Port Disney's Call...

The Disney Cruise Line's expansion chugs right along...

Those of you that don't know, the cruise line owned by Disney will more than double in size by 2012 when the second of two new ships are delivered. The first one, the "Disney Dream" comes into service a little less than two year from now, in 2011, and the other, the "Disney Fantasy" approximately one year later, in 2012. Both ships are much larger than the Wonder or Magic; about 150% of their size and that's going to require some changes to Disney's private island, Castaway Cay (pronounced Castaway Key). For one, since the ships will be much bigger, they're having to dig a deeper docking area. Also, with the ships being able to hold a larger amount of guest, there will be more on the island. So many new attractions/construction are planned.

If you'd like to take a look at some of the new features this place will hold, click here.

And should you like to see the Disney Dream's keel being laid in a ceremony, click here.

Of course, once the Dream comes on line, the Wonder will head out here and finally provide the West Coast with a permanent base in Los Angeles harbor. When stationed in California, it'll go on vacations to Alaska in warm months and the Mexican ports in cooler months. As for the Fantasy, no plans have been made as to where it's home base will be, but a possible location could be Europe, if the economy comes out of its nose dive.

Dream on...

Ghost Mountain...

Boo!

Boo!
Here's the poster for Space Mountain's Halloween makeover as "Ghost Galaxy." It's going to be based on the one in Hong Kong Disneyland, but toned down a bit. Those Chinese like their Halloween closer to "Knotts Scary Farm" that "Mickey's Halloween Time."

Boo...

Defamation Of Character...

The Business Insider has an interesting article about Apple called: "The New Microsoft" that's a must read for those that follow the Little Fruit Company.

But really? The NEW Microsoft? How insulting... I mean, I know how Apple would feel. Everyone keeps referring to me as the NEW Brad Pitt. How ridiculous, I'm much better looking than Brad Pitt. And so is Apple. I mean, better looking than Microsoft, not Brad Pitt, cause that would be just crazy.

Now where did I put that iPhone, I'm expecting that call from Jobs any minute...

Conflicts of Interest...

After yesterdays news about the Mouse and Marvel, I'm feeling a bit lost...

Don't get me wrong, I believe it has great potential and could create some truly interesting projects now that Marvel has Disney's huge purse strings to finance films without worrying about going bankrupt again. That's a nice safety net beneath their feet. It's just...

Well, if you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you'll know that I'm a DC Guy. I'm also a huge fan of Disney as is the case with this blog and me knowing far more than I realized about the Mouse. I happen to be a big comic book fan. A fan of many types of comics from many creators and many companies. I love many Marvel characters and I've always had a soft spot for Stan Lee. He's such a fountain of positive energy and the best ambassador comics could have. Not to mention a brilliant self promoter. But still...

I'm a DC Guy. This is like rooting for USC all my life only to find out the coach is a closet Bruin. But I find myself conflicted. I always loved the idea of watching a Disney film, but now it's going to feel like something else seeing it come with that Marvel logo.

Now in a perfect world, Warner would own Marvel Comics and Disney would own DC Comics, but we all know that we don't live in a perfect world... we just live in the one that born us, and you have to make the best of what life throws at you. I mean, here's to having more more great films come from the ideas of the the House of Marvel. I think that X-Men and Spider-Man are very good films. "X-Men 2" and "Spider-Man 2" are almost perfect films. While "Fantastic Four" 1 and 2 and "Spider-Man 3" are as flawed and screwed up as adaptions can be. I've always thought that "Superman," the first Superman film was the perfect adaption. Or at least the closest one to come to the screen. That was before last summer and "The Dark Knight" was released. That film is absolutely the best comic book adaption ever. So much so that it stands out and above just being a Super-Hero film. In fact, I feel that the resulting success of that film made Iger stand up and take note. He realized that the Mouse had no properties it could develop like that. Even some of Marvel's second tier characters have scored well lately. Iron Man was great fun, but not on the same level as the Caped Crusader, but a wonderful film none-the-less. Now I don't wish for them to have any bad films. I want them to knock a blockbuster out of the park. With movies that will create great franchises that we might see turn up in Disney's Hollywood Studios or the like. With Disney backing them I believe this is very possible.

I think all these fans whining about Disney watering down the films is ridiculous. They obviously haven't followed many Touchstone or Miramax releases to know that the Mouse has plenty of dark, mature and adult fare. And like I said in an earlier post, Iger is not a tinkerer like Eisner. If a division is running smoothly he's not going to mess with it. He's going to see what he can do to improve it. He's going to be a facilitator, not a meddling fly that annoys the head of the Marvel division or the Pixar division. And I think having John Lasseter in Marvel's corner is a very good thing that bodes well for the future too. So now we have the Walt Disney Company the world's largest entertainment company owning the worlds largest comic company. Then there is Time-Warner the second largest entertainment company owning the second largest comic company. How fitting. It's just that well, I'm a DC Guy and this is a weird situation that I'm going to have to get used to.

I mean, I never thought I'd say Disney and Excelsior in the same sentence...

Fantastic More...

I'm sure you saw the other news that was announced yesterday...

20th Century Fox has announced a reboot of "Fantastic Four" because they were unhappy with how badly they screwed up the last two. See, if these executives would only listen to me they wouldn't be in this position. If they would have filmed the script that was written by Michael France and Chris Columbus. Then maybe hired Columbus to direct it, or a good director whose last name wasn't Story. There would be no need to reboot. They'd have a great FF film. It was pure action-adventure wrapped in sci-fi. It was the comic. It wasn't a family comedy; a mediocre comedy to be exact.

Here's hoping that this new version gets the Akiva Goldsman that gave us "A Beautiful Mind" and not the one that gave us "Batman and Robin." To be fair to Goldsman, a good deal of the problems with that film were the director. Not all, but most. As for people that I've seen complaining about Michael Green, who'll write the script, I don't think you should fear too much. He co-wrote the script to the new "Green Lantern" film and it's a really good script that's faithful to the material. The funny thing is I had a discussion with a friend a couple weeks ago where I compared GL to FF. Essentially, I said that Lantern was DC's Fantastic Four, in the sense that he's more a sci-fi creation than a Super-Hero. Which is how I would describe the Fantastic Four. If Green gets it on Lantern, he'll get it on Four. Now, if only Goldsman knows this and lets him work through a treasure trove of forty years worth of material. And we don't need no origin again, that's been done. We get it. We know how they got their powers. If you want to rehash that then have a reporter in the film do a quick two-minute bio on the Quatro before he's going to interview one of them and that'll get everyone up to speed without wasting thirty minutes.

Now as for casting... My suggestion for Mister Fantastic? Jon Hamm would make a great lead. Whoever you get for the Thing, PLEASE make him CG this time. That suit was horrendous last time... it looked like something out of a bad slasher film. And this time, when you get someone to play Invisible Girl, please make sure you get a talented actress, because when you get Jessica Alba, you don't want to make her invisible, especially when she's naked. If she wasn't already taken by the Marvel Universe, I'd say cast Scarlett Johansson. The only people from the original that worked were Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans. That said, I'd still recast the parts and start over, it is a reboot after all.

That's my two cents worth, Fox. But remember, you better play well with those properties because the Mouse is watching you. It's got their lawyers watching you and anything you do to screw up will have them itching to take that franchise away from you. Because unlike the Fox Suits that have been mismanaging the Marvel properties lately, the Mouse Suits realize how valuable they are. But I have a feeling you now know this, because that announcement made yesterday wasn't planned for yesterday. It was made in a scrambling attempt to mark your territory. To show that you still controlled the property. And it's bought you time.

For now...

Edgar Rice Burroughs, Writer Of Earth...

Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan the Ape Man, John Carter, Warlord of Mars and many other memorable, classic characters was born today in Chicago, a hundred and thirty four years ago. He lived for three quarters of a century and contributed volumes to American literature about what twentieth century adventure would be perceived as...

Along with Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, Burroughs has been used by Disney in the parks and films(both past and future) enough to have carved out quite a bit of Disney history...

Happy Birthday, Mr. Burroughs.

Tic Tock No...

This was a story that was going to run yesterday but something came up...

Unfortunately, this isn't good news. It appears that when Walt Disney Animation Studios' "The Princess and the Frog" comes out in November, it may not have the short, "Tic Tock Tale," in front of Musker and Clements' new musical.

There won't be enough artists at WDAS to finish it in time for the November debut. Many of those that were working on the project have been pulled to work on another hand-drawn project (one that'll be out next Valentine's Day). I know that there are more artist out there, but the Mouse is playing it conservatively and not wanting to hire any additional artist only to have them let go right after its completion. Times are tight for these divisions right now. Perhaps after December we can see some sunshine pumped into the cubicles of the Hat Building.

It's not known if there will be another classic short to take its place or if there will be a short in front of it at all, for that matter. So, barring some change in the Mouse's plans, we may have to watch Disney's return to hand drawn animation without a short to go in front of it. But again, just to make it clear, this is a delay not a cancellation of this short. It will be made and it will be shown. Just not in front of the next Disney animated film.

Developing...