ABC Reaches $200 Million, One-Year Agreement With Netflix

The Los Angeles Times' Company Town blog:

The Disney licensing arrangement would significantly broaden the entertainment options available to Netflix subscribers, allowing them for the first time to watch previous seasons of a number of ABC shows including "Grey's Anatomy," "Brothers & Sisters," and "Ugly Betty." In addition, Netflix will add the final season of "Lost," for which it previously streamed the first six seasons.

The video service will also have shows from the ABC Family and Disney Channel networks, including some shows that initially aired as recently as 15 days prior.

Cable and satellite companies must be clutching their hearts.

Jon Favreau Talks Magic Kingdom

I don’t think it’s going to be mixing all the other movies. I think it’s going to be its own thing; I don’t think it will be like Night at the Museum. I want to make it a little bit spookier like the old Disney movies were and try to really capture that tone...

Both this and Iron Man 3 are scheduled for 2013. Favreau isn't under contract for a third Iron Man film and, obviously, he can't do both.

Disneyland Paris in the Snow

Beautiful photos of Disneyland Paris covered in snow, plus some construction and news updates if you can read French.

The Original Disneyland Carousel of Progress Ending

From the video description:

The original ending to the Carousel of Progress as it was at Disneyland from 1967-1973. It was nearly identical to the 1964-1965 World's Fair ending.

Disney Moves New Muppet Film From Christmas to Thanksgiving

Press release via Deadline.com:

BURBANK, Calif. – December 8, 2010 – The Walt Disney Studios announced today that it has moved the release date for its upcoming The Muppets Movie to November 23, 2011. Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie the Bear, Gonzo, Animal and the rest of the gang will reunite in theaters just in time for the 2011 Thanksgiving holiday weekend. "Disney has had incredible success opening films over the Thanksgiving weekend, and thanks to Tangled, we have the top three Thanksgiving openers of all time,” said Chuck Viane, president of global distribution for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. “I have spoken with The Muppets, and we all agreed this comedy is a great fit for the holiday 2011 time frame.”

Pre-Visualization Work for Rapunzel Unbraided

A pre-visualization reel from 2005 from what was then called Rapunzel Unbraided. Work by Tony Hudson under the direction of Glen Keane.

You can see that the original version of the film shared a lot in common with Enchanted, released by Disney in 2007.

Earlier in 2007, Keane's film was scrapped and the film we now know as Tangled began to take shape.

AVClub: ABC News Names New President, The Guy Who Wrote Charlie St. Cloud

Ben Sherwood, former producer of Good Morning America, author of Charlie St. Cloud and total douche bag.

AV Club:

For those unfamiliar with Sherwood, over the summer The Awl had a comprehensive overview of all the reasons that people hate him, following the “child of privilege deeply disliked by his classmates” who earned the enmity of his entire Harvard class for his relentless résumé-building and “cynical social-climbing,” then moved on to exploiting his family connections to land jobs at the Los Angeles Times and CBS (“where he added Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather to his résumé as references”), and finally ended up writing novels about how life is just a game of catch with your dead ghost bro that became Zac Efron movies.

Disneyland Paris' First Christmas

Video from the official Disneyland Paris YouTube channel highlighting the Park's first Christmas in 1992.

Little Box of Treasures

Imagineering Disney:

Humor me as I share what might look like a pile of garbage. For me, this garbage represents a whole lot of theme park ingenuity and memories of getting my hands dirty early, early in the morning...

Tangled Drops 56%, Still Manages #1 For The Weekend

Decent, but not great.

$200 million is out of the question, but $150 is doable.

What is Oriental Land Company's Role in Shanghai Disneyland?

It was rumored a while back, but Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun is confirming that Oriental Land Company will "help manage" Shanghai Disneyland. Does this mean they will be acting as a management company, in charge of the day-to-day operations?

Neither OLC nor Disney have commented on the story. If true, this would be OLC's first project outside of Japan.

This is good news for the guest experience at the new Park, but given the strained and sometimes hostile relationship between the Chinese and Japanese I wonder how this will be perceived in Shanghai and Beijing.

Frankly, I'm skeptical the Chinese government will allow such a deal. Hopefully we will get official comment soon.

Miramax Sale Closes

Deadline.com:

All in all, $660 million is a very good price for Disney because film library values have taken a hit as DVD/video has flattened. True, Disney once placed a sky-high $1.2 billion pricetag on the Miramax library. Then the company hoped to get around $800 million, then $700 million, for Miramax, and this number comes awfully close to that.

The Miramax chapter was an interesting one for the Walt Disney Studios, but it was never a very good fit for the company.

HitFix: Disney Planning to Film Pirates 5 & 6 Back to Back

Drew McWeeny:

Because HitFix can now exclusively report that Disney has begun quietly telling cast and crew to set aside a major block of time in the very near future so they can shoot "Pirates 5" and "Pirates 6." And, yes, once again, they will be shooting them back-to-back as one giant film, and then they'll release them as two films.

They must be incredibly happy with how the new one is shaping up. I wonder if Rob Marshall will direct.

I hated At World's End. Hopefully if these go into production they will do so with a clearer vision than 2 and 3 did.

Screamscape: Disney Ready to Buy Out Universal's Marvel Option?

Screamscape:

It’s just a rumor at this point, but more than one industry source has mentioned to me that Disney’s board may have been kicking around some options to quietly “buy out Universal” to get the theme park rights to the Marvel characters back and completely under Disney’s control, allowing them to get the most out of their new purchase...

That would be something, but why spend the money now unless they have a Marvel project that is ready to go?

UPDATE: There are rumors that Shanghai Disneyland might incorporate Marvel characters, perhaps even a Marvel-themed land. Maybe, but Disney already controls those rights.

The Los Angeles Times reported back when Disney's acquisition of Marvel was announced:

Universal’s intellectual property rights are limited geographically to the use of the Marvel brand in Orlando and the Spider-Man brand in Japan.

So, again, why would Disney pony up for the exclusive rights now?

Tangled Shines Lights on Disney Animation Rivalry

Hollywood Reporter (via ABCNews):

For though undeniably strong, the $68.7 million rung up by the Disney-branded movie during its first five days also serves to underscore some internecine rivalry among the studio's movie animators. And unless "Tangled" continues to outpace expectations during the length of its theatrical run, its Burbank animators will continue to struggle with the knotty problem of competing with their corporate kin at Pixar.

What differentiates a Pixar film from a Disney film? I'm not sure that anyone knows.

Disney Animation is in the midst of an identity crisis. Where does it fit in anymore?

Santa Paws at Walt Disney World

If I have one weakness, it's PUPPIES!

Disney and More: The Disneyland Paris Frontierland Stunt Show That Never Was

A former Imagineer chimes in:

As to the stunt show, this was developed under the Entertainment department on their own rather than Imagineering which was probably why it was not well known. An outside consultant was brought in and I seem to remember a model might also have been done. It was essentially a comic gun fight with exploding buildings and such but, as Jeff said, it was cancelled because of the clash with the Buffalo Bill show.

I always like reading about theme park attractions that never were.

Disney Announces Stock Dividend of $0.40 Per Share, Annual Shareholder Meeting to be Held in Salt Lake City

That's $0.05 more per share than last year.

The annual shareholders' meeting will be held Wednesday, 23 March 2011 in Salt Lake City, UT.

Anyone planning on attending?

Hollywood Reporter: Tron: Legacy Tracking Weak?

The 3D sci-fi film has been marketed heavily for months en route to its Dec. 17 bow, and many have been suggesting a big opening and leggy theatrical run based on built-in interest from the cult base of its 1982 predecessor. But at this point, tracking suggests Tron: Legacy with as little as $35 million.

More than two weeks out, tracking is near meaningless.

DCA Closes at 8 PM Tomorrow 01 Dec, But Guests Can Experience ElecTRONica Until 10 PM

Confirmed in the comments:

The full ElecTRONica experience will be available until 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 1. The rest of the park will close at 8 p.m., but anyone already in the Park for ElecTRONica can enjoy the party until 10 p.m. 

ElecTRONica =  so much $$$

MousePlanet: No "2Fer" Deal for Disneyland Resort in 2011

Team Disney Anaheim is very worried about what might happen if crowds continue to descend on Disney California Adventure next year when the entire front portion of the Park is torn up and under construction.

They are, however, aware that they need to offer some incentive for guests to visit in early 2011 before The Little Mermaid attraction opens. It sounds like ElecTRONica has been extended through Spring 2011.

Tangled Is Disney's Biggest Animated Opening Ever

I'm happy to eat crow.

Cartoon Brew:

Disney’s Tangled bulldozed its way past analysts’ expectations earning an estimated $49.1 million over the weekend, and boosting its five-day Thanksgiving holiday total to a towering $69 million. Disney’s first CG princess cartoon was one million dollars shy of Harry Potter’s first place box office finish, however, its three-day total still ranks as the biggest opening ever for a feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation.

Even the studio was only expecting ~$35 million for the five-day weekend. But when Wednesday's figures started rolling in, they were way above early estimates. The numbers kept building through the weekend.

No doubt Tangled benefitted from Warner Brothers abandoning plans to release Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One in 3D, allowing theaters to devote more 3D screens to the Disney release.
But credit has to go to Disney marketing chief MT Carney. While I wasn't impressed by the film's marketing, there's no question that it connected. And the controversial decision to rename the film Tangled now looks like genius.

Can the film keep up the momentum? Audiences gave the film an "A+" CinemaScore which bodes well for word of mouth. $200 million is not out of the question. We'll know more next weekend.

With Tron: Legacy tracking strong, it looks like a good holiday for the Walt Disney Studios.

Australia Coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom?

The Disney Blog is running a rumor that Walt Disney World is getting ready to move ahead with a land based on the Australian continent for Disney's Animal Kingdom.

There are a number of projects in various stages of development for Walt Disney World vying for go-ahead funding, but the truth is that nothing major is moving forward until after the new Fantasyland opens in 2012.

Years away, it's too early to say what will ultimately go forward. In my estimation, Disney Hollywood Studios has Star Tours 2 on tap for 2011, leaving either Epcot and Animal Kingdom in contention for the next big addition.

My guess is that TDO doesn't have the stomach, or the budget, for another massive capital outlay so soon after reworking Fantasyland. Perhaps something more modest like a new Imagination pavilion at Epcot.

At this point we're pushing 2015, which may be just about the right time for another spending spree...

Happy Thanksgiving

The Archimedes Report is taking a brief respite and will return Monday.

LATimes: Disney Animation is Closing the Book on Fairy Tales

This article published in the Los Angeles Times has the Disney fan community buzzing, with an appreciable number rending their clothing in anguish.

Ed Catmull took to Facebook in response:

A headline in today’s LA Times erroneously reported that the Disney fairy tale is a thing of the past, but I feel it is important to set the record straight that they are alive and well at Disney and continue this week with Tangled, a contemporary retelling of a much loved story. We have a number of projects in development with new twists that audiences will be able to enjoy for many years to come.

It is true that none of the projects currently in the works at Feature Animation are fairy tales.

But this is really not the story Disney wants to be making news the week Tangled opens.

Chinese Theme Park Operators Hope Shanghai Disneyland Means Boom Times

China Daily:

Disney has been fortunate in not only capturing the hearts of many young Chinese Mickey Mouse fans but also being surprisingly welcomed by its Chinese competitors.

In the eyes of Liu Pingchun, chief executive officer of China's top theme park developer, Shenzhen OCT Holding Company, the cartoon mouse may help Chinese theme park operators to cultivate a much bigger market.

A few years ago, Liu visited 12 theme parks in Japan within nine days to make a survey of the influence that Tokyo Disneyland had on the local industry. He found the Disney resort promoted the development of other local parks.

"In the theme park field, the market is always created by park builders," Liu told China Daily.

Will the rising tide lift all boats?

At present, China has around 2,500 theme parks with a total investment of 300 billion yuan, but only a quarter make a profit, according to Chinese media reports.

Wow. I wonder what they're counting as "theme parks," though.

Beijing Review: Mickey Finds a New Home

Beijing Review, China's English weekly news magazine, has details on the planned infrastructure for Shanghai Disneyland:

The whole project, which is to cover 1.16 square km, will be the largest Disneyland in the world, said He Jianmin, Director of the Tourism Department of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, which participated in the appraisal of the project.

The construction will be divided into three phases. The first phase, including a nearly 1-square-km theme park area, is to involve an investment about 25 billion yuan ($3.68 billion) and is planned for completion around 2014. After it opens, the number of tourists is expected to add up to 10 million every year, while the total tourists visiting the whole park will be 30 million annually, He said.

Water will be one of the main features of the first phase of the Shanghai Disneyland. A 0.39-square-km lake will be built in the first phase, which will take up a sizeable proportion of the entire park. It will be used as a base for water recreation activities and transportation.

In the northeast of the lake, a 7,000-square-meter artificial island will be built. On the north side of the lake are spaces for the construction of a public transportation hub, entertainment facilities and hotels. A river which will surround the park has been under construction since October. As a whole, the park will present to tourists an impression of a water world.

The section to be built in the first phase will focus on the theme of a magic kingdom. It will include five different theme areas.

A 20-square-km Shanghai International Tourism Resort will be built to surround the theme park. A joint venture set up in August by Disney and the SSG will be in charge of operating the Shanghai theme park.

A special Disneyland subway line is to be built to link the fun park with the urban area of Shanghai.

So far, Disney has been very mum on their plans but that hasn't stopped details from leaking.

New Queue Open at Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

What a drastic improvement over what was there before.

The "interactive" elements haven't been activated yet, but are supposed to being rolling sometime this week.

UPDATE: Here's a more complete look at the changes, including the interactive elements in operation.

50 Disney Spoilers in 3 Minutes

The Fine Brothers spoil all 50 Disney animated films in 3 minutes.

Limited Posting

I am traveling out of the country and currently with limited internet connectivity.

Regular posting will resume Monday. Thanks for your patience.

Disney Teams Up With Gowalla

Does anyone use Gowalla? Is this enough to get you involved?

Mashable:

Disney has decided to partner with location service Gowalla — rather than Facebook or Foursquare — for an immersive location-based campaign to help people explore its flagship Disneyworld and Disneyland parks.

The Gowalla/Disney partnership focuses around custom Passport pages that not only show off Disney-branded stamps (Gowalla’s version of Badges), but also a photo and check-in stream. Gowalla’s Disney page also offers Disney-branded pins that users can earn by completing specific trips within Disneyworld and Disneyland.

This isn’t just a few stamps and a check-in stream, though; Gowalla and Disney have created literally hundreds of stamps for rides and locales within the two parks. Everything from the fireworks show to “Finding Nemo-The Music” offers a stamp or pin that can be earned by checking in.

What's the benefit for Disney? I wonder if they get cash money.

Disney Announces Conversion of Pleasure Island to Hyperion Wharf

Disney fans are complaining that it's not Pleasure Island. Do people not remember how terrible Pleasure Island was in it's last five painful years of life?

It'll be interesting to see what restaurant operators they get involved. Hopefully it's not more Landry restaurants, but don't be surprised.

UPDATE: Can we all agree that the most exciting part of the upgrades are an improved movie theater? My local megaplex offers a nicer experience than the Downtown Disney AMC.

WSJ: Disney Junior and Nick Jr. Square Off in the Fight for Preschoolers' TV Viewing

From the article (subscription required):

Executives at Walt Disney Co., preparing their latest push for this audience, say that some TV for tots favors curriculum over storytelling. They argue that it's sometimes too much work, not enough play.

They're offering themselves as an alternative to Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. channel, which emphasizes learning. Disney says that today's parents are ready for a change. In an age of video games and iPads, kids can learn their ABCs anywhere. What's missing are good, old-fashioned stories that kids can repeat to others, pretend to be the characters, and watch again and again.

Disney Junior replaces Playhouse Disney on the Disney Channel and in the theme parks in February and gets its own 24-hour channel in 2012 replacing SOAPnet.

As the article states, this is serious business for Disney. Last year advertisers spent more than $276 million during children's TV shows and merchandise sales can equal billions more.

But this is what really caught my eye:

Following the death of the broadcast networks' Saturday morning cartoon tradition, preschoolers have been watching at all hours. Forty percent more of them now watch Nick Jr. from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. than during the rest of the day, according to the network.

Making Mickey Mouse Act For the Talkies

via Cartoon Brew:

The article, by Gordon S. Mitchell of Universal’s sound department – who includes ample references to Lantz’s Oswald Rabbit – is a pretty poorly written explanation of how cartoons are produced. However, it does feature several unique behind-the-scenes photos and drawings, and well worth a look for how animation production was explained to the public in those long ago days before DVD bonus features.

Pyongyang Fun Fairs

The Theme Park Guy had a rare opportunity to visit the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and visit the local fun fairs.

North Korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world. Incredible photographs.

Photo Updates From the IAAPA 2010 Trade Show

The Theme Park Review forum has updates from the 2010 International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions expo happening now in Orlando, Florida.

Every year ride manufacturers, designers and vendors show off their new designs and try to solicit sales. It's an exciting place to be for a theme park enthusiast.

UPDATE: All of TPR's day one coverage in one place. If you want to follow along as the updates go live, the forum is the place.

Filming 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

A 1954 photo report from Life magazine, via Disney and More.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is one of my favorite Disney films of all time.

Cars 2 Teaser Trailer

Looks uninspired, but the Cars franchise is big business and I have no doubt this will do well at the box office.

World of Color Receives Thea Award

World of Color received the Thea award for Outstanding Achievement - Nighttime Spectacular.

Disney Imagineer Kim Irvine was also recognized with the Buzz Price Award, Thea's lifetime achievement honor.

From the press release:

To date, Walt Disney Imagineering has received a total of 34 awards throughout the Thea Awards’ 17-year history. Some of Disney’s past recipients of Awards for Outstanding Achievement include Toy Story Midway Mania! at Disney California Adventure and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, “Finding Nemo- The Musical” and Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Soarin’ Over California at Disney California Adventure, Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland Park, Space Mountain, From the Earth to the Moon at Disneyland Paris, CineMagique at Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris and ‘The Legend of Mythica’ at Tokyo DisneySea.

Guillermo Del Toro and David Eick to Create ABC's New Hulk

Deadline.com:

Del Toro and Eick will break the story for the pilot script together, sharing story and created by credit. Eick will write the script, with del Toro attached to direct subject to his availability. Del Toro will also oversee the designing of the Hulk character...

Seriously cool news for fans of the Hulk.

Only Three Animated Features to Receive Oscar Nominations

Cartoon Brew:

Under Academy rules, “in any year when 8 to 15 animated features are released in Los Angeles County, a maximum of 3 motion pictures may be nominated.” Had one more feature qualified, the number of nominees would have expanded to five features.

The biggest losers in this scenario are the indies like Bill Plympton’s Idiots and Angels, Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist and Paul and Sandra Fierlinger’s My Dog Tulip, as well as the sleeper anime hit, Mamoru Hosoda’s Summer Wars. A field of five nominees would virtually guarantee one or two of them a nomination, but they face an uphill battle now.

Disney is pushing hard for a Best Picture nomination for Toy Story 3. With the Academy expanding the Best Picture nominations to ten films beginning last year, there's a good chance they'll get it.

But they'll have to settle for, at most, a Best Animated Feature win. The Academy would be loathe to deliver Best Picture to an animated film.

Growing Backlash Against TSA Body Scanners, Pat-Downs

"We certainly understand the challenges that DHS confronts, but the question remains, 'where do we draw the line'? Our country desperately needs a long-term vision for aviation security screening, rather than an endless reaction to yesterday's threat," the statement said. "At the same time, fundamental American values must be protected."

If you're planning on flying this holiday, might I direct you here.

UPDATE: Also, here.

Disneyland Fantasmic! Dragon Returns

"Murphy" returned to the show last Friday.

Glad to see him back.

Bob Iger on the Health and Future of the Disney Store

I promised highlights from the Fourth Quarter Earnings Call that happened yesterday, but truth be told nothing new came out of it.

What I found most interesting was CEO Bob Iger's take on the Disney Store:

Well we're pretty excited about the new design. We just opened the new store which you should see in Times Square, but we'll proceed with real caution. We're using the design as a platform to greatly improve the quality of the merchandise and the presentation and we're also using it to improve location which we've done quite well. Times Square, I think, is a good example of that. But we look at specialty retail as a relatively challenging business and with that in mind we're going to be really careful and watch these results quite carefully. We've redesigned in the 18-19 store range, I think maybe it was around 20, and we don't see going significantly higher fast. We're going to wait and see how these stores do before we make any decisions about rollout. It cost us slightly above a million dollars a store for this new design. We think it's closer to probably $1.4 for the initial stores, and that will trend down as we bring this design to more, but we're going to be careful about this.

Emphasis added.

The Disney Store was hugely successful when introduced but was completely decimated by over-expansion. The truth is, there's no need for a Disney Store in every mall in America.

Iger has talked about modeling the segment after the Apple Stores. There's a lot of Apple Stores, but they aren't over exposed. The location for each one is carefully selected and the stores are individually designed. They work equally well as brand showcases and retail outlets.

It will be interesting to see how they proceed.

Disney Character Voices International

Terrific interview with French Creative Director Boualem Lamhene.

The division is charged with creating parity between the voice acting for Disney characters worldwide.

Disney Profits Down 7% in Fourth Quarter

Dramatic gains at Walt Disney Studios hampered by poor theme park and media network performance.

Highlights from the earnings call coming later tonight or tomorrow.

Sally Corporation Factory Tour

Theme Park Review member moinab recently toured the Jacksonville, FL headquarters of Sally Corporation and was able to document her experience.

Sally Corp designs and constructs dark rides, including animatronic figures, for various theme park companies including Legoland, Six Flags and many regional amusement parks.

I always like seeing the behind-the-scenes aspect of attraction creation.

First Trailer for New Winnie the Pooh Film

I've never really sparked to Winnie the Pooh, so I'll probably sit this one out.

D23 Armchair Archivist

The first episode of D23's new video series Armchair Archivist.

It's nice, but the highlight is definitely seeing the last footage Walt shot before his death.

Losses Narrow at Disneyland Paris

Improved guest spending offset lower attendance and hotel occupancy.

The Independent:

The company booked a net loss of €45.2m for the 12 months to the end of September, compared to €63m a year ago.

Disneyland Paris visitor numbers, on the other hand, stood at 15 million, down from 15.4 million in 2009. Visitors spent more, however, with the average guest doling out €45.3 this year, up from €44.22 in 2009.

Demolition of the Sunshine Plaza Begins

You can clearly see the It's Tough To Be A Bug show building now with all the missing trees.

Private Tour of Walt's Disneyland Apartment

MiceChat user CMHusband recently had the opportunity to tour Walt's famed Disneyland apartment located above the fire station on Main Street.

Lots of great pictures taken inside the exclusive location.

Jon Favreau Interested in Disney's Magic Kingdom Film

Didn't know they were planning of moving ahead with this so quickly. It also sounds like he's planning on directing Iron Man 3 as well.

Deadline.com:

Jon Favreau is in talks to direct Magic Kingdom, the Disney film with the premise that the attractions at the venerable theme park come to life. The studio set the project up nearly two years ago and got a draft by Battlestar Galactica's Ron Moore, but a new writer will be set and work on a new draft under Favreau.

As the article mentions, Disney has picked up a lot of A-list directors in the past few months. Kind of a change of strategy under Rich Ross.

Disney Developing Film Based on Enchanted Tiki Room, Hubris

The A.V. Club:

As the LAT acknowledges, “there’s not much known mythology behind the Tiki Room,” but such things don't matter when it comes to corporate synergy, as Zappa’s script isn’t so much a straight adaptation of the attraction, but rather “an action-adventure that mixes in Polynesian mythology.”

Perhaps it will disappear into the labyrinths of development hell, as Jungle Cruise did.

Al Lutz: Pyro & Parades? Pay Up!

To be read with extreme prejudice.

I don't know if they'll move forward with a hard ticket Christmas party to mirror the success at Halloween. It's true that a rough proposal has been drawn up, but it hasn't moved any further than that.

However, unlike others (mostly Annual Passholders) with an unfounded sense of entitlement, I'm not opposed to it.

Can anyone deny Halloween Time was significantly more manageable this year?

New Disney Store Opens in Times Square

The Associated Press (via the Washington Post):

The Times Square store, two years in the making, is expected to produce 5 percent of the chain's North American revenue. Disney's first Manhattan store opened in 1997 on Fifth Avenue and closed in January.

The new store debuted informally on Thursday and was to be open from 9 a.m. to midnight daily. But managers are testing a 1 a.m. store closing to accommodate the crowds showing up.

5% of the chain's North American revenue is an impressive figure.

They plan to refurbish the remaining stores over the next 5-7 years.

First Reviews of Tangled

The first reviews of Tangled are beginning to appear. Early critics are mixed.

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter writes:

It would have been nice if Disney's self-touted 50th animated feature were one of its best, a film that could stand with the studio's classics, but the world will have to make do with "Tangled," a passably entertaining hodgepodge of old and new animation techniques, mixed sensibilities and hedged commercial calculations.

And Justin Change for Variety (subscription required) agrees, saying:

After last year's "The Princess and the Frog" grossed an underwhelming $104 million domestically, Disney execs opted to change the title of the new film from "Rapunzel" to the more gender-neutral "Tangled." If that suggests a vote of no confidence in traditional princess fare (imagine if "The Little Mermaid" had been called "Beached"), the hipper moniker does underscore the film's odd, somewhat perplexing mix of sensibilities -- pitched somewhere between Disney classicism and the self-conscious storybook quality of DreamWorks' "Shrek" movies or, at best, Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods."

Even more biased, self-proclaimed Disney fans, like those writing for The Disney Blog, conclude:

...while Tangled is not perfect, it is definitely entertaining and proof that Disney Animation is slowly returning to the right track creatively.

Color me less than enthused.

If tracking remains soft and Tangled underperforms, matching The Princess and the Frog's grosses or worse yet grossing less than that film's disappointing figures, where does Disney go from there?

Photos of the Disney Dream

A gallery of photos from USA Today of the almost finished ship.

The Disney Dream makes its maiden voyage 26 January 2011 out of Port Canaveral, FL.

It looks incredible.

ABC Wins Terrible Sounding 'Man Up', Possibly Starring Tim Allen

Deadline.com:

Word is new ABC programming chief Paul Lee was personally involved in the network's efforts to get the comedy that would bring Allen back to ABC where he toplined one of the network's biggest comedies, Home Improvement. Man Up, from 20th TV and studio-based 21 Laps/Adelstein, is a multi-camera family comedy about a guy fighting for his manhood in a world of women.

A sitcom based on misogyny. No doubt it'll be a big hit.

WSJ: Disney's Iger Uses Downturn as Investment Springboard

The Wall Street Journal interviews Disney CEO Bob Iger about the Company's investments during the recession.

If you follow Disney news it's light on interesting developments, but I did like this:

WSJ: You're spending $1 billion to overhaul Disney California Adventure, Disneyland's less-famous neighbor. Why?

Mr. Iger: [Apple CEO] Steve Jobs is fond of talking about brand deposits and brand withdrawals. Any time you do something mediocre with your brand, that's a withdrawal. California Adventure was a brand withdrawal.

We debated, "Should we make it one park?" Raise the price at Disneyland, and suddenly one ticket buys you the whole thing. I even had Imagineers design that.

[But] we would have had to put in transportation systems. It would have cost us so much money to put the monorail in. And to do other things to create one park. That didn't make sense.

We all concluded that the only way we would improve returns on that park is if we made it better and we made it bigger. And we decided to put what is now [around] $1 billion into that.

WSJ: What are you adding?

Mr. Iger: We opened up the first attraction, [the animation-inspired] "World of Color." "Little Mermaid" [is] next summer, and then the big kahuna of them all, "Cars Land," which is a 12-acre land [based on the Pixar animated film.]

[Cars Land] will open in the middle of 2012. "World of Color" has increased attendance since it opened at California Adventure by 20%.

Emphasis mine.

That's a pretty impressive return.

Walt Disney Studios Restructures PR Department

Can Marketing be far behind?

Disney Signs Agreement for Shanghai Theme Park

Reuters:

"For quite some time, we have been involved in discussions with the Shanghai government about building a Disney theme park. We can confirm the statement from the Shanghai government that we have taken another step forward in the approval process," a Disney spokeswoman said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Shanghai Government to Sign Agreement with Disney Tomorrow

I guess technically it's Friday right now in Shanghai.

People Daily Online:

The Shanghai municipal government plans to sign an agreement with the Walt Disney Company on Friday to lay out the specific structure of the joint venture for the planned Disneyland Park in Shanghai, in line with market speculations. 

The municipal government's spokesperson and Walt Disney could not be immediately reached for comment. The Shanghai Disneyland, which will take up 116 hectares and will be co-invested by Chinese and US companies, was approved by the State Council in November 2009 and is expected to be completed by 2014.

Disney Plans Tron: Uprising Animated Show for Disney XD

A spin-off of Tron: Legacy, launching Summer 2012.

Wired:

Tron: Uprising’s voice cast will include Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood, Emmanuelle Chriqui (who plays Sloan on Entourage), Mandy Moore, Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman) and Lance Henriksen, the publication reported, with Bruce Boxleitner reprising his role as Tron.

The show will spin out of Tron: Legacy, the highly anticipated sequel to 1982 sci-fi movie Tron. Gary Marsh, president of Disney Channels Worldwide, called the animated series “a culmination of an extraordinary collaboration between Disney Television Animation and our feature film studio.”

Disney sees Tron as their chance at a homegrown franchise for boys to rival the Princesses in popularity. If its as successful as they hope, expect things to move pretty fast in the theme parks.

Disney Introduces Princess Line to Compete With American Girl Dolls

Orlando Sentinel's Daily Disney:

The Walt Disney Co. aims to give Mattel’s American Girl doll franchise a run for its money this holiday season. Disney has introduced Princess & Me dolls into the popular 18-inch doll market, and it’s doing so at a lower price point.

Princess & Me dolls sell for $49.99, compared with American Girl dolls, which start at $95. Girls can choose from Cinderella, Ariel, Aurora, Tiana and Belle. After each doll is registered, its owner will receive a letter on her birthday from her favorite princess.

Can they really be considered competitors, though? The Disney Princess dolls don't even seem to be in the same class.

Disneyland Circa 1971

MiceChat user FREQDUDE posted some photos from his family trip to Disneyland in 1971, including a stay at the Disneyland Hotel.

Love the marina.

Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival Cancelled for 2011/2012

Announced on the official Disney Parks Blog.

I know guests will be sad to see it gone but Disney will too. It was a great revenue generator. But it's not surprising given the already complicated logistics of rebuilding the Park entrance.

I guess this means Buena Vista Street won't be completed until 2012.

Comparing Theme Park Ride Show Building Sizes

Attractions Magazine:

A friend of mine asserted that the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride in Universal’s Islands of Adventure is in the largest show building in the world. That didn’t seem right, so I pulled out my phone and Google mapped to prove what I thought – that the Revenge of the Mummy building at Universal Studios is bigger. Later at home, I decided to compare some other theme park buildings at the same scale. I hope you find this collage as interesting as I do. 

See Tron: Legacy in Your Overpriced Boutique Lightcycle Cufflinks

LATimes.com Hero Blog:

With the opening of “Tron: Legacy” a little more than a month away, the marketing for one of the holiday season’s most anticipated films is in overdrive. As part of the bullish campaign leading to the sci-fi epic’s release, Disney has announced the opening of a “Tron” pop-up shop inside of Culver City’s Royal T Café and gallery.

The shop, which opens Nov. 19 through Dec. 23, is the only one of its kind and will feature a long list of specialty items inspired by the film. But don’t expect flimsy toy Lightcycles or goofy glow-in-the-dark body suits: This pop-up shop is high-end. Just like the aspirations of the new film.

Boo.

Walk Through Frontierland, Walk Through Disneyland's Past

Shawn Slater:

The Big Thunder Trail that wanders between Fantasyland andFrontierland is not only the place to find Big Thunder Ranch, it's a bit of a walk through Disneyland history.

Backstage With the Original Mickey Mouse Club

NPR interview with Why? Because We Still Like You author Jennifer Armstrong on the history and legacy of The Mickey Mouse Club.

Terrorific Night 2

For the second year, Walt Disney Studios Paris hosted a not-for-the-faint-of-heart Halloween party, Terrorific Night.

Halloween at the Paris Resort is much more macabre than anything Disney would allow in the States.

Tron: Legacy Encore for World of Color

Premiered over the weekend.

They moved the never-used projector from the California Screamin' lift hill to the roof of the Toy Story Midway Mania! building. 

Looks impressive.

Disney's Believe

A new show being produced for the Disney Dream cruise ship.

MousePlanet:

Headlining at Walt Disney Theatre, an elegant, 1,340-seat entertainment palace, is “Disney’s Believe,” an original stage spectacular that combines a heartfelt story with a captivating musical score. It tells the story of a workaholic father who, through the power of Disney magic, reconnects with his daughter.

Sounds horrifying.

Details, Details, Details

The "Out of Order" signs in Flynn's Arcade during ElecTRONica are printed using a classic dot matrix printer.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all! Don't miss the big giveaway at 9. Wear your masks, and watch the magic pumpkin!

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.

Marvel Studios Pumps the Brakes on The Runaways

Deadline.com:

Marvel simply has too much going on at the moment and will take its time on the live action adaptation of the comic hatched by Lost writer Brian K. Vaughan... Director Peter Sollett, who signed up with the idea this would be his followup to Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, is still attached but has been invited to take another film first.

The film was scheduled to go into production early next year.

John Lasseter Officially Director of Cars 2, Brad Lewis Now Co-Director

Co-Director was the title bestowed on Jan Pinkava after he was removed from Ratatouille.

It's basically a "thanks for your hard work, but we'll take it from here" sort of thing.

First Cars 2 Teaser

Can't be worse than the first.

Confirmed: Brenda Chapman No Longer Director Pixar's Brave

The New York Times confirms, but they report that she remains on staff at Pixar.

I wonder if it's another situation like Jan Pinkava; after being replaced as the director of Ratatouille he took on lesser responsibilities at Pixar and shortly left the company.

I don't have any inside information but it wouldn't surprise me if Ms. Chapman moved on shortly.

Disney and More: Walt Disney, Wernher von Braun and the Space Program

Alain from Disney and More with another fascinating article on a relatively unexplored moment in Disney history.

Carousel of Progress Like You've Never Seen It

More behind-the-scenes pictures from Imagineering Disney, this time from the Carousel of Progress at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

Some pretty great pictures of animatronics up close. Cat nip for geeks like me.

One of my favorite bits:

The printed paper props (newspapers, calendar, etc.) are made up of stacks of the exact same print. If the top print wares out or goes missing, the subsequent layers of paper are identical.

Al Lutz: Horsing Around

A new update from the grandfather of internet Disneyland rumormongering.

Neither the Tomorrowland nor the Frontierland expansions are anywhere near moving forward. Mr. Lutz focuses on some of the developments being explored for Frontierland but it wouldn't surprise me if there's some action in Tomorrowland first.

There is a Tron attraction being developed for Disneyland that some folks are quite bullish on. If the film is a big hit this December, the project is guaranteed to gather more steam.

The problem with all of this is that TDA isn't looking to move forward on any major projects in Disneyland Park until after Cars Land is completed in 2012. A lot can change in eighteen months. There are no solid plans right now and many options are being developed and explored.

Cartoon Brew: Brenda Chapman No Longer Directing Pixar's Brave?

Brave has had a somewhat troubled development, so this isn't that surprising.

Cartoon Brew:

Crazy rumors floating into our offices this afternoon from reliable sources. We hear that Brenda Chapman, the first woman director at Pixar, has left the studio and is no longer directing Brave (previously titled The Bear and the Bow). We hear that she was pushed aside from full directing duties a while back, and that story artist Mark Andrews (who also co-directed the Pixar short One Man Band) has taken over directorial duties. We understand that the change officially happened last week, although it had been inevitable for some time.

As mentioned in the article, directors being replaced on animated films is a fairly common occurrence. But this is particularly noteworthy because Brave was to be the first Pixar film directed by a woman.

Iron Man 3 To Be Released 03 May 2013

Speaking of Iron Man 3, Marvel just announced the film will be released 03 May 2013.

No word on a director.

Shanghai Disneyland Construction to Begin in November?

Translated from Cantonese. Take it with a grain of salt.

Disney Buys-Out Paramount's Marvel Contract, Will Release Avengers & Iron Man 3

Disney will pay $115 million to Paramount but avoids having to work with a rival studio to launch major tentpoles. Paramount is still promoting and releasing Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger next summer.

Deadline.com

Paramount had been earning an 8% distribution fee on the Marvel titles like Iron Man. Paramount also put up P&A and got reimbursed over time. The $115 million will be paid in two installments--half when Iron Man 3 is released and the other half when The Avengers is released. One will be released May, 2012 and the other a year later. If those movies perform more strongly than expected, Paramount will earn more than $115 million. I'm told that the studio is actually getting 9% on that third Iron Man movie, a reward for launching one of Hollywood's most valuable franchises.