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Archive for October, 2007
Category: Disney
From hollywoodreporter.com:
It has been a couple of weeks since Disney said it will spend a hefty $1 billion to spruce up its California Adventure theme park adjacent to Disneyland, but few Wall Street analysts have had much to say or complain about it. Perhaps that’s because the need for major capital expenditures are key if parks are expected to grow revenue and profit.
According to Ray Braun of the Economics Research Assn., which co-published with research firm TEA the 2006 Theme Park Attendance Report, “Rule No. 1 in the theme park industry is Thou Shalt Reinvest.”
While visitor growth last year in the top 20 U.S. parks was estimated at just 1.5% year-over-year, parks that added a major ride or “land” — as Disney plans to do at its California Adventure with the upcoming Cars Land — can boast many times that growth.
The TEA/ERA report indicated that attendance increases at parks that added major improvements was about three times the norm. Legoland California added Pirate Shores and a few other attractions, and its attendance leapt 16%, for example.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida — in desperate need of a boost according to some analysts — saw attendance climb 8% a year after adding Expedition Everest and Finding Nemo the Musical. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Dr. Disney on October 31, 2007 at 12:29 pm · Permalink
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Category: Disney
From bizjournals.com:
Hanesbrands Inc. has signed a deal with The Walt Disney Co. giving the companys Hanes and Champion brands exclusive sales rights at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts properties.
Financial terms of the 10-year deal were not disclosed.
The apparel deal will cover t-shirts, sweatshirts and fleeces, tanks and fleece sweatshirts, sweatpants, hoodies and other family fleece, including infant and toddler items. Much of the apparel will be co-labeled, such as “Disneyland Resort by Hanes.”
The partnership covers not only the major parks, such as Disneyland Reort and Walt Disney World, but also all eight ESPN Zone restaurants across the nation.
Under the deal, the Champion brand gains naming rights for the baseball stadium at Disneys Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida. Champion will also have other brand placements and promotional opportunities throughout the complex.
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Posted by Dr. Disney on October 31, 2007 at 12:27 pm · Permalink
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Category: Disney, Pixar
From yahoo.com:
Robert Goulet, the handsome, big-voiced baritone whose Broadway debut in “Camelot” launched an award-winning stage and recording career, has died. He was 73.
The singer died Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles hospital while awaiting a lung transplant, said Goulet spokesman Norm Johnson.
He had been awaiting a lung transplant at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after being found last month to have a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis.
Goulet had remained in good spirits even as he waited for the transplant, said Vera Goulet, his wife of 25 years.
“Just watch my vocal cords,” she said he told doctors before they inserted a breathing tube.
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Posted by Dr. Disney on October 31, 2007 at 1:02 am · Permalink
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Category: Disney, Pixar, Movies
From slashfilm.com:
At Comic Con this year, WALL-E director Andrew Stanton confirmed that there would in fact be a live action element in the upcoming Pixar film.
“We’re not doing anything like Happy Feet,” said Stanton. “There is a live action element involved but that’s the most I can say.”
And that is a good thing because I thought the live-action integration in Happy Feet was very off putting. Last month actor Jeff Garlin added that he is the “only animated character that speaks” in the film. Garlin plays the Captain of a starliner ship, which most of humanity now couch potatoes call home.
“A lot of the film is silent and they’re robots so they make noises and such and there’s sound but I’m one of the only characters that speak – not one of them – I am the only animated character that speaks,” Garlin said. “There’s another character but I can’t talk about it. But I’m the only animated character that speaks.”
The film follows a small Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class robot or WALL-E for short’s fantastic journey across a universe of never-before-imagined visions of the future. We’ve wondered for a while now who this other character was and if he was the live action element of WALL-E.
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Posted by Dr. Disney on October 30, 2007 at 2:54 pm · Permalink
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Category: Misc, Pixar
From sptimes.com:
John Russell dislikes Florida’s current Democratic Party leaders. And lucky for him, he’s not a fan of Mickey Mouse, either.
After a confrontation with party officials Saturday during the state convention in Orlando, the former Democratic nominee in the 5th Congressional District was banned from ever returning to any Disney-owned properties.
“I don’t care,” Russell of Dade City said Monday about his punishment. “I hate Disney. I hate getting around there. The whole experience is unpleasant for me.”
The scuffle - captured on video and posted Sunday on the Internet - shows convention organizer Mitch Kates confronting Russell for allegedly trying to display signs touting John Edwards for president on a table paid for by a vendor.
“John, this is private property. You can’t be here,” Kates says on the video.
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Posted by Dr. Disney on October 30, 2007 at 10:26 am · Permalink
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Category: Disney
kansascity.com
An exhibit about Disneyland that was to open Friday at Union Station has been delayed because of damage in transit from California to Kansas City.
Union Station officials said none of the artifacts was damaged but some display cases and graphic panels were. It was unclear what caused the damage.
“We are disappointed about the delay, but it involves circumstances beyond our control,” said Union Station CEO Andi Udris.
Officials were counting on “Behind the Magic: 50 Years of Disneyland” to attract strong crowds. The exhibit now is expected to open in December.
Posted by Dr. Disney on October 30, 2007 at 10:20 am · Permalink
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Category: Disney
www.thestar.com
WASHINGTON–No, the U.S. State Department is not giving back the Horseshoe Falls.
“There are two sides to every waterfall,” spokesperson Sean McCormack said yesterday.
He was reacting to a Disney-produced American promotional video that shows off Canada’s side of Niagara Falls as a U.S. wonder.
As first reported by The Associated Press, a 7-minute video made for the state and homeland security departments touts Niagara Falls by showing Horseshoe, the only one of three waterfalls to lie almost entirely inside Canada.
McCormack made light of the video piracy at his regular briefing.
“This is a shared natural wonder between the United States and Canada, and we’re very proud to have part of it in our territory, and I know the Canadian government is very proud to have part of it in its territory,” he said yesterday.
“It really is a gateway for both of our countries. And I think when people look at it, people will think `Niagara Falls’ and they’ll think `the United States and Canada.’”
He said there are no plans to revise the video, even though its Falls segment was shot in Canada.
Posted by Dr. Disney on October 30, 2007 at 8:22 am · Permalink
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Category: Disney, Pixar, Movies
From telegraph.co.uk:
Rats have never been so popular. Pet stores say they have been inundated with requests for the rodents after the success of the Disney film Ratatouille.
The animation, which features a loveable French rat with a passion for cooking, has turned the rat from a hated pest to the most popular pet of the year. Pets at Home said sales of rats in the half-term holiday soared by 50 per cent in its stores.
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Posted by Dr. Disney on October 29, 2007 at 12:39 pm · Permalink
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Category: Disney
From showbizspy.com:
Paul McCartney’s estranged wife, Heather Mills, reportedly splashed out a whopping $200,000 for a Disney themed birthday party for her and Paul’s four-year-old daughter, Beatrice.
Heather reportedly hired actors dressed up as famous characters, including Snow White, Tinkerbell and Cinderella, to entertain the tot and around 60 of her friends and relatives over the weekend.
According to reports, the 39-year-old former model & landmine activist hired a cinema, fountains, bouncy castles and trampolines were erected in the grounds of Heather’s $6.4 million East Sussex home. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Dr. Disney on October 29, 2007 at 12:34 pm · Permalink
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Category: Disney, Podcast
From distantcreations.com:
This week on Backstage Pass
Jay and Mark take a leisurely research trip on the famous Jungle Cruise — complete with information on the history of the attraction, bad jokes and even a glimpse at what a Jungle Cruise movie trailer might sound like.
To listen, download the Inside the Magic podcast, hosted by Ricky Brigante on iTunes or visit www.distantcreations.com/insidethemagic
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Posted by Dr. Disney on October 29, 2007 at 12:28 pm · Permalink
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