The Disney Animation Legacy Gets “Tangled” for Number 50

WDWNT Author on November 25, 2010

While it doesn’t have much to do with the Disney Parks, we have always featured Disney film releases here on the site since we launched in 2007. We continue that tradition with the 50th Animated feature film, “Tangled”:

Here’s a sneak peek at the new film:

We usually try to keep opinions out of these reports, but I saw “Tangled” earlier today and wanted to leave a review and a bit of a disclaimer. First off, GO SEE IT! It is an incredible movie and a true Disney film. I had a warm fuzzy feeling walking out of the theater knowing this was the 50th film in the animated canon. It lived up to the tradition and might be the closest thing to the great films of the last golden age such as “The Little Mermaid” or “Beauty and the Beast”.  I fully expect Rapunzel to become the favorite princess of many young girls and I even have a few new favorite Disney characters after seeing this one.

I know many fans were worried by the marketing campaign which reminded many of commercials for Shrek or some other Dreamworks animated films. Based on early projections right now, advertising like this might have been a good idea:

The movie was projected to make only $35-40 million over the 5-day holiday weekend, but early reports are claiming the film will make 1.5 to 2 times more over the first 5 days in theaters. If Disney needs to make shoddy ads that play to corny humor to get people to see great films like this, than I’m all for it. I’d hate to see another “Princess and the Frog” debacle, where a great animated film is lost because of lackluster trailers and horrible release dates.

For those deliberating between 2-D and 3-D shows, go for the 3-D if you can. For the first time, I felt like an animated film was made for Digital 3-D. There are actually a few sequences that rival moments from long-standing Disney 3-D attractions.

In summary, go see “Tangled”, it’s your duty as a Disney fan… and you’ll probably have a “hair-raising” good time. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Disney Tangled is now in theaters nationwide, in both Disney Digital 3-D and traditional 2-D.

Another Haunted Mansion Movie???

WDWNT Author on July 22, 2010

From the Disney Parks Blog:

The original Disneyland park attraction, the Haunted Mansion, that debuted in August of 1969 has now inspired a new film for The Walt Disney Studios by well-known filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. A new piece of artwork was also unveiled by the Studios and is featured below.

Haunted Mansion Logo

Announced at Comic-Con today, del Toro surprised thousands of fans with the news. In speaking about the new project, del Toro said, “I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of my own adaptation of the original theme park attraction Walt envisioned and that remains- for me- the most desirable piece of real estate in the whole world!”

Rich Ross, Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, remarked “Millions of people from around the world visit The Haunted Mansion each year, but no one has ever had a tour guide like Guillermo del Toro. Guillermo is one of the most gifted and innovative filmmakers working today and he is going to take audiences on a visually-thrilling journey like they’ve never experienced before.”

Princess Tiana Will Be Rolling On The River

WDWNT Author on August 7, 2009

From the LA Times Travel Blog:

Disneyland and Walt Disney World plan to add a Mardi Gras-style musical cavalcade called Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee for the 2009 holiday season, according to theme park officials. The jazz-infused “riverboat extravaganza” will debut at Disney World on Oct. 26 and Disneyland on Nov. 6. Both shows will run through Jan. 3.

Tied to the upcoming “The Princess and the Frog” hand-drawn animated movie, Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee will feature a procession of jazzy musicians and performers parading through New Orleans Square at Disneyland and Frontierland at Disney World.

As the “second-line” procession reaches the Rivers of America dock, a group of pre-selected theme park visitors will board the waiting riverboat (the Mark Twain at Disneyland and the Liberty Belle at Disney World) where Princess Tiana and other “The Princess and the Frog” characters will greet them. After departing, the riverboat will stop along the riverfront for a performance including songs from the film. The show will be repeated several times a day, with viewing areas along the waterfront.

Mice Age reports that the pre-selected riverboat riders will be able to pose for photos and get autographs from Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen and Louis the singing alligator after the performance.

“The Princess and the Frog,” a Jazz Age story featuring Disney’s first African American princess and set in New Orleans’ French Quarter, opens in theaters Dec. 11.

Things Are Looking “UP” This Weekend

WDWNT Author on May 28, 2009

In keeping with tradition here at WDW News Today, I have collected a number of videos from across the web to promote Disney-Pixar’s tenth feature length animated film, “UP”, in theaters tomorrow, May 29th. The movie has already had stellar reviews, probably not a surprise to anyone who has seen the last nine Disney and Pixar co-branded films. Without any further delay, here are the videos (all of which are available in stunning High Definition by clicking the HD button at the bottom of each window):

The official trailer:

The teaser trailer (Carl Goes Up):

Upisode: First Aid

Upisode: Animal Calling

Upisode: Snipe Trap

Preview: Meet Kevin

Up at the Cannes Film Festival

The Tomorrow That Never Was, Is Now a Film

WDWNT Author on May 18, 2009

From the fine people over at Orlando Attractions Magazine:

With the success of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, based on the theme park ride of the same name, it’s no surprise that more park-inspired films are on the way. Rumors of a Jungle Cruise movie have been bouncing around the Internet for many months, but it now appears that Tomorrowland may be the inspiration for the next in the series.

From scifiwire.com:

Screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore told reporters that they have finished a draft of a script for Tommorrowland—the upcoming Disney sci-fi movie that will star Dwayne Johnson—and, like the theme park area for which it is named, it will posit a bright and shiny future.

The writers participated in a group interview in Las Vegas on Sunday to promote The Hangover. The following Q&A features edited excerpts of the interview. Tomorrowland is eyeing a 2010 release.

What are you guys working on writing?

Moore: We’re working on a sort of sci-fi action comedy for Disney with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, which is called Tomorrowland. Disney had a ton of success with Pirates of the Caribbean, so this is their Pirates of the Caribbean in space.

Lucas: There are meetings every now and again where you can see the gears turning. It’s like, “Well, if we had a mountain in this movie, it would be really easy to call this [Space Mountain].” Tomorrowland is actually a pretty cool title, even though that section of the [Disneyland/Disney World] park is not maybe [as futuristic anymore]. It’s like, “Look at this refrigerator!”

So do you update it or go for the kitsch?

Lucas: We’re not laughing at the idea. We’re not laughing at Tomorrowland or the idea of what people in the ’60s thought the future would be. Our goal, whether we’re successful or not, is the vision of the future is actually the best future. It’s not post-apocalyptic or dark and gritty. It’s like everything you wish you could have, every gadget and device and car, that’s what it’s like in the future. So the future is actually really great.

What year is it set?

Moore: It’s a little bit of a moving target, but it’s about 350 years in the future.

Lucas: It’s hard because when you go back and watch good sci-fi, it’s like the year 2010, and we’re in 2010, and Kevin Costner’s not walking a mule around. You have to put it far enough that people in the theater aren’t openly laughing at the concept, but it can’t be so far. Things are changing so quickly that in 300 years things will probably be pretty unrecognizable.

Is this a fast track project?

Moore: No. It all depends. We’re going to be turning in a draft maybe in three weeks, but don’t write that down, because then we’ll get calls from the executives. It all depends on how the draft is received.

What’s Johnson’s character?

Moore: In Tomorrowland his character’s name is Rip, and he plays a present-day test pilot who tests a plane and gets shot into the future. So he’s a sort of a fish out of water in the future and he is sort of figuring out how everything works. Along the way, the people in the future don’t know who he is, and they actually think he’s bad guy bent on destroying the future.

Was he always involved when you started writing?

Lucas: We actually came on with him.

Moore: When we first started loosely talking to Disney about the idea, he was not involved but they said, “Hey, we want to do a sci-fi with him and you guys are pitching a sci-fi.” They put us together so when we actually sold the pitch to them, he was attached, so it was always designed for him.

Lucas: He’s also quite literally the easiest guy to work with, the nicest guy. I think he’s been doing it so long, he’s great, so we’re lucky to have him on board.

Does he tell you the formula he wants: sci-fi, comedy, etc.?

Lucas: We had some fun dinners with him. Seeing him in public is just like, he’s, like, 9 feet tall, and his smile is incredible. He’s such a gentleman with everybody, and we talked about movies with him. He’s a savvy guy. I think he knows what he’s doing. He knows what he’s good at. He’s coming out of a world, like obviously pro wrestling is not a very constant feeder into Hollywood. Hollywood kind of looks down on it, and the fact that he’s done as much as he has is a testament to how he sort of knows what he’s doing.

While the various incarnations of the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions throughout the world mostly feature the same specific characters and scenes, Tomorrowland is full of far fewer specifics and really relies on more of an idea or feeling, with its style and look even varying from park to park. It’s much harder to predict what a Tomorrowland movie will look like, but from this interview it certainly seems like it will be unlike anything we’ve seen in the parks before.

If this film does as well as Disney is hoping, don’t be surprised to see Stitch, Buzz Lightyear, and Mike Wazowski move out for the Tomorrowland of the movies (finally solving Disney’s long time dilemma of constantly updating the land over and over again). Stay tuned to WDW News Today as we get more information on this upcoming Disney film based on the Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland.

Dreamworks Along with Mickey

WDWNT Author on February 9, 2009

In case you haven’t heard the news over the weekend, Dreamworks pictures appears to have ended its four-month-old deal with Universal Studios and should be announcing a distribution deal with the Walt Disney Company later today. Here is a report from the New York Times on Friday breaking the news:

LOS ANGELES – Steven Spielberg may be moving to the Walt Disney Company.

DreamWorks SKG, Mr. Spielberg’s boutique production company, is in advanced talks on a deal to distribute its movies through Disney, according to four people with knowledge of the talks but who asked for anonymity because negotiations are not complete. A deal with Disney, which could come as soon as Friday, would replace one Mr. Spielberg arranged with Universal Pictures just four months ago after an acrimonious divorce from Paramount Pictures.

Spokeswomen from Walt Disney and Universal declined to comment. Stacey Snider, the chief executive of DreamWorks, declined to comment.

Disney had been a suitor for DreamWorks back in October, and Stacey Snider, the chief executive of DreamWorks, and David Geffen, the co-founder of the studio, were keen to align with the company. But Mr. Spielberg ultimately overruled them, concluding that Universal – where he made his first blockbuster and where he still maintained offices – was the right fit.

Since then, however, the landscape in Hollywood has changed. DreamWorks, running into the buzz saw of the economic slowdown, has been unable to find the motion picture production funds to match the $500 million in funding that Reliance Big Entertainment committed to re-build the studio. Mr. Spielberg has even injected personal funds to buy time.

Disney’s motion picture studio, meantime, has been struggling. In the most recent quarter, Disney reported a 64 percent drop in income at the division, largely due to a decline in DVD sales around the world. The studio’s Touchstone label has been a disaster of late, with the films “Miracle at St. Anna” and “Swing Vote” ignored in the marketplace. Miramax, another Disney division, has had modest box office success with “Doubt,” but has had a diminished profile overall in recent years.

Disney also has room on its schedule to accommodate the four to six films DreamWorks plans to produce. In 2006, Disney limited the number of movies it makes to about 12 from as many as 20 in previous years, choosing to focus more intently on family films made on the Walt Disney Pictures brand.

Update | 1:53 p.m. Universal Pictures issued a statement Friday acknowledging that DreamWorks was shopping elsewhere. “Universal Pictures has ended discussions with DreamWorks for a distribution agreement,” it said. “Over the past several weeks, DreamWorks has demanded material changes to previously agreed upon terms. It is clear that DreamWorks’ needs and Universal’s business interests are no longer in alignment. We wish them luck in their pursuit of funding and distribution of their future endeavors.”

In case your wondering why Disney would want to strike a deal of any kind with Dreamworks, here is a solid report from CNN:

NEW YORK (Fortune) — It’s a no-brainer why DreamWorks wants to ally with Walt Disney.

It didn’t come to terms with preferred partner Universal Studios, and the distribution deal expected to be announced today with Disney should end a period of limbo for the vaunted mini-studio that Steven Spielberg and pals set up 15 years ago. But for Disney, this is an atypical deal that underscores a lot of fundamental changes at the House of Mouse of late.

First off, though, let’s agree that the biggest reason for Disney or anyone else to be in business with DreamWorks is to secure a relationship with Spielberg – duh, he’s the most successful director in history and no slouch as a producer.

That, more than anything else, answers why Disney would want to do a deal like this under which it takes an expected 8% fee for distributing DreamWorks releases but also is expected to provide some debt financing to supplement the company’s new Bollywood backers.

But as I discovered in my recent story on the renaissance of Disney and its chief executive Bob Iger, the way the company thinks about its film business has changed significantly. Disney was among the first of the studios to significantly reduce the number of films it releases this year.

But in doing so, Iger and Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook also decided to refocus the company around the Disney brand – ergo, family entertainment – while significantly cutting the output and investment in films under the company’s Touchstone and Miramax labels.

The mantra at Disney these days is to create cross-company franchises – everything from Pixar’s “Toy Story” and “Cars” to Disney Channel hits “Hannah Montana” and “High School Musical” – that can spawn offshoots in other businesses and around the world.

“I don’t care if a Touchstone movie does $100 million on $30 million of cost,” Iger told me three months ago. “Its success doesn’t breed any other success in the company.”

That’s a bit of a harsh quote – I imagine Iger does just care a little – but the context was the poor reception for recent Touchstone releases like the Spike Lee-directed “Miracle at St. Ana” and “Swing Vote,” starring Kevin Costner.

Partly because of misses, partly because of the timing of releases and largely because of a decline in DVD sales in the past quarter, Disney’s studio segment reported revenue down 26% and operating income off 64%, to $187 million, in the quarter ended December 27, 2008. More worryingly, Sanford Bernstein estimated (before reports of the DreamWorks alliance surfaced last week) that it expects operating income at the studio division to decline to $619 million in 2012 from nearly $1.1 billion last year .

Out of Disney’s four main reporting segments – cable and TV networks, theme parks, consumer products and the studio – the latter is the only one expected to decline in both revenue and profitability terms over that period. In an interview with me last fall, Disney Studios’ Cook said that getting smaller or winning fewer awards – Disney has never won a “best picture” Oscar, though of course Miramax has – did not trouble him.

Declining margins, though, are problematic – and if DreamWorks pans out, it could help both in that regard and, in theory at least, in new material that can be pumped through Disney’s vast consumer products and cross-media machinery. (The DreamWorks news also surfaced speculation about Disney looking to sell Miramax, but a Disney insider says now is not a great time to be selling anything.)

More broadly, like all the media conglomerates, Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) could use all the help it can get in exciting investors about its growth prospects in these gloomy times. Its stock price had a nice run and until recently held up much better than other media conglomerates’. But it has dropped nearly 40% over the past six months, hitting levels last seen in 2003.

Even Disney’s long-held position as the world’s largest media conglomerate by market value has come into jeopardy: It stood at $36 billion on Friday, while Time Warner (TWX, Fortune 500) was nearly $35 billion. (In any event Time Warner’s value will shrink accordingly in a few weeks once it splits off its Time Warner Cable (TWC) unit into a separate public company.)

DreamWorks (DWA) is not exactly what it once was either: Conceived as a full-scale studio, it was most recently aligned with Paramount and is now essentially a shingle for Spielberg and DreamWorks CEO Stacy Snyder to own a big piece of their own projects, which includes the upcoming “Transformers” sequel and a Spielberg production of the Belgian cartoon “Tintin.” (A lesser rationale for the deal, two insiders said, is a desire by Spielberg to produce more family fare than he has in recent years.)

There’s plenty of irony in this pairing, given that former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg was one of DreamWorks’ co-founders, along with David Geffen, who is no longer actively involved. Katzenberg, of course, now heads up spun-out DreamWorks Animation, which in many ways is Pixar’s chief rival. Indeed, Pixar is the only studio with which Disney recently had a similar distribution deal with – and it went so well that Disney ended up acquiring the company three years ago.

The “DisneyWorks” alliance will probably not result in a similar outcome, but it’s a compelling plot twist nonetheless in an uneasy industry where, these days, you don’t know what’s going to happen next.

One must wonder, what long term effects could this have on the Disney Parks and Resorts? In short, a partnership involving Steven Spielberg could mean the return of Roger Rabbit characters, merchandise, and references to the parks. With the possibility of another Roger Rabbit film being produced, Walt Disney World might even see a “Roger Rabbit” attraction down the road, or at the very least, a scene dedicated to the 1989 film (and its sequel) added to the Great Movie Ride during its upcoming refurbishment in just a few years. Another interesting question would be the future of Spielberg and Dreamworks related attractions at the Universal Studios theme parks. Since I’m not an expert on this situation, I’ll sit back for the time being and watch as this story unfolds. Stay tuned to WDW News Today as we get more information on this major story.

Details on Tinker Bell Movie Passholder Event

WDWNT Author on August 12, 2008

Registration for the Walt Disney World Passholder advanced screening of the Tinker Bell movie will be opening on August 19, 2008. The four screenings will take place on September 27 and 28 at 10:00 AM & 2:00 PM inside the Magic Kingdom, inside the Exposition Hall. You can register for the event If you have a valid WDW annual pass at this link beginning on August 19th.

Tinker Bell Is Getting a New Home

WDWNT Author on July 29, 2008

According to the Orlando Sentinel:

Walt Disney World is planning to add actresses playing Tinker Bell and her friends from an upcoming series of “Disney Fairies” movies – and might be creating a new attraction based on them.

Disney held auditions last week for actresses to play the Disney Fairies characters in the parks, including Tinker Bell, Silvermist, Rosetta, Iridessa, and Fawn.

In a prepared statement, a Disney spokeswoman explained: “Disney Imagineers are currently creating a special new home for Tink and her friends which promises to immerse guests in the world of Pixie Dust at Walt Disney World.

Spokeswoman Andrea Finger would not elaborate about whether this meant the fairy characters will have their own attraction, nor did she specify which park they might appear in.

Except for Tinker Bell, the characters are based on a new “Disney Fairies” entertainment franchise that the Walt Disney Co. has been developing in recent years through children’s books, Internet Web pages, games, toys, and a series of straight-to-DVD movies that will begin emerging this fall.

This news was first reported here on WDW News Today a few months ago, but it seems larger news-outlets have finally caught up with us. There was even an official confirmation of this project in the August issue of the annual passholder publication, Mickey Monitor. Stay tuned to WDW News Today as more information becomes available on this project.

A Real Passholder Event!!! (Finally)

WDWNT Author on July 17, 2008

It seems there may actually be an event that is exclusive to Walt Disney World Passholders coming this September:

Saturday and Sunday, September 27 & 28, you’re (Walt Disney World Passholders) invited to an exclusive Magic Kingdom screening of the eagerly anticipated new animated feature, Tinker Bell. You’ll be seeing it more than three weeks before the general public does on DVD and Blu-ray October 28!

From the storytellers at Walt Disney Picturescomes a spectacular, full-length CG animated featurefilled with magic and asventure starring Tinker Bell. It takes you into the secret world of Pixie Hollow, where you’ll hear Tinker Bell speak for the very first time.

This imaginative new film also introduces you to delightful new friends in Pixie Hollo-a place coming soon to Magic Kingdom park, where you’ll be able to meet Tinker Bell, Fawn, Iridessa, Rosetta and Silvernist in person!

Passholder Screening Fun Facts:
Saturday and Sunday, September 27 & 28
Magic Kingdom Park
For show times & to sign up,
visit disneyworld.com/passholder
(note: registration is not yet available)

Not only does this article in the August issue of the Mickey Monitor release the event information, it is the first actual confirmation of the addition of a Pixie Hollow meet and greet area to the Magic Kingdom. Stay tuned to WDW News Today to find out when registration for this special event will open.