The Family Guy...

Congratulations to Jeff Pepper, our friend over at the 2719 Hyperion blog and his kin for being chosen as the "Family of the Day" at the 25th Anniversary of EPCOT Center...

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

The Florida Project's Gem Turns 25...

Ok, so EPCOT didn't turn out to be the "Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow" that Walt envisioned. But it still has his spirt, his sense of optimism and wonder. It is still something for the Mouse to be proud of... even if over the last decade or so they've not treated her well.

Today she turns 25. And she looks much nicer than she did a few weeks ago since having that plastic surgery to remove the wart... I mean wand from her nose. I figure we should start seeing greater attention to the details of the Second Gate over the next few years. The Disney Geeks made a big stink about no anniversary and some Suits took note. Uncle John took note. The new Suit in charge happens to be an Epcot employee, which is good. The focus on the words; "EPCOT Center" are a good sign...

The Walt Disney Company spend 1.4 Billion dollars to build it... I want to sound like Dr. Evil saying that. In 1982 that was a lot of money. Well, it's still a lot of money, just not near as much as it was then. The Mouse hasn't spent anywhere near that amount on a theme park since. The only company that has spent those kinds of numbers to create elaborate Disney attractions is the Oriental Land Company... the only company other than the Mouse with the right to build Disney attractions. When WDW's Third Gate, Disney-MGM Studios was built in 1989 it cost of less than 800 million. The fourth gate, Disney's Animal Kingdom was around 800 million(after cutting the "Beastly Kingdom" section) when it opened in 1998. The Second Gate in California, Disney's California Adventure was 650 million(after Pressler ordered Braverman to cut the budget by a third) in 2001 and Disney's investment in Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005 which cost 3.5 billion was in the hundreds of millions... 314 million dollars to be exact, with the Hong Kong Government footing the rest of the bill . I won't mention Walt Disney Studios Paris which opened in 2002, because I don't consider it having a budget, especially if you've seen it. But enough of that... that's old hat. We're in a new time with lots of exciting things happening to the Mouse.

The future of the Second Gate at America's Second Disney Resort's is positive and full of promise. Ironically, just like Walt was. Fitting, don't you think? Happy Birthday, EPCOT Center! I like saying that... I really do.

Jungle Ahead...

Tomorrow, Walt Disney Pictures will release "The Jungle Book" 40th anniversary edition. it's always been in the top five or six of my favorite Disney animated films. Let's hope that the new films released over the next decade can come close to the magic you find in this simple story of a friendship between a boy and a bear...

If you don't have it, go out and get it. If you don't plan on getting it, why are you reading this? Hehe...

And Tim Burton's Disney Project Is...

It appears that the cat may be out of the bang concerning the project Tim Burton could be directing for the Mouse.

Ain't It Cool News has a source that is saying the film will be a stop-motion full length feature of Tim's classic short "Frankenweenie".

For those that have never seen this jewel, it is about a young boy named Victor Frankenstein whose dog, Sparky is hit by a car. Victor then brings Sparky back to life in a parody of Mary Shelley's book "Frankenstein". It's quite bizarre, but very entertaining... although I prefer Burton's "Vincent" to it...

We'll find out in a few weeks if the rumor is true.

Another Reason To Hate The French...

Just kidding...

But the French website, Allocine.com has a very wonderful trailer for Wall-E that we haven't seen here yet. It looks really "Chaplinesque" and I have a feeling Mr. Stanton is headed for another big hit.

Now what's going to happen if this one does "Finding Nemo" type business? Will the negative Nabobs finally stop praying for Pixar's failure and stsrt looking forward to just enjoying a good movie? Nah... that's too much to ask for.

Go over and have a looksie...

When September Ends...

Well here it is my fellow Disney fans and friends...

The end of September is here. Over the next several weeks keep an eye out where you walk or you'll run into a wall...

Somewhere/everywhere. October is a wonderful month and Fall is my favorite season. This year, it has even more meaning than it normally does.

Don't expect it to happen all at once... but do expect it to start.

See you next month...

Disney's Kingdom Beats Universal's Kingdom...

In a bit of a surprising move Disney's "The Game Plan" starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson beat out Universal's big political actioner "The Kingdom". The PG rated family film surprised many by grossing an estimated $22.7 million from 3,103 screens. It could be that "The Kingdom"'s R rating limited its appeal to parents wanting to take their kids to a movie for the whole family. Still, the Peter Berg directed film starring Jaime Foxx grossed an estimated $17.7 million from 2,793 screens. Not bad for second place, but considering everyone felt that "The Game Plan" was going to be taking that spot it's a little more disappointing for Universal.

Bob Iger has got to be the luckiest CEO ever... He's been doing a lot of the right things, but he's also had an incredible amount of good luck on projects he's had little if anything to do with. That's ok though... it helps to have luck every now and then... Maybe he's just the beneficiary of some good ole' Disney Magic?