“Alice in Wonderland” Preps for Great Big Ultimate Fan Event

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February 10, 2010

alice in wonderland 1 walt disney pictures backlot

WALT DISNEY PICTURES AND BUENA VISTA RECORDS JOIN FORCES

WITH HOT TOPIC, KIIS-FM, MYSPACE AND MUSICAL ARTISTS FROM “ALMOST ALICE” FOR ULTIMATE FAN EVENT FEB. 19, 2010, AT HOLLYWOOD & HIGHLAND CENTER

Film Stars, Filmmakers and Artists 3OH!3, Metro Station, Family Force 5, Kerli and Never Shout Never on Concert Roster; Entire Event to be Streamed Live on MySpace

Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Records join forces with Hot Topic, KIIS-FM, MySpace and musical artists from the upcoming album “Almost Alice” for a great big ultimate fan event celebrating this Spring’s most anticipated 3D motion picture “ALICE IN WONDERLAND.” The star-studded concert event kicks off at 5 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2010, at the Hollywood & Highland Center’s Central Courtyard. Featuring five musical acts, a visit from director Tim Burton to introduce select members of the “ALICE IN WONDERLAND” cast, plus opportunities to win prizes, including a sneak peek of actual film footage, the ultimate fan event will be streamed live on MySpace at www.myspace.com/wonderland.

An Entertainment Extravaganza

The event’s featured artists will do a short set, including their song from “Almost Alice.” Artists/songs include 3OH!3 (“Follow Me Down”), Metro Station (“Where’s My Angel”), Kerli (“Tea Party”), and Never Shout Never (“Sea What We Seas”).
Available March 2, 2010, “Almost Alice” is a 16-song compilation featuring the film’s end credit track “Alice,” written and performed by Avril Lavigne, plus songs from artists including All American Rejects, The Cure’s Robert Smith, Franz Ferdinand and Shinedown. Hot Topic’s exclusive expanded version includes three bonus tracks. The album is a companion to the film’s soundtrack, which features the score by composer Danny Elfman.
Hot Topic’s Hollywood locale (3^rd level of Hollywood & Highland Center) has been transformed to a mad version of Wonderland even the Hatter would enjoy. Hot Topic hosts the event and features exclusive “ALICE IN WONDERLAND”-themed products now available at Hot Topic stores nationwide and online. Beginning Monday, February 8, the first 250 customers who purchase any 3OH!3 t-shirt and preorder the “Almost Alice” CD will receive a wristband that will grant access to a special meet-and-greet with the band 3OH!3, entry into the concert’s preferred viewing pit and admission into the special 3D sneak peek of footage from the film at the El Capitan Theatre after the concert event.
KIIS-FM, 104.3 MyFM and 98.7 FM will give away VIP preferred viewing pit wristbands to listeners between now and event day. Additional VIP tickets will be given away via MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. VIP attendees will be treated to a special 3D sneak peek of footage from the film at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre immediately following the event.
Fans are encouraged to dress up in costumes inspired by characters from “ALICE IN WONDERLAND.” Costumes will be judged on site by Academy Award®-winner Colleen Atwood, costume designer for the film. Winners will be invited to attend the special sneak peek at the El Capitan.
KIIS-FM’s Manny on the Streets will be the on-stage host for the event. Quddus from MySpace and theQside.com, Roslynn Cobarrubias from MySpace Music and Philip DeFranco from YouTube will be on hand as backstage hosts, interviewing key players along the way.
MySpace will host the exclusive live stream of the event at www.myspace.com/wonderland, powered by Ustream. Viewers around the world can experience the event first-hand, see exclusive backstage interviews with talent and interact by posting comments and questions to the page. Ustream’s embeddable streaming player will extend the experience to additional sites, including Facebook, HotTopic.com and more.

Construction walls go up in Fantasyland

By

Chip

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February 10, 2010

WDW Magic is reporting that the construction walls are going up in Fantasyland as first stages of massive expansion construction begins.

Construction walls running along the boundry of the Fantasyland expansion area are now visible from guest areas within the current Fantasyland. These photos from this morning show the wall that begins by Mickey’s Toontown Fair and then runs along the edge of the current Fantasyland behind Pooh’s Playful Spot along to Ariel’s Grotto.

In another sign of work ramping up, one of the backstage parking areas behind Toontown Fair has now been sealed off from cast use.

Click here for pictures and the rest of the article.

‘Cars 2’ Pushed Back To December 2011

By

Chip

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February 10, 2010

Disney has announced that “Cars 2” will be moving off of its June 24th 2011 release date all the way back to December 2011. No official reason was given for the shift.

Disney is also supposed to be releasing the animated film “The Bear and the Bow” in December of 2011. Clearly those plans will change.

“Cars 2” was in a very competitive position for box office dollars in teh June 24th slot with “The Green Lantern” opening just the week before it and the box office juggernaut “Transformers 3” set to release on the week after it… so it’s not unlikely that the move to December was a business decision rather than a creative one (Avatar did pretty well with a December release date don’t you think?).

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Romantic Restaurants at Walt Disney World Resort

By

Chip

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February 10, 2010

The quiet company of your true love can be the perfect compliment to a savory culinary delight, or step away from the ordinary and into a themed wonderland of the most extravagantly cultural fare. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, the great part about celebrating at Walt Disney World is its endless variety. One moment you can be clutching that special someone while falling 13 stories in a runaway elevator, the next moment you can sip an aromatic Merlot during a romantic, candle lit dinner for two.

Here are Disney Park Blog’s suggestions for the most romantic restaurants that Walt Disney World Resort has to offer:

Victoria & Albert’s, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Narcoossee’s, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
California Grill, Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Jiko-The Cooking Place, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
Bistro de Paris, Epcot
Artist Point, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
The Hollywood Brown Derby, Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Restaurant Marrakesh, Epcot
Le Cellier, Epcot
Flying Fish Cafe, Disney’s Boardwalk

There are over 100 restaurants at Walt Disney World to choose from. Reservations for most restaurants can be made in advance, so be sure to call 407-WDW-DINE to discuss different options and to make reservations. Book now to look forward to the romantic atmosphere and delectable delights that are waiting for you!!

Disney Princesses Before and After Photos

By

Chip

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February 10, 2010

Very funny picture of the Disney Princesses. We have all seen the picture above around the net. I think it may be lurking somewhere on this site too 🙂

Check out the after photo below. Haha that is great. Bonus for the addition of Tinkerbell.

Thanks goes out to Dems for sending this to me!

Alice in Wonderland Inspired Clothing Line

By

Chip

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February 10, 2010

Alice in Wonderland Inspired Clothing Line

The Disney Store has some pretty cool Alice in Wonderland Inspired clothing, jewelry, and accessories for sale right now. It is very stylish and even has some options to custom create your own shirts. I think the highlight of their fashion line is the jewelry. It is very cool looking but is a little pricey for me.

I was going to get something like this for my wife for Valentines Day but even with Free Shipping for orders over $89 it might be a little over budget for me. Still its very cool and worth popping in and checking out.

Click here for more information.

Disney aims to shorten big-screen run for “Alice”

By

Chip

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February 10, 2010

Bob Iger wasn’t bluffing. The Disney CEO has been telling Wall Street for months of his plans for studio executives to shorten traditional movie release schedules, and it appears the time has arrived for the first grand experiment.

A day after the revelation that UK exhibitors are being asked to accept a tightened theatrical window for Disney’s spring feature “Alice in Wonderland,” The Hollywood Reporter has learned that U.S. theater owners have been similarly approached.

Normally, movies play in first-run theaters for up to 16 weeks. Disney is talking about a theatrical run of just under 13 weeks for “Alice,” a 3D motion-capture/live-action fantasy directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp.

The studio would benefit from truncating the theatrical run because the movie, with its family-friendly subject matter and well-known cast, is well positioned to do big success as a home entertainment title. The quicker Disney can get it into DVD and Blu-ray Disc release, the better for its bottom line.

It’s likely that Disney also will accelerate the availability of “Alice” on video-on-demand, which home-entertainment executives have come to view as less of a threat to DVD/Blu-ray income and more as a complementary revenue stream.

Exhibitors have made it clear that they need a compensating upside from the moves. Less clear is how the studio will provide such a benefit, but film-rental terms are always subject to some negotiating.

These days, most releases come with “aggregate” terms. In such cases, distributors and exhibitors agree to split box office by a set percentage of a film’s entire run, with up to 55 percent going into studio coffers on pricey high-profile releases. But on some pictures, studios still pencil in a growing share for exhibitors during the course of a run. It’s possible that Disney will use such an approach to offer a sweeter-than-usual early taste of the receipts for theater owners in exchange for their agreeing to book the film for a truncated theatrical run.

In any event, exhibitors are getting assurances that Disney will proceed cautiously in broadening its experiment to future movie releases.

Disney’s sales job in the U.K., where it sought to lop as much as five weeks from its regional run, was a bit easier. European theater owners know the theatrical market will be squeezed greatly when the soccer World Cup kicks off in June.

Meanwhile, another benefit of the shorter theatrical run for “Alice” — set to unspool worldwide March 5 in a combination of 2D and 3D venues — would be its freeing up 3D screens for other extra-dimensional features, including Warner Bros.’ April 2 release “Clash of the Titans.”

For Iger, who’s been trying to reinvigorate the Disney film studio through a major executive shuffle, changes to traditional release windows simply are a matter of maximizing studio profits. As recently as Tuesday, the Disney topper mused during an earnings conference that window experiments might be a way of improving the studio’s bottom line.

Source

30th Annual National High School Cheerleading Championship Heads to Disney World

By

Chip

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February 10, 2010

30th Annual National High School Cheerleading Championship Heads to Disney World

This year, more than 400 teams from 32 states will head to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando to compete in the 30th annual National High School Cheerleading Championship in the hopes of bringing home the title of National Champion.

“Our 30th Anniversary Championship is a testament to the popularity and growth of cheerleading across the U.S.” said Jeff Webb, founder and CEO of Varsity, parent organization of UCA. “We are proud to celebrate this milestone with the more than 8,000 talented cheerleaders representing teams from all over the country. We feel privileged to give these amazing athletes a proper showcase for their talents.”

An estimated 12,000 spectators are expected to attend the national championship events, with performances at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, the new Josten’s Center and the Indiana Jones Theater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This year’s competition will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2 in February and March; check local listings for airtimes. Highlights of every team’s routine will also be available on Varsity TV, Varsity.com’s broadband video on demand channel.

Click here to keep reading

Disney Working With First Lady on Healthy Kids Campaign

By

Chip

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February 10, 2010

Disney will make a series of public service announcements featuring First Lady Michelle Obama and leading Disney Channel stars in support of the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign to create a healthier generation.

Disney said Tuesday its participation is part of its ongoing effort to promote healthy lifestyles and nutrition for kids and families.

The Disney PSAs, due to begin airing later this year, aim to inspire healthier eating habits, physical activity and more. The messages will be featured across Disney’s kids- and family-targeted media platforms, including Disney Channel, Disney XD, Radio Disney and Disney.com.

“Having been at the forefront of making healthier lifestyle choices appealing to kids and families, Disney is delighted to work with the First Lady to promote exercise, nutrition and healthy living,” Walt Disney Co. president-CEO Robert A. Iger said in a statement.

Obama also taped a PSA for NBC’s “The More You Know” series, which this year is focused on healthy eating and lifestyles. The PSAs featuring the First Lady, part of her national “Let’s Move” campaign, will begin airing in the coming weeks across NBCU platforms.

Check out Disney’s Healty Kids Website here.

Source

Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Stan Lee Hypes Future Marvel Movies

By

Chip

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February 10, 2010

marvel movies ant man black panther dr strange

Great article from Screen Rant talking about Marvel & Stan Lee. In Stan’s tweets he throws out some exciting Movie News to all his fans. Then Screen Rant goes into more details about the upcoming Marvel Movie releases.

Stan Lee is seemingly trying to get fans excited today with some of his recent tweets. We’ve long heard the talk, hints and speculation about future Marvel Studios projects outside of and post-Avengers. Some of these include the long-gestating Ant-Man solo film which has had Edgar Wright’s name on it for quite some time.

That’s not all though as we’ve also heard talk of movies including a Heroes for Hire project that could bring Iron Fist and Luke cage to the big screen, Black Panther, Dr. Strange and much much more. These are just the ones that we haven’t met yet as there’s always talks of spin-offs and sequels to the current set of films in development

Here are a few tweets from Stan:

“To make up for my previous grievous error, here’s a little item that may have escaped you. Marvel is prepping a movie starring– Ant Man!”

“I had lunch with the cool , young director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) and, as you’d imagine, we had fun discussing the tiny hero”

Click here to keep reading this article.

Disneyland Attendance Up – Disneyworld Attendance Down

By

Chip

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February 10, 2010

Disneyland Attendance Up - Disneyworld Attendance Down

You could have fooled me. When we were there a few weeks ago it was extremely busy for January. Not like spring break busy, or summer vacation busy, but still alot busier than I like it. Above is a picture of the crowds at Pixar Place in Hollywood Studios, forget getting on Toy Story Mania over a 70 minute wait with no fast passes available.

Here is the article from the Orange County Business Journal that talks about Park Attendance:

Walt Disney Co.’s theme parks in Anaheim and elsewhere saw better attendance in the recently ended quarter, the company said Tuesday.Burbank-based Disney said attendance rose 15% in the three months through Jan. 2 from a year earlier.

The company runs two Anaheim theme parks plus others in Florida, Europe and Asia.

The company doesn’t break out attendance by park but said Disneyland Park and Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim fared better than the company’s Florida parks, which saw a 1% drop in attendance.

Overall, U.S. parks attendance went up 9% from a year earlier.

Parks and resorts revenue for the quarter was flat at $2.7 billion.

Disney generates about half its revenue from its theme parks with the rest coming from movie studios and TV networks.

Click here to keep reading.

Photo from Chip and Co

Disney restructuring costs drag on quarterly profit

By

Chip

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February 10, 2010

Earnings slip to $844 million from $845 million a year earlier. But excluding one-time items, profit of 47 cents a share beats analysts’ average estimate of 38 cents. Revenue rises 1%.

Walt Disney Co., its bottom line dragged down by restructuring costs, reported a modest drop in its fiscal first-quarter profit.

The Burbank entertainment giant reported net income of $844 million, or 44 cents a share, for the quarter ended Jan. 2, compared with earnings of $845 million, or 45 cents, from the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 1% to $9.7 billion.

Excluding one-time items, earnings of 47 cents a share beat analysts’ average estimate of 38 cents.

The company’s flagship Media Networks group, which includes the ABC broadcast network and cable channels ESPN and Disney Channel, posted an 11% rise in operating income for the quarter to $724 million from $655 million a year earlier. Revenue rose to $4.2 billion from $3.9 billion.

Analysts had been expecting modest first-quarter results for Disney’s television group. However, worldwide growth of the Disney Channel and higher affiliate and advertising fees at ESPN helped drive a 5% gain in operating income for the cable networks, which rose to $544 million for the quarter, up from $517 million a year earlier.

The broadcasting group, which includes ABC and local TV stations, posted a 30% jump in operating income to $180 million, up from $138 million a year earlier. The previous year’s results included a bad-debt charge associated with the bankruptcy of Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times.

Theme parks reported a 2% drop in operating income to $375 million, from $382 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue remained essentially flat at $2.7 billion. The domestic parks saw a boost in attendance, benefiting in part from a shift of the New Year’s holiday from the fiscal second quarter to the first. But attendance was off at Disneyland Paris.

Click here to keep reading.

Photo Shizuo Kambayashi / Associated Press