enchanted. Sure it’s a
love-story and a total family film but I think it has huge
potential. For one, Amy Adams is a great actress and the fact
that Disney is adamant that Enchanted could be their Shrek,
makes me more confident this movie will be awesome.At ShowEast the presenter, Diego Lerner of Disney, told the audience that Disney sees Enchanted as a Franchise. Apparently, they believe the film will be huge enough to spawn a couple of sequels. Could Lerner be hyping up the film to the exhibitors in attendance? I don’t think so, I actually believe the film could be big enough for sequels and I hope it is good, I’ve been looking forward to it for a while now. If you don’t know what Enchanted is all about, read the official plot synopsis below: A classic Disney fairytale collides with modern-day New York City in a story about a fairytale princess (Amy Adams) from the past who is thrust into present-day by an evil queen (Susan Sarandon). You can catch Enchanted in theaters on November 21st 2007. | ||
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Tuesday October, 16 2007 | ||
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T-Rex coming to
Downtown Disney Orlando Sentinel - Work has begun on Walt Disney World's latest full-service, themed restaurant, the T-Rex, to be opened at Downtown Disney in a partnership with Landry's Restaurants out of Houston. Construction walls went up last week around the location in Downtown Disney's Marketplace area, between the McDonalds and Pleasure Island. T-Rex is to become a full-menu, full-service family-oriented restaurant, a genre that's oddly scarce at Downown Disney. Marketplace has Rainforest Cafe, and there's Planet Hollywood sort of off on its own at Downtown Disney, but everything else at Marketplace, and most of what's spread across Pleasure Island and the West Side, is either counter-service or something more along the lines of adult-oriented themed restaurants such as the Portobello Yacht Club, Raglan Road and Wolfgang Puck. T-Rex was to cover 18,000-square feet and feature robotic dinosaurs and pizzas, pastas, burgers, sandwiches and entrees ranging from seabass to New York Strip steaks. The T-Rex restaurant was first announced in February 2006 though it was always slated for an early 2008 opening, as Landry's second location for the concept. Landry's opened the first T-Rex in Kansas City, Mo., last year. | ||
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ABC Super Soap Weekend at Disney MGM Studios Nov. 10 & 11 Broadway World - "The View's" new co-host Sherri Shepherd, along with other first-time attendees Melissa Claire Egan ("All My Children"), Brandon Buddy, Tika Sumpter ("One Life to Live"), Bradford Anderson, Josh Duhon and Sonya Eddy ("General Hospital"), join the star-studded lineup for the 12th annual "ABC Super Soap Weekend." This year's event will take place on November 10-11 as ABC once again partners with Colgate Total toothpaste (www.colgatetotal.com) as its presenting sponsor of the "ABC Super Soap Weekend" at the Disney-MGM Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Also new to this year's event will be the addition of stars from SOAPnet's original primetime drama, "General Hospital: Night Shift." The complete list of talent includes more than 30 of ABC Daytime's and SOAPnet's most popular stars, including previously announced headliner Susan Lucci, along with Cameron Mathison, John-Paul Lavoisier and Jason Thompson. Completing the list from "All My Children" are David Canary, Bobbie Eakes, Melissa Claire Egan, Thorsten Kaye, Michael E. Knight, Alicia Minshew, Aiden Turner and Jacob Young. The talent from "One Life to Live" includes Kristen Alderson, Kathy Brier, Brandon Buddy, Kamar De Los Reyes, Kassie DePaiva, Michael Easton, Forbes March, Erika Slezak, Trevor St. John, Tika Sumpter and Bree Williamson. Completing the list, from "General Hospital," will be Bradford Anderson, Julie Berman, Tyler Christopher, Josh Duhon, Sonya Eddy, Rebecca Herbst, Kimberly McCullough, Kelly Monaco and Laura Wright. This year stars from SOAPnet's hit original series "General Hospital: Night Shift," the highest rated series in SOAPnet history, will participate in the festivities. Nazanin Boniadi, Dominic Rains and Kent King will join Jason Thompson, Kimberly McCullough, Bradford Anderson and Sonya Eddy for special "General Hospital: Night Shift" appearances. Throughout the weekend fans will have the opportunity to meet favorite stars from "All My Children," "One Life to Live," "General Hospital" and "General Hospital: Night Shift." Festivities include celebrity motorcades, autograph sessions, talk shows, interviews and the chance to purchase one-of-a-kind memorabilia from each of the shows. The Colgate Total Street Jam will close the event each day with live musical performances by some of your favorite Daytime stars. "ABC Super Soap Weekend" is included with theme park admission to the Disney-MGM Studios - where guests of all ages are caught up in the glitz, glamour and excitement of show business. For future updates and more information about "ABC Super Soap Weekend," guests may call the Super Soap Hotline recording at (407) 397-6808 or visit the ABC Daytime website at ABC.com. | ||
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Shuttle
goes from train to Disney resort area OCRegister - The Anaheim Resort Transit has started hourly service from the Amtrak station to Disneyland and area hotels. Now, visitors can take the train from places such as Santa Barbara, Los Angeles or San Diego, then zip over to the theme parks or hotels and back on a $3-a-day shuttle or trolley. The shuttle ride takes 15-25 minutes. The new service is part of a larger plan to connect transit options with trains. Metrolink service will run every 30 minutes in 2009, so the city wants to build up ridership now, said Danny Wu, the city's acting transit manager. Eventually, the city wants to build a transportation hub with links to the Disneyland area, airports and beyond. The transit system, called ART, started five years ago with red trolleys going only from some area hotels to the Disney theme parks. Now, ART runs 32 vehicles, extending the service to The Block at Orange, Crystal Cathedral and on weekends, the Orange train station. A new stop will go at MainPlace mall in Santa Ana next year. About 2 million visitors ride each year. "The basic premise of ART is to remove vehicular traffic. The less vehicles we have in the resort, the better off we are," said Diana Kotler, ART executive director. | ||
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Imagi: Challenging
Pixar from China BusinessWeek - A year ago, Tim Cheung had one of computer-generated animation's dream jobs—working on the latest installment of Shrek for DreamWorks Animation SKG (DWA). Today, the 35-year-old Texas native works in an old warehouse district in a remote part of Hong Kong, helping film neophytes learns the do's and don'ts of how to make a movie featuring computer animation. "You have people who were coming from jobs in sales, who were engineers, all walks of life," he explains about his staff of 54 animators. "One guy was working at a 7-Eleven." Hong Kong may be the center of the Chinese film industry, but as the inexperienced staff working under Cheung indicates, the city isn't exactly an animation hotbed. Cheung and other executives from Imagi Animation Studios, a Hong Kong company trying to compete with the likes of DreamWorks and Walt Disney's (DIS) Pixar, are trying to change that. They've been recruiting talented veterans of some of the top Western animation studios, including about a dozen from DreamWorks, to take on leading roles training Imagi's workers how to create computer-animated features. It's not an easy task. Launched in 2000, Imagi used to be part of a company called Boto International that was once the world's top producer of artificial Christmas trees. In 2002, Boto sold that business to the Carlyle Group and switched the focus of the remaining company to animation. A subsidiary of holding company Imagi International, the new studio produced a short-lived animated sitcom for NBC (GE) in 2004 called Father of the Pride, but the network cancelled the show after just a few months. Quality Trade-OffsSince then, Imagi has focused on the big screen. It released its first feature film, an update of kids' favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in March, to mixed reviews. Although it was the No. 1 movie at the U.S. box office the weekend of its release, TMNT lost its audience fairly quickly. The total box office to date is $94 million, the company reports. "The relatively steep decline in TMNT's first month revenue suggests there are some quality trade-offs" to producing in Hong Kong rather than Hollywood, Goldman Sachs (GS) analysts wrote in a research report in April. That has led to some disappointing performance for Imagi's shares. Before the release of TMNT, investors pushed up the company's stock price on the hope that the movie would be a big success. But once it was clear the film wouldn't be a home run, investors fled. Today, Imagi's shares are down 47% for the year, compared with a 40% increase in the benchmark Hang Seng index. From a high of HK$4.87 in January, the stock has lost 60% of its value. "There was some irrational exuberance prior to the release," says Douglas Glen, a former vice-president at Mattel (MAT) and Sega who is Imagi's co-chief executive officer and executive director. Still, TMNT "was very successful," he says. "It was only the third Asian film to open No. 1 in the U.S." Focus on Cost Advantages Now the Imagi team is trying to score a more emphatic win. Late last month, the company announced a new partnership with Warner Bros. and the Weinstein Co. The two Hollywood studios, which financed $27 million out of the $32.5 million production costs of TMNT, agreed to distribute two new Imagi movies that the studio plans on releasing in 2009. Both are adaptations of well-known Japanese anime, or cartoon, characters: the sci-fi ninja Gatchaman and the robot Astro Boy. Glen says investors who are downbeat on Imagi's chances should focus more on the cost advantages of producing animated films in Asia. Like its big U.S. rivals, Imagi has creative people in Hollywood—writers, directors, and designers—to work on its pictures, but the studio enjoys a cost advantage by having much of the labor-intensive work done in Hong Kong. "We are a Hollywood studio," says Glen. "There's no fundamental difference other than that our wage rates are about one-sixth that of California." Imagi isn't the only Asian company to try to break into animation big-time. Another Hong Kong company, Centro Digital Pictures, created some of the computer-generated content for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill and this year co-produced with Walt Disney an animated feature called The Secret of the Magic Gourd. A tale of a vegetable with special powers, the movie was the first that Disney had co-produced in China. Hit-or-Miss Business Many people still have their doubts that any local studio can successfully challenge the U.S. animation elite. "Not everybody can be the next Pixar," says David Webb, a prominent investor-rights advocate in Hong Kong who campaigned against the Imagi spinoff. It's a difficult industry. It's very, very hit-or-miss." Webb, who once featured Boto as his stock pick for the year, notes the company is no longer profitable. (Imagi lost $9 million last year on sales of $880,000.) "All the hype over the Turtles didn't come to much," he adds. "They've been loss-making ever since they sold the Christmas trees." Nonetheless, others are more optimistic. "We believe that Imagi can still achieve solid profits if its future movies generate revenue similar to TMNT," Goldman analysts wrote in their spring report, pointing out that Imagi's $35 million production costs per movie are far less than Pixar's $94 million and DreamWorks' $130 million. Imagi should be able to earn $44 million per movie, according to Goldman. Sense of OptimismAnd more people are joining the Imagi team. On Oct. 9 the company announced the appointment of Ken Tsumura, formerly senior vice-president at Mainframe Entertainment, a computer-animation company based in Vancouver and Los Angeles, to become the new executive vice-president in charge of production. And on Oct. 4, Imagi announced the hiring of Jakob Jensen—who had spent a dozen years working on pictures for DreamWorks and Disney—to be animation director for Astro Boy. Another of those new hires is Cheung, the former DreamWorks animator who became Imagi's new vice-president for animation over the summer. Cheung says that the atmosphere at the Hong Kong offices is not unlike that of DreamWorks before Shrek first made its mark. Working at Imagi today "is just like DreamWorks eight or ten years ago," he insists. | ||
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The Invisible on
DVD Buena Vista Home Entertainment - The supernatural action-thriller The Invisible haunts its way onto DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 16th from Hollywood Pictures Home Entertainment.
In a tragic case of mistaken identity, Nick is brutally attacked and his body is left for dead. Now in limbo, not quite dead but invisible to all but one of the living, his spirit can only watch as his mother, and the police search frantically for him, unaware that he is only hours away from truly perishing. Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden ("Pollock") portrays Nick's widowed mother Diane Powell, with Chris Marquette ("Alpha Dog") as best friend Pete. The gripping bonus features include deleted scenes, music videos from two of the hottest bands, feature audio commentary from David S. Goyer and writer Christine Roum, and a second audio commentary with writer Mick Davis' take on the film. Director Goyer ("Zigzag") broke into Hollywood in the early 1990s as a screenwriter and is now one of the industry's more sought after action-thriller filmmakers, with "Blade: Trinity" among his recent directorial efforts. Goyer has rightfully earned a reputation as a topflight mystery-thriller scribe. His resume lists "Batman Begins" for director Christopher Nolan; Alex Proyas' cult classic "Dark City"; and the "Blade" franchise starring Wesley Snipes. Based on a Mats Wahl novel and the subsequent 2002 Swedish film "Den Osyligne," The Invisible was co-scripted by Mick Davis (who along with Wahl co-wrote the Scandinavian movie) and Christine Roum (TV hit "Law and Order"). The Invisible, whose soundtrack features songs from top-selling recording artists Snow Patrol, Death Cab for Cutie and Sparta, is priced to sell for $29.99 in the U.S. and $35.99 in Canada. Blu-ray is priced at $34.99 in the U.S. and $44.99 in Canada. | ||
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The Hoax on DVD Buena Vista Home Entertainment - Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallstrom ("The Cider House Rules," 1999) spins a thrilling, unbelievable true story of the man who nearly pulled off the biggest media scam of the 20th century in The Hoax, unraveling on DVD October 16th from Miramax Home entertainment. Starring Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden and a stellar supporting cast, The Hoax is based on Clifford Irving's controversial autobiography by the same name.
Son of a successful cartoonist, Irving was a critically acclaimed novelist with modest book sales in the early 1970s when publisher Andrea Tate played by Hope Davis ("The Weatherman") turns down his newest effort. So Irving and friend Dick Susskind, portrayed by Alfred Molina ("Spider-Man 2"), conceived of a faux Hughes bio as a way to reinvigorate Irving's literary career and make a few bucks. Egged on by the likes of greedy publishing executive Shelton Fisher—played by Emmy® and Golden Globe "Winchell" winner Stanley Tucci—Irving began writing the Hughes biography and forging letters supposedly written by the aviator-turned movie producer himself. Irving was eventually brought down by his own overreaching conspiracies, hoping to rope the Nixon administration and the real Howard Hughes into his counterfeit literary web. Irving and Susskind were carted off to prison for a few years and forced to return the $1 million paid out by duped publishers McGraw-Hill and Life magazine. Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden ("Pollock," 2000) portrays Irving's hippie painter wife Edith, with Julie Delpy ("Before Sunset") as Irving's mistress Nina Stanley. DVD bonus features include "Stranger Than Fiction", "Mike Wallace: Reflections On A Con," deleted scenes with commentary by Director Lasse Hallström and Writer William Wheeler, feature audio commentary with Producers Leslie Holleran and Josh Maurer as well as feature audio commentary with Director Lesse Hallström and Writer William Wheeler. The Sweden-born director Hallström catapulted to Hollywood notoriety in 1985 with his poignant comedy "My Life as a Dog." The coming-of-age tale set in 1950s Scandinavia earned a pair of Oscar nominations, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Hallström's credits also include "Chocolat" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." | ||
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Christian Filmmakers to Discuss the Influence of Disney on
American Culture Christian News Wire - Christian filmographers will be taking a hard look at the influence of Disney on American culture as part of the Third Annual Christian Filmmakers Academy to be held October 22-24 in San Antonio, Texas. During a three-lecture symposium on Disney, the CFA's faculty will dig deep into the corporate and artistic legacy of the communications giant often accused of being the most anti-family media conglomerate in the world.
"Perhaps no individual of the 20th
century had a larger impact on media's influence on family
culture than Walt Disney," remarked Doug Phillips, president of
Vision Forum and founder of the Christian Filmmaker's Academy.
"The scope of his cultural legacy is truly massive, impacting
everything from our nation's vision of childhood, family life,
and gender roles, to the meaning of a happy family vacation. But
his legacy -- both positive and negative -- has largely gone
unexamined by Christian theologians, cultural warriors, and
filmmakers."
Phillips continued: "This year at
the Christian Filmmaker's Academy we hope to lay the foundation
for a theological, professional, and practical critique of one
hundred years of Disney influence on American culture. Our
mission is to help independent Christian filmmakers learn from
the wise choices of Disney and the company that he created,
while avoiding serious professional and theological errors they
advanced."
Speakers will examine Disney's
skillful invention and use of new technologies, his remarkable
management techniques, as well as the lack of discernment that
positioned the growing Disney empire to become an engine of
cultural decline after Walt's death. In the words of former
Disney president Michael Ovitz, the Disney empire isn't really a
company, but a "nation state" exercising vast influence over
global constituencies.
"Young filmmakers need to
understand that they carry heavy responsibilities," noted
Geoffrey Botkin, a veteran filmmaker and teacher at this year's
academy. "Their productions will influence and even change
cultures. They must be far more careful than the young Disney to
manage their gifts, talents, resources, and content. There are
lessons from his legacy they must know."
Lectures will examine the
theological worldview communicated by Walt Disney through film
and television. Doug Phillips observed: "On the one hand, Disney
embraced some of the very best elements of the culture of
historical Christendom; but on the other hand, he often advanced
what I call the 'cute-ification' evil through his clever
portrayal and glorification of witchcraft and necromancy."
Lectures will also trace Disney's
formative years in Missouri and the growth of Disney's cultural
influence, examining his entrepreneurial beginnings, his
artistic achievements, and the current anti-family content now
earning some $34 billion per year.
The Christian Filmmakers Academy was founded in 2005 by Vision Forum Ministries to train aspiring Christian culture changers to produce motion pictures that communicate the most noble biblical values with technical and artistic excellence, and which make sound business sense. Each year, Vision Forum also hosts the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival and $10,000 grand prize Jubilee Awards which showcases the work of Christian filmmakers as part of an annual film competition. This year's festival will be held October 25-27 at the Alamo City's Gonzalez Convention Center. | ||
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Disney
Bans “God” From The Ten Commandments The controversy was caused by an email from a Disney employee to a media buyer about the proposed ads, stating: “Our BS&P said both scripts need to include the studio mention and omit the following line: CHOSEN BY GOD … Please let me know if you have any questions.” Ok, I have a question. Why would anyone think it necessary or even rational to censor the word “God” from an ad about a Biblical film? The Disney/ABC BS&P (Bureau of Standards and Practices) censors have taken a misguided step off the politically-correct cliff. Frank Yablans, the founder and CEO of Promenade Pictures who worked with Walt Disney himself, asked us, “Who does Disney Radio think chose Moses – Tinkerbell?” If Walt Disney were alive and leading Disney today, he would have put an end to this nonsense. I predict that Disney’s misguided censorship will backfire. Liberty Counsel is already receiving emails from disgusted people who are giving up on ABC, Disney and related companies. Disney needs to apologize for its actions and admit that G-o-d is not a four-letter word. Radio Disney is not even consistent in its censorship. It is not avoiding all gods, just the one true God. If you search the www.radiodisney.com website for the word “god,” you will see that Radio Disney promotes other movies by referring to mythical gods, Tiki gods, Navaho gods and animal gods. Radio Disney claims to provide the “ultimate music environment for kids and families.” Not so. Disney has just offended millions of kids and families who believe that Moses was chosen by the God of the Bible. After a church screening of the film on Saturday, I had the pleasure of spending time with Cindy Bond, President and COO of Promenade Pictures. I was impressed by her integrity, humility (a rarity in Hollywood) and sincere commitment to creating positive Biblically-based films for the public. She hopes that these films will provide positive role models to the younger generation and encourage people to read the Bible. I thank God that we can heartily recommend this 3D CGI animation film, which will show in theaters nationwide starting on October 19. It has already been previewed on Daystar satellite television network and in more than 70 churches. The movie previews have started with a 3-minute Liberty Counsel video explaining the importance of the Ten Commandments, which has played an important role in the development of American law and government. Fortunately, we can look forward to many more excellent productions from Promenade Pictures. The Ten Commandments is the first in an “Epic Stories of the Bible” 12-film series. | ||
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Disney, TW among Tech Emmy honorees Hollywood Reporter - Disney.com's Xtreme Digital, an interactive service that combines social networking, chat and video, was nominated for two Technology & Engineering Emmys, announced Monday. The service is up for advances in creation of nontraditional programs or platforms and for best "on demand" technology over broadband networks for active "lean forward" viewing. Nominations were handed out in 11 categories, including the areas of interactive television, on-demand television and the Internet as well as personal media display and presentation technology. Meanwhile, winners in six categories were announced Monday, among them were Time Warner's CNN and Time Warner Cable. The 59th annual Technology & Engineering Emmys will be handed out Jan. 7 during CES in Las Vegas. | ||
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Blatz
doing Disney double duty Reuters - Kelly Blatz has landed a starring role in his second live-action pilot for Jetix, the action-adventure programming block that airs on Toon Disney. Just last month, he was tapped to star on "Aaron Stone." Blatz now has been cast in "Sky Runners," a comedy described as a modern-day "Odd Couple" with a UFO twist. It revolves around two brothers who encounter a UFO one night after football practice. While they are divided on what to do with the UFO at first, they end up keeping it after learning that their new "toy" can fly them anywhere they want. In "Aaron Stone," Blatz stars as an ordinary 16-year-old whose life is altered when a rich recluse wants him to take his video game alter ego on for real because he believes that Charlie has what it takes to save the world. It's understood that if Disney executives like both projects, they would choose one to order to series. Jetix targets kids 6-11. It airs every day on Toon Disney in the U.S. but also can be seen around the world. Blatz's upcoming features include a remake of "Prom Night" and the indie "From Within." | ||
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'Live
with Regis and Kelly' Heads to the Bahamas
PR Newswire - As winter sets in across the country, Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa will bring a little tropical sunshine to "Live with Regis and Kelly" viewers, as "Live" heads down to the Bahamas for four shows from Atlantis, Paradise Island, November 27-30, 2007. The visit is a return trip for the popular morning show, which last visited Atlantis in 2002. This time around, "Live" will broadcast from a location adjacent to The Cove Atlantis, the brand-new resort area within the spectacular ocean-themed destination. "The shows we produced from Atlantis five years ago were great fun, and the backdrop of the resort was absolutely gorgeous," said Michael Gelman, Executive Producer, "Live with Regis and Kelly." "We're very excited to have the chance to return again this year. It's a spectacular location, and now there are lots of wonderful new things for us to do, both on land and in the water." "We are thrilled to have Regis and Kelly back at Atlantis," said Sol Kerzner, Chairman of Kerzner International. "Since they were here last time, Atlantis has grown, adding exhilarating water experiences, including a waterpark and dolphin interaction. We know our stunning beaches will be the perfect backdrop for Regis and Kelly to bring some much needed sun into their viewers' homes." There are several ways through
which "Live" viewers can join Regis and Kelly on their Bahamian
adventure: Liveregisandkelly.com has all of the details about the giveaway and how to request tickets to the Atlantis shows. The website also has information about discounted travel packages for viewers who want to book their own vacations to Atlantis while "Live with Regis and Kelly" is on location at the resort. All travel packages will include tickets to one of the four "Live" broadcasts originating from the Bahamas. Atlantis, Paradise Island is the flagship resort of Kerzner International, a leading international developer and operator of destination resorts, casinos and luxury hotels. This unique, ocean-themed destination is located on Paradise Island, The Bahamas, and features a variety of accommodations built around a 97-acre waterscape comprised of over 20 million gallons of fresh and saltwater lagoons, pools and habitats. Atlantis is home to the largest open- air marine habitat in the world with over 50,000 marine animals in lagoons and displays, including The Dig, a maze of underwater corridors and passageways providing a journey through ancient Atlantis. AQUAVENTURE is a non-stop water experience consisting of thrilling new water slides, a mile-long river ride with high intensity rapids and wave surges and never-before-seen special effects. Dolphin Cay, the resort's dolphin interaction and education center, was created with the goal of enlightening visitors about the wonders of these remarkable ocean inhabitants. The Cove Atlantis, a new resort within a resort offers unprecedented services and amenities, private all-adult and family pools, lavish cabanas and breathtaking views of the ocean. Atlantis is also known as THE culinary destination in The Caribbean with a collection of restaurants from world- renowned chefs including Nobu Matsuhisa, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Bobby Flay and Angelo Elia. The resort boasts an impressive collection of luxury boutiques and shops and the largest conference center, meeting and convention facilities in The Caribbean. "Live with Regis and Kelly" is executive produced by Michael Gelman, and is distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television. Produced by WABC-TV in New York, "Live with Regis and Kelly" airs every weekday morning in more than 200 markets across the country. | ||
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Disney
treats itself on Friday
Hollywood Reporter - Disney Channel's original movie "Twitches Too" and the new series "Wizards of Waverly Place" conjured up strong premieres Friday night. "Twitches" averaged 7 million viewers from 8-9:30 p.m. to become basic cable's most-watched telecast of the day, according to Nielsen Media Research. It also was TV's No. 1 program of the day among kids 6-11 (2.6 million) and tweens 9-14 (2.6 million). After the movie, "Wizards" held on to 5.9 million total viewers from 9:30-10 p.m. Friday, ranking as basic cable's second-most-watched program for the day. The audience included 2.4 million viewers in each of the kids 6-11 and tweens 9-14 demos, making it TV's No. 2 program among those viewers. Elsewhere, the second-season premiere of Lifetime's "Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead" at 9 p.m. Friday averaged 186,000 women 18-34 and 485,000 women 18-49, up 69% and 36%, respectively, compared with its series debut. At 10 p.m., the new Lifetime series "America's Psychic Challenge" averaged 414,000 women 18-49. | ||
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Monday October, 15 2007 | ||
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Disney's National Treasure 2 Website Gets an Update | ||
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Disney Scores Latin
American Deals World Screen News - Disney-ABC International Television (DAIT) Latin America announced a host of deals at MIPCOM last week, including one to represent Jennifer Lopez’s new mini-series for Univision, Como Ama Una Mujer (How A Woman Loves). The deal with Univision and Nuyorican Productions grants DAIT Latin America the distribution rights to Como Ama Una Mujer (How A Woman Loves), created and executive produced by Lopez. The series will premiere on Univision this fall, and will be distributed by DAIT on all TV platforms in Latin America including VOD, PPV, basic cable and free to air. An original production filmed in Mexico and produced by Nuyorican Productions, Como Ama Una Mujer is inspired by the lyrics of Lopez’ first Spanish-language album of the same name released earlier this year. At the end of each episode, Lopez herself will perform the theme song that inspired that episode. The five-part mini-series tells the story of a woman’s journey to find her true soul-mate. In sales news, Discovery Networks Latin America/US Hispanic (DNLA/USH) picked up a range of live-action series for the People+Arts network. The agreement includes the FX drama Dirt, the new reality series The Fashionista Diaries, as well as Six Degrees and Day Break. NBC Universal Global Networks Latin America/Brazil reached a deal with DAIT for new and returning drama series. With this agreement, Universal Channel and SCI FI Channel viewers will be able to access Brothers & Sisters, Kyle XY, Greek and Reaper. Venevision in Venezuela signed up for a two-year multi-genre volume agreement covering new and returning live-action series; Disney branded series; features from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Miramax and Hollywood Pictures and TV movies. Titles include Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Hannah Montana, Phil of the Future, Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure, Freaky Friday and many others. And in the new-media space, Terra TV users in Latin America will have access to a range of Disney content free of charge, including High School Musical, Finding Nemo, multiple seasons of series such as Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost and Criminal Minds and kids’ fare like Hannah Montana, Lilo & Stitch and The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Diego Lerner, the president of The Walt Disney Company Latin America, said: "This is a highly significant agreement since it reflects an important step forward consistent with our strategic vision: that our contents be distributed, offered and consumed through all available platforms, both traditional electronic and new digital ones. Digital platforms in particular, pave the way for expansion opportunities in our content distribution business, allowing us also to learn and grow. We are extremely pleased to go through this experience jointly with Terra, one of the Internet leaders worldwide and a significant player in the growth of such platform in Latin America." | ||
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Retailers Offer Two-For-One Deal on Select Disney Blu-ray Discs High-Def Digest - Good news for Blu-ray fans: a number of leading retailers are participating in a new "buy one, get one free" deal on select Blu-ray discs from Disney. The week-long sale kicked off Sunday in-store at Best Buy and Circuit City, and online at Amazon.com. Although the sale inventory appears to differ somewhat from retailer to retailer, among the discs included are such fan favorites as 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,' 'Apolocalypto' and 'The Prestige.' Sources say the sale is scheduled to run while supplies last through this Saturday, October 20. | ||
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Disney puts the spotlight on Selena Gomez in 'Wizards' DetNews - Watch out world. Today, Selena Gomez is heating up the small screen. Tomorrow, she could be at the top of the pop charts and possibly all over the big screen, too. If you've been watching "Hannah Montana" and "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" lately on the Disney Channel, the 15-year-old starlet should look familiar. Now, Disney has given Selena her own show to shine in from the producers of "Hannah Montana." Titled "Wizards of Waverly Place," the Friday night comedy follows the Russo family, a seemingly normal Manhattan brood of five. Unbeknownst to their neighbors and friends, the Russos come from a long and majestic line of wizards and can pull out a little magic and mischief whenever and wherever. Now, if Mom and Dad could just make their three kids get along. Selena plays the middle child and only girl, Alex Russo, an adventurous teenager who loves flirting with magic. "It's 'Hannah Montana' meets 'Twitches,' " Selena says in a phone interview earlier this month. "None of the kids at school know we can do magic." It's also a role that has Selena casting spells and holding conversations with magical, animated friends in front of a special effects background called a Greenscreen. "I had never worked with a Greenscreen," she says. "It really makes me appreciate what meteorologists have to do. They have to point to cities on the map that aren't really there, and I have to talk to cats that aren't really there." Born in Dallas, Texas, Selena began her acting career at age 7, spending her birthday at an open casting call competing with thousands of other hopefuls for a role in the television series "Barney & Friends." The birthday sacrifice paid off. Selena was cast as a series regular for two seasons. In 2003, she landed a part in the hit movie "Spy Kids 3D," and a year later, Disney Channel began a worldwide casting search for promising young talent. Three weeks after Selena's local audition in Dallas, she was invited to Los Angeles to meet Disney Channel executives. Soon thereafter, she was making guest appearances in some of the network's most popular series. She later landed roles in two Disney Channel pilots, one of which became "Wizards of Waverly Place," where magic happens on screen and off. For instance, when the Russos sit down to dinner, Selena and her co-stars get to eat the real food. Other times, it's fake, she says. "We get to eat sometimes," she confides. "But when it's fake, the prop people spray the food with this stuff, and we can't eat it. That's show business." Now that her career has taken off, Selena and her parents have moved to Los Angeles, where she hopes to explore opportunities in the music industry. "I can't wait to see what happens next," she says. | ||
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Bringing Disney downtown
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Dr. Anne Mosher is not your typical geography teacher. When she talks about the importance of "location, location, location," she does it with such passion that her peers and the students who attended her lecture Wednesday at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg couldn't get enough. Mosher, from Syracuse (N.Y.) University, was invited by the St. Clair Lecture Series -- sponsored by Westmoreland Heritage, Pitt-Greensburg and the Westmoreland County Historical Society -- for her lecture, "Westmoreland's Downtown Heritage, From the Gilded Age to the Disney Era." She says Walt Disney's Main Street USA, so successful in his theme parks that it has become a national icon for small towns everywhere, is an echoing of plans found in Westmoreland County. "The problem with Main Street USA, nobody lives there. We need to intermingle housing in Western Pennsylvania's downtowns to bring them back to life," Mosher said. Dr. Sharon Smith, the new
president of the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, said
Mosher's ideas are the perfect mix of academic research and
applicable public policy. John Robertshaw and his wife, Anne, help to sponsor the St. Clair series. They were joined by Lisa Hays, the Historical Society's executive director; Tom Headley, Westmoreland Heritage's executive director; Dr. Joel Sabadasz and Dr. Pilar Herr, history professors, and Lou Lazzaro from Congressman Tim Murphy's office. Mosher studied at Penn State, and frequently visits and researches Western Pennsylvania. She is hopeful her research, upon completion, will be helpful to economic developers. | ||
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Sunday October, 14 2007 | ||
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Disney pirates loot
Stanley Cup Los Angeles Times - One of the unique spoils of winning the NHL’s Stanley Cup is that each player on the championship team gets to take the trophy anywhere he wants. Anaheim Ducks left-winger Chris Kunitz honored the team’s origins by taking the cup to Disneyland — the spiritual birthplace of Disney’s oft-mocked, once-mighty hockey franchise. At Disneyland, Kunitz treated Stanley to a ride on the Finding Nemo submarines and posed the cup for photos amidst the Pirates of the Caribbean treasure trove. | ||
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Asian Americans vs. ABC
Disney SFist - It all has to do with what lovely local Teri Hatcher said on a recent edition of ABC's Desperate Housewives. The offending line of dialogue from the show: “Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? ‘Cause I would just like to make sure they are not from some med. school in the Philippines.” Ouch.
ABC Studios has apologized: The producers of ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ABC Studios offer our sincere apologies for any offense caused by the brief reference in the season premiere. There was no intent to disparage the integrity of any aspect of the medical community in the Philippines. As leaders in broadcast diversity, we are committed to presenting sensitive and respectful image of all communities featured in our programs. [Palliative cliches in original.] It's not entirely obvious that there was no "intent to disparage." Obviously, the intent of the offending line was to show the character in denial and lashing out by attacking the credentials of the physician. The apology is not enough for
local Senator Leland Yee “As a Senator who represents the largest Filipino community outside of the Philippines, I am appalled that the producers and writers at ABC found this type of humor acceptable. As a human being, I am disheartened to see that these stereotypes continue to permeate our airwaves and entertainment media. This desperate attempt at humor is offensive and has no place in our community. Filipinos, including those trained outside of the United States, have made invaluable impacts on the medical field, and should be valued, not disparaged. While I am pleased to see the network issue an apology, I encourage them to do so publicly during the show’s next broadcast and work with the community to heal the wounds caused by this insulting reference.” Contact: Adam J. Keigwin So there you have it. It's ABC's right to air the show the show the way they want and it's the Filipino American community's right to launch a boycott. Ain't that America. | ||
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T-Rex Restaurant to begin Construction at Florida DTD Disney News - The long anticipated T-Rex Restaurant at Walt Disney World's Downtown Disney is about to begin. The Restaurant will be built next door to McDonalds just as originally planned. The Construction wall have just been recently put up and construction should follow shortly. | ||
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Disney's
Chicken Little: Ace in Action Review PALGN - After coming out last year in America Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action has finally been released in Australia for the Wii and we couldn't be happier. Ace in Action doesn't link in with the Chicken Little movie at all, but this doesn't mean the game is bad. The idea for the game is a little bit confusing; you are playing a video game in which Chicken Little is also playing a videogame with his friends. Your heroes are transferred into game form and then into a movie game and you're playing the movie game; it's confusing so all players need to know is that they are playing a game with Chicken Little and his friends, but this time his friends Runt and Abby are a lot tougher than in the Chicken Little movie. Ace in Action takes place on four planets (Pluto, Saturn, Mars, and the Moon) with six missions taking place on each planet. There are three main characters to take control of in the game, Ace, Abby and Runt and each different character plays differently. Ace's levels are more about exploring and shooting enemies with his weapons, while Abby's levels feature space shooting and Runt takes down enemies in his ground tank. Each character in Ace in Action has primary and secondary weapons. primary weapons have unlimited ammo but secondary weapons are stronger. Throughout Ace in Action the enemies drop acornium, which can also be used to upgrade weapons. There are also gadgets to be found in Ace in Action which will help players through certain parts of the game. The Wii version is a little bit different from the PlayStation 2 edition, but only when it comes to the controls. The Wii remote is used to control the camera and the nunchuk is used to move Ace around. It can take a little while to get used to the controls because they are a little sensitive, but the advantage is that it is now easier to shoot accurately from a distance at enemies or objects which are blocking your path. What makes Ace in Action so enjoyable is the fact that the game is quite simply fun. Kids who have played Sony's Ratchet and Clank games will enjoy the fact that Ace in Action feels very similar to those games. There is enough of a reason for kids to complete the game as well, with acornium used to unlock some bonuses including concept art, movies, music tracks and as we mentioned, weapons. Ace in Action also features six multiplayer games, the multiplayer games aren't great, but they are better than nothing. Overall Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action is a game well recommended to kids. It's taken a long time to get to Australia but thankfully the game is still a lot of fun, which is all that matters. The Wii version isn't all that different from the PlayStation 2 version released earlier this year, but as Ace in Action has some fun levels, most kids will enjoy taking control of the Chicken Little gang again - we definitely did. | ||
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Book takes
magic out of Disney's kingdom Chicago Sun-Times - Walt Disney never lived to see Walt Disney World. He died of lung cancer in 1966 -- five years before the opening of the Magic Kingdom and 12 years before the opening of EPCOT (for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). So it was left up to a cadre of company men to replicate their founder's southern California Disneyland theme park and carry out his visionary plans for a 20th century urban utopia in central Florida. While they succeeded in the former, they failed miserably in the latter, according to David Koenig, author of Realityland, an unauthorized but meticulously researched account of the creation of Disney World. Koenig reveals how the bureaucrats who toiled in the shadow of the company's legendary namesake struggled to transform his fantastic dreams into a practical reality despite endless challenges and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Nearly as amazing is how they managed to keep the enterprise going in the two decades between Walt Disney's death and the emergence of Michael Eisner as autocratic chairman and CEO. Key to Disney's plans for the 27,000 acres of swampland he secretly acquired just outside of Orlando was establishment of a futuristic, highly industrialized model city that would serve as a laboratory for solving the world's problems. On the basis of those original schemes for EPCOT, the company was able to extract unprecedented concessions from state and county governments, exempting Disney from laws governing zoning, building, distribution and sale of alcohol, and even airport and nuclear power plant construction, creating, in essence, a self-governing entity not unlike the Vatican. How and why Disney managed to pull off such a giant con -- since the plans to build such a city apparently existed only in Disney's imagination -- is detailed much more thoroughly by Richard E. Fogelsong in Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World & Orlando. But Koenig's book adds interesting new details about ruses the company used to buy up so much land at bargain prices without arousing suspicion. EPCOT (later called EPCOT Center and now called just Epcot) ultimately turned out to be little more than a permanent world's fair configured as a theme park -- connected to Walt's spectacular ambitions for urban planning by virtue of its acronym alone. Even the most devoted fan of Disney World may find parts of Realityland less than enthralling. While recounting every internal squabble, cost overrun, ride mishap, park fatality, labor problem and construction snafu in excruciating detail, Koenig does little to convey the undeniable magic of Disney World or why it has succeeded in connecting with millions on such a visceral level. It's not for nothing that it's the world's most popular vacation destination year after year. Along the way, Koenig does serve up a few gems gleaned from his 10 years of research and interviews with more than 100 past and present Disney insiders. Quoting from the code of conduct for employees (known in Disney parlance as "cast members"): "A friendly smile from your heart is a magic mirror which works miracles in your relationship with your guests. It's an essential discipline of show business that we smile ... in spite of our own problems." But he saves his greatest insights and his most vivid writing for the final chapters in which he recounts the reign of terror by Eisner, whom he calls a "egomaniacal bully," and laments how far the company has strayed from its iconic patriarch's uncompromising standards. One can only wonder what Uncle Walt would think of all that has been done in his name since. | ||
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Kids acting out what they see on the Disney Channel can be a
problem
Staunton News Leader - I really didn't always despise Disney. But I have to go way back to when I was in second grade to the day when I actually loved Disney. I greatly admire Walt Disney,
the man; in fact, I wrote my first paper about him. I wonder
what he would think of "High School Musical" or "Hannah
Montana." But mostly it was the boys. The Osmond boys. The Jackson boys. David Cassidy. Tony DeFranco and the DeFranco Family. You get the picture. So, I thought YAY, there are posters of other girls hanging up in my girls' rooms. (And they are not the Disney princesses, which could be the subject of a whole other column.) Then, I began to get oh, I dunno, an attitude. A click of the finger, a swivel of the head, a pursing of the lips, a rolling of the eyes from my 8- and 6- year-old daughters. It takes watching only one episode of "Hannah" to see from where that is coming. I am not saying that Hannah is an evil kid. I am saying that probably for a child her age she is OK, but her behavior is not going to be mimicked in my house by my small children. "High School Musical" is another matter altogether because it's not playing on the Disney Channel every day, though it is being promoted every day. That, after all is what good old Walt's company turns out to be really good at — promoting and milking every decent concept it gets its hands on. We loved the first one, especially the music, and really looked forward to the second one, which had even more singing and dancing. But unfortunately, it also had a lot more intrigue about teenage relationships and kissing. Would Troy kiss Gabriella or not? On one level it seems so innocent. Especially when parents really can't allow their kids to watch most TV because of the blatant sexualization of everything. But on another level, the concepts of "boyfriends" and "kissing" can be really difficult to grapple with when you are 6 or 8 and trying to deal with playground politics, as we recently found out with one of our daughters who came home heartbroken over a boy when she really does not understand the first thing about what having a boyfriend means. Between the wonderful guidance counselor and great teachers at Westwood, we got to the bottom of it and think that the culprit of it, this time, is "High School Musical 2." The kids are all acting out what they are seeing on the Disney Channel. Some of them are taking it very seriously. The teacher has stepped right in and is discussing things like boyfriends and girlfriends, and what is literal and what is a story. So, I'm taking the same route as my good friend Gail does with her daughters. She tells them, "Boyfriends are for when you start going on dates. That happens when your father and I say so. Until then, you are not allowed to have a boyfriend." Problem solved. At least for now. | ||
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| Back News |
Announced by Disney President and Chief Executive Officer Bob
Iger and Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo at a press
conference at Walt Disney Imagineering’s Glendale headquarters,
the expansion will bring new entertainment and major
family-oriented attractions to Disney’s California Adventure,
including an entirely new Cars Land inspired by the hit Disney•Pixar
animated film Cars.
Disney Imagineers will be
bringing more of Walt Disney into Disney’s California Adventure,
celebrating the hope and optimism of California that attracted
Walt to this land of opportunity in the 1920s. Guests entering
the new Plaza will be instantly immersed in the world that
inspired Walt during his early days as an animation pioneer. The
new, interactive Walt Disney Story attraction will set the stage
for the unfolding story of Walt that will permeate the park.
“Our Disneyland Guests have a
deep emotional connection with Walt Disney, whose life story
really captures the pioneering spirit of California in the
1920s,” said Rasulo. “The creative evolution of Disney’s
California Adventure will connect guests to Walt’s own
California adventure and reflect the place that he found when he
first arrived with a cardboard suitcase in his hand and a head
full of dreams.”
From
the producers of the box office smash hit "The Sixth Sense,"
director David S. Goyer's gripping thriller The Invisible stars
Justin Chatwin ("War of the Worlds") as Nick Powell, a bright
and sensitive high school student with precious few hours to
solve his very own murder. In order to escape a haunting world
between life and death, Nick solicits the help of the only other
person who can see him, classmate Annie Newton (Margarita
Levieva from TV's "Vanished"). 
Golden
Globe winner Richard Gere ("Chicago") assumes the identity of
Clifford Irving, a novelist-turnedliterary-scam-artist who in
the 1970s penned a bogus autobiography of reclusive playboy
billionaire Howard Hughes. Screenwriter William Wheeler ("The
Prime Gig") based his "Hoax" script on Irving's own tell-all
tome by the same name. 
This
is a huge story in the Philippines and now it seems it's getting
bigger in San Francisco. Details after the jump.