Browse By Tags

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." This oft-quoted line from Robert Burns ' 1785 poem applies to an awful lot of aspects of modern day life. But none more so than the work that's recently been done in & around WDW 's Magic Kingdom Park . Take -- for example...

When " The Wizard of Oz " held its Hollywood premiere back on August 15, 1939 at Grauman's Chinese Theater ... Copyright Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved ... MGM really went all out. They took the courtyard of this famous movie palace and transformed into a miniature...

It's one of those generally accepted beliefs about The Walt Disney Company. That the fortunes of the Mouse House are directly tied to how well the Studio's movies do at the box office. More importantly, how successfully the characters from Disney's live-action films - not to mention those...

There's a joke from " Annie Hall " that I love: Two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort. And one of them says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." And then the other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions." I bring this story up today...

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...

Given that we now live in the age of DreamWorks 3.0 , with Walt Disney Studios distributing the films that Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider will soon be producing, it’s kind of hard to remember the bad old days. When Jeffery Katzenberg was … … out to deplete Disney’s talent pool. He flattered Disney...

It was late summer 1958 and things had been going well. The mad rush to wrap the animated feature film, “ Sleeping Beauty ” was finally succeeding, and the film was well on its way to completion. Taking a break from the drawing board, I headed up to the second floor of the Animation Building...

D23 is still a few weeks out from its really-for-real birthday (Just for the record, The Walt Disney Company launched its Official Community for Disney Fans back on March 10, 2009). But given that D23 just revealed that it will be holding first anniversary parties at Disneyland and WDW’s Magic Kingdom...

Last year, after Disney Legend Harriet Burns passed away, Pam Burns-Clair decided to put together a book about her mother. Mind you, what Ms. Burns-Clair had in mind wasn't a traditional biography. But -- rather -- a gathering of memories. Which is why -- in partnership with noted Disney historian Don...

Well, it’s official. Provided – of course – that the Securities and Exchange Commission actually signs off on this merger, Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is now a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company . Marvel shareholders voted last Thursday to approve this $4.24 billion acquisition, which...

The last four months of 2009 saw plenty of upheaval on the Studio side of things at The Walt Disney Company. With many senior staffers in Marketing being let go . Not to mention Disney Channel president Rich Ross replacing Dick Cook , a 38-year Mouse House vet, as Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios...

Have you looked at the calendar lately? No, I’m not talking about how there are just seven shopping days ‘til Christmas. I mean that – as of today – we’ve just two weeks left ‘til 2010 gets underway. Well, the folks who run The Walt Disney Company are clearly already making plans for next year. Over...

If you’re a fan of The Walt Disney Company’s theatrical productions , then you should probably make a point of setting your TiVo to record Friday’s “ Live with Regis & Kelly ” (when the Las Vegas company of “ The Lion King ” will be making an appearance on that syndicated morning talk show) as well...

What with that $1.1 billion worth of construction that’s currently going on at Disney’s California Adventure (not to mention that $100+ milllion redo of the Disneyland Hotel that just got underway), the next three years are going to be a particularly tough time for the Disneyland Resort . Walt Disney...

It’s been quite a month for the Mouse, don’t you think? Inside of one single 30 day span, The Walt Disney Company has: Revealed that it would be spending $4 billion to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and its library of 5000 characters At the D23 EXPO , the Studios announced a new production label...

You'll find all sorts of tributes to the late John Hughes around the Web today. Stories where people talk about their favorite lines and/or sequences from " Sixteen Candles ," " Pretty in Pink " and " Ferris Bueller's Day Off ." But I wonder how many of these articles will bother to mention the role...

Early this morning, Martin A. Sklar ’s friends & family gathered at Disneyland . Where this Disney Legend was then honored with his very own Window on Main Street . And it was kind of appropriate that Marty spent his last official day as a Disney employee at the very place where his career with the...

Let’s say you have a big picture planned for the 2009 holiday season . One that not launches a brand-new hi-tech production arm at your studio but also renews your company’s relationship with one of Hollywood’s top hitmakers . You’d need something big to signify an event like that, right? Something of...

Wayne Allwine , the man behind the mouse, is gone. This sweet 62-year-old passed away on Monday due to complications from diabetes. Now some folks will tell you that Wayne was one of only three men to voice Mickey Mouse (with the other two being Walt himself and veteran Disney Studios sound man Jimmy...