Picked from among thousands of selections, the 20 hotels were chosen as unique, unusual and not-to-be-missed experiences, said Fodor's Travel Publications publisher Tim Jarrell. Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge won in "The Kids Will Love It, Too" category.

Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge features African art and artifacts, South African-inspired cuisine and guestroom views to savannahs teeming with exotic wildlife.

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Victoria & Albert's Wins Two Awards

Victoria & Albert's at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa has been awarded a AAA Five Diamond rating for the fifth consecutive year and is among just 57 restaurants in North America earning AAA's highest distinction in 2005.

AAA's 65 full-time tourism editors evaluate more then 55,000 hotels and restaurants each year, and only 0.26 percent (barely more than one-quarter of 1 percent) earn five diamonds (85 lodgings earned the coveted honor this year along with the 57 restaurants).

Victoria & Albert's also was awarded four stars by the 2005 Mobil Travel Guide -- one of only two restaurants in Central Florida to earn the honor.

Mobil Travel Guide ratings are based on cumulative scores determined by service evaluations, unannounced inspections, published reviews and letters from Mobil Travel Guide users.

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Blizzard Beach Welcomes Guests "Back to the Slopes"

Disney's Blizzard Beach welcomes water lovers back to the slopes following a six-week seasonal refurbishment.

Blizzard Beach is a zany water adventure park with the atmosphere and excitement of a major ski resort in the midst of a tropical lagoon. The 66-acre park features water fun for the whole family with slides, raft rides and the ultimate 120-foot-high Summit Plummet -- the nation's tallest, fastest free-fall speed slide, visible from almost anywhere in the park.

The sandy beach below Mt. Gushmore offers a large heated wave pool, a lazy river, two snack bars, a polar pub lodge and a pre-teen and children's play area. Other facilities include: dressing/locker rooms, life jacket rentals, towel rentals, merchandise shop and picnic areas throughout the park. Operating hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, visit disneyworld.com or call 407/824-4321.

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Ensemble to perform `Beauty and the Beast'

The Union County Performance Ensemble's performance of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" will be performed at Wingate University's George W. Batte center in January.

The dates are: Jan. 13-15 and 20-22 at 7:30 p.m.; January 16 and 23 at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets: $9 in advance or $10 at the door for adults; $5 in advance or $6 at the door for students. 

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Disney-MGM Studios Guest Could Win $1 Million

The television quiz show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," hosted by Meredith Vieira, will tape five weeks of episodes during January at Disney-MGM Studios.

The tapings will take place inside the "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire-Play It!" set on Jan. 12-16, with multiple episodes taped each day.

A limited number of audience tickets are available in advance and can be requested at millionairetv.com. A limited number of tickets will also be available the day of the tapings and will be distributed inside Disney-MGM Studios on a first-come, first-served basis, while seats last, on taping days.

A special, multi-day "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" travel package is also available at millionairetv.com.

On Jan. 15, Disney-MGM Studios guests will have a chance to "Walk-In and Win" the $1 million grand prize, with "Hot Seat" contestants coming directly from the studio audience. The studio audience will be determined by random drawing. Eligibility requirements and more details can be found at millionairetv.com.

The taped episodes will air nationwide in February, May and June. Viewers should check their local listings for more information.

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Disneyland Resort Offers A Valentine Of Romantic Ways For Couples To Celebrate 

For sweethearts seeking romance this Valentine's Day on Monday, February 14, the Disneyland Resort in Southern California offers a charming selection of choices. Whether it's a cozy dinner for two, a playful day exploring the Disney theme parks or a weekend getaway in the elegant new Princess Diaries Suite, there is something sure to appeal to every preference. And for those ready to pop the big question, one of the most popular places to propose marriage is Snow White's Wishing Well and Grotto located in the romantic shadows of Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland .

New Princess Diaries Suite at Disneyland Hotel

In celebration of the Walt Disney Pictures' hit film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement , the Disneyland Hotel has transformed a bedroom of its luxurious Presidential Suite into a re-creation of Princess Mia's regal quarters. The new, totally redecorated room has been beautifully appointed with elaborate reproductions of the elegantly designed Drexel-Heritage furniture seen in the motion picture, creating a new level of stately, yet fun-filled accommodations.

The Princess Diaries Suite is located atop the hotel's 11-story Sierra Tower , providing a sweeping view of the Disneyland Resort. It features an ornate, handcrafted queen-size bed and delicate overhead cornice that are matched with a collection of European-influenced, classic-style furniture, and most pieces are from the original movie set depicting Mia's private chambers.

Guests who stay in the Princess Diaries Suite receive the "royal treatment," including complimentary gifts such as the DVD of The Princess Diaries , a CD of the musical soundtrack of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement , a sparkling rhinestone tiara in a presentation box, and access to the nearby Concierge Lounge.

The rate for the Princess Diaries Suite ranges from $430 to $515 per night. If reserved as part of the entire contemporary-style Presidential Suite, the total rate can range from $1,400 to $1,755, depending on season. To make reservations, call (714) 956-6425.

New Romance Package Offered By Walt Disney Travel Company

For a romantic overnight getaway, the Walt Disney Travel Company has created a new Romance Package for 2005 that includes a candlelit dinner for two in the award-winning Napa Rose restaurant in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, Granville's Steak House in the Disneyland Hotel or the Vineyard Room in Disney's California Adventure park, as well as a spa treatment for two in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, a choice of a pair of champagne flutes or a crystal frame from Arribas Brothers, and two limited edition cloisonné pins. This package is an add-on to any Walt Disney Travel Company vacation package, and is $325 per couple in addition to the base package which includes hotel accommodations, Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Tickets and extras.

The Romance Package can be added on to a Disney's Resort Magic package that features a stay at one of three Disneyland Resort hotels. Two-night Resort Magic packages start at $349 per person, double occupancy, during Value Season (January 4-March 17; April 10-July 2; August 28-November 21; and November 27-December 22). To book, contact a travel agent, call the Walt Disney Travel Company at (877) 700-DISNEY, or visit www.disneyland.com .

More Romantic Ideas at The Disneyland Resort

The Disneyland Resort brings out the magic and playfulness in couples with a variety of romantic adventures throughout the property. Here are a few suggestions:

• Fall in love… with the fairest of them all in the classic tale of "Snow White - An Enchanting Musical" performing daily at the Fantasyland Theatre in Disneyland.
• Sip and stargaze… fine California wines from the celebrated cellar of Napa Rose and see stars overhead from the restaurant's cozy fire-pit patio at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel .
• Sushi at Yamabuki… is a tantalizing trip to the Orient at Disney's Paradise Pier  Hotel.
• Sail into another time… aboard the Mark Twain Riverboat by asking the skipper to ride in the wheelhouse as this sternwheeler gently plies the Rivers of America in Disneyland .
• End the evening… at the Fantasmic! Dessert Balcony in New Orleans Square at Disneyland (tasting flavored coffees and confections from a keepsake box) as Sorcerer Mickey lights up the sky with his spellbinding nighttime extravaganza.

For general Disneyland Resort information, park hours and entertainment schedules, visit www.disneyland.com or call (714) 781-4565.

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Magic of Disney Animation Immerses Guests In Disney's Timeless Art 

The newly refurbished Magic of Disney Animation attraction in Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World Resort showcases Disney's art of storytelling and bringing animated characters to life. Guests can see what goes into making an animated film and then can join in the fun and test their own animation skills.

The attraction showcases stories brought to life through animation -- from concept to completion. Interactive displays and instruction from trained Disney artists provide guests the chance to try their hand at animation and take home their self-drawn sketch of a famous Disney character.

The Magic of Disney Animation also features a themed meet-and-greet area where guests come face-to-face with the latest larger-than-life animated characters.

Currently, stars of the latest animated silver screen offering -- Disney presents a Pixar film THE INCREDIBLES -- make daily appearances. The trio of stars of the new hit film -- Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl and Frozone -- show off their superhero muscle each day and say hello to guests of all ages inside the attraction.

Characters will appear inside on an ever-changing basis, with 'toon stars from the latest release featured for guest photos and autograph sessions.

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Walt Disney World Resort Sweetens Goofy's Candy Company With Expanded Offerings

Downtown Disney will be sweeter than ever this spring with an expanded Goofy's Candy Company featuring an interactive show kitchen concocting scrumptious confections.

To make room for the tasty offering at Downtown Disney Marketplace, the Disney at Home location begins refurbishment in early January. The current Goofy's Candy Company location will continue to operate until approximately one week prior to the opening of the new location, then undergo refurbishment in preparation for another retail concept.

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``Disneyland, Disneyland, Disneyland,'' she sang, as her tiny feet peppered the kitchen floor where Stephanie, her dad and her three siblings were all studying their own passports to the ``Happiest Place on Earth.''

On this Christmas morning, thanks to the generosity of Mercury News readers, the entire Cruz family -- dad Nicky and children Nicky Jr., 13, Gonzolo, 12, Marilyn, 8, and Stephanie -- woke up in the fun-filled comfort and warmth of the Disneyland Hotel.

The family was embraced by readers when their tragic story of loss was featured as part of this year's Wish Book series.

Their adventure began with a flight to Anaheim on Christmas Eve day. At the resort, they were met by a bilingual VIP host who escorted the wide-eyed family through both theme parks, Disneyland and California Adventure.

Today starts off with a breakfast at which they will meet Mickey Mouse and other characters over pancakes. After a full day at the parks, they will sit down to a festive dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney.

The excursion will allow the family the luxury of four days to be together in a gentle environment. Perhaps it will help them begin the process of healing from the recent accident that suddenly took the life of Rocio Mendez.

``I left home that morning with a loving wife and four happy kids,'' said Nicky Cruz about Oct. 13, the day when his wife and the mother of four was killed in a hit-and-run incident on Cinderella Lane near South Jackson Avenue in San Jose.

Mendez, 42, was walking with Stephanie when, according to police reports, a driver turned off Jackson and plowed into them both. Police reports say the driver stopped his truck, looked back at the injured mother and daughter, and drove away. The alleged driver was later arrested and remains in Santa Clara County jail in lieu of a $1 million bond.

While Stephanie was injured, Mendez had severe brain damage and was pronounced dead a day later. Since then, the family has been reeling in confusion and grief.

The idea of spending Christmas in their cramped apartment without their wife and mother was too painful. The idea of getting away to a place that Mendez always dreamed of taking her kids seemed perfect.

Readers agreed, and donations poured in to help the family get to Disneyland. There also have been plenty of job offers for Nicky, who does home improvement work, and lots of letters from readers offering everything from solace to prayers.

The dream trip also included some extra excitement for the four kids: their first plane ride.

``We were all kind of a little nervous,'' said Nicky Jr., recalling the moment the aircraft lifted off.

``It went very fast at first and then it slowed down,'' he said, laughing. ``But we got here real quickly and the whole place is really nice.''

Since the fatal accident, Cruz has been staying close to his children, but every day has been a struggle. The family's introduction to Disneyland put a smile on all their faces.

``We took a lot of pictures with Mickey Mouse,'' said a happily exhausted Cruz. ``And everybody has been so nice to us.'' He said his daughters particularly loved Minnie Mouse's House (in Toontown) and that their first exploration of Disneyland took about four hours -- with plenty more to come in the next several days.

``I'd like to thank all the people who helped us out,'' said Cruz. ``It's been hard for us and now I wish I could do something for everybody who helped us.''

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At Disney, Wagner Over a Weekend

No matter how late you get to Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," the old joke goes, there are always two more acts. Artful procrastinators met their match with "The Tristan Project" in Los Angeles early this month: not just two more acts, two more days. Wagner's five-plus hours of opera luxuriated over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Disney Hall, with one act per performance, each prefaced with music by Debussy, Berg or Saariaho.

Everybody had something to learn from this Los Angeles Philharmonic event. Gone for listeners was the experience of a long, difficult and ultimately rewarding ascent. The marathon became the measured walk, leaving the mind time to freshen itself for each phase of this astonishing work.

There were benefits, too, on the other side of the footlights (figuratively speaking - this was a concert space, not an opera house). When the opera is performed in a single evening, singers in the principal roles operate under brutal vocal pressure. At Disney, Christine Brewer's Isolde received the gift of a night's rest and recuperation between acts. The results were extraordinary.

Bill Viola's projections were beautiful in themselves, though I wonder about their power to distract from the essence of "Tristan." Esa-Pekka Salonen's players sounded like a true Wagnerian orchestra in the up-close acoustics of their new hall. Peter Sellars's modest staging gestures will turn into a full-blown opera production in Paris next spring. The preparatory event in Los Angeles may end up being more interesting than the real thing.

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Make-A-Wish sends Pierre boy to Disney World

A 16-year-old Pierre boy who is fighting Leukemia is spending Christmas week with his family at Walt Disney World.

Travis Newling and his family left for Orlando, Fla., Thursday for the weeklong vacation sponsored by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of South Dakota.

Along for the trip are Newling's parents, Bill and Margie, his younger sister, Kelsey, his older sister, Amanda, brother-in law, Jon, and nephew, Josiah.

Margie Newling said the getaway is extra-special because Travis wrote his letter asking Make-A-Wish for a trip not for himself, but for his family.

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Magic of Disney Animation Immerses Guests In Disney's Timeless Art of Bringing Stories to Life

From Cinderella to Stitch and Mr. Smee to Mr. Incredible, Disney's art of storytelling has been nothing short of magical, creating the greatest animated films of all time. Since Snow White debuted in 1937, the talented team of Disney animators -- originally handpicked and trained by Walt Disney himself -- has created timeless classics enjoyed by audiences around the globe.

The newly refurbished Magic of Disney Animation attraction in Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World Resort showcases Disney's style of bringing stories and animation characters to life. Guests see what goes into making an animated film and then can join in the fun and test their own animation skills.

The attraction showcases stories brought to life through animation -- from concept to completion. Interactive displays and instruction from trained Disney artists provide guests the chance to try their hand at animation and take home their self-drawn sketch of a famous Disney character.

The Magic of Disney Animation also features a themed meet-and-greet area where guests come face-to-face with the latest larger-than-life animated characters.

Currently, stars of the latest animated silver screen offering -- Disney presents a Pixar film THE INCREDIBLES -- make daily appearances. The trio of stars of the new hit film -- Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl and Frozone -- show off their superhero muscle each day and say hello to guests of all ages inside the attraction.

Characters will appear inside on an ever-changing basis, with 'toon stars from the latest release featured for guest photos and autograph sessions.

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"My Wife And Kids" To Shoot Two-Part Episode On Location At Atlantis, Paradise Island, The Bahamas, In January

The ABC series "My Wife and Kids" will shoot a two-part episode on location at Atlantis, Paradise Island resort in The Bahamas. In the episodes, which will be shot in early January to air during February sweeps, the Kyles embark on another family vacation for which Michael's (Damon Wayans) main objective is to not do anything or be disturbed by anyone. But of course, that's exactly what happens.

Guest star David Alan Grier ("Life with Bonnie") reprises his role as Jimmy, Michael's annoying friend, who shows up unexpectedly and tries to hone in on Michael's vacation, causing havoc along the way.

The family's vacation takes place at the spectacular Atlantis, Paradise Island resort, known worldwide as a resort destination that is truly redefining family entertainment and gaming in the tropics. A vibrant tribute to fun and playfulness, Atlantis is also the location for many films, television shows, concerts and sporting events that have emanated from the grounds.

The resort offers more than 2,300 guest accommodations, 35 restaurants, bars and lounges, the most exciting casino in the Caribbean and a marina capable of handling the largest of private luxury vessels. The focal point of the resort and the filming of the special episodes will be the 11 million gallons of fresh- and salt-water swimming pools, the seemingly endless stretch of beach that has been called the most beautiful in the world, and a marine habitat second only to Mother Nature: a remarkable, unparalleled assortment of exhibit lagoons and underwater formations displaying 200 species of marine life, consisting of 50,000 live animals, ranging from schools of sharks to rainbows of tropical fish.

"My Wife and Kids" stars Damon Wayans as Michael Kyle, Tisha Campbell-Martin as Jay Kyle, George O. Gore II as Jr., Jennifer Freeman as Claire Kyle, Parker McKenna Posey as Kady Kyle, Noah Gray-Cabey as Franklin, Andrew McFarlane as Tony and Brooklyn Sudano as Vanessa.

Damon Wayans and Don Reo are co-creators and executive producers of "My Wife and Kids." Dean Lorey is executive producer. The series tapes at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, CA, and is from Touchstone Television. The series premiered March 28, 2001.

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From Dinos to Rhinos, Chills to Thrills: Wonder and Whimsy Reign at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Travel back in time -- way back -- to a world of ferocious dinosaurs. Surround yourself with the music and magic of a Broadway-caliber performance in the "Festival of the Lion King" show. Hop aboard a real safari to capture poachers and explore the wilds of Africa. Ride raging rapids through a threatened rainforest, or marvel at tigers, fruit bats and other creatures amid the ruins of an ancient Asian village.

Lace up your walking shoes and prepare to explore Disney's Animal Kingdom, where the exciting worlds of wild and whimsical creatures come to life on thrill rides and on an authentic African safari, in theaters brimming with colorful entertainment and through up-close meetings with the animal stars of Disney feature animation classics.

Laid out in a classic hub-and-spoke Disney style, this newest and fourth major theme park at Walt Disney World Resort first welcomes guests into The Oasis, a lush gateway to adventure populated by deer, anteaters, tree kangaroos and other animals. The park's fun-filled lands radiate from the centrally located Discovery Island, where The Tree of Life park icon towers 145 feet above guests and houses the hilarious 3-D film and special effects attraction, "It's Tough to be a Bug!" From there, guests can explore:

Africa, home to Kilimanjaro Safaris; Harambe village; Pangani Forest Exploration Trail; and Rafiki's Planet Watch and the Wildlife Express steam train.

DinoLand U.S.A., with Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama! "mini-land" featuring Primeval Whirl and TriceraTop Spin; the DINOSAUR thrill ride; The Boneyard excavation play area; Cretaceous Trail; and Theater in the Wild, featuring "Tarzan Rocks!" stage show.

Camp Minnie-Mickey, with "Festival of the Lion King" stage show; Pocahontas in "Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends" stage show; and Disney character meet-and-greet pavilions featuring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and other favorites.

Asia, featuring Kali River Rapids, a white-water raft adventure; Maharajah Jungle Trek with tigers, gibbons, Komodo dragons and other creatures; and "Flights of Wonder," an exotic bird show.

"Nothing like Animal Kingdom exists anywhere else in the world," says Joe Rohde, Walt Disney Imagineering executive designer for the park. "Our guests journey into the last wild sanctuaries of the planet -- vast forests and grasslands where the great herds of Africa surround them. And they race against time into the darkness of a prehistoric world where gigantic dinosaurs literally shake the earth around them."

Bugs are another matter. They may not shake the earth, but they know how to shake up an audience in "It's Tough to be a Bug!" at The Tree of Life Theater. With advanced 3-D and Audio-Animatronics® technology combined with surprising special effects, this insect adventure leaves guests laughing and screaming for more.

The magical music of the Disney classic "The Lion King" combines with dance, acrobatics and elaborate staging and costuming to inspire one of the theme park's most talked-about shows, "Festival of the Lion King" at Camp Minnie-Mickey. And at Theater in the Wild outside DinoLand U.S.A., guests are swept away on a theatrical thrill ride in a high-energy 30-minute stage musical, "Tarzan Rocks!"

At the heart of DinoLand U.S.A., guests discover DINOSAUR, where they board time-traveling vehicles to zoom back 65 million years on a twisting, lurching journey to save the last dinosaur from extinction before the crash of a fiery asteroid. A busy paleontological "dig," The Boneyard, provides plenty of fun activity for children as they climb, crawl and slide throughout the well-preserved skeletons of triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex. Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama! captures the essence of a campy roadside fair. Guests can take a spin on Primeval Whirl, a fun-filled family coaster, or TriceraTop Spin, a playful open-air, toy-top attraction. Old-fashioned amusement games round out the fun.

From the thrilling era of the dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago, Disney guests can travel on to an African savannah of today, where rare and wonderful creatures such as black rhinos, hippos, African elephants and lions roam openly. On Kilimanjaro Safaris, passengers experience a true African safari in vehicles that bounce over rutted roads, ford through pools of hippos and pass herds of zebra, giraffe, gazelle, elephants and other animals. But beware! Lurking in the tawny grasslands are ivory poachers, and it's up to the safari passengers to help save the herd from poachers' guns.

At the end of the 20-minute safari, visitors can follow Pangani Forest Exploration Trail into an Eden-like world of streams and splashing waterfalls. Pangani Forest is home to a troop of endangered lowland gorillas. Hippos -- viewed from under water -- meerkats and tropical birds live along the shady walking trail.

On another "continent" nearby, guests encounter the thrill of Kali River Rapids, a white-water rafting expedition in the land of Asia. Guests are launched on 12-person rafts into the turbulent Chakranadi River for a wet journey of twists, turns and fiery adventure.

A surprise awaits around every turn, including an abrupt drop into racing, splashing waters.

Asia's other main attraction, Maharajah Jungle Trek, is a breathtaking journey through the lush home of myriad animal and bird species.

In this rainforest environment, Nepal, India, Thailand and Indonesia all are represented through architecture, animal carvings and ruins scattered throughout the village. The exotic animals are visible from the top of a parapet, through a stand of bamboo and from a bridge that stands amid the ruins near an old herb garden.

"Flights of Wonder," a humorous show highlighting the beauty and diversity of birds at Caravan Stage outdoor amphitheater, is also a part of Asia. The setting for "Flights of Wonder" is a crumbling Asian town where macaws, ibis, pelicans and other birds emerge from their alcoves to soar overhead.

Which birds show off on any given day is part of the surprise, but all birds are being taught to show off their natural talent, not "do tricks." Trainers demonstrate how birds respond to special audio or visual clues, how they hunt and eat. "Flights of Wonder" is one of many shows and demonstrations in Disney's Animal Kingdom designed to entertain while inspiring guests to a greater awareness of animals and what threatens them around the world.

For an up-close look at more of the real animals inhabiting Disney's Animal Kingdom, guests can board the Wildlife Express steam train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. An interactive backstage look at how the park's animals are kept happy and healthy, Rafiki's Planet Watch features: Animal Cam, with a peek into animal care areas; hands-on displays for the opportunity to participate in conservation and species-survival efforts; and The Affection Section, where guests can meet and pet small domestic animals. A wondrous audio experience transports guests into a threatened rainforest.

Animals have played an important part in Disney stories from the earliest Mickey Mouse films to the "True-Life Adventures" television series in the 1950s to "The Lion King" in feature motion pictures.

"Disney is all about storytelling," says Rohde. "And now, for the first time, real live animals help tell the story as their fascinating families play out real-life experiences on nature's "stage." 

The shareholder proposal, which would name a Disney family member as an outside, independent director, was made by Frank Wierenga, a Pennsylvania shareholder. It will appear in the company's proxy statement and be voted on at next year's annual shareholder's meeting.

"The company and it's heritage of creativity, excellence and quality leadership are closely tied to the persona of the founders Walter E. (Walt) Disney and Roy O. Disney," the proposal states.

Wierenga wrote that the company has always held higher standards and values than normal media companies because of the legacy left by the Disney family.

"These values are the heritage of not only this company but the whole Disney family," the proposal states. "As such, it is fitting and proper that a member of the founder's family serves the company on the Board of Directors."

This week, Roy E. Disney, son of company co-founder Roy O. Disney and Walt's nephew, posted an open letter to shareholders on his Web site urging that the proposal be defeated.

"My family and I want to thank Mr. Wierenga for his kind words," he wrote. "While we wholeheartedly concur with Mr. Wierenga that the Disney board should include committed, vigilant directors who share Walt's vision, we also believe that, in the interest of good corporate governance, no one should have the right to a seat on the board merely because of his or her last name."

The company's management also recommended that shareholders reject the proposal because it contradicts corporate governance guidelines adopted by the board.

"Using lineage to determine board membership as a method to preserve that heritage is unreliable and potentially perilous and is not consistent with today's standard's of corporate governance," the company said in a statement opposing the proposal.

Roy E. Disney resigned from the board in 1984 and helped engineer a rescue effort at the company that brought Michael Eisner and Frank Wells to run Disney. Wells died in a helicopter crash in 1994.

He abruptly resigned again last year, along with fellow board member Stanley Gold, and both called for Eisner to quit. The two cited the company's lagging stock price and what they said were declines in quality at Disney's theme parks.

In the past year, shares of Disney have risen and the company has produced a 70 percent rise in earnings per share.

Roy Disney and Gold have said they would not run oppose the company's proposed slate of directors at next year's annual meeting, citing the progress that has been made at the company and Eisner's plans to step down in 2006. The board has said it will name Eisner's successor by next June.

"At heart, the selection of directors must hinge on an evaluation of the talents and strengths of each candidate, whether his or her name be Disney or Smith," Disney wrote.

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Disney adds another lure

Like many dads, I don't look forward to going to Walt Disney World.

Sure, my kids get a kick out of it, but waiting in long lines to shake hands with a life-sized cartoon character is not my idea of fun.

But as a parent, I suffer through it, just to see the smiles on the little ones' faces.

Things changed this fall, however, after I received the following news release:

"Walt Disney World Resort Announces New Bass Fishing Excursions. Disney Resort Recreation Teams With BASS to Offer Guests the Best in Bass Fishing."

As an angler, I have long been familiar with the Alabama-based BASS, organizer of the nation's most prestigious bass fishing tournament trails. I've attended the organization's Bassmaster Classic, the Super Bowl of freshwater fishing, and expected that anything that carried the BASS name would be a class experience.

So on a crisp fall morning, I met my guide behind Disney's Wilderness Lodge.

"I think you are looking for me," Missy Jackson said as she pulled her 21-foot pontoon boat up to the dock. "Hope you guys are ready to catch some fish."

Jackson, a 35-year-old Florida native who grew up fishing Kissimmee's Lake Tohopekaliga, or Lake Toho for short, has been guiding anglers on Disney's lakes for five years.

"In all that time I haven't been skunked once," she said. "I hope you don't break my streak."

The sprawling Disney complex has numerous fishing spots, but on this day Jackson focused on the natural Bay Lake and an adjacent man-made body of water, Seven Seas Lagoon.

Anglers have their choice of using artificial or live bait, but since I had a 3-year-old aboard, I chose the latter.

"Now watch your line," she told my son. "There is a fish out there that has your name on it."

The fishing at Disney World is catch and release only. The typical charter costs $215 and lasts about 2 hours, which is about 20 times my son's normal attention span. The only way to keep him interested is to keep him occupied. And after 10 minutes with no bites, Jackson began to worry.

"I've got another spot to try," she said. "I was trying for a big one."

I explained to her that my son, like most kids, doesn't know the difference between a minnow and a monster.

"As long as it pulls back he's happy," I said.

But Jackson said she often guides anglers in search of trophy bass.

"There are 10-pounders out here," she said. "Because these lakes are so well managed, big fish are not uncommon."

According to Greg Waldron, who manages the guide program, the largest bass ever caught in a Disney lake weighed 14.2 pounds.

"We think we have a world-class fishery," he added. "We think our partnership with BASS is going to raise the sport to a new level. Bass fishing is where NASCAR was 10 years go. We think interest is only going to continue to grow."

Earlier this year, BASS announced that it will move its headquarters to nearby Celebration next year and hold its 2005 BASS Federation championship on Disney's Bay Lake and Kissimmee's Toho.

If the quality of my fishing experience is any indication of what the nation's top amateur anglers have to look forward to when the event is held April 27-30, there should be a record number of fish caught and released.

"Are your arms getting tired yet?" Jackson asked after my son reeled in his fifth fish.

"Yeah," Kai replied. "I think I'll just lay down for a while."

So Jackson and I caught another half dozen before handing the fishing rod to my wife, Kanika, who seldom gets a chance to fish. She reeled in a nice 3-pounder, the perfect size for a photo opportunity.

"Here," Jackson said, holding the fish by the lip. "Hold it just like this."

My wife politely declined.

"No thank you," she said. Jackson, a country girl brought up on bass, insisted. My wife reluctantly agreed, and smiled for the camera.

"Wow," I said. "I would never in a million years get her to do that."

There truly is a little magic in this kingdom, I thought to myself.

IF YOU GO

Disney's bass fishing excursions are ideal for the average angler. The two-hour guided tours range from $195 to $215 for a party of five. The pontoon boats are quiet, clean and comfortable. Reservations can be made up to two weeks in advance.

Call (407) WDW-BASS.

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Walt Disney to go the whole hog in India

The Walt Disney Company plans to explore all businesses in India, including broadband, ventures in mobile services like downloading ringtones and wallpapers, publishing, films, Internet, radio, merchandise and theme parks, besides television broadcasting. However, right now, the $30-billion company is focused on TV, according to executive vice-president and managing director of the company Douglas K Miller. Creativity, technology and international expansion are the three focus areas of Walt Disney, he said.

Without giving out any investment figures, Mr Miller said the India project would break even in mid to long-term.

Miller was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference on the launch of two Disney channels in India. The two channels went on air in India from Friday as part of the Star bouquet.

Even as industry insiders have been talking about Disney theme parks coming to India, officials refused to give any timeframe for setting up a park in the country. Regarding theme parks, the latest project coming up in Hong Kong is significant for the company.

In the Asia-Pacific region, India and China are among the significant markets for Walt Disney, Miller said. But, when asked to compare the two markets, he said China was still quite closed. The viewership of Disney channels in the India market is expected to be the highest, barring the US, he added.

On whether it was a disadvantage for Walt Disney that it was entering India so late, particularly when Turner group's Cartoon Network has been around over 10 years, Miller said, "It would have been nice to be in India early, but we'll do things differently now." The company will focus on the opportunities and requirements of the India market, rather than on competition, he argued. Disney entered late in many parts of the world, but it became number one in finite number of years, according to Miller.

While admitting that the company would go for a 360 degree approach, Walt Disney Company (India) managing director Rajat Jain refused to name the next big venture. "It will depend on the opportunities in India," he said. In India, Disney is going for localisation of content to a large extent, to attract viewers from all across.

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Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up, celebrates 100 years

Peter Pan, the little boy who so famously refused to grow up, celebrates his 100th birthday on Monday, having become one of the best-loved characters in children's fiction.

On December 27, 1904, the Duke of York Theatre in London staged the premiere of Scottish playwright J.M. Barrie's masterpiece about Wendy and her brothers, dragged by Peter Pan into the imaginary land of "lost boys" and the fairy Tinkerbell, and pirates led by the sinister Captain Hook.

Numerous events are being held to mark the anniversary, including a special performance at the Duke of York and workshops for children on the Peter Pan theme at the Theatre Museum in London's Covent Garden.

Museum spokeswoman Caroline Malbon explained the play's enduring appeal. "It captures the children's imagination, going away from routine life to enter a magical, fantastic world, leaving the parents behind," she told AFP.

An auction of Peter Pan memorabilia, including manuscripts, at Sotheby's last week fetched 116,100 pounds (165,000 euros, 223,000 dollars).

The proceeds of the sale went to Great Ormond Street Hospital, designated in 1929 by Sir James Matthew Barrie -- to give the playwright his full name -- as the sole beneficiary of the profits from the rights to Peter Pan.

The hospital, which specializes in the treatment of sick children, receives all monies from plays, films, books and other products inspired by the story.

Under the terms of Barrie's will, the hospital is not allowed to divulge how much Peter Pan brings in.

One of the most successful pieces of children's literature of all time, the play has packed theatres around the English-language world every year since it premiered.

The boy who did not want to grow up has inspired a swathe of films, from the famous Disney cartoon version in 1953, to the most recent, released this autumn, "Finding Neverland" starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, which concentrates on Barrie's own life.

The Sotheby's auction aroused great interest from universities and libraries, fascinated by the astonishing and tragic genesis of the story.

J.M. Barrie (1860-1937) was walking in London's Kensington gardens in 1897 when he bumped into a little boy, five-year-old George Llewelyn-Davies, and his four-year-old brother Jack, accompanied by their nanny and their brother Peter in a pram.

Barrie rapidly became a friend of the family, which grew in size with the birth of two more little boys, Michael and Nicholas.

The five children appear to have been the inspiration of the "lost boys" and Michael in particular the model for Peter Pan, in the same way as the friendship between Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell inspired that other great children's classic, "Alice in Wonderland".

But the Llewelyn-Davies family was struck by tragedy, with the death of the father and then the children's beautiful mother, Sylvia, in 1910.

"When she died, it seems that Barrie falsified her will, to become the custodian of the children, replacing the name of Jenny Hodgson, the boys' nurse, with that of his own, 'Jimmy'", Sotheby's manuscript expert Peter Beal said.

Tragedy continued to dog the family: George was killed in 1915 in World War I, Michael drowned with a friend in 1921 in a suspected suicide and Peter committed suicide in 1960.

The curse appears to have even affected Barrie's biographer Andrew Birkin. Barrie had written: "May God blast anyone who writes a biography about me". Birkin's son, a promising poet and musician, was killed in a car accident in September 2001 at the age of 21.

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ABC Treating a Showdown as a Showcase

ABC Sports showed foresight this week when it opened "Monday Night Football" with Dr. Phil analyzing the Dolphins' and the Patriots' mascots. With the television shrink on retainer, ABC should send the Big Baldie to Staples Center today to work on the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant mess when ABC starts its N.B.A. season with the Heat-Lakers game at 3 p.m. Eastern.

Call it "Dr. Phil Drives to the Frontal Lobe," sponsored by Toyota.

Kobe: I don't think Shaq Diesel thinks I was a good teammate.

Dr. Phil: You need to apologize, look Shaq Diesel in the eye, and say, "I wasn't nice to you, I haven't been a good little buddy, I drove Coach Jackson back to Montana, I forced Dr. Buss to trade you, and I'm going to make it up to you."

Kobe: O.K., Doc, but do you have Shaq's phone number?

It's difficult to discern whether ABC and its corporate brother ESPN want Kobe and Shaq to kiss at midcourt or rumble in the lane. It is in their interest to have the two loathe each other to increase viewership and create a rivalry now that the Miami market is once again worthy of national exposure, thanks to Shaq.

Last year, ABC's marquee Christmas matchup was Shaq against Yao Ming, merely a face-off of very tall centers - less explosive than what is expected of the baggy-pants Cain-and-Abel showdown promised months ago when the Lakers traded Shaq to Miami and Kobe became the king of Staples. ABC surely wants more out of the Shaq-Kobe reunion than the 4.1 rating it earned for Shaq-Yao.

"I give a lot of credit to the league," the ABC announcer Al Michaels said from Los Angeles. "It knew what it had and didn't waste this big elephant on a Wednesday night.

"This is a very different game. There are regular-season games that transcend the norm, but I can't think of any like this."

Maybe it will actually be a showcase game, not a soapy, 48-minute psychodrama, but prospectively, it is as much a game as TBS's "The Real Gilligan's Island" is a sitcom. It's Shaq versus Kobe, in a reality-series wrestling match.

The game has been preceded by a rash of ESPN- and ABC-inspired hype, including Bryant's interviews on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" and "NBA Shootaround," and O'Neal's at halftime of "Monday Night Football." ESPN's "SportsCenter" also dissected the Lakers in a five-part series.

In the "Shootaround" interview, Bryant played down his role in O'Neal's trade and in Phil Jackson's departure as coach, and eluded a question about why, when he was accused in Eagle, Colo., of sexual assault, he told the police that O'Neal had paid as much as $1 million to several women to cover up sexual trysts, which O'Neal has denied.

He told ESPN that Christmas would be an appropriate time to apologize to O'Neal, so maybe there will be one more buss in the arena than Dr. Jerry. Portraying himself as holiday-spirited, Bryant said he was now a prince of a teammate. If you to talk to the Lakers, he said, "it's like a brotherhood around here."

This week, at halftime of "Monday Night Football," Michaels interviewed O'Neal, who reflected on tape about how he did not have to like Bryant to play with him. "I know how he really is," O'Neal said, poker-faced. "I've been trying to tell people for years."

When Michaels asked him about what would happen when they clash for the first time as rivals, the Big Aristotle philosophized that he would be the wall and Bryant a Corvette.

"You know what's going to happen," O'Neal said.

Another heaping helping of Shaq will be delivered at halftime, with another taped interview, this one with Ahmad Rashad.

Hubie Brown, who resigned as coach of the Memphis Grizzlies this season, has joined ABC as Michaels's partner. Brown is not one to dwell on the gossipy aspects of the Shaq-Kobe theatrics. He said the 14-11 Lakers are suffering through having eight new players, including four who start, Bryant's shooting woes and injuries to Slava Medvedenko, Devean George, Vlade Divac and Brian Grant.

"Sure, people in L.A. want it to be better," Brown said during a conference call, "but look at the totals and the teams they played. How many plus-.500 teams have they played?"

The Lakers have beaten two teams that now have records above .500 - defeating the 2-23 Hornets three times - and have lost to six teams above .500.

As for a Shaq-Kobe conflagration, Brown said: "Wilt, Shaq and Artis Gilmore are three of the strongest guys who've ever played, but they are three of the cleanest guys ever to play. They have an inner self-discipline and they know not to hurt a peer. These people could hurt and injure people with lifetime injuries, yet they have that restraint that lets them play the game and play it correctly. No matter how hard you foul Shaq, triple-team and knock him down, he never retaliates."

"Our outside counsel in this matter, Morrison Cohen LLP, has been able to reach an accord with ESPN and SportsTicker," stated a spokesperson for TSN, "that satisfies us. While details cannot be disclosed, suffice it to say that we are very pleased with the resolution reached."

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Ian Maxion Headlines Two Radio Disney Los Angeles Christmas Shows!

Ian Maxion has come a long way since his small time shows around Northern California, over a year ago. Now when you go around California, or Arizona, Nevada, and other surrounding states for that matter, you find Ian Maxion headlining his own shows. You may have not heard of this ERA Productions homegrown talent, but Ian Maxion is vastly turning heads in the industry, is quickly and amply adding a plethora of adoring fans to his following, and is blowing away everyone with his ever so entertaining show! When viewing an Ian Maxion concert even these days, your head starts boppin', your mind automatically starts singing the ever so catchy tunes and you fall in love with this part african american, part spanish, half filipino male R&B/Pop/Rock artist!

During the weekend of the 11th and 12th of December, recently, Ian Maxion headlined two shows for Radio Disney's two Los Angeles Downtown Christmas shows. Ian wooed the crowd, from the young children, to the teens, to the supervising adults! Ian then signed autographs for over 3 and a half hours, for his adoring fans!

Ian Maxion is on his way up, you better keep your eye on him too!  

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Playhouse Disney's "Go, Baby!," Premieres Monday, January 3 On Disney Channel

"Go, Baby!," an engaging short form series designed to build a preschooler's self-confidence by empowering them to contribute their expertise to an 8-month-old baby's learning adventure, will premiere MONDAY, JANUARY 3 during Disney Channel's learning-based programming block, Playhouse Disney (weekdays, 6:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. and weekends 6:00-10:30 a.m., ET/PT). The series was created by Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Josh Selig ("Sesame Street," "Oobi") and features collage images produced via a variety of techniques, sources and image processing software.

Set to upbeat music against a vibrant backdrop, "Go, Baby!" features a "photo-real" baby and a narrator who encourages preschool age viewers to share the skills they already mastered with Baby as he experiences, for the first time, the wonders of his world including stacking blocks, banging a drum and building a sandcastle at the beach. Baby smiles, laughs, dances and makes eye contact with the preschool age viewer while the narrator affirms the viewer's interaction.

Created by Josh Selig, the series is produced by Tone Thyne and directed by Emmy Award-winning animator Jennifer Oxley. It is a Little Airplane-Granada Kids Production in association with Disney Channel.

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Julie Andrews Celebrates 'Poppins'

If you are looking for a last-minute Christmas gift, you can't go wrong with Julie Andrews. "Mary Poppins," one of the most beloved films of all times, was Andrew's film debut and she says it amazes her how well the film holds up after 40 years.

Entertainment contributor and People magazine senior editor Jess Cagle has all the details about a new special edition anniversary DVD of the movie in The Early Show's Home Theater.

"I cannot believe that it's 40 years since we started to make that movie," Andrews says. "The thing that staggers me is how good all the special effects are. Today, all the technology is so much easier and 40 years ago it wasn't as easy to do all this wonderful stuff. But it doesn't show. You don't see a single chink that doesn't work. There's not a crack in the armor anywhere. And Disney - they were so ahead of the times."

In the film, Andrews plays the practically perfect nanny Mary Poppins. The practically perfect movie was nominated for 13 Academy awards, winning five including Best Actress.

"I didn't expect it, I really didn't," Andrews says, "I remember distinctly that Ann Bancroft was nominated for film called 'The Pumpkin Eater' and in my estimation she was superb in it. I was convinced that she was going to win. She very sweetly came up and congratulated me afterwards. And I said, 'Well, I think it should have been yours.'"

The film contains many memorable scenes, and Andrews has a hard time choosing a favorite.

"I like so many of them," she says. "I love the Jolly Holiday sequence with all the penguins and things like that. And I also love the chimney sweep scene, which was probably the most fun to do."

But one of the film's most fun songs, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," wasn't the tongue twister many people might expect.

"Well I have fairly good diction to start with," Andrews says. "I was taught that good diction mattered, and so Supercal wasn't that hard to say. It's very fast and it was very energetic to try and do."

The film's 40th anniversay two-Disc DVD has many extra features that are very special to Andrews.

"I hadn't seen the movie for a long time," she says."And to sit side-by-side with Dick Van Dyke was a complete pleasure. And we reminisced and ooh'd and ah'd. And along with reminiscences we talk about the songs and the ones that stayed in and the ones that we lost along the way. We talk about Disney. We show outtakes and rehearsals footage that I had never seen."

And 40 years later, Andrews is still queen of family films.

"Well, it delights me," Andrews says. "I'm so hugely thrilled that I keep being allowed to play in all these wonderful sandboxes. A little child came up to me the other day with her mother. And her mother said, 'Do you recognize this lady?' And the child looked at me and she (the mother) said, 'Mary Poppins,' and the child said, 'Yeah.' And 'Sound of Music,' and the little girl said, 'Yeah.' And then she said, 'Princess Diaries,' and she went, 'Oh, cool.' And it just struck me so hilarious that I seem to have bookended my career with all these wonderful family movies."

Andrews has two other DVDs out for the holidays. She stars in the hit sequel "Princess Diaries 2" and she hosts and narrates a six-hour documentary called, "Broadway: The American Musical."

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"Here Come The ABCs" Premiering Monday, January 3

Grammy Award-winning alternative rock band They Might Be Giants (John Flansburgh and John Linnell) perform in a series of original music videos designed to teach preschoolers the letters of the alphabet through music. "Here Come the ABCs" premiere MONDAY, JANUARY 3 (8:25 a.m., ET/PT) during the learning-based programming block, Playhouse Disney on Disney Channel. The music videos will air at varying intervals during Playhouse Disney (weekdays, 6:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. and weekends 6:00-10:30 a.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel.

The short form series features catchy original songs that highlight individual letters and combinations of letters. Song titles include "E Eats Everything" and "Flying V."

In addition to the music videos, the band recorded the theme song for Disney Channel's original series "Higglytown Heroes" which airs weekdays (8:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., ET/PT) and weekends (8:00 a.m., ET/PT) during Playhouse Disney.

Flansburgh and Linnell have performed and recorded together for over two decades and sold over three million records worldwide. The band, which recently signed with Walt Disney Records' new imprint, Disney Sound, also created numerous television theme songs including the Grammy Award-winning "Boss of Me" for "Malcolm in the Middle" and the main theme for Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show."

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Disney Completes Update of Executive Compensation

The Walt Disney Company announced today that it has completed an update of the Company's senior executive compensation program with the approval by the Company's Board of Directors and its Compensation Committee of a revised long term incentive program. Coupled with last September's revision of the annual management bonus program, Disney's new long term incentive program "will help the company continue to attract and retain the best employees while better aligning their interests with those of our shareholders to position Disney for long-term success," said Judith Estrin, chair of the Board's Compensation Committee.

The revised long-term incentive program, developed through a close collaboration between the Compensation Committee, its independent consultant and the Company's management, will:

-- Introduce new performance-based vesting requirements on a portion of long-term equity compensation granted to senior executives,

-- Increase the proportion of restricted stock units (RSUs) and reduce the proportion of stock options used in long term incentive awards,

-- Establish new equity ownership requirements for top management,

-- Establish new incremental holding requirements for stock options received by top management,

-- Shorten the life of new stock option grants to seven years from 10 years, and

-- Reaffirm the Company's commitment not to re-price options without shareholder approval.

Performance Vesting - Under the revised program, one half of restricted stock units (RSUs) granted to senior executives as long-term incentive compensation will be scheduled to vest only if the Company's "total shareholder return" (stock appreciation plus dividends reinvested on a pre-tax basis) at the time of measurement exceeds that of the S&P 500 Index over either the prior one-year or three-year time period. Provided that this test is met, the first half of these RSUs will be scheduled to vest on the second anniversary of the date of grant, with the remaining half vesting on the fourth anniversary of the grant date, subject to the same test. If the first half of the grant did not vest on the second anniversary of grant, it may still vest on the fourth anniversary if the performance test is met as of that date. For executives whose compensation is subject to Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, the vesting of all RSUs will also remain subject to additional performance-based requirements set by the Compensation Committee under the Company's 2002 executive performance plan.

Mix of Restricted Stock Units and Options - The revised program will shift emphasis toward awards of RSUs and reduce the proportion of value comprised by stock options. It is anticipated that the value of grants to senior executives under the new program will be comprised approximately 60% of RSUs and 40% of stock options.

Ownership Requirements - As part of the revised program, the Committee has established new stock ownership and holding requirements for Disney's top five executive officers. These officers will now be expected, over time, to acquire and hold Company stock equal in value to at least three to five times their base salary amounts, depending on their positions.

Holding Requirements -- For all stock option grants made beginning in 2005, Disney's top five executives will be required, as long as they remain employed by the Company, to retain ownership of shares representing at least 75% of the after-tax gain realized (100% in the case of the Chief Executive Officer) upon exercise of such options, for a minimum of 12 months.

Options - The term of new stock options will be reduced from 10 years to seven years to match current market practices. The Company also reaffirmed its position that it will not re-price stock options without shareholder approval.

The long term incentive program changes will take effect with the Company's annual grant awards to be made in January 2005.

"Our executive compensation program is evolving to better support the achievement of the Company's strategic goals and link our executives' compensation even more closely to performance," said Estrin. "These changes reflect the Company's continued commitment to strong corporate governance practices. We want to maintain our shareholders' confidence by creating a stronger alignment between the interests of our management teams and those of our investors. At the same time, we want to attract and retain experienced and highly qualified executives by offering real ownership and great long-term financial incentives. We feel that the modifications we have made will help achieve that balance."

For more information on the revised management bonus and long-term incentive programs, please visit www.disney.com/investors.

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Disney on Ice fills the rink with monsters

They're furry, foamy, lumpy, bumpy, spindly, scaly, shiny and slimy. Monsters, in all their wacky glory, reign supreme over frozen water for the latest Disney on Ice production, "Disney/Pixar's Monsters, Inc."

Pasadena costume designer Scott Lane had monstrous fun manipulating the mounds of foam and resilient rubber … in spite of the tentacles and sharp teeth.

"This is the most fun show; it's nonstop laughter," said Lane, who designed more than 140 costumes for the show. "You're making monsters. How can you not have fun when you're dealing with big purple blobs?"

Think of the funniest, most extravagant Disney on Ice show you can — then supersize it.

The eye-popping, larger-than-life show opens tonight at Staples Center in Los Angeles for a four-venue tour of the Southland. The show then moves to the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, Long Beach Arena and Los Angeles Sports Arena.

"Monsters, Inc." is the story of monsters whose work is to scare children — until one of them finds her way into their world, then everything changes.

Monsters James P. Sullivan (aka Sulley) and one-eyed Mike Wazowski, along with their adorable pint-size friend, Boo, will spark the ice with daring acrobatics in the enormous production. The massive sets and colossal costumes, with help from world-class skaters, will make the audience believe in the magic of monsters.

Different in size and look from many other Disney shows, the monster-fied human world of Sulley and Mike is enormously funny.

Lane, 43, has had to think big, bigger, biggest in this latest Disney on Ice show.

"We used more than two football fields of foam for the 143 costumes," said Lane, whose genius manipulated the mounds of foam and pounds of rubber into "screamtastic' looking monsters that still had to be able to perform on the ice.

A former musical theater performer, Lane understands the importance of being able to move in the restrictive costumes.

"I used to sing and dance. That's why I'd climb into the stuff to see how constrictive it was and what the visual limitations were," he said.

"There was a lot of trial and error — or shall we say 'research and development" — on these costumes. We'd just say 'Let's try it! Let's see what happens!" "

In the end, high-tech (carbon fiber) combined with low-tech (aluminum) to create the magical monsters. Even everyday objects such as dryer hoses and salad bowls inspired the creations.

"I did a lot of apologizing to these young skaters," he said, "80 pounds of costume is like a sauna."

The costumes are great, said Raegan Brierton, 25, who convincingly plays the toddler, Boo. "Scott did a wonderful job."

Boo, who triggers a Child Contamination Scare at Monsters, Inc., the largest scream-processing factory in Monstropolis, is not as afraid of the monsters as they are of her.

"I studied how toddlers move," said the diminutive Brierton. "I watched little kids play and have tantrums. It was a lot of fun."

The 4-foot, 10-inch native of Illinois has been skating since she was 9. "It's hard work being a 3-year-old. They go nonstop," she said.

"I go to work and let all adult problems and worries go away, basically become naive again," Brierton said. "Children are so innocent to the world."

In this production, even the monsters will not be behaving badly. Said Lane, "The monsters will be on their best behavior."

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Skaters will search for Nemo

Unrated 'Arthur' has bloodier action 

"King Arthur" (Disney, $29.99). To better compete with the summer movie lineup, the filmmakers decided to pare back the action and violence so they could secure a PG-13 rating for Antoine Fuqua's earthy, nonmagical reinvention of the Knights of the Round Table. They needn't have bothered, considering the sanitized version's underwhelming box-office results. Fuqua provides DVD commentary for the full film and an alternate ending. The theatrical version also is available on DVD, minus Fuqua's commentary.

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Disney to Cut Grants of Options

Walt Disney Co. said Thursday that it would reduce the number of stock options it awards to top executives and increase the number of shares they are required to own to make them more responsive to shareholders.

The changes, which take effect in January, also would shorten the life of new stock options to seven years from 10, the Burbank-based company said, adding that it wouldn't re-price options without shareholder approval.

Disney is addressing corporate governance issues that shareholders pointed out this year, when they delivered a 45% vote of no confidence against Chief Executive Michael Eisner. The company this week settled U.S. regulators' claims that it failed to tell investors about business relationships between Disney and some board members.

Eisner "in the mid-'90s made about $600 million through the exercise of options given to him at the beginning of his career," said Paul Hodgson, who researches executive compensation at Corporate Library in Portland, Maine. "Disney had been very much a stock options company."

Once a common fixture of compensation packages, options are being used less by companies because their costs will soon have to be expensed under new accounting rules, Hodgson said.

Shareholder advocates this year criticized Disney for the size of its options awards, Hodgson said.

Disney hasn't decided how much it will reduce stock option grants next year, said John Spelich, a company spokesman.

Shares of Disney, which also owns the EPSN sports cable channel, the Disney theme parks and the ABC television network, fell 4 cents to $27.59 on the New York Stock Exchange. They have gained 18% this year.

Disney's board stripped Eisner of his chairman's position after the March shareholder vote. Former U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell replaced Eisner as a nonexecutive chairman.

Former board members Roy E. Disney and Stanley P. Gold waged a campaign this year to oust Eisner, saying that the company's shares had stagnated and that its ABC television network and animated-movie division were in disarray.

In September, the two dissidents called a truce with Disney after the company said it had hired a search firm to find a successor to the CEO.

Overall, ESPN averaged 3.39 million viewers per night in primetime. USA was well back in second with 2.47 million viewers, topping TNT's 2.16 million average, good enough for third. ABC Family was in fourth, riding holiday cheer to a regular audience of 2.05 million viewers, leaving Lifetime in fifth with 2.04 million.

The Sunday night NFL game between the Colts and Ravens, featuring Peyton Manning gunning (unsuccessfully) for a single-season touchdown pass record, drew a near-record crowd of 12.08 million viewers to ESPN. The week's second most watched cable program was ESPN's Saturday tilt between the Panthers and Falcons, which enticed 7.58 million viewers. The Sunday game helped make that evening's "SportsCenter" the week's No. 4 show with 4.45 million viewers, while Saturday's "SportsCenter" was No. 12 with 3.83 million.

The network averaged 10.3 million viewers for the night, followed by NBC's 8.4 million and CBS' 8.0 million viewers, according to preliminary data released Thursday by Nielsen Media Research. Fox came in fourth, with 6.4 million viewers.

ABC also won the coveted adults 18-49 demographic, with a 3.8 rating/11 share, with NBC (2.8/8) narrowly edging out CBS and Fox (both 2.7/8).

The first hour of "Lost" at 8 p.m. averaged 11.3 million viewers; the second averaged 11 million viewers. Both were slightly behind last week's repeat. "Lost" averaged a 3.7/11 in adults 18-49 in its first hour and a 4.2/11 in its second.

CBS' "CSI: NY" (10.7 million, 4.0/11) won the 10 p.m. hour, followed by NBC's "Law & Order" (9.7 million, 2.9/8) and ABC's "Wife Swap" (8.7 million, 3.4/9).

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Disney changes exec stock plans 

The moves are designed to "help the company continue to attract and retain the best employees while better aligning their interests with those of our shareholders," the chair of Disney's compensation committee, Judith Estrin, said in a written announcement during late trading Thursday.

The company's executive compensation package has come under fire in recent years for rewarding Chief Executive Michael Eisner and other top officials at times when Disney stock has underperformed.

Eisner, who was removed as chairman earlier this year, is due to leave the company when his contract expires in 2006.

Among the changes, Disney is:

• Increasing the proportion of restricted stock units in and reducing that of options used as long term incentives to a 60/40 break in favor of the former.
• Tying half of the restricted stock units to shareholder return by scheduling them to vest only when stock performance exceeds that of the S&P 500 Index over either a one-year or three-year period
• Making its top five executives acquire and hold Disney stock equal in value to three to five times their base salary amounts.
• Forcing the same five to retain ownership of shares representing at least 75 percent of the after-tax gain realized upon exercise for at least a year.
• Shortening the life of new stock option grants to seven from 10 years.

"We want to maintain our shareholders' confidence by creating a stronger alignment between the interests of our management teams and those of our investors," Estrin said in the release.

Shares of Disney were down 3 cents at $27.60.

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Disney Says Revises Compensation Plan

Executives at Walt Disney Co. will have some of their stock benefits subject to performance-based requirements as part of changes to its long-term compensation plan, the entertainment company announced on Thursday.

Disney, which has faced shareholder criticism about executive compensation, said about 60 percent of stock grants to senior executives will be in restricted stock units under the new plan, with the rest in stock options. Half of the restricted stock units will be subject to vesting based on Disney's "total shareholder return" and whether it exceeds that of the S&P 500 Index over a specific period.

Under pressure from dissident shareholders, Chief Executive Michael Eisner lost his position as chairman. Angry shareholders also have sued the board for awarding former president Michael Ovitz a $140 million severance package.

Disney said its top five officers will now have to acquire and hold Disney stock equal in value to anywhere from three to five times their base salaries.

The new plan also requires top officers to hold shares representing a large portion of their gains for at least 12 months after exercising options.

Disney said the new rules will take effect starting with its annual grant awards to be made in January.

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'On the Record' is a dismal Disney revue

A distinct possibility exists that the people at the Walt Disney Company's theatrical division may have completely undone nearly 75 years of goodwill and musical magic in the singular schlock of its new musical revue, "On the Record."

OK … maybe that's overstating things. But not by much.

The staged compilation of familiar Disney movie tunes is about as crass an effort to squeeze a few more bucks out of the franchise as "Sleeping Beauty" feminine hygiene products would be. And about as classy.

The conceit of the show — which has no dialogue except for the lyrics of the songs — is that a quartet of singers (backed by four more "sound technicians," all dressed for movement ) have gathered in a recording studio to create a CD of Disney songs that are vastly inferior to the originals.

They're supervised by the unseen director (pre-recorded by Richard Easton, sounding canned and flat) who seems incapable of speaking in anything but meaningful double entendres.

It's not merely that the Disney favorites don't sound like they did in the original version — that's an unfair expectation, though perhaps not an unjust one. The problem is the live versions are anything but.

With high school show-choir harmonies and bizarre contexts placed upon them ("Aladdin's" "A Whole New World" as a Mrs. Robinson-esque seduction number?), none of these songs — let's repeat that and put it italics — none of them have anything near the energy or joy of the movie versions.

Most of the tunes sound like they've been shoved through some evil Disneyland vanilla-tron.

A few excerpts from my notebook:

"Can You Feel the Love Tonight," from "The Lion King": "Sounds like a church choir. But not Baptist. Lutheran. Yuck."

"Let's Get Together" from "The Parent Trap": "Couldn't be sung with less personality. Double yuck."

"Kiss the Girl," from "The Little Mermaid": "White guys doing bad Jamaican accents. AIEEEEEEEE!"

There is but a single moment of originality in the show. In the second act, the company sings snippets of "Be Our Guest" from "Beauty and the Beast" in French, German, Japanese and Swedish. On a screen above the stage, we see friendly old Lumiere doing his bit from the movie with foreign subtitles.

It's a goofy ploy, but at least it shows a little imagination. For much of the rest of the time, "On the Record" has the cynical smack of a strip-mining operation, gouging into Disney's rich and fertile past.

IF YOU GO

What: "On the Record"

When: Through Jan. 2

Where: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Tickets: $65-$20

Capsule: Can you feel the love tonight? Um … no.

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Beauty And The Ice

Travelers increasingly are turning to unofficial sites such as mouseplanet.com and laughingplace.com, which are filled with fanatical advice on such things as the best place to view the fireworks and the vegetarian options at restaurants.

One of the newer entrants is RideMax, software you buy and download over the Internet that claims to spit out a customized, minute-by-minute itinerary for a day in the park. It promises to minimize the time wasted standing in line by analyzing millions of combinations of wait times, days of the week, and times of day. Sample itinerary for a recent Friday: 1:39 p.m. arrive at the Indiana Jones ride. Wait time 14 minutes; ride duration five minutes; walking time to the next ride four minutes. At 2:02 p.m. arrive Thunder Mountain. Wait time five minutes; ride time four minutes; walking time to next ride five minutes. And so forth.

The RideMax site probably had the biggest impact on our recent family trip to Disneyland. For $12.95, users get a 90-day subscription, which asks you to input the days you are traveling, the hours you plan to be in the parks, and the attractions you want to ride. The results were impressive. Using the software, my husband put together an itinerary that got him on six of Disneyland's most popular rides ("Indiana Jones," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Matterhorn," "Thunder Mountain," "Haunted Mansion," and "Splash Mountain") in just more than two hours. Average wait time: 13 minutes.

If that sounds more like a forced march than a day of fun, the reality is that planning a Disney sojourn beforehand is growing more critical as the crowds thicken. Although Walt Disney Co. doesn't disclose attendance figures, aficionados say the week between Christmas and New Year's is one of the most popular (i.e., most packed) week of the year. Next year is looking to be crowded, too, as the company gears up for what a spokesman describes as "the largest event in Disney theme park history" to celebrate Disneyland's 50th anniversary. Disneyland attendance increased to 13.36 million visitors in 2004, a 5 percent jump from the year before, according to trade magazine Amusement Business.

Some people are also using the Web to save money on one of the biggest costs of a Disney trip -- tickets. Because Disneyland charges the most to people staying the shortest amount of time -- a five-day "Hopper" ticket is selling on Disney's site for $129, while a much shorter three-day costs nearly the same, $124 -- a black market has sprung up online, with some people buying tickets for more days than they need, then selling off the days they don't use. While Web sites like eBay and Craigslist are teeming with sellers, Disney warns that the tickets are nontransferrable, and that if a turnstile operator gets wise, the tickets could be confiscated.

Cost, of course, is a perennial issue for Disney-visitors. The company has carefully engineered the prices right down to the sugar-coated churro (which, by the way, now costs $2.75).

In planning our visit, we took the advice of various Web sites and decided to avoid Los Angeles Airport and fly instead into the John Wayne Airport at Orange County, which offers closer proximity to the park. We also elected to skip staying at one of the official Disney resorts, whose standard rates start at $195 a night (and which were booked that weekend anyway), instead stayed for $99 a night at a highly rated Howard Johnson's. Nothing fancy, but it was only an eight-minute walk away from the park.

Upon the recommendation of several Disney-advice Web sites including mouseplanet.com, we reserved two "character meals," sit-down meals at Disney properties where you chow down on heavy buffet food while being visited by a stream of Disney characters. As many parents know, eating at a sit-down restaurant with an active toddler can be an excruciating experience.

But at the start of our first meal, when Goofy lay down on the floor so our daughter could tickle his whiskers, we realized the overpriced food was worth it. She had a blast, dancing with Snow White and hugging numerous furry animals. Meanwhile, not only could we actually eat, but we also got many hilarious photos. Our cost: $72 for our dinner at Goofy's Kitchen and $47 for the Princess-laden breakfast at the Plaza Inn. Parents note: some young children freak out when confronted with a six-foot-tall walking dog.

On Friday and part of Saturday, we followed RideMax's schedule to the minute and tracked its performance and found that it was reliable. While the sign in front of the Indiana Jones ride warned of a 60-minute wait, for example, the RideMax itinerary insisted it would be 14 minutes.

Sure enough, despite what the sign said, the actual wait turned out to be 17 minutes. "We've looked at (RideMax) somewhat closely and it seems to have accurate wait times," says a Disneyland Resort spokesman. "It does a pretty good job." Disney says that while it doesn't endorse fan Web sites and services, it considers them a helpful resource for customers.

For newbies not immersed in the details of Disney's queuing systems, the software also takes advantage of insider tips we wouldn't have otherwise known about. By using the "single rider" option RideMax indicated was offered on a few popular rides (Single Rider lets you jump most of the line if you agree to go solo) we took turns jumping onto two of California Adventure's most popular rides in less than five minutes, while our daughter was napping, trying to ignore the stares from people stuck in line as we coasted by.

Finally, RideMax forces users to plan the optimum hours to be at the park. It's one thing to hear that Saturday afternoons are busy, but it's another to read in black-and-white that you'll be standing in line for 90 minutes to ride a five-minute ride. We decided to take Saturday afternoon off, and were glad we did.

The software is the brainchild of Mark Winters, an Orem, Utah-based software engineer at Novell Inc. who was inspired to build the software after a frustrating experience with the Matterhorn. "I go to Disneyland and see a family from Boise buried in a map and I feel for them," he says. Starting in 1998, he built up his own proprietary database of wait and walk times and came to realize that the wait times for various rides remained fairly consistent from year to year. After building up enough data, he then built the optimization algorithm, which he says gets quite complicated when dealing with combinations of 20 different attractions plus various line-up rules for different attractions.

The RideMax software was created specifically for Disneyland and its neighboring California Adventure. The software doesn't work for Disney World, although Mr. Winters says he's considering building a version for the Florida theme park.

The system has its flaws. The program, which operates only on Windows, doesn't include the times for shows or performances, leaving it up to the user to try to figure out when they are and how long in duration they might be. (Mr. Winters says he is working on integrating performances into the software).

Also, while RideMax may be almost wait-free, it isn't totally stress-free. Its walking times assume travelers know the fastest route from one attraction to another, and in several cases we found ourselves rushing to get to the next ride after making a wrong turn. My throat tightened when I took an extra couple of minutes struggling with a FastPass machine, a system that distributes reservation tickets for popular rides. And don't even think about going to the bathroom. RideMax does offer an option for "slow" walkers, which obviously includes us.

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Disney to Publish The Nightmare Before Christmas

Buena Vista Interactive, the interactive entertainment publishing arm of the Walt Disney Company, today announced it will publish the PS2 and Xbox versions of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge. Capcom will handle the European distribution, also on tap for 2005.

Under development at Capcom Japan, Oogie's Revenge lets players take control of Jack, the Pumpkin King. Picking up the rivalry from the film, he must reclaim Halloween Town and save other holidays from his arch-nemesis Oogie Boogie. With director, Tim Burton along with art director, Deane Taylor and the original voice-actors all collaborating on the effort it promises to really capture the unique style of the film.

In the announcement Graham Hopper, senior vice president and general manager of Buena Vista Games, noted that Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of Disney's most recognized properties and one it continues to introduce to new audiences. Console games naturally figure into its plans. "We're excited to continue working with Capcom Japan, the developer of the game, to enhance the title as well as adding the Xbox platform to our launch plans." He went on to add.

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District looks at Disney model

Jackson school leaders hope a Walt Disney attitude will bring in new students and provoke smiles from parents and residents.

The district, which is fighting declining enrollment, is getting Disney customer-service training for all of its employees. Administrators have held focus groups on the issue and hope to roll out the Mickey Mouse-loving model sometime this spring.

"(People with this training) have to drop what they're doing to help the customers," Superintendent Dan Evans said. "We know we have some problems in customer service."

The Disney model will help the district set standards for customer service and expectations for all employees, Evans said. District officials don't yet know the cost involved in the training since they just began researching the model.

School leaders are excited about the idea of improving customer service under the Disney model but say it is vital to get employee support before moving ahead.

"It's not going to work (from the) top down," Evans said. "The problem is that some of our people think it's all working well. If that was true, we wouldn't be losing students."

Jackson Public Schools, the county's largest district, lost 318 students this school year. That loss equals $2.1 million in state aid, since Michigan gives districts $6,700 per student. In previous years, the district lost at least 100 students yearly.

The school board recently approved cuts, mainly by privatizing its custodial services, to offset a $1.2 million, midyear budget shortfall. Earlier this year, district officials turned two of the district's elementary schools into magnet schools to gain new students.

"The whole purpose is to increase student enrollment," said Deborah Jackson, the district's executive director of human resources. "What it becomes is an (evaluation) system on a grander scale."

The district will conduct internal and external surveys about the Disney model and changing the school system's culture so that people's needs are met by the school's expectation of service, Jackson said.

However, there is a long way to go until the Disney model is in place.

"Right now, it's a concept," Jackson said. "What this is intended to do is save this organization."

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But like so many stars pushing 50, Kermit has increasingly found himself somewhat in the shadow of other rivals.

Luckily for him, though, the Walt Disney Co. has signed him to a lifetime contract and plans to relaunch his career -- along with those of his Muppet friends, including Miss Piggy, Gonzo and Fozzie Bear -- with a series of high-profile marketing moves aimed at making him bigger than ever.

After years of talks, near-partnerships and various relationships with the Jim Henson Co., Disney acquired the Muppets in February from the company founded by the late Jim Henson.

Disney is hoping to do with the Muppets what it's done with a property like the toddler-targeted Baby Einstein: take a big thing and make it bigger using the Disney marketing muscle.

"We think of Kermit as being in the same iconic league as Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh in terms of characters with universal appeal and long-standing impact," said Chris Curtin, vp and general manager of the Muppets Holding Co. within Disney. "We plan to bring back the Muppets with the full marketing, creative and distribution resources of the Walt Disney Co."

That could translate into big money for Disney if it's able to reignite the Muppets to anywhere near the popularity of Mickey and Pooh. Forbes magazine recently pegged those two Disney characters as the top two "fictional billionaires," with yearly earnings of $5.8 billion and $5.6 billion, respectively.

Terms were not disclosed for Disney's purchase of the Muppets, though sources pegged Disney's outlay at about $60 million in cash plus ongoing revenue participation for Henson.

Curtin declined to put a value on the Muppets as a moneymaking franchise, though he pointed to Baby Einstein as "the only other franchise that (Disney) believed warranted its own central franchise group."

Baby Einstein, which Disney bought three years ago from its founders for a reported $25 million, now grosses $170 million in revenue per year. It has grown from a narrowly focused line of toddler videos to a full line of educational toys and an upcoming Disney Channel TV show tailored to preschoolers.

Curtin said the initial focus for the Muppets will be broad-based. Although there have been brand extensions like a Muppets Baby line in the past, he said Disney wants to first concentrate on "getting today's audience excited and reacquainted with a remarkable property."

Reviving the Muppets is a serious business for Disney -- and a pet project of CEO Michael Eisner. Disney's Muppets unit has had three "summits" already with the parks and resorts division alone, discussing how to maximize synergy between the Muppets and Disney's parks, cruise line, etc. A Muppets show at Disneyland and Walt Disney World predated the Muppets acquisition.

Curtin and company also have been busy coordinating with Disney's TV outlets to land appearances on shows like ABC's "Good Morning America" and the network's annual airing of the Walt Disney World Christmas parade.

The 1992 movie "The Muppet Christmas Carol" also is airing on the Disney Channel, Toon Disney and ABC Family throughout the holiday season. Disney also is hoping for a May sweep debut of the just-wrapped "Muppets Wizard of Oz" TV movie on ABC, followed by a video release.

Outside the Disney empire, Kermit also made his latest appearance this past weekend on NBC's "Saturday Night Live."

Disney also inherited a promotional relationship with Macy's that included the fourth year in a four-year deal to feature Kermit in the retailer's widely watched Thanksgiving Day Parade. That exposure even landed Kermit some free ink on the front page of the New York Times.

Sheer awareness of the core Muppets isn't a problem: Curtin said Disney's research indicates a more than 90% awareness for Kermit. But consumers may be less familiar with what the characters are about, which is a key to getting them interested in watching and buying things related to the Muppets.

"They've obviously got good characters with a long history," said Marty Brochstein, executive editor of trade publication the Licensing Letter.

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Incredibles pack a punch

Like children everywhere, three-year-old Brad Bird picked up crayons at his home in Oregon and started drawing stick figures. But junior Bird's drawings were different.

"It was only years later when I knew something about animation that I realised the drawings were sequential," says Bird, now 48, and the architect behind one of the year's biggest film successes, the Disney/Pixar company's animation The Incredibles.

The film is already a box office phenomenon in North America, earning more than $US144 million in its first 10 days, giving Disney its best opening figures in the company's long Hollywood history.

The Incredibles follows the adventures of a family of former superheroes, banished by public liability issues, who rediscover in one another the true source of their powers.

After years as a masked crimefighter battling evil and saving lives, Bob Parr (aka Mr Incredible), who is voiced by actor Craig Nelson, has gone into the witness protection program with his wife, Helen (Oscar winner Holly Hunter), who was the superhero Elastigirl.

Now, 15 years after Mr Incredible has submerged his extraordinary powers, he is drawn back into the business of saving the world again, unbeknown to his wife.

The Incredibles - which features Bird's voice as a scene-stealing half-Japanese, half-German fashion designer, Edne Mole - was nurtured by Bird more than a decade after the birth of his middle son, now 12. His other children are aged 16 and 10.

"It was at the time Jack was born that I was trying to juggle all facets of my life as an animator and a husband," he says.

"I was working on The Simpsons, I was thinking about The Iron Giant (Bird's earlier animated feature for Warner Bros) and I was trying to be a good father.

"It was an anxious time for me as I was concerned I might succeed at one thing and fail at the other.

"I started jotting down ideas for the character that became Mr Incredible/Bob Parr."

At the time, baby Jack was called "Jack Jack" by Bird and his wife. Not surprisingly, the baby character in The Incredibles is also named Jack Jack (inset).

The Iron Giant was released in 1999 but despite rave reviews, it was considered a disappointment at the North American box office earning just half of its budget of $US48 million.

The following year, Bird pitched his idea of The Incredibles to Pixar and set the wheels in motion for a film which he believes should appeal to all ages "but perhaps not very little kids who don't like loud noises".

Bird started work on his first animated film - his own version of The Tortoise And The Hare - when he was 11.

Three years later it was winning awards in film festivals.

The teenager, born in Montana and reared in Oregon, sent a copy to the Disney studios in Los Angeles and they invited him to call in if ever he was in the neighbourhood.

"We had family friends who lived close to LA, so I got on a plane as quickly as I could and I would be dropped off each morning to draw my stuff at the office that Disney let me use," he recalls.

Bird was mentored by the famous Disney animator Milt Kahl, one of Walt Disney's original team of "nine old men" who worked on many of the studio's most famous animated films until his retirement. Kahl died in 1987, aged 78, but Bird said he had kept in touch with his mentor until then.

Eventually Bird was employed by Disney, working on the feature The Fox And The Hound, released in 1981.

"I can't tell you how exciting it was to work with Mr Kahl and the other guys. It was like a young actor would feel getting the chance to watch Brando or De Niro up close."

Later Bird worked on animation series such as The Simpsons and King Of The Hill before The Iron Giant assured he was known as a talent in his own right.

Bird, who is a fan of films of all types, acknowledges the James Bond adventure Goldfinger as an inspiration for elements of The Incredibles.

"The Incredibles is really the spy adventure that I always wanted to see, with the drama also showing the ties that bind a family together," he says. "I see the story as a family learning to balance their individual lives with their love for one another.

"It's also a comedy about superheroes discovering their more ordinary human side.

"I wanted to create a world filled with pop culture references - with spy movie gadgets and comic book superpowers and outrageous evil villains using ingenious devices - but at the same time to create a story within that world that is very much about family.

"All these personal things - about being a husband, being a father, the idea of getting older, the importance of family, what work means and what it feels like to think you're losing the things that you love - all of these are tucked into this one big story."

Bird, who says that he thinks there are more misses than hits when it comes to film sequels, says he would have to be convinced there was a story worth telling to commit to an Incredibles 2.

"There are exceptions with sequels. Toy Story 2 is a fine film, Godfather 2 is terrific and Goldfinger, the third of the Bond films, is my favourite," he says.

"But I just feel relief now (it's) finished and is being released. People ask me whether I'm elated by the success it's having but the most significant emotion is relief.

There was a lot of resources, a lot of trust and I'm just so relieved that the trust given to me was not misplaced."

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Ireland's ntl digital Ramps Up Disney Offerings

Walt Disney Television International has expanded its carriage deal with ntl Ireland, giving subscribers of the digital package access to Playhouse Disney, Toon Disney and Disney Channel +1 in addition to Disney Channel, effective immediately.

Simon Bailey, the VP and deputy managing director of branded TV for the U.K. and Ireland at Disney, noted, "ntl customers in Ireland will now be able to enjoy the full range and breadth of the quality content on offer from the four Disney-owned channels."

The Disney package, which will be presenting the exclusive TV premieres of Finding Nemo and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, is available to more than 343,000 customers on the ntl digital package.

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ESPN Enters Ring with Johnson Pic

The first African-American to hold the world heavyweight crown, boxer Jack Johnson will be the subject of an upcoming ESPN biopic. The Johnson movie, following in previous telefilms on the likes of Dale Earnhardt and Pete Rose, will premiere on the cable network in 2005.

                                                               

Johnson held the heavyweight boxing title for six years, but may be best known for his racially motivated 1912 conviction for violating the Mann Act, a prohibition against white slavery, by transporting the woman who would become his third wife across state lines. He was sentenced to time in prison, but became a fugitive for seven years, fleeing to Cuba and then Europe before returning to serve his time.

"Jack Johnson knocked loudly on the door of a deeply segregated society," says Mark Shapiro, ESPN executive vice president, programming and production. "With defiance, he mounted a force of courage still felt a century later. His story belongs not only to boxing, but to our national heritage."

Johnson's life has been the subject of a number of previous examinations including the 2004 Ken Burns documentary "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson" and Martin Ritt's "The Great White Hope," a 1970 film in which James Earl Jones earned an Oscar nomination for playing Johnson.

Paris Qualles ("The Tuskegee Airmen") will write the ESPN pic, which will be produced by Gerald Abrams (FX's "44 Minutes").

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Midseason to test ABC

ABC is looking like a new network this season with TV's hottest freshman series, "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," but old problems still persist on its primetime schedule.

With a bumper crop of high-rated first-year series on a network that has failed to generate any in several seasons, ABC's performance heading into midseason is nothing short of stunning. Nine Golden Globe nominations -- five for "Housewives" alone -- is undeniable evidence the buzz is back after a multiyear slump.

However, ABC is still struggling mightily on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; ratings in the key adults 18-49 demographic are down on each night by at least 20% in the first 12 weeks of the season compared with the same period last year. Furthermore, a big question mark will hover over Monday once "Monday Night Football" ends next month.

"We are not a one-night network," said Jeff Bader, executive vp at ABC Entertainment. "But we do have a lot of time periods that we do need to work on."

These nagging problems might explain why ABC has studiously cultivated an air of cautious optimism this season. Rather than declare a comeback, new primetime entertainment president Stephen McPherson has offered only sobering allusions to the work ahead and letting the numbers speak for themselves. He is no doubt mindful of ABC's recent history with short-lived revivals, specifically the fast rise and equally swift fall of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in the 2000-01 season.

While ABC boasts the most new hits in the top 10, it also has the most entries among the top 10 steepest year-to-year 18-49 reductions -- six to be exact. That includes the biggest slumping comedy ("8 Simple Rules," down 66% after moving from Tuesday to Friday) and the biggest drop of any unscripted series ("The Bachelor," down 42%) and newsmagazine ("Primetime Live," off 38%), according to Nielsen data covering the first 11 weeks of the season (Sept. 20-Dec. 12).

But to McPherson's credit, ABC is now neck and neck with NBC for the No. 2 ranking behind CBS in adults 18-49 for the season to date, and ABC is the only broadcaster to post ratings increases from the previous season in all key demos. The recovery is most evident on Sunday, when "Housewives" is the second-most-watched series on television, providing a windfall lead-in for the new 10 p.m. drama "Boston Legal." At 8 p.m., "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" has seen its audience climb markedly in its second year. Indeed, the spike for "Makeover" this fall has undoubtedly helped "Housewives" post such eye-popping numbers.

Wednesday also is rejuvenated, with new anchor "Lost" achieving bona fide hit status, reaching as many as 18 million viewers and earning a Golden Globe nomination for best drama. Rookie reality series "Wife Swap" has on more than one occasion beaten Wednesday 10 p.m. stalwart "Law & Order" even as the addition of CBS' "CSI: NY" made the time slot more competitive overall.

On the flip side, ABC lost a huge opportunity in the Wednesday 9 p.m. berth as viewership of its matchmaking reality franchise "The Bachelor" hit the skids and failed to capitalize on the huge lead-ins delivered by "Lost."

As of Jan. 5, ABC's cult-fave drama "Alias" will have its delayed fourth-season debut in the 9 p.m. berth, and ABC brass are hoping that "Lost" will finally be the compatible lead-in that eluded "Alias" in its first three seasons on Sundays. However, the X factor in this plan is the return of "American Idol" to Fox in the Wednesday 9 p.m. slot as of Jan. 19.

Developing stable comedy blocks has long been a sore spot at ABC, and this season is no exception. "My Wife & Kids" suffered ratings declines in its move from Wednesday to Tuesday this fall, and the Tuesday 8-9 p.m. combo of "Wife & Kids" and "George Lopez" will likely become even shakier once "American Idol" resumes its sing-off competition in that time slot as of Jan. 18. That also could take a toll on Tuesday 9 p.m. anchor "According to Jim," which has seen its numbers drop this season but nonetheless proved a compatible lead-out for new sitcom "Rodney" at 9:30 p.m.

At 10 p.m., ABC is hoping the buildup to the series finale of "NYPD Blue" will jolt the slumbering veteran to at least raise awareness for its replacement, "Blind Justice," which debuts March 8.

ABC will rearrange its Thursday schedule next month to reverse its sagging fortunes, flip-flopping anemic teen drama "life as we know it" to 8 p.m., followed by "Extreme Makeover" at 9 p.m. "Life" originally aired at 9 p.m. because of concerns over its racy content, but with less steamy episodes expected to follow, the switch could correct an audience-flow disruption that had a teen-skewing show wedged between a pair of series favored by women over 35, "Extreme" and "20/20" at 10 p.m.

When "MNF" exits, ABC says farewell to one of its biggest attractions. Apparently not discouraged by the demise of "MNF" lead-in "The Benefactor" early in the season, the network will try an all-reality night, anchored by a spinoff to Sunday hit "Home" titled "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: How'd They Do That?" followed by the return of "The Bachelorette" at 9 p.m. and the introduction of "Supernanny" at 10 p.m.

Friday has been a source of disappointment at ABC since the wane of its vaunted "TGIF" franchise a decade ago. This season has been marked by massive declines for once-promising sitcoms such as "Rules," "Hope & Faith" and "Less Than Perfect." "We'll definitely be looking later in the season to tweak these numbers, whether it's within those shows or bringing on some new ones," Bader said.

Aside from "Alias," "Blind" and "Supernanny," ABC is staying mum on what other midseason additions it plans to make. Bader believes maintaining consistency is a higher priority at the network than ever before. "One of the things we have made a concerted effort to do this year is not to do constant shuffling of our schedule," he said.

But with at least six more midseason entries sitting on the bench, there will be changes made. The first casualty could be "life," which is highly unlikely to pick up teen viewers in a time slot where Fox's "The O.C." is already struggling. Such new dramas as "Grey's Anatomy" and "Eyes" are potential replacements.

Friday may be more likely than Tuesday to see changes on the comedy front out of fear of jolting the successful pairing of "Jim" and "Rodney." Friday freshman sitcom "Complete Savages" could get benched in favor of new midseason prospects like "In the Game," which stars Jennifer Love Hewitt as a sports reporter.

John Stamos also could be returning to the same night he ruled years ago with "Full House," albeit in a more adult-themed, single-camera vehicle (still untitled) in the vein of a male "Sex and the City." ABC also might be considering clearing Friday of more than one sitcom and trying a drama at 9 p.m., too.

If the all-reality Monday doesn't pan out, ABC might elect to reverse course and try scripted again. But the network's reality TV guru, executive vp Andrea Wong, is said to have several more series under wraps and ready to launch. A strong possibility is "The Scholar," a college scholarship competition from Carsey-Werner and Bunim-Murray Prods. Yet another season of "Bachelor" is expected to spell "Bachelorette" in March.

Although Saturday has been a night of movies and repurposing, it will get an injection of original programming, with the miniseries revival of "Little House on the Prairie" scheduled to debut March 26. ABC also is still mulling a spot this season for another miniseries, the costume drama "Empire," which has been beset by production problems on location in Rome.

The SEC seemed especially irked by these arrangements because in April 2002, Disney announced reforms within its corporate governance guidelines, but the media giant did not disclose many of the arrangements in question until months later.

According to the commission, Disney failed to disclose:

• that it employed adult children of three directors — Reveta Bowers, Stanley Gold, and Raymond Watson — and paid them annual compensation between $60,000 and more than $150,000;

• that the spouse of another director, John Bryson, was employed by a subsidiary half-owned by Disney and received annual compensation of more than $1 million;

• that it made payments to Air Shamrock Inc., a corporation owned by director Roy Disney on which he flew for Disney-related business purposes; the payments exceeded 5 percent of Air Shamrock's gross revenues;

• that it provided office space, secretarial services, a leased car, and a driver — services valued by the company at more than $200,000 annually — to former director Thomas Murphy.

In settling with the SEC, Disney agreed to cease and desist from violating the proxy solicitation and periodic reporting provisions of the federal securities laws.

"Shareholders have a significant interest in information regarding relationships between the company and its directors," said Linda Chatman Thomsen, deputy director of the commission's Division of Enforcement. "Failure to comply with the SEC's disclosure rules in this area impedes shareholders' ability to evaluate the objectivity and independence of directors."

In a separate case, shareholders are alleging in Delaware Chancery Court that Disney directors "blindly" approved an employment agreement with former president Michael Ovitz without following a process or showing a "good faith effort" to fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities.

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New Photos of Everest from the Air

Below are some photos of Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest.

                    
                    

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Walt Disney Company Financials

Link

Walt himself would scarcely recognize the division that bears his name. What began with mice and ducks has evolved to comprise plucky high school girls ("Disney's Kim Possible"), a Chinese-American boy descended from dragons (the forthcoming "American Dragon: Jake Long") and pampered pooches and bunnies ("Brandy & Mr. Whiskers"). WDTA has greatly expanded the brand over the past two decades and moved the fabled Disney reputation into a variety of experimental realms while staying true to the company's wholesome roots.

Beginning operations just after Disney Channel's launch in April 1983, WDTA spent its first decade in search of its niche. Originally, WDTA president Barry Blumberg says, there were lots of web-footed critters to be found.

"There was an attempt to replicate the programming that had come before," Blumberg, who arrived on the scene in 1994, recalls. "So, there were a lot of shows that involved ducks: 'Darkwing Duck,' 'DuckTales,' 'Quack Pack,' 'The Mighty Ducks.'"

Those shows also formed the backbone for the division's first breakthrough with the syndicated "The Disney Afternoon," a two-hour block that launched nationally in the fall of 1990. It consisted of "Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears," "Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers," "DuckTales" and "Tale Spin." "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" was another early success story.

But as man (and boy) cannot live by ducks alone, WDTA invariably expanded into new realms in the mid-1990s. One of those was the spinning off of franchise concepts and characters from the studio's theatrical releases, first with "Disney's Aladdin" and later with series based on "The Lion King," "Toy Story," "Hercules" and others. The division's acknowledged breakthrough, however, came with the launch of the hugely popular "Disney's One Saturday Morning" block on ABC in the fall of 1997 that originally introduced "Doug," "Pepper Ann" and "Recess."

"With 'One Saturday Morning,' ABC became the top-rated broadcast network for the first time since 1990," Blumberg notes. "That was a key moment for us in terms of understanding the importance of having creator-driven animated shows as opposed to us being more reliant on the assets of the company. It showed us that we needed a balance between past and present."

Indeed, Blumberg helped spearhead the repackaging of Disney's core toon stars with the launch of the popular "Disney's Mickey MouseWorks" in May 1999, which marked the first time that Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and Minnie ever were featured in the same original project -- followed by 2001's "House of Mouse," the first show starring Mickey, Donald and Goofy.

In typical Disney style, WDTA and Blumberg have been out front in pioneering new ways to market and expand established animation franchises. One is through the use of direct-to-video to launch TV programs such as "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command," "Disney's Hercules" and "Lilo & Stitch: The Series." While the studio has a long history of taking features and adapting them to the small screen, Blumberg and his staff also have gone in the other direction with big-screen editions of TV properties including "Recess," "Teacher's Pet" and "Doug."

"We're very conscious and aware of the Disney brand," Blumberg maintains.

"A lot of the success we have as a company and as a programr-producer is to stay close to who we are and not deviate from the past too greatly. But that doesn't mean we won't continue to expand outside the realm of traditional animation to embrace other techniques like CG."

That has certainly been evident in the shift at WDTA over the past five years, in particular, the move toward more creator-driven projects including "Kim Possible," "Recess" and the new JETIX action-adventure block series "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!" They also are indicative of a move away from being strictly a producer of shows derived from features.

Indeed, Disney's ingrained reputation as an animation purveyor proved both a blessing and a curse in WDTA's attempts to expand beyond the studio's original core characters and uncomplicated style. More than perhaps any name in entertainment, the Disney brand conjures a specific, well-known image that early on scared off many creators with a more free-form agenda. But under Blumberg, word began to circulate that the company was open to new ideas and concepts, supplying an environment where genuine creativity was encouraged.

Too, whereas Disney Channel was long driven by live-action "'tween" shows such as "Even Stevens" and "Lizzie McGuire," as well as Disney library product, it is now a primary destination (along with ABC Family and Toon Disney) for the wealth of original WDTA output.

"We now have a wonderfully symbiotic relationship," Disney Channel executive vp original programming and production Gary Marsh says. "It's been an important part of our evolution as a channel to add animation to our mix via shows like 'Kim Possible' and 'Recess.' We're now able to take advantage of the best skill sets of both Disney TV Animation and our own programrs."

Adds Disney Channel Worldwide president Rich Ross: "What's important in my mind is that (WDTA) knows no bounds in terms of the types of animation with the creators they work with. It has become quite a broad platform. Barry and his group are striving to mine talent worldwide. With JETIX, we are able to tap a side and style that we really hadn't done much before."

Says Marsh of JETIX: "We're starting to tiptoe into the world where Cartoon Network and the Kids' WB! have really lived. It's a huge opportunity for the company overall."

Another significant aspect of the WDTA story is surely its explosion internationally. With the launch earlier this month of Disney Channel India (yes, India), the division's series will be seen on 18 Disney Channels in 69 countries (including the United States). That doesn't even include the Disney-branded blocks that play in an additional 66 countries on every continent. "Recess" continues to be the biggest draw worldwide.

"What's amazing about 'Recess' is that it's big even in those countries that have no recess in their schools," says Jill Casagrande, the company's senior vp worldwide programming strategy. "And 'Kim Possible' is No. 1 in France, Italy, Spain, Russia and the U.K."

Anne Sweeney, co-chairman of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney-ABC Television Group, says she has been "very privileged" to watch how WDTA has grown during her eight years with Disney and evolved from a studio that fueled syndication to one that fuels cable and the global market.

"For Disney to have kids' platforms all over the world is really an amazing accomplishment," she says. "The reason for it is the way that Barry Blumberg and his team have stayed true to Disney's storytelling roots while putting great attention to detail and development of characters both in design and personality."

Supporting creativity will always be Blumberg's focus. "I mean, we'll always be a place for the 'Lilo & Stitches' of the world," he says. "But looking down the road, we're looking to be increasingly creator-driven, develop for all platforms and use technology to expand into every area of animation. As always, the kids will continue to tell us who we need to be."

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Sprinkled with stardust

He was already under Tinkerbell's spell - but would Jon Ronson's reluctant wife and family feel the magic at Disney World?

Eight years ago I spent a weekend at Disney World, Florida. It was a press trip and many of us went expecting to damn the place amusingly, but in fact we all adored it. Nowadays I unremittingly praise the place whenever the opportunity arises. I speak of the greatness of the Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain - "they aren't like rides, they are like being inside films," I explain to people - the happy muggy nights spent in Jacuzzis beneath volcanoes that erupt every 15 minutes, how singing bushes actually grow on you, how you can eat seared tuna if you know where to look.

"It's not like you imagine," I repeatedly tell my wife, Elaine. "It's... classy."

She doesn't believe me.

"When Joel is old enough," I said to her a year ago, "let's go."

"Oh God," she replied.

Joel is old enough now. He is six. I phone the Disney people and explain the situation.

"It isn't that my wife has no joy in her heart," I say, "but she's..." I pause, "someone who believes herself impervious to Tinkerbell's stardust."

(A friend of mine once worked for Disney, and this is what her Human Resources manager told her: "We're going to send you to Orlando so you can be sprinkled with Tinkerbell's stardust." I laughed when my friend recounted this, but I have, indeed, subsequently been sprinkled with Tinkerbell's stardust.)

"If you and I can devise a trip that would melt her heart," I continue, "and her heart melts in five star hotels, and Nantucket type clapboard boardwalk places with good food, I can write an article convincing the millions of other Elaines out there that Disney World is a viable holiday location. Yes, I am trying to get a free trip," I conclude, "but this is more than an article. This is something I feel strongly about."

"I'll put you in the Animal Kingdom Lodge," says the Disney woman.

"Isn't that a zoo?" I ask.

"No it is not," she says, sounding hurt.

"Please don't underestimate the importance of the quality of the hotel on my wife's psyche," I urge. "You don't know her. She's stringent."

"I'll put you in the Animal Kingdom Lodge," she says.

And so it is that we arrive at the Animal Kingdom Lodge on a warm afternoon in October.

"It's..." I say.

"....brown," says Elaine, with finality.

And, my God, it is. It has been themed to resemble a safari lodge, and safari lodges are frequently brown, but this is relentlessly, vastly, never-endingly brown. It is Las Vegas sized brown, and just like Vegas hotels there is virtually no outside space. It is simultaneously huge and cramped.

We go to our brown room, lie on the brown beds, take a bath in the tiny brown bathroom, and gaze at the zebras and giraffes wandering around outside in the large savannah. The brown sucks up all the light. Although the hotel's restaurant, Boma, offers an opulent and delicious buffet, the Animal Kingdom Lodge is perpetuating all my wife's prejudices about Disney World.

The next morning I call check-in and ask if we can upgrade to a lighter colored room.

He says they're all basically the same color. More money does not buy a lighter hue.

"Anyway," he adds, "when you're at Disney World you don't want to spend time at the hotel! There's so much to do in the parks! Have a magical day!"

Elaine and I had agreed a pact before we left for Orlando. Joel and I would go on the rides and she'd stay at the hotel and sunbathe. But now she says she feels trapped here - "more caged than the zebras outside our window, for at least they have somewhere nice to sit outside" - so she comes too, to the Magic Kingdom.

We arrive in time for the Opening Ceremony. Hordes of Disney characters jump out of a steam train and sing "Good morning, good morning, to you and you and you and you..." I look down at Joel. He is grinning, transfixed. He usually loves things that are only cynical or violent - The Simpsons and Bruce Lee, essentially - but here he is melting into the sweetness of the Disney dream.

"They're mad," he says.

"This is lovely," says Elaine.

She has a rare look on her face. I assume it to be a look of childlike delight, but she later describes it to me as a look of relief that the place is clearly more impressive than Chessington World of Adventures.

And it is. It is fantastic. The Magic Kingdom is an incongruous and enchanting hotchpotch: Main Street USA, which stretches before us, harks back to the days before the strip-mall ruined the American landscape and downtowns were thriving, as opposed to boarded-up. Slap-bang in the middle is the giant fairy castle, surrounded by a chunk of the middle ages. To the left is the Wild West, to the right is the future - monorails and space stations and Buzz Lightyear.

Joel and I go on Splash Mountain, which is surely the greatest theme-park ride in the world. It begins as a regular log ride. You gently float into a lavish Brer Rabbit grotto, a menagerie of animatronic animals that - just like in the Uncle Remus stories - are simultaneously delightful and menacing. They become more and more ominous, in fact, as you are thrust into the looming, dark, Laughin' Place, the stuff of nightmares, where the laughter turns to cackling. And then you cascade downwards into the light.

We have our photograph taken as we cascade. In the photograph every man is seated on the left hand side of the log, every woman and child to the right.

"Strange," I think, and then I realise why this is. We must all have gentlemanly stepped aside to allow our partners and children to board the log before us. I wonder if every Splash Mountain photograph represents such unconscious gallantry.

And then - for the next three days - Elaine's entrenched cynicism is whittled away, and like Joel and I, she becomes enchanted. This is how: We check out of the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which is, I must say, a luxurious but ill-conceived folly of a hotel, and check into The Boardwalk, a bright and lovely clapboard hotel on a lake near Epcot, where you can sit on your balcony and gaze at things other than zebras. Zebras get boring quickly. The view from our balcony at The Boardwalk does not. Now we see people. They wander, arm in arm, down the boardwalk, playing the old-fashioned fairground games. We can see bakeries and discos and boats on the lake.

I know Elaine has changed inexorably when she puts her arm around my shoulder one day and says, absent-mindedly, "It's a shame that the shuttle-boats to Epcot aren't paddle steamers."

This enclave of hotels around the lake near Epcot - The Boardwalk, the Yacht Club, The Beach Club - are the perfect place for all those aesthetes who want to be in Disney World but not of Disney World.

We pinpoint the one or two good restaurants, especially the Mitsukoshi Teppenyaki in the Japanese part of Epcot. (It is slightly alarming that in the entirety of Disney World - which is double the size of Manhattan - there are only three or four good restaurants, and the majority of those are good in that pretentious, over-complicated way. The Mitsukoshi Teppenyaki and Boma at the Animal Kingdom are the only great restaurants). We wander around a corner at Epcot and there - unannounced - is Survivor singing Eye of the Tiger. Fireworks erupt all around us. And then, around another corner, is a college marching band from Michigan, just marching past us, playing, with proud precision, their flutes and drums. The last time I came to Disney World I turned a corner and there was The Village People singing YMCA. One imagines that everywhere at Disney World surreal, magical, unannounced moments like these are happening to people.

On Thursday we have something of a meltdown as a result of attending the terrible Fantasmic! the Disney MGM Studios night-time show - 'a lavish spectacular of dancing water, dramatic music, breathtaking animation, lasers, fireworks and surprises'. The plot seems to revolve around Britain being wholly responsible for the massacre of the Native Americans, and the only food on sale is disgusting hot-dogs. The sole special effect, repeated ad nauseam, is this: an animated film is projected onto a waterfall. That's it.

Every time Tinkerbell appears all the grown-ups around me - and Disney World is full of grown-ups wearing Mickey Mouse ears and travelling without children - gasp "Tinkerbell! Tinkerbell!" It is like a cult. I am a fringe member of this cult myself, but now it all seems weird and grotesque, like when you join a church and suddenly everyone starts speaking in tongues.

Disney World, I realise, is a fine balancing act. So much here could be dreadful but somehow, amazingly, isn't. But when something fails, like Fantasmic! the whole resort seems tasteless and depressing. Now Elaine and I are having a bad trip, as if in some real life incarnation of Splash Mountain's ominous Laughin' Place.

"I'm sick of seeing huge arses everywhere," says Elaine, as we leave Fantasmic! and take the long walk back to the shuttle bus.

"And most of the people in wheelchairs aren't even disabled," I say. "They're just lazy."

This is true. Scores of wholly able-bodied people rent wheelchairs at the entrance gates, purely because they can't be bothered to walk. They wheel themselves to McDonald's, jump out, eat burgers, slide back into their wheelchairs, and wheel themselves onwards.

The McDonald's have started to disguise themselves as something else: the Jungle Cafe, or whatever. It is only when you're at the front of the queue you realise you have been tricked. Disguised McDonald's: a dark twist to the 21st Century.

But our hostile feelings are short lived. The It's Tough To Be A Bug 3D adventure at the Animal Kingdom, the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin at the Magic Kingdom, Mission Mars at Epcot, these are works of art, as imaginative as a Robert Wilson installation or a Pixar film. Thirty years ago this chunk of Florida swampland was all just alligators and rodents, as opposed to people in alligator and rodent costumes. It is remarkable that the Disney corporation, with its history of saccharine productions, managed to build a world that can melt the hearts of stringent cynics like my wife. I never expected Joel to think of this as anything less than his favourite holiday ever, but it surprises me when Elaine says she'd like to come again, maybe in about a year or two. Or in three years, maybe, she says.

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After Ovitz trial, Disney board flexes its muscles

When Michael D. Eisner, the chief executive of the Walt Disney Co., showed up in Georgetown, Del., last month to testify in the trial over the hiring and firing of Michael Ovitz, his former No. 2, he parked his car a block from the courthouse and walked through the town square with only his lawyer by his side. When Eisner's testimony ended after a grueling five days, he hopped into a rented car and drove himself to a nearby airport.

It was particularly un-Hollywood-like behavior, given that Eisner is as rich, powerful and demanding as any entertainment mogul in the business today. His low-key demeanor seemed to reflect a new era of humility in Hollywood, in sharp contrast to the tale of corporate excess and betrayal, dominated by outsized personalities, playing inside the courthouse.

The Disney trial is in recess until Jan. 11, when testimony from numerous expert witnesses will be heard. Whether Disney wins or loses, the criticism of its management and board has already had an impact both inside and outside the company.

"Michael Eisner is not going to get off scot-free no matter what happens," said Samuel L. Hayes III, a professor of finance at Harvard Business School. "The financial community has already exacted its discipline, notwithstanding what the legal niceties are."

For many academics and analysts, the trial over the $140 million severance package of Ovitz, the former Hollywood agent who was hired as Disney's president in 1995 and fired 14 months later, signals the end of an era in which celebrity executives managed their companies as personal fiefs. Shareholders, burned by the 2000-02 downturn, now demand more predictable performance and greater accountability.

Influential yet hardly flamboyant executives are emerging as the new power elite in Hollywood. They include Peter Chernin, the chief operating officer of News Corp.; Jeff Bewkes, the chairman of Time Warner's entertainment and networks group; and Tom Freston and Les Moonves, the co-presidents of Viacom.

"Today's media executives grew up as part of much larger companies and they have learned they have to work within the corporate scheme of things," said Tom Wolzien, a media analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. "What this trial has shown is that even the bosses have a boss to answer to -- in this case the board, and ultimately the shareholders."

Patrick McGurn, special counsel at Institutional Shareholder Services, a group that monitors corporate boards, said he believes that Chancellor William B. Chandler III, who is presiding over the case, will rule that the severance package paid to Ovitz was fair. But that does not mean he won't have a critical thing or two to say.

"He'll turn it into a primer for future boards, saying, 'Don't let this happen to you,"' McGurn predicted.

Disney executives declined to comment, citing that the company is still in litigation. But Disney seems to have already gotten the message. The company had long been criticized for having a weak board, one that corporate governance experts said had too many personal ties to Eisner and was unwilling to stand up to him.

Reveta Bowers, who ran a school attended by Eisner's children, was a board member until last year. So was Robert A. M. Stern, a prominent architect who built Eisner's Aspen retreat and designed Disney's theme parks.

During the trial it was disclosed that in 1996 Eisner even took the unusual step of asking directors to nominate his wife, Jane, to the board in the event of his untimely death or in case of his death or disability. They agreed.

Eisner said at the trial that he sought directors who understood Disney's culture, even if they had no corporate experience. "It didn't go over too well in the governance community," he conceded. He said it was appropriate to place his wife on the board after he died because he was one of Disney's largest shareholders.

"I don't think any chief executive would dare ask for that today," said John Coffee, a law professor at Columbia University. "At least they wouldn't put it writing."

The company has sought to shore up its board, asking experienced corporate executives to serve as independent directors. Disney recently named to its board Fred H. Langhammer, the former chief executive of Estee Lauder Cos., who has operational experience and no Disney ties.

And the board has formalized other processes, including hiring an independent search firm to find Eisner's successor and holding more meetings without management present.

Already, the board's newfound independence is showing. Earlier this year, after a shareholder rebellion led by two former directors -- including Roy Disney, the nephew of the company's founder -- Eisner was stripped of his chairmanship by his fellow directors. And over the summer, some directors told Eisner that he could not remain in any capacity once his contract as chief executive expired in 2006.

In meetings with some board members, Eisner had explored the idea of staying on as chairman, according to two people with knowledge of the conversations. "I think the board must have learned by now," Coffee said, "that you can't defer to the chief executive without causing lots and lots of unpleasantness."

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Savage aims to work wonders on series

We used to hear what some TV writer thought were Fred Savage's inner thoughts on "The Wonder Years."

Now his actual thoughts will be expressed silently through his work on the Disney Channel's "Phil of the Future."

The cable channel will announce this week that Savage, a former North Shore child star now 28, has signed on as a producer and in-house director for the youth comedy's second season.

Savage will direct every other episode and work with other directors to ensure consistency.

"Because I'm going to be there all season, I know how this show should look," Savage said. "The executive producers trust me on how the show should play, how the characters should be, the tone of the show in terms of the comedy."

Savage, who has directed episodes of various TV shows over the past decade, said the new job is "definitely a career plan for me." Though it should provide stability, the Stanford grad said the move was unrelated to his August marriage to Jennifer Stone, one of his childhood neighbors in Glencoe.

"I just want to say 'cut' and 'action' as much as I can," he said. "There's a kind of a nomadic aspect to [TV directing], where you grab two weeks on this show, one week on that show and some weeks you don't work. To have any kind of job security is really rare. ... This gives me a home and a place to work until the end of June. I mean, that's as much job security as you're going to get in this business."

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Shaquille O'Neal Adds Some Heat to the 21st Annual Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade

Shaquille O'Neal takes center court as the newest guest star recruit for the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade airing on ABC-TV Christmas Day from 1:00PM to 3:00PM (EST), 12:00PM to 2:00PM (CT), 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM (MST) and 3:00PM to 5:00PM (PST).

Shaq joins a stellar list of celebrity talent for the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade that includes the legendary Julie Andrews, actor John Stamos, Hope & Faith stars Faith Ford and Ted McGinley, Less Than Perfect star Patrick Warburton, Constance Marie from the George Lopez show, Erik von Detten from the new comedy Complete Savages, Tom Bergeron host of America's Funniest Home Videos, Rodney Carrington from Rodney and film and television star Zach Braff. Featured appearances include Disney Channel stars Raven, Christy Carlson-Romano and Meredith Vieira, Co-Host of The View and Host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Musical performers include pop music idols Mariah Carey and Ashanti; Latin singing sensation Juanes; American Idol favorites Kelly Clarkson and Diana DeGarmo; and country stars Wynonna and SheDaisy.

A 21-year television tradition, the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade decks the halls with a star-studded line-up of major musical performers and favorite celebrities for two hours of holiday cheer. Presiding over the festivities are Regis Philbin -- who has hosted more Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parades than anyone -- and his Live! With Regis & Kelly co-star (and star of ABC-TV's Hope & Faith), Kelly Ripa.

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''Incredibles'' Collectibles Only at Vons

If you've ever felt the call of duty and needed to flex your strength, here's your chance...

Through the end of the year, Vons will be offering collectible pins featuring characters from Walt Disney's presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios film, "The Incredibles." With a total of six different buttons showcasing this year's coolest, strongest, fastest, stretchiest, most transparent characters to hit the silver screen, this is your chance to become a community hero.

One hundred percent of the proceeds of each $2 pin sale will go toward the local America's Second Harvest food bank, the nation's leading food bank organization dedicated to eradicating hunger. Vons, Disney and Pixar have partnered with America's Second Harvest to highlight the issue of hunger during the holiday season.

Come in to Vons to collect all six pins and do your part to help fight hunger - and get a fantastic stocking stuffer in the process. With community heroes, we can raise over $500,00 to help families in need this holiday season.

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Once in a lifetime Dinner at Club 33

The Seal Beach Animal Care Center Cordially invites you to

"PAWS IN THE PARK"

A Valentine's dinner at the Disneyland Resort
Thursday, February 10, 2005
5:30p.m.
CLUB 33 Restaurant
Disneyland Park
Anaheim, California

Please join us for a special evening at Disneyland Park's exclusive "Members Only" Club 33 nestled in New Orleans Square.

Event Ticket Price includes an elegant buffet dinner And Admission to both Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Parks

In addition, a Silent Auction will be featured.

$175.00 per person
Tax Deductible

Events such as this raise greatly needed dollars for a worthwhile cause.
The Animals of SBACC

Tickets for this gala event are limited. (714) 821-4284 

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Vanguard’s Valiant to Fly April 15 on a Wing and Prayer

In the latest jostling for prime release dates, Disney confirmed that VALIANT, the initial 3D-animated outing from Ealing Studio-based Vanguard Animation in the U.K. (the studio’s heir apparent to Pixar?) will fly in U.S. theaters on April 15, 2005. With Disney’s own CHICKEN LITTLE now flying the coop in November, this highly anticipated story of a World War II carrier pigeon should fill the bill nicely.

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Chicken Little Release Moved to November 4, 2005

The Chicken Little official site shows a new release date of November 4, 2005.

Link

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The Pirates of the Caribbean at the El Capitan Theatre

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl returns for a limited engagement at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Anyone that comes dressed as a pirate will receive a free commemorative button and get to participate in a costume contest. There will also be a filmmaker discussion on opening night January 13th at 7pm.

Link

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Specials bring gift of ratings 

The holiday season often brings a lump of coal to TV networks that trot out reruns and suffer depressed ratings.

But this year has been especially kind to perennial specials and heartwarming cable movies with Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown and the gang attracting viewers:

• The Hallmark Channel had its biggest audience ever this month with Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus, a movie that drew 3.8 million viewers.

• AMC set a ratings record with 2.7 million viewers for its umpteenth showing of Miracle on 34th Street.

•ABC Family's Snow drew 4 million — the network's top original movie in more than two years — as part of a month-long series of Christmas-themed movies, up 44% from a similar effort last year.

• CBS' reliable Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and ABC's A Charlie Brown Christmas had their biggest audiences in four years.

Lifetime research chief Tim Brooks, an expert on TV history, theorizes the increased appetite for holiday fare reflects a yearning for "comfort food." He says the channel's research reveals "there's a lot of worry out there" about the economy, terrorism and the Iraq war.

"I think what we're seeing is that they want a respite; they want some kind of reassurance that everything's OK," Brooks says. "A lot of Christmas movies by their nature tend to be uplifting."

A series of Lifetime holiday movies is up 25% in viewers from last season.

Most popular are specials fondly remembered by generations. "People are more enthusiastically embracing the spirit of the holidays and gravitating toward these chestnuts," CBS research chief David Poltrack says. "Welcome to the 1950s," he jokes.

Ratings data show that holiday specials are least popular with the youngest adults. Instead, nostalgic older viewers watch with their young kids in tow. Charlie Brown, first seen in 1965, was this season's top program among children.

The holiday spirit wasn't foolproof, especially for non-vintage TV. NBC's Christmas Carol, starring Kelsey Grammer, was scrooged with just 8.9 million viewers.

And A&E's A Very Gotti Christmas got whacked with 943,000 viewers. "Nobody wanted to watch that for some reason," Brooks says.

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Hong Kong Disneyland to open ahead of schedule

Disney and Hong Kong’s SAR government has announced that Hong Kong Disneyland will be open for guests from 25 September 2005, earlier than originally projected.

Announced in 1999 as a joint venture between Walt Disney and the Hong Kong government, the theme park will be located on Lantau Island and represents Disney’s first theme park in China.

The theme park has a projected economic benefit to Hong Kong as a whole of HK$148bn ($19bn, £9.8bn, 111bn euros) over the next 40 years and Disney has confirmed that it will be completed within budget.

It is estimated that the park will create 18,000 jobs in the area and is expected to attract 10 million annual visitors.

Featured attractions within the park will include the Jungle River Cruise – where exploration boats will travel along an expansive river complete with frolicking elephants, erupting geysers and mischievious hippos – and Festival of the Lion King that will combine song, dance, puppetry and speciality performances.

Admission tickets to Hong Kong Disneyland will include a full day’s programme across the Main Street USA section and the three themed lands – Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Adventureland. There will be no additional charges for individual attractions or entertainment.

There will also be eight themed restaurants – from Wok, curry and noodle to BBQ – totalling 2,900 seats plus two Disney-style hotels.

The Hong Kong government’s financial secretary, Henry Tang, said: “Never has a Disneyland been built so fast, achieving the same quality as other Disney theme parks and resorts.” 

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Disney to add new magazine

A pair of Disney-owned magazines based in Northampton will grow to three in a year's time, officials said. 

Disney's Family and Children's Magazine Group will launch a new title, Wondertime, aimed at parents of children 6 and under.

The company, based in the historic Roundhouse building on Old South Street, is hiring 10 people to staff the new magazine.

"We're looking at what ... excites and inspires children to learn and grow," said Alexandra Kennedy, vice president and editorial director for the group.

The group runs the editorial functions for Family Fun and Disney Adventure magazines from Northampton. Advertising and circulation functions are handled in New York City.

The new magazine will feature stories about getting children ready for school, setting good eating habits and other issues affecting parents of pre-schoolers. Wondertime will begin as a quarterly, starting in the first three months of 2006, and eventually publish 10 times per year, Kennedy said.

The idea for the publication was developed by staff at the Northampton-based magazine group, and Disney approved the expansion locally, Kennedy said. "The company saw there was a lot of talent here," she said.

The new magazine title and growth of existing publications will mean an expansion from the current 40 employees to almost double that in several years, Kennedy said. The result is that the business will outgrow the Roundhouse building where it has been located.

Kennedy said she could not disclose details on whether the company might move, but an advertisement last week for an operations coordinator for the group makes reference to construction of a new 15,000-square-foot facility to house 50 people.

There was no word on the new location, but Kennedy said that the company "loves being downtown."

The company has received dozens of resumes for the jobs advertised last week in local and regional newspaper. Among the positions the firm is seeking to fill for the new magazine are administrative assistant, art director, executive editor and several other editor's positions.

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ABC's 'Jim' Jumps to Top of Class in Slow Tuesday

The pre-holiday swoon in primetime has definitely arrived.

With reruns and specials dotting the schedule, Tuesday's most-watched show was the 9 p.m. repeat of ABC's "According to Jim," which brought in 10.9 million viewers and 4.5 rating/12 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research.

ABC and NBC tied for the nightly win in adults 18-49 (3.4/10), while ABC narrowly prevailed in total viewers (9.7 million).

CBS won the first hour of primetime with a fresh installment of "The Amazing Race (10.5 million, 3.9/11), but was less competitive from 9-11 p.m. with its telecast of the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony (8.5 million viewers, 1.9/7), which paid tribute to such notables as Elton John and Warren Beatty.

A retrospective clip special from NBC's "The Biggest Loser" weight-loss competition series kept the network in second place at 8 p.m. with 9.8 million viewers and 3.6/11 in the demo. But its fortunes fell at 9 p.m. with a fresh episode of "Father of the Pride" (6.2 million, 2.3/6) and repeat of "Scrubs" (6.2 million, 2.7/7) topped by reruns of ABC's "According to Jim" (10.9 million, 4.5/12) and "Rodney" (9.5 million, 3.8/10).

ABC's "NYPD Blue" (10.4 million, 3.5/10) upticked a bit as the show winds down to its February series finale. But NBC still took the hour with a repeat of "Law & Order: SVU" (10.7 million, 4.1/11).

Fox had no traction at 8 p.m. with "The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best" (2.9 million, 1.2/3), which was beaten by a repeat of the WB Network's "Gilmore Girls" (3 million, 1.3/4). At 9 p.m., Fox's rookie medical series "House" gained some ground to finish out with 6.7 million viewers and 2.9/8 in the key demo. 

Euro Disney has until 31 March 2005 to complete its capital increase. After that, Walt Disney and Euro Disney’s other lenders will have 30 days to negotiate a new waiver of debt covenants and reach a new agreement on fianancial restructuring.

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SEC says Disney broke disclosure rules

One Day

If you have only one day for fun, the lure of the theme parks will be too strong to resist. And no park exerts a magnetic force stronger than the Magic Kingdom.
With good reason. This park is heaven on earth for children. The pixie dust will work its magic on adults as well.

The Magic Kingdom has more entertainment value per square inch than any other park. Unfortunately, during the two weeks around Christmas and New Year's, the Magic Kingdom has more people per square inch than any other park.

But take a deep breath and make a plan. It is possible to spend a marathon day at the Magic Kingdom and emerge through the exit gates smiling at the end of the day.

If you have young children, start the day with a character breakfast. Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort is a good one, but there are others. (Make reservations far in advance.)

The benefits are twofold: Everyone will eat a good breakfast and the kids will meet and greet several Disney characters, thus reducing the pressure to stand in lines for autographs and photographs in the broiling sun at a crowded theme park.

Before you arrive at the park it's a good idea to have in mind a few top priorities and several alternatives. There are no duds at the Magic Kingdom, but you don't want to stand in line for 90 minutes for a mediocre ride.

You can't go wrong with any of the three mountains - Splash Mountain, Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is adorable, and the Pirates of the Caribbean is cheesy fun (but maybe a bit intense for the preschool set). Take a wild spin on the Mad Tea Party and enjoy the G-rated spookiness of the Haunted Mansion.

These are some of the biggest attractions at the park and attract big crowds. But rides periodically break down and wait times can reach two hours at some attractions, so have alternatives in mind. Tom Sawyer Island is an oasis of calm and a heap of fun, too. Even getting to the island is a delight - you board a replica of an old-fashioned river raft.

The island is criss-crossed with woodsy trails, wobbly suspension bridges and cave systems. Kids can fire air rifles from the windows of a two-story fort. Adults can sip lemonade on shady benches or play checkers on the porch of Aunt Polly's. A family would be wise to spend an hour here rather than waiting in line at an attraction.

Other low-key, low-tech alternatives include the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, a long, slow-moving ride with glimpses of the interiors of rides such as Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. Storytime with Belle is tucked away in a garden in the shadow of Cinderella's castle. Little girls will be enchanted by the storytelling.

Two of the newer attractions are Mickey's PhilharMagic, a 3-D movie based on musical scores from "Beauty and the Beast," "Fantasia" and other Disney fare. The special effects are excellent, down to smelling an apple pie and feeling puffs of air when champagne corks pop on screen.

The recently opened Stitch's Great Escape! ride is less stellar. It's a half-hearted makeover of the former ExtraTERRORestial Alien Encounter, and it might be too dark and intense for younger children.

On a one-day plan, two rides to avoid include Peter Pan's Flight and the Astro Orbiter. These are slow-moving rides that don't hold many guests, so the lines are agonizingly long. Even with the advance ticketing system Fast Pass, you can wait 30 minutes to climb onto Peter Pan's Flight.

Don't expect to have a relaxing, sophisticated dining experience at the theme parks. Even the marquee restaurants at Epcot such as Les Chefs de France are crawling with children and tourists in tank tops. Do use meal times as an opportunity to get out of the sun, rest your feet and plan the attractions you still want to visit.

The Magic Kingdom is even better after dark, so stick around. Crowds thin out, and the nighttime entertainment is worth the price of admission alone. The illuminated parade and a fireworks display in the skies above Cinderella's Castle are sure to leave you with a smile on your face.

Morning of the Game

If you opt to skip the pregame tailgating party at the Citrus Bowl, you might choose to spend the time wandering around downtown Orlando's crown jewel, Lake Eola.

Rent a swan paddle boat. Stop for a bagel and coffee at Panera's. Let the kids run off some steam at the playground. Poke around shops in nearby Thornton Park, where there are boutiques, restaurants and a great independent bookstore called Urban Think. Thornton Park also has a Starbucks in a prime people-watching location.

For a dash of culture, check out the downtown Orange County Historical Museum. Spend an hour or two wandering through the cool, quiet exhibit halls before grabbing the pompons and heading over to the stadium to cheer.

Two Days

If you have two days, try getting out of theme park land, at least for the morning. Just north of Orlando off Interstate 4 is Winter Park, a bucolic slice of small-town charm and sophistication.
There is something for everybody on the brick-lined Park Avenue, the main street in town and a pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare. Toddlers will enjoy playing in the park and watching trains rumble through the train station.

There is a rose garden to explore, fountains for splashing and benches galore, perfect for sitting and visiting over an ice cream cone from Haagen Daz or a cup of coffee from one of several Park Avenue coffee shops.

The shoppers in your travel group will salivate over the stores and boutiques lining Park Avenue and its tucked-away side streets. Hunt for bargains at Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn, Ann Taylor, Talbots and myriad other shops and galleries.

The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art at the north end of Park Avenue, has a stunning collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany glass and pottery. It's the best $3 you will spend on your trip.

Central Florida is dotted with lakes, and a scenic boat tour through the Winter Park chain of lakes is just a stroll away from Park Avenue. The narrated, hour-long Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour takes passengers though canals and around lakes lined with old mansions and shorelines populated with long-necked wading birds.

Dining options on Park Avenue range from the elegance of Park Plaza Gardens to family-style pizza at Boardwalk Pizza.

Cirque du Soleil's latest production, La Nouba, from the French faire la nouba , which means to party or live it up, is in Downtown Disney West Side. A fantastic feast for the senses, it combines compelling characters, dreamy costumes, dramatic sets, and powerful music with acts that take your breath away and defy gravity - a man riding a bicycle on a high wire, an aerial ballet, a flying trapeze troupe, and the finale, a riotous trampoline act.

Performances are held at 6 and 9 p.m. daily except Sunday and Monday. Tickets cost $82 and $72 ($49 and $44 ages 3-9).

If you want to experience the state of the art in attraction design, head for Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, is easily the best ride in town; Seuss Landing, great fun for children and adults alike; Dueling Dragons, coasters with fly-by speeds of up to 120 mph; and the Incredible Hulk Coaster, a fast-and-furious spin around Super Hero Island.

Three Days

If your travels will land you in Orlando by Dec. 30, the Citrus Bowl Parade through downtown traditionally features college bands from teams participating in the Capital One Bowl as well as plenty of other floats, marching bands and local dignitaries.
Try another theme park. Head a few miles east on Interstate 4 to Sea World Orlando.

One of the best shows features domestic animals, but they are all good, from Shamu to Clyde and Seamore. There is a roller coaster for thrill-seekers and a huge playground area for kids.

If you have issues with animals in captivity, this probably isn't the place for you. But it is obvious these trainers are passionate about their jobs. And your children may actually learn something about sea turtle rehabilitation or how dolphins communicate.

Skip the water ski show - space restrictions have left it a pale ghost of its former self. Call ahead to get a reservation at the Sharks Underwater Grill restaurant and request a table near the window. Eat early or late - say lunch at 2 p.m. or supper at 4 p.m. - you'll snag the best tables.

The zoological park aspect of Sea World means fewer lines. You don't have to wait to feed the dolphins or the sea lions (but you might have to stand in line to wash the sardine smell off your hands afterward). You don't have to wait in line to touch a dolphin's chin or to view the manatees or flamingos or penguins. Except for an extended boardwalk through the lagoon, the park is a shady oasis.

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Walt Disney World Marathon Charts Magical Course

A field of 24,000 is registered for the 12th annual Walt Disney World Marathon and Half Marathon set for Jan. 9 over a course that includes portions of the four theme parks at the Central Florida destination resort. Both races begin at 6 a.m. outside the gates of Epcot.

The marathon and half marathon are part of an entire running weekend at Disney that also includes the popular FamilyFun Magazine 5K and Kids Races on Jan. 8, and the two-day Disney's Health and Fitness Expo presented by Tylenol 8 Hour on Jan. 7-8. The Expo will be held at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex and will feature seminars on running, nutrition and overall health and fitness. The event will also showcase the latest running and fitness products. (Admission to the Expo is free on both days).

Registration remains open for the 5K and kids races at www.disneyworldmarathon.com but registration is closed for the 2005 marathon and half marathon. Registration for the 2006 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend (Jan. 6-8 2006) begins Jan. 10, 2005 at www.disneyworldmarathon.com.

Special Walt Disney World Resort Marathon packages are available for registered runners, family members, and friends through Disney Sports Travel by calling 407-939-7810 or a travel agent. Guests may also contact Disney Sports Travel by e-mail at wdw.disney.sports.travel@disney.com.

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Disney discovers the power of packaging

These days, you hear a lot of talk about dark forces trying to take over the world.

But the plotters aren't who you think - Islamic fundamentalists, right-wing Christian evangelicals, big-spending Massachusetts liberals, or even, say, executives at Microsoft.

No, the people intent on conquering the world - and I'm here to tell you they're succeeding - are far more insidious:

The Disney Princesses.

                                                     

The ringleaders? Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty (who sometimes uses the alias "Aurora"). They're abetted by Belle, Ariel and Jasmine, a trio of newer bluebloods who tend to shun the traditional gang colors of pink and powder blue.

For half a century, the Walt Disney Co. was content to let each princess rule her own individual kingdom. Snow White might leave her castle to visit the dwarfs, but never would she cross the celluloid boundary to have tea with Cinderella. She certainly wasn't to go searching for seashells with Ariel.

But four years ago, Disney decided to group its heroines together, promoting them not as the lacy ladies of autonomous fiefdoms but as the (mostly) equal rulers of an oligarchy. In three years, princess sales rocketed from $300 million to $1.3 billion. This year, the Disney Princess brand is expected to bring in $2 billion.

My household accounts for approximately half of those sales.

Or at least it seems like it.

Which is why, in seeking to examine this puff-sleeved phenomenon, I skipped the sociologists and gender-studies experts and went straight to the ultimate, authoritative source: My 4-year-old daughter.

She is the target audience. And she adores the Disney Princesses.

For my girl, a bejeweled Cinderella crown is mandatory headgear for breakfast, Snow White high heels the preferred footwear for evening, a golden "Three Princesses" nightie the only sensible choice for bed. As she trots out the door to school, her Disney Princess lunch box in one hand and her Disney Princess book bag in the other, I stop her and ask: Why?

"Because," she says, drawing out the word to indicate, surely not for the last time, that she thinks her dad is loopy, "they make me happy!"

Obsession? No. Her interest would have to diminish to be mere obsession. This is more like a way of life. Recently my girl sat on our couch, dressed in her Snow White costume, holding her Snow White doll, and watching her Snow White video.

"My eyes are blue," she says.

"No, sweetheart," I answer. "Your eyes are a beautiful dark brown, almost black."

"No, my eyes are blue!" she insists. "My fairy godmother turned them blue!"

I don't argue. But let me tell you a secret:

My kid is Chinese. Her eyes weren't blue when she got here, they ain't blue now, and they ain't going to be blue anytime soon.

I don't mind the princesses. Though I do wish, if they were as tangible and kind-hearted as my daughter believes, that they would spend less time singing and more time picking up. Mostly I'm puzzled how they could so quickly displace old friends like Barney the dinosaur and Jay Jay the Jet Plane.

I offer my daughter an after-school snack of an apple.

"Is it poison?" she asks hopefully.

It's not just my girl who has fallen under the princesses' spell. Leading child-development authorities - other parents I know - say the same thing is happening in their homes.

How does it start? It begins with a sharp pain in the foot.

You're walking through your house, barefoot, at night, when you step on something hard and pointed. A Belle hairbrush. The next thing you know, you catch yourself humming, "Once Upon a Dream." Canceling the New Yorker and subscribing to Disney's Princess seems a logical trade.

Disney says its Princess line encompasses 25,000 items. About 24,000 of them are strewn across my sunroom rug.

By packaging the princesses, Disney gained the flexibility to market a single powerful brand through different products at different stores, and to reinforce that presence in its own television shows, radio broadcasts and theme parks. At Home Depot, you can now buy Disney Princess paint - surprise! it's pink - and at Wal-Mart your kid can cruise away in a battery-powered Disney Princess SUV. In a year, the princesses' market share of role-playing toys has jumped from 9 percent to 16 percent.

Disney says the princesses are popular because their stories encourage girls to dream, because they offer empowering themes of honor, friendship and love. "It really appeals to a fundamental desire that most little girls have, to make believe, and believe there's a Prince Charming in their life," spokesman Gary Foster says.

That's the company's line - and they're sticking to it.

A cynic - not me, of course - might suggest that the princesses are a sad group of anorexic blondes and brunettes, eagerly assuming a life of indentured labor in the service of abusive step-parents. Their sole desire is that a handsome young man will appear and transform their dreary existence by dint of his vast riches, good manners, and impeccable family background.

Aside from wishing and washing and waiting, the princesses' lives seem to consist of hanging out in desolate woodlands, talking to birds and mice. None of them has pursued an education, though at least Belle, stuck in that oppressive French village, has read a few books.

That characterization bothers my daughter and her friends not a whit. Their playtime debates assume that becoming a princess is a worthy goal, the only contention being who gets to wear which gown.

I decided that if I must live in Disney land, I would at least nudge my child toward more progressive role models. Characters such as Mulan and Pocahontas, strong, confident women who stand up for themselves. Even Princess Jasmine would be an improvement. (Though truth be told, years of soft palace living in Agrabah have made her just a little bit rhymes-with-witchy).

But in the end, single-handedly saving China from bloodthirsty Huns can't compete with an evening of dancing at the royal ball.

And that's fine. Because I know that eventually even princesses grow up, and little girls too, that my daughter's interest in crowns and castles will cede to big-girl worries about cars and college.

The other night, as I tucked my girl into bed, snug against her princess pillow, she looked up at me and smiled, then raised her tiny hand and placed it softly against my cheek.

"Noble steed," she said.

Perhaps someday I'll rate a speaking part.

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Battle lines are drawn

On Boxing Day Australians will get to see what is likely to be the highest-earning animated feature film in history when retired superheroes Bob and Helen and their children Violet, Dash and Jack Jack make their debut across cinema screens nationally.

The Incredibles is predicted to earn $40 million nationally, based on its success in the US last month, pulling ahead of Finding Nemo's phenomenal $37.4 million takings here. This latest computer-animated feature to spring from the pool of genius at Steve Jobs's Pixar studios, and distributed by Disney, comes at a crucial turning point in animated film history.

Hand-drawn cartoons, the form of classics such as Bambi, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs and The Lion King, have been consigned to cinematic history. Disney says its in-house effort, Home On The Range, which flopped this year, was its last traditional cinema animation release. Its next animated feature film for cinema, Chicken Little, scheduled for the second half of next year, will be computer-generated.

But pundits are suggesting Disney has lost its way and doesn't quite understand why Pixar (Toy Story, Monsters, Inc. and Nemo) and rival DreamWorks (Shrek, A Shark's Tale) have had such box office and critical success with computer animation. Disney has unnecessarily discarded the art of hand-drawn and painted animation, it seems. But it's not the "three-dimensional" effect that killed traditional animated features, the critics say. It's the stories.

In recent years there has been serious criticism of the direction of the Disney board under its chief executive Michael Eisner. Walt Disney's nephew Roy Disney, who resigned from the board last year, has accused Eisner of draining the company's creativity. He has helped establish a website, savedisney.com, as an outlet for his campaign to oust Eisner. In a letter to Disney shareholders in February, the board supported Eisner, criticised Roy Disney's campaign as misleading and said the company was in turnaround.

Disney's unseemly public squabbles contrast with Pixar's massive success. Pixar was created in 1986 when Steve Jobs, who is also CEO of Apple, bought the computer graphics division of George Lucas's Lucasfilm. The company made a deal with Disney, namely that Disney would market and distribute Pixar films. Pixar's Toy Story in 1995 was the first completely computer-animated feature film, and it put millions of bums on seats.

The previous year, Disney's own studios had one of its last big hits with The Lion King. Most of its animated features since then, with the notable exception of Lilo & Stitch in 2002, have flopped. The temptation is to contrast Disney and Pixar's fortunes over nearly a decade and say that old-style animation is to blame because it seems old hat to audiences.

Many argue that is not the case. Writing under the pseudonym Merlin Jones (a character played by '50s Disney child star Tommy Kirk) savedisney.com's webmaster Tim Bauer says Pixar is now making "Disney" movies while Disney is not.

Disney "has tried to redefine [its] work, abandoning the world of the traditional cartoon, while Pixar has embraced and enhanced it", Bauer argues convincingly. Pixar's success proves audiences "still want a Walt Disney-style movie that speaks happily from the inner-child, infused with a glorious joie de vivre, humour and caricature", he says, citing Toy Story, Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo.

Bauer says that whether a good story is achieved by hand-drawn cartoon or computer is irrelevant: "This is not a war of computer versus pencil, but a battle of points of view."

In recent years, there has been talk Pixar and Disney would go their separate ways. This would leave the animation masters of Disney flailing about trying to emulate the junior upstart Pixar with the likes of Chicken Little. The current Pixar-Disney contract ends with next year's Pixar film, Cars.

And what are moviegoers to make of the 19-metre tall Chicken Little balloon that joined Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York, nine months ahead of Disney's release of its first in-house computer-generated effort? "[Disney wants] moviegoers to think that Chicken Little will be an Incredibles-sized hit," says one industry observer, "when there's no way this sweet, quirky little comedy can be. They're actually setting up their own film for failure."

In Australia Alan Finney, the managing director of Buena Vista International's Australasia division, which is distributing The Incredibles, says he "absolutely" believes the Pixar feature will earn $40 million. The trajectory of the Pixar films is that each outperforms its predecessor at the box office. Success is "always linked to stories and character", he says. "The technology is fine, but without a strong narrative, you're dead." Finney says we may not have seen the last of traditional animation. "It will depend on the project."

A major criticism of the computer-animated cartoons, however (and which old cartoons traditionally avoided), was the attempt to depict human characters as "realistic". But as Anthony Lane wrote recently in The New Yorker in his review of The Incredibles: "I dreaded the prospect of a hero who would, like every other digital man so far, resemble one of Barbie's boyfriends. Imagine my relief when Bob, Helen and the kids, for all the nicety of their emotions, turned out to be - if I can risk a word that may be taboo in Pixar land - cartoons. Long may it stay that way."

Why would we want to see hand-drawn cartoons again, apart from a little Bambi-eyed sentimentality? Well, such animation does, in fact, live on. DisneyToon satellite studios in several countries, including Sydney, are churning out sequels to Disney classics, as well as original features, for the lucrative straight-to-DVD market.

Sequels to The Lion King, Beauty And The Beast and The Lady And The Tramp have been treated by Disney as though they are major cinema events, even though the premiere has been in the video stores.

Of course, Roy Disney et al argue that this is compromising the quality of the company's creativity. DisneyToon Studios president Sharon Morrill told Variety: "This is not a second-rate business. We take these films very seriously. We don't want anyone to think we don't put the same care in the movies just because they're on DVD. We strive for each film to be better each time."

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Academy Awards 2006 Broadcast Date Announced

The 78th Academy Awards will air on SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 2006, it was announced today. The show will fall a week later in the calendar than in 2004 and 2005.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Frank Pierson described the step back into March as a one-year expedient to avoid a conflict with the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics, which are scheduled to fall on the Academy's "natural" date of Sunday, February 26.

"It didn't seem fair to make viewers have to choose between these two special events," Pierson said.

At the same time, he emphasized that the Academy is very pleased with what had originally been characterized as a two-year experiment in moving the Awards presentations up almost a month earlier than in the past. He said that late-February broadcasts of the Oscars would resume in 2007.

The 2006 and 2007 broadcasts, as well as 2005's 77th Awards on Sunday, February 27, will be carried -- as they have for the most recent thirty years -- live by ABC.

The special, now in its 21st year, airs Dec. 25 from Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, 1pm ET on ABC.

Presiding over the festivities are Regis Philbin -- who has hosted more Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parades than anyone -- and his Live! With Regis & Kelly co-star Kelly Ripa.