The Mouse Castle Lounge 08-11-2021 - 'Jungle Cruise' Review and Scarlett Johansson vs. Disney

 

Tim and Anthony review Jungle Cruise, then take a hard turn into the Pirates of the Caribbean and Jumanji movies. They also discuss Disneyland's new Magic Key program, Scarlett Johansson's fight with Disney over Black Widow, and Walt Disney World's upcoming Galactic Starcruiser experience. 

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The Mouse Castle Lounge 05-21-2021 - 'Star Wars' Galactic Cruising and Disney Cruise Line 'Wish' Cruising

It's a cruising episode as Tim and Anthony talk about the upcoming Star Wars-themed Galactic Starcruiser coming to Walt Disney World, and Disney Cruise Line's new ship, the Disney Wish, which will set sail from Port Canaveral in Florida starting next year.

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The Mouse Castle Lounge 05-08-2018 - We Found Singer Tammy Tuckey on Main Street

Tammy Tuckey

Tammy Tuckey is living the dream. Tammy is a singer, actress and lifelong Disney fan who has just recorded and produced a musical album called You'll Find Me On Main Street. a collection of Tammy's favorite songs from Walt Disney World. It's an eclectic mix of tunes ranging from "Two Brothers" from The American Adventure to "Tomorrow's Child" from Spaceship Earth to "The Great Outdoors" from The County Bear Jamboree Vacation Hoedown. Tammy has a great voice and an obvious love of the material. The passion she brings to the project makes You'll Find Me On Main Street the Disney cover album you need to download right now.

Recording the album gave Tammy the opportunity to work with some of the original artists who created the songs for Disney. They include singer Ali Olmo ("Two Brothers"), fiddler Byron Berline ("The Great Outdoors") and the vocal group Sounds of Blackness ("Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand"). In The Mouse Castle Lounge today, Tammy talks with Tim about what it was like to make the album, what songs you can and can't get permission from Disney to record, and what it takes to get Bob Iger's attention.

Enjoy!

Find out more about Tammy at TammyTuckey.com and The Tiara Talk Show.

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The Mouse Castle Lounge Happy Hour - Facebook Live 04-07-2016

So, apparently I'm in the minority when it comes to choosing #TeamIronMan over #TeamCap. I can't even catch a break choosing #TeamBlackWidow.

How do I know this? Because a bunch of you let me have it in the first Mouse Castle Lounge Happy Hour on Facebook Live.

It was supposed to be just a friendly get together on National Beer Day, but no.

All I can say is I better get my red carpet invite for Tuesday night's Captain America: Civil War premiere. It'll be at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood with the stars arriving about 5:30 p.m.

But, I digress.

Because, you see, we talked about a lot of other stuff during Happy Hour. Well, I talked. The rest of you typed. It worked out.

Here's what else we discussed. It was a lot of fun:

• The new Rogue One trailer.
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Blu-ray.
• Walt Disney World's "Early Morning Magic."
• Pixar's Piper.
• The Haunted Mansion "Ghost Post."
• D23's Destination D.

Please take a look and don't forget to like The Mouse Castle on Facebook. You don't ever want to miss happy hour. 

Cheers!

The Mouse Castle Lounge Happy (Half) Hour
Posted by The Mouse Castle - Disney Podcasts on Thursday, April 7, 2016

By Tim Callaway

Inside The Mouse Castle 02-03-2016 - Disneyland Paris Arrest and 'Disneyland 60' with Harrison Ford and Elton John

By Tim Callaway

A man was arrested at Hotel New York at Disneyland Paris last week after bringing two semi-automatic pistols and a knife into the resort. No attack was carried out in the incident. The man was quickly processed by French authorities, appeared before a judge, and on Tuesday was sentenced to six months of house arrest at his mother's home just outside the French capital. 

As alarming as it was to hear about someone bringing weapons to a Disney resort, it was also concerning about how the story was covered in the media. News outlets were quick to point out that, included with the weaponry--which was found in the man's luggage as it passed through a metal detector--there was also a "guide to the Koran." The Daily Mail even went so far as to mention it in their story headline.

Question: Would the press have said anything if the man was packing a Bible?

Multiple terrorist attacks in Paris last year have understandably made the French people jittery about the threat of religious extremism in their country. But, was it right for the media to fan the flames of Islamophobia, especially after the police investigation found no evidence the man intended to commit a terrorist act? The man claimed he was carrying the weapons for self-defense (and if that was true, the guy is pretty dim to think he could get through hotel security).

In this week's Inside The Mouse Castle, Anthony and I share our thoughts about the Disneyland Paris incident and the state of security at other Disney parks. Don't worry. We also talk about the usual silly stuff too.

Elton John performs for Disneyland 60 on ABC.

• Harrison Ford and Elton John join the list of celebrities appearing on the Wonderful World of Disney special Disneyland 60. The show will celebrate 60 years of the Happiest Place on Earth and will air on ABC on February 21 at 8:00 p.m. Ford is expected to reveal details about Disneyland's Star Wars Land expansion, while John will perform songs from The Lion King and his upcoming album in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens is coming to Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD in April. You can pre-order J.J. Abrams' blockbuster now on Amazon.com.

• Also out now: the Walt Disney Signature Collection release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on Blu-ray. You should get it. 
• A family is suing Walt Disney World for negligence in the death of the family's great-grandmother, who they claim was traumatized by witnessing her great-grandson receive a minor, non-threatening snakebite at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It's complicated. 

Enjoy!

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The Mouse Castle Lounge 12-11-2015 - Disney Historian Jim Korkis and Restoring Walt's Office

By Tim Callaway

Walt Disney's granddaughters (l. to r.) Michelle Lund,
Jennifer Goff and Joanna Miller cut the ribbon with Bob Iger
to reopen Walt's office. 

This week, the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank unveiled and rededicated the restored office suite of Walt Disney. It was a painstaking labor of love by Disney studio employees and archivists to recreate Walt’s office exactly as it appeared at the time of his death. It was authentic down to the actual furniture and personal items that were there in 1966. On hand for the dedication were Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger, Walt’s granddaughter Joanna Miller, and Disney Legends Richard Sherman and Dave Smith. We’ll be hearing from all of them in today's show.

Before that, though, we welcome the return of Disney historian Jim Korkis to the Lounge. Jim is a meticulous researcher and a marvelous storyteller and his two most recent books from Theme Park Press, Secret Stories of Walt Disney World and The Vault of Walt: Volume 4, belong in your collection, as do Jim’s many other books.

Secret Stories of Walt Disney World
by Jim Korkis

Please welcome Jim Korkis, My guest today in The Mouse Castle Lounge.

Enjoy!

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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 09-28-2015 - Season of the Force, Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar and the Death of Duffy

By Tim Callaway

Star Wars Launch Bay

The Season of the Force is coming to Disneyland November 16th and we have all the details in this week's episode of Inside The Mouse Castle.

As excitement builds for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in December and the January groundbreaking of Star Wars Land, the Star Wars Launch Bay will open in the old Innoventions building in Tomorrowland. There will be plenty to preview of the upcoming Star Wars films and eventually, we assume, the park expansion. Also in the Launch Bay will be the obligatory Star Wars character meet-and-greets. Next door, a new Space Mountain overlay, Hyperspace Mountain, will rocket guests through an X-wing Figher battle. Star Tours will get an upgrade as well, adding new show elements based on The Force Awakens.

The Force is strong with today's show. Here's what else we have:

• The Star Wars Land expansion at Disneyland means extended ride closures during construction. Everything on the Rivers of America including the Mark Twain, Columbia and Tom Sawyer will be shut down for more than a year beginning January 11, 2016. Likewise Fantasmic! and the Disneyland Railroad. While much of the Internet is speculating on what the new train and river configurations will be when the dust settles and Star Wars emerges, Anthony and I offer our short-term take on what no train, no Big Thunder Trail and no Fantasmic! will do to crowd control. We don't think it will be pretty.
• Disneyland is extending its Diamond Celebration until September 2016, which means the resort will turn 61 while it's still turning 60. 
• Websites that offer dining reservation services at Disney resorts (usually for a fee) are coming under fire by Disney. Disney Dining Buddy is the first site to suspend activity after receiving a "request" by the Mouse to stop.

Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar

• The Indiana Jones-referential Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar has opened at Walt Disney World's Disney Springs (no longer Downtown Disney). We want to go there.
• Garrett Hedlund (Sam Flynn in Tron: Legacy) says a Tron 3 film may not be dead on the grid after all. Maybe.
• Duffy the Disney Bear is bidding farewell to Epcot. This pleases us. Outside of Japan, he never was a thing.

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 09-21-2015 - Halloween and Christmas at Disneyland, 'Star Wars' on Netflix and a New 'Mary Poppins'

By Tim Callaway

GOAT TRICK!

Anthony is back from a week at Disneyland, where he checked out all the Halloween Time activities. There was fall finery everywhere and pumpkin spice-flavored everything, but, we're mostly excited by this perfect pic Anthony took of the goat on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. 

Of course, Halloween festivities are barely underway and we're already talking about Christmas. We've got a preview of all the stuff to expect--and what will be missing--from this year's holiday events at Disneyland. 

Here's what else we have slated for this episode of Inside The Mouse Castle. It's enough to make your head spin. 

• Rob Marshall (Into the Woods, POTC 4) will direct a new Mary Poppins movie for Disney. Before you lose your minds for them daring to touch this untouchable classic, keep in mind this will not be a remake of the original. It won't exactly be a sequel either. P.L. Travers wrote eight Mary Poppins books. The new movie will likely be adapted from stories we haven't seen on the screen before. If you really want something to be excited about, Emily Blunt (Into the Woods) is the rumored front-runner for the role of the practically perfect nanny. We can't think of a better choice.
• Bryan Singer (X-Men, The Usual Suspects) has confirmed he'll direct a remake of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. We aren't certain if it's going to be for Disney or not, but we're intrigued nevertheless.
• There's a new trailer for next year's live-action remake of The Jungle Book. Despite some interesting casting choices (Bill Murray as Baloo, Christopher Walken as King Louie), we're not terribly excited yet for this CG-heavy adventure.

• Star Wars is coming to Netflix. Maybe. Kind of. Probably not where you are. Whatever.
• Here's some travel advice for your next Walt Disney World visit: don't joke about building a meth lab in your hotel room. Kthanksbye.

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 09-14-2015 - 'Walt Disney' on PBS, 'Frozen' Replaces 'Aladdin,' and What's New with 'Incredibles 2'

By Tim Callaway

Puppet Master Walt.

After technical difficulties and busy travel schedules squashed last week's show, Anthony and I are back for another go-round Inside The Mouse Castle. 

We start off with my review of Walt Disney, the new American Experience documentary airing this week on PBS. It's an earnest, if somewhat biased, depiction of Walt's life that plays up the darker elements of his personality and career. Fans will appreciate the rare photographs and archival footage, while Disney history buffs will question how the film presents Walt's relationship with his father, his actions during the 1941 studio strike and the assorted psychobabble spouted by some of the "experts" who try to crawl inside Walt's head.

Here's what else we have in this week's episode:

• A live action Frozen stage show will replace the long-running Disney's Aladdin--A Musical Spectacular production in the Hyperion Theater at Disney California Adventure...and the Internet loses its mind.
• Meanwhile, Anthony was totally amused by this video of Kelsey Grammer falling off the Hyperion Theater stage in 2005.

• We now know for certain that Disneyland and Walt Disney World will break ground on their Star Wars-Land expansions next year. That means the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, the popular holiday light show at Disney's Hollywood Studios will blink out after this year.
• Director Brad Bird has let it be known that work on Incredibles 2 is moving along briskly, so well that it will likely be released before the other Pixar sequel, Cars 3. That still means it probably won't be out until 2018, but any news about The Incredibles is good news.
• Disney Infinity 3.0 will be available on Apple TV after the streaming service undergoes an extensive update in October.
• Some participants in this month's Disneyland Half-Marathon complained of incorrect corral assignments, suggesting there are proof-of-time security issues with RunDisney and TrackShack.
• There will no longer be chanting allowed at Walt Disney World. Unofficially, of course.

Enjoy!

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The Mouse Castle Lounge 09-04-2015 - Disney Legend Bill "Sully" Sullivan, Part Two

By Tim Callaway

From Jungle Cruise Skipper to
Disney Legend

I hope you're having a great Labor Day weekend. I'm at the Disneyland Resort this weekend, not only for Force Friday--did you get any cool Star Wars Merchandise yesterday?--but also for the 10th anniversary of the Disneyland Half Marathon. My guest in the Lounge today has nothing to do with either of those events, but you're really going to like him. He's Disney Legend Bill "Sully" Sullivan and you're going to hear part two of my conversation with him about his nearly 40 years with Disney.

Sully started out as a ticket taker on the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland in 1955 and finished his career in 1994 as vice president of the Magic Kingdom in Florida. Between those times, he got to know both Walt and Roy Disney. He worked at the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley in 1960 and the New York World's Fair in 1963 and '64. Last week, Sully told us much about those adventures, and in part two of our conversation, he picks things up in October 1971 as Walt Disney World is preparing for its grand opening.

Sully also shares some of his fondest memories of both Walt and Roy, as well as the day he got the biggest surprise of his career: the letter from Michael Eisner telling him he'd been named a Disney Legend. It's part two of my conversation with Sully Sullivan in The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

Sully's book, From Jungle Cruise Skipper to Disney Legend, is available from Amazon.com and ThemeParkPress.com.

Related: The Mouse Castle Lounge 08-28-2015 - Disney Legend Bill "Sully" Sullivan, Part One

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The Mouse Castle Lounge 08-28-2015 - Disney Legend Bill "Sully" Sullivan, Part One

By Tim Callaway

Once a Jungle Cruise skipper, always a Jungle Cruise skipper.
Disney Legend Bill "Sully" Sullivan.

In the summer of 1955, William “Sully” Sullivan got a job at Disneyland, just days after he watched the park’s grand opening on television. It was the beginning of a career with Disney that lasted nearly forty years. Sully started out as a ticket taker on the Jungle Cruise before becoming a Jungle Cruise skipper. And that was just the beginning. Sully moved up the ranks at Disneyland, with side trips to the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley and the 1964-65 World’s Fair in New York. He got to know both Walt Disney and Roy Disney. He even met his future wife in Adventureland. Sully ended his career as vice president of the Magic Kingdom in Florida, and in 2005 was named a Disney Legend. 

In his memoir, From Jungle Cruise Skipper to Disney Legend: 40 Years of Magical Memories at Disney, Sully talks about the many adventures he had during his lengthy career, and he’s going to share a few of them with us today. In part one of our two-part conversation Sully tells us about Walt, the early days of Disneyland, and the four principles that guided Sully throughout his career. Sully Sullivan is my guest today in The Mouse Castle Lounge.

Enjoy!

For more fascinating books about Disney history, visit www.ThemeParkPress.com.

Related: The Mouse Castle Lounge 09-04-2015 - Disney Legend Bill "Sully" Sullivan, Part Two

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Inside The Mouse Castle 07-13-2015 - Disneyland's 60th Birthday, 'Star Wars' at Comic-Con and 'Wreck-It Ralph 2'

By Tim Callaway

Disneyland Forever fireworks.

So, who's going to Disneyland Friday for the park's 60th birthday party? I am! I hope you are too.

Sadly, Anthony won't be joining us for the festivities, so let's try not to have too much fun in his absence.

Disneyland's Diamond Celebration will be a somewhat low-key event (especially for those of us who remember the 50th). Contrary to earlier rumors, Disneyland and DCA will not be open 24 hours like they were Memorial Day weekend. Disneyland will be open 8:00 a.m. to midnight, DCA from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. As far as special events during the day, Disneyland Resort president Michael Colglazier will preside over a rededication ceremony in Town Square. The event will be streamed live on big screens set up throughout Disneyland, DCA and Downtown Disney. There will also be special late-night performances of World of Color and Paint the Night. Guests are also encouraged to dress in 1950s-style garb just like it was on Disneyland's opening day.

For a complete list of activities this Friday, visit https://disneyland.disney.go.com/calendars/day/2015-07-17/.

Other goings-on in this week's edition of Inside The Mouse Castle:

Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford at Comic-Con.

• Harrison Ford made a surprise appearance at Comic-Con last week. He joined J.J. Abrams and the cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on stage in Hall H to the delight of the packed audience. It was his first public appearance since March when he crashed landed a vintage airplane on a golf course in Southern California.
• Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, the directing duo that helmed The Lego Movie, will direct a standalone Star Wars film that tells the backstory of Han Solo. Lawrence Kasdan is working on the script and the film is expected to be released on May 25, 2018.
  

Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd in Ant-Man.

• Ant-Man is getting mostly favorable reviews (75% on Rotten Tomatoes as of this post). The latest tale in the Marvel Cinematic Universe stars Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly and Corey Stoll. It opens in U.S. theaters this Friday.
• John C. Reilly has confirmed that there will be a Wreck-It Ralph 2 and he will again be voicing the title character. Expect there to be a bigger Nintendo tie-in like we talked about previously Inside The Mouse Castle.
• Marisa Tomei will play Peter Parker's guardian Aunt May in the upcoming MCU Spider-Man films. Is it wrong to be hot for Aunt May?
• Who says princesses get all the attention? Disney is developing a film centered around the life of Prince Charming. Personally, we think Prince should play the prince.

Disney Infinity 3.0

• Disney Infinity 3.0 will hit stores (finally) on August 30, 2015. It will have Star Wars in it. That's all you need to know. Order it. Now.
• By a 3-2 vote, the Anaheim City Council passed an ordinance extending a gate-tax ban for the Disneyland Resort for an additional 30 years. Anthony continues to be bored by this type of news.
• Bill Cosby and the Confederate Flag can no longer be found at Walt Disney World. Anthony and I make inappropriate jokes about it.

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 06-23-2015 - The New Spider-Man, 'Inside Out' Review, Deadmau5 Settlement

By Tim Callaway

Inside Out

After weeks of wild speculation, Marvel and Sony finally announced Tom Holland will be the new Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Jon Watts will direct the next standalone film for the web slinger. We expect that Holland will also appear as Spidey in next year's Captain America: Civil War.

In other movie news, Inside Out couldn't beat Jurassic World at the box office over the weekend, but that didn't stop it from scoring the second biggest opening in Pixar history. I give my review of the Pete Docter-directed film while Anthony and I get in touch with our emotions in this week's episode of Inside The Mouse Castle.

• Maleficent made over $750 million worldwide last year. So, umm, yeah, there's going to be a sequel. Linda Woolverton is currently penning the script. No confirmation yet whether Angelina Jolie is on board, but come on, why wouldn't she be?
• Zuri's Sweet Shop has opened at Disney's Animal Kingdom and it's serving poop candy. That's really all you need to know.

Zuri's Sweets Shop at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

• Also at Animal Kingdom, Starbucks has opened up shop. Meanwhile, down the road at the soon-to-be demolished Walt Disney World Speedway, we've learned that the space is destined to become a parking lot. 
• Our condolences to the family and friends of JoAnn Dean Killingsworth, who passed away Saturday at the age of 91. The long-time actress and ice skater was an original Disneyland employee in 1955 and the park's first Snow White.
• Historian Didier Ghez is a good friend of The Mouse Castle and we're very excited about his upcoming book, They Drew as They Pleased: The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age. It's the first in a series of books Didier is writing about the great concept artists of the Walt Disney Studios. It will be out on September 8th.
  
• Disney and musical artist Deadmau5 have settled their legal differences over Deadmau5's performance headgear, which bears a striking resemblance to a certain cartoon mouse. The terms of the settlement have not been released (and probably won't be), but the two sides are now playing nice.

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 06-08-2015 - Silly Symphonies and Broadway at the D23 Expo, 'Walt Disney' on PBS

By Tim Callaway

Disney's first color cartoon, the Silly Symphony Flowers and Trees.

After a week off, Anthony and I are back Inside The Mouse Castle. This week, we start off with a couple of musical extravaganzas at the upcoming D23 Expo in Anaheim. Disney in Concert: A Silly Symphony Celebration will screen some of Walt Disney's great musical cartoons of the 1920s and '30s accompanied by a 32-piece orchestra. The massive fan gathering will also welcome Disney on Broadway's The Originals, celebrating Disney's great theatrical shows and starring Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins), James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin) and Josh Strickland (Tarzan).

Anthony and I also imagine a world where Nicolas Cage is in every Disney animation-to-live-action movie adaptation, but I digress.

• Disney will produce a live action film based on the "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence from Fantasia. Nicolas Cage as Chernabog, am I right?
• Disney has wiped Tron 3 off the grid. There will be no follow-up film to Tron: Legacy and that makes the users sad.
• Would you be willing to pay more to go to Disneyland during peak summer and holiday seasons? How about paying less to go in the off-season? A recent survey of Annual Passholders had social media buzzing about (gasp!) another ticket price increase.

Marvel's Ant-Man.

• DCA guests can catch a preview of Marvel's Ant-Man, starring Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas, beginning June 19th in the...wait for it...Bug's Life Theater. Didn't see that coming, did you?
• A recent New York Times article has people questioning hiring practices at Walt Disney World. Two hundred fifty tech workers were laid off last October, but not before many of them trained their replacements: Indian immigrants working in the U.S. on temporary visas.
• Another WDW labor issue: can cast members in character costumes at the parks share their exploits on social media? Disney says no because it ruins the magic. We agree.
• Walt Disney Company CFO Jay Rasulo announced his resignation effective at the end of this month. He was passed over for the COO's position earlier this year in favor of Tom Staggs, who is now the heir apparent to replace Bob Iger when he retires. Publicly, Rasulo's departure from Disney will be amicable. We suspect he won't be unemployed long. "Almost" good enough to run the Walt Disney Company isn't a bad thing to have on your resume.
• We're very excited about the upcoming documentary, Walt Disney, scheduled to run on PBS September 14-15 as part of their American Experience series.
• Tangled, a new animated series based on the movie, is coming to the Disney Channel in 2017. I've already started obsessing on Rapunzel's hair length. It appears long in concept art for the series, but since it takes place after the movie, shouldn't it be short? Yes, I know hair grows. Don't start with me.
• The Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection will be out on Digital HD August 11th followed by a Blu-ray release on August 18th. The best of the bunch in this 12-film set are Paperman, Get a Horse!, Lorenzo and The Little Matchgirl. Get it.
  

• Disney's new line of high-tech, interactive toys looks intriguing. Playmation uses wearable tech, motion sensors and assorted action figures to create a toys-to-life experience that kids (and imaginative adults) can enjoy indoors or out. Go on adventures with the Avengers or (beginning next year) use the power of the Force in the Star Wars edition. They're even working on a Frozen version (of course they are).

Enjoy!

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