During this morning’s Disney Parks Magical Christmas Celebration, an extended look inside of Pandora: The World of AVATAR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was presented.
The segment was even introduced by Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Joe Rohde and James Cameron appeared int he segment to talk about the project.
A short video from on-board the Navi River Journey attraction was shared.
Most interesting was our first look inside at the Soarin’-esque ride system for Flight of Passage, where guests will feel like they are riding on a Banshee around Pandora.
Of course, glimpses of the incredible plant life and floating mountains were shared.
The logo for Pandora: The World of AVATAR was finally shared, promoting that the land will finally open in the Summer of 2017.
Disney has released the first official image (above) of the title character for the upcoming Pixar movie, “Coco”.
From Entertainment Weekly:
At the center of Pixar’s next original film, Coco, is a 12-year-old boy who’s breaking all the rules — or at least his family’s.
Miguel, voiced by newcomer Anthony Gonzalez, is a member of the shoemaking Riveras, your average Mexican family that’s completely banned music for generations. So, maybe not so average. Ever since his great-great-grandmother Imelda was left alone by her husband (who abandoned his family to pursue a life hitting high notes), there’s been a strict no-music ban in the Rivera household, upheld primarily by Miguel’s Abuela (Renee Victor).
That won’t stop Miguel from pursuing his passion, having grown up idolizing the music and advice of the late singer Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). In fact, it’s his worship of De La Cruz—and a shocking discovery about him—that’s brought Miguel to the singer’s grave…and you, reader, to EW’s exclusive new first look at Coco.
In the shot above, you’re catching Miguel in a beautiful, pivotal moment: He’s just committed a literal grave act and borrowed — just borrowed! — the guitar hanging in De La Cruz’s tomb. Unfortunately, it’s Dia de Muertos, and Miguel’s well-intentioned deed of grave robbery is badly-timed, and he’s about to be inadvertently sent to the Land of the Dead, where he’ll come face to face with the same great-great-relatives who banned music in his family. Just guess how happy they’ll be when they find out how he got there.
Still, don’t call Coco Pixar’s first musical. Director Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3) says the film isn’t “a break-out-into-song musical,†but rather, one “set against the backdrop of musical performance.†Moreover, it’s not even Unkrich’s first time choreographing at the musical rodeo: “At the end of Toy Story 3, we had this moment where Jessie turns on the boom-box and the Gipsy Kings do a Spanish language version of ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me.’ Which, it turned out, ended up being a real precursor to this movie.â€
The result is that Unkrich secured an all-Latino voice cast (including Gael Garcia Bernal as a skeleton named Hector who helps Miguel on his journey in the Land of the Dead) and sought authenticity via numerous story consultants, key crew members and filmmakers (like co-director Adrian Molina), and musical talent culled from artists down in Mexico. Unkrich, Molina, and producer Darla K. Anderson made frequent trips south of the border (in fact, Lasseter approved the film just three weeks before one Dia de Muertos fell, spurring a first-time scramble to not miss out) and soon sent his story artists, production designers, and even sound crew down to take the aesthetic pulse of villages.
Of interesting note is that in Unkrich’s efforts for cultural authenticity, an unfortunate misstep plagued the earliest announcements of Coco (which is titled after Miguel’s grand-grandmother). In 2013, Disney filed an application to trademark “Dia de Los Muertos,†back when Coco did not have its title, and the studio was harshly criticized for its attempt to co-opt the national holiday. As Unkrich explains, “There was never any conscious effort to try to trademark a holiday because that’s crazy, and we would never try to do that. But it happened, and we regret it, and we’re so sorry for it. And I know for all of us, it affected us really deeply. It was devastating, because we knew what we were trying to do and we had taken on this responsibility of trying to do everything right, and so it really was painful to know that the first public perception of our film had to do with that.â€
But, he says, good came out of it: “It reinforced our desire to make sure that we reached out to as many experts as we could and to involve as many people in telling this story accurately. This is a story we want to share with the world, but it’s also been particularly important to us that when the Latino community sees the film, that it resonates and it feels like we got it right, and that’s what we’re really trying to do. We all feel the gravity.â€
A TV spot has been released for Disney’s upcoming “Beauty And The Beast”. It seems like more of a condensed version of the first trailer with one additional scene (above):
Need some more Rogue One teases in your life because you just can’t wait until December 16? Twitter has got you covered.
On Tuesday, December 2, at 1 p.m. ET, Twitter, People magazine, and Disney/Lucasfilm will host a live Q&A with director Gareth Edwards and the cast of the film from a “surprise location.” Also, new never-before-seen footage from the movie will be shown, so go ahead if you really just wanna push how much you’re willing to have potentially spoiled.
This week’s episode was recorded live during WDWNT’s 45-hour live Broadcast to benefit Toys for Tots.
In this week’s episode, the gang talk about:
“Rogue One: A Story Wars Story” opens this month! How confident are we with the film?
We go through all of the superhero movies that were released this year and pick our best and worst of the year. We also discuss all of the superhero movies coming out in 2017 and which ones we think will be our favorite.
We discuss our favorite comic books of the year and those that disappointed us.
How good was Marvel and DC TV this year?
Join hosts Joe Hogarty, Patrick Hackett, Ron D’Anna, Jack McCarthy and Taylor Katcher !
Disney Store Holiday Wishes has returned to Disney Stores all over the country for 2016 with some changes.
The in-store event began last week and will continue to run nightly through Christmas Eve. The show’s hours change depending on the day of the week, as well as the store location, so be sure to call your local Disney Store before going. It seems like most stores will be holding the event around 6:30 or 7:30 p.m.
The store has been decorated for the holiday season.
Moana merchandise has its own display table
The trees are now projecting holiday-themed images. It may be hard to tell from the photos, but projected snow flakes fall on the trees as various Disney characters appear on and off.
The back of the store, where the theater screen is located, is where Holiday Wishes takes place. Cast members invite guests over to the screen for a chance to take part in the celebration.
While the audience waits for the show to begin, the cast members pass out Christmas ornament shaped post-it notes. The guests are asked to write a holiday wish on their ornaments and then hold on to them until Mickey provides further instructions.
Maybe one day this wish will come true…
When the countdown on the screen reaches zero, Mickey and Minnie take the stage (screen).
It’s Mickey’s house!
This part is pretty fun, as the kids started to get really excited to interact with Mickey and Minnie. The cast member converses with the two on the screen, and the exchange is pretty neat, provided the cast member has the script memorized.
Mickey asks the guests to cheer and stomp to help make Minnie’s star shine. After about a minute of continuos noise, Minnie’s star begins to glow.
This is where the experience was a little broken for us. The star on top of the christmas tree that stands to the left of the screen is supposed to shine at this point, however, this tree wasn’t cooperating.
Mickey then asks the audience to “hang” their ornaments on the tree to make their wishes come true.
The tree topper that doesn’t glow
From there the show ends. Mickey and Minnie wave goodbye and a song called “My Little Wish” plays in the background, while fireworks go off on screen.
While Disney Store Holiday Wishes doesn’t come close to some of the holiday entertainment offerings found in the parks, it’s certainly nice to have this show available for those that are unnamable to make the trip. The show requires a lot of audience participation, so what you put in is what you’ll get out. Though, if you have kids, it’s well worth a visit.
Felicity Jones recently paid a trip to Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show to show off her Rebel training skills she acquired while filming “Rogue One” but also brought along the first clip from the movie.
You can tell from this clip, starting at the 3:10 mark, that some things seem to never change. Stormtroopers still cant aim, and looks like they cant fight either, but Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) demonstrates that she’s got some skills in this first clip from “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”. Check it out!
I guess even Stormtroopers need a timeout every now and then.
Usually international trailers show a lot of new scenes not shown in the domestic trailers, but this isn’t the case this time. The international trailer seems to be a hybrid of the official US trailer and the teaser trailer with Japanese subtitles. There is one new scene of the castle (above) that we haven’t seen before, but that’s it.
Lake Buena Vista, Fla. – Nov. 30, 2016 – The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort’s Dolphin lobby will undergo a $12 million re-design as the final stage of the largest makeover in the resort’s history. When finished in the fall of 2017, the new lobby will be completely transformed into a sleek contemporary space and feature new dining and beverage options.
Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel Lobby Undergoing Refurbishment
The lobby re-design is the final stage of a total $140 million project which also includes the transformation of all 2,267 guest rooms, along with upgrades to the hotel’s meeting space.
“This lobby will mark the final piece of an exciting transformation for the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort,” said General Manager Fred Sawyers. “This space is designed specifically to cater to today’s guests and offer an inviting place where they can come together to relax, network, and grab something to eat or drink.”
Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel Lobby Undergoing Refurbishment
Renowned Manhattan design firm ICRAVE, designers of projects including Westin New York at Times Square, W Atlanta and STK restaurants, created the concept for the new lobby space, drawing on inspiration from the lobby’s iconic Dolphin fountain.
The centerpiece of the new lobby will be a dazzling custom crystal chandelier which will sparkle above the fountain and use the latest in color-changing lighting technology.
Other new features will include a new geometric ceiling, increased lighting, all new contemporary décor and furnishings and more than double the amount of seating.
Two new food and beverage options will be incorporated into the lobby, including a bar and lounge space seating up to 150.
A new quick service café and market offering coffee, sandwiches and snacks will provide guests a convenient way to energize during their day, whether it be filled with business meetings or exploring the theme parks.
Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel Lobby Undergoing Refurbishment
The Dolphin Resort lobby will remain open throughout the renovation with minimal impact to resort guests. The project is currently scheduled to begin in spring 2017 for completion by fall 2017.Swan a
