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Archive for November, 2007
Category: Disney
From latimes.com:
The Anaheim City Council voted late Tuesday to withdraw its support of a controversial housing project near Disneyland. The 3-2 decision overturned a vote taken seven months ago to approve zoning for a 1,500-unit residential project including 225 low-cost apartments.
The issue had pitted Disney and tourist officials against housing advocates and some religious leaders. It also attracted national and international media attention, spawned three lawsuits, three ballot measures, threats of a recall and regular City Hall protests.
The proposed housing project began unraveling this month when Councilwoman Lucille Kring announced she would no longer support it. Kring said her switch was prompted by news that the deal between developer SunCal Cos. and owners of the 26-acre parcel at Katella Avenue and Haster Street had fallen through.
Councilwoman Lorri Galloway, the project’s most ardent backer, had also planned to withdraw her support of zoning that allowed housing in the 2.2-square-mile area, but changed her mind over the weekend.
Disney spokesman Rob Doughty said: “We’ve always been about protecting the long-term vision of the resort area. We’re pleased the council listened to the people of Anaheim, who also believed in that vision.”
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Posted by Dr. Disney on November 30, 2007 at 5:35 pm · Permalink
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Category: Universal Studios
From orlandosentinel.com:
As the holidays come and go, high school seniors enter the homestretch. Now they can look forward to Grad Bash 08 at Universal Orlando, which has announced a major musical guest : Rihanna.
They list her hits as “Pom de Replay,” “S.O.S” and “Umbrella,” although Im more drawn to “Shut Up and Drive.” Also on the bill: Hellogoodbye, a group with the song “Here In Your Arms.”
The Bash is set for April 25 and 26, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. and takes place in both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure theme parks. Tickets will be available through participating schools.
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Posted by Dr. Disney on November 30, 2007 at 5:32 pm · Permalink
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Category: Disney, Apple, Technology, Theme Parks
I have received 100% confirmation that there is a new scene inside Epcot’s Spaceship Earth, which is currently down for refurbishment, that depicts a young, bearded man in jeans, sitting in a messy garage, working on an early prototype of the personal computer. That young man looks a whole lot like Apple founder Steve Jobs, who became Disney’s largest shareholder and a member of its board of directors when Disney purchased Pixar in 2006.
When Steve Jobs joined the Disney family last year, many web sites and blogs joked about having a Steve Jobs animatronic in an attraction. I’m not sure any of them actually thought it would happen… but it has. The new character in the ride may or may not be “officially” called Steve Jobs in the attraction’s new narration (provided by Dame Judi Dench), but it’s very obvious that it is. Though, Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, did sport a similar hair style and beard back when the company was created. They’re both seen working in their garage in the photo below, taken circa 1975 (Jobs on the right, Wozniak on the left).
Spaceship Earth is officially set to reopen on February 18th, but rumors point to an early December soft opening. The focus of the refurbishment is to update the attraction to feature a stronger focus on how technology has evolved over the years. The invention of the personal computer is certainly a major milestone and it can’t be a surprise to anyone that Steve Jobs would be featured in the attraction as one of the pioneers in this field.
Posted by Ricky on November 30, 2007 at 2:16 pm · Permalink
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Category: Disney, TV
From mediapost.com:
THE DEVELOPMENT AND TRIAL OF new business models that utilize digital interactivity to generate revenues is becoming sport at many media and entertainment companies. And everyone is playing to win. Even as television network and film studio executives wrestle with striking writers over payment for scripted material used in streaming, downloaded and other new media video, they are testing promising compensation models.
A series of up to three-minute shorts detailing background about the stranded characters of “Lost” are streaming for free at ABC.com. Created by the series regular writers before the strike, it took five months of negotiations to determine how they would be paid for the “Missing Pieces” vignettes, in addition to their established residual income from broadcast programs. Although ABC and Disney management said the new arrangement would not be binding to other new media deals, it most surely will be considered as a template for creative content pacts made for future new distribution platforms and devices. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Dr. Disney on November 30, 2007 at 11:30 am · Permalink
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Category: Misc
From signals.com:
EXCLUSIVE! Show your disdain for the masses. Acerbic shirt is appropriately colored who-gives-a-fig brown. Sweatshirt is 50/50 cotton blend;T-shirt is 100% cotton. Imported. Sizes M-XXL. 16.95 (t-shirt) - 26.95 (sweatshirt)
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Posted by Dr. Disney on November 30, 2007 at 7:37 am · Permalink
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Category: Collectibles, Movies
From signals.com:
EXCLUSIVE Which Hogwarts house do you belong in: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin? The Sorting Hat will tell you. Press the button and it will call out the name, plus it quotes several legendary lines from past Harry Potter movies. Takes 3 AA batteries not included. 20″ high. TM & © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. $49.95
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Posted by Dr. Disney on November 30, 2007 at 7:31 am · Permalink
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Category: Disney, Movies
www.philly.com
Enchanted is - what else? - enchanting. It’s the rare commercial product to live up to its name. And as Giselle, Amy Adams is a princess to adore, the love object of the season.
Disney, a profoundly humorless conglomerate despite its dependency on cartoons, has done the unthinkable. The Magic Monetary Kingdom has mocked its aspartame world view, the whole princess paradigm, and taken in a five-day haul of $49.1 million.
Having spent her life as if on an extreme cocktail of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, Giselle is banished to Manhattan, “a place where there are no happily-ever-afters” as evil queen Susan Sarandon calls it.
Specifically, Giselle is sent to Times Square, which, in reality, long ago was Disneyfied into the true mall of America, an area most New Yorkers avoid like the suburbs. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Dr. Disney on November 28, 2007 at 8:05 pm · Permalink
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Category: Disney
From techcrunch.com:
A new group has been created within the corporate strategy group at Disney, we’ve heard, and they are gearing up to make a number of consumer Internet acquisitions over the next 24 months. They’re already in early stage discussions with at least a couple of startups, and have introduced themselves to a number of venture capitalists to generate leads.
The group is led by two vice presidents, Leigh Zarelli and Matt Pillar. Zarelli, based in New York, was previously at IAC and was one of the cofounders of Gifts.com. Pillar, a former managing partner at Catalytic Capital, is based in Burbank near Los Angeles.
We won’t be seeing Club Penguin sized deals $350 m coming out of this group. Zarelli and Pillar are focusing only on very early stage deals, we hear. Consumer facing content companies that will fit in to Disney’s overall strategy will be targeted. Their goal, according to our source, is to complete up to twenty deals over the next 24 months.
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Posted by Dr. Disney on November 28, 2007 at 1:10 pm · Permalink
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Category: Misc, Disney
investing.reuters.uk
Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has become the first person to buy the ultimate status symbol — his own A380 superjumbo. Planemaker Airbus named the Saudi royal, whose interests span hotels and banking to the operator of Disneyland Paris, as the mystery buyer of a VIP version dubbed the Flying Palace.
The buyer’s identity had been secret for months but was unveiled to coincide with the Dubai air show on Monday.
The price of the deal was not disclosed. Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich recently denied buying the plane, which costs over $300 million to ordinary airlines.
Prince Alwaleed confirmed the order despite seeing $2.5 billion wiped off his personal fortune in the past month due to a slide in the shares of U.S. banking group Citigroup
Posted by Dr. Disney on November 27, 2007 at 6:56 pm · Permalink
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Category: Travel
From nytimes.com:
I doubt Disneyland Antarctica is on the WDI drawing boards…..Dr. Disney
From its beginning until its demise, the Explorer was an Antarctic pioneer. Launched in 1969 under the name Lindblad Explorer, it was the first ship built specifically to ferry tourists to Antarctica. When it disappeared beneath the polar region’s waters last week, it became the first commercial passenger ship to sink there.
The Explorer sank about 600 miles from South America.
But with the rapid rise of ship tourism in Antarctica — perhaps the last major ungoverned territory on earth — the sinking was not unanticipated. Both the United States and Britain warned a conference of Antarctic treaty nations in May that the tourism situation in the region was a potential disaster in the making. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Dr. Disney on November 27, 2007 at 6:51 pm · Permalink
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