Disney News and Interviews From The Mouse Castle: High School Musical

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Inside The Mouse Castle 03-08-2016 - Marvel at Disney California Adventure, 'Star Wars' on Blu-Ray and 'High School Musical 4'

By Tim Callaway

Zootopia's Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps.

Disney's Zootopia opened last weekend with record-breaking box office numbers for a March release. Naturally, Anthony and I didn't bother to see it. No worries, we'll both rectify that this week. A 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes certainly got our attention.

Disneyland's announced April 2 closure of Super Hero HQ caught us all by surprise. What will be next for the Star Wars Launch Bay's attic? A preview center for Star Wars Land maybe? And what will happen when Captain America and Spider-Man are sent packing to DCA? Will the Mad T Party be replaced by a Mad A (for Avengers) Party? It's time to get some rumors started.

Here's what else we've got Inside The Mouse Castle this week:

Keep those calendars marked. The Jungle Book begins sneak peek screenings at DCA and Disney's Hollywood Studios on March 18. Frozen--Live at the Hyperion opens at DCA May 27 and Rivers of Light, the new nighttime water show at Disney's Animal Kingdom, debuts April 22.

It was no coincidence the Walt Disney Company had its annual shareholders meeting in Chicago last week. It was a fitting reminder that the Windy City was where Walt was born. To mark the occasion, Bob Iger announced that the Company would donate $250,000 towards the restoration of the Walt Disney Birthplace.

Disney Cruise Line will add two new ships in 2021 and 2023.

Disney Cruise Line will launch two new cruise ships in 2021 and 2023, bringing their fleet total to six. The as-yet-unnamed ships will have 1,250 staterooms each and will be larger than DCL's current biggest ships, the Disney Dream and the Disney Fantasy.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens comes out on Digital HD on April 1 and Blu-ray on April 5. Want a little variety with your trip to a galaxy far, far away? Retailers Target, Walmart, Best Buy and the Disney Store are all offering unique packaging and/or bonus materials.
Big Hero 6 is moving to the small screen. An animated series based on the hit film will debut on Disney XD in 2017.
A live-action movie version of The Nutcracker Suite? Disney is working on it and Lasse Hallstrom (The Hundred-Foot Journey, Chocolat) is slated to direct.

Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens in High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

Ten years after the original High School Musical hit big for the Disney Channel, casting calls are going out for High School Musical 4. Jeffrey Hornaday (Teen Beach Movie) will direct.

Enjoy!

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Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Inside The Mouse Castle 01-20-2016 - Oscar Nominations, a New Boss at Disney Imagineering and Ten Years of "High School Musical'

By Tim Callaway

Millennium Falcon at the
Star Wars Launch Bay.

I was at Disneyland last weekend for the Star Wars Half Marathon and finished the 13.1-mile course in just under two hours and eleven minutes on a sore left foot. Nick Arciniaga, the overall winner of the event, finished in about half that time.

Sore foot. Yeah, that's my excuse.

The weekend also gave me some time to finally explore the Star Wars Launch Bay in Tomorrowland, which I somehow managed to miss since it opened a couple months ago. It's a fun exhibit full of ship models, prop replicas and costumes, not to mention meet-and-greets with Chewbacca and Darth Vader. The Launch Bay has received some criticism for not being quite "WOW!" enough for Disneyland, but I think it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do: engage Star Wars fans with some real live stuff they can see and interact with until Star Wars Land finally makes its debut at the park, we hope, in 2018.

Here's what else Anthony and I have going on in this week's episode of Inside The Mouse Castle:

Oscar nominations were announced last week and films under the Disney umbrella fared well, although there were a few disappointments. Neither Star Wars: The Force Awakens nor Inside Out landed Best Picture nominations. Star Wars was recognized with five noms in mostly technical categories, while Inside Out landed nominations for Best Animated Feature and Original Screenplay. Sanjay's Super Team was nominated for Best Animated Short Film while Cinderella did likewise for Costume Design. The Oscars will air on February 28 on ABC.
Bob Weis is the new president of Walt Disney Imagineering. He's been heading up the Shanghai Disney Resort project (which we now know is opening June 16) and was creative lead for the Disney California Adventure expansion and the original Disney/MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios).

Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

The Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show will end at Disney's Hollywood Studios on April 2 to make way for the upcoming Star Wars and Toy Story expansions at the park.
Inside The Mouse Castle sends its condolences to the family and friends of former Disney Channel star Michael Galeota and actor Brian Bedford. Galeota passed away January 10 at age 31. Bedford, a respected stage and screen actor who voiced the title role in Disney's animated Robin Hood, died at the age of 80 on January 13.

The cast of High School Musical returns for a 10-year reunion.

It's hard to believe, but Disney's High School Musical is ten years old. The Disney Channel celebrated with an anniversary special this week featuring the original cast.