Trim up the tree with Christmas stuff Like bingle balls, and whofoo fluff Trim up the town with goowho gums and bizilbix and wums Copyright 2013 Universal Studios. All rights reserved You gotta give the folks at Universal Studio Hollywood credit. For -- when it came to the kick-off of this year's Grinchmas Wholidays celebration -- they not only broke out their presents, their ribbons, their wrappings, Universal even sprang for some snoof and some fuzzle, some tringlers and trappings. They even...

So what's the deal with " Marvel's Avengers Assemble ," that new animated series that premieres tomorrow morning, July 7th at 11 a.m. ET/ PT on Disney XD ? Didn't XD already an animated series (i.e. " The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! ," which aired on this cable channel from 2010 - 2012) that celebrated this comic book crew? To hear Jeph Loeb (i.e. the head of Marvel Television and executive producer of "Marvel's Avengers Assemble") talk, the...

"I hope that we don't lose sight of one thing. That it all started with a mouse." -- Walt Disney And given that Mickey is basically the well-spring from which all good things flow at The Walt Disney Company ... well, it's kind of appropriate that -- on Disney's Glendale Campus -- there's this very cool Mickey-inspired fountain. Photo by Noe Valladolid "And what exactly were you & Noe doing on Disney's Glendale Campus?," you ask. This past Friday was Mickey...

Disney Infinity was the star of the Disney Interactive booth at E3 last week. Photo by Noe Valladolid People stood in two-plus hour-long lines to have a t-shirt, jersey tee or hoodie made with their choice of Disney Infinity character mash-ups: Photo by Noe Valladolid Mike Wazowski with Mr. Incredible Evil Emperor Zurg with Vanellope Von Schweetz Captain Jack Sparrow in Cinderella's coach, which has monster truck Photo by Noe Valladolid Davy Jones atop a rainbow bus Tonto surfing with Stitch...

On the final day of E3 2013 , I flew on into that huge pavilion which Nintendo had set up inside of the Los Angeles Convention Center . Where I then had a chance to chat with Corey Valencia from Disney Interactive about the upcoming Planes game . Which will be based on that new animated feature which Walt Disney Pictures will be releasing to theaters on August 6th of this year. --> Copyright Disney - Nintendo. All rights reserved According to Corey, "Disney's Planes" is actually...

So what can gamers expected from Disney Castle of Illusion when it finally hits store shelves later this year? Photo by Shelly Valladolid Omar Woodley from SEGA took time yesterday to show us the remastered, re-imagined version of this classic Genesis title. According to Omar, the collaboration between Sega and Disney started about two years ago. "It's a re-imagined version." Omar explains. "There's quite a bit of the old game there, but also new stuff." SEGA's Omar...

Cambridge, MA-based company Harmonix is trying to capture the spirit of Walt Disney's 1940 masterpiece, " Fantasia " by inserting the gamer into the story of The Sorcerer's Apprentice . Photo by Shelly Valladolid Harmonix, whose past hits include Rock Band and Guitar Hero , spent over two-and-a-half years developing this game. Which will launch exclusively on the XBOX 360 and the XBOX One next year. Fantasia: Music Evolved is not completely finished, so we saw an advanced, but not...

So how did yesterday's media event at Knott's Berry Farm go? Well, that kind of depends on whether you're an optimist or a pessimist. Are you the type of person who sees the glass half-empty or half-full? Or -- in this particular case -- the Timber Mountain Log Ride flume as half-empty or half-full? Tell you what: Let's start off by talking about the portion of Thursday's event that went off without a hitch. And that was the official opening of the newly expanded version of this...

My daughter and I attended the launch of Disney Infinity , Disney Interactive 's new platform at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood back in January. In a kind gesture to the Disney fan community, members of D23 , the official Disney fan club, were invited to attend and watch the proceedings from the balcony. Where they then received a shout-out from the stage from John Lasseter. John Lasseter at Tuesday's Disney Infinity preview event. Photo by Alice Hill John Pleasants , John Lasseter and...

It was a bright, sunny morning in Carlsbad, CA today, when LEGOLAND California held a brief presentation outlining the upcoming plans for the resort in the next year, including a new 4-D experience based on their new Chima series & toys and the opening of the first LEGOLAND Hotel in the United States. General Manager Peter Ronchetti spoke, outlining the successes of the past year and unveiling the new attraction, which will open to the public March 7 at LEGOLAND California and the LEGO Discovery...

I know that it's usually not cool to peek at your Christmas presents. But given that Ephinany comes at the very tail end of the holiday season ... Well, I'm hoping that it'll be okay if I reveal what Disneyland Park has planned for this weekend's three day-long Three Kings' Day celebration. Starting today, Frontierland 's Big Thunder Ranch will be decorated with huge hanging papel picado banners ... Photo by Alice Hill ... and fresh flowers ... Photo by Alice Hill ... as this...

In early December, a pal and I decided to close out the year with a week-long Disney Cruise to the Mexican Riviera, the last time (at least for the near future) that the Wonder will be making this voyage. As with the parks, the holidays were in full swing on board, and we even got to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah our last night on board. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved In the lobby, there's a huge, beautiful Christmas tree - and the scrollwork on the base matches...

Jordan Hembrough always loved toys. What kid didn't? As a child, his room was filled with Mego Star Wars toys, superhero toys, the staples of the American boy (or tomboy) of the seventies. Like many of those kids, he loved his toys and hung on to them. "Toy Hunter" host Jordan Hembrough. Copyright 2012 Scripps Network, LLC. All rights reserved In college, Hembrough quickly found a job as Head buyer for a chain of sci-fi/comic collectible stores, and began traveling the country looking...

By now, you've no doubt seen some of the photos which came out of this past weekend's preview events at Disney California Adventure Park . Photo by Noe Valladolid If you look around the Web, 90% of the images that have been posted focus on Cars Land ... Photo by Noe Valladolid ... which is understandable. Given that Cars Land features that spectacular new attraction, Radiator Springs Racers ... Photo by Noe Valladolid ... not to mention all of that terrific-looking neon which comes on every...

Disney Interactive has embraced the social gaming concept in a big way, and they were eager to show off their newest games at E3 this week. Following the success of Gardens of Time , a Facebook game from their Playdom studio that beat out Cityville last year as Facebook 's Most Popular Game of 2011, they stepped up the Disneyfication with Disney's Animal Kingdom Explorers , a very similarly-played game of garden/zoo-building and finding hidden objects while cooperating with other players...

Greetings from this year's E3 . Mind you, there's always a bit of a line as you try and enter the Los Angeles Convention Center . Photo by Noe Valladolid But it's always worth it once you get out on that show floor, where you're then surrounded by all these amazing displays which have been assembled by the top companies in the video game industry. Photo by Noe Valladolid All with the hope that E3 attendees -- once they go home with bags filled with spectacular swag and/or have used...

Universal Studios Hollywood transformed its Lower Lot yesterday, rolling out yards & yards of red carpet right next to the Starway escalator, so that celebrities like Holly Robinson Peete ... Holly Robinson Peete and her son Roman & Robinson. Photo by Shelly Valladolid ... as industry legend Frank Welker (who has voiced characters in both the "Transformers" animated series as well as the feature films ) ... Frank Welker at yesterday's event at Universal Studios Hollywood. Photo...

So why exactly did so many reporters & photographers make a special trip out to Anaheim last Thursday? Was it because some star was making a special appearance at Disneyland Park ? Photo by Noe Valladolid Well, not a star per se. But -- rather seamstress to the stars, Disney Legend Alice Davis . Who spent much of the 1960s creating colorful costumes for the Audio-Animatronic figures found in " Flight to the Moon ," " Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress " and -- of course...

Did you love Epic Mickey , Guilty Party or Disney Sing It ? Would you like a chance to play some of Disney Interactive 's games early, before they're released to the general public? Would you like to help keep Disney Interactive's games bug-free and fun to play? There's a little-known way to do so, if you fit the testing parameters. Simply go to disneyplaytesting.com and fill in your information (If you're ages 3-17, your pet grown-up has to do it for you). Copyright Disney Enterprises...

Disney Interactive Media Group and game designer, master storyteller and huge Disney geek Warren Spector announced the sequel to last year's Wii game " Disney Epic Mickey ," with some changes that fans will love - or hate. The problems with the camera that plagued Epic Mickey will be a thing of the past, and Oswald will be a playable, speaking character. Traditionalists may argue that since Oswald never had a voice in his Disney shorts, he shouldn't talk now. However, the majority...

Given that " John Carter " is mostly set on the red planet, it's only appropriate that the stars who attended Wednesday night's premiere of this Andrew Stanton film ... Photo by Shelly Valladolid ... walked down the red carpet at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live . Walt Disney Pictures really went all out for "John Carter" 's LA premiere. Persuading Academy Award-winners like Helen Mirren to come for this event ... Photo by Shelly Valladolid ... not to mention crafting a giant...

Though Southern California is over 2500 miles away from the island of Hawai'I, those who dropped by the Westin Pasadena this past weekend got a sample of that Aloha spirit ... Photo by Noe Valladolid ... by attending a DVC presentation about Aulani, that soon-to-open Disney Resort & Spa which is being built along a white-sand beach in Ko Olina. Photo by Noe Valladolid Guests arriving at the Westin Pasadena were initially directed to a function room ... Photo by Noe Valladolid ... where -...

The redo of Disney California Adventure Park is really coming together nicely. As you can see from these shots that Noe took yesterday, its Pan-Pacific-Auditorium-inspired entrance is getting closer & closer to completion. Photo by Noe Valladolid How close? A quick peek over that Disney-characters-from-the-1930s construction wall reveals that they're just about to begin laying this theme park's new paving stones. Photo by Noe Valladolid Over at the Redwood Challenge Creek Trail , the...

I have good news for the fly fisherman of Southern California. Maybe you've heard about this new trend among Hollywood fashionistas . Where they're taken the rooster feathers that are traditionally used in fly tying and then turned them into a fashion accessory? I know that this may sound like a silly, frivolous story. But to the guys who frequent places like Bob Marriot's fly fishing store in Fullerton, CA., this is serious business. What with all of the tween girls who have been coming...

Though there's been no formal announcement yet, jungle drums quickly spread the news last night that Trader Sam's (i.e. the bar component of the Disneyland Hotel 's new Tangaroa Terrace complex ) was finally open for business. Photo by Shelly Valladolid Tiki fans stood in hour-long lines outside of this recently completed facility, hoping that Trader Sam's would actually deliver on the promise of that concept art which the Imagineers released earlier this year. Copyright Disney Enterprises...