Happy Christmas!

I am traveling for the holidays so posting will be limited.

You can follow me on Twitter for breaking updates.

Funny or Die: 1982 Tron Holiday Special

Most of your favorite characters are back!

Detailed Buena Vista Street Construction Timeline

The Orange County Register's Around Disney blog published a detailed timeline of expected construction milestones that will affect guest flow and traffic while Buena Vista Street is constructed:

Jan. 4:

Letter statues: Construction walls will start going up around the “California” letters statues in front of the park’s turnstiles. Crews plan to remove the statues. 

Sunshine Plaza: Inside the park, the walls will come out farther around the Sunshine Plaza, where a sunburst statue and fountain used to sit. The corridors will become narrower. 

June 1:

Corridor closed: The major corridor between Sunshine Plaza and the Grizzly River Run mountain, which veers right after the park entrance, will be closed. Visitors instead can get to “a bug’s land” and Pacific Wharf by going through the Hollywood Pictures Backlot and through “a bug’s land” back entrance by the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride.

July 31:

Shops and restaurants closed: Restaurants and a shop on the right side inside the entrance will be closed, as walls go up for more Buena Vista Street construction. The closures will be at: Baker’s Field Bakery, Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream and Engine-Ears Toys.

Aug. 29:

Entrance changes: Visitors will go through new turnstiles at the entrance. But they will be funneled right into a pathway behind the Soarin’ Over California ride to the Condor Flats area where they will enter the park. Most of the Sunshine Plaza area will be blocked, including the Greetings from California store. The entrance change is slated to stay until summer 2012.

While construction is underway at the entrance, new venues are set to open in the spring in the Paradise Pier area: The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, Goofy’s Sky School and a dining-shopping complex. Opening dates have yet to be announced.

I can't vouch for the accuracy of the information, and most likely the dates will be changed. But it's an interesting look at what is sure to be an involved process.

Tron: Legacy Opens to Disappointing, but Not Disastrous $43 Million

Andre Dellamorte (who, for my money, is the only box office prognosticator that matters):

David Poland mentioned that all films that have opened to over $40 in December have done $200 Million domestically, so there is hope to keep alive, and this is Disney. The question is how much of a franchise picture is the film? Because it's quite possible that - regardless of the holidays - it drops 50% next weekend much like Narnia did. Disney's got $100 Million on lock for domestic at this point. Like a lot of pictures these days, worldwide is that number to satisfy. My bottom line is that I think the number isn't great because we've seen pictures open to this number and struggle to do much more than $100 or so.

I wrote earlier on Twitter that the film could drop 60% next weekend. But with the holidays that would be a disastrous drop. I think Disney can hope for something in the 30% - 40% range.

Tangled continues to perform well, even though it lost the majority of its 3D screens this weekend. But the ceiling is still $150 million.

UPDATE: The film received a "B+" CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences. That's not great and doesn't bode well for continued legs.

Executive Overseeing Disney Online to Depart

Announced this morning.

With the head of the video game unit leaving just a few weeks ago, that pretty much completes the makeover of Disney Interactive Media Group.

DIMG hasn't turned a profit for years and I can't imagine that will change anytime soon.

Just Kidding - Tron Tracking at $40 Million?

Like I said yesterday, pre-release tracking is useless.

I think Disney would be okay with anything above $50 million.

The Hollywood Reporter: Family-friendly Films Faltering on DVD

Greenfield's latest analysis also makes the case that Disney/Pixar is seeing "underwhelming" sales of Toy Story 3. Home video sales are "tracking above last year's Up but not by the amount we would have expected," he said.

Anecdotally,  I used to buy a lot of DVDs but since I started Netflix a few years ago I haven't purchased a single one.

What are movie studios that have become dependent on home video revenue going to do now?

Tron Tracking at $60 Million Opening Weekend

ABCNews:

Disney's "Tron: Legacy" has the most going for it, including a great release date, cult appeal and of course the IMAX and 3-D components. So a No. 1 debut approaching an impressive $60 million is virtually assured for this long-awaited followup to the 1982 original.

Tracking can be wildly off, but Disney would be very happy with $60 million.

Walt Disney Died 44 Years Ago Today

A copy of the New York Times' obituary that ran 16 December 1966.

The Disney California Adventure Entrance Murals Are Completely Demolished

via MousePlanet

Progress City, U.S.A.: Neverworlds - Disney's Vacation Club and Resort at Eagle Pines

It’s almost hard to conceive of a time that Michael Eisner elected not to build a Disney Vacation Club resort, but that’s just what happened in 2001 when Disney’s Vacation Club And Resort At Eagle Pines was announced only to slowly vanish into the mists of history afterward.

Confirmed: Jon Favreau Won't Helm Iron Man 3

Deadline.com:

Favreau just wrapped Cowboys & Aliens and is about to embark on Disney's Magic Kingdom and "is excited about the opportunity to go do his own thing" while Kevin Feige as the ultimate custodian of Marvel's Iron Man franchise "sees it as an opportunity to bring some more fire to the franchise". Favreau is still on board to exec produce The Avengers which Joss Whedon is directing.

With Iron Man 3 and Magic Kingdom both planned for a 2013 release, there was no way he could do both. There were rumors that the rushed production of Iron Man 2 really soured his relationship with Marvel. We're seeing the fruits of that now.

It'll be interesting to see who they get to direct. I wonder if Favreau will still reprise his role as Tony Stark's buddy Happy Hogan.

A Second Rate Las Vegas

Rare high-quality photos of Harbor Boulevard from July 1962.

Rob Marshall on Directing Pirates 4

The Los Angeles Times' Hero Complex blog had a chance to interview Rob Marshall yesterday:

The reason I did this movie was to work with Johnny. That’s the real reason and there’s all these wonderful rewards along the way. But that was the main reason. I think he’s a brilliant actor and I came to find what an extraordinary person he is — a genuine, kind, elegant gentlemen; he’s funny and just fantastic. Also, for me, I always wanted to make an adventure. I was a fan of the “Pirates” series as well. I was always in line for them. Maybe because I come from choreography, I’ve always felt that there’s something about action films that made it very natural for me to go that way. It’s story through movement. I felt very at home doing action. So it was thrilling to step into that world.

Rob Marshall is an fascinating choice to helm such an expensive blockbuster action film. Disney is clearly happy with what they have and honestly a fresh set of eyes will probably help the film regain some of freshness the last entry was lacking.

Game On: Playboy Tron Photo Shoot

Clearly NSFW.

Garbage Article from LA Times Funland Blog

Nothing but outdated, ill-informed and incorrect information regarding plans for Phase 2 expansion of Disney California Adventure.

The simple truth is that if the Little Mermaid and Cars Land continue the Park's upward swing in attendance, guest spending and guest satisfaction, there is little impetus for Burbank to approve another billion dollar expansion.

If Phase 1 is deemed successful, future projects can proceed at a more regular pace. If a steady stream of spending guests are visiting the Park, then they must be happy with the offerings. That's the major win Disney is hoping for. If guests are happy with Disney California Adventure, then there's little need to spend exorbitantly on it.

In that case, it's not that the Phase 2 projects will never be built, but that they'll happen one at a time over a decade or so.

But what if, for some reason, the current expansion is deemed a failure?

At that point, you can't expect Disney to pump more money into the Park either. If expensive, high quality additions aren't enough to turn around California Adventure's fortunes, why would they throw more money at it and hope that will solve the problem?

I do think after 2012 there will be changes to Hollywood Pictures Backlot. And if attendance at the Park strains operations, there may be a push to add a few more attractions in one swoop. But another expansion plan as aggressive as Phase 1?

No way.

First Trailer - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

I hated At World's End, but I have to admit this looks fun.

Yesterland: The Casablanca Plane Myth - Not A Myth After All?

Impressive detective work by Werner Weiss.

I don't think we'll ever have a definitive answer, but this makes sense.

First Thor Trailer

What an odd duck of a movie.

The trailer isn't very good, but I'm still enthusiastic about the finished film.

The 3D conversion is worrisome, though. The early work shown at Comic-Con San Diego back in July was pretty terrible.

Disney's Tangled Passes $100 Million in Domestic Box Office Receipts

Tangled's performance so far has been good, but it will be tested this weekend when the new Chronicles of Narnia film opens and jockeys for 3D screens.

Tangled has a listed production budget of $260 million, which is pretty ridiculous. That means it has to make about $500 million dollars to break even.