August, 2014

You'd think -- what with "Newsies" Broadway run coming to a close this past Sunday afternoon -- that the crowd outside of the Nederlander Theatre would have been a bit blue. Photo by Nancy Stadler But that wasn't really the case. The folks who were lined up along 41st Street yesterday were there for a celebration of the little show that could. Photo by Nancy Stadler Because you have to remember that "Newsies" was never ever supposed to go to Broadway. When Disney Theatrical...

With apologies to Mel Brooks , while it may be good to be the king, it's great to be the princess. Particularly if you're " Sofia the First ," Disney's little girl princess. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Take -- for example -- "Princesses to the Rescue," the episode of this acclaimed animated series which ran this past Friday on Disney Junior . Partially because this particular "Sofia the First" featured a special appearance by Disney...

Given that we're right in the middle of an early cold spell up here in New Hampshire, I'm thinking that now would be a good time to bring up how the folks who run Disney's Hollywood Studios ' aren't quite ready to "Let (It) Go" of that theme park's " Frozen Summer Fun LIVE! " Oh, sure. You've no doubt already heard about how this popular special event -- which was originally supposed to come to a close on September 1st has now been extended to September...

It's been a while since we last checked in on the domain names that The Walt Disney Company has registered. As you may recall, the Mouse will sometimes deliberately take domain names off the market because it doesn't want anyone else using them. Take -- for example -- this one from March 1st of this year ... mymagicminus.com ... which is obviously supposed to be commenting on Walt Disney World's My Disney Experience / FastPass+ / My Magic+ program . Or better yet how about this domain...

Let's cut to the chase here, folks: If there hadn't been a Robin Williams , there never would have been a Disney's " Aladdin ." Don't believe me? Then check out this excerpt from the screenplay for this animated classic that John Musker , Ron Clements , Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio turned in on July 3, 1991: Aladdin studies the lamp carefully. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved ALADDIN (CONT.) It's such a beat-up, worthless piece of junk ...? (notices...

When the news of Robin Williams' untimely passing broke on Monday, a question quickly bubbled up within the Broadway community about how to properly pay tribute to this much-beloved performer. You see, while Williams was primarily known for his work in stand-up, television and film, Robin also "trod the boards." He and Steve Martin starred in Mike Nichols' 1988 off-Broadway version of "Waiting for Godot." Williams also staged his own one-man show, "Robin Williams...

Robin Williams spent an awful lot of time working at the Mouse House. Few people today remember that Robin's first starring role -- the title character in 1980's "Popeye" -- was actually a Walt Disney Productions / Paramount Pictures co-production. Or that three of Williams' best-reviewed dramatic turns -- Adrian Cronauer in 1987's "Good Morning, Vietnam," John Keating in 1989's "Dead Poets Society" and Sean Maguire in 1997's "Good Will Hunting"...

A man goes to the doctors. "Doctor," he says "Can you help me? Life doesn't seem worth living, and I am shrouded in constant gloom." "My good man," says the doctor, taking a good look at the melancholy face before him, "There is one cure for you. You must go and see Grimaldi the clown." "Sir," replies the patient, "I am Grimaldi the clown." This is the story that immediately came to mind earlier today when I heard about Robin Williams'...

For nearly 60 years, the Muppets have been entertaining TV viewers & movie-goers. But what are Kermit & Co. actually like when the cameras are off? I recently got the opportunity to find out. Out ahead of tomorrow's release on " Muppets Most Wanted " on Blu-ray & DVD, the nice folks at Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment offered me a unique opportunity. I could pick any three Muppet characters I liked and then submit questions for them to answer. I'll be honest here...

For three weeks back in 2012, a team of photographers had their cameras trained on an Alaskan bear den. All with the hope that -- when the mother and her just-born cubs who were inside finally emerged -- that this would then make compelling footage for Disneynature 's very next documentary, " Bears ." And sure enough, when Mama Bear & her brand-new babies finally stepped out of that den, the cinematographers did get some killer shots. The only problem was that "Bears"...

Are you ready to go back to the Shack? Jason Ritter certainly is. The Emmy Award-nominated actor who voices Dipper Pines on " Gravity Falls " has been itching to go back to the Mystery Shack ever since the Season One finale of this acclaimed animated series aired a year ago this week on the Disney Channel . Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved "You gotta understand that -- growing up -- I always loved secret codes and secret messages, things that you had to decode...

Go ahead. Admit it. After hearing about all that cool stuff Comic-Con attendees got to see last week, you're now wishing that you'd gone down to San Diego. But then again, when you factor in what it would have cost to travel to Southern California (Not to mention that all 130,000 badges which were made available for this year's event sold out within 90 minutes back in March), maybe going to Comic-Con isn't really an option for you. Which is why you're probably now wishing that...