Snow And The Seven Find One...

Walt Disney Pictures has signed Francis Lawrence(Constantine, I Am Legend) to direct "Snow and the Seven", the Kung Fu interpretation of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".

The Hollywood Reporter describes the story as a fantasy adventure that follows a British girl raised in 19th century Hong Kong. She realizes it's her destiny is to conquer the forces of evil and has seven Shaolin monks prepare her to fight. Scott Rudin and Andrew Gunn will produce.

This is the production that was mentioned in one of our previous "Forgotten Mouse Tales" posts.

Nevermores...

Something which never was or is no more: "Nevermores"...

In light of Disney's decision to ban smoking from its films I thought we should go back and examine what characters in classic Disney films have actually used the dreaded weed, tobacco. Disney's new edict got me thinking about what wonderful villains and other characters we would be deprived of if this kind of PC mentality had been in place fifty years ago.

The most obvious character I can remember is Betty Lou Gerson 's voice work as Cruella De Vil from "One Hundred and One Dalmatians". Remember her prancing around in her gaudy fashion outfits puffing on that cigarette?

Or what about the Richard Haydn's portrayal of the Hooka smoking Caterpillar from "Alice in Wonderland" ?

Some of these people dislike smoking so much they consider it a sin almost... maybe they're right. After-all, look at James Woods version of Hades in his underworld from Disney's "Hercules"... yep, that's right. He's a smoker. Nothing like making a villain without any vices... what an exciting bad guy he would be if you were to take away all that you hate about him.

There are others I can think of, but I'll leave that up to you.

What characters can you remember that smoked in Disney films? Now they don't have to be from an animated film. It can be live-action if you want. So put your two-cents in. What characters would we never have seen had Walt put this policy in himself? I know some of you will want to bring up the fact that Walt was a smoker and hid it from the public, that he died of it... but I'm not of the belief that people need a company to hide all the bad things in life from them. I also don't believe that a company should be making those kind of decisions for you.

A parent should.

So tell me... what or who would we have missed, had Walt Disney Productions had this policy in place during the Golden Age of Disney Animations?


Hat Tip to reader Greg for his suggestion for this article.

No Character...

A restraining order has been issued by the Delhi High Court on a Mumbai-based company that prevents it from making or selling products using Disney characters on a plea by Disney Enterprises Inc.

This is a priority of the Walt Disney Company in its Asian plans. One of the key stumbling blocks to building a theme park in India and mainland China is the rampant copyright infringement that goes on there. The Western understanding of intellectual property has yet to fully take hold in various parts of Asia. If Bob Iger and his executives can become confident that it can be contained then we can look forward to a much quicker expansion into those territories.

Story Of The Lamp, So Far...

Variety has a positive review of "The Pixar Story" up that discusses the Leslie Iwerks' documentary film of the little company from Emeryville that could. A rough cut of this played at Comic-Con this week. Unforunately, I didn't get to see it due to a really booked schedule. Go over and give it a read... interesting stuff.

Iwerks, btw is the daughter of Ub Iwerks.

Forgotten Mouse Tales 5...

Time for another look at what the Mouse has bought and forgotten. Sometimes stories get snapped up almost because there's a "I've got to have it first" mentality in Hollywood. This affects practcally every studio in Southern California and even Disney is not immune from this behavior...

The Greatest American Hero 

Walt Disney Pictures had Stephen J. Cannell ready to produce this pitch, writen by Paul Hernandez, a super-hero fantasy based on the 80's televison series about a mild mannered teacher that finds a suit left by some form of aliens. He looses the instruction manual for how to operate the suit and the hilarity begins. Didn't they do this with "Condorman" already? Oh right, it was bad... wasn't it? Actually, I was a fan of this show as a little kid. With the right script and cast it could be a gem... just a suggestion to the casting agents, Steve Carell anyone?


The Three Pigs 

Walt Disney Feature Animation was supposed to make this retelling of the classic story that features the Pigs who take their book apart to confuse and keep the wolf away, build a paper airplane and fly off on a fairy tale adventure of their own. On their journey, they meet up with the cat and the fiddle and a dragon, cutting across many different levels of culture. The story was base on David Wiesner's best-selling children's book.


Modern Day Pirate Project

Not satisfied with rulling the seas of a period film, Walt Disney Pictures paid Daniel Taylor a mid-six figures for this modern-day story about pirates in the South China Sea. Jack Sparrow's great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandson perhaps? Andrew Gunn and Ann Marie Fanderlin were to produce.


Untitled Danny Cannon Pitch

Jerry Bruckheimer was to produce this film, to be written and directed by Danny Cannon about a man is hired to protect a woman, during which time something goes wrong and the duo find themselves on the run. That sounds like something I've never seen before... where oh where did they come up with that original plot I wonder? Hmmm...

Bartimaeus Trilogy 

This story by Jonathan Stroud, to be made by Miramax, was the first installment of a book deal he made called "The Amulet of Samarkand" is about an ancient djinni(a genie) named Bartimaeus who is summoned by a disobedient young wizard to steal a magical amulet from a powerful magician. If the book was a success there was going to a trilogy of books... and if the movie was a success then a trilogy of film as well. Obviously.


Providence

A comedey written by Jeff Nathanson about two young filmmakers given $3 million by a mysterious benefactor to make a film in Providence, Rhode Island. When they go to shoot their movie they discover that they have been unwitting players in an FBI sting operation. Based loosely on a true story. Nathanson would direct the film. David Permut and Larry Brezner were attached to produce for the Mouse.


Sweet Hush 

Disney paid a mid-six figures for this tale of a widowed, female head of an Appalachian apple-growing empire who is pitted against the White House when her only son comes home from Harvard after having secretly married the president's daughter.  Disney bought the film rights to this novel by Deborah Smith. Deborah Martin Chase was to produce this for Walt Disney Pictures.


Tripod

Walt Disney Pictures paid 1 million dollars for the rights to this film, based on a sci-fi series of young adult books by John Christopher is about a young boy who resists aliens' attempts to brainwash him after the earth's apocalypse. Don Murphy is producing for Disney through his Angry Films production company.

Jack Sparrow Comes Home Christmas...

I forgot to mention this because I've been busy of late...

Disney announced that "Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End" comes to DVD and Blu-Ray on December 4, 2007. The DVD version will come in 1 or 2 discs... Blu-Ray comes with a slew of games and additions that help the Mouse support its new preferred format. The holiday date gives the Johnny Depp film a good deal of time to still pass "Dead Man's Chest" though...

Thanks to Ultimate Disney for the cover art.

D'oh! Lucky Number Seven...

Homer ruled the box office this weekend.

"The Simpson's Movie" came in at number 1 with just under $72 million here in America. The film's international gross was over $112 million. That's a whole lot of Butterfingers for Bart. The Simpson's keep this up and they'll be richer than Mr. Burns before too long.

"Chuck and Larry" get moved down to number 2 with a $71 million total since last week. That Wizard from Hogwarts stays in third place with around $17 million for almost $242 million in the states. Michael Bay's love-fest to the Summer Box Office, the "Transformers" stays at 5th place with $285 million at home and $192 abroad for a $477 million total.

Remy held on to the number 7 with a domestic total of a little under $180 million. It's still chugging along with over 2 million a day on the weekends. The foreign take at Box Office Mojo is around $37 million, but that figure hasn't been updated yet for this weeks numbers. Many of the release dates for "Ratatouille" are mid August through October so there are many countries yet to add to the final gross. Let's hope the bootlegs aren't flooding too many of these markets.

Just remember, all domestic takes are accurate up to the 29th of July, but the international tallies won't be updated till tomorrow.

We're deep into the second half of summer with only a handful of movies still to be released.

Observations On San Diego's Fantasyland Part 1...

Greetings everyone...

Back from Comic-Con where my friends and I had a great time wandering San Diego. The only problem is that the event has gotten so big since we first started going that it was difficult to move(attendance has doubled since we started going). I met up with several friends and a few Imagineers I know.

I love attending all the panels, the movies, the television shows, the comics, the dealers on the floor and all things there that are Disney(which is really only a small part), but every year when they have people come to ask questions I cringe. Not because of the silly, sometime very elaborate costumes, but what they ask. Some questions are just boring, while others make you wonder how these people's mother let them out of their basement. All in all, it was a fun, silly and sometimes embarrassing affair. Over the course of the day we got to talk and see many things(most non-Disney related). The Warner Brothers panel featuring Zach Snyder's "Watchmen" presentation was great except everyone was a little disappointed there was no "Dark Knight" presence. I got to hear from the director of one of my favorite movies "Blade Runner", when Ridley Scott, cast and crew spoke at a panel about the new DVD release. There was a large "Pirates of the Caribbean" presence on the main floor with a huge pirate ship and hi-def screens advertising the upcoming Blu-Ray disc of the film. Disney's presence was very clear here, although I surprised at how little there was related to movies like "Enchanted" or "National Treasure 2". It's clear though that Disney as well as the other studios are looking to this built in audience as a major place to do promotion for future projects.

There was a Pixar panel that announced the release on November 6th of the first 13 Pixar shorts on a DVD. A nice, little history of the company was presented as well.

I bumped into an idol of mine on the floor. Ron Clements, the co-director of "Little Mermaid", "Aladdin", "Hercules" and the forthcoming "Princess and the Frog" was there with his lovely wife. Both were very nice, very gracious and quite patient with my fawning praise upon him.

Next time I'll cover the panel on "Narnia: Prince Caspian" and Pixar's "Wall-E" as well as a few things I've found out over burgers and beers...

Nerdvana...

There will be no updates till the end of the weekend as I will be in San Diego at the Mecca of all Geekdom... "Comic-Con International 2007". I'll be meeting up with several like-minded friends and sources for our annual trek south.

As I tell my friends, this is the one time of the year that I attempt to buy back my childhood. The only thing negative would be if we happened to run into a Suit from the powers that be.

Thankfully, I'll be incognito and most will never know I was even there...

Everyone have a great weekend and I'll see you on the other side.

One Very Big, Banner Year...

The Hollywood Reporter has an article about the successful year that Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International(formerly Buena Vista International) is having at the box office. It mentions that "POTC: AWE" will likely make much more than "Dead Man's Chest" in its final take. Also of not is that this is the 13th year the distributor has reached the billion dollar mark. Will it continue? Have no fear, Underdog is here. Or is he? I'm not sure if this film will be the hit that Disney hopes... it doesn't excite me like the original cartoon did. Perhaps some stories don't translate from animation as well as others. After that release I don't believe there's much on Walt Disney Pictures release schedule until "Enchanted" in the fall... which may have a nice little bonus in front of it if some of the rumors I hear are true...

Paris, The Happiest Place On Earth?

Euro Disney SCA, the company that runs the Disneyland Paris Resort(of which Disney owns 39 percent) released its third quarter revenue figures today.

Good news.

Revenue rose 322 million euros or 12 percent.

Theme park revenues were up 8 percent.

Hotels and Disney Village profits increased 21 percent.

The occupancy rate went up 4.7 percent.

Well this will certainly be good news for those Imagineers that are staring over those plans for expansion of the Resort, won't it. Oops... did I say thatt?

Good news, none the less...

Thanks For Caring...

You've probably all heard that Bob Iger has announced that Disney films will no longer show cigarettes because of the image it presents to children.

No word yet as to when they will no longer show death and killing... we wouldn't want to influence kids into doing that would we?

I hate when anyone, be they a government or a company try and be my parents. I already have parents. Thanks anyway, Bob. Please... please... please... stop with the PC crap.

Please.

The Blessing Of A Curse (Theme parks)...

It's funny how life works.

I mean sometimes we expect something and when it doesn't happen we feel it's the end of the world. Or sometimes we focus on the negative things that have happened to us. And later down the line we realize that what happened helped us.

Made us stronger.

That is what has happened to the Walt Disney Company.

Most people feel that DCA is a disappointment. WDS would be a colossal disappointment. HKDL is an avoidable disappointment. But you know what?

I'm glad they happened. Really... I am.

Why, you wonder?

Well, if you examine the administration of Michael Eisner you can see a disturbing trend. If you look at the majority of the first decade he ran the company it was a very positive run. With the exception of a few things(ahem, Port Disney... ahem, WestCot) it was a very successful and smartly ran period. I've mentioned it before, but in 1994 when Frank Wells died in that helicopter crash the whole Disney world changed. Eisner lost his balance... the yin to his yang was gone. Wells was the counter-balance to Eisner. To paraphrase Jerry Maguire... he completed Eisner. With him gone the ego that was kept in check was let loose and we had the second half of Eisner reign. The one that turned out to be utterly disastrous.

But corporations like people, will make mistakes because they are ran by people. And just like people, corporations will go through times where they make bad decisions and if they are smart they'll learn from it. They'll grow... and respond to the bad decisions they made. Hopefully for the better.

Think about what would have happened had DCA been a success. What would have been the response had WDS been a roaring success in Paris. How Hong Kong would have responded had HKDL had unbelievably high attendance.

What would have happened?

Those parks would have shown Eisner the way for the future of the Mouse House. We'd be looking at Micro-Parks. Bland, unthemed parks would have become the norm for Disney. We wouldn't likely have a new park coming or an incredibly large makeover of DCA.

Instead we have a track record over the past decade of how NOT to construct a theme park. Now, since Disney has been designing these parks for over 40 years you would have thought they would have known better. Hubris can affect companies as well as people. Sometimes it's good to get their attitude adjusted. Eisner and his collection of Suits had their egos cut down closer to size. Maybe not down to where they belong, but closer to the point where they realized they had made a tragic error in judgment. The Suits thought that taking Knotts/Six Flaggs Land and slapping the Disney name on it was enough to bring people in droves. It didn't happen and they learned... more importantly, the stock holders learned. They finally realized the damaged Eisner had done to the company over the last decade.

It was painful. But it was necessary... Where do you think we would be today had this not happened.

Would we be getting the incredible reboot of DCA?

Would we be seeing WDI drawing up proposals to turn WDS into a much better park?

Would we be seeing the expansion ideas that are on the drawing boards for HKDL?

Would we be seeing the reworking and eventual growth of WDW that is supposed to happen in a few years?

No, we wouldn't. And I know it would have been nice that we could have avoided this painful chapter in a company we all love. But sometimes you have to go through the fire to realize what you have and where you're going. Sometimes you can't see what is in front of you. Sometimes you don't believe what is most obvious. Sometimes you feel you can do no wrong. As humans we fail all the time. Michael Eisner felt he could do no wrong... and he was wrong. But now that we're on the other side of it...

Don't you feel the Walt Disney Company is a better place? It's management is better. It realizes what went wrong in the past. It will try not make those mistakes in the future. Growing pains are not comfortable, but sometimes they are necessary. The next decade could be a Golden Age for Disney and its fan base. Hopefully Bob Iger will have the wisdom to avoid Eisner's mistakes... or at least most of the mistakes. He's not perfect of course.

After all, he's only human.

New Orleans Open For Business...

No, we're not talking about the recovery after Hurricane Katrina.

We're talking about New Orleans Square. It opened on this day in 1966. This was the first new "land" added since the parks opening. While the area opened up, the attraction for which it is famous was still being constructed and wouldn't open till the following year.

Blue Sky Alert Asia (Hong Kong): A Dragon's Secrets...

I believe it's necessary to give a brief update as to HKDL's status based on the majority of the reactions Blue Sky has gotten to the Anaheim Alert posted last week.

It appears that Disney is working it's leverage with the Hong Kong government. There's a report coming out of China that Bill Ernest, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort has been stating the Walt Disney Company's intent to build a third hotel. This one is supposed to be located in between the current two resorts. This is most likely the hotel we mentioned in our previous HK Alert. The only reasons that this news would be released is to apply pressure on the local government for negotiations of the expansion of the park and to portray to the world that HKDL is a success.

Is it?

Yes...

And no.

While the Hong Kong resort has been a major disappointment, it is not a failure. Just as DCA is not a failure, but a disappointment of higher expectations for a lower investment. Under Bob Iger and John Lasseter, with a little encouragement from Steve Jobs, the plans for expansion over the next five years are incredibly robust. Although we don't expect the Walt Disney Company to start throwing around budgets like the Oriental Land Company, it will be comparably close in terms of costs and theming.

Now as we've said before... HKDL is a lovely park. Just under-built. Unlike Walt Disney Studios Paris which truly didn't deserve to have the Disney name upon it, Hong Kong has all the makings of a great park. But the days of Eisner's building small and then expanding out are over. With the history of disappointment behind it the current mantra from Burbank and Glendale will be elaborate theming and appropriate budgets to go along with them.

A compass that doesn't point north...


Development continues on the two E-Tickets that are being developed for the expansion into Adventureland. The POTC and Haunted Mansion rides will definitely be showcase pieces of entertainment that will expand the capacity of the park greatly. While the start date is still in question, the recent admission by Bill Ernest is an example of Disney trying to get out in front of the message and not play defense. Iger and company want to apply some pressure to government officials so as to have a better bargaining position for the upcoming projects.

The Downtown Disney projects are still in development but may or may not be called that. There are various groups fighting for prominence in WDI and no one knows which one will come out on top.


I've read several e-mails from people expressing worries about Paris and HK with the news that DCA will be getting such a large infusion of cash. While it is true Anaheim's Second Gate is going to be a busy place, it doesn't mean Hong Kong will be neglected. DCA getting a large amount of money doesn't mean it's being taken from HKDL's own budget. Bob Iger very much wants to expand in Asia and HKDL plays very much into those plans(along with Shanghai). Over the next year or so we'll be seeing a lot more posturing than building. Planning will still be going on behind the scenes, but Iger is trying to get the best deal for Disney.

Business is tough... but there is simply too much money to be made from the Chinese market for Disney to just sit around and hope that people will finally come into the park. To everyone that's feeling a bit disappointed I say be calm... be patient. Hong Kong Disneyland Resort will come into its own over the next few years. By the end of this decade you will finally start to see it begin to come to fruition. I would think that the beginning of the next Decade will find HKDL and almost every other park take on a much more positive outlook. The Mouse is trying to keep its secrets while dealing with Hong Kong, but slowly... the secrets are being revealed.

All you have to do is read between the lines...

Escape To Witch Mountain, All Over Again...

Walt Disney Pictures has signed Andy Fickman(The Game Plan) to direct the remake of "Escape To Witch Mountain", the re-imagined interpretation of the classic 1975 adventure movie. Andrew Gunn will produce through his Gunn Films banner which is shingled at the Disney lot. The movie is being put on the fast track for a 2008 release.

The original film was based on a science fiction novel by Alexander Key following a brother and sister with paranormal powers. The siblings go on the run after a sinister group discovers their abilities and attempts to capture them. I loved the film as a child. Although it's a little dated, the story is still very fun to watch and could be a great movie if handled properly.

Remy Attends Chuck & Larry's Wedding...

And now for our recap of the box office this weekend...

"I now pronounce you Chuck & Larry" came in first this weekend despite the critics. Harry Potter was in second showing surprisingly good staying power for such a young wizard. John Travolta was third place with "Hairspray" playing the ugliest woman I've ever seen. Michael Bay's summer fun film "Transformers" dropped to fourth. And "Ratatouille" took the fifth spot... the ironic thing is that it's been averaging 3 to 4 million a night consistently on the weekends. It's made a little more than $165 million domestically and almost $30 million overseas despite having a great deal of countries still to open in over the next two months. None of the figures for the international box office on Box Office Mojo are accurate though, as the foreign take hasn't been tallied since last week. We won't know the final figures till tomorrow. It's a numbers game for the rest of the summer for the Rat movie...

Also of note, "POTC: AWE" has made $950 million world-wide with final figures not yet in it appears this Johnny Depp film will make close to the second film, but not quite as much. Still a very impressive numbers if I say so myself. We'll see if Disney can keep up the hit streak when it premiers "Underdog" on August 3rd. Personally, I don't think this movie will do good, but I've been wrong before...

The Goldielocks Economy...

Being positive has many reactions...

Some people on the web tend to believe you're a Lemming. That you go through life with a bias refusing to look at something from a clear perspective. I've had quite a few e-mails accuse me of this. That I'm a shill for the Disney company talking only about the good news, never addressing the underlying problems the Mouse has.

But what I've learned in life is...

Being positive is hard. Being negative is easy. It all depends on the perspective you view it from. Sometimes it's difficult to be positive... but I believe it helps when you go through life to try and find a reason to believe. It certainly helps you get through the hard times and really enjoy the good times.

Now for a confession.

I will admit I am a huge Disney fan... if you read this blog I don't think that will come as a surprise to you. I am not though, a Lemming. I do not intend to give people false hope when talking about the coming attractions that the Mouse House has in store for us. I will fully admit that Blue Sky Disney would have a lot harder time filling a weeks worth of news with a positive spin if it had been started three or four years ago. Let's face it... right now the Walt Disney Company is having a banner year. A couple even... and to be truthful, Michael Eisner would be having a banner year were he in charge. Though were that the case, we wouldn't be getting as many fun gifts.

But I will say that it's not just the Disney company that's having a grand time. The global markets are booming and it has an effect on practically everything, including Bob Iger's company.

What this economy is known as is "The Goldielocks Economy". This is an economy that is running on all cylinders, full steam ahead but not too hot and not too cold. Hence the name... We're going through a very profitable time for America and the world. The Dow Jones hit a record 14,000 yesterday and had a minor correction today. The Nasdaq is at a six year high. We've had 41 records on Wall Street since January 1st of this year. This economy is doing very, very well. This is having the affect of creating a great amount of profits that corporations are sitting on. Now the Street doesn't like to see that money just setting around. It wants it to be invested in something substantial... that's why we see Bob Iger so willing to spend money to expand the resorts... he can't just let it sit there and do nothing. If he does the analyst will punish him by reducing the stock price and therefore the value of the company would go down.

We are living in grand times... this is a moment when the economy has combined with focused leadership to very promising results. There is such a thing as having good management and prosperous times colliding to give us what could turn out to be the true "Disney Decade". Let's hope that the economy keeps on chugging along. If we don't have another terrorist attack like 911 or a unforeseen downturn in a foreign market then we could see an incredible spurt of growth, creatively and economically for the Walt Disney Company. This doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with the economy... but no economy has everything run perfect. There will still be companies that go bankrupt and people that get too greedy. But for a Disney Geek, the view almost looks like you're living in Fantasyland.

Life Under The Sea...

The stage version of "The Little Mermaid" which will open in November in New York at the Lunt-Fontanne(former home of "Beauty & the Beast") has got theater insiders wondering if Disney can still create its magic on Broadway. Expectations are high for this production directed by Francesca Zambello, which bows with previews in Denver starting July 26th. With the disappointment of "Tarzan" and the closing of "Beauty & the Beast", many say that Walt Disney Theatrical Productions needs to create a good deal of buzz for this stage version of the Disney classic. Next week, Denver audiences will get their first chance to see what the Mouse has in store for them. Keep in mind that these are essentially rehersals and what happens in Denver may not be what winds up in New York.

Of Mice And Yen...

The Japanese love all things Disney, this is true... but now comes word that "Pirates of the Caribbean: World's End" has become the first foreign movie to gross 10 billion yen ($82 million) at the Japanese box office this year, Walt Disney Japan announced yesterday.

It took "POTC: AWE" 53 days to reach this mark and it'll wind up making more than "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which came in with 10.02 billion yen ($82.1 million) in 2006.

Another country falls under the spell of Johnny Depp's Sparrow, it appears. The Cap'n will rule the Land of the Rising Sun until a certain wizard magically appears...

Summer Reading 2...

Ever wonder what 2 billion dollars worth of theme park looks like?

With all the talk about DCA and it's billion dollar expansion/makeover I figured there might be a good number of you that had never really seen a lot of pictures of Tokyo DisneySea. It's funny, the official site ran by the Oriental Land Company is kind of cluttered and not really a great place to go if you want to see or read about the Tokyo Disney Resort.

If you do want to get a better perspective and see why so many people are disappointed with what Anaheim got, then go check out "Chris's Tokyo Disney Resort Fan Site." It's a fantastic site... there are a great deal of wonderful photographs and good descriptions of the park in general. It focuses on the entire park including Tokyo Disneyland, the Hotels and Ikspiari, which is TDR's version of Downtown Disney. If you just want to see Tokyo DisneySea then click here. But I'd highly recommend you check out Chris' entire sight. Seeing TDS you get a variation of what we were supposed to get with Port Disney in the early 90's.

Live Action Treasure...

Walt Disney's first live action picture(that didn't include animation) was released on this date in 1950. The premiere of "Walt Disney's Treasure Island", based on the book by Robert Louis Stevenson, was the true beginning of Walt Disney's move into live action film making...

I wonder if the year 2011 will be the same for Pixar? Hmmm...

Disney's Boo-Ray... Errr, Blu-Ray Tour...

The Walt Disney Company will be have the traveling shows set up around at shopping malls across the country to give people a glimpse into the future of entertainment. The format that Disney and every other studio except one has chosen as it's preferred format to succeed DVDs is Blu-Ray for those that don't know.

What is Blu-Ray?

Blu-Ray is one of two formats competing for dominance of your non-downloaded entertainment. It was created by Sony and can hold 25 gigabytes in single layer, 50 gigabytes in dual layer per side... so one disc could hold 100 gigabytes each if it's double sided. Now compare that to DVDs which can hold approximately 5 gigabytes. Sony's Playstation 3 just so happens to use Blu-Ray, btw and most Blu-Ray machines are backward compatible... which for you technophobes means you can still play your DVDs in it. The other format is HD-DVD, created by Toshiba which can hold 15 gigabytes and 30 gigabytes respectively.

I know, yada, yada, yada...

So Disney is sending out traveling salesman, 21st century style, to spread the word about how it's going to put out it's product in the future. There will be video games, posters, interactive displays and a mini-movie theater to show what Blu-Ray is. Versions of Disney animated hits like "Cars" and "Meet the Robinsons", and gamers can play the Liar's Dice game from the Blu-ray edition of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest". No word as to when "Monster's Inc." will be out in Blu-Ray, but it along with Disney's entire line will slowly make its way to the new format. The tour will be going to 18 malls for 3 day stays each and is sponsored by Panasonic.

Bob Iger and Disney are determined to get the public to see the benefits of this technology it'll be interesting to see how quickly it's adopted. Of note is that the differing camps for each format... Apple for example has chosen to use Blu-Ray while Microsoft has settled on HD-DVD. It's Beta vs. VHS all over again... the Mouse and many others have bet on Blu-Ray. We won't know the winner for another 3 to 5 years. Hopefully Disney has bet on the right horse... errr, format.

Blue Sky Alert-America (Anaheim): California Dreaming...

The meeting is over...

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Board has left the room.

Now, this won't be a long alert since what I'm reporting has been covered to a degree by Al over at Miceage when he spilled the beans Tuesday on some of what I was intending on reporting Wednesday. I would've posted it earlier, but have been waiting to hear from a couple of my sources. Still, I feel it's probably better to give a few of the details that I've received about what the Walt Disney Company has been up to for the last couple weeks.

I can't give all the details but the budget has been approved. Projects have been approved. Plans are now being finalized.

The Board approved a budget for the expansion/makeover of Disney's California Adventure. Let's just say it's a great deal of money and the figures my sources gave me are close to what Al mentions. Let's be clear that this is far more than what would have been approved under old management. More than it had when it was originally built and greatly more than Eisner would have ever given an underling like Pressler to play with. This will definitely be a "Bob Weis" park. Two of Bob's most famous creations were never built...

Disney's America and Disney-MGM Studios Paris... both plans crash and burned in the mid 90's. The end of this decade will find the park across the Esplanade a worthy sister park. A park that from what I've heard will rival the best parks WDI has designed(yes, even Tokyo DisneySea some say). We'll start to see things pick up come fall. By the beginning of the year the hive of activity around DCA will be hard to miss. Many of the people asking when is it going to get started will finally notice that it already has...


The plans for the DVC units has been approved. Plans have been drawn up for the grass field behind the hotel to become Disney's first time share... but certainly not the last.

The plans for the Disneyland Hotel have been approved. This radical retheming will turn this drab series of boxes into a hotel that is more in theming with the Disneyland park. The exterior will be dramatically different as well as the front entrance and valet sections, not to mention the renovation of the room's interiors(wait till you see some of the suites planned). The plans should start either late this year or early next, but each tower will have about a nine to ten month renovation and be ready by the end of the decade. Also as reported in Miceage, the towers will be given new names that more fit the Disneyland Resort... not its previous owner Mr. Wrather.

No news as to wether the Paradise Pier hotel will be getting a face-lift yet, although I know several Imagineers that want to give it an extreme makeover as well. Any retheming of PPH had to wait for the final design for Paradise Pier so as to blend in with its surroundings. The current plans for the parking area near the PPH call for at least two of the four proposed hotels to be built there. The plans for these hotels should begin being leaked out by 2008.


One aspect of the Disneyland park will be a increased collaboration with Lucasfilm. By early 2008 there will be some form of an announcement about Star Tours 2.0. The folks at WDI are hard at work creating a sequel to our current attraction that will be designed to mimic the lines at the Finding Nemo Submarine Ride. There will be more of a synergy between the two companies regarding the Star Wars properties, both here in Anaheim and WDW(more on that in a future post). There has been talk of having some form of promotion to coincide with the new Star Wars television show that will debut in about a year and a half. These plans are in the very early stages and it will probably be until next year this time before anything starts to gel.


There will be some exciting news come Memorial Day 2008 when we have a new Indiana Jones film to work into the park activities. There is good news for Disneyland and WDW as well(again, more on this later). If adventure has a name it may be Indiana Jones but his location will definitely be at Disney resorts... or as Jay Rasulo says: "Disney Parks"... sigh.


Tony Baxter does have quite a few plans for the park and just because DCA will be getting the lion's share of the money, doesn't mean he's going to just sit around and let the original lose any of it's focus. There's a lot of momentum for one of several proposals of a new advanced People Mover that we could see completed near the end of the decade. There are several examples that are being batted around but right now Baxter wants to make sure everything works in unison with the plans he has for the rest of Tomorrowland. Nothing on this will be settled until sometime next year, but we'll keep a watch on the progress.

Well, that's it for this alert... we'll have more posts near the end of the month with new info... but I wouldn't be surprised if the Mouse revealed a few of it's details sooner rather than later.

Green Joins Old Dogs...

One of the funniest guys I know, Seth Green, just signed to play in Walt Disney Pictures' new film: "Old Dogs" starring John Travolta and Robin Williams. Walt Becker is helming the project.

Happy Birthday, Disneyland!

On this day in 1955 Walt Disney opened his version of a theme park...

And in doing so he reinvented it. It was the first, it was original and unheard of. Disneyland became the park that all others would emulate. Doesn't look too bad for 52 years old, does it? Fear not, it's got a great future... more on that tomorrow.

Through most of his life Walt struggled to get money for his projects, from shorts to films... after Disneyland opened he never again had trouble getting financial backing for anything.

Anything.

Peace In Our Time?

The Orange County Register is reporting that there may be a truce in the war between Disney and Anaheim developers. It appears that a crucial vote scheduled for this week will been postponed according to Frank Elfend, a consultant for SunCal, the proposed developer of the land in dispute. The two sides met over the weekend at the request of SunCal and progress was made to the point where the developer was going to ask the city council to put off a vote planned for Tuesday.

Could it be there won't be a battle at the ballot box afterall?

Emeryville In Evolution...

On January, 24th 2006 the entertainment and business world thought that Disney had done what they had to do to save Disney animation.

They were wrong.

What Bob Iger had done was far, far more ambitious.

When the Walt Disney Company bought Pixar it wasn't just buying the animation company. It was banking on it's stable of talented directors and story people. It was telling John Lasseter and his crew that the Mouse was going to back the things they wanted to do... and to do so without Suits intervening.

It was going to trust the talent.

Not that it was being foolish. Pixar did have an impressive track record. But in doing this deal, Iger had even bigger plans. Plans for the animation unit, the film unit and the parks as well. I'm sure he didn't intend certain things to have happened, but he's adapted along the way. With each day the influence of John Lasseter becomes more of a presence. Along with him, behind the scenes we've seen the steady influence of Steve Jobs over the course the company has made as well. His effect on the board is an example of the track record he's had with Pixar and his little fruit company. Though everyone hasn't noticed it Apple has had a underlying effect on the Mouse House. Iger has a superstar executive on the Board in Jobs and a superstar executive inside the company with Lasseter. The parallels between Apple and NeXT Computers are striking. Just like NeXT came in and virtually took over Apple's business... Pixar seems to be doing the same with the inner workings of Disney. Now this doesn't mean we'll be seeing Jobs take over from Iger. I think he's going to be a "Kingmaker" at Disney more than he is a king, but he will have a behind the scenes affect on what happens in the forthcoming future. We'll have more about Jobs in a future post.

So if Jobs is the Kingmaker and Iger is the King, then what does that make Uncle John? The heroic Prince of course... I can see the negative Nabobs rolling their eyes at that. But I don't mean it as a Pollyannish metaphor, only as a fairy tale analogy for a company built on fantasy.

Now as to how this is more than just about animation I must first address that subject. The basic deal that Iger made was for animation. He knew that to bring the company back to it's glory days, he'd have to not only offer Lasseter the head of animation title but something else. This was the offering of carrots. The big carrot was putting Uncle John in charge of Imagineering. Iger was originally intending on him having just an advisory role, but Lasseter has essentially made WDI run under his control through the power of his success the way he's done the same with Jay Rasulo. Slowly we've seen all of the animation the company does fall under his sway so that he can keep a tight control over how the companies properties are dealt with. The only exception is the Disney Television animation unit, which will have a peaceful existence with Uncle John so long as it's not going to step on his territory(read: DisneyToons' Tinkerbell situation). But because of Lasseter's position in the company, you can bet that they'll run certain things by him so as to not provoke a situation.

The other deal that Iger made with Lasseter and Jobs was to let Pixar be an autonomous unit which essentially funds it's own projects and answers to Lasseter and no one else unless the studio starts to have some sort of financial problems. A highly unlikely proposition in the near future, I believe. But in giving Lasseter the power over Pixar and Disney, Iger is letting Lasseter spread his seed through the rest of the company in the hopes that Pixar's success will spread over into other divisions.

With Pixar in this position, it will undoubtedly evolve. The way that Pixar is evolving is in the same way that Walt Disney Productions evolved as Walt got more and more powerful and had more money on which to risk his ideas. After silent shorts, Disney moved into sound shorts, then color, then animated features... and then live action features before going into theme parks. All along the way making a mint merchandising his creations.

See the line?

Now Pixar already makes shorts... it already has the power of Disney to merchandise it's products and the parks are filled with rides based on it's films. Earlier in the year everyone read that article that talked about Brad Bird's next film and how it would be live action. Then there are the rumors that Andrew Stanton's involvement in the "Princess Of Mars" live action film that Pixar is making. And these are not the only ones that Pixar is developing for its live action slate.

By the end of this decade we'll start to see the fruits of this evolving as Pixar becomes a studio that makes live action as well as animation. It will be a company that defines itself by the stories it tells, not that they are in animation. And that credit on the posters for "1906" or "Princess Of Mars" that says: "Executive Producer John Lasseter"... well, it's going to continue to grow. Pixar is on a path where within a decade we could see it have its own slate of films just like Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Pictures. It has the potential to become another brand for the Mouse, not just an animation brand but a fully developed brand.

And Uncle John's title as "Executive Producer" will continue to grow. It will expand beyond the walls of Pixar as the films of Walt Disney Animation Studios go... so does his influence over other films. I would be surprised if we didn't see his name on several live action movies from Walt Disney Pictures or even Touchstone in the future.

Some people don't believe in evolution, that it's make-believe. Up in Emeryville, they're taking advantage of the fact that they create make-believe to move forward evolution. The Walt Disney Company we know today will be vastly different place come the next decade... but that's expected. Everything changes. Everything evolves. So long as it's for the better, change is good. It provides us with new worlds of wonder to explore. So all I say to Iger, Jobs and Lasseter...

Surprise me.

Wizard Triumphs Over Robots, Rat Keeps Cooking...

The young wizard, Harry Potter ruled the box office this weekend in his attempt to foil "He who cannot be named"...

Coming in first, to no ones surprise is "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" with $140 million in America and $190 million around the world for a five day take of $330 million. I guess magic is always popular wether it's made by a wizard or Disney, hmmm? "Transformers" was second with $222 million domestic and $97 million international for a total $320 million so far. Pixar's little rat came in third as we expected, much to the surprise of many skeptics it's pulled in $143 million at home with a limited international release that's garnered $17 million for a combined 161 million worldwide. The film has yet to open in several markets overseas and appears to have a good wind so far. We don't yet know if it'll match "Cars" domestic take but it's performing admirably so far against a great deal of summer competition. There are no more release hurdles "Ratatouille" has to overcome... from now till the end of summer it's just a matter of how strong its legs are.

Stealing Third...

With several new movies released since its opening, "Ratatouille" appears to be holding its own at third place. With the surmountable threat of "Transformers" over, Remy faced a teen wizard this weekend. While Pixar's latest won't be its most profitable, it's certainly doing much better than some of the doom-sayers were predicting. Maybe some of those Suits are hiding in the shadows going: "Rats! Pixar didn't fail again?!"...

We're only half-way through the weekend so the final tally is still a day away, but with ticket sales of the movie up 61.3 percent, John Lasseter and Brad Bird seem to have defied the negativity...

Again.

This eighth movie from the little studio in Emeryville may have not been a home run... but I think Pixar will be happy to settle for third.

When Loud Shirts Talk...

There's a nice, short interview with Uncle John at the Manchester Evening News where he talks about what it was like to produce "Ratatouille" to how it feels to run Walt Disney Animation Studios... it's a good read and shows how positive Lasseter is about Disney, Pixar and animation in general.

It was nice of John to take time out from walking on water to give this interview...

Thanks to "UpComingPixar" for the hat tip.

Disney Heads To Junction Point...

The Walt Disney Company continues to beef up it's armada of gaming studios in its attempt to become a major presense in the world of video games. From E3 comes news that Disney Interactive Studios has acquired Warren Spector’s new game studio, Junction Point. It will continue to create new video game franchises like those it is currently working on as well as bringing existing Disney franchises to next-generation platforms. Spector, a veteran computer game designer(Deus Ex, Thief: Deadly Shadows) was most recently with Ion Storm before departing to form Junction Point last year. The company is currently partnering with John Woo on an untitled video game.

The Original "Disney Wedding"...

Do you Walter Elias Disney take Lillian Marie Bounds to be your lawfully wedded wife?

I do...

Walt married Lillian today in 1925. Who says office romances don't turn out good?

Some say that Walt was married to his work and Lillian was simply his mistress... Others simply believe that his work defined him as a man, Lillian defined him as a husband and his children defined him as a father. I prefer to believe all three define him as a hero and an American. That's what I believe...

I do...

I really do.

Disney Finds Itself Cursed For Six Months...

Walt Disney Pictures has acquired the spec script "Six Month Curse," a romantic comedy by scribe by Julie Golden. The story is about a bride that discovers she has been cursed since birth so all her romantic relationships have a six-month shelf life. To save her marriage, she heads up the Brazilian rain forest to break the curse. Complications arise when she falls for her river guide. Jennifer Klein will produce through Apartment 3B Prods.

The Success Of Failure...

I've heard all the chatter. I've listened to the rumors. I've ease-dropped on the comments people have made about it.

What am I talking about?

The people on various sites that seem to talk about "sources" at the Walt Disney Company that are just waiting for Pixar to fall flat on it's face. These people that are quoted seem to relish the day the little company in Emeryville turns out a dud. They wait, rubbing their hands, fingers crossed and eyes darting around wondering if this is the time they can say "See, John Lasseter isn't perfect"... Sigh...

No one has ever said he's perfect. I don't even believe he can walk on water. But certain people seem intent on proving that the man has flaws and Pixar's not perfect. It shows how no success in Hollywood goes without the punishment. Some of these people are the Suits in middle management. Some are the Executives left over from the Eisner Era that want to wash their hands of any blame for the mediocrity that's been churned out over the past decade. Some happen to be the wonderful Bean Counters that Lasseter told have no business being in the animation building because they can't draw. Then of course there are the views of some people on the internet that report the box office numbers that don't match up to the last film. As if every film HAS to make more than the last.

You get my point?

The focus of this post is mainly on the ones who work for Disney. Most of these people are suffering from a severe case of the "Envies". Quite a few are by my definition "Deadweight" and will hopefully be sending out job resumes to other film companies by the end of the year. But that's only a semi-hope. I don't expect Iger, Catmull and Lasseter will have excised themselves of all the negative nabobs by the end of this year... or ever for that matter. All companies have their bad apples. But I think that these people should reflect on the fact that they work for a company that happens to thrive upon the success of it's Creatives. If they fail... somewhere down the line, maybe not now, but at a point in time it'll come back and haunt them. It may even cost them THEIR jobs. These people wishing for John Lasseter to fail is akin to a member of your family wanting one of their siblings to fail because of the success he's had and they have not. Some of these groups will point to the box office or merchandise sells or the favorite beaten to death story of Pixar's purchase price. None look at this from a long perspective and most don't have any perspective to work with in the first place.

Take for example how everyone was so disappointed with "Cars" when it didn't do as well as the last Pixar film. Even though it made close to half a billion world wide. The letdown was tempered by the fact that "Cars" merchandise sold so much better than was expected. Now as we've reported earlier, "Cars" is on track to make two billion dollars in merchandising this year and that's without a film to back it up. I'd say that the majority of executives over at Team Disney are pretty happy with the situation. I sure know the ones in Disney Consumer Products are. There's supposed to be a new cars short that is working it's way down the production process which will only add to the credibility of these characters. And I'm not saying this because "Cars" is a favorite of mine. If you remember my review of "Ratatouille" I placed it almost last in my opinion of Pixar movies. Still there are those that always see a dark lining in every silver cloud and refuse to think about anything further than the next fiscal quarter.

I'm certainly glad the founder of this company never thought like this. Most people forget that "Snow White" was a tremendous success, but most of Walt's other animated films up until after World War II were considered failures or disappointments at the box office. What would we think of someone criticizing Disney for it's decision to make these films that are now considered classics? History has forgotten that these films were initially disappointments...over the passage of time we've come to realize them for their value and the company has more importantly profited greatly from them. It's my belief that the films released by Pixar will be properties that can be mined well into the future. The hand-ringing certain people on Wall Street and other members of the web community have been doing will be forgotten. The films will not. The stories won't be forgotten. The ideas will remain and the profits that the nay-sayers wonder about will drown out their cries. Hopefully, the people that wish for part of their own company to fail will have moved on to bankrupt and ruin some other company. Maybe the Suits that helped lead Walt Disney Feature Animation to this point can move over to the Weinstein Company and help them with the brilliant animation decisions they've made.

The company is now being led by people who realize that the business community takes an instant gratification view toward profitability. But Bob Iger, Steve Jobs, Dick Cook, Ed Catmull and Uncle John are thinking about long term. Not next year or five years, but what will the company look like in a decade or more. I realize that changes to these plans will be made. Changes always happen... they must and will happen because life throws problems at you. But the Walt Disney Company now has the vision and direction, which tempered with its current leadership has the courage to follow through with its plan and to weather the storm of negativity that comes its way. Am I saying that they are perfect? Am I saying that there are no flaws to this plan? No to both. WDC is being run by people and people make mistakes. But I believe Iger and his crew have the unique prism of Eisner's reign to guide it clear of most of the difficulties that are ahead. My one worry is the direction that Jay Rasulo is taking with his "Disney Parks" strategy. His direction has the potential to turn certain aspects of the resorts into "McDisney" destinations. Luckily, we have Lasseter's sway with Iger to temper his strategy and as Lasseter's power grows he seems to be a correcting compass for some of Jay's plans for the resort... not all of them, but a good deal of them. Were Matt Ouimet to take control of the Parks and Resorts I'd consider this to be Disney's strongest leadership since Walt Disney ran the company.

You remember how people critiqued Walt in his decisions? How "Snow White" was being talked about in Hollywood as "Disney's Folly"? How "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" was going to bankrupt the company. That anyone investing in that carnival Disney was building down in Anaheim was crazy. Many times Walt Disney showed everyone just how wrong they were about him. Iger and crew are not Walt, but I have a feeling they too will show the critics how wrong they are. It's easy to think negative. It's hard to succeed, otherwise everyone would already be a success. The only success these people have is in failure. What a horrible way to see Disney... to view the world... to live your life. They wish to have Lasseter and Disney fail, but it's their own failure they seem to be most afraid of. For Lasseter to fail helps them validate their worth and erase the bitter sting of the bad decisions they made.

I don't envy them...

Forgotten Mouse Tales 4...

And yet another in our series of articles on scripts/pitches the Mouse had thought would be great films so they paid unbelievably large amounts of money for them and then let them float off into that never, neverland know as development hell.

Crusader 

Walt Disney Pictures bought this script by Jonathan Hales(Star Wars: Attack of the Clones) which was an epic science fiction story set in the future on an alien planet, in which two brothers battle each other for control of a kingdom. Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson were to produce.


Affirmative Action 

This drama written by Billy Ray was bought for Touchstone Pictures centered around a cultural collision between an African American FBI agent and white New Orleans cop brought together on a case.  The story was based on an idea by Affleck and was to star him and Will Smith. Jerry Bruckheimer would have produced.


The Napoleon Of Crime 

No, this was not about the Great Detective's nemesis: Moriarty. This script, also by Billy Ray, told the story of 19th century thief Adam Worth (to be played by Robert Reford) who, after robbing every worthwhile bank vault and train, moved on to London with his partner, Piano Charley Bullard. There, the two became intangled in a love triangle with an Irish barmaid named Kitty Flynn.  Again, Jerry Bruckheimer was to produce and Jeb Stuart and Terry George were doing a rewrite.


Peter Westbrook Life Story

Walt Disney Pictures purchased this pitch about the true life story of Peter Westbrook, who escaped the New Jersey housing projects by taking up the sport of fencing and went on to become and Olympic champ. Later, he created the Peter Westbrook Foundation, a fencing school in Harlem that has trained thousands of inner-city children, including three who represented the United States at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. The film was to be produced by Debra Martin Chase and writers Keith Mitchell and Allie Dvorian. Allie Dvorian was to write the script based on the pitch.


Signature

This pitch was purchased for a high six figures to be writen by Cormac Wibberly and Marianne Wibberly(The 6th Day). The science fiction thriller was the story was about the way violent criminals were rehabilitated in the future. Jerry Bruckheimer was to produce.


Illusion 

This action thriller was bought for a low six figures by Walt Disney Pictures. Written by William Brent Bell and Matthew Peterman this was the story of an illustionist falsely accused of a crime that then used his illustion skills to clear his name. Jonathan Frakes was to direct and produce with Lisa Olin.


The Sword In The Stone 

Walt Disney Pictures was planning to make this film based on the novel by T.H. White, published in 1958 known as "The Once And Future King", this live action version of the story that Disney animated earlier was to tell the story of a young boy named Arthur who comes of age and is taught the ways of the world by a wizard named Merlin. Stop me if you've heard this before... Jay Wolpert(The Count Of Monte Cristo) was to pen the screenplay.


The Forger 

This thriller penned by David Auburn was the story is about an American student who arrives in Paris in 1939 and is swept up in a plot to replace French masterpieces with forgeries before the Nazis confiscate them. Miramax bought the rights to the book by Paul Watkins. Laura Ziskin was to produce.


De-Fense

This script purchased by Walt Disney Pictures was about a comedy about a suspended NFL player(Ice Cube) sentenced by the league to return to his hometown of Los Angeles to coach a high school football team. While dealing with the teens and the sport, he finds the love of the game within himself again. Ice Cube's company, Cube Vision was to produce for Disney along with Gunn Films.

How Much Does Pooh Cost?

Funny way to begin my first article back, huh?

I thought with all the talk of new rides that the resorts could be getting we could get a little perspective by focusing on some of the rides that the Imagineers have done over the past decade and how much they've cost in comparison to each other.

Everyone's been talking about the new "Finding Nemo Sub Ride" and how it cost a large amount. I've even seen some people say that it cost $170 million dollars. Now, I don't have the exact number... but it's not nearly that much. Let's just say it's more than a $100 million but less than that figure. This is a large amount, but is it the most Disney's paid for a ride?

No.

Some of my contacts have mentioned that "Mission: Space" would take that prize. Imagineers blew through a good amount of cash to bring that thing to life. The numbers I've seen approached a cool quarter of a billion dollars for that ride. Some people don't think the Mouse got his money's worth.

Then there's DAK's own "Expedition Everest" which was about fifty million behind the "M:Space" price tag. And if you've ever been to Animal Kingdom you'll see why it cost so much. It's a stunning addition to the park.

One way that WDI has generated a lot of money for itself is by building the rides for our friends over in Tokyo. Yes, the Oriental Land Company has forked out a lot of moolah for the attractions it puts in both parks for their guest. The one that is a true wonder is the ride that opened up in September of 2000 in Tokyo Disneyland.

"Pooh's Honey Hunt".

This is Tokyo Disneyland's most popular attraction. And if you've ever had the chance to ride it you'd probably agree... especially if you had ridden the one in WDW or Disneyland first. Cause if you had done that you would know how royally shafted certain Disney feel after riding it. Now while the Pooh ride we have here in Disneyland, and to a lesser degree in WDW is a cute, little children's ride, it's a world away(literally and figuratively) from the one in Tokyo Disneyland.

There are no static statues with minimal theming there. Everything is alive and totally believable. It feels as if you've fallen into the 100 acre woods and everything is just beautiful eye candy. The rickety track system we have here is nothing like what carries you through your journey in Honey Hunt. You travel in GPS controlled Honey Pots that move independently with no track to be found. The entire experience is truly enchanting and state of the art. It's no wonder that this ride usually has at least a two hour wait to get on it. And this is over six years after it opened.

So what did something this marvelous cost? Even more interesting... what did ours cost in comparison? Well the Winnie The Pooh ride at Disneyland was around 30 million. WDW was done for a comparable price... but Tokyo's Pooh? Would you believe close to 200 million? The actual price that the Oriental Land Company quotes is a little over a hundred million. But this cost is deceiving because it doesn't disclose the development cost that OLC was charged by WDI. The final total was quite close to double the price they said it was.

This is not an uncommon thing for Tokyo Disney Resort. Our very own "Monster's Inc." ride cost around $30 million. And the way it was able to come in at that figure was the reuse of several characters from "Superstar Limo" and following the same track as the old ride. Now while this may sound like a good deal of money, a majority of that money was eaten up in expenses that didn't wind up making it into the ride. As wonderful as WDI is, they've been incredibly quick to burn through the cash on several rides. Tokyo's "Monster's Inc." ride will be much closer to DCA's own "Midway Mania" and will cost $90 million.

Now does this mean we hear in America are continually getting the shaft? Not really. It just highlights the difference in management a decade ago compared with the relatively new management under Uncle John. Under the guidance of Pressler during the late 90's there was a mentality of not only controlling budgets, but controlling the creativity. The Oriental Land Company has always paid top dollar for it's attractions and remember that they are THEIR attractions. Disney doesn't own the parks or land there. They simply get a percentage of the parks revenue and merchandising sales. The Imagineers at WDI were allowed, even encouraged to go all out on TDR rides since it wasn't paying for them and Eisner could have them charge extremely high fees. The great thing that this did for the Imagineers is that it presented a great laboratory for developing technologies for future rides whereby OLC payed for the research.

The good news now is that under Uncle John's leadership, WDI is now embarking on the process of taking this research that OLC paid for and applying it to the new rides that will be coming stateside over the next decade. WDW and DL will get several examples of this although DCA will get the lion's share of these attractions. With the reorganization of WDI almost settled it appears that the days of modest, little rides with very little attention to detail has ended. The new rides that are being proposed are not in the $30 million dollar range. There are several "C" and "D" tickets within this price structure, but most of the "E" tickets that have been proposed are much closer in scope to OLC's attractions... in design, theming and budget. It looks like Lasseter's first statement made in Glendale wasn't just hollow words:

"We won't be designing anymore mediocre rides..."

Even better news for us Disney fans...

We won't be riding anymore mediocre rides.

It's going to be a great time to be a Disney fan.

Giant Evil Robots Eat Remy's Ratatouille...

To no ones surprise "Transformers" was number one at the box office this weekend with $155 million domestically and $96 million internationally for a total of $252 million. Pixar's "Ratatouille" held at a solid second place with a domestic take of $109 million and just under $6 million internationally for $115 million. Which may not sound too great but this Brad Bird film is just opening up in international territories unlike "Transformers" which has almost a world wide opening on July 3rd. Pixar's latest film is off to a very good start and will get it's next test with a certain wizard working his magic this week. This will be the last challenge for "Ratatouille" since practically no other family film will be competing with it for the remaining summer months. We'll keep a watch on this weekends numbers.

Disney's other summer film. "Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End" ended the week with $925 million. It may not quite reach "Dead Man's Chest" but it's going to make a respectable showing in comparison. By the end of the summer "Transformers" will likely reign at the box office... I've seen it and though it's not a perfect movie, it is a perfect summer movie and will make mounds of cash for Paramount, Dreamworks, Spielberg and Bay. And speaking of Bay, when will Bruckheimer announce that Bay is officially directing "Prince Of Persia"? It's going to have to be soon... casting will have to be announced soon as well. The clock is ticking and summer 2009 in right around the corner.

Proverbially speaking, of course...

Mickey's Unseen Hand...

On this day in 1971, Ub Iwerks passes away in Burbank, California. Other than Walt Disney, he was the one most responsible for the creation of Mickey Mouse. He was a legendary animation pioneer and helped Walt turn the animation medium into the art form it is today. Animation fans the world over truly owe this great man a world of thanks.

Steamboat Willie toots his horn for you, Ub...

Disney Takes Second Try At "First Ascent"...

Walt Disney Pictures has hired Screenwriter Andrew Cosby and Johanna Stokes to rewrite the studio's "First Ascent". The supernatural adventure story of a group of climbers ascending mount Bhutan when they are attacked by a mythical beast. Cosby is the creator of the TV series "Eureka" and Stokes is a comic book writer for Boom! Studios.

I know what it sounds like but no, this has nothing to do with "Expedition Everest"...

Disney Finds A Doctor...

Walt Disney Animation Studios announced that Keith David has been cast as the voice of the villain in "The Princess and the Frog".

David will play Dr. Facilier, a character originally known as Dr. Duvalier. The character was described as African-American, mid-thirties, probably Creole with a smooth charisma and sinister personality. No word yet if anything other than the name has changed. Sounds like David's distinctive voice will be a very good fit for the Witch Doctor/Voodoo Magician. I'm a particular fan of his voice-work in the "Spawn" animated series.

This is the third name change known for Disney's 2009 release. First was the title: "The Frog Princess" which became "The Princess and the Frog" because some felt it would offend the French(is this really a problem?). Then the lead character Maddy was changed to Tiana because the name sounded too close to Mammy, a derogatory. racist term(uhm... a little too PC here?). It's not known if Tiana's character has been changed from a chamber maid... afterall, we wouldn't want to offend anyone else. Would we?

One hopes that the wish not to offend doesn't handicap the story. I trust Lasseter on these matters but I find it troubling when they've become so sensitive to complaints that they change the American name of the film simply because it "might, possibly, maybe, conceivably" offend French people? If this is truly a problem for them, then how about they change the foriengn release of the film in... uhm, I don't know... France? I have faith in Uncle John, but none what-so-ever in political correctness. It's wrong, it's fascistic and un-American...

Still, I greatly look forward to this film as the return of classic animation. May it herald a new 2D rebirth. After the 2010 release "Rapunzel" the emphasis will go back on Disney being a hand drawn animation company. This will not be mandated. We know that John Lasseter believes the studio should be "director driven", but I beleive that it will be strongly encouraged so as to differentiate the Disney brand from everything else out there.

Happy Birthday, America!

Happy 4th of July! Go out and see a movie(ahem, Ratatouille!), enjoy a Bar-B-Que or watch some fireworks. Celebrate our declaration of independence and the founding of our nation in 1776.

A very special day on which our second President(John Adams) and third President(Thomas Jefferson) both died... in the same year, 1826... which just happened to be the 50th anniversary of America! Coincidence?

Sounds like providence to me...


Walt Disney was the perfect example of a positive American. He projected all that is good and great about America. Oh, and for any of you that want to keep track of the age of the USA? It's 231 years young today... Now let's go out and continue the celebration.

Enjoy.

Pirates Beat Spiders... Robots Beat Pirates?

On this weekend "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" passed "Spiderman 3" in total box office receipts with Pirates collecting $904,658,000 combined domestic and foreign versus Spidey's $880,233,002 total. I was wondering if it would be able to pull this off until last week when I noticed the numbers creeping up there. Despite being approximately 30 million behind in domestic box office, the foreign total of the Johnny Depp actioner has more than made up for it.

Now the test comes this week when "Transformers" opens up. This is the only movie that has the potential now to upset Pirates as the reigning champ of theaters in 2007. It's tracking off the charts right now. We'll see if Michael Bay's film scores an upset. Of course, we'll see how it affects "Ratatouille as well.

And speaking of the dirty, little Rat...

Brad Bird's latest opened up with 47 million which was a major disappointment to some. It's a solid if not sturdy opening, but not up there with other Pixar films. That said, it's probably the best reviewed movie of the year and better than any Pixar film save for "The Incredibles" and the "Toy Story" movies. Word of mouth will play a key factor in what happens over the next week or so. I'm going to see it again with friends later this week when I arrive back in California. If you haven't seen it... go and buy a ticket, you'll be entertained and charmed by this amazing, little film.

Blue Sky Alert-Asia (Hong Kong): Growing Pains...

There's been a great deal of chatter out there about the last Blue Sky Alert we had. I've gotten some e-mails from people asking about Hong Kong Disneyland and rumors that it will wind up taking the money that was allotted for DCA. Well, I've talked to a couple friends at WDI. The answer Disneyland fans are wondering about it...

No.

No as in... no, HKDL won't be taking money that was intended for DCA. Both resorts have problems that need addressing but the budgets for each are separate. There will be no "robbing Peter to pay Paul" to make these parks the vacation destinations they need to be. Like I said in my last update, DCA's proposed expansion is a large amount of money. It won't get that amount, but it'll get most of it. Hong Kong's situation has nothing to do with it... as far as my sources know. In addition to that budget there is a separate budget planned for the new hotels, retheming of current hotels and expansion of the Downtown Disney shopping district. It's a great deal of money when you add up the DCA's expansion along with the entire Resort's expansion... but remember, this will be over a decade and the cost will be divided accordingly. Now that that question is answered let's focus on the Hong Kong Resort.

The Dragon Matures...
There is a great deal of discussion within Team Disney's offices as to the problem we all know exist at Disney's newest Magic Kingdom model. Trust me folks, Bob Iger knows it has problems... and luckily, Uncle John does too. Iger wants to expand the Park and tap that growing Asian market in China. But he's not planning on taking away the prizes that are supposed to go into California Adventure.

So what does he plan?

Well, right off the bat what we've talked about in a previous HKDL post of course. Right now the Park is really a half-day park. After visiting the theme park you can really just go back to your hotel room and do... whatever you do in hotel rooms. The first part of his plan is to remedy that and give visitors lots more options when visiting the Resort.

A Hong Kong version of Downtown Disney should be the first thing that gets started next year. Expanding the things guest can do is the first priority of the company. This is being done as a way to get more people to stay in the hotel(to spend money) and visit the park(to spend money) and shop and eat at the new retail complex(to spend money) and attend the various entertainment that's being planned. If these plans go forward the DD project could see preliminary work in early 2008 for a completion around late 2009 or early 2010. Of course I have to always state that this is what is currently planned and it is not yet finalized. But the good news is Iger and the Suits really want to take care of this problem and they aren't going to be putting a band-aid on it like Eisner would have done. If everything goes well they might even start construction of that third hotel that some in the know are talking about. Now while these hotel plans get thrown around and this retail complex is being built... what will be happening inside the Park itself?


Honk Kong Disneyland, let me start off saying is a beautiful park. The problems DCA has have a great deal to do with very, minimal theming and generic rides. HKDL does not have this problem. The main problem the Resort suffers from is a lack of attractions, not a lack of detail.

There are preliminary plans to start filling up that huge expansion of land next to Adventureland. The Pirates are coming my friends. The expansion and addition of "Pirates Of The Caribbean" that was on hold looks to have been lifted. We'll have to wait and see if it is as elaborate as the original proposal but it is back on. Now Disney will not be announcing anything soon. There is no timetable as to when the press notice will go out, but my bet is a little after "It's A Small World" opens there will be a great deal of focus what will be happening over the next few years. The "Haunted House" is planned to be the next attraction to get started after that as well as a half dozen "C" and "D" attractions. Most of these rides should be completed between 2011 and 2013.

Why 2013?

Well as I said in the earlier post... that is the year that Disney has to decide if it will build a second gate. If it doesn't decide to build another gate then the Hong Kong authorities can do what they want with "Phase 2" land. They can sell it to a competitor, build housing or approve the construction of a casino if they want to. Now Disney has no intention of spending all this money moving into China only to have "Universal Studios, Hong Kong" or "The Palms Casino" or some such opening across the Esplanade.

The idea is to invest heavily in the Park and surrounding resort so that attendance increases enough to get a much better deal with the Hong Kong officials. It appears that we may not see an announcement for a second gate until then but there most likely will be one for a second theme park in the early part of the next decade. There are several preliminary projects moving through Glendale but nothing is concrete as to what will be chosen... and there is plenty of time before they have to decide. So for the next few years they can focus on fixing the current problems of the Hong Kong Resort. But like it's other sister resorts around the world, HKDL looks to be getting some much needed TLC.


That's good news, don't you think?