Cars Land Topping Off Ceremony

Some photos taken from inside the construction zone.

Actor James MacArthur Dies at 72

Disney fans will remember him as Fritz in Swiss Family Robinson.

He also made Kidnapped, The Light in the Forest, and Third Man on the Mountain for Disney.

Chris Evans is Captain America: The First Avenger

Entertainment Weekly has the first official photos of Chris Evans in costume.

Looks great.

Mary Poppins to End Broadway Run? Alice in Wonderland Waiting in the Wings?

Laughingplace.com:

We have heard that Mary Poppins will close at the New Amsterdam Theater in 2011 due to continuing soft sales. Disney Theatrical Productions are currently assessing replacement shows and the division's president Tom Schumacher is keen to bring Alice in Wonderland to the stage. Tim Burton has already agreed to participate in the production. No word as of yet on composers but many of the original creative team behind the Beauty and the Beast musical have been approached. It was originally envisaged that Newsies would be destined for the Great White Way but that project no longer has momentum for a residency run.

Consider it a rumor, but Laughingplace is well connected and usually gets their information straight before running with it.

Remember when I said that Mary Poppins was a qualified success? Even I didn't realize how lousy sales had become.

How does Tom Schumacher still have a job?

UPDATE: Disney contacted Laughingplace to emphatically state that Mary Poppins will not be closing in 2011. Still, it would not surprise me if it happens sooner rather than later. But they need a project ready to use the vacant theater and they're not there yet.

What are Ron & John Working on?

Progress City, U.S.A.:

Animation gossips have claimed for a while now that directors Ron Clements and John Musker were at work preparing a new traditionally animated project to pitch. I’m started hearing rumors that are truly unexpected – that the project they’re boarding is an adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s 1987 novel Mort. The book is the fourth in Pratchett’s beloved Discworld series of comedic fantasies, and follows a young man looking for a job who gets an apprenticeship working for Death.

My first thought: Treasure Planet. Now let us never speak of it again.

The Harry Potter Effect

The Orlando Sentinel:

Traffic on Disney's buses fell 3.8 percent during the first nine months of the year. From January to September, Disney transported about 1.6 million arriving passengers at OIA to its hotels — about 64,000 fewer guests than it carried during the same period last year.

Disney's Magical Express carries fewer guests as more travelers funnel through Orlando International Airport.

They're not coming for Disney.

Al Lutz on the Washington, DC DVC Project at National Harbor

I forgot this was ever announced.

Who's Flying This Thing?

Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald confirms the Star Tours 2 rumors in his new post for the Disney Parks Blog.

I'm genuinely excited for the new Star Tours.

First Song From Daft Punk's Tron: Legacy Score Debuts With Footage From the Film

Today Walt Disney Pictures released a video for "Derezzed," a song from Daft Punk's original score for Tron: Legacy.

Walt Disney Studios has a quality line-up this holiday season. They're obviously excited about what they have in Tron and advanced word has been promising.

Tangled, however, has not been tracking as promisingly as they hoped. I'm probably one of the few commentators who think changing the name from Rapunzel was a good move. Disney Animation doesn't have the same cultural cache it had in the 90's and the films just aren't event moviegoing anymore.

We'll see in a few weeks what happens, and I don't think it'll be a disaster, but The Princess and the Frog-type numbers seem reasonable.

VP of Global Communications at Disney Studios Exits, Moves Back to Parks & Resorts

Deadline.com:

John J. Nicoletti is exiting as VP of Global Communications for The Walt Disney Studios and returning to flack for the Walt Disney Parks And Resorts. He'll be replaced by Paul Roeder, a Walt Disney Studios publicist and disciple of chief Disney PR woman Zenia Mucha.

An insider tells Deadline that Nicoletti was out of his league at the Studios. He seems like a genuinely nice person, but was never a good fit for the job.

ABC Gives Two New Series Full Season Pick-Up, Orders More Scripts For Two More Series

Deadline.com:

ABC today became the latest broadcast network to make its full-season pickups, handing out back-nine orders to freshman comedy Better With You and drama No Ordinary Family. Additionally, the network has picked up 5 additional episodes from freshman cop drama Detroit 1-8-7 and 4 from veteran family drama Brothers & Sisters.

ABC has had a weak Fall, with No Ordinary Family the only new series showing any kind of promise. But their midseason entries look just as weak, so ABC had to order something.

Barron's: Apple Could Bid For Disney

Market Watch:

Barron's on Saturday said it's possible that Apple could make a bid to buyout Disney after CEO Steve Jobs becomes the legendary entertainment firm's largest shareholder.

Complete lunacy.

Design & History of the Disneyland Hotel 1955-1965

Designing Disney with a detailed look at the first ten years of the Disneyland Hotel.