When it comes to successfully marketing your motion picture, it helps to know where your target audience actually is / will be. Which is why - when Warner Bros. wanted to get comic book fans excited about " Wonder Woman " earlier this year - it worked with over 2,000 comic retailers, bookstores, and libraries around the world to spread the word about this Patty Jenkins film. Likewise when Marvel Studios wanted to make sure that " Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 " would become a...

If you look around the Web today, you'll see that there are lots of Disney fans who are expressing sorrow at Marty Sklar's untimely passing . But I wonder how many of these folks would ever admit that they were among those who - just two weeks ago today - actually booed this Disney Legend. All because Marty - at the "Disney Pirates of the Caribbean: 50 Years of Swashbuckling Adventures in Disney Parks" panel at this year's D23 EXPO - dared to defend Imagineering's recent...

Through his various " Star Trek " productions, Gene Roddenberry shared his dream for a far more hopeful future. One where humanity eventually rose above all of its petty squabbling and began to travel to the stars. Gary Berman & Adam Malin had a dream too. An admittedly far more earth-bound one. One where they'd take your typical trip to a comic book convention (which was - and still is, in certain corners of fandom - infamous for its long lines and rough treatment of attendees...

Everyone has a bad hair day every now and then. Well, imagine what Ashley Priselac - the studio manager for Madame Tussauds Orlando - has to deal with. Especially on those mornings when she arrives at this I-Drive attraction to do her usual 6:30 a.m. walk-thru and then discovers that a good percentage of the 75 - 80 wax figures that are on display here now have disheveled 'dos. "Sometimes - just by looking at the figures during morning walk-thru - it's easy to tell that we'd had...

I know, I know. You don't have tickets for Comic-Con this year. Which means that you can't partake in all of the cool, pop cultural stuff that's going on down in San Diego right now. And that's making you blue, right? Copyright Disney Pixar. All rights reserved Well ... What if I were to tell that that's not entirely true? Copyright Disney Pixar. All rights reserved I mean, sure. If you want to do something like meet Michael Giacchino (i.e., the guy who won an Academy Award for...

What with the introduction of the Toucan Tracker wristband system back in 2014 (which can virtually hold one's place in line outside of Hall H. Which means that most Comic-Con attendees can now go back to their hotel rooms & get a good night's sleep -- more importantly, bathe - prior to seeing one of those super-popular film panels inside of this 6500-seat venue), there just isn't as much camping out in Plaza Park as there used to be. Mind you, inside the San Diego Convention Center...

Back when he was promoting "Zootopia" 's theatrical release, screenwriter Phil Johnston shared this great behind-the-scenes story about one of the more memorable / infamous moments from that 2016 Walt Disney Animation Studios production. You know the scene that I'm talking about. The one where Chief Bogo (i.e., the gruff old water buffalo character who was voiced by Idris Elba) tries to persuade office Judy Hopps (i.e., the naïve new hire voiced by "Once Upon a Time"...

For the better part of a year now, theme park fans have been closely watching as all sorts of steel has been rising up in the northwestern corner of Disneyland Park . Photo by Jim Hill Mind you, it's common knowledge that this construction was being done for Star Wars Land, which is supposed to open in Anaheim & at Disney's Hollywood Studios in the Spring of 2019. But what isn't as well known is what this 14-acre addition to those two theme parks would actually entail. Well, all that...

Two years ago, just prior to when the original "Descendants" premiered on Disney Channel, director Kenny Ortega told me he wished this musical fantasy would do extremely well in the ratings. That way, he and the cast (not to mention the creative team behind this Disney Channel Original) might then get the chance to make a sequel to this particular TV production. "The Descendants world really is a wonderful place to play in. I think - were you to ask the cast and the crew - they'd...

How do you like your Ghost Town? Virtual or extra-lively? Because - this summer -- Knott's Berry Farm actually gives you options. You can either experience a VR version of this theme park's historic Old West section (where you'll then get to battle robots in an immersive 360 shooter). Or you can explore Ghost Town Alive! where the streets of Calico are filled with dozens of performers dressed in authentic western garb. Who then - with the help of Guests who are visiting the farm for the...

Sure, for some folks, the Fourth of July is all about fireworks. But for the 75% of all Americans who own a grill or a smoker, the Fourth is our Nation's No. 1 holiday when it comes to grilling. Which is why 3 out of 4 of those folks will spend some time outside today working over a fire. But here's the thing: Though 14 million Americans can cook a steak with confidence because they actually grill something every week, the rest of us - because we use our grill or smoker so infrequently ....

There are TV programs where you can watch any one randomly-selected episode and then immediately know everything that you need to know about that particular set of characters & the world that they live in. And then there are shows like " Doctor Who ." Copyright BBC. All rights reserved I bring this up because ... This past weekend, BBC America aired " World Enough and Time ," the first part of "Doctor Who" 's Season 10 finale. And I have to admit that I kind...

The Hall of Presidents at WDW's Magic Kingdom is renown for a lot of reasons: Its earnest, respectful and almost painfully balanced look back at our nation's history. Not to mention being a technological marvel that - thanks to the magic of Audio Animatronics - manages to create the illusion that all of this country's Commander-in-Chiefs have somehow gathered together onstage at one point in time. Where they then all interact with one another with great dignity & restraint. But you...

Is the world really ready for Lauren Graham to go from being a "Gilmore Girl" to a "Gilmore Ghoul?" Well, we'll have an answer to that question later this year when "Vampirina" premieres on Disney Channel , Disney Junior and the new Disney NOW app . This new animated series (which is based on " Vampirina Ballerina ," that popular children's book series from Disney Publishing) chronicles the adventures of a young vampire girl who struggles to fit in...

So if you had wanted to see the Original Mouseketeers in person back in their heyday (1955 - 1958), what were your chances if you lived outside of Southern California? Slim & none. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved And why was that exactly? To be blunt, "The Mickey Mouse Club" didn't shoot in front of a live audience. More to the point, Cubby & Co. were just too busy rehearsing & then shooting this TV show to make all that many personal appearances when...

" Cars 3 " got off to a solid start this past weekend, racking up over $53 million in ticket sales during its first three days in domestic release. Copyright Disney Pixar. All rights reserved And given that this Brian Fee film currently has a 66% freshness rating over at Rotten Tomatoes (which is a significant step up from the 39% freshness rating that " Cars 2 " received back in 2011. More to the point, it's within spitting distance of the 74% freshness rating that the original...

In a summer that's already jammed packed with reboots (i.e., Paramount's already beached movie version of "Baywatch," Universal Pictures' rapidly unraveling "Mummy," as well as Sony's still-eagerly-anticipated "Spider-Man: Homecoming"), how can Disney XD make its "DuckTales" reboot stand out from the crowd? By staging a programming event. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Mind you, given that the Disney Channel already had...

Greetings from the Holiday Inn Fairborn. Photo by Jim Hill I'm here in Fairborn, Ohio for Dayton Disneyana . Which is this terrific weekend-long event that's hosted by the "Plane Crazy" chapter of the Disneyana Fan Club. This year's event is particularly exciting, given that Mike & Patty Peraza are here. For those of you who don't know: Mike is an award-winning designer with over 35 years of experience creating magic for the Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Television...

Some people travel halfway 'around the planet so that they can then experience the excitement of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona . If you're more of a Slow Living enthusiast (as I am), then perhaps you should amble to Brattleboro, VT . Where - over the first weekend in June - you can then join a herd of cow enthusiasts at the annual Strolling of the Heifers . Now in its 16 th year, this three-day long event typically gets underway on Friday night in June with a combination block party...

As Walt Disney World gets ready to show off its latest addition - " Pandora - The World of Avatar ," that new 12-acre "land" at Disney's Animal Kingdom (which opens to the public on May 27th) - to the world press, those close to the Mouse House also want to clear up some confusion surrounding one of this Resort's oldest attractions. And that's The Hall of Presidents . This patriot pageant (which has been entertaining visitors to the Magic Kingdom since that theme park...

It's sometimes been said that a person can't see the forest for the trees. Or the forest THROUGH the trees. But as Larry Giles - Busch Gardens' vice president of Engineering - looked out on the lush forest that still makes up much of the 383-acre site where this theme park was built back in the mid-1970s, Larry knew what he wanted to see traveling through those trees. And that was Williamsburg's very first-ever wooden roller coaster. Mind you, given that Busch Gardens Williamsburg...

According to the folks at Phrase Finder , when one is said to be " ... putting on the dog, " that then means that they are " ... dressing stylishly and flashily." Copyright King Features Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved Well, Betty Boop certainly got to put on the dog earlier this year. Thanks to those two new dresses that Zac Posen designed for this classic cartoon character. Each of which were colored " Betty Boop Red ," that bold new hue Pantone just created to...

The original version of Star Tours (which - because the initial iteration of this thrill ride opened at Disneyland Park back on January 9, 1987 - is celebrating its 30 th anniversary this year) was many things: Copyright Disney / Lucasfilm. All rights reserved A ground-breaking theme park attraction. A skillful mix of immersive storytelling & (for that time, anyway) cutting-edge technology. Such a densely-packed piece of entertainment that - no matter how many times you'd previously boarded...

This past weekend, thousands of " Cars " fans made their way to Sylvester Baxter Riverfront Park in Somerville, MA. Eager to get a peek at Pixar Animation Studios ' upcoming release as the "Road to the Races" tour made its one & only pit stop in the New England area. And it wasn't just getting the chance to have their picture taken with a life-size look-alike of Lighting McQueen that brought out the crowds to Assembly Row. People also wanted to check the two new characters...

As Eden Espinosa recalls, it was early 2015 when Disney Television Animation initially reached out. Asking this Broadway star if she'd be interested in voicing a character for a new series that the Mouse was maybe going to produce. A show that - at that time, anyway - had a deliberately vague title: "Project T." "So they sent me the audition material," this 39 year-old performer recalled during a recent phone interview. "And as I read the breakdown on the character they...