Inside The Mouse Castle 10-12-2015 - Marvel, Pixar, 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' and Kevin Corcoran

By Tim Callaway

We've got plenty of movie news for you this week Inside The Mouse Castle. Marvel announced Ant-Man, closing in on $500 million at the box office worldwide, will get a summer tent pole sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, in 2018. That move will bump Black Panther to a February 2018 release. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel will move from a primo holiday season release in 2018 to a less showy March 2019 premiere. It's clear Marvel is hedging its bets on untested characters while giving the now-proven Ant-Man a second shot at the summer spotlight.

Over at Pixar, our hopes for a sooner-than-later Incredibles sequel have been dashed. Incredibles 2, written and directed by Brad Bird, won't see daylight until summer 2019. Toy Story 4, the sequel no one expected, will hit theaters in June 2018. That moves the sequel no one wants, Cars 3, to summer 2017. After next month's The Good Dinosaur, the lone non-sequel in the mix, the Lee Unkrich-directed Coco, is slated for November 2017.

Here's what else Anthony and I are checking out this week:

• Star Wars: The Force Awakens will have its world premiere in Los Angeles on December 14 ahead of its wide release in the U.S. on December 18. Surprise, surprise, that's all we know for now. No specific venue has been announced yet.
• Fourteen year-old native Hawaiian Auli'i Cravalho will voice the title character in Walt Disney Animation Studios' Moana, opening in U.S. theaters November 23, 2016. She's cute. We like her. And we can't wait to see the John Musker/Ron Clements-directed Polynesian adventure. 

• Disney is working on a live-action flick based on Cruella de Vil. Didn't Glenn Close do this already? Twice?

Riley's First Date?

• Pixar's Inside Out arrives on Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere on Tuesday. It'll hit Blu-ray on November 3. The movie is awesome, but the appeal of catching it on video is to see Riley's First Date?, the super-funny short cartoon about how Riley's parents react when a <gasp!> boy shows up at the door. 
• Rest in peace, Kevin Corcoran. The former child star and Disney Legend passed away last week at the age of 66. He made multiple TV appearances on the original Mickey Mouse Club as the annoying, but fun-loving character Moochie. He also appeared in numerous Disney films including Old Yeller, The Swiss Family Robinson and Toby Tyler. Corcoran gave up acting as a child and went on to have a successful career as a producer/director in television and film.
• Guests were stranded more than two hours Saturday when a Monorail train broke down at Walt Disney World between the Magic Kingdom and the Contemporary Resort. All passengers were eventually rescued and no injuries were reported. 

• Next March, Disney Infinity will launch Marvel Battlegrounds, a play set where up to four super heroes can do battle with each other against a backdrop of villainous exploitation by Loki and Ultron. 

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 08-19-2015 - Disney's D23 Expo 2015

By Tim Callaway

Meet the Parents: Mike and Darla Reynolds with Anthony

I doubt there's a better way to recap last weekend's D23 Expo then doing it with friends over cocktails at the Anabella Hotel.

Bonus points for having Anthony's parents join us.

Even more points for being able to face off about Disney Infinity in-person with Anthony's dad. 

It was a good night. 

Exhausted, exhilarated and just a bit tipsy, Team Mouse Castle does its best to analyze the highs and lows of Disney's mega fan event. So, pull up a chair, pour a drink and join us, won't you?

"Star Wars Land" concept art.

• Plans for "Star Wars Land" (or whatever they decide to call it) at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios were the biggest news to come out of Expo. We were all thrilled to see the first concept images, but couldn't D23 have saved them for the Parks and Resorts presentation Saturday afternoon instead of springing them at the Walt Disney Studios show earlier that morning? 

Avatar Flight of Passage

• Pandora: The World of Avatar will probably look fantastic when it opens at Disney's Animal Kingdom, but does anybody really care?

Finding Dory

• Animation: Based on what we've seen so far, our thumbs are way up for John Musker and Ron Clements' Moana and Pixar's once-troubled The Good Dinosaur. We liked our first look at Finding Dory, but the jury is still out on the Jack and the Beanstalk epic Gigantic, the Day of the Dead tale Coco and, yes, Toy Story 4 (although the Woody's-search-for-Bo-Peep story line has us intrigued). Try as we might, though, we still can't muster any excitement for Disney's March 2016 release Zootopia. 

Rogue One

• Rogue One will be the first Star Wars film that won't be part of a trilogy. The standalone flick will tell the story of how the Rebels stole the plans to the Death Star prior to Episode IV. It will star Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker and Alan Tudyk. Principal shooting has begun under the direction of Gareth Edwards. The film will open in the U.S. on December 16, 2016.
• Colin Trevorrow will direct Star Wars: Episode IX. Not a bad gig after helming Jurassic World.
• It was my pleasure to regale Mike with the latest on Disney Infinity 3.0, which hits stores in the U.S. on August 30th. Who wants some sneak peeks?

• There was also an exciting announcement about the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III:

These are just some of the highlights in today's episode of Inside The Mouse Castle. We also talk about Shanghai Disneyland, lines, the Walt Disney Archives exhibit, lines, the Disney Dream Store, lines and camping overnight (which also involves lines). 

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 12-08-2014 - 'Guardians' on Blu-ray, 'Frozen Fun' at Disneyland and 2015 'Star Wars' Weekends at Walt Disney World

Guardians of the Galaxy on Blu-ray

Crank up your Awesome Mix Vol. 1 because Guardians of the Galaxy is out on Blu-ray this week. And while Anthony didn't hesitate to snag the digital download when it came out last month, I've been holding out for the Blu-ray because, well, Blu-ray.

I've got a thing for shrink-wrap packaging. What can I say?

The number one movie at the box office this year comes with a decent assortment of bonus features, including deleted scenes, making of featurettes, a gag reel and audio commentary by director James Gunn. It also offers up a sneak peek behind the scenes at Marvel's upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron. Anthony and I talk it all up plus a lot more in this week's edition of Inside The Mouse Castle. It's a dance off, bro!

• In casting news, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson  will voice Maui, the South Seas demigod who helps a young navigator in Disney's Moana, set for release in November 2016. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Benedict Cumberbatch will play the title role in Doctor Strange, hitting theaters the same month. We like both choices, but wonder why--as good as we think Cumberbatch is going to be--Marvel ever considered Joaquin Phoenix for the part.

Anna and Elsa are set for some Frozen Fun at Disneyland.

• The Frozen frenzy continues with a fresh slate of shows and activities debuting at Disneyland through January. Most of it is overkill and none of it is surprising, but it will certainly please many of a fan of Anna and Elsa. We are disappointed, though, that "Freeze the Night! A Family Dance Party" will replace Mad T Party at Disney California Adventure. <sigh> I still miss ElecTRONica.

• Frozen Fever, a new short film from Frozen directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee will open Disney's live-action Cinderella in theaters beginning March 13th. The story will be about Elsa and Kristoff's plans to give Anna the best birthday celebration ever. Frozen Fever will include an all-new original song by Frozen songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.
• The 2015 dates for Walt Disney World's annual Star Wars Weekends have been announced. Get your Jedi on with special events and guest appearances every weekend from May 15 - June 14.
• We love all our friends, fans and followers in The Mouse Castle, but we get a real kick when one of our followers turns out to be a celebrity. Actress Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Clarissa Explains it All) started following The Mouse Castle (@disneytim) on Twitter this week. I only obsess about it a little bit on today's show. BTW, you can follow Melissa @MelissaJoanHart. 

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 11-07-2014 - 'Toy Story 4,' 'Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens' and 'Big Hero 6'

Anthony and I have beer and movies on our minds as we recap a busy week for Disney, Pixar and Lucasfilm in the latest Inside The Mouse Castle. We brought beer because, well, it's the weekend, so why not?

• Like it or not, there will be a Toy Story 4, directed by John Lasseter and released on June 16, 2017. Anthony's really looking forward to it. I'm cautiously optimistic but concerned that Pixar is going to the well one too many times in the name of Woody and Buzz. 
• Star Wars: Episode VII is now officially known as The Force Awakens, but you knew that already, didn't you? We'll talk about it anyway.

Baymax in Big Hero 6.

• Big Hero 6 has opened this weekend to enthusiastic reviews and rightfully so. This superhero origin story is pretty basic by comic book standards, but it's buoyed by a high-energy sense of fun and wonder, plus exquisitely detailed, jaw-dropping animation. Go see it...and whatever you do, stay until the end of the credits.
• The new trailer and character images for Into the Woods starring Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp have significantly raised my enthusiasm for the Rob Marshall-directed film, but Anthony isn't sold on it yet. We'll pass final judgment on the movie musical when it comes out on Christmas Day.

The Avengers

• Disney and Marvel aren't pulling any punches when it comes finding the person who leaked the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer before it's scheduled release. They have traced the leak to a Google Drive account and have subpoenaed Google to provide more details before November 18th. Grab your popcorn. This is going to be good.
• Fijian boat makers are in a tizzy over a single piece of concept art Disney has released for the upcoming animated film Moana. Apparently, the image depicts a small, crudely-made boat similar in style to a type the islanders have been building for centuries. They are requesting compensation from Disney for borrowing the design that has no apparent origin or trademark owner. No, really.
• Fantasmic! is going Fastpass at Disneyland beginning December 12th. Find out why we think it's about time.

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 10-22-2014 - 'Moana,' 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' and the Walt Disney Birthplace Restoration

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Yep, we're blaming Hydra.

If Marvel can finger its fictional terrorist group for leaking the trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron six days early, then we can blame them for the technical issues that kept Tuesday's Inside The Mouse Castle off the air until tonight.

Actually, it was a wonky HP laptop that caused our podcast problems. Who knows what nefarious force made the Internet explode with glee when the new Avengers trailer found its way online? Entertainment websites everywhere posted the lo-res video before Disney and Marvel quickly slammed the door on the leak. But, since nothing online is ever really deleted once it goes viral, Marvel had no choice but to release the official trailer well before its scheduled TV premiere on next Tuesday's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

For our part, you won't hear anything about the leak in today's ITMC. Anthony and I recorded the show well before the story broke. Rest assured, we'll be talking about it plenty on Friday's show.

(l. to r.) Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner,
Robert Downey, Jr. and Don Cheadle in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

And so, here's the trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron in all its intense, epic, superhero glory. WOW!!!

Also in today's show:

• Moana, an adventure set in the oceans of Polynesia, is Walt Disney Animation Studios newest project. John Musker and Ron Clements (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin) are directing the film which is due for release in late 2016.
• What's better than listening to the Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol. 1 on CD or vinyl? How about listening to it on cassette, just like Peter Quill intended?

• Keston Ott-Dahl and her wife Andrea have a young daughter with Down Syndrome. They've started an online petition to ask Disney to create a special needs princess their daughter and others like her can relate to. Do we think it will succeed? Probably not, but it's not a bad way to raise awareness of Down Syndrome. For more info visit www.delaneyskye.com.
• Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved is an imaginative and beautifully rendered video game that cleverly interacts with all styles of music from classical to contemporary pop. It's available now for Xbox One and Kinect for Xbox 360.
• Start some good and support the restoration of the Walt Disney Birthplace, the Chicago home built by Elias Disney where his son Walter was born. To contribute to the cause, visit www.startsomegood.com/WDB.

Enjoy!

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