The Sorcerer’s Postmortem

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by C. W. Oberleitner on July 19, 2010

in this business of show

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, from Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, played to mostly empty movie houses, coming in third in the weekend box office derby behind second place finisher Despicable Me, now in its second week in release. What went wrong? The answer depends on who you ask. [click to continue…]

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The Happiest Collision on Earth

by C. W. Oberleitner on July 12, 2010

in news & features

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Saturday, July 17, marks the 55th Anniversary of the opening of Walt Disney’s original theme park: Disneyland. In honor of the occasion, we thought we’d take a look back at a story we first ran as part of our coverage of the park’s 50th Anniversary celebration, which recalls some of the forces that came together to make Disneyland such a worldwide phenomenon. [click to continue…]

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An Out of Towners’ Guide to Disney’s World of Color

by C. W. Oberleitner June 29, 2010
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To be sure, Disney California Adventure’s new World of Color (WOC) spectacular is one of the hottest tickets in Southern California, but that doesn’t mean you need to put off until next year a visit to the Disneyland Resort’s second theme park just to make sure you get to take in this nightly, super soaker [...]

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First Look: Cool New TRON Legacy Toys Announced

by The Grownup Geek June 23, 2010

The Geek found the following news from Disney Consumer Products (DCP) in his inbox this morning and just had to share it with his fellow geeks. DCP unveiled a first look at its fall line-up of TRON: Legacy inspired electronics and toys (#TronMerch), including the first-ever action figures to feature impulse light projection technology. Also unveiled [...]

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Who Hires These People?

by C. W. Oberleitner June 21, 2010
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This past weekend, well-known mainstream publications, such as Entertainment Weekly and the Los Angeles Times, made a startling discovery: grown-ups go to the movies!…specifically, animated films, which these bastions of information are just now beginning to realize may appeal to adult audiences, even if they don’t have children in tow.

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Splashdown: Our World of Color Premiere Podcast

by C. W. Oberleitner June 14, 2010

We chat with Disney writer Jim Hill, Disney Diva Momma, Tom Staggs (Chairman Walt Disney Parks and Resorts), and George Kalogridis (President Disneyland Resort) following the debut of the light, water, fire, and music spectacular show World of Color.

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Geek Week

by The Grownup Geek June 6, 2010
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Well, the summer movie season may be off to a slow start; however, geeks everywhere—grownup and otherwise—can take heart that this week both Disney and Apple are about to debut some much anticipated new stuff. Can you say World of Color spectacular and iPhone 4.0? We thought you could!

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D23 Members to Celebrate 40th Anniversary of Walt Disney Archives

by C. W. Oberleitner June 4, 2010
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On June 25, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger, Leonard Maltin, and special guests will honor Walt Disney Archives founder Dave Smith with a one-of-a-kind event. The event is open to members of Disney’s official fan club, D23. So, if you’ve been waffling on that decision as to whether to join D23, now might be [...]

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Alice in Wonderland Burton’s Billion Dollar Baby as Blu-ray Combo Pack

by C. W. Oberleitner May 31, 2010
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Director Tim Burton gives Alice in Wonderland the Batman Begins treatment with mixed results that have propelled the film into the rarified Billion-Dollar Box Office stratosphere. Now you can own your own Blu-ray-DVD Combo Pack of this somewhat controversial film.

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Prince of Persia: The Sands of…Boredom

by C. W. Oberleitner May 27, 2010
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As Prince Dastan in the Disney Bruckheimer production Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, hot young actor Jake Gyllenhaal had more on screen chemistry with the late Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain than he and costar Gemma Arterton can muster together in Prince of Persia. It’s all the tedium and half the fun of [...]

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The World Is a Carousel of…Youth?

by C. W. Oberleitner May 18, 2010
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Walt Disney Company Big Cheese Bob Iger, perhaps best known during his first half decade at the wheel of Steamboat Disney as a hands-off kind of guy who tends to let the Mouse’s executives and creative types make their own decisions, is jumping into the fray more frequently, at least according to the New York [...]

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Futterwacken Your Way to a New iPad

by C. W. Oberleitner May 7, 2010

Time to gather your muchness for an Alice in Wonderland inspired dance-off. Walt Disney Studios wants you to show them your best “Futterwacken.” Prizes include iPads, Blu-ray™ players, autographed Alice memorabilia and more.

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