Greeting from the 2015 Licensing Expo, which is being held
at the Mandalay Bay
Convention Center in Las
Vegas.

Photo by Jim Hill

I have to admit that I enjoy covering the Licensing Expo.
Mostly becomes it allows bloggers & entertainment writers like myself to
get a peek over the horizon. Scope out some of the major motion pictures &
TV shows that today's vertically integrated entertainment conglomerates
(Remember when these companies used to be called movie studios?) will be
sending our way over the next two years or so.

Photo by Jim Hill

Take — for example — all of "The Secret Life of
Pets" banners that greeted Expo attendees as they made their way to the
show floor today. I actually got to see some footage from this new Illumination
Entertainment production (which will hit theaters on July 8, 2016) the last time I was in Vegas. Which
was for CinemaCon back in April. And the five or so minutes of film that I viewed
suggested that "The Secret Life of Pets" will be a really funny
animated feature.

Photo by Jim Hill

Mind you, Universal Pictures wanted to make sure that Expo
attendees remembered that there was another Illumination Entertainment production
coming-to-a-theater-near-them before "The Secret Life of Pets" (And
that's "Minions," the "Despicable Me" prequel. Which
premieres at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival next week but
won't be screened stateside 'til July 10th of this year). Which is why they had
three minions who were made entirely out of LEGOS loitering out in the lobby.

Photo by Jim Hill

And Warner Bros. — because they wanted "Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice" to start trending on Twitter today — brought
the Batmobile to Las Vegas.

Photo by Jim Hill

Not to mention full-sized macquettes of Batman, Superman and
Wonder Woman. Just so conventioneers could then see what these DC superheroes
would actually look like in this eagerly anticipated, March 25, 2016 release.

Photo by Jim Hill

That's the thing that can sometimes be a wee bit frustrating
about the Licensing Expo. It's all about delayed gratification. You'll come
around a corner and see this 100 foot-long ad for "The Peanuts Movie"
and think "Hey, that looks great. I want to see that Blue Sky Studios production
right now." It's only then that you notice the fine print and realize that
"The Peanuts Movie" doesn't actually open in theaters 'til November
6th of this year.

Photo by Jim Hill

And fan of Blue Sky's "Ice Age" film franchise are in for an even
longer wait. Given that the latest installment in that top grossing series
doesn't arrive in theaters 'til July
15, 2016.

Photo by Jim Hill

Of course, if you're one of those people who needs immediate
gratification when it comes to your entertainment, there was stuff like that to
be found at this year's Licensing Expo. Take — for example — how the WWE
booth was actually shaped like a wrestling ring. Which — I'm guessing — meant
that if the executives of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. didn't like
the offer that you were making, they were then allowed to toss you out over the
top rope, Royal Rumble-style.

Photo by Jim Hill

I also have to admit that — as a longtime Star Trek fan —
it was cool to see the enormous Starship Enterprise that hung in place over the
CBS booth. Not to mention getting a glimpse of the official Star Trek 50th
Anniversary logo.

Photo by Jim Hill

I was also pleased to see lots of activity in The Jim Henson
Company booth. Which suggests that JHC has actually finally carved out a
post-Muppets identity for itself.

Photo by Jim Hill

Likewise for all of us who were getting a little concerned
about DreamWorks Animation (what with all the layoffs & write-downs &
projects that were put into turnaround or outright cancelled last year), it was
nice to see that booth bustling.

Photo by Jim Hill

Every so often, you'd come across some people who were
promoting a movie that you weren't entirely sure that you actually wanted to
see (EX: "Angry Birds," which Sony Pictures Entertainment / Columbia
Pictures will be releasing to theaters on May 20, 2016). But then you remembered that Clay Kaytis —
who's this hugely talented former Walt Disney Animation Studios animator — is
riding herd on "Angry Birds" with Fergal Reilly. And you'd think
"Well, if Clay's working on 'Angry Birds,' I'm sure this animated feature
will turn out fine."

Photo by Jim Hill

Mind you, there were reminders at this year's Licensing Expo
of great animated features that we're never going to get to see now. I still
can't believe — especially after that brilliant proof-of-concept footage
popped up online last year — that Sony execs decided not to go forward
with  production of Genndy Tartakovsky's
"Popeye" movie.  But that's the
cruel thing about the entertainment business, folks. It will sometime break
your heart.

Photo by Jim Hill

And make no mistake about this. The Licensing Expo is all
about business. That point was clearly driven home at this year's show when —
as you walked through the doors of the Mandalay
Bay Convention Center
— the first thing that you saw was the Hasbros Booth. Which was this gleaming,
sleek two story-tall affair full of people who were negotiating deals &
signing contracts for all of the would-be summer blockbusters that have already
announced release dates for 2019 & beyond.

Photo by Jim Hill

"But what about The Walt Disney Company?," you
ask. "Weren't they represented on the show floor at this year's Licensing
Expo?" Not really, not. I mean, sure. There were a few companies there hyping
Disney-related products. Take — for example — the Disney Wikkeez people.

Photo by Jim Hill

I'm assuming that some Disney Consumer Products exec is
hoping that Wikkeez will eventually become the new Tsum Tsum. But to be blunt,
these little hard plastic figures don't seem to have the same huggable charm
that those stackable plush do. But I've been wrong before. So let's see what
happens with Disney Wikkeez once they start showing up on the shelves of the
Company's North American retail partners.

Photo by Jim Hill

And speaking of Disney's retail partners … They were
meeting with Mouse House executives behind closed doors one floor down from the
official show floor for this year's Licensing Expo.

Photo by Jim Hill

And the theme for this year's invitation-only Disney shindig? "Timeless
Stories" involving the Disney, Pixar, Marvel & Lucasfilm brands that
would then appeal to "tomorrow's consumer."

Photo by Jim Hill

And just to sort of hammer home the idea that Disney is no
longer the Company which cornered the market when it comes to little girls
(i.e., its Disney Princess and Disney Fairies franchises), check out this
wall-sized Star Wars-related image that DCP put up just outside of one of its
many private meeting rooms. "See?," this carefully crafted photo
screams. "It isn't just little boys who want to wield the Force. Little
girls also want to grow up and be Lords of the Sith."

Photo by Jim Hill

One final, kind-of-ironic note: According to this banner,
Paramount Pictures will be releasing a movie called "Amusement Park"
to theaters sometime in 2017.  

Photo by Jim Hill

Well, given all the "Blackfish" -related issues
that have been dogged SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment over the past two years, I'm
just hoping that they'll still be in the amusement park business come 2017.

Your thoughts?

You know what Mickey Mouse looks like, right? Little guy,
big ears?

Truth be told, Disney's corporate symbol has a lot of
different looks. If Mickey's interacting with Guests at Disneyland
Park (especially this summer, when
the Happiest Place on Earth
is celebrating its 60th anniversary), he looks & dresses like this.

Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc.
All rights reserved

Or when he's appearing in one of those Emmy Award-winning shorts that Disney
Television Animation has produced (EX: "Bronco Busted," which debuts
on the Disney Channel tonight at 8 p.m. ET / PT), Mickey is drawn in a such a
way that he looks hip, cool, edgy & retro all at the same time.

Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights
reserved

Looking ahead to 2017 now, when Disney Junior rolls out "Mickey and the
Roadster Racers," this brand-new animated series will feature a sportier version
of Disney's corporate symbol. One that Mouse House managers hope will persuade
preschool boys to more fully embrace this now 86 year-old character.

Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

That's what most people don't realize about the Mouse. The
Walt Disney Company deliberately tailors Mickey's look, even his style of
movement, depending on what sort of project / production he's appearing in.

Take — for example — Disney
California Adventure
Park's "World of Color:
Celebrate!" Because Disney's main mouse would be co-hosting this new
nighttime lagoon show with ace emcee Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Goldberg really had
to step up Mickey's game. Which is why this master Disney animator created
several minutes of all-new Mouse animation which then showed that Mickey was
just as skilled a showman as Neil was.

Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc.
All rights reserved

Better yet, let's take a look at what the folks at Avalanche Studios just went
through as they attempted to create a Classic version of Mickey & Minnie.
One that would then allow this popular pair to become part of Disney Infinity
3.0.

"I won't lie to you. We were under a lot of pressure to
get the look of this particular version of Mickey — he's called Red Pants
Mickey around here — just right," said Jeff Bunker, the VP of Art
Development at Avalanche Studios, during a recent phone interview. "When
we brought Sorcerer Mickey into Disney Infinity 1.0 back in January of 2014,
that one was relatively easy because … Well, everyone knows what Mickey Mouse
looked like when he appeared in 'Fantasia.' "

Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

"But this time around, we were being asked to design
THE Mickey & Minnie," Bunker continued. "And given that these Classic
Disney characters have been around in various different forms for the better
part of the last century … Well, which look was the right look?"

Which is why Jeff and his team at Avalanche Studios began watching hours &
hours of Mickey Mouse shorts. As they tried to get a handle on which look would
work best for these characters in Disney Infinity 3.0.

Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

"And we went all the way back to the very start of Mickey's career. We began
with 'Steamboat Willie' and then watched all of those black & white Mickey shorts
that Walt made back in the late 1920s & early 1930s. From there, we
transitioned to his Technicolor shorts. Which is when Mickey went from being
this pie-eyed, really feisty character to more of a well-behaved leading
man," Bunker recalled. "We then finished out our Mouse marathon by
watching all of those new Mickey shorts that Paul Rudish & his team have
been creating for Disney Television Animation. Those cartoons really recapture
a lot of the spirit and wild slapstick fun that Mickey's early, black &
white shorts had."

But given that the specific assignment that Avalanche Studios had been handed
was to create the most appealing looking, likeable version of Mickey Mouse
possible … In the end, Jeff and his team wound up borrowing bits & pieces
from a lot of different versions of the world's most famous mouse. So that
Classic Mickey would then look & move in a way that best fit the sort of
gameplay which people would soon be able to experience with Disney Infinity
3.0.

Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

"That — in a lot of ways — was actually the toughest
part of the Classic Mickey design project. You have to remember that one of the
key creative conceits of  Disney Infinity
is that all the characters which appear in this game are toys," Bunker
stated. "Okay. So they're beautifully detailed, highly stylized toy
versions of beloved Disney, Pixar, Marvel & Lucasfilm characters. But
they're still supposed to be toys. So our Classic versions of Mickey &
Minnie have the same sort of thickness & sturdiness to them that toys have.
So that they'll then be able to fit right in with all of the rest of the
characters that Avalanche Studios had previously designed for Disney Infinity."

And then there was the matter of coming up with just the
right pose for Classic Mickey & Minnie. Which — to hear Jeff tell the
story — involved input from a lot of Disney upper management.

Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

"Everyone within the Company seemed to have an opinion
about how Mickey & Minnie should be posed. More to the point, if you Google
Mickey, you then discover that there are literally thousands of poses out there
for these two. Though — truth be told — a lot of those kind of play off the
way Mickey poses when he's being Disney's corporate symbol," Bunker said.
"But what I was most concerned about was that Mickey's pose had to work
with Minnie's pose. Because we were bringing the Classic versions of these
characters up into Disney Infinity 3.0 at the exact same time. And we wanted to
make sure — especially for those fans who like to put their Disney Infinity
figures on display — that Mickey's pose would then complement Minnie.

Which is why Jeff & the crew at Avalanche Studios
decided — when it came to Classic Mickey & Minnie's pose — that they
should go all the way back to the beginning. Which is why these two Disney icons
are sculpted in such a way that it almost seems as though you're witnessing the
very first time Mickey set eyes on Minnie.

Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

"And what was really great about that was — as soon as
we began showing people within the Company this pose — everyone at Disney
quickly got on board with the idea. I mean, the Classic Mickey that we sculpted
for Disney Infinity 3.0 is clearly a very playful, spunky character. But at the
same time, he's obviously got eyes for Minnie," Bunker concluded. "So
in the end, we were able to come up with Classic versions of these characters
that will work well within the creative confines of Disney Infinity 3.0 but at
the same time please those Disney fans who just collect these figures because
they like the way the Disney Infinity characters look."

So now that this particular design project is over, does
Jeff regret that Mouse House upper management was so hands-on when it came to
making sure that the Classic versions of Mickey & Minnie were specifically
tailored to fit the look & style of gameplay found in Disney Infinity 3.0?

Copyright Lucasfilm / Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

"To be blunt, we go through this every time we add a new character to the
game. The folks at Lucasfilm were just as hands-on when we were designing the
versions of Darth Vader and Yoda that will also soon be appearing in Disney
Infinity 3.0," Bunker laughed. "So in the end, if the character's
creators AND the fans are happy, then I'm happy."

This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Tuesday, June 9, 2015

When it comes to the world of film, how exactly does one
define a classic?

Turner Classic Movies. All rights reserved

"For some, it's that movie they grew up which they now
want to share with their kids. For others, it's films that were made under the
studio system back during the Golden Age of Hollywood," said Genevieve
McGillicuddy — the managing director of the Turner Classic Film Festival —
during a recent phone interview. "Here at TCM, our thinking is that there
is no right answer to this question. There is no exact definition of what a
cinematic classic is. Which is why — when we're putting together the
programming for TCM's annual festival — we really strive to represent all
aspects of film history."

So sure. The sixth annual Turner Classic Film Festival got off
to a suitably grand start last night with Julie Andrews & Christopher
Plummer strolling down the red carpet at the TCL Chinese Theatre before they
then attend a screening of "The Sound of Music" (which is celebrating
the 50th anniversary of its world premiere this month). But if you'll look over
the rest of the schedule for this 4 day-long event, you'll see that there's
more to TCFF than just celebrating Hollywood musicals of
the 1960s.

Take — for instance — Tonight's screening of 1995's
"Apollo 13," which will feature quizmaster Alex Trebek chatting with
the real Captain James Lovell (i.e., the role that Tom Hanks played in this Ron
Howard film). Or better yet, this afternoon's presentation of 1981's
"Raiders of the Lost Ark," during which veteran stuntman Terry
Leonard will explain how many of the now-legendary action sequences in this
Steven Spielberg movie were staged.

Terry Leonard stands in for Harrison Ford during the filming of "Raiders of
the Lost Ark" 's truck chase sequence. Copyright 1981 Lucasfilm Ltd /
Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved 

"That's the key difference between the Turner Classic
Film Festival and other film festivals. Given how passionate TCM fans are about
cinema, we always want to give them the opportunity to look at something they
already love in a whole new way. Which is why — whenever possible — we bring
in special guests who actually worked on or starred in productions that we
feature at the festival. Or better yet, someone like James Lovell, who can then
give their take on how true-to-life a particular motion picture eventually
turned out to be," McGillicuddy continued.

That idea will really get explored this afternoon over at
Club TCM (which is headquartered at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel) during the
"A Surreal Existence: My Life as Portrayed in Film" panel discussion.
Which is when Tony Mendez (i.e. the CIA agent that Ben Affleck portrayed in
that 2012 Academy Award-winner, "Argo"), Aron Ralston (i.e., the
hapless canyoneer that James Franco played in 2010's "127 Hours") and
Mark Schultz (i.e., that Olympic wrestler which Channing Tatum portrayed in
2014's "Foxcatcher") will reveal what's fact and what's fiction in
these films. More importantly, how their lives have been impacted by these
onscreen portrayals.

Mind you, if you're honestly not a fan of modern cinema,
TCFF has something for you as well. You can see experience what going to the
movies was like a hundred years ago by attending Saturday's "Return of the
Dream Machine" presentation. Which is when Joe Rinaudo will operate his
1909 hand-crank powered Model 6 cameragraph motion picture machine. And
festival attendees can then experience George Melies' "A Trip to the
Moon" or the Edison Company's "The Great Train Robbery" just as
the first members of the movie-going public did.

"That's another key component of the Turner Classic
Film Festival. We like to present movies in the way that they were meant to be
seen. Which is why — in addition to screening things digitally or in 35 or
70MM — we've shown movies from the 1950s in Cinemascope. We've even been down
to the Cinerama Dome to show films in Cinerama as well," Genevieve stated.

So what's McGillicuddy's favorite offering at this year's
festival? Genevieve honestly found it hard to choose between two screen legends
who'd agreed to make special appearances at TCFF 2015.

"At 10 a.m.
at the Montalbán Theatre on the 28th, we've got TCM host Ben Mankiewicz talking
with Norman Lloyd. Now Mr. Lloyd is a 100 years-young. And he is probably the
last person in Hollywood today who can talk about what it was like to work with
Chaplin, Hitchcock, Jean Renoir & Orson Welles,"  McGillicuddy enthused. "But then in the
same theatre on Saturday afternoon, we've got Edoardo Ponti interviewing his
mother, Academy Award-winning actress Sophia Loren. She's someone that we've
been wanting to host either on the channel or at the festival for years now. And
the fact that Ms. Loren has agreed to take part in a live taping of an
extensive conversation as well as be present at a screening of 'Marriage Italian Style,' that's absolutely thrilling."

And Edoardo Ponti won't be the only child-of-a-famous-actor-or-actress
who'll be taking part in this year's event. Peter Fonda will be in Chinese
Multiplex House 4 this afternoon to introduce a screening of 1939's "Young
Mr. Lincoln" (which is one of  the
seven films that Henry Fonda made with screen legend John Ford). And W.C.
Fields' grandsons Allen & Ron will be in Chinese Multiplex House 6 tonight to
offer up their insights on one of W.C.'s best screen comedies, 1940's "The
Bank Dick."

All this — plus Alec Baldwin interviewing Dustin Hoffman
out ahead of a presentation of Bob Fosse's Academy Award-nominated bio pic,
1974's "Lenny." Or better yet, Shirley MacLaine showing up at the TCL
Chinese Theatre IMAX on Saturday night to reflect on what it was like to work
with Billy Wilder & Jack Lemmon on 1960's "The Apartment."

"And the best part of staging this event at theaters
like the Egyptian & the El Capitan & the Chinese
is that a lot of the films that we show at the Festival actually premiered at
these theaters. Which gives this event a layer of history that you might not
get by staging this event elsewhere," Genevieve stated. "Of course,
the real home of classic Hollywood
is Hollywood itself. Which is why
we're so thrilled to be in the venues that we have. Theatres like the Chinese
which are still first run houses and a vibrant part of what Hollywood
is today."

And even as TCFF 2015 is getting underway, McGillicuddy and
her team are already knocking around ideas for the 2016 edition of this film
festival.

"There's an on-going conversation that goes on
throughout the year. Our head programmer Charles Tabesh is always looking for
fun new ideas to build panels & presentations around. And he's great about
listening to TCM staffers who will then champion a particular film or performer
for inclusion at the next Turner Classic Festival," Genevieve said.

So if you've ever dreamed of hearing William Friedkin
explain how he shot that amazing car/subway chase in 1971's "The French
Connection" or ever wanted to hear William Daniels & Ken Howard talk
about what it was like to portray singing-and-dancing future presidents in
1972's "1776," now would be a very good time to travel to Tinsel Town
and then try to score some tickets to the screenings & panels that are
being presented at this year's Turner Classic Film Festival.

This article originally appeared on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Friday, March 27, 2014