Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 02:53:43 GMT

Wall-E looks great. Mechanical, like cars, but managing to be cute and sympathetic. Let's just hope they keep Owen Wilson far away (I'm still a firm believer that big-name actors are typically the worst voice-overs, with a few very notable exceptions.)

National Treasure 2 will likely get awful reviews, make history buffs everywhere cringe, yet still bring in pretty good money. I will never get it.

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 02:55:28 GMT

Stuff in Disney annual reports always comes true- look at all the great stuff we got from the "Disney Decade!" WOO-HOO! I can't wait to experience all the new attractions shown that are certainly coming our way!

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 07:37:33 GMT

Everything looks great. Leave it to Disney to make one hell of awesome annual report!

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:18:01 GMT

Aww, look at Wall-E...so cute! I had no idea that Disneyland was getting anything "Cars"-themed- I thought only DL Paris was. That's cool, though. And a TLM-themed park? That's really neat. What if Disney doesn't get to build a park in China? What else is up their sleeves, as far as attractions are concerned? Maybe we could get an article on that sometime...???

Thanks for the info, Jim!

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 12:17:01 GMT

I like the Pixar films, but I'll never LOVE them like I do the classic Disney animated features. The still from "WALL.E" is a prime example of why I can't warm up to their creations. I would suggest that, like the cast of "Cars", this really isn't much of a character design either, not in the truest sense. From what I see here, all they've done is stuck cartoony eyes on top of what resembles a Mars rover. That's not particularly clever or difficult - I could stick a pair of eyes on top of my Mac and call it a character too, but that doesn't make it so.

That was the same problem with "Cars" as well. Eyes were plastered on the windshield and a mouth was animated on the bumper. Other than that there was no attempt to anthropomorphize the vehicle itself. There was no "squash and stretch" to allow for stronger expressions and body language - just a rigid form with facial features merely stuck on the surface, not unlike the racing decals adhering to Ace's paint job. One only has to look back into the history of traditional animation to find far more superior car characters such as Disney's "Suzie the Blue Coupe" and Tex Avery's "One Cab's Family". Even Benny the Cab from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is much more visually interesting and appealing because of classic "squash and stretch" cartoon techniques.

I'm sure that "WALL.E", like other Pixar films, will be entertaining and well-written, but mechanical, rigid, robotic characters just don't hold much appeal for this cartoon fan. As far as Pixar's output goes, I much prefer the look of "The Incredibles" and the upcoming "Ratatouille", both of which I believe benefit from the more traditional drawn animation cartoon sensibilities of Brad Bird. Until Disney revives traditional animation, the organically pliable character design of Mr. Bird's films is about all I can really appreciate these days.

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 13:19:04 GMT

I'm just hoping that the concept of Wall-E isn't easily confused with Robots, unless Pixar is just showing everyone how to do it the "right" way.

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 13:33:51 GMT

I was a little disappointed when I saw the artwork for "Enchanted". I was hoping this "traditionally animated" sequence was going to look more like Disney's earlier cel animated fairy tales and not just a retread of the Beauty and the Beast character design from the 90's. This could almost be a clip from "Anistasia".

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 13:56:06 GMT

I'm excited that Pixar is branching out and trying something different. I think that is one of their specialties. They are doing a robot movie that looks nothing like Robots. That is great! So first we had toys, then bugs, then monsters, then fish, then humans, then cars, then rats, now robots. Maybe we need a movie about aliens next!

I'm sorry that Ponsonby Britt was disappointed with the Cars design, but it was very intentional. Pixar took a look at Suzie the Blue Coupe and decided to do something different. They didn't want something that would remind people of Chevron cars. They also wanted the cars to feel like they were actually cars, and not add the amount of squash and stretch that they normally would. Maybe in retrospect they would change their design, but then again maybe it came out exactly the way they wanted them to look.

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:10:53 GMT

Gotta have lots of glossy distracting pictures so no one focuses too closely at details - especially executive pay numbers. Don't want to have to give bonuses out to the people who actually earned the money for the company.

"OOh look - shiny colors - pretty pictures !"

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:16:21 GMT

I saw an actual clip of "Enchanted" on the Disney Channel the other day. Looks like it's the same scene the still pic here represents. And...gosh, I hate to say this, but it looked dreadful. Now the clip was VERY brief, but the movement was very choppy and it was quite frankly unimpressive. I hope I'm worrying over nothing...

As for "Wall-E"...it reminds me of "Robots", and that was a pretty bad flick. Robots - as characters - get reaaallllly old after awhile. Ah well...

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:46:05 GMT

curmudgeon said:

Gotta have lots of glossy distracting pictures so no one focuses too closely at details - especially executive pay numbers.

He he...just what I was thinking. Maybe I'm turning into a curmudgeon too!

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 18:05:19 GMT

-AWE: How can I not be looking foward to that?

-Enchanted: I like the newer style of the princess, but not loving the old person all that much (seems to be a clone of the witch from Snow White)

-NT2: As long as they keep it like the first one, I'll probably like it

-WallE: That preview makes me want to throw up. The character looks like a mixture of something you would find in Robots, Jimmy Neutron/Nickelodeon-style animation & that dude from Treasure Planet. Why can't they do a film again about something that people can instinctively feel for (not 'cold' things like cars, robots & rats). And if that logo's real, then it certainly is a bad one. Seems like a rehash of Ratatouille's logo.

-Narnia: Again, looking very much forward to this one. I like how (it at least seems) that they are keeping the same style of the first.

-TSM: As far as I'm concerned its a mixture of a video game and Space Ranger Spin. It's not doing anything new....heck....it's not even changing the characters. I really hope this is only going to DCA and not DMGM.

-Carland: ah, let DCA have that one. YAPA (Yet another Pixar Attraction)

But what Jim didn't touch upon that I thought was intriguing was the new nighttime spectacular water show. With characters from Pirates, black & white Mickey cartoon, TLM, Lion King & Fantasia among others (along with Sorcerer Mickey's hat), it is obviously based on Disney films. Is that going to DCA or TDS?

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 02:52:44 GMT

I will reserve judgment on Wall-E until more is known. Considering it comes from the director of 'Finding Nemo', the best of Pixar's movies-- I can't wait.

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 08:06:47 GMT

askmike1 said: "Why can't they do a film again about something that people can instinctively feel for (not 'cold' things like cars, robots & rats)."

Well, Mickey and Minnie are mice, as our the cast of "The Great Mouse Detective", except for Ratigan :-) I think that Remy is a cute character, and I'm hoping his plushes sell well. I know that "Cars" had some plushes...heck, I still want to get a Mater one...

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:49:43 GMT

Hmmm...The witch from Enchanted could probably be Queen Narissa pulling the same stunt the Queen did from Snow White. Otherwise, they wouldn't have cast Susan Sarandon for the Queen.

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 17:42:04 GMT

Before everyone’s eyes are glossed over by the “eye candy” and stuff promised in Disney’s slick 2006 annual report, there are a few things that Disney didn’t include. As with their 10-K, Disney disclosed and detailed the Winnie the Pooh lawsuit but Disney chose to not specifically disclose nor detail the “Royce Mathew vs. Disney” Pirates of the Caribbean lawsuit in this 2006 annual report. Disney also didn’t mention the firing of Nina Jacobson nor it’s dismissal of the hundreds of other employees. Yet executives are getting great pay (Iger reportedly will earn about 25 million for 2006, while it’s newly appointed Board of Director Mr. Pepper will receive five hundred thousand dollars a year). Folks, there comes a time to celebrate a company, but only when you know all the facts going behind the candy coated front walls. Things are evidently not all okay at the Walt Disney Company despite the high of a slick annual report. I hope that shareholders can make a difference if they keep demanding accountability while seeking their pleasure.

re: Want a peek at the Mouse House's future? Then check out the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report

Jim Hill — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 10:27:22 GMT

semaj86 said: "Hmmm...The witch from Enchanted could probably be Queen Narissa pulling the same stunt the Queen did from Snow White. Otherwise, they wouldn't have cast Susan Sarandon for the Queen."

Good point! The pictures I've seen of Queen Narissa, both of a live-action Susan Sarandon and concept art, she's not dressed like this at all, so it seems that you may be on to something, semaj86!