Inside The Mouse Castle 01-26-2016 - New 'Star Wars' and 'Pirates' Release Dates and Josh Gad's Surprise

By Tim Callaway

Star Wars and Pirates get shuffled in 2017.

Disney is juggling its movie release schedule in 2017, which means you're going to have to wait an extra seven months before you get to see Star Wars: Episode VIII. Like the massively successful The Force Awakens. Episode VIII will open during the Christmas holiday season in 2017, moving from its previously announced Memorial Day weekend release. Sailing into that prime May slot will be Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth installment of Captain Jack Sparrow's epic adventures. Even with Star Wars' December shift, Disney will still have a pretty busy summer 2017 slate. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 will open on May 5 and Pixar's Cars 3 will hit the streets on June 16.

Anthony and I grab our popcorn and Red Vines and settle in for this week's edition of Inside The Mouse Castle:

• At Disneyland, you can now get an up-close look at the Disneyland Railroad trains and the old Frontierland train depot. Meanwhile, Kylo Ren has started putting in appearances at the Star Wars Launch Bay. We're also happy to learn that the Pope House, the historic former residence next to Disneyland's backstage Circle D Corral, has been preserved and relocated beyond the berm on Disney property. Its previous location will become part of Star Wars Land.

Are we getting a teaser trailer this week for Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast?

• Josh Gad (Frozen) will host an episode of The Wonderful World of Disney, celebrating Disneyland's diamond anniversary. Disneyland 60 will air on February 21 at 8:00 p.m. We're also intrigued by a "surprise" Gad promised this week via Twitter.
  

  Big surprise coming this Thursday

  — Josh Gad (@joshgad) January 25, 2016

  We're really hoping it's a teaser trailer for Disney's live action Beauty and the Beast, set to open March 2017. Gad will play Gaston's (Luke Evans') loyal and dimwitted sidekick Lefou. Emma Watson (Belle) and Dan Stevens (Beast) also star in the highly-anticipated reboot of the tale as old as time.
  
• Building those virtual replicas of Disney theme parks (or Universal or Six Flags) will get easier with two new roller coaster video games coming out this year. We can't wait to get our hands on Atari's Roller Coaster Tycoon World and Frontier's Planet Coaster, which both promise levels of theming and immersion never seen before in a roller coaster sim.
  

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 08-03-2015 - Disney's 'Descendants,' 'Star Wars,' 'Spider-Man' and Saving the Midget Autopia

By Tim Callaway

The cast of Descendants (l. to r.): Booboo Stewart,
Dove Cameron, Cameron Boyce, Sofia Carson,
Mitchell Hope and Sarah Jeffery

Disney's Descendants was a huge hit on the Disney Channel last Friday, attracting over six million viewers. But, was it any good? 

I vote no, but then I'm not in the movie's age 9-14 demographic. 

Still, it's hard to like a film with a dumbed-down story that turns the most evil of Disney's animated villains into buffoons and then adds a rap sequence to "Be Our Guest." 

No. Just, no.

Unlike Descendants, very little is painful about this week's episode of Inside The Mouse Castle. There are even a few things Anthony and I like:

• Is Star Wars coming to Netflix? All the signs point to yes. We're hearing as many as three new series from Lucasfilm could be in development for the online entertainment service.
• Rumors abound about who will make up the supporting cast of Marvel's Spider-Man movie in 2017. It could just be wishful thinking, but we'll play along for now. Robert Downey, Jr. returning as Tony Stark, Hugh Laurie as J. Jonah Jameson, Forest Whitaker as Robbie Robertson, Billy Zane as the Vulture, Jason Biggs as Scorpion, Miranda Cosgrove as Betty Brant. We're on board for all of them if the rumors are true.
• Josh Gad has wrapped up shooting on Disney's live-action version of Beauty and the Beast. He's playing LeFou, sidekick to Luke Evans' Gaston. We're going to miss Gad's social media dispatches from the set. 
• What's the deal with Bob the Musical and why are so many big names attached to the project? The Hollywood Reporter says Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay) is working on the script for Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist). Meanwhile, Oscar-winning songwriter Bret McKenzie ("Man or Muppet") will pen the songs for the film about a man who can hear the inner music in everyone's heart. Oh, and did we mention Tom Cruise might star in it too?

The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki.

• Animation fans, especially fans of the great Hayao Miyazaki, are going to love the new Blu-ray box set from Disney and Studio Ghibli. The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki will include all 11 of the master's animated classics including Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and The Wind Rises. It will be available only on Amazon.com and will be released on November 17th.
• In 1966, Walt Disney donated the Midget Autopia attraction at Disneyland to his boyhood home of Marceline, MO, the only time a Disney attraction was ever moved to a non-Disney location. The Midget Autopia stopped operating in the late 1970s, but now the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fully restore the cars and track. You can help by visiting www.bringbackautopia.com. 

• Going to the D23 Expo this month? Download the app that will help you navigate the crowds and presentations at the epic Disney fan event. Get it for free now on Apple iOS and Android.
• We don't know a lot about what will replace Luigi's Flying Tires at Disney California Adventure, but now we have a name for it: Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters.

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 03-16-2015 - Tim Burton Directs 'Dumbo'; Emma Thompson, Kevin Kline and Josh Gad Join 'Beauty and the Beast'

By Tim Callaway

Beauty and the Beast gets a live-action treatment in 2017.

Cinderella opened on Friday to positive reviews and solid box office sales. Maleficent and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland were mediocre films at best but made buckets of money for Disney. Now Burton is back to take on another one of Walt's animated classics. He'll direct a live-action version of Dumbo. No, really. Meanwhile, director Bill Condon is assembling a dream cast for a reboot of Beauty and the Beast. Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts), Kevin Kline (Maurice) and Josh Gad (LeFou) are the latest to join the ensemble in a film slated for release in 2017.

So, the question remains, is it still a good idea for Disney to remake its stable of animated classics as CG-heavy live-action films? Anthony and I jump into the fray in this edition of Inside The Mouse Castle.

We also cover these fascinating topics:

• We're getting conflicting news about a third Tron movie, but it looks like it's a go with Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy) directing and Garrett Hedlund returning to play Sam Flynn. Shooting could start in Vancouver this fall.
• Disneyland and Walt Disney World will kick off the summer season with what has now become a tradition: a 24-hour party on Memorial Day weekend. The "Coolest Summer Ever" starts at 6:00 a.m. on May 22nd at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and the Magic Kingdom. The party won't end until 6:00 a.m. on the 23rd. Ready to pull an all day and all nighter? Start resting up now.

• Disney California Adventure's conversion of Condor Flats to an expanded Grizzly Peak will start to reveal itself on Friday when Smokejumpers Grill (formerly Taste Pilots) opens. The rest of the expansion, including an enhanced Soarin' Over California, will gradually reopen later this spring.
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens on December 18th, but the expected merchandising blitz will precede it. Twenty Star Wars-related books will hit stores leading up to the film's release.
• Want to have a bit of tournament fun that has nothing to do with basketball this month? Cast your votes during "March Magic," which pits 32 Disneyland and Walt Disney World attractions against one another. Are you a Flying Elephant? A California Screamer? Maybe you're a Space Mountain Blast or a Caribbean Cannonball. And did we mention there are t-shirts? Get them now before your favorites are eliminated.

Enjoy!

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First Look at 'Frozen Fever'

What we learned about Disney's new animated short, Frozen Fever, by looking at the latest production images:

1. Olaf likes cake.

2. Kristoff and Sven are not that great at making signs.

3. Anna is not a morning person.

4. Elsa still leaves wispy snowflake trails wherever she goes.

5. But, they all make up one big, happy, extended family.

Okay, we do know a bit more about Frozen Fever. The story will be about a birthday celebration for Anna that gets complicated by Elsa catching a cold and having issues with her wintry powers. The original voice cast from the movie will be back: Kristen Bell (Anna), Idina Menzel (Elsa), Jonathan Groff (Kristoff) and Josh Gad (Olaf). 

Frozen's directors, Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee will be back too.

Frozen Fever will open with Cinderella on March 13th.