Avast, me hearties ! Walking the plank off the television screen and into an arena near you, look for some popular Disney Junior characters to make a stop in your hometown. Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Sofia the First will be hitting the road starting this summer as Feld Entertainment announces it will stage a live production based on the top performing Disney Junior cable television programs. Feld, famous for Disney On Ice and Disney Live! extravaganzas, along with its Ringling Brothers and...

Annette Funicello , long-time Disney and Beach Party star, passed away on Monday April 8 at Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, CA, at the age of 70. She died peacefully from complications due to Multiple Sclerosis, a disease she battled for over 25 years. Beloved by television viewers in the 50s for her stint on Disney's original The Mickey Mouse Club, and by film buffs for her numerous roles in a series of popular teen-oriented movies in the 60s, Funicello became a pop culture icon. Copyright...

One really has to tip their colorful, blinking mouse ears to the Disneyland Paris Creative Entertainment team. Between those two new scenes that were just added to the Disney Dreams! nighttime spectacular and that "Glow with the Show" technology which made its international debut this past weekend, DLP is now a brightly shining star in the theme park heavens. Which -- as you may recall -- wasn't always the case. Back in April of 1992 when this $4 billion project first opened to the...

Veteran Disney film editor Norman "Stormy" Palmer passed away this past Saturday, March 23rd at his home in Northridge, California from age-related natural causes. He was 94 years old. Palmer worked at the Walt Disney Studios for 45 years, and became closely associated with the acclaimed series of " True-Life Adventure " films. Among the popular titles in that series that he edited were " The Living Desert ," " The African Lion ," " Beaver Valley ,"...

On the heels of last week's release of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" on Blu-ray , the internet has been buzzing like Marvin Acme's hand buzzer with rumors that Robert Zemeckis may be making plans to return to Toontown. To be specific, that this Academy Award-winning director is finally getting serious about shooting that often-talked-about and long-delayed "Roger Rabbit" sequel. Most of this talk about a return to Toontown can be traced back January 17th of this year when...

Stepping off the silver screen and out of the pages of comic books, look for Spider-Man , Iron Man , The Avengers and X-Men to swing into an arena in your hometown. The iconic Marvel super heroes are being tapped to star in an unprecedented new show that brings the characters to life and puts the audience right in the middle of all the spectacular action. Feld Entertainment has signed a groundbreaking agreement with Marvel Entertainment which allows the companies to produce shows featuring the super...

Back for a second season on Disney XD is " Lab Rats ," the live-action, sci-fi comedy adventure series starring actor / comedian / musician Hal Sparks as Donald Davenport, the billionaire-scientist inventor who created three bionic superhuman kids. Excited to be back for a new season, Sparks calls the part, tongue-in-cheek, "the role I was born to play." Photo by Bruce Birmelin. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved "Labs Rats" was ranked as Disney XD's...

Newtown, Connecticut, was the scene of one of the most hideous mass slaughters in American history. Driving into this quaint New England town, it is impossible to miss the sad reminders of that horror, cutout angels along the roadside and tributes of sympathy from around the world in the town hall. But through January 27, 2012, that same town hall is being treated to a gentle reminder that the world can be a better place and that, yes, it is possible to have magical days. "Small World: A Fantasia"...

Shiver me timbers! The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow has set sail at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Batten down the hatches as the eight-minute immersive experience is a must-see for swashbuckler fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise , whether it is the attraction in Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom or the four movies starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack. However parents of very young lads and lassies might want to reconsider plans to walk the...

Epic Mickey 2 the Power of Two (EM2) is out now on multiple consoles including the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii and Wii U. The game deserves special consideration for readers of JHM because it is layered with several generations worth of material from the Disney Archives, theme parks and film library. The world of Epic Mickey, or "Wasteland" is so saturated with history that it could catch trivia specialists flat-footed. Warren Spector, lifelong Disney fan and creator of the game had said...

For a few hours, Philadelphia was "the happiest place on earth" for more than 200 fans of the Walt Disney Company. It was standing room only at the Rainey Auditorium at Penn Museum in University City as Disney's official fan club D23 rolled out its Fanniversary celebration welcome mat for Disney fans in the City of Brotherly Love. Upon arriving at the museum on South Street, guests were checked in by cast members of the Disney Store in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and they were presented...

First there was Dance Star Mickey . Donny Osmond introduces Dance Star Mickey to the world back in February 2010 at the American International Toy Fair. Photo by Nancy Stadler Then came Rock Star Mickey . Gustaf Farwell plays along with Rock Star Mickey as this new interactive plaything makes his debut at the 2011 International Toy Fair. Photo by Monika Graff / UPI Now there is Master Moves Mickey , the latest version of the popular mouse that is one part original Disney plush, one part music and...

You may have already heard that -- this November -- DreamWorks Animation is releasing " Rise of the Guardians ," an action-adventure film which stars Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Jack Frost, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman. Which would be quite enough Claus for your typical entertainment company. Copyright DreamWorks Animation LLC. All rights reserved But those folks at DWA, they're really serious about getting into the Santa business. Which is why -- just last week -- DreamWorks...

Walt Disney Pictures has assembled another star-studded voice cast for its arcade-game-hopping adventure, " Wreck-It Ralph ." John C. Reilly has the title role, " 30 Rock " actor Jack McBrayer provides the voice for Fix-It Felix, Jr., while " Glee " actress Jane Lynch is cast as Sergeant Calhoun and Sarah Silverman gives voice to the character of Vanellope von Schweetz. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Other stars lending their vocal talents to...

Don't be surprised to see a green ogre, flying dragons, fighting pandas and talking penguins in the Garden State. New Jersey could soon become the home of DreamWorks Animation first theme park. The animation studio built by former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, Academy Award winning director Steven Spielberg and music mogul David Geffen has entered into an agreement with the developer behind Mall of America to construct a unique indoor theme park in North Jersey. The American Dream at Meadowlands...

The "top dog" in the Wonderful World of Disney is celebrating his 80th birthday. One of Walt Disney's classic "Fab Five" animated characters, Goofy first stumbled onto the silver screen on May 25th, 1932 in a cartoon called " Mickey's Revue ." Originally named Dippy Dawg, the droopy-eared, buck- tooth, bespectacled, hat wearing dog, Goofy has appeared in more than 100 animated flicks and dozens of television productions including the current " Mickey Mouse...

With "Marvel's The Avengers" having sold a billion dollars worth of tickets worldwide after just 19 days in theaters, the ripple effect that this Joss Whedon film is causing will be felt for years yet to come. Children will grow up dreaming of robot suits and flying aircraft carriers, some will undoubtedly be the next generation of visual effects artists, engineers and programmers. Toys, cartoons and action figures will all get a boost this summer and holiday season. Parents and kids...

Can it really be three years since Manta -- Central Florida's first-ever flying coaster -- initially came on the scene at SeaWorld Orlando? Copyright SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. All rights reserved Yep. To be exact, this Bolliger & Mabillard-designed roller coaster officially opened to the public on May 22, 2009. And ever since then, millions of thrill seekers have made special trips to this zoological theme park just so they could then experience what it was like to dive, twist and...

Japan is filled with with millions of Disney enthusiasts and they have been a buzz these past few months. Both the Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea Parks have changed the themes to their shows and parades for the seasons, some of the floats are returning favorites. The parks are exploring a unique mix of Japanese and Western-themed holidays. For example last year the park combined the Christian Easter celebration with the Asian Lunar New Year , which happened to fall on the year of the rabbit...

This Saturday, it's Lucky No. 7 for the Wynn. Seven years ago on April 28, 2005, this $2.7 billion dollar mega-resort opened at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sands Avenue. And the town has never really been the same. Copyright Wynn Resort Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved Of course, there are some old timers who still miss the Desert Inn, that hotel & casino which previously occupied this spot along the Strip. But when you consider the state-of-the-art facility Steve Wynn built in...

Visitors to the Disney websites have probably noticed that the "Games" button is listed prominently next to "Stars and Characters." No longer considered a passing trend online gaming is a billion dollar industry that has caught the eye of Disney. The company has done well targeting younger gamers and families through the Club Penguin online community but has found it a little harder to find a game that caters to the larger gaming public. Previous efforts to tie in characters and...

It's kind of funny to think that Fantasmic! opened in Disneyland on May 13, 1992, just 1 month after the April 12, 1992 grand opening of the EuroDisney Resort (as it was then called). Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Disneyland Paris has always been considered the most beautiful of the Magic Kingdoms. This theme park might also have the very best versions of Pirates , the Mansion ( Phantom Manor in Paris), Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain . Not to mention the most magical...

Most men in their late 50s start to slow down a little bit. But -- then again -- most men aren't Penn Jillette. Best known as the taller, louder half of that eccentric pair of performers (who -- now through September -- will regularly be presenting their acclaimed magic act in the appropriately named Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas ), Jillette has been a very busy guy these past few months. How so? Well, just in the past year, this 57 year-old has: starred...

There's an old saying that you don't fix what ain't broke. And in the case of "The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man," this Islands of Adventure attraction had received consistently high marks with Universal Orlando Guests since it first opened back in May of 1999. With some folks calling this ambitious 3D / simulator hybrid the best theme park ride that had ever been built. Which should have made Thierry Coup, the Vice President of Development at Universal Creative, happy. After...

Like many people, I visited Disneyland for their One More Disney Day Leap Day promotion. I wasn't going to attempt going 24 hours, or anything close to that, but I was drawn by the rare opportunity to see Disneyland at sunrise. I was expecting a special day. What I wasn't expecting was to find the ABC series Modern Family shooting an episode in the park, adding an extra kind of insanity to the day. Rico Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Eric Stonestreet and Ed O'Neil from ABC's Emmy Award...