The actor sparked speculation he'll be replaced in his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in future installments after telling the Los Angeles Times his enthusiasm for the movies had declined following the departure of Disney chairman Dick Cook, who recruited the star for the films.

He said, "There's a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm (for the project) at the moment. It was all born in that office."

But a spokesperson for Disney insists Depp has not backed out of the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, branding the rumors "completely unfounded".

Their two-week stay in America's theaters also gets the word out to folks that, yes, Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story 3" (Andy goes to college, the toys are donated to a day care where "No toy gets left behind") is coming out next June. And if this new 3D double feature takes screens from rival Sony's adorable 3D animated hit "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," that's just a bonus, right?

The movies look fabulous. Remember when the toy soldiers (R. Lee Ermey voices the Sarge) re-con Andy's birthday party to report on what new toys he's been given? The walkie-talkie they tote downstairs practically jabs you in the eye. When Woody and Buzz are riding that radio-controlled car with a firecracker strapped to Buzz's back, Woody's open-mouthed high-G look of horror is in your lap.

But that's also the problem with this re-issue, "remembering." Back in its golden age, Disney puts its classic cartoons back in theaters every few years, letting new generations discover "Lady and the Tramp," "Pinocchio," "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" and "The Jungle Book" for themselves. In the age of video, that special-experience novelty is gone. When the kids know the words to "You've Got a Friend in Me," when parents know every line - blasting from the DVD player in the back seat - what's the point?

And what child under the age of 10 is going to sit still in a movie theater for three hours?

Fans, however, will want to check this out just for the delightful wrapping Pixar put on the pairing. They created a new intro, "Maximizing your 'Toy Story' double-feature experience," and there's an intermission featurette that shows original test footage of Woody and Buzz and other chunks of "Toy Story" trivia.

Lastly, they've changed the credits to reflect those behind the camera and acting in front of the microphone (Jim Varney) who have died in the 14 years since "Toy Story" came out.

The great voice acting, the visual puns (Virtual Realty will sell your house), the one-liners - Buzz Lightyear is called "Mr. Light Beer" at one point - all added up to an animation game changer, back in 1995. The 3D depth of field - taking us into this toy world - is impressive. But three hours of re-watching movies you probably already have at home, even in 3D? That's almost a "Toy" too far.

TOY STORY AND TOY STORY 2 IN 3D DOUBLE FEATURE

5 stars (out of 5)

Cast: The voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Wallace Shawn, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles

Director: John Lasseter, Ash Brannon, Lee Unkrich

Running time: 3 hours

In what it bills as an industry-defining moment — though rivals are sure to be skeptical about that — Disney Publishing plans to introduce a new subscription-based Web site. For $79.95 a year, families can access electronic replicas of hundreds of Disney books, from “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too” to “Hannah Montana: Crush-tastic!”

DisneyDigitalBooks.com, which is aimed at children ages 3 to 12, is organized by reading level. In the “look and listen” section for beginning readers, the books will be read aloud by voice actors to accompanying music (with each word highlighted on the screen as it is spoken). Another area is dedicated to children who read on their own. Find an unfamiliar word? Click on it and a voice says it aloud. Chapter books for teenagers and trivia features round out the service.

“For parents, this isn’t going to replace snuggle time with a storybook,” said Yves Saada, vice president of digital media. “We think you can have different reading formats co-existing together.”

Publishers, of course, have been experimenting with e-books for the children’s market for years. About 1,000 children’s titles are now available digitally from HarperCollins. Scholastic has BookFlix, a subscription service for schools and libraries that pairs a video storybook with a nonfiction e-book on a related topic. “Curious George” is available on the iPhone.

“It’s not surprising that people are going to be doing more subscriptions with their content libraries,” Margery Mayer, president of Scholastic Education, said of Disney’s new service.

But some e-book observers are impressed. “There isn’t anything like Disney’s product on the market,” said Sarah Rotman Epps, a media analyst at Forrester Research who got a sneak peek at the Web site. “They are the first to say, we’re putting our whole catalog online in this one place, and we’re selling it straight to parents.”

By pursuing a subscription online model — as opposed to focusing on downloads and sales for devices like the Kindle — Disney is placing a specific bet about where the children’s market is going, at least in the next three to five years. The move could send ripples through this corner of publishing, if only because of the size of Disney, which annually sells 250 million children’s books.

“The company feels that devices don’t offer a Disney-level experience for kids and families, and I agree with them,” Ms. Epps said.

Disney Publishing has digital aspirations for cellphones and devices down the road, Mr. Saada said, but for now will focus on the site, which it has designed with safety concerns in mind. Controls are built in, for instance, that make it difficult for children to drift to a seedier section of the Web.

“We want to make reading an even bigger deal in a kid’s life, and if we can do that in a new and interactive way — great,” said Russell Hampton, president of Disney Publishing.

But make no mistake, this is about business. Children are reading less, and Disney, like other publishers, is scrambling to reverse the trend. Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, has also put the entire company on notice that digital media must now be a money maker in and of itself; marketing extensions are no longer enough.

Mr. Hampton said the Disney Digital Books site was designed so other businesses — language learning, for instance — could be added. Disney sees education services as a fruitful area of growth, particularly overseas.

A huge marketing effort will set about drilling the site into the public consciousness. Three million promotional postcards will be distributed at screenings of Disney films, and a social media and advertising component is intended to reach 14 million mothers. In the works are demonstrations at Apple’s retail stores.

Until now, Disney Publishing has only dabbled in the digital arena, offering some young adult titles for the Kindle and licensing a handful of storybook titles to LeapFrog, the educational toy maker. About 500 books will be available on the site Tuesday, with more added twice a month. (Disney owns thousands of titles.) Exclusive content will follow by the end of the year. Disney Digital Books will begin introducing titles in foreign countries in 2011.

The company tested a version of the site with 1,000 children and families earlier this year. Children spent an average of three hours using the product over five days, according to Mr. Saada. After completing the trial, 76 percent of parents said they would subscribe.

Some children who tried the site had trouble navigating between reading levels, however. Ms. Epps, the Forrester analyst, complained that she had some “usability problems.” Mr. Hampton said the bugs had been fixed.

Orlando Sentinel - The Walt Disney Co. is about to launch its 2010 marketing campaign in which people who volunteer at certain charities will get a free one-park ticket to Walt Disney World or Disneyland.

Uncover the mysteries surrounding the story of Roxas, the "other hero," with the latest entry in a series that has shipped over 12 million copies worldwide. The first KINGDOM HEARTS title developed for Nintendo DS(TM), KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days is also the first in the series to feature multiplayer capabilities. Fans can now explore the enchanted Disney worlds alongside friends, choosing to play as any member of Organization XIII, each with their own unique personality and abilities.

Portable and interactive, KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days offers a brand-new KINGDOM HEARTS experience that retains the same enduring charm, storytelling depth and action-packed battle system embraced by gamers across the globe. Experience KINGDOM HEARTS like never before as the action-RPG series is re-imagined for an exciting new adventure!

STORY

In KINGDOM HEARTS, Sora turned the Keyblade on himself in order to release Kairi's heart, but his own heart was also released in the process. This brought about the creation of Roxas, Sora's Nobody. Unlike most Nobodies, however, Roxas has no memories of his past. He joins Organization XIII and slowly begins to discover the truth behind his existence and the Organization itself. He meets and befriends the fourteenth member of the Organization, who also has no recollection of her past. What will Roxas see during his time in the Organization? What is the connection between him, Sora and the fourteenth member? And what becomes of them? Dive into the heart of the KINGDOM HEARTS storyline's biggest secrets.

About Square Enix Co., Ltd. and Square Enix, Inc.

Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Square Enix), with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, develops, publishes and distributes entertainment content including interactive entertainment software and publications in Asia, North America, and Europe. Square Enix brings two of Japan's best-selling franchises - FINAL FANTASY, which has sold over 85 million units worldwide, and DRAGON QUEST, which has sold over 50 million units worldwide - under one roof. Square Enix is one of the most influential providers of digital entertainment content in the world and continues to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation.

Square Enix, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. with offices in Los Angeles, California. It handles operations in North America, including development, localization, marketing and publishing of Square Enix titles.

About Disney Interactive Studios

LATimes - The Disney theme parks will finally join the blogosphere today in an attempt to bring some of the rabid faithful currently chatting at unofficial fan websites under the corporate umbrella.

Check out the new blog at http://disneyparks.com/blog/.

The plot of "On Stranger Tides," which Geoffrey Rush claims may begin shooting next spring, could easily work as a changing of the guard.

It was widely believed until last week that "Tides"' story will come at least in part from Tim Powers' novel, "On Stranger Tides," which Disney owns the rights to. Powers confirmed last Monday that the fourth movie will "use elements" of the book.

Powers' novel involves a pirate's search for the Fountain of Youth. The story leaves room for a young newcomer, a character who aids the pirates in their search for the mythic location, to come aboard. While this could turn out to be Orlando Bloom's role in the next movie, it seems possible that Disney might use that character instead as a Sparrow replacement. Of course, the studio will need more than just a pretty face if they hope to rival -- and/or replace -- Depp's iconic pirate.

It's easy to be cynical and believe Disney would screw it up by casting someone like Zac Efron or Shia LaBeouf as the new lead. Just as nobody wants to see LaBeouf completely take over the "Indiana Jones" franchise -- yet -- without Harrison Ford, few of these sorts of rising stars are acceptable fill-ins for Depp.

The push by ESPN is aimed at leveraging the company’s global name recognition into new ad dollars at the still-growing local level. But the experiment, which is also being carried out in Chicago and Boston, is infringing on newspapers’ turf and coming at a time when their very existence is being threatened by the weak economy, changing media landscape and poor business model.

“It’s just one more nail in the coffin,” said Philip Meyer, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of The Vanishing Newspaper. "Success in the media business these days should be defined as sustainability. Newspapers are never going to be the profit machines that they were before the Internet.”

More Competition for Newspapers

The ESPN experiment, which will soon branch out to New York and Los Angeles, represents another headache for newspapers because the sites offer much of what newspapers already provide, and then some.

In addition to original content and all of the stats that have become the norm for sports sites, the regional hubs offer insight from well-known analysts like Peter Gammons, Marc Stein and Ed Werder who have ties with the various regions. And the hubs provide a SportsCenter-styled three- to six-minute video roundup of the region’s sports news each day.

Eventually, the network would like to have its own beat writers for each team in the region, and even provide original content on small college and local high school teams.

With the regional hubs, ESPN is “drilling down and creating a richer, deeper and authentic experience” with the fans, said Jim Pastor, senior vice president of local digital at ESPN.
So far so good. Launched in April, ESPNChicago.com is already the top sports site in Chicago, attracting 700,000 unique visitors in July, according to comScore. That’s up 19% from the month before and 87% since May.

In the first 10 days since its Sept. 14 launch, ESPNBoston.com enjoyed almost three million visits and close to 5 million page views, according to Omniture traffic data. The site also launched with sponsorship deals in place with eBay’s (EBAY: 23.89, 0.44, 1.88%) StubHub, Dunkin Donuts, Covidien (COV: 42.46, 1.11, 2.68%) and AutoTrader.com.

Those unique visitors and ad dollars threaten to put further pressure on newspapers that have already pared down to deal with the recession and flow of ad spending away from traditional media.

“It shows once more that what used to be a highly segmented industry has now become far more porous,” said Pablo Boczkowski, a professor at Northwestern University and author of Digitizing the News.

ESPN vs. Local Dailies

ESPN’s new competitors appear to be taking the threat seriously. The Chicago Tribune launched a new blog network in May called ChicagoNow that has been a big hit, drawing 50% of its traffic from sports fans.

“We thought that was a way of sort of covering that kind of rabid fan base that sometimes a newspaper site may not get at. That was our one way of going at ESPN,” said Bill Adee, editor of digital media at the Chicago Tribune. “Certainly the worldwide leader in sports isn’t anyone that anybody should take lightly.”

While ESPN has had a successful launch of its Chicago site, it’s not clear it’s been to the detriment of the Tribune.

“I continue to read the Chicago Tribune online but also the ESPN Chicago site. I don’t think one cuts into the other. We certainly haven’t seen evidence it’s causing attrition at other sites,” said Andrew Lipsman, director of industry analysis at comScore. “We often see that large brands on the Internet are able to branch off into more specific markets. I don’t think that necessarily represents a threat to newspapers.”

Adee says he sees ESPNChicago as a direct competitor but that he hasn’t been made aware of a loss of ad dollars because of the new site.

“At the end of the day, we still have more local sports reporters on the streets of Chicago than ESPN does. And that should win out over time,” said Adee. “Now ESPN has great promotional venues, but we have 900,000 newspapers delivered on the weekends to people’s homes in Chicago.”

That competition could heat up as ESPN mirrors newspapers by hiring local sports writers to cover their own beats in each of these locations.

Mike Reiss, who was a writer at the Boston Globe for four years, recently joined ESPNBoston.com to cover the New England Patriots.

“Obviously there are some elements of competition. It’s just not the same as the Globe versus the Herald. That’s been a knockdown dragout competition,” said Reiss.

Changing Consumption Habits

For its part, ESPN doesn’t see itself as a direct threat to newspapers.

“As a company, we are fans of newspapers, and not believers they are going away.  They face challenges that will force them to evolve,” said Paul Melvin, an ESPN spokesman. “But those challenges have, really, very little to do with us specifically -- but rather about the way media and people's consumption habits are changing.”

Those changing consumption habits have taken away a virtual monopoly once owned by newspapers. “They owned the tollgate on the road that carried information from retailers and customers. The Internet came and broke that tollgate,” said Meyer.

The ESPN experiment could soon push ad dollars away from local papers’ sports sites.

“I think if we see a greater return on ESPN for the spend, then you will see us migrate more towards that. I don’t think upfront we’ll rule out continuing to have relationships with local newspaper sites,” said Ray Elias, marketing director at StubHub. “I don’t think we’ve seen the same level of success in local newspaper sites as we are in ESPN. The local newspaper sites are just not as sophisticated a user experience”

The ESPN move comes as newspapers continue to experiment with new sources of revenue. Minnesota’s Star Tribune recently announced its second attempt at a paywall by charging $20 a year for greater access to the paper’s Vikings coverage, including chats with a beat writer, a blog from a former player, insight to columnists and picture galleries.

News Corp. (NWSA: 11.93, 0.41, 3.56%), the parent of FOX Business as well as the New York Post and The London Times, has floated plans to begin charging for online content of more of its news sites.

It’s not clear yet if ESPN will be able to replicate its early success in Chicago elsewhere but the network seems open to branching out beyond these initial five cities.

The recent, abrupt departure of veteran studio chief Dick Cook frees Iger to revamp the studio process and structure in response to the intensifying impact of the digital tsunami and the recession on Disney's free-falling filmed entertainment revenues and earnings. The studio, which has contributed as much as 15% of Disney's total operating income, has posted its first quarterly losses in about five years.

The cross-company leveraging of Disney's evergreen brand and character franchises, a hallmark of Iger's four-year tenure, has been a vulnerable defense to rapidly changing consumer behavior. Iger is likely to embrace some dramatic new approaches to film distribution, marketing, merchandising and financing.

That probably will include more related aggressive production of video games inspired by its newly acquired Marvel Entertainment (MVL) stable of superheroes. Making another acquisition -- such as leading video game maker Electronic Arts -- also would advance its burgeoning XD video game platform and keep all production and profits in-house for online, television, film and consoles. Disney declines comment on its plans.

Iger has openly discussed launching a subscription-based Web site and other payment services, including electronic sell-through that could continue to alter traditional film exhibition windows. He's likely to leverage Disney's core family and "tween" girls attraction to experiment with paid content that translates a $5-per-hour movie theater attendance to better than 25 cents-per-hour online viewing. Disney ultimately may favor consumers determining where, on what screen, and when they want to first view some new films.

The integration of Marvel Entertainment and a new distribution deal with Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG (DWA) will afford opportunities for creating and testing some new ways of doing business. Most immediately, Disney will likely tap Marvel's superheroes to create live-action films, TV programs or even a branded cable network. Marvel merchandise will also fortify Disney's recession-depressed consumer products, generating an incremental $40 million in revenues and $30 million in earnings, Bernstein estimates. Marvel's licensing business generated nearly $400 million in revenues in 2008.

Disney may even create a clearinghouse like the new Epix venture from Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate (LGF), which provides one-stop, studio-controlled distribution of films to mobile and other emerging on-demand platforms.

While developing a host of hybrid approaches to paid content, Iger has begun to forge new licensing terms with Redbox and other discount film renters to protect suffering DVD sales, particularly with the November release of "Up." Ultimately, Iger will be working on a long-term alternative to the entire industry's declining DVD sales and the short-term recessionary boost to DVD rentals.

The need for such enterprising maneuvers is evident in the dismal performance of Disney's studio entertainment unit.

*Disney's studio operating income is projected to decline 25% over five years to $353 million in 2012 on a 7% in decline in revenues that bottom at $5.5 billion in 2012, according to Bernstein. Operating income is off two-thirds from 2008, when it topped $1 billion, which Iger partly blames on poor film choices and execution. Revised estimates for fiscal 2009 call for filmed entertainment earnings to decline more than 80% from the prior year.

*Pixar animated masterpieces like "Up" are profit tentpoles too infrequently produced to offset ongoing losses from Disney's core businesses. "Up" was flat with last year's "Wall-E" in global box office (about $538 million) and profitability, according to Credit Suisse. Pixar's competitive edge has been dulled by the widespread industry adoption of computer-generated animation.

*Before the summer film cycle and the release of "Up," Disney's share of the U.S. box office this year was at a multi-year low of 8.7%, according to Credit Suisse. Disney's 2008 U.S. box office per film was a three-year low of $48 million.

*Disney's ROI from live-action films has sunk to new lows. Since "Pirates 3" opened on May 25, 2007, Disney has released 33 films with a median global box office gross of only $68 million -- "a far cry from Marvel's $297 million median," according to Bernstein analyst Michael Nathanson. Although "Pirates" boosted studio margins to the mid-teens, Disney's fiscal-year 2009 margins are down to 4%.

*Like other industry peers, Disney's returns are being hurt by what will be another 15% to 20% decline in DVD sales in 2009, slightly offset by the recession-boosted DVD rentals -- up 8% so far this year. Disney has been taking double-digit writedowns on lower-than-expected returns on new theater and DVD releases.

*All results have been exacerbated by the cyclical decline of its advertising and consumer spending-supported business, as well as the systemic weakness in broadcast television. Disney's total EBITA is expected to decline -24% in 2009 (from nearly gaining +23% in 2007), and rebound only to average annual high single-digit growth through 2014, according to Credit Suisse analyst Spencer Wang.

The purchase of Marvel Entertainment is set to be Disney's largest acquisition since 2006, when it had purchased Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

The deal entitles Walt Disney to Marvel's strong global brand and world-renowned library of more than 5,000 characters, which include Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, The First Avenger: Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor. The deal also provides Disney exclusive control over Marvel's licensing, publishing and film production divisions.

On Sep 8, 2009, Disney announced another acquisition in the video game business. The company's interactive entertainment affiliate, Disney Interactive Media Group, reached an agreement to acquire the Chicago-based videogame manufacturer Wideload Games Inc. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Disney Interactive Studios develops and distributes a wide range of multi-platform video games, mobile games and interactive entertainment globally. The acquisition of Wideload Games will help enhance its market share in the video game industry. Wideload Games is currently developing a family console game scheduled for release in 2010 from Disney.

Media and Entertainment businesses are facing a slump in advertising demand as well as DVD sales, so they are venturing into the video game business, which has more growth potential. However, the video game industry, which has surged for a number of years, has finally been affected by the recession.