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The Journey to Pandora

Daniel — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:42:30 +0000

In a surprising announcement, Walt Disney Imagineering announced today that a new land is coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom at WDW. You might be asking, “What is that new land?” and I would be tempted to trick you with Beastly Kingdom, but the truth is that Disney has teamed up with Lightstorm Entertainment to bring the world of Pandora (the mythical moon in James Cameron’s “Avatar”) to both parks. From the announcement:

We believe Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a great fit for this project because it was created to give guests the opportunity to experience the worlds of animals and nature – real and mythical – in new ways. Disney’s Animal Kingdom also celebrates adventure, living in harmony with nature and environmental stewardship – themes that are deeply rooted in the story of AVATAR.

Construction is slated to begin in 2013, with opening by 2016.

UPDATE:

RE: Whether or not the world of Avatar belongs in Animal Kingdom, I present you this:

Welcome to a kingdom of animals… real, ancient and imagined: a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs and dragons; a kingdom of balance, harmony and survival; a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama, and learn. — Michael Eisner, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Dedication, April 1998

Disney Shutters ESPN The Weekend

Daniel — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:13:42 +0000

Straight from Disney: ESPN The Weekend has been cancelled. What had been a 3-day weekend event featuring ESPN personalities, professional athletes, and a load of interactive exhibits has now been deemed as excessive and unnecessary in light of the new re-branding of Disney’s Wide World of Sports into the ESPN Wide World of Sports.

To justify the cancellation of the event that’s been running for 7 years, Disney points out the increased presence of ESPN at Walt Disney World and the increased number of events, innovation, and athletes that have been brought to the Wide World of Sports. Turning from ESPN The Weekend, Disney looks to improve the ESPN RISE Games along with other experiences.

Disney Buys Marvel [Again]

Daniel — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 03:42:11 +0000

According to The Deadline, Disney has agreed to purchase Iron Man 3 and The Avengers from Paramount Pictures for the tidy sum of $115 million. Under the new deal, Disney gets distribution rights for the two aformentioned films while Paramount will retain distribution rights over Thor [May 6, 2011], Captain America [July 22, 2011], Iron Man, and Iron Man 2.

Captain EO Returning to…Walt Disney World!

Daniel — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:52:37 +0000

In a not surprising move, the Walt Disney World Company has decided to bring Captain EO back to Epcot on July 2 after seeing the popularity of the film at Disneyland’s Magic Eye Theater.

The film will also be opening at Disneyland Paris on June 12 and Tokyo Disneyland on June 30.

Toy Story Midway Mania! Update Coming

Daniel — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:46:18 +0000

Toy Story Midway Mania! will be getting its first update in late May. Imagineers have decided to replace “Bo Peep’s Baaa-loon Pop” with “Rex and Trixie’s Dino Darts” in which you try to pop balloons in pre-historic scenery in both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s California Adventure.

This is the first time that Imagineers have tested the “switch-a-bility” of the games in Toy Story Mania!

Also coming to the parks is Lotso (aka “Lots-o-Huggin’ Bear”). He will debut in Walt Disney World at The Magic of Animation and at California Adventure as part of the “Disney Pixar Play Parade.”

Disney Bus Crashes Near EPCOT

Daniel — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:41:20 +0000

In the second Disney bus crash since July 2009, a Disney vehicle crashed into a charter bus at the entrance to the EPCOT toll plaza. Eight people were injured including 7 passengers with non-life-threatening injuries while the driver of the Disney bus was taken to the Orlando Regional Medical Center in serious condition. was involved in a crash with a second bus at a toll plaza at Epcot Center Tuesday afternoon. No one was aboard the charter bus at the time of the accident. The EPCOT toll plaza was closed while Orange County Sheriff’s Deputies conducted their investigation.

The park remained open through the incident and the toll plaza has been re-opened.

Teen Queen Suing Disney

Daniel — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:31:23 +0000

ABC and Disney are being sued for $100,000,000 by Alicia Guastaferro, the “princess of pagentry” for emotional harm (i.e. suicidal thoughts, school transfers, death threats, and a reduction in intellectual performance, among others) caused by appearing on ABC’s “Wife Swap” program as well as claiming that the producers staged certain scenes (e.g. asking Guastaferro to “act a little more spoiled” or suggesting that the teen received a present every day).

The suit alleges that ABC/Disney never obtained consent for Alicia Guastaferro to be on the episode, but her mother received $20,000 in compensation.

Disney Cuts ImageMovers

Daniel — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:33:34 +0000

Remember Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” that premiered last December and made approximately $300 million? Apparently, it wasn’t enough to justify keeping ImageMovers Digital (the company behind the film) open. The Robert Zemeckis-run facility will finish work on “Mars Needs Moms!” before it closes. No word on how or if this will affect the development of Disney’s remake of “Yellow Submarine.”

New Overlays Coming to WDW Monorails

Daniel — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:59:30 +0000

In a somewhat surprising move, part of the Walt Disney World Monorail will be made to look like light-cycles in preparation for the upcoming “TRON: Legacy” movie. [Concept art below]

The trains on the EPCOT line will get the TRON overlay as early as later this month (The film premieres on December 17, 2010).

Oregon Duck No Longer Reports To Mickey

Joel — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:43:43 +0000

The Register Guard is reporting that the Walt Disney Company has concluded the University of Oregon’s costumed Duck is no longer subject to Disney’s trademark on Donald Duck.

Oregon has had a deal with Disney dating back to a handshake between Walt and the university allowing the university to use images similar to Donald Duck as their mascot. Oregon would have to get permission from Disney to use the Duck in any situation not outlined in the original agreement. Now, Disney is saying, the Duck only has to report to the University. The original agreement had also been set so that Disney maintained ownership of the image and the costume itself and Disney could have the costume be destroyed if the contract was canceled.

The licensing agreement will remain in effect for any printed logos for which the university gets 12 percent cut on all sales with Disney getting half of that.