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Just yesterday, Universal Orlando served up its five-millionth glass of Butterbeer. Which is quite an achievement. Given that -- prior to the June 2010 opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure -- this beverage only existed between the pages of J.K. Rowling...

In honor of Super Bowl Sunday (that annual television event that turns tens of millions of us into couch potatoes, when we wolf down handful of greasy potato chips and/or platters full of toppings-laden potato skins), I thought that - today - it might be appropriate to pay tribute to that most cinematic...

First up, Mark K. writes to ask about WDW ’s Night Kingdom / Jungle Trek project: There was considerable talk several years back about a potential 5th park opening but I have heard no mention of it recently. Did the recession and the decision to remake fantasy land doom this project? Dear Mark K. – There...

IronManFan236 sent in a question that was short & sweet: Did Marvel Studios deliberately make Howard Stark look like Walt in “ Iron Man 2 ” as a tribute / tip-of-the-hat to the Disney acquisition deal? Iron Man 2, the Movie: Copyright 2010 MVL Film Finance LLC. Iron Man, the character: TM & Copyright...

Did you hear about the play test that WDI ran at The Magic Kingdom last month? Where the Imagineers used Guests who were waiting in line for a character meet-n-greet right outside of Pooh’s Playful Spot to try out a new entertainment-based queuing system? Though the Imagineers are being pretty close...

Still working your way through the last of the Halloween candy, eh? Well, before we all totally transition away from trick-or-treating to Turkey Time, I’ll share a Halloween Horror Night-related story that you may have missed. Copyright 2009 Universal Orlando. All Rights Reserved Do you recall the theme...

Executives need reasons for success or failure. It's called survival. It's how you cover your butt. If you can provide a plausible reason for success or failure, then you've taken yourself off the firing line. I've often joked about marketing, and the people who market motion pictures. Granted, it's...

Do you recall that shindig that Walt Disney Studios held at the Kodak Theatre back in September. Where the 26 movies that the Mouse House now has in the works -- among them highly anticipated sequels like " Pirates of the Caribbean 4 ," " Toy Story 3 ," " National Treasure 3 " and " Tron 2 " -- were...

Are you confused about where animation is going these days? If so, join the club. What with the rise of performance capture, the revival of hand-drawn animation over at Disney, not to mention CG going 3D, animation students aren't sure what they should be doing these days in order to properly prepare...

By now, I'm sure that you're heard that Glen Keane is no longer the co-director of "Rapunzel." That he and Dean Wellins will be turning the reins over to Byron Howard & Nathan Greno , who were the co-director and head of story on " Bolt " respectively. To be honest, this change couldn't have come...

This is not how Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment thought this particular retail fairy tale would play out. Back in January when the Mouse announced that " Sleeping Beauty " would be the first Disney Platinum Edition title to be released on Blu-ray , executives in that division of the Walt Disney...

This may seem like kind of an odd question, but ... Have you ever been to Universal Orlando 's Halloween Horror Nights ? If so, have you ever found yourself stumbling through one of their mazes? And as some performer jumps out of a darkened corner and scares the living cr*p out of you, have you ever...

As far as Universal Studios Hollywood is considered, this was the Summer of the Simpsons. " The Simpsons Ride ," to be exact. Photo by Shelly Smith But now Autumn's on its way. Which typically means that this is the start of the slow season for Southern California's theme parks. A time when you push...

I wonder if you've ever had an experience like this: The other day, I was feeling blue. Alice had just gone home after spending almost the entire summer up here in New Hampshire. And I was missing my daughter something fierce. Which is why I decided that I'd try & cheer myself up by watching...

It's one of the main reasons that people just can't stop talking about " WALL-E ." And -- no -- I'm not talking about the opening weekend grosses for this new Andrew Stanton movie (Though -- now that we've broached this subject -- while "WALL-E" didn't earn the $70-million-plus that Mouse House officials...

"Maybe Tuesday will be my good news day ..." -- lyric from "The Man I Love" by George & Ira Gershwin Well, if you worked on the Miramax Films side of the Mouse House, Tuesday definitely was a "good news day." Disney's art house arm snagged Academy Award nominations for four of its most recent releases...

How many of you know the story of the blind men and the elephant ? I bring up this ancient Indian fable because ... Well ... I have to admit that I was highly amused by what happened last Wednesday. When the on-line animation community went completely bananas over those "Bolt" pre-release images . Copyright...