Rick Riordan Travels Cross-Country for Olympian Week

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October 5, 2011

Rick Riordan Travels Cross-Country for Olympian Week

October 4 marked the release of Rick Riordan’s new book The Son of Neptune in the Heroes of Olympus series. To celebrate its release, Riordan is traveling across the country — and up north — to seven libraries for special events. These libraries entered a contest and were chosen as the winners.

The winning libraries are:

o Tuesday, October 4: Books-A-Million (Columbia, SC)

o Wednesday, October 5: Penguin Bookshop (Pittsburgh, PA)

o Thursday, October 6: Indigo (Toronto, Canada)

o Friday, October 7: Barnes & Noble (Burlington, MA)

o Saturday, October 8: A Whale of a Tale/Mission Viejo Library (Mission Viejo, CA)

o Sunday, October 9: Tumwater Timberland Library (Olympia, WA)

o Monday, October 10: BookPeople (Austin, TX)

Be sure to pick up a copy of The Son of Neptune in stores now.

Steve Jobs, Major Figure in Disney and Pixar, Has Died at 56

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Chip and Co Past Writers and Friends

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October 5, 2011

Steve Jobs, Major Figure in Disney and Pixar, Has Died at 56

According to sources at Apple, the creator of Apple, and the man who helped bring the incredibly popular Pixar Studios to life has died of cancer today at the age of 56. Jobs bought the fledgling Pixar from Lucasfilms in the 80’s, and helped it become a major player in Hollywood. As they grew, especially closer to Disney, Jobs grew closer in the process. He was a major share holder in the Disney company and helped oversee all the animated movies that came out over the last few year from both sides of the company. Without Jobs’ major contributions to Pixar, we wouldn’t have so many of the great movies we’ve gotten since ‘Toy Story’ in 1995. He was truly a visionary.

Apple released a brief statement. “We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today. Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.”

UPDATE: Bob Iger has released a small statement as well. “‎Steve Jobs was a great friend as well as a trusted advisor. His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the businesses he built. It will be the millions of people he inspired, the lives he changed, and the culture he defined.”

Our sincerest condolences go out to Steve Jobs’ family and friends. He will surely be missed.

Could Disney Be Returning to ‘Castle of Illusion’?

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Chip and Co Past Writers and Friends

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October 5, 2011

Could Disney Be Returning to 'Castle of Illusion'?

Back before Sega was famous for their Sonic the Hedgehog character, they had licensed Mickey Mouse from Disney for the side scrolling adventure game ‘Castle of Illusion’. The game became very popular, enough to warrant two sequels called ‘Land of Illusion’ and ‘Quackshot’. Sega lost the rights years ago, but it appears Disney may have some renewed interest in the gaming series.

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Disney Working on Time Travel Movie ‘Time Zones’

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Chip and Co Past Writers and Friends

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October 5, 2011

Walt Disney Pictures has begun work on a very cool sounding time travel film titled ‘Time Zones’, written by Marc Guggenheim, who is also doing an untitled detective movie that we reported on last week. Guggenheim was the writer of this summers ‘Green Lantern’, and has done quite a bit of television work including ‘Flash Forward’ and ‘Criminal Minds’.

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Disney Publishing Holds Events for New Rick Riordan Novel, “The Son of Neptune”

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Chip and Co Past Writers and Friends

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October 5, 2011

Disney Publishing Holds Events for New Rick Riordan Novel, "The Son of Neptune"

Disney Publishing held events Saturday, October 1, and Sunday, October 2, for New York Times Best-selling author Rick Riordan’s new novel The Son of Neptune, the second book in his Heroes of Olympus series. The toga parties were held at Greeley Square in New York City and The Grove in Los Angeles, CA.

Disney Publishing Holds Events for New Rick Riordan Novel, "The Son of Neptune"

Riordan was present at both events, as well as some of the Greek gods. At the Los Angeles event, Vincent Martella, voice of Phineas from Disney Channel’s Phineas and Ferb was present.

The Los Angeles event kicked off with a welcome by Zeus, who introduced the other gods, as well as Martella and finally Riordan. The audience full of young readers cheered with excitement as one of their favorite authors took the stage.

Disney Publishing Holds Events for New Rick Riordan Novel, "The Son of Neptune"

Zeus informed everyone that a booth was set up for everyone to dress in the proper attire — togas — as well as a photo area with a chariot to capture the memories. Later, a trivia and costume contest would take place for event attendees. But first, the audience received a special advanced reading from Neptune. The gods took turns reading portions of Chapter 28 from the new novel. Following the reading, Riordan answered fans’ questions during a Q&A session. During the Q&A session, Riordan announced he is working on the third book in The Kane Chronicles series with an expected May 2012 release, keeping quiet about the title.

Disney Publishing Holds Events for New Rick Riordan Novel, "The Son of Neptune"

During the trivia and costume contests, Riordan signed copies of his books for the fans.

Riordan is best known for the Percy Jackson series. The Son of Neptune hit shelves Tuesday, October 4.

Disney Publishing Announces New Norse Mythology Series Penned by Rick Riordan

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Chip and Co Past Writers and Friends

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October 5, 2011

Disney Publishing Announces New Norse Mythology Series Penned by Rick Riordan

Disney Publishing Worldwide has announced New York Times Best-selling author Rick Riordan, best known for the Percy Jackson novels, will be writing a new series based on Norse mythology. The first novel will be released in fall 2015.

Riordan’s latest novel The Son of Neptune was released Tuesday, October 4. The Son of Neptune is the second book in the Heroes of Olympus series.

Wednesday with Walt: Meeting Walt’s Ambassadors

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Chip and Co Past Writers and Friends

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October 5, 2011

Wednesday with Walt: Meeting Walt's Ambassadors

Courtesy of the Walt Disney Family Museum

I was thrilled to be able to attend the 40th Anniversary Celebration of Walt Disney World at the Magic Kingdom last Saturday. I started planning my trip months ago and I really wanted to be at WDW to celebrate this special anniversary of Walt’s dream.

The festivities were wonderful and there was a huge crowd and lots of excitement. After the stage show was over at Cinderella Castle, I was off to have breakfast and wait for the release of the special 40th Anniversary edition cupcakes. Once I made it through the line and received my cupcake, Susan and I started heading out toward Frontierland.

As luck would have it, the 2011-2012 Walt Disney World Ambassadors, Norman Vossschulte and Jennifer Mason, were right in front of me. We asked them if we could take a picture with them and they said “of course you can” and the Photopass photographer was there in a second. I was so happy to meet them and told them how much I appreciate the fact that they honorably represent Walt’s dream and all he held dear during each day of their reign as Ambassadors.

Wednesday with Walt: Meeting Walt's Ambassadors

So, you might ask how the role of Walt Disney World Ambassador began in the first place. To tell you the truth, it was started by Walt himself. There were Disneyland goodwill representatives back as far as 1962, but he officially chose the Disneyland Ambassador in 1964 as he was being requested for appearances and interviews in numbers far greater than he could handle alone.

With the 10th anniversary of Disneyland Park, along with the release of Mary Poppins and many other activities centered around Disney, Walt knew that he couldn’t possibly keep his work going while filling all the requests for his time, so he decided to select a single cast member as the official Disneyland Ambassador. Her name was Julie Reihm (or Miss Disneyland as Walt called her) and she represented Disneyland throughout 1965. Since then, the tradition has continued and in 1971 the Walt Disney World Ambassador program began as well when they named Debby Dane Browne as the first ever WDW Ambassador.

The Walt Disney World Ambassador Team represents the WDW resort, their fellow cast members, and the heritage, tradition and values of Walt Disney. They share the Disney traditions with other Cast Members and with the world.

We all know who the real ambassador of goodwill for Disney is, of course it is Mickey. But as excited as I was to see and hug Mickey, it was a wonderful surprise to get to meet these two individuals who help to keep Walt’s dream going day after day.

The Help Comes Home For The Holidays on December 6, 2011

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Chip

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October 5, 2011

The Help, the inspirational summer hit film people can’t stop talking about, arrives in homes just in time for the holidays, delivering this powerful story on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, DVD, Digital Download and On-Demand, December 6, 2011.

The #1 New York Times bestseller by Kathryn Stockett comes to vivid life through the compelling performances of a phenomenal ensemble cast including Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Bryce Dallas Howard. The Help is a courageous and empowering story about very different and extraordinary women in the 1960s South who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project.

“Davis and Spencer are both brilliant”

– Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

The Help Blu-ray Combo Pack provides audiences with the chance to delve deeper into the movie through compelling, never-before-seen bonus features, including “The Making of ‘The Help:’ From Friendship To Film,” an intimate look at how the life-changing experiences of close-knit childhood friends director Tate Taylor and novelist Kathryn Stockett led to the creation of the best-selling novel and its transition to the big screen.

Additional bonus includes “In Their Own Words: A Tribute To the Maids Of Mississippi,” which is an honest observation of life in the South from real-life maids, including director Tate Taylor’s childhood caretaker, Carol Lee; Deleted Scenes; and nine-time Grammy Award^®-winning and multi-platinum selling singer/songwriter, Mary J. Blige’s “The Living Proof”, music video from the film’s end titles

In continued efforts to provide consumers with multiple viewing choices and unprecedented quality, value and portability in a single purchase, The Help has been packaged as follows:

3-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) = $44.99 U.S./$51.99 Canada

Exclusive Blu-ray Bonus Features:

The Making of “The Help:” From Friendship To Film
In Their Own Words: A Tribute To The Maids Of Mississippi
Three deleted scenes with introductions by Director Tate Taylor, including ‘Humiliated,’ ‘A Book About Jackson’ and ‘Johnny’s Home’ (which is a Blu-ray exclusive)

DVD Bonus Features:

§ Two deleted scenes with introductions by Director Tate Taylor including ‘A Senator’s Son’ and ‘Keep On Walkin’